1. Research Paper : A Little Resource Help
REED 663
Dr. Sharon Pitcher

2. Narrowing Your Topic
You have chosen your topic for the research paper. Now, you need to find journal articles that will help you understand what research has been done on ways to teach the strategy. The following resources can help:
Search your topic on the International Reading Association website. Many of the articles you will find will focus on how the strategy has been implemented instructionally. The web address is: On this site you can find references but you have to pay to get the whole article. Once you have the reference, you can go to the TU Cook Library site and get the article for free. The next couple of slides will give you some ways to do that.

3. Narrowing Your Topic Continued and Finding Articles
Go to
You will need your TU Id card for your bar code number to get full texts of articles.
Choose data bases from selections in help window.
You can find a specific article or search the education data bases.

4. At the Cook Library Site
You can search through subject or database. Try both. In the databases, choose “Education Research Complete” which includes the best reading resources or “EBSCO”. OR
If you found a reference on the IRA site, choose “journals” and put in the name of the journal the reference is in. You will then be able to choose the year and volume.

5. Cook Library Subscribes On-Line
We do subscribe to Reading Teacher, Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy and Reading Research Quarterly on-line. You can get the current issues and print out any articles you want from the Cook website connections.

6. Researching Your Topic
From the articles that you found, choose carefully judging how valid the information seems. Is other research sited to support claims? Does the author explain clearly how they researched the strategy?
You are required to include some research studies in addition to instructional focused articles.

7. Writing Up Research Studies
If it is a research study article, they will tell:
How the study was designed (case study, experimental/control group, etc.)
Who the subjects were
The results of the study
What was learned from the study that can be used for instruction.
To write up the study, just write a paragraph about it that includes all of the above.

8. Use What You Find
Once you find one or two articles, you can then use the references at the end of those articles to find more.

9. Searching on The Internet
You can use web-based sites especially for materials and strategy ideas but make sure that the recommendations are from proven educators. There are many sites on the web that are just about selling materials. Be selective!
See for some searching tips. Especially look at Internet Tips for Searching.

10. Other Sources for Articles
Your course textbooks can help you. Look at the chapter on the strategies that you are researching. Check to see if the authors reference any references. You can then find those references on the Cook Library Reference Cite.

11. Make Sure to Follow the Rubric for the Research Paper under Course Project Descriptions and Rubrics
Research will reflect at least 10 current references (copyright within the last 15 years) including at least 5 professional journal articles and other pertinent professional literature reported in APA format. Background research older before 1991 can be included but is not included in these 10 resources.
From the Rubric: .5 point for each reference that is current, supportive of the topic, are explained in the literature review and reported in APA format. Points ____ out of a possible 5 points
(- 1 point for each journal article not included)

12. General Formatting of Your Paper
In our graduate program and for most educational research, we use the APA (American Psychological Association) Manual for paper formatting and references. Carefully follow the guidelines for margins and title page. The following web resources will help you with these guidelines:
- On this site, you will see APA Style and then a list of specific information. Read each of those carefully.

13. Another Resource for APA
has many resources to help you with writing the paper. This site also has some great tips on grammar, sentence construction, punctuation, etc.

14. In the Folder on under Course Documents on Blackboard
I have included some other resources in the Blackboard Folder “Research Paper” that you may find helpful:
A sample APA research paper (this is a general paper used as an example of how to apply APA)
A Comma Crib Sheet
Some Examples from 663 Research Papers (this has some examples of the introductions, citations, materials, etc. parts of past 663 papers)
An APA Checklist for 6th Edition

15. Some General Guidelines
Double space the paper with 1” margins all around (top, bottom, right & left).
The font should be 12 point Times New Roman.
The paper should have page numbers, header and a title page.
The next slide describes how to do these!

