1. Getting Started 2. The Importance of a First Draft 3. Doing Research 4.

Bringing Research Into Your Paper

MLA and APA Made Easy

Quoting, Paraphrasing, Summarizing Avoiding Plagiarism

MLA5. MLA-Style Documentation APA6. APA-Style Documentation 7. Proofreading Strategies

Points to Remember What Are Sources? What Are Citations? Quoting Paraphrasing Summarizing Avoiding Plagiarism

Writing a research paper is like writing any other academic paper, with the difference that you are bringing into your essay the words, ideas, and theories of others, often experts in that field of study. In the process of writing your research paper, you will learn a new set of vocabulary words and concepts. What follows is a list of these words/concepts and their definitions. Becoming familiar with them will help you in the research process.

A source is what you turn to for information about your topic. A source can include any of the following:
a book a magazine or newspaper article a scholarly journal article a film, television show, or radio program a web site a personal interview

nonA print source can be a periodical or a nonperiodical.

A periodical is a publication that is issued periodically, such as any of the following:
(The Globe); a newspaper ( The Boston Globe); (Newsweek Newsweek); a magazine (Newsweek); a journal (Journal of Naturopathic Medicine). (Journal Medicine).

nonA non-periodical most often refers to a book.

They generally fall under print sources, nonnonprint sources, and electronic sources.

nonA non-print source can include, but is not limited to, any of the following:
a television or radio program a film a personal interview a class lecture a recording

An electronic source can refer to a source found on the Internet, such as a personal or professional web site. There are some electronic sources that originally appeared in print form. These include articles found on databases such as EbscoHost and Infotrac and articles in newspapers and magazines that publish on the web and in print.

When you bring research (quotations, paraphrases, facts, statistics, etc.) into your paper, you must give credit to the source and its author(s). Giving credit to a source is also called citing a source. inYou do this with in-text or parenthetical citations. They are called parenthetical citations because the bibliographic information goes inside parentheses.

Quotations: Someone elses exact words, enclosed in quotation marks. The ideas, opinions, and theories of someone else elseeven if you restate them in your own words in a paraphrase or summary. statistics Facts and statisticsunless they are common knowledge and are accessible in many sources.

Common Knowledge is information that can be found in many sources and that no one can claim owning. It is information that belongs to everyone. Often, it is the stuff of encyclopedias. Examples:
6 million Jews perished in the Holocaust. The Empire State Building is 1,454 feet tall. The Civil War ended in 1865.

When you quote, you borrow an authors exact words. Use a quotation when
the wording is so memorable or expresses a point so well that you cannot improve or shorten it without weakening it; when the author is a respected authority whose opinion supports your own ideas; when an author challenges or disagrees profoundly with others in the field.

You may not have known this before you started your research, but it is still common knowledge. Often, you will encounter knowledge that is common in your field of study, even if the general population may not know it.

Paraphrasing is putting material (including major and minor points) into your own words and sentence structure. You can paraphrase a theory, an idea, the results of a study, or a passage in an original source, as long as you use your own words to describe it. A paraphrase is often the same length as the original, but it is in your own words.

Original Text (from James C. Stalker, Official English or English Only)

We cannot legislate the language of the home, the street, the bar, the club, unless we are willing to set up a cadre of language police who will ticket and arrest us if we speak something other than English (21).

Paraphrase
Stalker points out that in a democracy like the United States, it is not feasible to have laws against the use of a language and it certainly would not be possible to make police enforce such laws in homes and public places (21).
Example taken from Pocket Keys for Writers by Ann Raimes

Summaries are often less detailed than paraphrases. In a summary, you provide your reader with the gist of the most important sources you find in your own words. Summaries give readers basic information and are always in your own words. When you include a summary in your paper, introduce the authors name and/or the work.

It is fine to bring the words and ideas of other writers into your paper. However, when you do so, you must acknowledge your debt to the writers of these sources. If not, you are guilty of plagiarism, a serious academic offense.

