1. Copyright © 1995–2004 by Pearson Education, publishing as Longman Publishers Fowler/Aaron, The Little, Brown Handbook, Ninth Edition RESEARCH WRITING

2. Copyright © 1995–2004 by Pearson Education, publishing as Longman Publishers Fowler/Aaron, The Little, Brown Handbook, Ninth Edition SCHEDULING STEPS IN RESEARCH WRITING ___1. Setting a schedule and beginning a research journal (See p. 607.) ___2. Finding a researchable subject and question (See p. 609.) ___3. Developing a research strategy (See p. 612.) ___4. Finding sources, both print and electronic (See p. 621.), and making a working bibliography (See p. 615.) ___5. Evaluating and synthesizing sources (See pp. 651, 660.) ___6. Mining and interacting with sources (See p. 663.), often using summary, paraphrase, and direct quotation and avoiding plagiarism (See p. 667.) ___7. Taking steps to avoid plagiarism (See p. 680.) ___8. Developing a thesis statement (See p. 690.) ___9. Creating a structure (See p. 691.) ___10. Drafting the paper, integrating summaries, paraphrases, and direct quotations into your ideas (See p. 674.) ___11. Revising and editing the paper (See p. 696.) ___12. Citing sources in your text (See p. 688.) ___13. Preparing the list of works cited (See p. 688.) ___14. Preparing and proofreading the final manuscript (See p. 698.) ___ Final paper due 44.1

3. Copyright © 1995–2004 by Pearson Education, publishing as Longman Publishers Fowler/Aaron, The Little, Brown Handbook, Ninth Edition CHECKLIST FOR A GOOD RESEARCH SUBJECT  Published sources are ample: the subject is not so recent that other researchers will still be discovering it.  Sources are diverse: the subject is neither wholly personal nor wholly factual.  Sources can be assessed objectively: the subject is not solely a matter of belief, dogma, or prejudice  Sources can be examined thoroughly in the assigned time and length: the subject is not too broad. 44.2

4. Copyright © 1995–2004 by Pearson Education, publishing as Longman Publishers Fowler/Aaron, The Little, Brown Handbook, Ninth Edition INFORMATION FOR A WORKING BIBLIOGRAPHY (for books)  Library call number  Name(s) or author(s), editor(s), translator(s), or others listed  Title and subtitle  Publication data:  Place of publication  Publisher’s name  Date of publication  Other important data, such as edition or volume number 44.3a

5. Copyright © 1995–2004 by Pearson Education, publishing as Longman Publishers Fowler/Aaron, The Little, Brown Handbook, Ninth Edition INFORMATION FOR A WORKING BIBLIOGRAPHY (for periodical articles)  Name(s) of author(s)  Title and subtitle of article  Title of periodical  Publication data:  Volume number and issue number (if any) in which article appears  Date of issue  Page numbers on which article appears 44.3b

6. Copyright © 1995–2004 by Pearson Education, publishing as Longman Publishers Fowler/Aaron, The Little, Brown Handbook, Ninth Edition INFORMATION FOR A WORKING BIBLIOGRAPHY (for electronic sources)  Name(s) of author(s)  Title and subtitle  Publication data for books and articles  Date of release, online posting, or latest revision  Medium (online, CD-ROM, etc.)  Format of online source (Web site, Web page, e-mail, etc.  Date you consulted the source  Complete electronic address  For source obtained through a subscription service  Name of database, service and address 44.3c

7. Copyright © 1995–2004 by Pearson Education, publishing as Longman Publishers Fowler/Aaron, The Little, Brown Handbook, Ninth Edition INFORMATION FOR A WORKING BIBLIOGRAPHY (for other sources)  Name(s) of author(s)or others listed, such as a government department or a recording artist  Titles of the work  Format, such as unpublished letter or live performance  Publication or production data:  Publisher’s or producer’s name  Date of publication, release, or production  Identifying numbers (if any) 44.3d

8. Copyright © 1995–2004 by Pearson Education, publishing as Longman Publishers Fowler/Aaron, The Little, Brown Handbook, Ninth Edition WAYS TO REFINE KEYWORDS Use and or + to narrow the search.  Includes only sources that use all given words Use not or – to narrow the search.  Excludes irrelevant words Use or to broaden the search.  Giving alternative keywords Use parentheses or quotation marks to form search phrases. Use near to narrow the search.  Requires the keywords to be close to each other Use wild cards to permit difference versions of the same word. Spell keywords correctly. 45.1

9. Copyright © 1995–2004 by Pearson Education, publishing as Longman Publishers Fowler/Aaron, The Little, Brown Handbook, Ninth Edition INDEX TO RESEARCH SOURCES Reference works  General encyclopedias  Specialized encyclopedias, dictionaries, bibliographies  Unabridged dictionaries and special dictionaries on language  Biographical reference works  Atlases and gazetteers  Almanacs and yearbooks General books Periodicals The World Wide Web Other online sources  Electronic mail  Discussion lists  Web forums and newsgroups  Synchronous communication 45.2a

10. Copyright © 1995–2004 by Pearson Education, publishing as Longman Publishers Fowler/Aaron, The Little, Brown Handbook, Ninth Edition RESEARCH SOURCES (continued) Pamphlets and government publications Your own sources  Interviews  Surveys 45.2b

