2200 E. Wagner Avenue, Anaheim, CA 92806 Tel: (714) 999-3621 Fax: (714) 535-3991
2200 E. Wagner Avenue, Anaheim, CA 92806 Tel: (714) 999-3621 Fax: (714) 535-3991 |
||
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
RESEARCH PAPER FORMAT: A STUDENT GUIDE
INTRODUCTION This guide is not about writing; instead, it is a guide for the preparation of any writing that requires the proper citations of sources through research and should be used by students in grades 7-12 for all classes and all subject areas in the school district unless otherwise instructed by the teacher. This AUHSD format is based on the Sixth Edition of the MLA handbook for Writers of Research Papers compiled by Joseph Gibaldi and published by the Modern Language Association of America in 2003. It is the reference most commonly used at colleges and universities. The guidelines and definitions for the writing process are based on the Prentice Hall Literature Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes, Gold Level, Writing Handbook, written by Pearson Education, Inc., 2002. THE PURPOSE Why write a research paper? First, as a student you will have the opportunity to acquire knowledge. In addition, you will learn how to access multiple resources, how to select the most valuable information, and how to credit those resources in the research paper. Using the research method will enhance critical thinking skills in analyzing, synthesizing, and organizing information. You will be expected to weave information together in a meaningful and powerful way. Therefore, a research paper should consist primarily of your own writing and should not be a series of quotations. This guide will simplify the task of preparing and formatting a research paper. THE RESEARCH PAPER A research paper presents and interprets information gathered through an extensive study of a subject. An effective research paper contains all of the following:
PREWRITING In this stage, a plan is required for the work to be done. Prepare to write by exploring ideas, gathering information, and working out an organizational plan.
Response to Literature : For a research paper involving literature, a thesis statement deals with one specific aspect of the piece of literature. For example, a literature-based thesis statement might try to explain how the story’s plot or main character undergoes change. Additionally, the thesis statement might explore how that change might have come to be by using information about the author’s life to explain his or her work (biographical approach), about the literary devices employed (aesthetic approach), or about how the work responds to the events, circumstances, or ideas of the author’s historical era (historical approach). Cause-and-Effect Writing : For a research paper involving science, a thesis statement might try to explain a scientific process and its change from one condition to another and how its discovery has influenced society. Expository Writing : For a research paper involving historical or current information, a thesis statement might try to explain how events, people, or societies undergo change from one condition of existence to another based on political pressure, war, great hardship as from famine or disease, and/or personal hardship. Compare-and-Contrast Writing : A thesis statement may state the differences and similarities between two or more people, places, events, or ideas. Problem-and-Solution Writing : A thesis statement might describe a problem and offer one or more solutions to it by describing a clear set of steps to achieve a result. Persuasive Writing : A thesis statement presents a position on an issue, urges readers to accept that position, and may encourage them to take action. A persuasive thesis and research paper address an issue that is arguable. The thesis statement should be revised repeatedly to incorporate new information and ideas found during the research process. RESEARCH
MLA style does not require a title page. On the first page of the research paper, starting one inch from the top, place your name, the instructor’s name, course title, and date on separate lines against the left margin. Center your original, creative title; do not use bold, italics, underlining, quotation marks, or all capital letters for your title. Follow the standard rules for capitalization. Also, follow the rules regarding published titles if you choose to include the title of published writing in your title. Your entire paper – including your heading and title – mush be double-spaced. MLA also requires students to type their last name and the page numbers of their compositions in the upper right-hand corner, one-half inch from the top along the right margin. To do this, use the “Header and Footer” feature in your word processing program. Sample of MLA Format Sample First Page 
