Writing a Research Paper

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Writing a Research Paper
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Developing a Research Plan

• Develop a research plan which includes
• Purpose
• Audience
• Tone

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Purpose

• What do you want to accomplish?
• Dual purpose
• Discover information for yourself
• Share new information with an audience
• Create a synthesis of information
• a bringing together of the pieces of
• information you uncover into a whole.

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Audience

• Write for the audience who will read your paper.
• Who is your audience?
• What is your audience looking for?
• Information
• Better understanding of the topic
• Going beyond what they already know
• Dont forget to interest your audience.
• Look for surprising details or an unusual twist
  to old information.

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Tone

• Serious not stuffy
• Think of yourself as an authority who wants to
  communicate to others.
• Sound objective
• DO NOT USE FIRST-PERSON PRONOUNS IN FORMAL
  RESEARCH

I Me My
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NO!
NO!!
NO!!!

• DO NOT USE FIRST-PERSON PRONOUNS IN FORMAL
  RESEARCH

I
I
My
Me
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Developing Research Questions

• Generate research questions by brainstorming or
  by using the following questions

These questions are initial guidelines.
Who
When
Why
How
What
Where
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Getting an Overview

• Research begins with an overview of
• your topic.

You may want to start with an encyclopedia
article or two to gain basic knowledge about your
topic.
Remember to explore both print and nonprint
sources in your library and community.
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Sources of Information

Source What To Look For
Card catalog or on-line catalog Books, recordings, audiotapes, and videotapes (Print and audiovisual listings are in separate catalogs in some libraries)
Readers Guide to Periodical Literature or an on-line index Magazine and journal articles, indexed by subject and author
Indexes to newspapers, essays, and articles Articles from major newspapers, such as The New York Times possibly local newspapers (Newspapers are frequently on microfilm).
Library
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Sources of Information
Specialized Reference Books Encyclopedias of special subjects, such as the Reference Encyclopedia of the American Indian almanacs atlases biographical references like Current Biography.
Vertical file Pamphlets and clippings, often on subjects of local interest, arranged by subject.
Microfilm or microfiche Indexes to major newspapers, back issues of some newspapers and magazines
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Sources of Information

Colleges, historical societies, museums Libraries, exhibits, experts, special collections, records
Local, state, and federal offices Statistics, politicians voting records, recent or pending legislation, surveys, reports, pamphlets, experts
Newspaper Offices Clippings, files on local events and history (Call to see if research is permitted
Community
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Evaluating Sources of Information

• You can tell whether a source will be useful or
  not by applying the 4R test.

Relevant
Representative
Recent
Reliable
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Relevant

• The source must contain information directly
  related to your topic.

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Recent

• Always use sources that are as current as
  possible.

• Even for a topic that doesnt rely on data
• and experiments, you should read the most
• recent publications about it because they
• will often show you which older sources of
• information are still important.

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Reliable

• The source must be accurate.

If in doubt about a source, consult A
librarian An expert Look for the authors
most quoted on the topic or listed in
the bibliographies of other sources.
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Representative

• If there are two opposing viewpoints on your
  topic, you need to look at sources with
  information and opinions on both sides of the
  issue.

• As a researcher, you must examine and present all
  relevant information, even if you finally draw a
  conclusion that one sides position is stronger.

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Using Primary and Secondary Sources

• A primary source is firsthand, original
  information.

Remember Reliable and Representative
May be Letter Speech Literary work Eyewitness
testimony Personal remembrance Autobiography Histo
rical document Information gathered from
firsthand interviews Surveys
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Using Primary and Secondary Sources

• A secondary source contains secondhand or
  indirect information, but that does not mean such
  sources are unimportant.

Secondary Sources Encyclopedia
entries Experts opinion Magazine
article Biography
Remember Reliable and Representative
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Listing Sources of Information

• In the Works Cited list at the end of your
  report, you will provide full information about
  every source you used

• in a very precise format.

• Always carefully record information about
• sources

as you use them.
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Source Cards (10)
1
Smith, Michael. Monkeys. New York
Wesson, 1999.

