1. FINDING AND CITING RESEARCH FOR A RESEARCH ESSAY (dr. atkins, a
FINDING AND CITING RESEARCH FOR A RESEARCH ESSAY (dr. atkins, a. cosgrove, l. fussell, s. rogers)
Eng 201

2. BEGINNING A RESEARCH ESSAY: FIRST STEPS
1. Read the prompt
It is important to take the time to read through the entire prompt (and any other materials your instructor may have given you) to ensure that you fully understand the assignment before you begin writing and researching. This is a good time to ask any questions you may have about the essay/assignment.
2. Pick a topic
Based on the prompt and your understanding of the assignment, pick a topic that you feel you will enjoy writing about AND that you feel confident will fulfill the requirements of the assignment. Now is a good time to do a little preliminary research to ensure your topic is researchable in the amount of time/space you have been allotted.

3. BEGINNING A RESEARCH ESSAY: FIRST STEPS
3. Begin preliminary research:
Now that you have a topic it is time to start researching. It may be helpful to start in places most familiar to you. Such as:
Google – do a Google search of your topic to see what comes up. Note interesting results. It is helpful to try wording your topic several ways to see what you can find. Please note that not all Google searches yield acceptable articles.
Wikipedia – similarly, now is a good time to do a Wikipedia search. Although Wikipedia is NOT a reliable source in all cases, it is a good place to start. Here you can find questions that you may want to investigate further.
Make a list of things you do/do not know to determine what you need to research next. P in your textbook may help with this.

4. CONTINUING RESEARCH
As you continue your research keep these possible sources in mind:
The library (the library and librarians have lots of resources). Here is a link to our library:
Databases – try a number of different databases and search terms to find the largest amount of information (Remember your Library orientation or video?)
Newspapers (many newspapers have online archives that can be searched).
Websites of organizations associated with your topic.
Local sources such as people you could interview.

5. EVALUATING SOURCES How to tell if a source is reliable: Author:
Is there an author? (If no author is listed for a source, look to the publishing organization or institution. If none of these can be found, the source has little credibility).
Who is the author? (Do you know of the author? Do some research on the author. What sort of education/ work experience/ credentials does he or she have that relate to your topic?)
Is he/she credible? Consider everything you know about the author. Is this person a good source for your topic?
P in your textbook lists more issues to consider when evaluating sources.

6. EVALUATING SOURCES How to tell if a source is reliable:
Publisher/institution involved – look at the publishing institution or organization of the source in the same way you would the author. Consider credentials and history.
Also look at what year the source was published. Is the information outdated? Does someone update the website regularly?

7. EVALUATING SOURCES How to tell if a source is reliable:
Cross checking information
Find several sources on your topic and compare them. It is a warning sign if you find a source that states something that no other sources mention, or if one source contradicts another.

8. CITING SOURCES: WHEN A SOURCE NEEDS TO BE CITED
Now that you have researched your topic it is time to start writing. It is important to ensure that you cite all sources used.
Cite a source:
When a source has been directly quoted
Anytime you use a direct quote from a source in your essay you MUST cite the source in the same sentence as the quote (either with an attributive citation or a parenthetical citation – more about those later).
Failure to cite a quotation directly is plagiarism (more about that later).
This link has examples of using direct quotes in essays:

9. CITING SOURCES: WHEN A SOURCE NEEDS TO BE CITED
When information has been taken from a source
Anytime you use a source for information it must be cited. Whether this information is a statistic, a fact, an opinion, etc., it must be cited.
If you had to look it up it must be cited!
If you read/heard it somewhere and then used it in your paper it must be cited! Even ideas must be cited.
A citation must be given at the end of the information used, or at the end of a paragraph (even if the information continues into the next paragraph).
This link has some helpful information about internal citation:

10. CITING SOURCES: WHEN A SOURCE NEEDS TO BE CITED
Review:
When quotes are used
When ideas are used
When statistics/ dates/ numbers are used
Anytime you used a source!
Failure to cite any information found from an outside source is plagiarism.
Try to balance your own words with those of ethical sources

11. CITING SOURCES: WHEN A SOURCE NEEDS TO BE CITED
Understanding common knowledge
But what if it’s something I already knew?
According to MLA formatting and style rules, anything that is not “common knowledge” must be cited from a source.
Common knowledge constitutes:
Something that the VAST majority of readers would know. For example: The sky is blue is common knowledge. Why the sky is blue is not.

