Writing the Research Paper

1
Writing the Research Paper

• Using MLA to Document the Argumentative Research
  Paper

2
Getting Started

• Finding a topic
• What makes a good research paper topic?
• Topic must be debatable. Reasonable people should
  have conflicting opinions about your topic (i.e.
  gun control, stem cell research, use of nuclear
  energy, etc)
• Choose a topic that you have an interest in
  and/or already know a bit about (this will make
  writing and researching the topic more
  enjoyable). If you already know some about your
  topic, your goal is to research the topic and
  build on the information you already know

3
How to Bring Research into Your Paper

• Why am I asking you to write a paper using
  sources?
• To gather additional or new information about
  your topic
• To discover the differences in opinions about
  your topic
• To help you discover the abundance of information
  available to you through research

4
What Are Sources?

• A source is where you found factual and reliable
  information about your topic
• Examples of the types of sources available are
• Person whom you interviewed
• Newspaper article or magazine article
• Scholarly journal article
• Book
• Website
• Television/radio program

5
What is a Citation?

• When you bring research into your writing
  (quotes, statistics, paraphrases), you must
  indicate from where you found the information,
  which includes the source (i.e. book and
  author(s)
• Giving credit (identifying where you found the
  information in your paper) is also referred to as
  citing a source.
• When you cite the source within the body of your
  paper, this is referred to as in-text citations
  or parenthetical citation because you are
  providing the bibliographic information of the
  source.

6
What to Cite in Your Research Paper

• Always cite direct quotations (this information
  must be in quotation marks)
• Always cite paraphrased information (information
  found in a source but written in your own words
  and not stated word-for-word in your paper)
• Facts and statistics (unless they are common
  knowledge and easily found in numerous sources)
• HOWEVER IF YOU ARE IN DOUBT ABOUT WHETHER TO
  CITE OR NOT, CITE THE SOURCE!

7
Direct Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing

• Direct Quoting You use an authors exact words
• Paraphrasing Putting a sources information into
  your own words and sentence structure but
  maintaining the accuracy of the sources
  information (usually is the same length as the
  original source)
• Summarizing Also written in your own words
  shorter than a paraphrase quickly sums up the
  sources information

8
What is Plagiarism?

•  As explained and defined in the MLA Handbook for
  Writers of Research Papers, Plagiarism derived
  from the Latin word plagiarius kidnapper
  and refers to a form of cheating that has been
  defined as the false assumption of authorship
  the wrongful act of taking the product of another
  persons mind, and presenting it as ones own.
• Plagiarism involves two types of wrongs using
  another persons ideas, information, or
  expressions without acknowledging that persons
  work constitutes intellectual theft and passing
  off another persons ideas, information, or
  expressions as your own to get a better grade or
  gain some other advantage constitutes fraud
  (Gibaldi 66).
• Remember that using relevant source information
  in your own writing is both academically and
  morally commendable however, it is imperative
  that you properly cite the sources information
  and give credit where credit is due. Improper
  citation may be held against you. Although you
  may not intend to plagiarize, I cannot read your
  mind. One plagiarized paragraph or sentence is
  all that an essay needs to be failed.    
• Work Cited Gibaldi, Joseph.MLA Handbook for
  Writers of Research Papers.6th ed. New York The
   Modern Language Association of America, 2003.

9
How to Avoid Plagiarism?

• Always cite material found in sources
• Direct Quotations (always use quotation marks and
  indicate sources information)
• Paraphrased information
• Summarized Information
• These are examples of subtle forms of plagiarism
• Do not be tempted to use papers found on the
  internet and submit as your own (blatant type of
  plagiarism)
• What guidelines can we use to help us avoid
  plagiarism?
• MLA Style Documentation Modern Language
  Association

10
MLA Documentation

• Two important aspects of MLA Documentation
• In-text citation (in the body of your paper)
• Works Cited Page (last page of your research
  paper that lists ALL sources used in your paper)