| Introduction | 1 |
| About This Book | 1 |
| Foolish Assumptions | 3 |
| Icons Used in This Book | 3 |
| Beyond This Book | 4 |
| Where to Go from Here | 4 |
| Part 1 | Laying a Foundation for Writing a Research Paoer | 5 |
| Chapter 1 | Understanding Expectations: College Research Papers | 7 |
| Looking Closer: The What and Why of College Research Papers | 8 |
| Recognizing what they're all about | 8 |
| Realizing why research papers matter | 9 |
| Examining first-year college research papers | 10 |
| Excelling at writing research papers | 13 |
| Applying Research Mindset: Way to A | 14 |
| Fulfilling Professors' Expectations | 15 |
| Professors' research requirements | 16 |
| Undergraduate mentored research | 17 |
| Building Career Assets: Forever Research Skills | 18 |
| Chapter 2 | Certifying Consistency: Documentation Styles | 19 |
| What and Why: Documentation Styles and Academic Standards | 20 |
| Certifying Sources: Documentation Styles | 20 |
| Surveying Documentation Styles: APA, MLA, and CMOS | 22 |
| American Psychological Association (APA) | 22 |
| Modern Language Association (MLA) | 23 |
| Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) | 25 |
| Your professor's style | 25 |
| Your preferred style | 26 |
| Differentiating between the East and West When Documenting | 27 |
| Grasping cultural differences in writing | 27 |
| Research-writing tips for nonnative English students | 27 |
| Debunking Documentation Style Myths: The Whole Truth | 29 |
| Documentation styles are for nerds | 29 |
| My sources are accurate: I don't need a documentation style | 30 |
| My professor doesn't talk about a documentation style | 30 |
| My combination of documentation styles worked in the past | 31 |
| Chapter 3 | Preventing Plagiarism: Endorsing Academic Integrity | 33 |
| Defining Academic Integrity: A Win-Win Approach | 34 |
| Colliding integrity and plagiarism | 34 |
| Discovering your university's policy | 35 |
| Uncovering recent online plagiarism trends | 36 |
| Reviewing Forms of Academic Dishonesty: It's on You | 37 |
| Recognizing why students cheat | 38 |
| Identifying variations of academic misconduct | 39 |
| Looking closer at artificial intelligence | 39 |
| Knowing life-altering consequences of plagiarism | 40 |
| Interpreting plagiarism in your syllabus | 41 |
| Avoiding Plagiarism in Six Easy Steps | 41 |
| Step 1 | Plan and organize | 42 |
| Step 2 | Cite as you search and write | 42 |
| Step 3 | Master documentation basics | 42 |
| Step 4 | Use reliable sources | 42 |
| Step 5 | Personalize models | 43 |
| Step 6 | Dedicate a revision to documentation | 43 |
| Avoiding the worst kinds of plagiarism | 43 |
| How professors protect academic integrity | 45 |
| Frequently Asked Questions About Plagiarism: Final Answers | 46 |
| Is it that big of a problem? | 46 |
| Isn't it similar to high school plagiarism? | 46 |
| Can I be safe and cite everything? | 47 |
| May I plead ignorance? | 47 |
| What if I'm accused? | 48 |
| Chapter 4 | Fulfilling Requirements: Research Papers and Portfolios | 49 |
| Taking a Closer Look at Portfolios | 50 |
| Understanding the ins and outs of portfolios | 50 |
| Identifying the advantages and challenges of portfolios | 51 |
| Assembling Your Portfolio: Completing Requirements | 52 |
| The reflective statement | 52 |
| Artifacts requirements | 53 |
| Portfolio content | 53 |
| Formatting requirements | 54 |
| Presenting your portfolio | 56 |
| Preparing an e-portfolio | 57 |
| Reaching Portfolio Success: Step by Step | 57 |
| Step 1 | Analyze the requirements | 58 |
| Step 2 | Identify any deliverables | 58 |
| Step 3 | Develop the requirements | 58 |
| Step 4 | Create organizational headings | 58 |
| Step 5 | Outline your reflective statement | 58 |