16. TITLE PAGE The title page includes the following: Title Author’s name
Author’s Institutional Affiliation – since you are doing this for a TU course, the affiliation is Towson University.
Course Number
5. Date Submitted Assignment
Running Head – this is a shortened title that goes in the heading. To add this on MS Word, go into the “Insert” menu, choose “Heading & Footer”, type the shortened title in all caps flush left.
Page Numbers - In the heading, put page numbers flush right. Once you insert this, the number will appear in correct order on the following pages.

17. Some Examples of Running Heads
If your title is Using Making Connections to Make Reading Material Real, your running head could be Using Making Connections.
If your title is Retelling Can Be Done by Every Child, your running head could be Retelling Can Be Done.

18. Header and Page Numbers
In Microsoft Word ‘97 or 2003, go to “View” on the tool bar and choose “Header and Footer”. Then:
In the “Header”, choose flush left margin from the tool bar.
Type in your running head (abbreviated title) in all caps.
Then choose flush right and from the small tool bar that appears when you are doing this (Insert Auto Text), choose the first icon (#) and the page number will be inserted automatically.
Close the window and this will automatically appear at the top of each page.

19. Headings
Headings help to guide your reader through your paper. The following are headings that you should use to make sure you include these required parts of the paper:
The Research
Materials Needed to Support the Strategy
Application to Classroom Practice
Reaction to the Research
Note: Your title of the paper is centered, 12 pt type. The next level of headings are done in bold type flush with the left margin, 12 pt type.

20. Abstract
Since this is a short paper, I am not requiring an abstract.

21. Introduction
Your paper starts with an introduction but that does not have a heading. The headings start after your introduction.
The introduction starts generally and introduces the topic.

22. Avoiding Plagiarism
It is very important to cite and paraphrase carefully. See the following web resources on information on how to do this correctly so that you are not plagiarizing which is a serious offense at TU.
Resource on “Avoiding Plagiarism”
TU Academic Integrity Policy

23. Safe Assign
We are now using Safe Assign to check papers for plagiarism in our Graduate Program so make sure if you are paraphrasing, that you are not using the author’s words. Also, this resource checks past papers submitted in any program at Towson.

24. Reference List: Basic Rules
In APA there is a certain format for how each type of reference needs to be listed in the reference section of your paper. The following Cook Library resource provides a guide and sample entries:
Choose APA style. You looked at these on an earlier slide but be very, very careful to follow them EXACTLY. Every period, capital letter and indentation counts. The directions for this have to be followed exactly.

25. Don’t Make This Bigger Than It Needs to BE
The paper is only 5-7 pages.
The directions for how it is to be written are carefully laid out in the syllabus page 12.
The paper needs to be edited to reflect professionalism required for Master’s level work. Sentence structure, grammar and punctuation are very important. As a professional, you are judged by the quality of your work!

26. Relationship Between Research Paper and Instructional Project
The Research Paper comes first and should help to give you ideas for the Instructional Project.
As you research materials for the paper, think of how you can use these materials in your project and what kind of texts you may need for your text set.
When you reflect on how to use what you learned in your paper, you may want to talk about your decisions for the instructional project.
For more information about the Instructional Project, see the Instructional Project folder under “Course Documents” on Blackboard.

27. Now think about what questions you have.
If you have any questions about the research paper or the instructional Project, the questions can be put on the Café Discussion Board on Blackboard.
Also, you may want to post the topic of your research paper on the Café Discussion Board to see if anyone else is doing the same topic. You may be able to share some tips on finding articles.

28. Next Steps
Once you are finished the draft of the project, post your draft on the Research Café Discussion Board for your critiquing buddy to read it. Along with your draft, post your address so your drafting buddy can send the corrected draft back to you by . See the Direction Sheet for Research Project for due dates.

29. The Additional PowerPoint
There is a second PowerPoint on the Blackboard site that goes through each part of the rubric to help you in both writing and critiquing the paper.
This is under the title Shedding More Light ON the Research Project & Critiquing.

30. As Always
me if you need help. Searching a topic can sometimes be frustrating if you are not using the different terms that may be in the data bases. I may be able to help you with ideas.