Writing Research Papers: A Complete Guide

Description

The definitive research paper guide, Writing Research Papers combines a traditional and practical approach to the research process with the latest information on electronic research and presentation. This market-leading text provides students with step-by-step guidance through the research writing process, from selecting and narrowing a topic to formatting the finished document. Writing Research Papers backs up its instruction with the most complete array of samples of any writing guide of this nature. The text continues its extremely thorough and accurate coverage of citation styles for a wide variety of disciplines. The fifteenth edition maintains Lester's successful approach while bringing new writing and documentation updates to assist the student researcher in keeping pace with electronic sources. Available in two formats–perfect-bound and spiral-bound with tabs, a handier format at a slightly higher price)–Lester's text is one that students will keep throughout their college careers. Cover......Page 1 Title......Page 3 Copyright......Page 4 Contents......Page 5 Preface to the Instructor......Page 16 Acknowledgments......Page 20 1 Introduction to Academic Writing......Page 21 1a Why Do Research?......Page 23 1b Learning the Conventions of Academic Writing......Page 24 1c Understanding and Avoiding Plagiarism......Page 25 Understanding the Terminology......Page 26 1e Establishing a Research Schedule......Page 29 2 Topic Selection......Page 31 Connecting Personal Experience to Scholarly Topics......Page 33 Speculating about Your Subject to Discover Ideas and to Focus on the Issues......Page 34 Personal Interviews and Discussions......Page 38 2c Using Online Searches to Refine Your Topic......Page 39 Using an Internet Keyword Search......Page 40 2d Using the Library’s Electronic Databases to Find and Narrow a Topic......Page 41 2e Using the Library’s Electronic Book Catalog to Find a Topic......Page 42 2f Developing a Thesis Statement, Enthymeme, or Hypothesis......Page 44 The Short Proposal......Page 47 The Long Proposal......Page 48 Your Research Project......Page 52 3a Using a Basic Order to Chart the Course of Your Work......Page 53 3b Using Your Research Proposal to Direct Your Notetaking......Page 54 3d Writing a Rough Outline......Page 55 3e Using Questions to Identify Issues......Page 56 3f Setting Goals by Using Organizational Patterns......Page 57 3g Using Approaches across the Curriculum to Chart Your Ideas......Page 58 3h Using Your Thesis to Chart the Direction of Your Research......Page 59 Your Research Project......Page 61 4 Finding Web-Based Resources......Page 62 4a Beginning an Online Search......Page 63 4b Reading an Online Address......Page 67 4c Using Keyword and Boolean Expressions......Page 68 Metasearch Engines......Page 70 Educational Search Engines......Page 71 Educational Search Engines Maintained by Libraries......Page 73 RSS Feeds......Page 74 Web 2.0 and Social Bookmarking......Page 75 Online Journals......Page 76 4f Searching for Articles in Newspapers and Media Sources......Page 77 4h Accessing E-books......Page 79 Real-Time Chatting......Page 80 Search Engine......Page 81 Go to a Metasearch Engine......Page 82 Your Research Project......Page 84 5a Launching the Search......Page 85 5b Developing a Working Bibliography......Page 86 5c Finding Books on Your Topic......Page 87 Using the Library’s Bibliographies......Page 88 Searching the General Indexes to Periodicals......Page 91 Finding Indexes by Topic in the Appendix......Page 95 Searching for an Index to Abstracts......Page 96 5e Searching for a Biography......Page 98 5f Searching for Articles in Newspaper Indexes......Page 99 5g Searching Special Subject Directories......Page 100 5h Searching for Government Documents......Page 101 Your Research Project......Page 102 6 Conducting Field Research......Page 104 Interviewing Knowledgeable People......Page 105 Writing Letters and Corresponding by