Writing a ResearchPaper: Writing the Paper
Pre-Writing
PlanAhead
you
is dueandplan aheadfar aheadenoughsothat you aresure
Find out whenthe assignment
qualityof your writing will reflect
will haveplentyof tim"eto write andreviJeyour paper:-Fe
by doingpre-writingasthis
thetime andforethougt,,ou put into the assignment.Planaliead
to scheduleseveral
will allow you to be moreorganizedwhenyoi sit downto write. Be sure
comebackfreshto
and
while
blocksof time to ao yo,r,*riting sothat you ,un walk awayfor a
andrevisions.
makechanges
Beginning
ThingsTo ConsiderWher-r
helpguideyou asyou
ThinkingaboutVourosignrn"ntin termsof its rhetoricalsituationcan
purposeare
Topic,audience,genre'style,opporhrnity,researctland
startyour writing pt*tJ
questionsyou might
just a few elementsthatarepartof the rhetoricalsituafion.Herearea few
askyourselfasyou Prepileto wite:
/ Who is the audiencefor your writing?
/ Whatdoesyour audiencealreadyhrow aboutthis topic?
needto learnaboutthis topic?
/ what doesyour audience
t what do you hopethe audiencewill gain from your paper?
/ What is the purposeof this assignment?
with this topic? Is
{ Whattypeof languageshouldbe usedto bestconveyideasassociated
to convinceyour reader?
prrrruriu. languagenecessary
will be usefulin communicatingyour point?
/ Whatresearch-indrmation
Keepin Mind thePurposeof the Assignment
ftiting iun havemanydifferentpurposes.Herearea few examples.
form
of anothertext in a condensed
./ Summarizing:presentingthe mainpointsor essence
your
/ persuading:i*pressingi viewpoinion an issuein an effiortto convinceothersthat
viewpointis correct
/ Nanating: Tellinga storyor giving an &ccount-ofevents
a set
/ Evaluating:Exa#ning ,or.Ihing"in orderto determineits valueor worth basedon
criteria
the
/ Analyzing:Breakinga topic downinto its componentpartsin orderto examine
betweenthe Parts
relationshiP
/ Responding:Writing in directdialoguewith anothertext
questioringa topic to discoverfactsthat arenot widely
/ Examining: Systematically
in a way ihat strivesto be asneutralaspossible
knownor accepted
CreatingAn Outline
presentsyour researchin a
An outlineaidsinfre processofwriting, helpsorganizeyour ideas,
overviewof your
logicalform for you t; referto whenrijting, andiottstructsandordered
your papel Then,determine
writing. In orderto createanoutline,first dlterminethe purposeof
your paper' Then'brainstorm
the audienceyou arewriting for. Next, developthe rnainideaof
(list all of the ideasyou want to includein your paper),organize(groupthe relatedideas
together),order(arrangematerialin subsections
in a logicalsequence
for your paperto flow),
andlabel(createmainheadingsandsubheadings).Onceyou havecreatedthis outline,you can
referbackto it throughoutyour writing processto checkyour progressandensureyou are
stayingon track.
Stating& SupportingYour Thesis
Writing TheThesisStatement
A goodplaceto beginthe actualwriting of your paperis by composinga thesisstatement.
A
thesisstatement
is a sentence
or two that:
/
/
/
Showsthepurposeof the essay
Indicatesthe basiccomponentsof the essay
Offersthe perspectiveof the writer
Think of the thesisas a concise(one or two sentence)versionof the entire essaywhich usually
appearsin the introduction to the essay. Although the scopeof your paper might seem
overwhelming at the start, generally the narrower the thesisthe more effective your argument
will be. Therefore,writing this statementat the beginningof your writing processwill help keep
you focusedand on ffack as you develop subsequentparagraphs. Becausethe thesis is the main
idea of your paperbe sure that all elementsof your paper relate back to it somehow. For more
help with thesis statementspleaserefer to the Writing Center's handout on thesis Statements.
Using EvidenceTo.$upport Your Thesis
Your thesisstatementmust be supportedby evidence. The broaderyour claim is, the more
evidenceyou will needto convince the readerthat your position is right. There are two types of
evidence:firsthandresearchyou haveconductedyourself(such as interviews,experiments,
surveys,etc.) and secondhandresearchyou get from other texts (such as books, periodicals,
websites,etc.). Regardlessof what type of sourcesyeu use, they must be credible, reliable,
accurate,and trustworthy. Asking the following questionswill help you determineif a sourceis
credible:
/ Who is the author?
r' What is the publication?
/ How recent is the source?
{ What is the purposeof the article?
{ What sourcesdoesyour audiencevalue?
For more help with evaluating sourcespleaserefer to the Writing Center's handout on Writing A
ResearchPaper: Doing the Research and The I0 C's For Evaluating Internet Sources .
Organizing Your Argunent
Use an organizationstructurethat arrangesthe argumentin a way that will make senseto the
reader. The Toulmin Method of logic is a common and easyto use formula for organizing an
argument. The basic format of the Toulmin Method is as follows.
l. Claim: The overall thesis the writer will argue for.
2. Data. Evidence gatheredto supportthe claim
3. Warrsnt: Explanationof why or how the data supportsthe claim. Including a well
thought out warrant is essentialto writing a good paper. If you presentdatato your
audiencewithout explaining how it supportsyour thesis,they may not make the
connectionyou want them to make or they may draw different conclusions. Don't
assumethey will think the sameway you do.
