Tips for Creating a Well-written

Research Paper

WHAT TO DO1) CITE YOUR SOURCES! No citations = REDO2) Number footnotes in consecutive order3) Clearly state your thesis 4) Use Times New Roman 12pt. font5) Use 1” margins 6) PROOFREAD! 7) Use quotes appropriately8) Use the proper format for either bibliography or works cited

page9) FOLLOW THE RUBRIC!10) If you are unsure of anything, ASK!

WHAT NOT TO DO1) Copy the work of others without giving credit2) Use abbreviations, contractions, or personal pronouns3) Use more than one citation format 4) Insert an extra line between paragraphs5) Use generalizations6) Play both sides –PICK A SIDE AND STICK TO IT!7) Use Wikipedia/eHow/YahooAnswers (or similar sites) as a

source8) Use “fluff”9) Wait until the last minute to get started!10) Write a biography. This is a persuasive essay!

EVALUATING INTERNET RESOURCES1) Who is the author and what makes them an authority

on the topic? – this info should be easy to locate on the page (check at the bottom).

2) Check the web address. Good sources of information will end in .org, .fed, .gov, or even .net. Sites ending in .com can still be valuable, though.

3) Can you verify the information? Does the author provide the sources or can you find the information on another site or in a book on the subject?

4) Is the information current or was it written several years ago?

COMMON CITATION FORMAT SITES1) APA Style

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

2) MLA Style

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/

WHAT IS PLAGIARISM?• “Plagiarism means using the work of someone else, in whole

or in part, without giving credit. This includes all types of works, including music, computer code, works of art, and writing. Here, we will limit the discussion to the written word. You can plagiarize by obtaining a paper (free or for purchase) from a “paper mill”; by copying a paper from another student; by recycling one of your own papers from another class; by copying a published paper (even if it is your own); or by using ideas or words from any source (written or oral) without proper attribution. Plagiarism may be committed with the intention to defraud (as in the first few examples), but may sometimes be committed unintentionally (as in the last example). This is why it is important for students to learn to recognize and avoid plagiarism.” ~ From Roosevelt University’s “Academic Integrity: A Guide for Students” http://www.roosevelt.edu/plagiarism

WHEN IN DOUBT, CITE! CITE! CITE!1) When to cite:

1) Using a quote word-for-word

2) Stating facts/statistics

3) Paraphrasing information from another source

You do not need to formally cite information that is common knowledge (anything that can be found in 5 or more sources such as when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor or when the Civil War ended.)

Parenthetical

Citations

APA Style

Perhaps the best argument against the death penalty as a deterrent pertains to comparing the crime rates of states with and without the capital punishment. Schuessler (1952) conducted a study that involved comparing the crime rates of neighboring states with and without the death penalty. His findings were quite surprising. In the majority of states, the crime rates were fairly similar but there were a few non-death penalty states that actually had lower crime rates than their counterparts. To cite an example, in 1999 in states with capital punishment there was roughly 5.5 murders per 100,000 people whereas in non-death penalty states there were about 3.6 killings per 100,000 people (Berliner, Gardner, & Thibault, 1998).

To illustrate this point on a state level, Grogger (1990) analyzed daily homicide rates for California during the 1960s for a period of two-four weeks after known executions. Using Poisson and negative binomial regression models, he was unable to find any real short-term deterrent effect (Grogger, 1990).

Footnotes

Endnotes

2003 ( use the “Insert” heading, then click “Reference”, “footnote/endnote”)

Click on the References ribbon in 2007.

Click here to format the type of footnote/endnote. The format box will pop up

You can change location & style: Use #s or Roman numerals

Works CitedBraga, A. (2001) The Effects Of Hot Spots Policing On Crime. The Annals of the American Society of Science, pp. 104-125 Braga, A., Kennedy, D., Waring, E., Morrison Piehl, A. Problem Oriented Policing, Deterrence and Youth Violence: An Evaluation of Boston’s Operation Ceasefire. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 38(3):195-225. Cordner, G., Biebel, E. (2003). Research for Practice: Problem Oriented Policing in Practice. U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, April 2003. Decker, S.H., Rosenfold, R. (2004). Reducing Gun Violence: The St. Louis Consent to Search Program, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs. Eck, J., Maguire, E. (2000) Have Changes in Policing Reduced Violent Crime? An Assessment of the Evidence. In Alfred Blumstein and Joel Waldman (eds.) The Crime Drop in America (Cambridge: University Press) pp. 207-265.

Quotes-

• Use an ellipsis to indicate any omission of words. Example: “We discussed comma usage, non-reference sources. . .

in class already.”• An omission at the end of a sentence requires four spaced

periods. For example: “Use an ellipsis to indicate any omission. . . .”

• Use square brackets to insert your own words into a quotation. For example: “The entire class [2nd period] turned in their paper on time.”

• Long quotations (more than four lines) need to be indented. Do not put quotation marks around a long quotation that is indented.

Long Quotation(more than 4 lines)

Words to watch: Do not misspell these words!!!

• whether/weather• lead/led• loose/lose• a/an• affect/effect• their/there/they’re• its/it’s• too/two/to• were/where/wear• your/you’re• than/then• DO NOT DEPEND ON SPELL/GRAMMAR CHECK TO CATCH EVERYTHING!

If you send rough draft as a Word file attached to email, I can edit it on the computer.