Finishing Up Your Paper &
Documentation/Citations
Research Methods and Data
College of Advancing Studies
Brendan Rapple
Late Assignment Policy
• The final paper MUST be handed in by 15 December, the final day of
class.
• The grade for the assignment will be reduced by 20% each day or
fraction of a day that the assignment is late.
• So, it’s not worth it to be late!!
Don’t Panic
Format of Paper
Title/Cover Page
• Title
• Author's name, address, phone no.,
e-mail, fax no., etc.
• Name of course, the institution etc.
• Name of instructor
• Date
Table of Contents
Executive Summary (i.e. Abstract)
• Include one!
• It’s often written last
Introduction
• You should have a separate introductory section
• This should provide the background, the rationale for the whole paper
• Mention what are the central questions/topics you are concerned with
• Why are you are interested in this topic?
• Why do you feel the study is important and/or necessary
• The Introduction shouldn’t be very long
Bibliography
• Normal scholarly process.
• Should include all resources used in the proposal.
• Should adopt a particular style, e.g. MLA, APA, Chicago etc. -- style
must be consistent.
• Helps the reader to form an opinion of the quality of the sources
available (and your ability to find them).
Appendices
• Charts, graphs and other information which may interfere with the
flow of the proposal or lengthen it may be placed in the appendices.
Writing
• Always worthwhile to lavish care on a research paper.
• Writing is perhaps the most important skill in today’s workplace.
Paragraphs
• Keep paragraphs short
Subheadings
• Use subheadings to clarify the structure
• they break up the material into more readable units.
• they give the reader a place to "dive in" if she doesn't want to
read all of the material.
Conclusion
• An effective conclusion ties a research paper together.
• While your instructor (me!) will read your entire paper carefully,
others will often read only the conclusion of a research paper in a
professional journal or a report for work.
• With no time to read everything thoroughly, reading the conclusion
suggests whether it is worth reading the text in its entirety.
• A stimulating and informative conclusion leaves the reader wellsatisfied, and informed.
• An apt quotation in the conclusion is often a good stylistic device.
Writing Drafts
•
Write an outline, maybe in bullet format.
•
Read it carefully.
•
Ask yourself, does it still make sense?
•
Read over your research notes.
•
Arrange them in logical order.
•
Organizing notes against the outline will suggest the necessary outline changes.
•
Revise the outline and start writing.
•
Write the first draft straight through
•
Do it quickly -- this preserves continuity -- gives coherence
•
So easy to revise using a computer
Some Tips
• Write something each day no matter how little.
• Set a routine. Try writing at the same time every day.
• Don't worry too much about style, grammar, and vocabulary in the first
draft. Don't waste time looking for the "right" word.
• Just write a draft so you can revise later.
• Don't worry if the first draft exceeds the specified number of words or
pages. Cutting back in a later draft is easier than adding data.
• Write the easiest section first. There is no problem composing the
introduction last.
More Tips
• Leave large margins. Double or triple-space to leave room for
corrections and revisions.
• Always number pages.
• Revise the final draft. Then ask someone to proof it. New readers see
errors easily.
• Develop appropriate transitions. Your thoughts should flow logically
and coherently from each paragraph or section.
• Make sure the citations listed in the body of the paper are included in
the bibliography, and vice versa.
Common Errors
• Unattainable goals
• Failure to focus -- going on tangents
• Failure to cite essential pertinent studies
• Failure to maintain a coherent, logical thesis
• Poor organization of paper
• Poor language, grammar etc.
Simple, Straightforward Writing Style
• Don’t adopt some artificial pose
• Be clear, concise, to the point
• Be as normal as possible in your writing style
• Don’t appear as a poseur
Use simple, direct language
(thanks to Simon Peyton Jones slide:
http://74.125.113.132/search?q=cache:gxm-Sgjzn9cJ:www.cs.iastate.edu/~honavar/Peyton-
Jones-Writing.ppt+%22research+paper%22+filetype:ppt&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
)
NO
YES
The object under study was displaced
horizontally
The ball moved sideways
On an annual basis
Yearly
Endeavour to ascertain
Find out
It could be considered that the speed
of storage reclamation left something
to be desired
The garbage collector was really slow
Leave Time for Revision
 Ask a friend or friends to read your paper for a more objective
reaction.
