Click here for a pdf Guide to the Research Process.
See the guide below for a step by step process to write a research paper. Follow the same guidelines when you prepare a presentation.
THE RESEARCH PROCESS
Doing research for a paper or project requires that you use other persons’ words, facts and ideas. This is acceptable as long as you properly document your research. You should never present someone else’s words or ideas as your own. You need to document:
· words directly quoted
· ideas and information paraphrased
· ideas and information summarized
· graphics, illustrations, numbers and statistical data
An important part of documentation is the properly formatted citation of all sources used in your final product. All resources you use in your project(s) should be properly cited (giving credit to the original source and author) according to the Modern Language Association (MLA) format. Any omission of proper credit by citation – intentional or unintentional - is considered plagiarism. It is understood that no work that is plagiarized will be accepted from any student.
Proper documentation means you complete three important tasks:
1. collect information on your sources in the correct format
2. parenthetically cite sources within the text.
3. attach a Works Cited and/or a Works Consulted page
This packet will help guide you through the steps of gathering the information you will need to complete these tasks, along with the various formatting necessary to do it correctly. Further information that can be of help is available from the STRHS Library Media Center Staff and the Library web site.
GATHERING SOURCES
Once your topic is chosen, your first step will be to locate sources of many different types (books, magazines, encyclopedias, websites, CD databases, etc). As you find these sources, you will enter them into your EasyBib account. Using the "Note card" feature or physical note cards, enter the information relevant to your topic. You may not end up using all sources and information you find, but you must document all of them as part of your research process.
Because each source type requires you to include different information, the information that follows will show you general and specific formatting for the different source types. EasyBib.com will format each source for you, but make sure you get all the required information into the form.
WORKS CITED PAGE
The Works Cited page lists all the works that you cite or refer to in your paper.
The MLA format for this page requires the following elements:
· The title should be centered on the page.
· Alphabetize your entries (skipping “the” or “a”) and double space between and within each entry.
· The first line of each entry should start at your left margin and go all the way to the right margin. If the entry continues on to another line(s) those lines should be indented five spaces.
· Each resource you use requires the identification of certain elements. Most resources require the identification of the author, title and publication.
o Italicize the title.
o Use proper punctuation after each element and then allow for two spaces before listing the next element required.
o Start your first line at the left margin and indent the second line by five spaces.
o List each resource separately and put them in alphabetical order by author's last name. If no author is given use the title in place of the author.
See the sample Works Cited below.
Works Cited
Day, Nancy. Advertising: Information or Manipulation. Berkeley Heights, New Jersey:
Enslow Publisher, 2009. Print.
“The Epidemic of Video Game Violence.” American Psychology Insititute. Web. 4 Apr 2006.
"Getting the Right Job." Careers for the Twenty-first Century. Web. 4 Mar 2004.
Holmes, David. Biological and Chemical Weapons. San Diego, CA: Greany Press, 2006. Print.
Marshall, J.M. "Search and Destroy." The New Republic 26 Nov. 2001: 14-16. Print.
Schneider, Jodi. "Hospitals Get Alternative". U.S. News and World Report 22 July 2002: 68. General
One File. Web. 04 Oct. 2008.
Note: punctuation differs depending on the type of source used - be sure to use EasyBib to make sure your formatting is consistent.
· Insert the author’s name (or editor etc) and a page number in parentheses.
· If there is no author, use the title, shortened or in full. The title should be formatted the same as on the works cited page (italicized or quoted).
· If you include the author’s name in the sentence you only need to give the page number in parentheses.
· Put the period to the sentence after your citation.
· If a quotation runs more than four lines indent your quote ten spaces on a new line, double space the quote and set the parenthetical citation one space after the punctuation of the quotation.
See the examples below:
Example for summarizing a work when you do not use the author's name in your summary:
According to recent studies the average American is exposed to sixteen thousand advertisements daily (Day 155).
Example for consecutive multiple citings from the same source: Advertising can be traced back to ancient Greece (10).
Example for summarizing a work when you do use the author's name in your summary:
Nancy Day takes the position that advertising has lost its effectiveness (155).
Nancy Day takes the position that advertising has lost its effectiveness (155).
Example for summarizing a work for which there is no author: The death of one prisoner and the infection of forty-five others have prompted Bangladesh officials to create a
special medical team to treat this problem ("Small Pox Fear" 46).
Example for short direct quotation of a work when you do not use the author's name in your text:
"The use of biological agents to spread disease among people is called germ warfare" (Holmes 24).
Example for short direct quotation of a work when you do use the author's name in your text: Holmes states several times that "the use of biological agents to spread disease among people is
called germ warfare" (24).
Example for a long quotation (over 4 lines):
Jodi Schneider finds reason to be optimistic:
A consortium of some of the nation’s top medical schools- including Harvard, Duke, and Stanford- are teaching complementary medicine to first-and second- year medical students, stressing therapies like acupuncture and herbal medicine. Georgetown University, which received a $1.7 million National Institute of Health grant, is teaching all first-year students basic concepts of alternative medicine, including mind-body techniques such as yoga. (70)
Some other rules for citing include
· Give an author’s first initial if there is more than one author with the same name.
· If there is more than one work by the same author, give the name and a shortened title.
· If two or more anonymous works have the same title, add a publication fact to set it apart.
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