Language Arts 8
Research Paper Steps Guide
Name __________________________________ Date ________________ Period ______
PART I: NOTE CARDS
1. After you have read and highlighted important information, it is time to create your note cards.
2. You will create 15 note cards for this paper:
A. 10 cards on recycling in general
 Statistics about recycling
 How items are recycled
 Why items are recycled
 E-waste recycling (only if you are recommending an e-waste program)
B. 5 cards on the program you are recommending
 How the program works
 Benefits of the program
 Negative aspects of the program (so you can rebut counter-arguments)
What note cards should look like:
AUTHOR
Smith
CARD #
1
Recycling:

Most towns recycle cardboard, glass,
and paper
PARAPHRASE
TYPE OF NOTE CARD
AUTHOR
Smith
recycling (general)
TOPIC
CARD #
2
E-waste is “the largest increasing contributor to our
national garbage epidemic.”
QUOTATION
TYPE OF NOTE CARD
e-waste
TOPIC
PART II: BODY PARAGRAPH OUTLINES
1. After you have finished creating your note cards, it is time to create your body paragraph outlines.
2. You will create four paragraph outlines for this paper:
A. An introductory paragraph that includes:
 A lead/hook (could be a recycling statistic)
 An explanation of the lead/hook
 A statement about the need for more recycling in Closter
 A thesis that recommends a program for Closter
B. A body paragraph about the need for recycling, including information about:
 Statistics on recycling
 How items are recycled
 Why items are recycled
 Why recycling is important and helpful to the environment
C. A body paragraph recommending a specific program
 Name of the program and a summary of how the program works
 Reasons why Closter should adopt this new program
 Benefits of the program
D. A body paragraph providing a counter-argument and rebuttal
 Identify a counter-argument: why some people might think the
program you chose will not work for Closter
 Provide a rebuttal: why the counter-argument is wrong
E. A concluding paragraph that includes:
 A restated thesis
 Recap of the strongest reason why Closter needs this program
 Clincher (final sentence to convince the Mayor)
3. You MUST credit your sources on every page of the outline by stating the last name of the author
from whose work you took the information. If an article does not have an author, use the article title in
“quotation marks.”
Sample in-text citations:
Article with an author:
Recycling is necessary to the health of the environment (Lee).
Article without an author:
Recycling is very important (“Recycling Facts”).
Name __________________________________ Date ___________________ Period ____
Introductory Paragraph:
Hook/Lead Sentence (fact/statistic about recycling or e-waste):
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Explanation of Hook/Lead: _________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
A statement about the need for more recycling in Closter:
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
A thesis statement that recommends a program for Closter:
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
SOURCES OF INFORMATION USED IN THE INTRODUCTION (LIST AUTHOR LAST NAMES OR, IF NOT
AVAILABLE, ARTICLE TITLES IN “QUOTATIONS”):
Body Paragraph #1:
A paragraph about the need for recycling, including statistics on recycling, how items are recycled, and why items are recycled.
Topic Sentence: ___________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Main Point #1: ____________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
Detail:
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Main Point #2: ____________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
Detail:
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Main Point #3: ____________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
Detail:
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Closing Sentence (summarizes important points): ______________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
SOURCES OF INFORMATION USED IN THIS PARAGRAPH (LIST AUTHOR LAST NAMES OR, IF NOT AVAILABLE, ARTICLE TITLES IN
“QUOTATIONS”):
Body Paragraph #2:
A paragraph recommending a specific program. Include the following: the name of the program, how it works, its benefits
and drawbacks, and reasons why Closter should adopt the program.
Topic Sentence (name and description of program): ____________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Reason #1 why Closter should adopt this program:______________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
Supporting Detail:
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Reason #2 why Closter should adopt this program:______________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
Supporting Detail:
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Closing Sentence (summarizes important points): ______________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
SOURCES OF INFORMATION USED IN THIS PARAGRAPH (LIST AUTHOR LAST NAMES OR, IF NOT AVAILABLE, ARTICLE TITLES IN
“QUOTATIONS”):
Body Paragraph #3:
A paragraph that explains a counter-argument about why some people might believe that this program is not right for
Closter, and a rebuttal that explains why the counter-argument is not correct.
Topic Sentence (introduces the counter-argument): ____________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Counter-argument (more fully explained) :_____________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
Details to support the counter-argument:
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Rebuttal:__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
Details to support the rebuttal:
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Closing Sentence (summarizes important points): ______________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
SOURCES OF INFORMATION USED IN THIS PARAGRAPH (LIST AUTHOR LAST NAMES OR, IF NOT AVAILABLE, ARTICLE TITLES IN
“QUOTATIONS”):
Concluding Paragraph:
1. RESTATED/REWORDED THESIS
 Restate your thesis here. Be sure to write the thesis in a different way than you did in your
introduction.
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
2. SUMMARY: Two sentences that summarize the strongest reasons why Closter needs this program.
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
3. CLINCHER: One final sentence that convinces the Mayor to adopt this program.
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
PART III: WORKS CITED LIST
Format of Works Cited List:

Once you have recorded all of the necessary information from your sources, visit
www.easybib.com or www.bibme.com to create your Works Cited list.

