|  Parent/Student Edline Login  |
Writing a Research Paper



Writing a Research Paper


Synthesizing ideas and writing them down follow the research process. But, how do you organize a research paper, cite sources, and know whether or not you've written a good research paper? The following sites have suggestions and directions that will help you write a great research paper from beginning to end.


Step-By-Step Research Writing
The Big 6 web site will walk you through all of the steps involved in researching information and writing a research paper. When you have a research assignment, this is a great place to start.

Another great site for help with research writing is the Internet Public Library Teen Space. Check it out for help on how to begin writing your paper.Need a step-by-step guide for writing about all the research you've done? Read about how to organize your research into a research paper.

Good writing involves good planning. Find out how to plan your research paper. Remember that not every finished product will be a paper. You might want to discuss options with your teacher for creating a multimedia presentation with pictures, audio, video or some other format. Use your imagination and different types of software to create a presentation that will be both informative and interesting!


What is Plagiarism?
Indiana University says that plagiarism is, "using others' ideas and words without clearly acknowledging the source of that information." In school you will get information from many different sources, including teachers, books, and the Internet. Be careful to cite your source if you use one of these ideas in your research writing. Remember that plagiarizing is cheating and cheating is not acceptable at SCCS.

For more information about plagiarism, visit Indiana University's Writing Tutorial Services.

See examples and more information about plagiarism at Rio Salado College.


Citing your sources
Now that you know what plagiarism is, how do you avoid it? The answer is that you either synthesize your own original thoughts, or properly cite other people's words with quotation marks, parenthetical citation, footnotes and/or endnotes.

The most commonly used writing and citation style is the MLA style. However, if you are writing a paper for a science or math class, check with your teacher first. If you need to know about different styles of citation, learn the rules here (help with APA, Turubian, MLA, Chicago, AMA citation styles). Okay, so you've decided what citation style you need, now you need help figuring out how to put it all together. You can use Landmarks Citation Machine for MLA or APA style. Just figure out what information format you are using (book, magazine, website, etc.) and pick it from the choices on the left on the page. Follow the easy directions and cut and paste the results into your bibliography. Don't forget to make the text match the font and size you have been using!

Need more information for your research paper? Find out how to research information.

 

Website designed and maintained by Grupo Adachi