FONT Use an easy to read, 12 point font throughout your paper (this includes your heading and title). The font you use must be easy to read. The most commonly used fonts for reports are Arial, Courier, Courier New, Times, Times Roman, and Times New Roman. Be sure to ask the instructor which font he prefers. If unsure, the best solution is to use one of the fonts listed above. PRINTING OR TYPING The research paper should be typed. The lines of the research paper should be justified (in alignment) on the left side only. This paragraph is an example of justified left and ragged right. Print or type on white, 8 ½ by 11-inch paper using one side of the paper; do not use the other side for any purpose. Instructors who accept handwritten work similarly expect neatness, legibility, dark blue or black ink, and the use of one side of the paper. MARGINS Except for your header (in the upper right-hand corner of each page that includes your last name and page number), set margins of one inch at the top and bottom and on both sides of the text. Indent the first word of a paragraph five spaces (not a tab) from the left margin. SPACING A research paper must be double-spaced throughout, including heading, title, quotations, and Works Cited page. DOCUMENTING SOURCES Credit must be given to the source for any facts, expressions, ideas, statistics, charts, graphs, or pictures that are used in the research paper by showing the source of the information in parentheses. A writer who does not give appropriate acknowledgment when repeating another’s wording, paraphrasing another’s argument, or presenting another writer’s line of thinking is guilty of plagiarism (stealing someone else’s material and calling it one’s own). Cite the source of the information gathered in correct form within the text of the research paper. The source is indicated in parentheses with the last name of the author and page reference. Although the narrator repeatedly shows his affection for his brother, he admits that Doodle is “a burden in many ways” and ignores the “long list of don’ts” that accompany him “once […] out of the house” ( Hurst 556).The citation “( Hurst 556)” tells the reader that the information or quotation in the preceding sentence comes from page 556 of a work by an author named Hurst. If the author’s name is mentioned in the sentence, only the page number appears in the citation: “(556).” The citation (author’s name and page number) is typed inside the parentheses. The parentheses are placed inside the period, and no comma separates the author’s name from the page reference. The symbol “[…]” indicates that the writer has omitted words from the author’s original version. The author’s name refers readers to the corresponding entry in the Works Cited list which appears at the end of the paper. If readers want more information about this source, they can turn to the Works Cited list where, under the name Hurst, they would find the following information: Hurst, James. “The Scarlet Ibis.” Literature: Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes, Gold Level. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 2002. 554-564.Here is a longer sample of citations within the text of a research paper. Surprisingly, Anne Frank’s writings survived. The young German-Jewish girl’s diary, which “charts two years of her life from 1942 to 1944, when her family were hiding in Amsterdam from German Nazis” (“Anne Frank”), was given to her father, Otto Frank, when he returned to Holland from Auschwitz after the war. The notebooks and papers, having been left behind by the secret police, were found in the Frank family’s hiding place by “two Dutch women who had helped the fugitives survive” (Chalmers 33). Otto Frank published his daughter’s diaries in 1947. Many years later, Doubleday released the English-language edition, The Diary of Anne Frank. It was subsequently made into a film in 1959 (39).Below are the selections from the Works Cited page for this sample. Chalmers, Noel, and Seth Dandridge. Hidden Words, Hidden Truths . New York: Gem Books, 1971.“Anne Frank (1929-1945).” Pegasos. 2002. 24 March 2005 http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/annefran.htm.The first citation (“Anne Frank”) shows that information in the first part of the paragraph is not credited to a person but to a title or heading. When readers check the Works Cited page, they will see that the information comes from the Internet site www.kirjasto.sci.fi. The heading found on the web page acts as the listing source for the Works Cited page and is shortened when placed in parentheses for the research paper. The second citation of the sample “(Chalmers 33)”shows that information was credited to the author Chalmers and was found on page 33. When readers check the Works Cited page, they will see that the information comes from the book Hidden Words, Hidden Truths by Noel Chalmers and Seth Dandridge. Even though there is no direct quote, the last citation “(39)” credits further information from the book by Chalmers. The citation does not include the author’s name since it is from the same