How to write excellent research papers Chapter 1. How to Write A + Paper

This Chapter outlines the logical steps to writing a good the paper. To achieve supreme excellence or perfection in anything do, you need more than just the knowledge. Like the Olympic athlete aiming for the gold medal, you must has a positive attitude and the belief so you have the ABI Lity to achieve it. That's the real start to writing a + paper.

Contents

1. STEP 1. CHOOSE A TOPIC
2. STEP 2. FIND Information
3. STEP 3. State YOUR Thesis
4. STEP 4. Make A tentative OUTLINE
5. STEP 5. ORGANIZE YOUR NOTES
6. STEP 6. WRITE YOUR First DRAFT
7. STEP 7. Revise YOUR OUTLINE and DRAFT
1. Checklist One
2. Checklist
8. STEP 8. TYPE FINAL PAPER

STEP 1. CHOOSE A TOPIC

Choose a topic which interests and challenges you. Your attitude towards the topic may well determine the amount of effort and enthusiasm you put into Your.

Focus on a limited aspect, e.g. narrow it down from ' religion ' to ' world religion ' to ' Buddhism '. Obtain teacher approval for your topic before embarking on a full-scale. If you were uncertain as to what's expected of you in completing the assignment or project, re-read your assignment sheet Carefully or ASK your teacher.

Select a subject you can manage. Avoid subjects that is too technical, learned, or specialized. Avoid topics that has only a very narrow range of source materials.

STEP 2. FIND Information

Surf the Net.

For general or background information, check out useful urls, general information Online, almanacs or E Ncyclopedias Online such As britannica. Use search Engines and Other search tools as a starting point.

Pay attention to domain name extensions, e.g,. edu (educational institution),. Gov (government), or. org (Non-Profit O rganization). These sites represent institutions and tend to being more reliable, but being watchful of possible political bias in some govern ment sites. be selective of. COM (commercial) sites. Many. com sites is excellent; However, a large number of them contain advertisements for products and nothing else. Network Solutions provides a link where can find out what's some of the other extensions stand for. Be wary of the millions of personal home pages on the Net. The quality of these personal homepages vary greatly. Learning how to evaluate websites Critically and to search effectively on the Internet can help you eliminate IR Relevant sites and waste less of your time.

The recent arrival of a variety of domain name extensions such as. Biz (commercial businesses),. Pro,. info (info on Produ cts/organizations),. Name,. WS (WebSite),. CC (Cocos Island) or. SH (St. Helena) or. TV (Tuvalu) may create some Confusi On as your would not being able to tell whether a. cc or. sh or. TV site was in reality a. com, a. edu, a. gov, a. NET, or a. O RG site. Many of the new extensions have no registration restrictions and is available to anyone who wishes to register a distinct Domain name the has not already been taken. For instance, if books.com are unavailable, you can register as books.ws or books.info via a service agent such as register . com.

To find books in the Library with the OPAC (Online public Access Catalog).

Check out other print materials available in the Library:

almanacs, atlases, AV catalogs
Encyclopedias and dictionaries
government Publications, Guides, Reports
magazines, newspapers
Vertical Files
Yellow Pages, Zip or Postal Code and telephone directories

Check out online resources, WEB based information services, or special resource materials on CDs:

Online reference materials (including databases, e.g. SIRS, ProQuest, elibrary, etc.)
Wall Street Executive Library
index to periodicals and newspapers (e.g. magportal.com, onlinenewspapers.com, etc.)
Answers.com-an online dictionary and Encyclopedia All-in-one resource that can install
On your computer free of charge and find One-click answers quickly.
encyclopedias (E.g.britannica, Canadian Encyclopedia, etc.)
magazines and journals (e.g. time, National Geographic, Maclean ' s, Newsweek, etc.)
Newspapers (e.g Los Angeles times, New York times, USA Today, the Toronto Star, Vancouver Sun, etc.)
International Public Library
subject specific software (e.g. discovering authors, exploring Shakespeare, etc.)

Check out public and university libraries, businesses, government agencies, as well as contact knowledgeable people in R community.

Read and evaluate. Bookmark your favorite Internet sites. Printout, photocopy, and take notes of relevant information.

