Start
early
Begin working on your essay as soon
as the assignment is given. Take advantage of the time at your disposal to do
your research and writing to meet the due date. If you wait until the last
minute, you may have difficulty finding library materials, particularly if
other students are researching the same topic, and you may be pressured by
other assignments.
Select a topic
Keeping in mind the guidelines your
instructor has set down for the assignment in terms of length, subject matter,
types of sources, etc., choose a topic you would be interested in pursuing.
Your next step is to verify at the library that thereis sufficient material to
support your choice. If not, discard your topic and adopt a more realistic one.
Narrow the topic
Do not fall into the trap of
selecting a topic that is so broad you would have to write a book to do it justice.
Limit your topic to one particular aspect that you will be able to treat
thoroughly within the prescribed limits of your essay. Background reading in a
general or specialized encyclopedia will give you a clue as to the subject's
natural limits and divisions. A librarian can direct you to the encyclopedia
that will be appropriate to your particular needs. You can also consult Research
Guides by Subject.
Compose a tentative outline
Roughly organize your thoughts to
produce an outline that will give direction to your reading and note-taking.
Gather supporting material
Take advantage of the Libraries'
varied resources:
- Check CLUES, the library catalogue, for books, government publications, or videos on your topic.
- Consult the databases to locate articles from scholarly journals, newspapers and other sources.
- Request the advice of your instructor or a librarian who may be able to direct you to other sources pertinent to your subject area.
For each source that you have
consulted, be sure you have all the information necessary to cite it in your
bibliography. Accuracy at this stage will save you the trouble of having to
re-trace your steps when you are writing your final draft. For a book, mark
down the author, title, place of publication, publisher and copyright date. For
an article from a journal, take note of the author, title of the article, title
of the journal, volume and issue number, date and inclusive page numbers. For a
Web document, take down the author, title, date, URL (Web address) and date
consulted.
Draft a final outline
Map out your approach by composing a
detailed sentence outline. First, compose a thesis statement. This one sentence
statement is the most important one of your entire research paper so be sure to
phrase it carefully. A thesis statement clearly communicates the subject of
your paper and the approach you are going to take. It is the controlling factor
to which all information that follows must relate. Secondly, group and regroup
your notes according to the various aspects of your topic until you find a
sequence that seems logical. This can serve as the basis for your outline.
Write a rough draft
In writing a rough draft you are
striving for a flow of ideas. Write using your final outline and organized
notes as guides. Do not worry about correct spelling or punctuation at this
stage. Remember that the purpose of a rough draft is to see if you have a
logical progression of arguments and sufficient supporting material.
Revise the rough draft
Make the necessary adjustments until
you are satisfied your statements flow logically and your ideas have been fully
presented in clear, concise prose. You may need to review your documentation if
some sections of your text need further development.
Compile your bibliography
A bibliography is a listing in
alphabetical order according to the author's last name of all the sources you
consulted in preparing your research paper. It is presented on a separate page
at the end and is set up according to a standard format that you will find
described in most style manuals. Examples of the most commonly used citation
styles (APA, MLA, Chicago) are available. RefWorks is a Web-based tool that helps organize
the references you find and automatically prepares a bibliography .
Proofread
You are now ready to focus primarily
on the style of your essay rather than the content. Make use of:
- a dictionary or spellcheck for correct spelling
- a thesaurus for synonyms
- a grammar book
- a style manual for the mechanics of citing references
Representing another person's ideas
as your own within the context of your essay is plagiarism. In most
universities, serious penalties are exercised against students who plagiarize,
not the least of which can include failure of the course for which the essay
was submitted. Play it safe - acknowledge any use of another person's ideas,
whether the information is quoted directly, paraphrased, or summarized. The
correct procedure for referencing is described in most style manuals (see also
the citation style sheets and guides on avoiding plagiarism).
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