source without an intervening source. You may omit the page number if a work lacks page numbers, as is the case in many Web sources. MLA recommends treating such sources as unpaginated. As of 2001, at least four hundred towns and municipalities had considered legislation regulating use of cell phones while driving (“Lawmakers”).Unless an encyclopedia or a dictionary has an author, it will be alphabetized in the list of works cited under the word or entry consulted. No page number is required, since readers can easily look up the word or entry. The word crocodile has a surprisingly complex etymology (“Crocodile”).For verse plays, do not use page numbers in the parenthetical citation. Instead, include act, scene, and line numbers that can be located in any edition of the work. Use Arabic numerals and separate the numbers with periods. In his famous advice to players, Shakespeare’s Hamlet defines the purpose of theater, “whose end, both at the first and now, was and is, to hold, as ‘twere, the mirror up to nature” (3.2.21-23).For a poem, cite the part (if there are a number of parts) and the line numbers, separated by a period. For poems that are not divided into parts, use only line numbers. Use a backslash “/” to indicate the end of a line of poetry. When Homer’s Odysseus comes to the hall of Circe, he finds his menWORKS CITED The Works Cited page is an alphabetical listing of all actual sources cited in the paper (see sample) . Begin the list on a new page, continuing to number the page(s) for your Works Cited list, which will be the last page or pages of your paper. For example, if the text of the research paper ends on page 8, the Works Cited list begins on page 9. Format Rules
What follows is a list of the most commonly used references. If you have reference material that is not included below, you can access MLA’s web site at <http://www.mla.org> to find out how to properly format your material. Once you access this site, type your question into their “SEARCH” field on the bottom left side of the page. Book with one author Author’s last name, first name. Title of the book. Publication information (place of publication, the publisher, and the date). Lopez, Manuel. The American Revolution and Britain. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1995.Book with two or three authors: ( List authors in the same order as on the title page of the book). First author’s last name, first name, and other authors’ first/last names. Title of the book. Publishing information. Dances, Jessica, Molly Kimberlin, and Megan Litle. Save the Whales: A History. New York: Rubberband Press, 2004.Short, Kathy Gnagey, and Lois Bridges Bird. Literature as a Way of Knowing. York, ME: Stenhouse, 1997.Book with four or more authors Name only the first author, followed by “et al.” (Latin for “and others”). Title of the book. Publishing information. St. Clair, Rachel, et al. Exercise for Life. Boston, MA: Dumbbell Press, 2000.Book with an editor Author’s last name, first name. Title of the book. “Ed.” plus name of the editor. Publication information. Wilk, Adam. The Pitch: My Life on the Mound. Ed. Garrett Whitman. New York: Big League Press, Inc., 2001.Newspaper Author’s last, first name. “Title of the article.” Title of the newspaper date of publication: section and page number the article starts on followed by a plus sign to show that the article continues of subsequent pages. Reynolds, Stacy. “A Revolution: Looking Back.” The Orange County Register 25 Sept. 2003: B+Magazine Author’s last, first name. “Title of the article.” Title of the magazine date published: page numbers. Bosanszki, Steven. “Freelance Architecture.” Orange County Home Aug. 2004: 37-42.Personal interview Last, first name of person being interviewed. The type of interview (personal interview, telephone interview, E-mail interview). Date or dates of interview. Cook, Alison. Telephone interview. 10 Feb. 2000. A work in an anthology Author’s last name, first name. “Title of the work.” Title of the anthology. “Ed.” plus name of the editor, if given. Publishing information. Page numbers for the entire cited piece. Hurst, James. “The Scarlet Ibis.” Literature: Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes, Gold Level. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 2002. 554-564.An encyclopedia or dictionary This type of entry is basically the same format as a work in an anthology (above). If the article has an author, give the author’s name first; if no author is given, simply begin with the title of the article. When citing familiar reference books that frequently have new editions, you do not need to provide all of the publication information; just list the edition (if given) and the year of publication. Signed articles: Mohanty, Jitendra M. “Indian Philosophy.” The New Encyclopedia Britannica: Macropaedia . 15 th ed. 1989Murphy, Michelle. “French and Indian War.” The World Book Encyclopedia. 