Professional Writing and Research Skills Practicum in LPSCS

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Steps in Developing a Research Paper Understand the Assignment What ideas are you being asked to present? Who is your audience? Select a Topic Use books, encyclopedias, governmental websites, and/or the Internet Discuss options and ideas with experts on the subject Accept a topic defined by the person who assigns the paper

Steps in Developing a Research Paper (continued) Gather Resources From the Internet From books From journals From magazines Create a Bibliography Use the correct format Use the correct style (e.g. MLA or APA)

Steps in Developing a Research Paper (continued) Conduct Research Evaluate the correctness of the information Evaluate the credentials of the author Evaluate how current the material is Evaluate whether or not the material is based in opinion or fact Evaluate the reliability of the authors

Steps in Developing a Research Paper (continued) Develop an Outline Clarify your ideas before writing the paper Organize the order of your ideas Write the Rough Draft In your words, write down the information Transfer ideas in your outline into sentences and paragraphs Get all of your ideas down on paper

Steps in Developing a Research Paper (continued) Complete the Citations Include citations within the paper Use the appropriate format Modern Language Association (MLA) style American Psychology Association (APA) style Chicago Manual of Style (CMS) method

Steps in Developing a Research Paper (continued) Revise and Edit Read the rough draft Rearrange your thoughts as needed Take out any unnecessary information Add any needed information Proofread Read the paper aloud Check for grammar, spelling, and punctuation

Research Thorough and systematic investigation into a topic to discover or revise information about the topic Where to Gather Resources Internet Conduct searches Check the reliability of information Books Library or bookstore eBooks Journals or magazines Online

Research (continued) Bibliography A list of works compiled according to a common principle (i.e. authorship, subject, place of publication, or printer) Use the appropriate format (e.g. MLA, APA, etc.)

Writing Outline Rough draft Citations within the paper A general sketch indicating only the main ideas Use systematic numbering Rough draft The first attempt at a piece of writing Put in essay structure Citations within the paper “The act of giving credit to an author or an authority or a precedent” Avoid plagiarism

Writing (continued) Revisions Proofread Changing something that is already written Improve the writing and the paper Proofread Checking and documenting needed corrections in a text Make it accurate

Plagiarism Using the language and/or ideas of another author without permission and/or taking credit for another author’s work

Plagiarism (continued) Give credit for Direct quotation Information coming from any type of media (e.g. book, magazine, website, movie, song, etc.) Replications of visual material (e.g. charts, pictures, diagrams, etc.) Information gathered from interviews Online information Anything that originates with someone else’s thought or ideas

Plagiarism (continued) Don’t give credit for Common Knowledge Generally accepted facts (e.g. water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit) Culturally accepted facts (e.g. national holidays) Your own thoughts, ideas, experiences, opinions, etc. Results gathered from your own experiments or lab work Your own pictures, videos, or illustrations

Resources http://olinuris.library.cornell.edu/ref/research/skill28.htm http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/ Do an Internet search for dictionary and key terms