The Research Paper
For many,
writing a research paper can be a daunting task. Quite honestly conducting research and
incorporating the ideas you found in your research into a well developed and
organized paper can be a long and complicated process. However, there are shortcuts you can take in
this process. Specifically, you can save
much time and energy if you know where to find sources of information and how
to use them.
Because research
is often time-consuming, you want to find information quickly, so you should
consider using an appropriate search strategy.
To determine the most effective search strategy for your research paper,
look closely at your topic. Your topic
will determine, for example, if you will find the most valid and useful
information in textbooks, current magazines, scholarly journals, field research
including interviews and surveys, or the internet. Consider the following sources:
·
DATABASES
– Electronic databases,
which you can access at your library, will offer access to articles in
newspapers, magazines, and scholarly journals.
Two database venders available to you at DMC are InfoTrac
and EBSCOhost.
Within these venders, you may access useful databases including MLA,
ERIC, and Academic Search Premier.
·
PRINT
INDEXES – These guides
provide information on articles in journals, magazines, and newspapers. They are excellent sources if you want to
search for articles published before the 1980s.
Two widely used print indexes include Readers’ Guide to Periodical
Literature and Poole’s Index to Periodical Literature.
·
THE
LIBRARY’S CATALOG – DMCNet is
·
THE
WEB – This popular
research source contains vast amounts of information that you may not be able
to access anywhere else. However, you
must determine if an internet source you accessed is legitimate and can serve
as a valid source for your research paper.
A Working
Bibliography
As you gather
information, record all bibliographic information for each source you use for
your paper. This information is usually
accessible from the library’s computer catalog, periodical databases, and the
Web. In addition, recording this
information is necessary because it is included in your final text and Works
Cited page of your research paper. The
list of possible sources you draw up as you begin your search is your working
bibliography. You add to the working
bibliography during the course of your project as you discover additional sources,
and you subtract from it as some sources on the list turn out not to be
helpful.
Note Taking
and Plagiarism
Once you have
decided which sources you will be using for your paper, you may begin taking
notes. You must document any ideas
borrowed from a source. The only
exception is common knowledge—these are ideas that your readers could find in
any number of general sources because they are commonly known. For all information borrowed from a source,
you may present the information in one of four ways: recording facts, summarizing, paraphrasing,
or directly quoting information. Recording
facts includes borrowing pieces of information like dates, names, figures,
and examples. Summarizing is a
note taking method that allows you to record general ideas of large amounts of
material. For example, you could reduce
a chapter of information into a paragraph in your essay or a paragraph into a
sentence. A paraphrase records
detailed notes on specific sentences and passages, but not exact wording. You should restate the material in your own
words. A direct quotation
presents a sentence or passage in its original form. This seems to be the most preferred choice of
note taking or presenting ideas in a research paper, but it is not always the
most effective way to present ideas.
MLA Format
There is a
specific format that you must use when introducing borrowed information fro ma
source into your paper. MLA (Modern
Language Association) recommends the following system:
1.
Borrowed
information is introduced by the author of that source information.
- The borrowed information is followed
by the source’s page number in parenthesis.
3. A Works Cited page at the end of your
research paper includes a list of sources from
which you
borrowed information.
Look at the
in-text citation and corresponding Works Cited entry below.
In-text
Citation
According to Donald Redelmeider and Robert Tibshirani, “The use of
cellular phones in
motor vehicles is associated with a
quadrupling of the risk of a collision during the brief period of a call”
(453).
Entry in the
List of Works Cited
Redelmeider, Donald A., and Robert J. Tibshirani. “Association between Cellular-Telephone
Calls and Motor Vehicle Collisions.”
453-58.
PLAGIARISM
Be careful not
to borrow too much language from a source and risk committing plagiarism. Plagiarism is the presentation of someone
else’s ideas or thoughts as your own. It
is a serious academic offense and includes the following acts: failing to cite
quotations and borrowed ideas, failing to enclose borrowed language in
quotation marks, and failing to put summaries and paraphrases in your own
words. Below are examples of how to
correctly borrow information from one source and present it in your research
paper. Look closely at the following
texts taken from original sources. Pay
close attention to how the original words are incorrectly integrated into the
plagiarized examples.
Original
Source
Future cars will provide drivers with concierge services,
web-based information, on-line
email capabilities, CD-ROM access, on-screen
and audio navigation technology, and a variety of other information and
entertainment services.
-Matt
Sundeen, “Cell Phones and Highway Safety:
2000 State Legislative Update,” p. 1
Plagiarism
Matt Sundeen points out that in
cars of the future drivers will have concierge services,
web-based information, on-line email capabilities,
CD-ROM access, on-screen and audio navigation technology, and a variety of other
information and entertainment services (1).
Borrowed
Language in Quotation Marks (Correct Format)
Matt Sundeen points out that in
cars of the future drivers will have “concierge services,
web-based
information, on-line email capabilities, CD-ROM access, on-screen and audio
navigation technology, and a variety of other information and entertainment
services” (1).
Original
Source
The automotive industry has not shown good judgment in
designing automotive features
that distract drivers. A
classic example is the use of a touch-sensitive screen to replace all the
controls for the radios, tape/CD players, and heating/cooling. Although an interesting technology, such
devices require that the driver take his eyes off the road.
-Tom
Magliozzi and Ray Magliozzi,
Letter to a
Plagiarism: Unacceptable Borrowing
Radio show hosts Tom and Ray Magliozzi argue that the automotive
industry has not
demonstrated good judgment on devising car features
that distract drivers. One feature
is a touch-sensitive screen that replaces controls for radios,
tape/CD players, and heating/cooling.
Although the technology is interesting, such devices require that
a driver look away from the road (3).
Acceptable
Paraphrase
Radio
show hosts Tom and Ray Magliozzi claim that motor vehicle manufacturers do not
always design features with safety in mind.
For example, when designers replaced radio, CD player, and temperature
control knobs with touch-sensitive panels, they were forgetting one thing: to
use the panels, drivers would have to take their eyes off the road (3).
DUMPED
QUOTATIONS
In addition to
correctly following MLA format when you are borrowing information from one
source and presenting this information in your paper, you also have to make
sure that you integrate these ideas coherently.
Keep in mind that the borrowed information, as it appears in the article
you borrowed, makes sense in that context.
However, as you pull it out of its original context and place it into
the context of your paper, it must make sense in this new context. It is your responsibility, as the writer of
your research paper, to integrate this borrowed information effectively. Avoid dumped quotations by using an
introductory or signal phrase that provides the reader with some insight into
why or how you want to present that information. In other words, is the borrowed information
being used as a concrete example, or used to draw a conclusion, or used to refute
and argument? Use the appropriate phrase
for your purpose. Sometimes, it is
sufficient to simply use the author’s name to introduce that information into
your paper.
Dumped
Quotation
In
2000, the legislature of
Quotation
with Signal Phrase
In
2000, the legislature of
Using sources is
only one part of demanding process of writing a research paper. Use the MLA Guide for Writers of Research
Papers to ensure that your in-text format and your manuscript are correct. Use your English handbook as a reference for
other details regarding your research paper.
Some information
in this handout is taken from Diana Hacker’s Rules for Writers, 5th
edition.