10 th ed. 1994.Unsigned articles : “French and Indian War.” The World Book Encyclopedia. 10th ed. 1994. “Noon.” Def. 4b. The Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. 1989 Pamphlet Same format as for a book. Multivolume work Author’s or editor’s last, first name. Title of the book. Editor, if given. If using more that one volume, give total number of volumes; if you are using only one volume, indicate which volume you consulted. Date or dates published. Doyle, Arthur Conan. The Oxford Sherlock Holmes. Ed. Owen Dudley Edwards. Vol.8. New York: Oxford UP, 1993.Lawrence, D.H. The Letters of D.H.Lawrence. Ed. James T. Boulton. 8 vols. New York: Cambridge UP: 1979-200.Film or video Title . Director’s name. Optional names (include if you think they are important): names of the writers and/or performers and/or producers. Distributor’s name, year of release. It’s A Wonderful Life. Dir. Frank Capra. Perf. James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, and Thomas Mitchell. RKO, 1946.Television or radio program “Title of the episode or segment” (if appropriate). Title of the program. Select among the following as appropriate: the writer (By), director (Dir.), narrator (Narr.), producer (Prod.), or main actors (Perf.). Title of the series, if any. Name of the network. Call letters, and city of the local station (if any). Broadcast date. “The New Face of Asia.” World Connections. Host Emily Smith. Natl. Public Radio. WBUR, Boston. 24 Sept. 2001.Great Apes . Wild Discovery. Discovery Channel. 22 Mar. 1999. Sound recording Name of composer or performer. Title of the recording. Important artists, if appropriate (such as performers, readers, musicians, orchestra, or conductor). Name of the manufacturer, year recording was issued. Holiday, Billie. The Essence of Billie Holiday. Columbia, 1991.Musical composition Last, first name of composer. Title of the opera, ballet, or piece of instrumental music, form, number or key of the piece of music, if it applies. If the title of the piece is identified by number or form, do not underline or put the title in italics. Beethoven, Ludwig van. Symphony No. 8 in F. Op. 93. Copeland, Aaron. Appalachian Spring.A work of art Last, first name of artist. Title of the work. Name of the institution that houses the work (like a museum), city in which the artwork can be found. Rembrandt Van Rijn. Aristotle Contemplating the Bust of Homer. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.A cartoon or comic strip (Last name, first name of artist. “Title of the cartoon or comic strip” (if any) and descriptive label cartoon or comic strip neither underlined nor in quotation marks. Publication information in which the cartoon appears. Trudeau, Garry. “Doonesbury.” Comic strip. Star-Ledger [Newark] 3 Jan. 1994: 24.A lecture or speech Last name, first name of speaker. “The title of the presentation” (if known). The meeting and the sponsoring organization, if there is one. Location of the speech or lecture. Date of speech or lecture. Hyman, Earle. Reading of Shakespeare’s Othello. Symphony Space, New York, 28 Mar. 1994.Burns, Scott. “The Early Colonial Era.” Kennedy High School, La Palma. 22 March 2003.CD-ROM Give the following information in this order. If you cannot find some of the information, cite what is available. Last name, first name of author. Title of the publication. Name of the editor (ed.), or compiler (comp.). Publication medium (CD-ROM, Diskette, etc.). Edition, release, or version (if available). Place of publication: name of the publisher, date of publication. Encyclopedia of Islam. CD-ROM. New York: Voyager, 1993. Bettendorf, Christie. American Poetry: The New World. CD-ROM. Long Beach: Long Beach UP, 2005.Web site Give as many of the following elements as are available, in the same order. If information is not given, simply skip that line and go on to the next item. More detailed instructions regarding web sites can be found on the MLA web site.
Scripps Networks, Inc. 20 March 2005 <http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/ ah_organizing_other/article/0,,HGTV_3138_3256872,00.html>Note: When the URL for a short work from a Web site is very long, give the URL for the home page and indicate the path by which the reader can access the source. “Restraint Systems for Roller Coasters.” Xtreme Roller Coasters. 5 May 2003. 6 June 2004 <http://www.xtremerollercoaster.com>. Path: Roller Coasters A-Z; Design; Trains; Restraints.Personal site (Indicate date of most recent update and date of visit.) Nelson, Alice-Rose. Home page. 1 Dec. 2004. 7 Feb. 2005 <http://www.chesr.spingfo.me:8080/~alice/>Article in an online magazine Kaufman, Alan. “Propaganda Techniques in Advertising” Advertising Monthly 14 June 2004. 5 Mar. 2001Newspaper accessed online Reynolds, Stacy. “A Revolution: Looking Back.” The Orange County Register 25 Sept. 2003. 29 Sept. 2004 <http://www.ocregister.com>. |
|
||
|
2200 E. Wagner Avenue
Tel: (714) 999-3621
Anaheim, CA 92806 Fax: (714) 535-3991 |
||||
 |
||||