Writing a Research Paper

Finding A Topic

List ideas of interest to you Evaluate the most interesting ones A good subject must involve research Choose one that is not well known to

you

Ask the Following Questions

Can I find enough facts about this subject? Where?

Will I be able to get the information I need in time?

Can I make this subject interesting to others?

Narrow Your Topic

How can you break it into parts? Write your focused topic in the form

of a statement.

Purpose and Audience Purpose: share what you have

learned about your topic Audience: Communicate clearly with

your audience. Consider what your audience already

knows Think about what your audience needs to

know Think about what your audience may

want to know

Research Questions

You will need to choose one question that will guide your research

Your question should ask either WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, OR HOW

Evaluate Your Sources

Primary Source: documents that contain first hand knowledge

Secondary Source: interpretations of material (summaries, etc.)

How to Search on the Internet

Use words like “and” and “not” to limit number of sites returned

Use quotation marks to see sites with the exact phrase

Evaluating Sources

Is it non-fiction? Is it current? Is it trustworthy?

Keeping Track of Sources

Keep a list while you research. Refer to page 176 in your grammar

book for proper citation method for Works Cited page.

Take Notes Do not print endless pages of useless

research. Take notes (on note cards) of all

information you might want to use. Be sure to write the source for each

set of notes and quotes Be picky…do not write down

everything you find…make sure it will help you with your paper

Sample note cards

Category Notes Page number MLA information (for works cited page)

Write Your Main Idea Statement

Also called the thesis statement Should state the topic and the most

important thing you learned about your topic

Plan Your Report

I. IntroductionII. Number your sub-topics in an outline

using roman numeralsA. List two or three kinds of information. Give each kind of information a capital letter

1. Use a number list to list all of the facts, examples, and other details from your notes.

III. Second Sub-Topic IV. Conclusion

Order of the Report

Introduction Body (at least two subtopics and

facts) Conclusion Works Cited List

The first draft

Use the first draft to review for content and organization

Make any revisions necessary

Questions for the first draft Does the introduction contain a clear main

idea statement (thesis)? Does each paragraph explain no more than

one subtopic from the outline? Does each paragraph include facts,

statistics, examples, direct quotations, or conclusions that elaborate on the subtopic?

Is there an unanswered question or final comment in the conclusion?

Does the Works Cited list include at least three sources?

Revise Your Paper

Vary sentence structure Eliminate unnecessary wordiness PROOFREAD FOR GRAMMATICAL

ERRORS