As you gather your resources, jot-bibliographical information (author, title, place of publication, publisher, D Ate of publication, page numbers, URLs, creation or modification dates on Web pages, and your date of access in your work Sheet, printout, or enter the information on your laptop or desktop computer for later retrieval. If printing from the Internet, it's wise to set up the browser to print the URL and date of access for every page. Remember that a article without bibliographical information is useless since you cannot cite its source.

STEP 3. State YOUR Thesis

Do some critical thinking and write your thesis statement down in one sentence. Your thesis statement is like a declaration of Your belief. The main portion of your essay would consist of arguments to support and defend this belief.

STEP 4. Make A tentative OUTLINE

All points must relate to the same major topic so you first mentioned in your capital Roman numeral.

Example of an outline:

 I. INTRODUCTION-(Brief comment leading to subject matter-thesis statement on Shakespear e) II. Body-shakespeare ' s Early life, Marriage, Works, later years A. Early Life in Stratford 1. Shakespeare ' s family a. Shakespeare's father B. Shakespeare ' s mother 2. Shakespeare ' s marriage a. Life of Anne Hathaway B. Reference in Shakespeare ' s Poem S B. Shakespeare ' s works 1. Plays A. Tragedies I. Hamlet II. Romeo and Juliet B. Comedies I. The Tempest II. Much Ado About Nothing c. Histories I. King John II. Richard III Iii. Henry VIII 2. Sonnets 3. Other Poems C. Shakespeare ' s later years                 1. Last of the plays 2. Retired to Stratford a. Death B. Burial I. Epitaph on his T Ombstone III. Conclusion A. Analytical Summary 1. Shakespeare ' s early Life 2. Shakespeare ' s works 3. Shakespeare ' s later years B. Thesis reworded C. Concluding statement

The purpose of an outline are to help you think through your topic carefully and organize it logically before you start WRI Ting. A good outline is the most important step in writing a good paper. Check your outline to make sure, the points covered flow logically from one to the other. Include in your outline an INTRODUCTION, a BODY, and a conclusion. Make the first outline tentative.

INTRODUCTION -state your thesis and the purpose of your The paper. What's the chief reason are writing the paper? State also how do you plan to approach your topic. Is this a factual report, a book review, a comparison, or an analysis of a problem? Explain briefly the major points you plan to cover in your paper and why readers should is interested in your topic.

BODY -This is where you present your arguments to support your thesis statement. Remember the Rule of 3, i.e. find 3 supporting arguments for each position your take. Begin with a strong argument, then use a stronger one, and end with the strongest argument for your final point.

conclusion -restate or reword your thesis. Summarize your arguments. Explain Why are you having come to this particular conclusion.

STEP 5. ORGANIZE YOUR NOTES

Organize all the information and gathered according to your outline. Critically analyze your data. Using the best available sources, check for accuracy and verify, the information are factual, up-to-date, and correct. Opposing views should also is noted if they help to support your thesis. This was the most important stage in writing a of the paper. Here you'll analyze, synthesize, sort, and digest the information you had gathered and hopefully learn something about Your topic which is the real purpose of doing a for the first place. You must also is able to effectively communicate your thoughts, ideas, insights, and the findings to others through W Ritten words as in a report, an essay, a-or term paper, or through spoken words as-an oral or multimedia Prese Ntation with audio-visual aids.

Do don't include any information that's not relevant to your topic, and does not include information so do not Understa nd. Make sure the information so you have noted are carefully recorded and in your own words, if possible. Plagiarism is definitely out of the question. Document all ideas borrowed or quotes used very accurately. As you organize your notes, jot down detailed bibliographical information for each cited paragraph and has it ready to TR Ansfer to Yourworks cited page.

Devise your own method to organize your notes. One method may is to mark with a different color ink or use a hi-liter to identify sections in your outline, e.g., ia3b- Meaning that the item "accessing WWW" belongs in the following location of your outline:

I. Understanding the Internet     A. What's the Internet             3. How to "Surf the Net"                B. Accessing WWW

Group your notes following the outline codes you has assigned to your notes, e.g, IA2, IA3, IA4, etc. This method would enable you to quickly put any your resources in the right place as a organize your notes according to Y Our outline.