 Ask them to read the paper for argument, style, persuasiveness, and
general flow.
 Make appropriate content and reasoning changes and check spelling,
grammar, punctuation, footnotes, bibliography.
 A good revision cannot happen an hour before the completed paper
must be submitted!
Word-Processing Programs
• Spell-checks and grammar-checks will catch many errors.
• Still, if you write "Charlemange was crowed on Christmas Day, 800
AD” instead of “Charlemange was crowned on Christmas Day, 800
AD,” the computer won't catch it.
• Nor will it catch: "The explorers became extremely famished after they
returned to London from Borneo" instead of "The explorers became
extremely famous after they returned to London from Borneo"!
• The computer does not always distinguish between the correct and
incorrect usage of, e.g.:
•
•
•
•
"their" and "there"
"to" and "too"
"its" and "it's "
"complement" and "compliment"
– and countless other errors.
Proofreading
• Traditional proofreading is still important.
• Dedicated proofreaders read the text backwards (a ruler under the
words can help detect misspellings.
Terms -- Definitions
• Remember that you, the author, are familiar with the research but that
the reader is probably not!
• Useful to define major terms at their first use: consider italicizing the
definitions with italics.
Main Body of Paper: Connection Phrases
As you are introducing other experts’ ideas in your paper, it’ll be
useful to use such phrases as
•
•
•
•
•
In the words of . . .
According to . . .
Recent research findings point to/prove/substantiate . . .
In a recent study by…
Most research proves that…
• Etc., etc., etc.
When Do I Have to Cite?
[The following seven slides are borrowed from Brian Gatten’s presentation “Avoiding Plagiarism”
http://lib.utexas.edu/services/instruction/resources/plagiarism_final.ppt. ]
Consider the following scenarios and decide whether or
not you have to provide a citation for the information
described.
Cite it?
a) You read the phrase “cultural tapeworm” in an article. You decide
to use it in your paper.
Is a citation required?
Cite it?
a) You read the phrase “cultural tapeworm” in an article. You decide
to use it in your paper.
Cite it! Any unusual phrase borrowed from another writer or speaker
must be cited, no matter the length.
Harris, Robert A. "Using Sources Quiz." The Plagiarism Handbook. Los Angeles:
Pyrczak Publishing, 2001. 143-144.
Cite it?
b) You quote from an interview you conducted with your
grandmother.
Is a citation required?
Cite it?
b) You quote from an interview you conducted with your
grandmother.
Cite it! Whenever you quote someone else’s words, you must cite
them, regardless of your relationship to that person.
Harris, Robert A. "Using Sources Quiz." The Plagiarism Handbook. Los Angeles:
Pyrczak Publishing, 2001. 143-144.
Cite it?
c) In a paper, you write, “Abraham Lincoln grew up in a log cabin
without electricity.” This is a fact you have read many times in the
past and you now do not remember where.
Is a citation required?
Cite it?
c) In a paper, you write, “Abraham Lincoln grew up in a log cabin
without electricity.” This is a fact you have read many times in the
past and you now do not remember where.
Do not have to cite it. This is considered common knowledge that can
be found in many sources.
Harris, Robert A. "Using Sources Quiz." The Plagiarism Handbook. Los Angeles:
Pyrczak Publishing, 2001. 143-144.
Cite it?
d) You’re writing about global warming. On a website, you locate a graph
illustrating the effects of climate change and paste it into your paper.
Is a citation required?
Cite it?
d) You’re writing about global warming. On a website, you locate a graph
illustrating the effects of climate change and paste it into your paper.
Cite it! Photographs, drawings, graphs, and other visual materials are forms
of ideas and their creators should be credited, whether the item is in a book
or found online.