| Preparing for Career Portfolios: Future Investments | 59 |
| Part 2 | Building Essentials of Research | 61 |
| Chapter 5 | Managing Information: Gathering and Organizing Sources | 63 |
| Identifying What Makes a Good Topic | 64 |
| Recognizing topic elements | 64 |
| Generating topic ideas | 65 |
| Avoiding topic pitfalls | 66 |
| Creating a Thesis Statement | 67 |
| Focusing your thesis on a problem within the topic | 68 |
| Writing a thesis: The how-to | 68 |
| Drafting a research paper thesis in five easy steps | 69 |
| Developing Research Questions | 70 |
| Fulfilling your research question purpose | 71 |
| Writing successful research questions | 71 |
| Searching and Discovering: Sourcing Your Paper's Success | 72 |
| Identifying types of sources | 73 |
| Using high-yield research resources | 74 |
| Strategic searching: Tips for better search terms | 82 |
| Researching College Papers in Five Easy Steps | 83 |
| Step 1 | Focus on the research question and subquestions | 83 |
| Step 2 | Meet with a reference librarian | 83 |
| Step 3; Search strategically | 83 |
| Step 4 | Categorize and process sources | 83 |
| Step 5 | Identify counter-evidence for rebuttal | 84 |
| Finessing Sources: Making Arrangements | 84 |
| Identifying an organization problem | 84 |
| Handling your research | 85 |
| Using source management tools | 86 |
| Chapter 6 | Evaluating and Preparing Sources | 87 |
| Figuring Out Acceptable Sources: Earning Credibility | 88 |
| Evaluating sources | 88 |
| Avoiding sources displeasing to professors | 90 |
| Reckoning with Wikipedia | 90 |
| Uncovering Stones: Foundations of Evidence | 91 |
| Reading for determining evidence | 91 |
| Annotating sources | 93 |
| Notetaking from sources | 95 |
| Converting Sources: Supporting Assertions | 97 |
| Paraphrasing | 97 |
| Summarizing | 99 |
| Quoting | 99 |
| Using visual and statistical data | 100 |
| Becoming Controversial: Engaging with Sources | 101 |
| Author and source | 101 |
| Author, source, and source | 102 |
| Source, source, and source | 102 |
| Sending Out Signals: Phrases Identifying Source Intentions | 103 |
| Stepping Up Search Strategies: Beyond First-Year Research | 104 |
| Extracting from higher authorities | 104 |
| Creating original research | 106 |
| Chapter 7 | Going on the Offensive: From Evidence to Argument | 107 |
| Scholars Scuffling: Analyzing Argument | 108 |
| Defining argument | 108 |
| Identifying parts of an argument | 109 |
| Making your argument scholarly | 109 |
| Pleasing professors with your arguments | 111 |
| Building Your Compelling Argument in Six Easy-to-Follow Steps-112 | |
| Step 1 | Clarify your position | 113 |
| Step 2 | Research the issue | 113 |
| Step 3 | Apply your supporting evidence | 113 |
| Step 4 | Argue academically | 113 |
| Step 5 | Address counter evidence | 114 |
| Step 6 | Draw conclusions and offer insights | 114 |
| Counter-Punching: The Rebuttal | 114 |
| Approaching Argument Logically: Busting Fallacies | 115 |
| Debunking Myths about Argument | 117 |
| My goal is to convince my professors of my position | 117 |
| I can earn good grades with a middle-of-the road approach | 117 |
| I should argue topics I personally like | 117 |
| I'll never write a research paper in my career | 118 |
| 1 earned a 5 on my AP Lit test: No sweat | 118 |
| Chapter 8 | Citing Sources and Finalizing Recognition | 119 |
| Recognizing the Why of Documentation: Scholarly Way or Highway | 120 |
| Surveying documentation styles | 120 |
| Focusing on the similarities | 121 |
| Surveying Citations in Three Styles: APA, MLA, and Chicago | 123 |
| APA citations | 124 |
| MLA | 125 |
| Chicago citations | 125 |
| Citation similarities and differences | 126 |
| Identifying What Needs Documenting: Crediting Sources | 127 |