The most blatant and egregious form of plagiarism is putting your name as the author of a paper you did not write. The Internet has certainly made it easier for students to find papers on any number of topics. However, professors also know how to use the Internet and are quite adept at searching the same sites that students use.

Other types of plagiarism are more subtle and include any of the following:
failure to cite quotations and borrowed ideas; failure to enclose borrowed language in quotation marks; failure to put summaries and paraphrases into your own words.

Most students who plagiarize are simply unaware of the proper way to document sources in academic writing.

In order to avoid plagiarism, be sure that you not only give credit where credit is due, but that you follow the appropriate formats, often either MLA (Modern Languages Association) or APA (American Psychological Association) styles of documentation. There are also several good publications available with which students should be familiar. They will be mentioned later in this presentation.

What is MLA? How To Integrate Research Into the Body of Your Paper How to Create a Works Cited Page

If you are writing a research paper in English, foreign languages, or other humanities classes, MLAuse MLA-style documentation. MLA stands for the Modern Language Association. The MLA publishes the MLA Handbook for Papers. Writing Research Papers. This book contains all MLAof the rules that govern MLA-style documentation.

All written material (the body of your paper and doublethe Works Cited page) is double-spaced. MLAelements: MLA-style has two main elements:
InIn-text Citations Works Cited Page Works Cited

inUse in-text citations in the body of your paper when you quote, paraphrase, summarize, or use other borrowed material. Citations should be as concise as possible, while still giving readers enough information to find the full bibliographic information on the Works Cited page. The Works Cited page is a separate page and carries the heading Works Cited (or Work Cited if you are using only one source). This is where you list all of your sources, giving the reader full bibliographic information.

On the Works Cited page, sources are always listed alphabetically by the authors last name.
If your source has no author, go by the first word of the title to alphabetize.

When listing sources, indent every line after the onefirst line five spaces or one-half inch. Underline book titles and web sites. Use quotation marks around articles, stories, poems, and essays.

 An in-text citation looks like this: in(Smith 165)

There are only two pieces of information that need to go inside the parentheses of an in-text incitation:
the authors last name the page number

If there are two authors, give both last names:

(Jones and Nichols 18)

If there is no author, give the first word of the title:

Recent (Recent 23) Recent

This information refers readers to the full bibliographic information on the Works Cited page.

If there is no page number, give the paragraph number:

(McKnight par. 10)

Many young women, from all races and classes, have taken on the idea of the American Dream, however difficult it might be for them to achieve 19it (Sidel 19-20). The adult mountain lion population in California is now estimated at four to six thousand (Reyes and Messina B1).

In California, fish and game officials estimate that since 1972 lion numbers have increased (Lion Lion from 2,400 to at least 6,000 ( Lion A21). An article that appeared in Research Quarterly states that, Their recovery process parallels the Their steps taken by those recovering from other afflictions afflictions (Russo par. 3).

Signal phrases help you to transition from your words and ideas to the words and ideas of others. With practice, you will learn how to integrate research smoothly into your paper. In most cases, it is preferable to include the authors name in a signal phrase that precedes the quote, fact, statistic, etc. Because the author is already named, you need only list the page or paragraph number in the parentheses.

Sidels The sociologist Ruth Sidel s interviews with young woman provide examples of what Sidel sees as the impossible dream (19). impossible dream Michelle Russos article from Research Quarterly Russo s states that Their recovery process parallels the Their steps taken by those recovering from other afflictions afflictions (par. 3).

The following signal phrases are good examples of ways you can introduce the findings of your research in your paper:
According to According to

Avoid overusing the verb said in your paper. Here is a list of strong, active verbs that you can use in your signal phrases. You can write that someone
acknowledges, adds, admits, or agrees

of In the words of argues, asserts, claims, or comments by In a recent study by that Current research proves that confirms, believes, declares, or implies insists, notes, observes, or points out, reports, states, theorizes, or writes

Often in your research you will encounter quotes, facts, statistics, etc. that are written by someone other than the author of the piece you are reading. Use the following format:
We generate words unconsciously, without thinking about them; they appear, as James Britton says, at at utterance the point of utterance (qtd. in Smith 108). We only used seven signs in his presence, says presence, We Fouts. All of his signs were learned from the other All laboratory chimps at the laboratory (qtd. in Toner). NOTE: On the Works Cited page give the Works Cited bibliographic information for the source you read, not fromsince havent the source quoted from since you haven t read that.

