Hints for Writing a Research Paper
The following suggestions and guidelines should make your work easier:
1. Choose a topic and identify sources: Begin by identifying a question that you want to answer. This is a crucial part of your work, and may be more difficult than you think. Make sure your topic is not too broad; it if is, you'll have too much literature to cover adequately in 15 pages (or for that matter, in one semester). Before settling on a topic, make sure you can get adequate information. Use UVM library databases to find information. Do not start with Google. Google will miss important work that's not on the web, and will give you lots of junk that's not peer-reviewed.
2. Stick to SERIOUS PEER REVIEWED RESEARCH. Stay away from mass market books, anecdotal essays, Time magazine articles, and the like. If you are uncertain about the "scholarly-ness" of a book or article, check with me. Watch out for web sites; wikipedia can help you find peer reviewed research, but it is not itself peer reviewed and does not count as a scholarly source.
3. Sources: Before heading to the library, it's a good idea to begin by carefully reviewing the footnotes and bibliographies of the articles in the course materials for potential sources and leads to sources. Only then will you be ready to head to the library for some sleuthing in the stacks and indexes.
4. Your research should be complete. It should address the bulk of the important research related to your topic, not just the articles and books you happen to find on your first or second pass through the library. Remember that UVM’s library, like most libraries these days, is far from complete. Good research does not involve finding whatever happens to be in the library; it involves finding everything relevant to your topic that has been published. A paper that uses seven articles for a topic for which there are twenty important studies is inadequate. Be prepared to have to recall books taken out by others or even to use interlibrary loan -- and this means getting started on your research early in the semester.
5. Questions, Issues, Relevance: Once you've identified your topic and found the relevant publications, figure out the general questions and/or issues. Why is this question important and interesting? Are there scientific, philosophical, social, or political issues at stake? What are the different points of view on the matter? What are the strengths and weaknesses of each?
6. Theoretical Issues: Next, discern the methods, theories, and approaches to the question. What assumptions about society, science, etc. are being taken-for-granted here? Which ones are being questioned? Which are valid, and which questionable? Where do the authors of the scholarship you're looking at stand on these issues? Where do you stand?
7. Describe the Phenomenon and the Relevant Questions and/or Controversies: Only when you've clearly identified the questions, theories, and methods important to your topic can you go on to describe the important writings, their approaches and theoretical frameworks. Be sure to synthesize the material, and use your own words. Don't just copy what you find in articles and/or books.
8. Proper Documentation: Your sources must be fully documented using a standard system of reference. If you're not absolutely sure about how to do this, see me right away. Please remember that you need to provide references for ALL material you find in other sources even when you use your own words (NOT just for those things you quote). Remember that improper documentation is considered a form of plagiarism, which can get you in serious trouble, e.g., flunking, thrown out of school. For help with systems of documentation, check out http://libraries.uvm.edu/guides/cite/.