• 3 x 5 cards are
• Easy to handle
• Easy to add to
• Easy to sort into alphabetical order for the
  Works Cited list
• Time saving at the end of the paper when you must
  type the Works Cited list.

WMHS839.5 Sm
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Guidelines for Source Cards

• Number your sources.
• To save time during note taking, assign a number
  to each source. Then you can write the number,
  rather than author and title, when you are taking
  notes.

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Guidelines for Source Cards

• Record all publishing information.
• Take down everything you might need
• Title and subtitle
• Editor or translator
• Volume number
• Original publication year
• Revised edition year

• You may end up with more than you need,
• but you wont have to backtrack for a tiny
• piece of missing information.

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Guidelines for Source Cards

• Note the call number or location.
• This information will save you time if you must
  go back to a source later.

485.26 Sm
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Sample Source Card

Author Last Name, First Name. Title
(underlined). City Publisher, Date.
Call Number
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Reminder

• Create a list of questions to guide your research
• Gain a quick overview of your topic from general
  reference sources
• Find specific information sources in the library
  or community
• Use the 4R test to evaluate the sources
• Record all publishing information about your
  sources on index cards

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Prewriting
Researching Your Topic
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Taking Notes

• The diligent search for specific information is
  often the major part of a research project.

• The time you spend finding the facts, examples,
  opinions, and quotations you need to produce a
  strong and convincing report will be time well
  spent provided you take good notes.

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Taking Notes

• Careful note taking is vital to a good paper.
• Take notes thoughtfully, but sparingly you
  cant write down everything.
• Referring to your research questions will keep
  you focused on needed information.
• Use 3 x 5 or 4 x 6 cards so that you have
  ample space but can also easily sort information
  later.
• Youll take two main kinds of notes
• Summaries or paraphrases
• Direct quotations

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Summaries

• A summary is a very brief statement,

in your own words,
of a sources main ideas.
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Paraphrases

• A paraphrase is a restatement that retains more
  details.

• Often youll want to note important details
• such as names, places, dates, and
• statistics theyre necessary and effective
  in
• a good report.

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Summaries and Paraphrases

• For note-taking purposes, summaries and
  paraphrases dont have to be written in complete
  sentences.

• You save space and time by using abbreviations,
  phrases, lists, and sentence fragments.

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Direct Quotations
CITE
CITE
CITE

• Use a direct quotation only when an idea is
  particularly well phrased or intriguing, or when
  you want to be sure of technical accuracy.
• When writing write down a direct quotation, copy
  each word and punctuation mark carefully.
• Always enclose direct quotes in quotation marks
  on your note card (even if you expect to
  paraphrase them later) so that when you write
  your report, youll remember that these words are
  the authors, not your own.

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Guidelines for Note Cards

• Use a separate note card for each source and for
  each main idea.
• If a card has information from two sources or
  unconnected items, you will have trouble sorting
  and grouping the notes later.

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Guidelines for Note Cards

• Write the source number in the upper right-hand
  corner and the page numbers(s) at the bottom of
  the note.
• Both numbers are essential for correct
  documentation.
• The number you have assigned to the source is
  your key to all publication data on the source
  card.
• And if you use the notes information, you will
  have to supply the page number(s) in your paper.

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Guidelines for Note Cards

• Write a label showing the main idea at the top of
  the card.
• The labels will let you see content at a glance
• Number the note card by the source card number

GANGS IN OLIVER TWIST
4
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Guidelines for Note Cards

• Reread the note to make sure you understand it.
• Abbreviations and other shortcuts are fine, but
  be sure you can translate them.

• Check for clarity now - not later, when youre
  trying to draft.

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Writing a Thesis Statement

• Your thesis statement is a sentence or two
  telling the main idea of your paper.
• Writing a thesis statement is an act of
  synthesis, reviewing and pulling together all
  your information to say what the paper is about.
• A thesis statement guides you as you write by
  helping you focus on information that should
  directly support or develop the thesis.
• A thesis statement at the beginning
• of your writing is preliminary It may
• change as you draft and revise the
• paper.

