What To Think about before Typing Your Research Paper

Your Paragraph Breaks: The headings on your notecards will eventually be turned into topic sentences for each paragraph of your paper. Remember- each paragraph must be at least six sentences that MUST stay inside the range of your topic sentence. If you go outside of your topic – then you have committed a major writing mistake at the most basic level. You may have to expand your topic sentence to make sure your follow ups match the topic.

Your Follow Up Sentences: You must have at least five follow-up sentences for each topic sentence: a total of at least six sentences per paragraph. If applicable, these sentences should have a specific order that makes them clear. Ex: chronological order, order of importance, etc. You should try to use creative transition words so your paper reads more nuanced and interesting than a basic, choppy list of facts.

Good Transitions: as a result, consequently, for this reason, for this purpose, otherwise, so then, subsequently by the same token, conversely, instead, likewise, on one hand, on the other hand, on the contrary, rather, similarly, yet, but, however, still, nevertheless, in contrast above all, chiefly, with attention to, especially, particularly, singularly as a rule, as usual, for the most part, generally, ordinarily, usually for example, for instance, as an illustration, as an example, in this case in essence, in other words, namely, that is, that is to say, in short, in brief, to put it differently at first, first of all, to begin with, in the first place, at the same time, in time, in turn, later on, meanwhile, next, then, soon, the meantime, later, while, earlier simultaneously, afterward, in conclusion, with this in mind in brief, in conclusion, on the whole, in short, in summary, in the final analysis, in the long run, on balance, to sum up, to summarize, finally This link has hundreds of them to help you:

Paper Organization: All papers should have a clear form of organization that the reader can figure out easily. Examples: Chronological, Categorical, Spatial. The organizational choice you make will determine what transitions you use in your sentences.

Things to AVOID in your paper. Do not repeat the fact more than once. Do not use a “closing sentence” that basically repeats the first sentence. Do NOT say: “I am going to tell/show you” or “I have just shown/explained to you.” Do not repeat the same sentence opener more than twice in one paragraph. Do not use numerals to write numbers less than 100.

Things to AVOID in your paper cont. Do not use slang or “nicknames.” Do not use the words “kid” or “stuff” unless you are referring to a baby goat or a verb you do to your Thanksgiving turkey. Do not use the word “alot.” “A lot” is a place to park, and “allot” is a verb which means to share equally. Don’t change your tenses within the paper. You are either speaking in the present or the past.

Things to AVOID in your paper cont. Avoid the passive voice if at all possible. Ex: Don’t say: An A was given to Jorge by Professor Villa. Do say: Professor Villa gave Jorge an A.

The “Small” but “Important” Things. Sentence Run-ons (more than two independent clauses in the same sentence). Sentence Fragments (not a complete thought). Omitting words (We went the store.) “to” Homophones (there, there, their; to, to, two). Punctuation. Capitalization. Correct Grammar rules (subj-verb agreement, etc.).

Tools to Help: Thesaurus Spell Check/ Grammar check (DON”T depend too much on this). This proofreading PDF. Peer editor. Search tool on your word processor. The most important tools are your brain and time! Take the time to read your paper many times, looking at each sentence and word separately. Don’t be distracted when proofreading.

Things To Ask Before You Turn It in. Is my format correct? Do all my paragraphs have at least six sentences? Do all my follow up sentences match my topic sentence? Did I vary my sentence openers with good transition sentences? Did I stay away from the slang words to make my paper sound more mature?

Thing To Ask Before You Turn It in cont. Did I omit any words when I read it out loud? Could I have chosen more mature or developed words in any of my sentences? Did I keep in the same verb tense throughout my paper? Did I have any run on sentences or sentence fragments? Did I double check my grammar, spelling, punctuation? And the last question is……

….Was this the absolute BEST paper I could possibly have written? If the answer to ANY of these questions is “no”, then don’t turn your paper and keep working until all the answers become “yes.” If the answer to ALL of these questions is “yes”, then turn in your paper.