Harris, Robert A. "Using Sources Quiz." The Plagiarism Handbook. Los Angeles:
Pyrczak Publishing, 2001. 143-144.
What Sources Do Need to be Cited?
•
Words or ideas presented in a magazine, book, newspaper, song, TV program, movie, Web
page, computer program, letter, advertisement, or any other medium
•
Information you gain through interviewing or conversing with another person, face to face,
over the phone, or in writing
•
When you copy the exact words or a unique phrase
•
When you use another’s diagrams, illustrations, charts, pictures, or other visual materials
•
When you reuse or repost any electronically-available media, including images, audio, video,
or other media
•
Bottom line: document any words, ideas, or other productions that originate somewhere
outside of you.
Stolley, Karl. "Avoiding Plagiarism." The OWL at Purdue. 18 Sept. 2007. Purdue University.
11 Oct. 2007 <http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/589/02>.
What Sources Do Not Need to be Cited?
•
Writing your own lived experiences, your own observations and insights, your
own thoughts, and your own conclusions about a subject
•
When you are writing up your own results obtained through lab or field
experiments
•
When you use your own artwork, digital photographs, video, audio, etc.
•
When you are using "common knowledge," things like folklore, common
sense observations, myths, urban legends, and historical events (but not
historical documents)
•
When you are using generally-accepted facts, e.g., pollution is bad for the
environment.
Stolley, Karl. "Avoiding Plagiarism." The OWL at Purdue. 18 Sept. 2007. Purdue University.
11 Oct. 2007 <http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/589/02>.
APA Documentation – Why?
• APA style provides a standard system for giving credit to others for
their contribution to your work.
• It's what is called a "parenthetical" documentation style, i.e. citations to
original sources appear in your text.
• The reader sees immediately where your information comes from.
• It saves you the trouble of having to make footnotes or endnotes.
APA Documentation
Formatting
The appearance of your printed paper may seem like a small detail
compared to all of the hard work you've put into writing it, but a wellformatted paper is easier to read, easier to revise, and just looks better
than a paper that's been typed hurriedly and haphazardly.
Paper
• Use one kind of good quality white paper, size 8 1/2" x 11".
• Use the same font for the entire paper.
• Use only one side of the paper.
Page Numbering
Starting with the second page, place consecutive page numbers at the
upper right-hand corner of the page, at least 1 in. (whatever your right
margin is) from the right edge of the page, between the top of the page
and the first line of text (the default setting on most word-processing
programs, 1/2 in. from the top of the page, is acceptable).
Usually no page numbers on the title page
Margins
Use uniform margins at least 1 in. from the top, bottom, and sides of
every page.
Spacing
Double-space all text throughout the manuscript, including the title
page and reference page.
Punctuation
• Generally, leave one space between words and one space after every
comma, semi-colon, or colon.
• At the end of a sentence one may have either one or two spaces
whether the sentence ends with a period, a question mark, or an
exclamation mark. Be consistent.
• However, NO space should be left in front of a punctuation mark; for
example, the following would be incorrect:
• What dismal weather !
• "Why me ? "
Justification
• Feel free to right justify your paper
Page Headers
•
Feel free to include a "running head" or short title on the top of each page.
•
For example, if the title of your paper is “An Analysis of Literary Creativity in
Adolescent Girls," your running head might be "Literary Creativity."
Indentation
Use the tab key to indent the first lines of paragraphs and all lines of
block quotes five to seven spaces or 1/2 in.