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Making an Outline
I. A. 1. a. i.

• Note cards actually help accomplish your main
  tasks of grouping and ordering.
• The labels on your note cards allow you to sort
  notes into stacks by main ideas.
• You can go through each stack, deciding which
  ideas to use or set aside, whether substacks
  are possible, and what order will present the
  information clearly.
• Cards make arranging and rearranging information
  easier.

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Making an Outline

• It also helps to make an outline on paper so that
  you have an overview of your writing plan.
• You can make an informal outline for planning
  but after your paper is complete, you must make a
  final outline.
• This final formal outline must follow the
  standard outline format.

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Writing Your First Draft

Formal Outline Formal Outline contains the final content of the report
Title The title of the report, sometimes on a separate page, can be interesting but should also communicate the topic.
Introduction The introduction captures the readers attention and curiosity.
Thesis Statement A statement of the main idea appears early in the report, usually in the introduction. Its wording may not be the same as the preliminary thesis statement.
Elements of a Research Report
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Writing Your First Draft

Body The body paragraphs develop the main ideas supporting the thesis statement.
Conclusion The conclusion brings the paper to a convincing end, usually by restating or summarizing the main idea.
Works Cited List This list appears on a separate page (or pages) at the end of the report. It provides complete publication information for each source in the report.
Elements of a Research Report
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Guidelines for Using Quotations

• Quote one or more whole sentences, introducing
  them in your own words
• EXAMPLE Chief Lyons commented, But
• America got it from the
• Indians. America got the
• ideas of democracy and
• freedom and peace here.

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Guidelines for Using Quotations

• Quote part of a sentence within a sentence of
  your own.
• EXAMPLE Bruce E. Johansen explains
• that the Great Law spelled
  out a
• complex system of checks and
  
• balances (Forgotten 24).

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Guidelines for Using Quotations

• Quote only a few words (or even just one word)
  within a sentence of your own.
• EXAMPLE These historians do not believe
• the writers of the
  Constitution
• tried to copy the Great
  Law
• (Johansen, Letter).

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Guidelines for Using Quotations

• Use ellipsis points (three spaced periods) to
  show youve omitted words from a quotation. You
  may want to alter a quotation to shorten it or
  make it fit grammatically into your text. If so,
  you must use ellipsis points for words deleted
  within a sentence or for any deletion that makes
  a partial sentence from the source appear to be
  a complete sentence.

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• EXAMPLE Johansen explains that The
• retention of internal
  sovereignty
• within the individual
• coloniesclosely resembled
• the Iroquoian system
• (Forgotten 71-72).

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Guidelines for Using Quotations

• Set off longer quotations as blocks. For
  quotations of four lines or more, start a new
  line, indent the entire quotation ten spaces
  from the left margin, continue to double-space

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Documenting Sources

• Do credit the source of each quotation (unless
  its very widely known, such as George Bushs
  Read my lips).
• Do credit the source of information from
  scientific studies, surveys, and polls and other
  sources of unique or little-known information.
  (Doing so also lends credibility to sources of
  information unfamiliar to your audience. You
  want your audience to accept the information you
  present.)

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Documenting Sources

• Do credit any original theory, opinion, or
  conclusion. You must not present another
  persons ideas as your own, even if you are
  paraphrasing them (Thats plagiarism).
• Dont credit facts that appear in standard
  reference works or several sources. For example,
  the names of the nations in the Iroquois League
  are given in most encyclopedias and do not need
  documentation.

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Documenting Sources

• Dont credit common, or general, knowledge. For
  example, you dont have to document the fact that
  oil spills damage the environment or that
  Washington, D.C., does not have Congressional
  representatives.

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DO NOT PLAGIARIZE that means a zero!!!