4. Backing: Additional logic or reasoningthat may be necessaryto supportthe warrant.
5. C<runterclaim.A claim that negatesor disagreeswith the thesiVclaim. Don't avoid the
opposing side of an argument,feel free to include it in order to show why your argument
is stronger. Including the counterclaimalso makesyou appearmore knowledgeable
about the entirety of the debaterather thanjust being biasedor uninformed.
6. Rebuttql'. Evidencethat negatesthe counterclaimor proves it false.
Using SourcesTo Support Your Thesis
Ouqtin& Paraphrasin&& Summarizing
The three main ways of incorporating other writers' work into your own writing are quoting,
paraphrasing,and summarizing.A good paperwill use all three methodsto conveyinformation
to its audience. Quotationsare brief sectionstaken directly from the original sourceword for
word and must be attributedto the original author. Paraphrasinginvolves putting a passagefrom
the sourcematerial into your own words and must also be attributedto the original source.
Paraphrasingis usually slightly shorterthan the original and seeksto take a broader segment
from the sourceand condenseit down slightly. Summarizinginvolvesputting the main ideas
into your own words,including only the main points. Again, it is necessaryto attribute
summarizedideasto the original source. Summariesare significantlyshorterthan the original
sourceand includeonly the main ideas. Quotations,paraphrases
and summariesall servelhe
following purposes:
/ Providing supportfor claimsand adding credibility to your writing
/ Refening to work that leadsup to the work you are now doing
{ Gving examplesof severalpoints of view on a subject
/ calling attentionto a position that you wish to agreeor disagreewith
/ Highlighting a particularly striking phrasg sentence,or passagequoted from a source
/ Expanding the breadth or depth of your writing
Integrating OuotationsInto Your Text
There are severalways to integratequotationsinto your text. Often, a short quotation works well
when integratedinto a sentence.Longer quotationscan standalone. Rememberthan quoting
should be done only sparingly; be sure that you have a good reasonto include a direct quotation
when you decideto do so. Use quotationswhen they provide evidenceyou yourself could not
provide to the audience. Rememberto keep the source'sname in the samesentenceas the quote,
to set the quote offwith quotation marks, and to cite the author properly at the end ofthe
sentence.
Integrating Paraphrasesand Summaries
When you are writing a paraphraseor summarybe sure to give credit to the author. A good way
to do this is to use a gatement that credits the source(ie accordingto literary critic MHAbrams...). It may help to write your summaryor paraphrasewithout looking at the original,
relying on your memory and notes,and then to compareit with the original text to correct any
errorsin accuracy.Thiswill helpto ensureyour wordsaredifferentfrom the original. Also, if
thereis anyuniquephraseyou don't wantto change,be sureto put quotationmarksaroundit
andcitethe authorproperly.
AvoidingPlagiarism
Plagiarismis theunauthorized
useor closeimitationof the languageandthoughtsof another
institutions,both educational
authorandthe claimthatit is your ownwork. In research-based
plagiarism
including
is
andcorporate,
a seriouschargethat canhavesevereconsequences
expulsionfrom a university,lossof ajob, not to mentionlossof credibility. Someactionsthat
canunquestionably
be deemedplagiarismincludebuying,stealing,or borrowinga paper,
copyingan entirearticlefrom theWeb,hiring someoneto write your paperfor you, andcopying
largesectionsof text from a sourcewithoutpropercitation. Not all plagiarismis deliberate,but
manyprofessors
maynot distinguishbetweenintentionalandaccidentalplagiarism.
Thekeyto avoidingplagiarismis makingsurethat you give creditwherecreditis due. Many
organizations
suchastheModernLanguageAssociation(I\fl.A) andthe AmericanPsychological
(APA)
guidelinesfor citing sources.Theyagreethat you needto
Association
haveestablished
cite anywords,ideas,or productions
that originatesomewhere
outsideof you. Hereis a brief list
of somefrequentlyusedsourcesthatneedto be documented:
/ Wordsor ideaspresented
in a boo\ magazine,
newspaper,
song,TV show,movie,Web
page,computerprogranr,letter,advertisement,
or anyothermedium
{ Informationyou gainthroughinterviewingor conversingwith anotherperson
{ Theexactwordsor a uniquephrasetakendirectlyfrom a source
/ Any reprinteddiagrams,illustrations,charts,pictures,or othervisualmaterial
Thereare,of course,certainthingsthat do not needdocumentation
or credit,including:
/ Writing your own lived experiences,
your observations,
andyour thoughts
/ Resultsobtainedthroughyour own experiments
/ Your own artwork
/ Commonknowledgethingslike folklore,commonsense,observations,
popularmyths,
urbanlegends,andhistoricalevents
{ Generallyacceptedfacts
Generallyspeaking,you canregardsomethingascommonknowledgeif you find the same
informationundocumented
in at leastfive crediblesources.Additionally,it might be common
knowledgeif you think the informationyou'representingis somethingyour readerswill already
know,or somethingthat a personcouldeasilyfind in generalreferencesources.But whenin
doubt,cite; if the citationturnsoutto be unnecessary,
your teacheror editorwill tell you.
For moreinformationon citing properlyusingMLA pleasereferto the Writing Center's
handoutsEnglishDepartmentMIA WorksCited CruideandEnglish Deprtment MI-4In-Tex
CitationGuide. FormoreinformationaboutusingAPA format,pleasereferto the Writing
Center'shandoutUsingAmericanPrychologicalAssociation(APA)Format.
This handoutwaspartially adaptedfrom the OWL at PurdueUnivenity websiteavailableat:
purdue.edu/owl
http./qw!.Clglish.