Rationale (Why do this anyway?)

You are not doing a paper to enlighten your professor, as a punishment. Rather, someal of the most important outcomes of an education are:

1. the ability to find the most appropriate, accurate, and current information;
2. to be able to understand, interpret, and evaluate information;
3. to be able to think critically and creatively;
4. to communicate clearly, both verbally and in writing.

Practice is the only way to gain and refine these skills.

1. START EARLY

2. SELECT A TOPIC

Science begins with a question worth answering. A paper starts with an idea. What attracts your interest, or sparks your curiosity? If you are stumped for an idea, browse current issues of a journal in your subject area.

Tip: Begin to form the habit of collecting ideas and references for research and papers continually. Ideas may come while reading your textbook or journals, from lectures and seminars, or even from the evening news. Be especially alert for comments such as "not much is known about this subject", "more research is needed", "controversy," and "new findings," or "recent arguments." Start folders of articles dealing with subjects of interest. Jot ideas in the front of your textbook, along with page numbers. These can form the nucleus of future papers, and may save you days and weeks of effort in the future.

Do not settle on a topic too soon. Start early so that you have time to change direction if your topic is not viable.

Search the literature to refine your topic. Make sure there is enough current material, but also make sure your topic is narrow enough. One of the most common errors of students is the failure to focus their topic.

Make sure the topic is appropriate for this class. Be safe: check with your professor.

3. START A REFERENCE LIST

It is a good idea to use a word processor when writing a paper. Revisions are much easier, and it is easier to keep adding references to the list. Consult the style manual for your discipline.

Start with one or two papers dealing with your topic. These will probably be your core references and will help build the framework for your paper.

4. EXPAND THE REFERENCE LIST

Examine the references in the core papers and decide which apply to your paper.

Do NOT simply rewrite one of the core papers using primarily the same references that they used. This is a type of plagiarism. Your paper must contribute something new. For instance, discuss two sides of a controversy and draw a conclusion, or review the current state of an area of research.

5. REFINE THE TOPIC AND PREPARE A BRIEF TOPIC OUTLINE

Look for key words in the titles of the papers you have found. Define any words you do not understand. These key words will help you in your literature search. Look for synonyms and diverse spellings (color colour...)

Conduct a literature search using PALS. Contact your Subject Librarian for advice about other databases. DO THIS EARLY. It may take a while to get material through interlibrary loan.

You will may want to concentrate on current articles for this paper, but it is a good idea to track down the "seminal," or earliest article on the subject in order to better understand the topic. (The most current article is not always the best article!)

Prepare a brief outline.

6. BEGIN GATHERING DATA ON THE TOPIC

Consult the primary literature whenever possible. Do not depend on what an author writes about someone's work—go to the original article and interpret it yourself.

Make notes as you read. Make sure you cite each idea whenever possible write using your own words: Smith (1995) states "..." or "... data indicates little or no uplift in the Dry Valleys region" (Brook, et al, 1995, p.1063). Make sure you cite as you take notes, or you will forget where you got the information. Keep adding to your reference list.

7. PREPARE A DETAILED SUBJECT OUTLINE

Expand your preliminary outline. Consider which areas of the outline need more information. Collect more references, if needed.

8. BEGIN WRITING THE BODY OF THE PAPER

Begin writing the body of the paper. Use a word processor so that revisions will be easy. Begin to plan for insertions, such as illustrations.

9. WRITE INTERPRETATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS

Here is where you can shine. First, list all the conclusions that can be made from what you have written so far. Use this list as an outline for this section. Do not introduce new information in this section.

10. INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE

The introduction, background, and purpose are often written after the main body and conclusions are finished. Consult your detailed outline when writing this section.

11. WRITE THE ABSTRACT

This is a distilled version of everything that is important in the paper. It summarizes the purpose and significant conclusions. It should be reduced to the fewest words possible, often approximately 150 words.

2. PROOFREAD, CLEANUP, CHECK

Check spelling, grammar, style, punctuation, sequencing, and clarity. Is the title appropriate? Has the purpose been met? Is the sequencing logical, the presentation clear? Are illustrations clear, relevant, and correctly placed? Are facts clearly distinguished from interpretation? Are conclusions supported by the presented data? Check your illustrations. Make sure all sources used have been cited, and only cite those used.

13. EDIT THE PAPER

After you have checked spelling, grammar, style, punctuation, sequencing, and clarity, have someone else check your paper. It is a good idea to finish your paper, and then set it aside. After a few days, read it again from the perspective of an outsider. You may discover that some minor changes will greatly improve your paper. This is only possible if you allow enough time.

14. IF YOUR PAPER WILL BE PRESENTED...

Present the paper to someone who does not know anything about the subject. Have them comment on illustrations. Have them ask questions. If you discover weaknesses in your knowledge of the subject (if you can't answer their questions or adequately explain ideas), study the subject some more. You will gain a large measure of confidence doing this.

15. START EARLY. CONSULT YOUR FRIENDLY LIBRARIAN

The outline for these suggestions comes from material developed by Barbara Schloman at Kent State.

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