• If you use someone elses words or ideas without
  giving proper credit, youre guilty of
• plagiarism.
• Plagiarism is a serious offense and you will fail
  this paper and receive all the consequences that
  go with plagiarizing.
• Be scrupulous about crediting not only direct
  quotations but also restatements of the original
  ideas of others. Dont use another persons
  phrases or exact sentence structure unless you
  enclose the material in quotation marks.
• When in doubt about plagiarism, give credit.

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Parenthetical Citations

• The purpose of a parenthetical citation is to
  give the reader just enough information to find
  the full source listing on the Works Cited page.
  
• Often the authors last name and the page numbers
  are all that is needed, but here are some
  exceptions to the rule.

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These examples assume that the author or work
has not been named in introducing the source
information.
Basic Content and Form of Parenthetical Citations
Works by one author Authors last name and a page reference (Farb 97)
Works by more than one author All authors last names (or first author and et al. if over three) and a page reference (Richter and Merrill 78) (Spencer et al. 384)
Multivolume works Authors last name plus volume and page(s) (Prucha 2 115-116)
Works with a title only Full title (if short) or a shortened version and a page reference (World Almanac 394) (Iroquois League 5)
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Basic Content and Form of Parenthetical Citations
These examples assume that the author or work has
not been named in introducing the source
information.
Literary works published in many editions author and title above, but with other identifying information, such as act, scene, and line numbers (Shakespeare, Tempest III. 2. 51-52)
Indirect sources Qtd. In (quoted in) before the source and a page reference (qtd. in Newman 17)
More than one work citations, with page numbers, separated by semicolons (Bjorklunc 57 Moquin 20)
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Placement of Citations

• Put the citation close to the information it
  documents, but try not to interrupt sentences.
  Place it at the end of a sentence or at another
  point of punctuation.

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Placement of Citations

• Place the citation before the punctuation mark of
  the sentence, clause, or phrase youre
  documenting.
• EXAMPLE The League was a strong
• confederation of nations
  that
• were related by language
• and culture but had a
  history
• of being separate and
• quarrelsome (Jennings
  362-63).

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Placement of Citations

• For a direct quotation that ends a sentence,
  place the citation after the quotation mark but
  before the end punctuation mark.
• EXAMPLE The Onondagas were the
• firekeepers (Johansen 24).

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Placement of Citations

• For an indented quotation, place the citation two
  spaces after the final punctuation mark.
• EXAMPLE Iroquois Confederacy as
• were many of the
• democratic principles
• which were incorporated
• into the Constitution
  itself.
• (United States)

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Listing Works Cited

• The list of Works Cited contains all the sources
  that you cite in your paper.
• Works Cited is a broader term than Bibliography,
  which refers only to printed information.
• Dont include in the list sources that you looked
  at but did not refer to.

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Guidelines for Preparing the Works Cited List

• Center the heading Works Cited on a separate page
  from your report.
• Begin each entry on a separate line. Start the
  first line of the entry at the left margin. Then
  indent the second and subsequent lines five
  spaces. Single space entries and use
  double-spacing between entries.
• Alphabetize the sources by the authors last
  names. If a source has no author, alphabetize it
  by the first word of the title, ignoring an
  initial A, An, or The.
• If you list two or more sources by the same
  author, put the authors name only in the first
  entry. For subsequent entries, put three hyphens
  where the authors name would be, followed by a
  period (---.).

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Sample Entries for List of Works Cited

• These sample entries, which use MLA style, are a
  reference for preparing your Works Cited list.
  Notice that you include page numbers only for
  articles in periodicals or for other works that
  are part of a whole work, such as one essay in a
  book of essays.

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Sample Entries for List of Works Cited

• ENCYCLOPEDIA ARTICLE
• Smith, Whitney. Great Seal of the United
  States. Encyclopedia Amaericana. 1990 ed.
• Iroquois League. New Encyclopedia Britannica
  Micropedia. 1990 ed.

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• ARTICLE IN A BIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCE BOOK
• Amacher, Richard E. Benjamin Franklin.
  Dictionary of Literary Biography. Ed. Emory
  Elliott. Vol. 24. Detroit Gale, 1984. 125-47.

