SUBMISSION: The research paper must be submitted via Canvas. I will not accept any paper via email. Any paper not submitted the required way will receive a 0.
Intent:
The research paper is not a personal narrative using first person, nor is it a report on your findings about your topic. Instead, it is a piece of writing that requires a more abstract, critical, and thoughtful level of inquiry. Writing a strong research paper means you have familiarized yourself with the writing of experts on your chosen topic, and then compared their opinions, findings, etc., with your own thinking. So, rather than reporting on your findings, you will need to use facts, statistics, the results of studies, and opinions from expert sources to support a claim (or thesis) you make about your topic. Your job is to integrate evidence and your personal insights. Ultimately, YOU are the one in charge. That is, your beliefs and thinking are backed up by the ideas and information of others.
Important Points to Remember:
- Topics: Your research paper must address one of the topics from the list posted in Canvas. The only exception is if you had another topic approved by the instructor.
- Thesis Statement: Your research paper is persuasive, so make sure you have a strong thesis. The thesis should be a statement, not a question. The thesis will not announce your topic. It will provide an overview of the topic and the points you intend to cover. It should be one sentence and the last sentence of the introduction.
- Length Requirement: The paper should be a minimum of 1500 words, supported by at least five outside sources. The paper should be 5-8 paragraphs. Papers that fall below the length requirement will lose points. The Works Cited page is not counted into the 1500 words.
- Support: You must use 5 sources in your paper, and 3 of them must be academic, peer-reviewed sources. You will use your sources in a variety of ways in your paper: to provide background and context information, to build your credibility and gain authority as a writer, to give readers solid evidence that backs up your claims, and to bring up and address counterarguments. Your paper should demonstrate that you can choose the most relevant and useful source for each situation in your argument; selected information should always be relevant to the central argument. Source material should also be well integrated into developed paragraphs—not just dropped in but contextualized.
- Wikipedia, Encyclopedia, dictionaries, wiki- sites, on-line encyclopedias, etc. ARE NOT acceptable sources and are not allowed. (If you are unsure about a source, please check with me!)
- Integrating Sources: The research you have found should be used to help you make your argument, but this is not merely a report on your topic. The emphasis is on your argument, and the sources should be paraphrased or summarized only when they are contributing to your argument. You don’t want to just paste them in haphazardly. Since this is a relatively short paper, there should not be extremely long passages from the research. Make sure you look at the MLA documentation style closely. You’ll notice that block quotations are treated differently than short quotation within paragraphs. The posted sample papers can be very helpful to you. Consult your textbook for sample research papers. You should also consult your textbooks, lecture notes, and posted links for additional information on MLA style.
- Works Cited page: Remember that MLA format includes a Works Cited page. The Works Cited includes only the sources that are cited in your paper. You may have found ten articles on your topic, but you list only the ones that are cited in your paper. You must have a minimum of five sources for your research paper. The parenthetical documentation is used to show where you found your information–regardless of whether you paraphrase the words or quote them directly. Please note, a missing Works Cited page will result in an automatic F for a paper.
- Formatting: All academic papers have format guidelines. You’ll notice that there are specific instructions on the margins, spacing, etc. If you don’t know how to set margins, set a hanging indent, double space, or insert a header properly, get help from someone who knows how. Don’t wait until the night before the paper is due.
- MLA Format: The paper must be in proper MLA format (9th edition).
- CWRC: The Center for Writing, Reading, and Communications has coaches available. Any student who meets with a writing coach for either the rough draft or final draft of the research paper and provides proof of the meeting (blue sheet) can receive 5 points extra credit.
General Guidelines
- Double-space the text of your paper, and use a legible font like Times New Roman. The size of the font should be 12.
- Leave only one space after periods or other punctuation marks
- Set the margins of your document to 1 inch on all sides. Indent the first line of a paragraph one half-inch (five spaces or press tab once) from the left margin.
- Use italics throughout your essay for the titles of longer works and, only when absolutely necessary, providing emphasis.
Formatting the First Page of Your Paper
- Do NOT include a title page for your paper.
- In the upper left-hand corner of the first page, list your name, the instructor’s name, the course, and the date. Again, be sure to use double-spaced text.
- Double space again and center the title. Don’t underline your title or put it in quotation marks; write the title in Title Case, not in all capital letters.
- Double space between the title and the first line of the text.