Begin your works cited list on a separate page from the text of the essay under the title
Works Cited
o
This title should be centered at the top of the page with no quotation marks or
underlining, and it should be in 12-point font.

Add a header in the upper right-hand corner to contain your last name and page number.

Place the first line of each entry in your list at the left margin.
o
After the first line of each entry, indent (just press the “tab” key once on your
computer keyboard)

Double-space all entries, with no extra spaces between entries.

Italicize titles of longer works (books, magazines, newspapers); use “quotation marks” for
titles of shorter works (poems, articles). DO NOT use underlining.

Alphabetize the list of works cited by the first word in each entry (usually the author's last
name or, if unavailable, the title of the article in “quotations”).

Place URLs in <angle brackets> after the entry and end with a period. For long URLs, break
lines ONLY at slashes / .

For electronic sources (websites/databases), if no publisher/sponsor is listed, type n.p. If no
publication date is listed, type n.d. If no page numbers are listed, type n. pag.
CHECK YOUR WORKS CITED ENTRIES AGAINST THE FORMATS ON THE FOLLOWING TWO PAGES
TO MAKE SURE THEY ARE CORRECT.
Formats for ONLINE/ELECTRONIC Materials:
1. DATABASES (EBSCO)
Basic Form
Author Last Name, First Name (skip if no author). “Title of Article.” Title of Original Print Source
(if applicable; include any issue or volume number, if available) Date published: Pages. Title
of Database. Medium of Publication (Web). Date you accessed the material.
Example
Langhamer, Claire. “Love and Courtship in Mid-Twentieth-Century England.” Historical Journal 50.1
(2007): 173-96. ProQuest. Web. 27 May 2009.
2. WEB PAGE
Basic Form
Name of author/editor/creator (skip if not given). "Article Name" (skip if not given). Title of website/
project/online book. Any version numbers (including revisions, posting dates, volume, or issue
numbers; skip if not given). Publisher name, publishing date (if name not given use n.p.; if date
not given use n.d.). Medium of Publication (Web). Date you accessed the material. <URL>.
Example
"How to Make Vegetarian Chili." eHow.com. eHow, n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2009. <www.ehow.com>.
3. MAGAZINE (ONLINE)
Basic Form
Author. "Article Title." Magazine Title. Publisher name, publishing date (if name not given use n.p.; if
date not given use n.d.). Medium of Publication (Web). Date you accessed the material.
<URL>.
Example
Murphy, H. Lee. "Saturn's Orbit Still High With Consumers." Marketing News Online. American
Marketing Association, 31 Aug. 1998. 1 Sept. 2011.
<http://www.ama.org/pubs/mn/0818/n1.htm>.
4. NEWSPAPER (ONLINE)
Basic Form
Author. (Year, Month Day). Title of article. Title of Newspaper. Retrieved from
<http://www.someaddress.com/full/url/>.
Example
Parker-Pope, T. (2008, May 6). Psychiatry handbook linked to drug industry.
The New York Times. Retrieved from <http://www.nytimes.com>.
Sample Works Cited List
Levy 3
Works Cited
Leroux, Marcel. Global Warming: Myth Or Reality?: The Erring Ways of Climatology. New York:
Springer, 2005. Print.
Milken, Michael, Gary Becker, Myron Scholes, and Daniel Kahneman. "On Global Warming and
Financial Imbalances." New Perspectives Quarterly 23.4 (2006): 63. Print.
Nordhaus, William D. "After Kyoto: Alternative Mechanisms to Control Global Warming." American
Economic Review 96.2 (2006): 31-34. Print.
---. "Global Warming Economics." Science 9 Nov. 2001: 1283-84. Science Online. Web.
24 May 2009. <www.science.com>.
Shulte, Bret. "Putting a Price on Pollution." Usnews.com. US News & World Rept., 6 May 2007.
Web. 24 May 2009.
Uzawa, Hirofumi. Economic Theory and Global Warming. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2003. Print.
PART IV: DRAFTING THE PAPER & IN-TEXT CITATIONS

You will give credit to your sources throughout the paper by using in-text citations.

An in-text citation consists of an author’s last name or, if that information is not available, the
article title in “quotations,” in parentheses.
Examples:
(Shulte)
(“Global Warming: Fact or Fiction?”)

Every time you use information from a source, whether that information is paraphrased or
directly quoted, you must end the sentence with an in-text citation.
Examples:
Global warming is one of the most pressing problems our nation faces today (Shulte).
Global warming is “the greatest problem of the twenty-first century thus far” (“Global
Warming: Fact or Fiction?”).
PART V: LETTER FORMAT
See separate PDF.