A Works Cited page contains the full bibliographic information to which you have been referring in the body of your paper. The Work Cited page is
the last page of your paper doubledouble-spaced alphabetized

There are many different ways to cite sources on your Works Cited page, depending on whether your source is a book, an article, a web page, etc. You are not expected to memorize each way; you are expected to know how to find the format you need for your particular source. Once you find the format, follow it to the letter. Do not add information not in the example. The following is an example of a Works Cited page. (On the left is the name of the kind of source; this is only to help you in the presentation and does not appear on your Works Cited page.)

While this presentation attempts to give a brief introduction to MLA, it cannot cover all aspects of it. If you still have questions, it is best to consult Writers, the MLA Handbook for Writers, which is available in the Academic Support Center, or any of the English handbooks mentioned in this presentation. You can also visit MLAs web site at http://www.mla.org/. MLAhttp://www.mla.org/. Click on MLA-Style.

What is APA? How To Integrate Research Into the Body of Your Paper How to Create a References Page

If you are writing a paper for the sciences or APAsocial sciences, follow APA-style documentation. APA stands for the American Psychological Association. This organization publishes the The Publication Manual of the American Association, Psychological Association, which offers complete guidelines for manuscript style and citation in APA. The MWCC library and the Academic Support Center have copies of this manual.

Many of the English handbooks mentioned earlier in this presentation also carry information about APA. This presentation condenses the most important elements of APA and illustrates how to document commonly used sources. If you still have questions after this presentation, consult the APA manual or check out their web site at http://www.apastyle.org/.

All written material (the body of your paper and doublethe list of references) is double-spaced. APAinAPA-style requires parenthetical or in-text citations in the body of your paper when you quote, paraphrase, summarize, or use other borrowed material. These parenthetical citations correspond to the full bibliographic entries on the reference page at the end of your paper.

The reference page is a separate page and carries the heading References. This is where you list your sources, alphabetically. When listing sources, indent every line after the onefirst line five spaces or one-half inch, as shown in the upcoming examples. Capitalize only the first word of an article title and of the subtitle (if any) and all proper names. On the references page, do not underline the title of an article or place quotation marks around it.

Capitalize significant words in the title of a journal. Underline or italicize journal titles and volume numbers. Capitalize only the first significant word and only proper names within book titles. Capitalize the first significant word of the subtitle (if any) of a book. Underline book titles.

Why give the year of publication in the parenthetical citations for APA? With APA, there are generally two pieces of information that need to go inside the inparentheses of an in-text citation:
the authors last name the year the article, book, research, etc. was published If giving a direct quote, include also the page number. In the sciences and social sciences, current research is valued highly; therefore, the year that the research was conducted is important to note in the body of your paper. In the humanities, which follows MLA-style MLAdocumentation, current research is certainly valued; however, criticism of a piece of literature, for example an essay by T.S. Eliot on Hamlet (written nearly a century ago), can still be of value to a researcher.

The information in the parentheses refers readers to the full bibliographic information on the References page.