Long Quotations
Place quotations of 40 or more words in block form:
Indent the entire quotation five to seven spaces, or 1/2 in. (the same
distance you indent the first line of a paragraph). Block quotations are
often introduced with a colon:
An example of an actual block quotation and its
introduction
According to Greenberg (2001), two different criteria were proposed to
determine brain death: the "higher-brain" and the "whole-brain" concepts. He
describes the higher-brain formulation as follows:
A brain-dead person is alleged to be dead because his neocortex, the of
consciousness, has been destroyed. He has thus lost the ability to
think and feel -- the capacity for personhood -- that makes us who we
are, and our lives worth living. (pp. 37-38)
Text in APA Style
Big Business in Art
The buoyant late-1990s economy has created a bull market in high-priced art,
especially in New York (“Fresco Frenzy,” p. 76). For example, Art in America
writer Walter Robinson (1996) reported that in the fall of 1995, the leading
auction houses, Sotheby's and Christie's, moved a combined $300 million in
fine art, more than in any year since 1990 (p. 19).
Leading the herd is Microsoft's Bill Gates, who bought Winslow Homer's Lost
on the Grand Banks in 1998 for $30 million, the record for an American
painting. Gates's other recent high-profile purchases include a $30+ million
Leonardo da Vinci manuscript (Luscombe, 1998). According to Carol Vogel
(1998), the Homer sale was followed shortly by another record, the highest
price ever paid for an Andy Warhol work, as his Orange Marilyn went for
over $17 million. Sotheby's called the Warhol "a wise buy. . . . It will soon be
worth as much as a Picasso or any landmark work of this century" (p. A27).
Will a new all-time price record be set soon? If so, the buyer will need deep
pockets to top the $82.5 million commanded by Van Gogh's portrait of Dr.
Gachet (Luscombe, 1998).
Source
: http://acadweb.snhu.edu/documenting_sources/apa.htm
Works Cited or Reference List
Title:
Type the word “References” at the top of a new page, centered.
Spacing:
All entries should be double-spaced.
Indention:
Use hanging indents (first line flush left, following lines five spaces
indent).
Capitalization:
Capitalize only the first word of titles of books and articles and the first
word after a colon.
Works Cited or Reference List
Articles: One author
Roy, A. (1982). Suicide in chronic schizophrenia. British Journal of
Child and Family Studies, 141, 171-177.
Articles: Two Authors
Adkins, A., & Singh, N. N. (2001). Reading level and readability of
patient education materials in mental health. Journal of Child
and Family Studies, 10, 1-8.
Journal Article with six authors
Utley, C. A., Reddy, S. S., Delquadri, J.C., Greenwood, C.R., Mortweet, S.L.,
& Bowman, V. (2001). Class-wide peer tutoring: An effective teaching
procedure for facilitating the acquisition of health education and safety
facts with students with developmental disabilities. Education and
Treatment of Children, 24, 1-27.
Journal Article in press
Smith, R. W., Huber, R. A., & Shotsberger, P. G. (in
press). The impact of standards guided equity and
problem solving institute on participating science
teachers and their students. North Carolina
Journal of Teacher Education.
Article in Internet-only Journal
Greenberg, M.T., Domitrovich, C., & Bumbarger, B. (2000, March
30). Prevention of mental disorders in school-aged children:
Current state of the field. Prevention and Treatment, 4, 1.
Retrieved 9 December, 2009, from
http://www.journals.apa.org/prevention/volume4/pre0040001a.html
Books
Book with single author
Reference:
Baxter, C. (1997). Race equality in health care and
education. Philadelphia: Balliere Tindall.
In-Text:
(Baxter, 1997)
Books – Two or More Authors
• Reference:
Strunk, W., Jr. & White, E.B. (1979). The elements of style (3rd
ed.). New York: Macmillan.
• In-Text: (two authors):
(Strunk & White, 1979)
• In-Text (three or more authors):
(Strunk, White, & Smith, 1979)
• In-Text (subsequent references):
(Strunk et al., 1979)
Book: Editors as Authors
Stock, G., & Campbell, J. (Eds.). (2000). Engineering the human
germline: An exploration of the science and ethics of altering
the genes we pass to our children. New York: Oxford
University Press.
Book: English Translation
Dykes, S. L. (1987). Cognition and development (J.
Nuise, Trans.). New York: Academic Press.
(Original work published 1958.)
