Introduction to Research Writing

Assignment Goals Students will be able to: -identify and locate scholarly research sources -read and understand scholarly research sources -support a given thesis in writing by incorporating scholarly research sources -quote, paraphrase, and cite correctly in research writing

Purpose of Assignment Prepare for 12 th grade English with focus on research writing (first assignment of next year) Prepare for college, majority of assessments are research papers (across disciplines, not necessarily related to literature)

Defining Scholarly Research Sources A scholarly source is written by scholars or professionals who are experts in their fields and are reviewed before publication. Scholarly sources also contain specific, credible, accurate, and reliable information. Wikipedia and similar sources are NOT an example of a scholarly source because it is community-edited and can be changed by anyone who may not be an expert in his/her field. Sources used in research writing generally do NOT include news articles, rather articles from scholarly journal publications (American Psychology Journal, Journal of Social Sciences)

Identifying Scholarly Research Sources Scholarly research sources are different from news sources such as newspaper or magazine articles News articles are published with the purpose of reaching a wide audience at an easy reading level Characteristics of Scholarly Research Sources: Long, complex vocabulary, different sections, often studies, contain many references

Quiz Identify the scholarly source based on the descriptions of the two articles below: Article 1: From Washington Post, 2 pages long, no references Article 2: From American Journal of Psychology, 30 pages long, multiple editors, 40 references, different sub-headings (abstract, results, conclusion)

Places to Find Scholarly Research Sources -Google Scholar -KPHS Virtual Library (go to kingphilip.org, click on high school up at the top, click “departments” on left-hand panel, click library, and click “KPHS Virtual Library”) -Jstor.org - (education and psychology related) -

Reading Scholarly Sources Scholarly journal research usually broken into sections Identify which parts of the source are going to be most important to your paper Because scholarly sources are typically studies, there are sections heavily based on data and the methods used to gather information What will generally be most useful to you is the background, discussion, results, and conclusion section Other sections should be skimmed

Reading Scholarly Sources While reading, highlight/underline/annotate the parts you will likely use in your paragraph (keep in mind your given thesis) Soldiers experience intense, negative mental and physical effects as a result of their traumatic experiences at war

Incorporating Research Into Writing Quoting- Quoting is taking direct sentences from a research source and using them in writing… Quotes always need to be cited. Paraphrasing- Paraphrasing means taking the information in the research source and putting it in your own words in your writing. You will do this often throughout a research writing assignment because there is no way for you to incorporate all the information from the source through quoting- you would have way too many quotes for one paper. However, paraphrasing, like quoting, needs to be cited at the end of the sentence in the same way that you would cite a quote.

Paraphrasing Sample Research Source: “The mental health impairments experienced by U.S. soldiers deployed in the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) have received a great deal of attention by both policymakers and the American news media. A recent article in the Time magazine describes the mental health problems of servicemen and women returning from Iraq and Afghanistan as “the U.S. Army’s third front.” Military service has been linked to greater take-up of disability benefits among some veterans. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that veterans comprise nearly 20 percent of the more than 30,000 suicides each year. Public concern about the mental health problems of soldiers has prompted political action, with President Barack Obama announcing a plan to increase the ease with which veterans diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can receive federal health benefits.” Example: United States veterans that have returned from war make up approximately 20 percent of the 30,000 yearly suicides, making the mental effects of war on soldiers a widely discussed issue in both the news and government (Cesar, Sabia, Tekin 2).

Quiz What is paraphrasing? When do you use it? Does it need to be cited?

Practicing Paraphrasing Directions: Read the first paragraph of last night’s homework article on page 2 (starts with “War is particularly traumatic…), choose the most important information, and write one or two sentences paraphrasing the information in that paragraph. Make sure you cite correctly.

Paraphrasing Sample Among the most traumatic war experiences are heavy combat exposure, seeing injured comrades, and witnessing death. Vietnam veterans of 19 years of age or younger are more likely to suffer from substance abuse problems, criminal activity, and employment difficulties as a result of these experiences (Pizarro, Cohen Silver and Prause 2). *Benefit of paraphrasing is you can choose parts of the article that work for your paper

Overview: Parts of a Research Paragraph Given Thesis: Soldiers experience intense, negative mental and physical effects as a result of their traumatic experiences at war Part A: Topic Sentence (references mental effects and specific example of one) Part B: Two facts/ideas that support or describe the specific mental effect you are talking about -should include one paraphrased and cited sentence and one cited quote (be sure to explain quote by pulling from quote) Part C: Concluding Sentence -explains how facts/ideas link to topic sentence, concludes paragraph

Parts of a Research Paragraph Part B: Two facts/ideas that support or describe the specific effect you are talking about (include one cited quote, and one paraphrased and cited sentence) i. 1-2 sentences paraphrasing information from the article ii. 1-2 sentences explaining paraphrased information (CITE PROPOERLY) iii. Transition to new fact/idea still related to effect listed in topic sentence iv. Introduce quote, quote, CITATION v. 1-2 sentence explaining the quote, PULL WORDS from the quote in your explanation

Sample Research Paragraph Given Thesis: Soldiers experience intense, negative mental and physical effects as a result of their traumatic experiences at war. (A) Topic Sentence (references mental effects and specific example of one) Perhaps one of the most significant physical effects of war is the increased health challenges soldiers face.

Sample Research Paragraph Part B: Two facts/ideas that support or describe the specific effect you are talking about (include one cited quote, and one paraphrased and cited sentence) i.1-2 sentences paraphrasing information from the article For example, veterans of World War II and the Korean War have an increased death rate due to smoking caused by the stress of their time in the military.

Sample Research Paragraph B-ii) 1-2 sentences explaining paraphrased information (CITE PROPOERLY) As a result of their anxiety and stress from their experiences and memories in battle, veterans are more likely to start smoking in order to cope (Cesar, Sabia and Tekin 3).

Sample Research Paragraph B-iii) Transition to new fact/idea still related to effect listed in topic sentence In addition to increased health challenges related to smoking, soldiers experience various other diseases and complications.

Sample Research Paragraph B-iv) Introduce quote, quote, CITATION As the article “Physical and Mental Health Costs of Traumatic War Experiences Among Civil War Veterans” states, “Traumatic war exposure has also been linked to specific self-reported and objective health problems such as cardiovascular disease and hypertension and gastrointestinal disorders” (Pizarro, Cohen Silver, and Prause 2).

Sample Research Paragraph B-v) 1-2 sentence explaining the quote, PULL WORDS from the quote in your explanation The dangerous, stressful, and “traumatic” conditions that many soldiers experience at war cause “cardiovascular disease” and other issues either due to injury and illness that occurs during war or that develops after the fact.

Sample Research Paragraph C) Concluding Sentence(s) 1-2 sentences explaining how facts/ideas link to topic sentence, concludes paragraph All in all, war causes negative health effects by causing veterans to develop dangerous coping habits or various diseases.

Works Cited/Annotated Bibliography Rules for the Works Cited/Annotated Bibliography page must be followed EXACTLY. 1.Uniformly double spaced 2.Alphabetical Order 3.Works Cited OR Annotated Bibliography should be written at the top in the same 12 point, Times New Roman font as the rest of the page (Works Cited is for when you are simply listing sources, Annotated Bibliography is for when you have to explain how you used your sources) 4.If a citation goes to the second line, the second line only is indented 5.Citations must follow format exactly…punctuation matters