E-mail......Page 106 Attending Lectures and Public Addresses......Page 107 6b Investigating Government Documents......Page 108 6c Examining Audiovisual Materials, Television, and Radio......Page 109 6d Conducting a Survey with a Questionnaire......Page 110 6e Conducting Experiments, Tests, and Observation......Page 112 Your Research Project......Page 113 7 Plagiarism and How to Avoid It......Page 115 7b Placing Your Work in Its Proper Context......Page 116 7c Understanding Copyright......Page 117 7d Avoiding Plagiarism......Page 118 Common Knowledge......Page 120 Correctly Borrowing from a Source......Page 122 7f Honoring and Crediting Sources in Online Classrooms......Page 125 7g Seeking Permission to Publish Material on Your Website......Page 127 Your Research Project......Page 128 8a Finding Reliable Sources......Page 129 Evaluating the Key Parts of an Article......Page 136 Evaluating the Key Parts of a Book......Page 138 Evaluating the Key Parts of an Internet Article......Page 141 8e Summarizing a Source......Page 143 8f Preparing an Annotated Bibliography......Page 145 8g Preparing a Review of the Literature on a Topic......Page 148 Your Research Project......Page 154 Gathering Printouts, Photocopies, Scanned Images, and Downloaded Data......Page 155 9b Writing Personal Notes......Page 156 9c Writing Direct Quotation Notes......Page 158 Quoting Primary Sources......Page 159 Quoting Secondary Sources......Page 160 9d Writing Paraphrased Notes......Page 161 9e Writing Summary Notes......Page 163 9f Writing Précis Notes......Page 165 Use the Précis in a Plot Summary Note......Page 166 Use the Précis As the Form for an Abstract......Page 167 A General All-Purpose Model......Page 168 Model for the Analysis of Creative Works......Page 169 Model for Analysis of History......Page 170 Model for a Comparative Study......Page 171 Using Standard Outline Symbols......Page 172 Writing a Formal Sentence Outline......Page 173 Your Research Project......Page 174 10 Drafting the Paper in an Academic Style......Page 176 10a Focusing Your Argument......Page 177 10b Refining the Thesis Statement......Page 178 Using Questions to Focus the Thesis......Page 179 Adjust or Change Your Thesis During Research if Necessary......Page 181 10c Writing an Academic Title......Page 182 Writing from Your Notes......Page 183 Writing in the Proper Tense......Page 185 Writing in the Third Person......Page 186 10e Using Visuals Effectively in a Research Essay......Page 188 10f Avoiding Sexist and Biased Language......Page 191 Your Research Project......Page 193 11a Blending Reference Citations into Your Text......Page 194 Putting the Page Number Immediately after the Name......Page 195 Citing the Title of a Magazine Article......Page 196 11c Citing Nonprint Sources That Have No Page Number......Page 197 Identify the Nature of the Information and Its Credibility......Page 198 Omitting Page and Paragraph Numbers to Internet Citations......Page 199 11e Citing Indirect Sources......Page 200 11f Citing Frequent Page References to the Same Work......Page 202 11g Citing Material from Textbooks and Large Anthologies......Page 203 One of Several Volumes......Page 204 Several Authors in One Citation......Page 205 Commas and Periods......Page 206 Question Marks and Exclamation Marks......Page 208 11j Indenting Long Quotations......Page 209 Quoting Three Lines of Poetry or More......Page 211 Retaining Internal Quotations within a Block......Page 212 11l Handling Quotations from a Play......Page 213 11n Omitting Quoted Matter with Ellipsis Points......Page 214 11o Altering Quotations with Parentheses and Brackets......Page 217 Brackets......Page 218 Your Research Project......Page 219 Provide the Thesis Statement......Page 220 Provide the Enthymeme......Page 221 Relate to the Well Known......Page 222 Review the Literature......Page 223 Take Exception to Critical Views......Page 224 Provide a Brief Summary......Page 225 Supply Data, Statistics, and Special Evidence......Page 226 