A basic in-text citation of a direct quotation inlooks like this:

(Davis, 1978, p. 26)

If there are three to five authors, list all authors:

(Levy, Bertrand, Muller, Viking, & Majors, 1997)

If there is no page number, give the paragraph number:

(McKnight, 2000, para. 10)

Note: For the first reference to a study with

For a paraphrase or summary, follow this (note that there is no page number given):
(Davis, 1978)

more more than two authors, list all authors. For all subsequent references, include only the surname of the first author, followed by et et al. al.
(Levy, et al., 1997)

If there are two authors when paraphrasing, give both last names:
(Jones & Ellis, 1996)

If there is no author, give the first word of the title:

(Strange Encounter, 1997) Strange Encounter,

If the existence of a signing ape was unsettling If for linguists, it was also startling news for animal behaviorists (Davis, 1978, p. 26). behaviorists As Davis (1978) reported, If the existence of a If signing ape was unsettling for linguists, it was also startling news for animal behaviorists (p. behaviorists 26). According to Davis (1978), when they learned of an apes ability to use sign language, both ape s linguists and animal behaviorists were taken by surprise.

In the first example on the previous page, the authors name was included in the parentheses because it was not mentioned when introducing the quotation. In the second example, the author was mentioned when introducing the quotation; therefore, only the page number needed to be given in the parentheses. The third example was a paraphrase of the original quotation. (No page number was needed in the parentheses.)

MLAAs with MLA-style documentation, it is helpful to the reader if you introduce a quotation or other piece of research with a signal phrase. Signal phrases help you to transition from your words and ideas to the words and ideas of others. The same signal phrases and active verbs mentioned earlier in this presentation work well for both MLA and APA styles.

Often in your research you will encounter the quotes, facts, statistics, etc. of someone other than the author of the piece you read. Give the name of the author(s) of the work when you introduce the information, and give the secondary source in the parenthetical citation:
McClellands Seidenberg and McClelland s study (as cited in that Coltheart, Curtis, & Haller, 1993) indicates that NOTE: On the References page, you will include the References References bibliographic information of the source you read, not sourcesince didnt the original source since you didn t read the original.

There are many different ways to cite sources on your References page, depending on whether your source is a book, an article, a web page, etc. A References page contains the full bibliographic information to which you have been referring in the body of your paper. The References page is
the last page of your paper doubledouble-spaced alphabetized

You are not expected to memorize each way; you are expected to know how to find the format you need for your particular sources. Once you find the format, follow it to the letter. Do not add information not in the example. The following is an example of a References page. (On the left is the name of the kind of source; this is only to help you in the presentation and does not appear on your References page.)

Proofreading takes time. How to Make Your Paper Perfect (or at least your best work)
Time Patience Will
Time Patience Will Time Patience Will

There is no way around it. Once you have begun to finalize your paper, you need to give yourself ample time to read it over (and over) again. Proofreading is another kind of writing. It is not as creative, perhaps, as brainstorming or developing your ideas, but it is still a part of the writing process. Reading your paper one time through is not adequate proofreading. Here are some tips.

Dont wait until the night before a paper is due to proofread it; you wont be allowing yourself enough time to correct it. Always correct a hard (paper) copy of your essay; you will catch things on paper that you cant on screen. paper Read through your papernot for meaning but for clarity and presentation.
drafts Youve already developed meaning in earlier drafts proofreading is about making sure that your meaning is clear.

Decide on the areas that you should pay attention to. For instance
Punctuation Spelling InIn-text citations

For each of these areas, read through your paper at least once, paying attention to only one area at a time.

Go back to the computer after several readings and make corrections on the screen. Print out another clean copy. Ask a friend, parent, or tutor, to be a second set of eyes.
This is not cheating; it is common sense. Even great writers get help.

Read the paper backwards, sentence by sentence.

Sounds crazy? It works. Out of context, sentences with problems stand out in ways they dont when you are reading along for meaning.

Does this method sound like a lot of work? It is. Have patience with yourself. The more you write the better writer you will become. You will make less mistakes and get better at catching the inevitable ones. Hey, were human; we all make mistakes occasionally. However, skillful proofreading eliminates many of the most common mistakes.

Writing (even a research paper) is a craft. Mastering the craft requires practice and hard work. Most of the mistakes that students make are made out of carelessness. Once the mistake is pointed out, they know hot to fix it and why its wrong. Those students who take the time are able to produce polished final drafts that reflect intelligence, thoughtfulness, care, and hard work workqualities professors and future employers value.

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