12. CITING SOURCES: WHEN A SOURCE NEEDS TO BE CITED
When in doubt…. cite!
Cite quotes, facts, numbers, dates, ideas, opinions, paraphrased information, and anything else you learned from an outside source.
Cite anything that could not be considered common knowledge.
Again, try to balance your words with those of sources.
Citing every sentence and/or word in your essay is also unacceptable.

13. USING SOURCES IN YOUR ESSAY
Now that you have determined that your source must be cited in your essay, how is that done?
There are two internal citation options:
Parenthetical citation
Attributive citation

14. USING SOURCES IN YOUR ESSAY
Parenthetical citations:
You can cite a source with a parenthetical citation directly following the information you used from the source.
That might look something like this:
The article states that MLA formatting is important (Smith 292).
This link has more examples:
Citations must come directly after quotes.
If you are paraphrasing a source the citation must come after the information.

15. USING SOURCES IN YOUR ESSAY
Attributive citations:
Another option for citing your sources is through the use of attributive citations. This means that you would name the source within the essay.
This might look like this: On page 292 of her article Jane Smith states that MLA formatting is important.
The rules for why/when these citations are used are the same as for parenthetical citations.

16. USING SOURCES IN YOUR ESSAY
It is also possible to have both an attributive citation and an internal citation in one sentence. This often happens when the author’s name is mentioned but the page number is not.
This may look like this: Jane Smith states that MLA formatting is important (292).

17. USING SOURCES IN YOUR ESSAY
Using a variety of sources
In order to write a balanced essay that presents your topic in a clear and fair way it is important to have a variety of sources.
Drawing too heavily from one source results in a biased essay
Drawing too heavily from one source could be considered plagiarism (more on plagiarism later).

18. USING SOURCES IN YOUR ESSAY
Moving from one source to another:
Another important way to ensure that your essay is balanced and well-rounded is through moving from one source to another frequently. Each paragraph in a research essay should have more than one source to avoid plagiarism.
Use transitions and use your own words to introduce the quotations and sources.

19. USING SOURCES IN YOUR ESSAY
Attributive tags:
Sometimes information that is taken from a source can seem like your own words when attributive tags are left out.
Attribute tags are NOT the same as attributive citations.
Some examples of attributive tags are:
According to…
… believes/ say/ argues
Attributive tags do not have to mention the source by name, they simply have to show that what you are representing is not your own belief. For example, you may use a more general attributive tag such as “Many believe” or “A few supporters say.”

20. PLAGIARISM The types of plagiarism
UNCW divides plagiarism into these categories:
1. Work-for-word copying. This means taking someone’s exact words and presenting them as your own.
2. The mosaic. This is when you mix in your own words with someone else’s to make it seem like you wrote it yourself.
3. The paraphrase. This is when you get information from a source and then rewrite it without giving a citation for it.
For more information on plagiarism see the UNCW student handbook. (on pages 6-8)

21. AVOIDING PLAGIARISM If you are uncertain, cite it.
Remember that using one source exclusively (or almost exclusively) is mosaic plagiarism even if you do cite your source.
Once found guilty of plagiarism, we are required to report this activity to the Dean.

22. WORKS CITED REVIEW All sources must be included:
Any source cited in the essay must have a corresponding entry in your works cited page.
This link has examples of works cited entries and formatting:
All sources must match:
The information given in the internal citation must match the information given in the works cited.

23. MORE HELPFUL LINKS These links help with specific entries:
Citing a book:
Citing a journal or periodical:
Citing electronic sources:
Other citations:

24. RESEARCH PAPER HELP:
Your textbook has a helpful chapter on research on pages
Your textbook also has a MLA guide on pages with examples.
The UNCW Writing Center has this handout for MLA research help: tyleGuide2.pdf
This site has many helpful links: /
See the Assignment located on the course wiki schedule