Writing the Research Paper

1. Choosing Your Subject
   Choose a subject that interests you.
2. Narrowing Your Subject
   The most common criticism of research papers is, "topic too broad." "How can I be sure that I have sufficiently narrowed my topic?" A Cornell English professor has this sure fire method: put your subject through three significant narrowing, i.e., moving from one category to a class within a category, each time. For example, here are some sample narrowing for papers of 10 to 12 pages:
   • Public opinion polls: accuracy of polls: the accuracy of such polls in national elections: factors that determine the accuracy of public opinion polls in national elections.
   • The climate of opinion between World War I and World War II: the moral climate, etc.: the particular arguments involved in the debate over Prohibition: the arguments for Prohibition used by "Drys" in support of the 18th Amendment and their arguments in the late 1920's and early 1930's to prevent repeal.
   • Discrimination against African- Americans: Northern attitudes vs. Southern attitudes: the particular geographical distinction: how Mason and Dixon's Line became a line of demarcation.
3. Provide a Focus for Gathering Material
   To avoid the gross error of making your paper a mere accumulation of facts, you must crystallize a genuine question, and your facts must then be used to answer this question. Whether it can be definitely answered or not is unimportant.
4. Select a Bibliography
   The "backbone" of all libraries is the catalogue system, which tells you not only what books the library possesses, but also where you can find them. Look, therefore, through the library's listings and record all pertinent references on separate 3x5 slips of paper.

   A valuable source of reference material the Readers' Guide and Poole's Index to Periodical Literature. Do not overlook the general encyclopedias, such as the Britannica Americana and the New International, or specialized works like the Encyclopedia of Banking and Finance and Who's Who in America. There are the yearbooks, such as, the World Almanac and the Book of Facts.

   One frequently overlooked source of information is the personal interview. Every campus and town has its share of experts and authorities. If possible, arrange for an interview and be prepared to take notes.

5. Gathering Notes
   • 3x5 cards are suggested because they are uniform, less bulky, and less expensive than note pads.
   • Use only one side of the card, and then record only one topic on each card.
   • Identify the reference information on the note cards by writing the author's last name, or the title of the reference in the top left corner of the note card. The page number or numbers should appear in parentheses at the end of the item of information. This system will enable you to find quickly again the exact page if further information is needed.
   • Write notes in your own words. This will help insure that you understand what you are reading. You will put the information into a form, which can be used, in your paper. Always distinguish clearly between your words and the author's. Failure to do so might lead you unwittingly into plagiarism.
   • Just as in taking notes on a textbook, always skim the article or chapter you are reading before writing the notes.
   • Notations should be concise, yet sufficiently detailed to provide an accurate meaning.
   • Use ink. Notes written in pencil will become blurred through handling and sorting.
   • If you need direct quotations, use only a few of the outstanding phrases or sentences. Most students tend to quote too much and too often.
   • Abbreviate only the common words, otherwise much time will be lost in "figuring out" unfamiliar "shorthand." When ideas and insights occur, write them on separate note cards under the caption "my own."
6. Categorizing Notes
   Having recorded only one topic on each card now permits you to arrange your cards into separate topic stacks. Also, having written on only one side of the card enables you to see your full notes without turning cards back and forth.
7. Deciding on an Approach
   To gain control over your material the crux of some matter must be dug out and presented in a way that illuminates the issue; some analysis or appraisal ought to be given. You ought to have clearly in mind before you begin writing what you want this material to add up to. Remember, the predication is as important as the "subject."
8. Write Up a Detailed Outline
   Only by working out a detailed outline can you order and control your data so that it can be marshaled to support your stated objective. Worked into the outline, also, should be your approach, point of view, and strategy.
9. Make a Clear Copy
   The first draft is usually rough full of deletions, additions, and directions that are understandable only to the writer. If you retype or rewrite while the material still very fresh, some spontaneous revision may take place. The result will be a clear copy, which will be ready for revision after a "cooling off" period of a day or so.
10. Leave for a Day
    The "cooling off" period is important. During the writing stage, your mind is so full of associations with the words, which you have written that you are liable to impose clarity and step by step sequences where these do not, in fact, exist. You can now easily spot the glaring errors you can be critically objective.
11. The Importance of Editing Your Own Work
    This means polishing, boiling down ideas, and struggling to say things clearer and clearer, perhaps starting over, or writing even 3 or 4 drafts (go over your paper four times).
    • Reposition paragraphs and sentences
    • Add and delete material to achieve balance and to advance the stated objective of your paper
    • Look to insert transitional words and phrases
    • Read the paper aloud
12. Writing Your Final Copy
    
    • In preparing the finished draft of your research paper, use only one side of white paper. Although a few instructors will specify precisely what size paper to use, the most commonly used paper measures 8 1/2 x 11 inches.
    • Be sure to double space.
    • Leave generous margins at the top, bottom and about a one and a one half inch margin on both sides to provide room for the instructor's comments.
    • Hand in the paper on time. It is common for instructors to deduct points for late papers.