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BOOKS Use shortened forms of publishers names.
For the words University and Press use U and P.

• ONE AUTHOR
• Graymont, Barbara. The Iroquois in the American
  Revolution. Syracuse Syracuse UP, 1972.

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• TWO AUTHORS
• Deloria, Vine, Jr., and Clifford M. Lytle. The
  Nations Within The Past and Future of American
  Indian Sovereinty. New York Pantheon, 1984.

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• THREE AUTHORS
• Gosnell, Cullen B., Lane W. Lancaster, and Robert
  S. Rankin. Fundamentals of American Government
  National, State, and Local. New York McGraw,
  1957.

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• FOUR OR MORE AUTHORS
• Spencer, Robert F., et al. The Native Americans.
  New York Harper, 1977.

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• NO AUTHOR SHOWN
• Report on Indian Education. Washington
  American Indian Policy Review Commission, Task
  Force Five, 1976.

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• EDITOR OF A COLLECTION OF WRITINGS
• Tooker, Elisabeth, ed. An Iroquois Sourcebook
  Political and Social Organization. New York
  Garland, 1985.

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• TWO OR THREE EDITORS
• Foster, Michael, Jack Campisi, and Marianne
  Mithun, eds. Extending the Rafters
  Interdisciplinary Approaches to Iroquoian
  Studies. Albany State U of New York P, 1984.

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• TRANSLATOR
• Chateaubriand, Francois Rene de. Travels in
  America. Richard Switzer. Lexington U of
  Kentucky P, 1969.

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Selections Within Books

• FROM A BOOK OF WORKS BY ONE AUTHOR
• Wilson, Edmund. The Seneca Republic.
  Apologies to the Iroquois. New york Vintage,
  1959. 169-97.

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• FROM A BOOK OF WORKS BY SEVERAL AUTHORS
• Hallowell, A. Irving. The Backwash of the
  Frontier The Impact of the American Indian on
  American Culture. The Frontier in Perspective.
  Ed. Walker D. Wyman and Clifton B. Kroeber.
  Madison U of Wisconsin P, 1967. 231-58.

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• FROM A COLLECTION OF LONGER WORKS (NOVELS, PLAYS)
• Duberman, Martin. The Colonial Dudes. The Best
  Short Plays 1973. Ed. Stanley Richards. Radnor
  Chilton, 1973, 291-317.
• (The Colonial Dudes is a play included in The
  Best Short Plays 1973.)

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Articles from Magazines, Newspapers, and Journals

• FROM A WEEKLY MAGAZINE
• Adler, Jerry. The Genius of the People.
  Newsweek 25 May 1987 46-47.

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• FROM A MONTHLY OR QUARTERLY MAGAZINE
• Zobel, Hiller B. How History Made the
  Constitution. American Heritage Mar. 1988
  54.
• (The sign means the article isnt on
  consecutive pages.)

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• NO AUTHOR SHOWN
• Revenge of the Senecas. Time 2 July 1990 27.

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• FROM A SCHOLARLY JOURNAL
• Day, Gordon M. Iroquois An Etymology.
  Ethnohistory 16 (1968) 389-402.

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• FROM A DAILY NEWSPAPER, WITH A BYLINE (LINE
  IDENTIFYING THE WRITER)
• Grimes, William. The Indian Museums Last
  Stand. New York Times 27 Nov. 1988, sec. 6 46

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• FROM A DAILY NEWSPAPER, WITHOUT A BYLINE
• Iroquois Constitution A Forerunner to
  Colonists Democratic Principles. New York
  Times 28 June 1987, sec 140.

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• UNSIGNED EDITORIAL FROM A DAILY NEWSPAPER, NO
  CITY IN PAPERS TITLE
• Supreme Injustice. Editorial. Star-Ledger
  (Neward, NJ) 6 Oct. 1991 17.

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OTHER SOURCES

• PERSONAL INTERVIEW
• Whitecrow,Gloria. Personal interview. 15 Aug.
  1991.