| Summary and paraphrase | 128 |
| Quotations | 129 |
| Analysis and synthesize | 130 |
| Statistical data within source content | 131 |
| Terms specific to a source or field | 131 |
| Photos, Internet images, and art | 131 |
| Legal references | 132 |
| Controversial information | 132 |
| Personal communications | 132 |
| No-Fault Citing? Looking Closer at Citation Generators | 133 |
| Identifying the pros and cons | 133 |
| Using a generator: Necessary cautions | 134 |
| Understanding Common Knowledge | 134 |
| Finding Freebies from the Public Domain | 135 |
| Finalizing Sources: List of References | 136 |
| Sample APA entries: References | 138 |
| Sample MLA entries: Works cited | 139 |
| Sample Chicago entries: Bibliography | 140 |
| Annotating bibliographies | 141 |
| FAQs about Citing | 142 |
| Do professors look up every source? | 142 |
| Can't I just "supercite?" | 143 |
| How do I know if I have a plagiarism-police professor? | 143 |
| How do I start learning a documentation style? | 143 |
| Do professors scrutinize reference errors in punctuation, italics, and formatting? | 144 |
| Chapter 9 | Classifying College Research Writing | 145 |
| Identifying Research Categories: Assignment Structures | 146 |
| Analysis and synthesis: Difference makers | 146 |
| Problem-solving | 149 |
| Cause and effect | 151 |
| Comparison and contrast | 152 |
| Expository | 152 |
| Persuasive | 153 |
| Structuring Research-Assignment Packages: Submission Forms | 154 |
| Reports | 154 |
| Essays | 155 |
| Reaction papers | 156 |
| Structuring Research Papers across Disciplines | 156 |
| Literature | 157 |
| Business | 158 |
| Political science | 158 |
| Art history | 159 |
| Education | 160 |
| Advancing Research Projects; Higher Level Learning | 160 |
| Reviews of literature | 161 |
| Reviews of journal articles | 161 |
| Journal article comparison | 163 |
| White papers | 163 |
| Assignment proposals | 164 |
| Part 3 | Developing Essentials of Research Writing | 167 |
| Chapter 10 | Identifying Audience and Purpose | 169 |
| Figuring Out Who Your Audience Is | 170 |
| Gauging academic audience expectations | 170 |
| Identifying your research audience | 171 |
| Identifying secondary audiences | 171 |
| Addressing professor-as-audience expectations | 173 |
| Recognizing unnamed audience expectations | 173 |
| Matching Tone, Tense, and Person to Your Audience | 174 |
| Tone: Showing attitude | 174 |
| Tense: Time frames things happen | 176 |
| Person: Gauging who's speaking | 178 |
| Showing Awareness: General Guidelines for Respectful Language | 179 |
| Preferring people-first language | 180 |
| Using gender-neutral inclusive pronouns | 181 |
| Respecting race and ethnicity | 182 |
| Honoring age references | 183 |
| Being inclusive with sexual orientation and gender identity | 184 |
| Using best-scenario socioeconomic references | 184 |
| Justifying Why: Figuring Out Your Writing Purpose | 185 |
| Assignment purposes | 185 |
| Professor-pleasing purposes | 186 |
| Unspoken purposes | 186 |
| Chapter 11 | Writing with Style | 187 |
| Showing What's Happening: Verbs and Nouns | 188 |
| Keeping your verbs active | 188 |
| Differentiating active and passive verbs | 189 |
| Using show-don't-tell verbs | 192 |
| Disclosing hidden verbs | 192 |
| Utilizing specific nouns | 193 |
| Varying Sentence Patterns: Mashing Words | 194 |
| Focusing on sentence length | 194 |
| Branching variety | 195 |
| Going for grammatical variety | 197 |
| Striving for structural variety | 199 |
| Varying Word Patterns: Letter Power | 200 |
| Recognizing research words | 201 |
| Utilizing sensory words | 201 |
| Including content words | 202 |
| Identifying cautious words | 202 |
| Building Better Paragraphs: Idea Placeholders | 203 |