11. Copyright © 1995–2004 by Pearson Education, publishing as Longman Publishers Fowler/Aaron, The Little, Brown Handbook, Ninth Edition WEB SEARCH ENGINES Directories that review sites  BUBL link: http://bubl.ac.uk.link  Internet Public Library: http://www.ipl.org/div/subject  Internet Scout Project: http://scout.wisc.edu./archives  Librarians’ Index to the Internet: http://lii.org Most advanced and efficient engines  AlltheWeb: http://alltheweb.com  Google: http://www.google.com Other engines  AltaVista: http://www.altavista.com  Ask Jeeves: http://www.ask.com  Dogpile: http://www.dogpile.com 45.3

12. Copyright © 1995–2004 by Pearson Education, publishing as Longman Publishers Fowler/Aaron, The Little, Brown Handbook, Ninth Edition QUESTIONS FOR EVALUATING SOURCES Relevance  Does the source devote some attention to your subject?  Is the source appropriately specialized for your needs?  Is the source up to date enough for your subject? Reliability  Where does the source come from?  Is the author an expert in the field?  What is the author’s bias?  Is the source fair and reasonable?  Is the source well written? 46.1

13. Copyright © 1995–2004 by Pearson Education, publishing as Longman Publishers Fowler/Aaron, The Little, Brown Handbook, Ninth Edition QUESTIONS FOR EVALUATING WEB SITES  What does the URL lead you to expect from about the site?  Who is the author or sponsor?  What is the purpose of the site?  What does context tell you?  What does presentation tell you?  How worthwhile is the content? 46.2

14. Copyright © 1995–2004 by Pearson Education, publishing as Longman Publishers Fowler/Aaron, The Little, Brown Handbook, Ninth Edition QUESTIONS FOR EVALUATING ONLINE DISCUSSIONS  Who is the author?  What is the context of the message?  How worthwhile is the content?  How does the message compare with other sources? 46.3

15. Copyright © 1995–2004 by Pearson Education, publishing as Longman Publishers Fowler/Aaron, The Little, Brown Handbook, Ninth Edition TESTS FOR DIRECT QUOTATIONS FROM SECONDARY SOURCES The author’s original satisfies one of these requirements:  The language is unusually bold or inventive.  The quotation cannot be paraphrased without distortion or loss of meaning.  The author’s words are at issue in your interpretation  The quotation represents a body of opinion or the view of an important expert.  The quotation emphatically reinforces your own idea.  The quotation is a graph, diagram, or table. The quotation is as short as possible:  It includes only material relevant to your point.  It is edited to eliminate examples and other unneeded material. 46.4

16. Copyright © 1995–2004 by Pearson Education, publishing as Longman Publishers Fowler/Aaron, The Little, Brown Handbook, Ninth Edition VERBS FOR SIGNAL PHRASES  Use verbs that convey information about source authors’ attitudes or approaches. 46.5

17. Copyright © 1995–2004 by Pearson Education, publishing as Longman Publishers Fowler/Aaron, The Little, Brown Handbook, Ninth Edition CHECKLIST FOR AVOIDING PLAGIARISM Type of source Are you using  your own independent material,  common knowledg, or  someone elseís independent material? You must acknowledge someone elseís material. Quotations  Do all quotations exactly match their sources?  Have you inserted quotation marks around quotations that are run into your text?  Have you shown omissions with ellipsis marks and additions with brackets?  Does every quotation have a source citation? Paraphrases and summaries  Have you used your own words and sentence structure for every paraphrase and summary? If not, use quotation marks around the original authorís words.  Does every paraphrase and summary have a source citation? 47.1a

18. Copyright © 1995–2004 by Pearson Education, publishing as Longman Publishers Fowler/Aaron, The Little, Brown Handbook, Ninth Edition CHECKLIST FOR AVOIDING PLAGIARISM (continued) The Web  Have you obtained any necessary permission to use someone else’s material on your Web site? Source citations  Have you acknowledged every use of someone else’s material in the place where you use it?  Does your list of works cited include all the sources you have used? 47.1b

19. Copyright © 1995–2004 by Pearson Education, publishing as Longman Publishers Fowler/Aaron, The Little, Brown Handbook, Ninth Edition TIPS FOR DRAFTING A RESEARCH PAPER  Write a quick two- or three-paragraph summary of what the paper will be about.  Start with the section of the paper you feel most confident about.  Work in chunks, one unit or principal idea at a time.  Center each section on an idea of your own.  Take great care in working with source material. (See pp. 674, 680.)  Insert source citations into the draft as you quote, paraphrase, or summarize. 48.1

20. Copyright © 1995–2004 by Pearson Education, publishing as Longman Publishers Fowler/Aaron, The Little, Brown Handbook, Ninth Edition CHECKLIST FOR REVISING A RESEARCH PAPER  Thesis statement  Does it describe your subject and your perspective?  Structure  Does borrowed material illuminate and support your own idea? Will the arrangement of ideas be clear to readers?  Evidence  Where might supporting evidence seem weak or irrelevant to readers?  Reasonableness and clarity  How reasonable will readers find your arguments? 48.2