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• TELEPHONE INTERVIEW
• Hauptman, Laurence M. Telephone interview. 5
  Oct. 1991.

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• PUBLISHED INTERVIEW WITH TITLE
• Johnson, Elias. K Origin of the Five Nations.
  Cry of the Thunderbird The American Indians
  Own Story. Ed. Charles Hamilton. Norman U of
  Oklahoma P, 1972

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• RADIO OR TELEVISION INTERVIEW WITH TITLE
• Lyons, Oren. Oren Lyons The Faithkeeper. By
  Bill Moyers. Public Affairs Television. WNET,
  Newark. 3 July 1991.

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• UNPUBLISHED LETTER
• Franklin, Benjamin. Letter to Court de Bouffon.
  19 Nov. 1787. Library of Congress, Manuscript
  Division, Washington.

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• UNPUBLISHED THESIS OR DISSERTATION
• Richards, Cara E. The Role of Iroquois Women
  A Study of the Onondaga Reservation. Diss.
  Cornell U, 1957.

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• CARTOON
• Wilson, Gahan. Cartoon. Gahan Wilsons America.
  New ork Simon and Schuster, 1985. 32.

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• SPEECH OR LECTURE
• Prucha, Francis Paul. The Indians in American
  Society Self-Determination. Thomas I. Gasson
  Lecture. Boston College, 13 Mar. 1985.

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• RECORDING
• Sainte-Marie, Buffy. Native North American
  Child. Native North American Child An
  Odyssey. Vanguard, VSD 29340, 1974.

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• FILM, FILMSTRIP, OR VIDEOTAPE
• Drums Along the Mohawk. Dir. John Ford. With
  Claudette Cobert, Henry Fonda, Edna May Oliver,
  and John Carradine. Twentieth Century Fox, 1939.
• (The title, director, distributor, and year are
  standard information. You may add other
  information, such as performers.)

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• TELEVISION OR RADIO PROGRAM
• Benjamin Franklin Alive. With Bill Meikle. PBS.
  WGBH, Boston. 19 Sept. 1988.

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• A web site
• Author(s). Name of Page. Date of
  Posting/Revision. Name of institution/organization
  affiliated with the site. Date of Access
  ltelectronic addressgt.
• It is necessary to list your date of access
  because web postings are often updated, and
  information available at one date may no longer
  be available later. Be sure to include the
  complete address for the site. Also, note the use
  of angled brackets around the electronic address
  MLA requires them for clarity.

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• Web site examples
• Felluga, Dino. Undergraduate Guide to Literary
  Theory. 17 Dec. 1999. Purdue University. 15 Nov.
  2000 lthttp//omni.cc.purdue.edu7Efelluga/theory2.
  htmlgt. Purdue Online Writing Lab. 2003. Purdue
  University. 10 Feb. 2003 lthttp//owl.english.purdu
  e.edugt.

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• An article on a web site
• It is necessary to list your date of access
  because web postings are often updated, and
  information available at one date may no longer
  be available later. Be sure to include the
  complete address for the site. Also, note the use
  of angled brackets around the electronic address
  MLA requires them for clarity.
• Author(s)."Article Title." Name of web site. Date
  of posting/revision. Name of institution/organizat
  ion affiliated with site. Date of access
  ltelectronic addressgt.

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• Article on a web site
• Poland, Dave. "The Hot Button." Roughcut. 26 Oct.
  1998. Turner Network Television. 28 Oct. 1998
  lthttp//www.roughcut.comgt.
• "Using Modern Language Association (MLA) Format."
  Purdue Online Writing Lab. 2003. Purdue
  University. 6 Feb. 2003 lthttp//owl.english.purdue
  .eduhandouts/research/r_mla.htmlgt.

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• An article in an online journal or magazine
• Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Journal
  Volume. Issue (Year) Pages/Paragraphs. Date of
  Access ltelectronic addressgt.
• Some electronic journals and magazines provide
  paragraph or page numbers include them if
  available. This format is also appropriate to
  online magazines as with a print version, you
  should provide a complete publication date rather
  than volume and issue number.