| Topic sentences | 203 |
| Supporting evidence | 203 |
| Concluding sentences | 204 |
| Connecting sentences | 204 |
| Balancing Elements: Parallel Structure | 204 |
| Organizing Writing; Transitions and Flow | 205 |
| Chapter 12 | Reviewing Fundamentals: Grammar and Conventions | 207 |
| Following Rules of Language: Grammar and Usage | 208 |
| Considering verb variations: Parting ways | 208 |
| Ensuring pronouns agree: Compatibility | 210 |
| Positioning description: Location, location | 211 |
| Using conjunctions: Connecting here to there | 212 |
| Solving relating pronoun problems | 213 |
| Creating Sentence Cadence: Punctuation | 214 |
| Commas: Taking short breaths | 214 |
| Colons and semicolons: Taking deeper breaths | 215 |
| Dashes and slashes: Interrupting politely | 217 |
| Ellipsis, parentheses, and brackets: Separating silently | 218 |
| Seeking Attention: Italicizing | 219 |
| Italics: Making unique appearances | 220 |
| Numbers; Figuring out uses | 220 |
| Quotation marks: Calling out words | 221 |
| Perfecting Appearance: Spelling | 222 |
| Capitalization: Avoiding capital offenses | 222 |
| Possessives and apostrophes: Owning up | 224 |
| Hyphenation: Identifying connections | 224 |
| Abbreviations: Keeping it brief | 225 |
| Spelling strategies: Finding what's wrong | 226 |
| Chapter 13 | Focusing on Appearance: Formatting | 27 |
| Formatting Text Appearance: Letter Perfect | 228 |
| General text-formatting guidelines | 228 |
| Text formatting unique to MLA and Chicago | 229 |
| Formatting Pages: First Impressions | 230 |
| Formatting title pages | 230 |
| Formatting title page elements | 231 |
| Formatting the first text page | 235 |
| Formatting heading levels | 235 |
| Listing similar information | 237 |
| Dealing with figures and tables | 239 |
| Formatting Research Sections: Big Picture | 239 |
| Introduction | 240 |
| Body | 240 |
| Conclusion | 241 |
| Formatting lists of sources | 241 |
| Formatting section sequences | 242 |
| Avoiding Common Formatting Errors | 243 |
| Merging documentation styles | 243 |
| Varying font sizes | 243 |
| Introducing justification issues | 244 |
| Creating optical illusions | 244 |
| Part 4 | Writing Research Papers | 245 |
| Chapter 14 | Planning and Organising Research Writing | 247 |
| Early-Bird Planning: Preliminary Priorities | 248 |
| Outlining: Making your blueprint | 248 |
| Mastering your documentation style | 249 |
| Framing your assignment type | 250 |
| Recognizing available support | 251 |
| Assembling peer feedback teams | 251 |
| Managing time | 252 |
| Answering the Asks: Analyzing Assignments | 254 |
| Adapting an assignment mindset | 254 |
| Interrogating your assignment | 257 |
| Identifying what, why, and when | 259 |
| Professors' research expectations | 261 |
| Coordinating rubric requirements | 262 |
| Populating Pieces: Major Sections of Assignments | 262 |
| Introducing the problem | 263 |
| Body-building evidence and rebuttal | 263 |
| Developing a conclusion | 263 |
| Calling for Backup: Priorities and Contingencies | 264 |
| Technology | 264 |
| Writing resources | 265 |
| Documentation resources | 265 |
| Chapter 15 | Creating Draft One | 267 |
| Awakening Inspiration: Rituals and Environment | 267 |
| Warming writing senses | 268 |
| Exorcizing excuses: Stress and delays | 270 |
| Writing the First Draft: The How-To | 272 |
| Generating ideas: Prewriting | 273 |
| Creating the first draft in five easy steps | 274 |
| Thinking critically | 277 |
| Modeling Major Sections: Introduction, Body, and Conclusion | 278 |
| Introduction | 278 |
| Body | 279 |
| Conclusion | 280 |
| Honoring Olden Rules: Ethics and Objectivity | 281 |
| Ethics and college writing | 282 |
| Using objective language | 282 |