STEP 6. WRITE YOUR First DRAFT

Start with the first topic in your outline. Read all the relevant notes for gathered that has been marked, e.g. with the capital Roman Numeral I.

Summarize, paraphrase or quote directly for each of the idea's plan to use in your essay. Use a technique this suits you, e.g. write summaries, paraphrases or quotations on note cards, or separate sheets of lined Paper. Mark each card or sheet of paper clearly with your outline code or reference, e.g., ib2a or IIC, etc.

Put all your note cards or paper in the order of your outline, e.g. IA, IB, IC. If using a word processor, create meaningful filenames that match your outline codes for easy cut and paste as you type up Your final paper, e.g. cut first Introduction paragraph and paste it to IA. Before you know it, you are a well organized term paper completed exactly as outlined.

If It is helpful to you, use a symbol such as "#" to mark the spot where you would like to check back later to edit a para Graph. The unusual symbol would make it easy-to-find the exact location again. Delete the symbol once editing is completed.

STEP 7. Revise YOUR OUTLINE and DRAFT

Read your paper for any content errors. Double Check the facts and figures. Arrange and rearrange ideas to follow your outline. Reorganize your outline if necessary, but always keep the purpose of your paper and your readers in mind. Use a free grammar and proof reading checker such as Grammarly.

Checklist One:

1. Is my thesis statement concise and clear?
2. Did I follow my outline? Did I miss anything?
3. Is my arguments presented in a logical sequence?
4. Is all sources properly cited to ensure this I am not plagiarizing?
5. Are I proved my thesis with strong supporting arguments?
6. Are I made my intentions and points clear in the essay?

Re-read your paper for grammatical errors. Use a dictionary or a thesaurus as needed. Do a spell check. Correct all errors so you can spot and improve the overall quality of the paper to the best of your ability. Get someone else to read it over. Sometimes a second pair of eyes can see mistakes so you missed.

Checklist:

1. Do I begin each paragraph with a proper topic sentence?
2. Do I supported my arguments with documented proof or examples?
3. Any run-on or unfinished sentences?
4. Any unnecessary or repetitious words?
5. Varying Lengths of sentences?
6. Does One paragraph or idea flow smoothly into the next?
7. Any spelling or grammatical errors?
8. Quotes Accurate in source, spelling, and punctuation? 
9. Is all my citations accurate and in correct format?
did I avoid using contractions? Use "cannot" instead of "can ' t", "does not" instead of "Don ' t"?
Do I use the third person as much as possible? Avoid using phrases such as "I think", "I guess", "I suppose"
12. Have I made my points clear and interesting but remained objective?
do I leave a sense of completion for my reader (s) at the end of the paper?

The Elements of Style, fourth Edition, by William Strunk, Jr.

For a excellent source on 中文版 composition, check out this classic book by William Strunk, Jr. on the Elements of Styl E. Contents include:elementary Rules of Usage, elementary principles of Composition, Words & Expressions commonly Mis Used, an approach-Style with a List of reminders:place yourself in the background, revise and rewrite, Avoid fancy wor DS, be-clear, do not inject opinion, don't take shortcuts at the cost of clarity, ... and much more. Details of the Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr partially available online at bartleby.com. Note:william Strunk, Jr. (1869–1946). The Elements of Style is first published in 1918.

STEP 8. TYPE FINAL PAPER

All formal reports or essays should is typewritten and printed, preferably on a good quality printer.

Read the assignment sheet again to being sure that's understand fully what's expected of you, and that your essay meets th E requirements as specified by your teacher. Know how your essay'll be evaluated.

Proofread final paper carefully for spelling, punctuation, missing or duplicated words. Make the effort to ensure that your final paper are clean, tidy, neat, and attractive.

Aim to has your final paper ready a day or both before the deadline. This gives your peace of mind and a chance to triple check. Before handing in your assignment for marking, ask yourself: "Are this the VERY best that I can do?"

From:http://www.aresearchguide.com/1steps.html

How to write excellent research papers Chapter 1. How to Write A + Paper