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• Online journal article
• Wheelis, Mark. "Investigating Disease Outbreaks
  Under a Protocol to the Biological and Toxin
  Weapons Convention." Emerging Infectious Diseases
  6.6 (2000) 33 pars. 5 Dec. 2000
  lthttp//www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol6no6/wheelis.htm
  gt.

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• An Online Image or Series of Images
• Artist if available. "Description or title of
  image." Date of image. Online image. Title of
  larger site. Date of download. ltelectronic
  addressgt.
• Smith, Greg. "Rhesus Monkeys in the Zoo." No
  date. Online image. Monkey Picture Gallery. 3 May
  2003. lthttp//monkeys.online.org/rhesus.jpggt.

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• E-mail (or other personal communications)
• Author. "Title of the message (if any)" E-mail to
  person's name. Date of the message.
• This same format may be used for personal
  interviews or personal letters. These do not have
  titles, and the description should be
  appropriate. Instead of "Email to John Smith,"
  you would have "Personal interview."

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• E-mail to you
• Kunka, Andrew. "Re Modernist Literature." E-mail
  to the author. 15 Nov. 2000.

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• Email communication between two parties, not
  including the author
• Neyhart, David. "Re Online Tutoring." E-mail to
  Joe Barbato. 1 Dec. 2000.

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• A listserv posting
• Author. "Title of Posting." Online posting. Date
  when material was posted (for example 18 Mar.
  1998). Name of listserv. Date of access
  ltelectronic address for retrievalgt.

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• Online Posting
• Karper, Erin. "Welcome!" Online posting. 23 Oct.
  2000. Professional Writing Bulletin Board. 12
  Nov. 2000 lthttp//linnell.english.purdue.edu/ubb/F
  orum2/HTML/000001.htmlgt.

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• An article or publication retrieved from an
  electronic database
• If you're citing an article or a publication that
  was originally issued in print form but that you
  retrieved from an online database that your
  library subscribes to, you should provide enough
  information so that the reader can locate the
  article either in its original print form or
  retrieve it from the online database (if they
  have access).
• Provide the following information in your
  citation
• Author's name (if not available, use the article
  title as the first part of the citation)
• Article Title
• Publication Name
• Publication Date
• Page Number/Range
• Database Name
• Service Name

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• Name of the library where service was accessed
• Name of the town/city where service was accessed
• Date of Access
• URL of the service (but not the whole URL for the
  article, since those are very long and won't be
  able to be re-used by someone trying to retrieve
  the information)
• The generic citation form would look like this
• Author. "Title of Article." Publication Name
  Volume Number (if necessary) Publication Date
  page number-page number. Database name. Service
  name. Library Name, City, State. Date of access
  ltelectronic address of the databasegt.
• Here's an example
• Smith, Martin. "World Domination for Dummies."
  Journal of Despotry Feb. 2000 66-72. Expanded
  Academic ASAP. Gale Group Databases. Purdue
  University Libraries, West Lafayette, IN. 19
  February 2003 lthttp//www.infotrac.galegroup.comgt.
  

108

• Article in a reference database on CD-ROM
• "World War II." Encarta. CD-ROM. Seattle
  Microsoft, 1999.

109

• Article from a periodically published database on
  CD-ROM
• Reed, William. "Whites and the Entertainment
  Industry." Tennessee Tribune 25 Dec. 1996 28.
  Ethnic NewsWatch. CD-ROM. Data Technologies. Feb.
  1997.

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Evaluating and Revising Research Reports

• Does a thesis statement appear early in the
  report?
• Is the report developed with sufficient sources
  that are relevant, reliable, recent, and
  representative?
• Is the report clear, interesting, and suitable
  for its audience?
• Is the tone of the report appropriate?
• Are ideas and information stated mainly in the
  writers own words?
• Does all the information relate directly to the
  topic and thesis?
• Has proper credit been given for each source of
  information?
• Does documentation follow the MLA style?

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• http//owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_
  mla.htmlother
• Elements of Writing.