| Balancing objectivity with subjectivity | 283 |
| Chapter 16 | Identifying Required and Optional Headings | 285 |
| Finalizing Required Front Headings: Attention Grab | 286 |
| Title page | 286 |
| Table of contents | 287 |
| Introduction | 289 |
| Determining Optional Front Headings: Ready Reserves | 291 |
| Abstract or executive summary | 292 |
| Methods | 293 |
| List of figures | 294 |
| Completing Optional Middle Headings: Body Parts | 295 |
| Middle-content subheadings | 295 |
| Rebuttal subheadings | 296 |
| Fulfilling Final Options: Rear Views | 296 |
| Conclusion subheadings | 296 |
| Annotated bibliography | 298 |
| Appendixes | 298 |
| Tables and figures | 299 |
| Glossary | 299 |
| Footnotes and endnotes | 300 |
| Chapter 17 | Revising and Editing in Three Layers | 301 |
| Comparing Editing and Revising | 303 |
| Answering Revision's Why: Grade Changers | 303 |
| Why revising makes a difference | 304 |
| Why your writing needs revising | 304 |
| Why many students dislike revising | 305 |
| Why your professor likes revising | 306 |
| Benefiting from Partnerships: Feedback and Revising Loops | 306 |
| Giving and receiving feedback | 306 |
| Identifying the importance of self-feedback | 310 |
| Evaluating the Organizational Layer: Structural Elements | 310 |
| Revising structural elements | 311 |
| Revising research elements | 313 |
| Rethinking the Paragraph and Sentence Layer: Point Makers | 314 |
| Revising paragraphs | 314 |
| Revising sentences | 315 |
| Revisiting the Word Layer: Choosing Wisely | 317 |
| Emphasizing action verbs | 317 |
| Selecting specific nouns | 318 |
| Avoiding redundancies | 318 |
| Reducing wordy phrases and clauses | 318 |
| Avoiding cliches | 319 |
| Revising overused and unnecessary words | 319 |
| Planning your revising | 321 |
| Eagle-Eying Your Editing: Reaching New Heights | 321 |
| Chapter 18 | Finalizing before Sending: Checking the Presentation | 323 |
| Avoiding Crash Carts: Your Grades' Golden 60 Minutes | 324 |
| Positioning parts in their place | 324 |
| Styling for success | 325 |
| Checking Them Twice: Deliverables | 326 |
| Wrapping Up: Finalizing Hello and Goodbye | 326 |
| Making a first impression: Introduction | 326 |
| Leaving a lasting impression: Conclusion | 327 |
| Formatting Firsts and Lasts: Titles through Reference Page | 327 |
| Minding Your Middle: Finalizing Evidence | 328 |
| Arguing your case | 328 |
| Engaging with sources | 328 |
| Asking What's Missing: Last Call | 329 |
| Final documentation reminders | 329 |
| Final editing reminders | 329 |
| Final submission reminders | 330 |
| Publishing and Presenting: Wider Audiences | 331 |
| Student publication opportunities | 331 |
| Student presentation opportunities | 332 |
| Reflecting Future Gains: Post-writing | 333 |
| Writing | 333 |
| Revising | 334 |
| Researching and documenting | 334 |
| Part 5 | The Part of Tens | 337 |
| Chapter 19 | Ten Common Problems and How to Fix Them | 339 |
| Missing Assignment Details | 339 |
| Failing to Follow the Rubric | 340 |
| Neglecting to Tie the Thesis to the Evidence | 341 |
| Transgressing with Your Research Questions | 342 |
| Lacking Research Paper Value | 342 |
| Fearing Where to Begin | 343 |
| Messing Up Your Citations | 343 |
| Deserting an Academic Writing Style | 344 |
| Failing to Plan Accordingly | 344 |
| Screwing Up Styles | 345 |
| Chapter 20 | Ten Resources for Improving Research Writing | 347 |
| Professors | 348 |
| Other Courses | 343 |
| Chair of Your Major | 348 |
| Lectures and Events on Campus | 349 |
| Campus Organizations | 349 |
| Writing Center | 350 |
| Career Center | 350 |
| Travels Abroad | 350 |
| Suggested Campus Innovation | 351 |
| Extended Campus Community | 351 |
| Index | 353 |