Organize by Chronology......Page 227 Compare or Contrast Issues, Critical Views, and Literary Characters......Page 229 Define Your Key Terminology......Page 230 Ask Questions and Provide Answers......Page 231 Use a Variety of Other Methods......Page 232 12c Writing the Conclusion of the Research Paper......Page 233 Close with an Effective Quotation......Page 234 Compare the Past to the Present......Page 235 Offer a Directive or Solution......Page 236 Your Research Project......Page 237 Revising the Introduction......Page 239 Revising the Conclusion......Page 240 13b Formatting the Paper to MLA Style......Page 241 Title Page or Opening Page......Page 242 Abstract......Page 243 Appendix......Page 244 Using the Computer to Edit Your Text......Page 245 13d Proofreading on the Screen and on the Printed Manuscript......Page 246 Your Research Project......Page 247 14 MLA Style: Citations......Page 270 14a Formatting the Works Cited Page......Page 271 Index to Works Cited Models: MLA Style......Page 272 Citing Sources Found Online......Page 276 14c Works Cited Form—Citing Database and CD-ROM Sources......Page 282 14d Works Cited Form—Books......Page 284 14e Works Cited Form—Periodicals......Page 296 14f Works Cited Form—Newspapers......Page 299 14g Works Cited Form—Government Documents......Page 301 14h Works Cited Form—Other Sources......Page 302 Theoretical Article......Page 309 15b Writing in the Proper Tense for an APA Paper......Page 310 15c Using In-Text Citations in APA Style......Page 311 Index to Bibliographic Models: APA Style......Page 318 Book......Page 319 Periodical......Page 320 Abstract......Page 321 Sources Accessed Online......Page 322 Article from a Library Database......Page 326 Theoretical Paper......Page 327 Review Article......Page 328 15g Sample Paper in APA Style......Page 329 16 CMS Style: The Footnote System......Page 338 16a Inserting a Superscript Numeral in Your Text......Page 339 Index to CMS Footnote Models......Page 340 16b Formatting and Writing the Footnotes......Page 341 16c Writing Footnotes for Electronic Sources......Page 343 16e Writing Endnotes Rather Than Footnotes......Page 345 16f Writing Content Footnotes or Content Endnotes......Page 346 16h Writing a Bibliography Page for a Paper That Uses Footnotes......Page 349 16i Sample Research Paper in the CMS Style......Page 350 17 CSE Style: Citations for Technical Writing......Page 357 Guide by Discipline......Page 358 17a Writing In-Text Citations Using the CSE Citation-Sequence System......Page 359 17b Writing a References Page......Page 360 17c Writing In-Text Citations with Name and Year......Page 361 17d Using Name-Year with Bibliography Entries......Page 363 17e Sample Paper Using the CSE Citation-Sequence System......Page 365 18a Beginning the Digital Project......Page 377 18b Building Digital Presentations......Page 378 Importing, Entering, and Modifying Text......Page 379 18d Using Graphics in Your Electronic Research Paper......Page 380 18e Using Sound and Video in Your Electronic Research Paper......Page 381 18f Preparing a Writing Portfolio......Page 382 18g Presenting Research in Alternative Formats......Page 384 Your Research Project......Page 385 Glossary: Rules and Techniques for Preparing the Manuscript in MLA Style......Page 386 Historic Issues of Events, People,and Artifacts......Page 395 Scientific Issues in Physics, Astronomy,and Engineering......Page 396 Social and Political Issues......Page 397 Issues in the Arts, Literature, Music,and Language......Page 398 Environmental Issues, Genetics,and the Earth Sciences......Page 399 Issues in Religion, Philosophy, and Psychology......Page 400 Issues in Business and Economics......Page 401 Popular Culture, Current Events,and Modern Trends......Page 402 Credits......Page 403 A......Page 404 B......Page 405 C......Page 406 E......Page 408 G......Page 409 I......Page 410 L......Page 411 M......Page 412 O......Page 413 P......Page 414 S......Page 415 T......Page 416 W......Page 417 Z......Page 418