Article or chapter in edited book
Eiser, S., Redpath, A., & Rogers, N. (1987). Outcomes of
early parenting: Knowns and unknowns. In A. P. Kern
& L. S. Maze (Eds.), Logical thinking in children (pp.
58-87). New York: Springer.
In-Text (three or more authors):
(Eiser, Redpath, & Rogers, 1987)
Corporate Author as Publisher
National Institute of Mental Health. (1989). Manual of
cognitive learning. Washington, DC: Author.
Newspaper article: Discontinuous pages
Reichenbach, M. (1988, May 10). Mind and body of a
child. Christian Science Monitor, pp. 4, 16.
No author
Understanding early years as a prerequisite to
development. (1986, May 4). The Wall Street
Journal, p. 8.
Electronic version of article from newspaper;
no author
Mad-cow may tighten blood-donor curbs. (2001, April
19). The Gazette [Montreal], p. A13. Retrieved
9 December, 2009 from Lexis-Nexis database.
Paper presented at a meeting/conference
Crespo, C.J. (1998, March). Update on national data on
asthma. Paper presented at the meeting of the
National Asthma Education and Prevention
Program, Leesburg, VA.
Last points . . . .
A good research paper should
– read well
– flow logically and smoothly
– produce confidence in the reader that author has good knowledge of the
subject matter
– properly credit all sources.
Common Grammatical Errors (1)
• Verb must agree in number with its subject:
– The lawyer and his client agrees on a fee
– If any one of the substations are knocked out…
– The jury has made up their minds
Source: http://www.arcticcentre.org/contentparser.asp?deptid=9015
Common Grammatical Errors (2)
• Pronoun must agree in number, person, and gender
with its antecedent noun (the noun to which it refers),
and should have a clear antecedent:
– The captain threw some floatable items overboard for the sailor, even
though he knew that it would probably not save him.
– John told his father that his car wouldn’t start
•
Source: http://www.arcticcentre.org/contentparser.asp?deptid=9015
Common Grammatical Errors (3)
Comma splice:
Independent clauses cannot be joined just by a comma:
– We are not allowed to think for ourselves, that privilege is reserved
for administrators (incorrect)
– We are not allowed to think for ourselves, because that privilege is
reserved for administrators. (good)
– We are not allowed to think for ourselves. That privilege is
reserved for administrators (good)
Source: http://www.arcticcentre.org/contentparser.asp?deptid=9015
Common Grammatical Errors (4)
Run on sentence:
Two or more independent clauses without a conjunction or proper
punctuation:
– Two suspects were arrested last week one of them was a cripple
(incorrect)
– Two suspects were arrested last week; one of them was a cripple.
(good)
– Two suspects were arrested last week, and one of them was a
cripple. (good)
Source: http://www.arcticcentre.org/contentparser.asp?deptid=9015
Common Spelling Errors in English
Its/It’s
–
–
its is the possessive case of the pronoun it
it’s is the contraction of it is or it has
There/Their/They’re
–
–
–
Their is the possessive pronoun they
There is an adverb meaning "that location“ (also used in the passive phrasing: “there
is…”)
They're is a contraction of they are
You're/Your
–
–
"You're" is the contraction of you are
Your is the possessive pronoun of you
We’re/Were
–
–
We’re is a contraction of we are
Were is the past tense of are
http://www.xeromag.com/cheat.html
Common Spelling Errors in English
Affect/Effect
– When you affect a situation, you have an effect on it.
Except/Accept
– To accept something means to receive that thing
– Except means "with the exclusion of" or "but”
To/Too
– Too means "also" or "to a great extent“
– To means "in the direction of" or indicates an infinitive
Lose/Loose
– Lose means "to misplace“
– Loose means "not tight“
http://www.xeromag.com/cheat.html
Breaking Words
•
Better not to break words at the end of a line.
•
However, if you right justify, breaking words is OK --your word-processing
program will probably break them for you.
APA Style
• Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th
ed. (Washington D.C. American Psychological Association, 2009).
• Numerous web sites will help with APA style.