The Research Writer

Practicing Your Research: Activities and Checklist.3. Doing Research in the Wired Library.Introduction. Getting into Your Library. How to Get Familiar with Your Library. An Overview of Library Resources and Services. Employing the Library. Searching the Online Catalog. Starting Your Search. Searching the Catalog Using Distinct Methods. Building on Your Initial Search Results. Employing Full Citations. Locate Resources Using Call Numbers. Focus on Your Major: Finding Your LOC Classification Home. Connecting with Other Online Catalogs. NetLibrary. State Libraries. Library of Congress. Global Libraries: WorldCat. Search Subscription Databases for Periodical Articles. Understand Periodicals. Identify Your Library s Subscription Databases. Select and Search Databases. Generate a Citation List. Study Citations and Capture Identifying Information. Retrieve the Article s Full Text. Focus on Your Major: Databases for Disciplines. Using Print and Electronic Reference Works. How to Find and Use Reference Works. Types of Reference Works. Using Books: Trade, Scholarly, and E-Books. Identify Types of Books. Working with Print Books. How to Work with E-Books. Practicing Your Research: Activities and Checklist.4. Doing Research on the Free Web.Introduction. Understanding the Web: A Primer for Research. What Is the Internet? What Is the World Wide Web? What Does an Internet Address Mean? What Is the Free Web vs. the Deep Web? Using the Free Web for College Research. Benefits of Free-Web Research. Drawbacks of Free-Web Research. Guidelines for Researching the Free Web. Focus on Your Project: Saving Web Information. Recommended Web Resources for College Research. Using Wikis in Your Research. Understanding Wikis. Wikipedia as a Resource: Strengths. Wikipedia as a Resource: Weaknesses. Guidelines for Using Wikipedia. Finding Other Wikis. Evaluating Free-Web Resources. Signs of a Quality Website. Testing a Web Site s Quality and Reliability. Locating Information: URLs, Menus, Links, and Site Searches. Work with URLs. Follow Helpful Links. Explore Menus. Try the Site s Search Feature. Locating Information: Subject Trees or Directories. The Structure of a Subject Tree. Subject Trees: A Sample Search. Locating Information: Search Engines and Metasearch Tools. Understanding Search Engines as Research Tools. Guidelines for Using Search Engines. Choosing Search Engines for College Research. Conducting Advanced Searches with Search Engines. Practicing Your Research: Activities and Checklist.5. Doing Primary Research.Introduction. Planning for Primary Research. Considering Primary Research. Choosing a Method of Primary Research. Doing Effective Primary Research. Focus on Ethics: Respecting and Protecting Your Sources. Doing Primary Research with Integrity. Handling People with Care. Conducting Interviews. Choosing and Finding People to Interview. Preparing for an Interview. Doing the Interview. Sample Interview Note-Taking Sheet. Following Up the Interview. Requesting Information in Writing. Finding Contacts. Making Your Request. Focus on Research Essentials: Observing Netiquette. Sample Request Message. Conducting Informal Surveys. Finding and Selecting People to Survey. Developing a Sound Survey. Doing Your Survey. Sample Informal Survey. Analyzing Texts, Documents, Records, and Artifacts. Choosing Primary Texts. Locating Primary Texts. Analyzing Primary Texts. Focus on Your Major: Questions and Documentation. Making Observations. Finding a Site for Your Project. Getting Ready to Observe. Conducting Your Observation. Making Sense of Your Observations. Conducting Experiments. Understanding Experimentation. Following the Experimental Method. Practicing Your Research: Activities and Checklist.6. Working with Sources and Taking Notes.Maintaining a Working Bibliography. Setting Up Your Bibliography. Sample Working Bibliography Entries. Developing an Annotated Bibliography. Focus on Multimedia: Using Bibliographic Software. Developing a Note-Taking System. Note-Taking Strategies. Note-Taking Systems. Focus on Multimedia: Using Note-Taking Software. Engaging Your Sources through Critical Reading. Testing Each Source for Value. Reading Key Sources Systematically and Critically. Evaluating Your Sources. A Rating Scale for Source Reliability and Depth. Criteria for Assessing Sources. Focus on Multimedia: Interpreting and Evaluating Visuals. Sample Visual and Analysis. Summarizing, Paraphrasing, and Quoting Source Material. Summarizing Useful Passages. Paraphrasing Key Passages. Quoting Crucial Phrases, Sentences, and Passages. Practicing Your Research: Activities and Checklist.7. Building Credibility: Avoiding Plagiarism and Other Source Abuses.Introduction. Recognizing Plagiarism. What Is Plagiarism? What Does Plagiarism Look Like? Avoiding Source Misuse. Why Is Plagiarism So Serious? How Do You Avoid Plagiarizing in Your Writing? What Other Source Abuses Should You Avoid? What Other Academic Violations Should You Avoid? Practicing Your Research: Activities and Checklist.8 Drafting Papers with Documented Research.Introduction. Shifting from Research to Writing. Revisiting Your Research Rhetoric. Understanding the Writing Process. Reviewing Your Findings. Conducting Q & A. Deepening Your Thinking on the Topic. Imagining Your Paper. Sorting Out Your Notes. Sharpening Your Working Thesis. Deepening Your Thesis. Questioning Your Thesis. Considering Methods of Organization. Organizational Practices to Avoid. Organizational Practices that Consider Sources. Basic Essay or Paper Structure. Patterns of Reasoning. Traditional Organizational Patterns. Developing an Outline. Choosing a Type of Outline. Connecting Your Outline and Your Notes. Considering Drafting Strategies. Choosing a Drafting Method. Respecting Your Sources While Drafting. Drafting the Introduction. Engaging Your Reader. Establishing Your Voice. Establishing Focus and Scope. Introducing Your Line of Thinking. A Strong Opening. Drafting the Body: Reasoning with Evidence. Featuring Research in Your Discussion. The Full-Bodied Paragraph. Choosing and Using Evidence. Drafting the Body: Smoothly Integrating Source Material. A Pattern for Integrating Sources. Practices for Smoothly Integrating Quotations. Guidelines for Correctly Documenting Sources. Drafting the Conclusion. Deepen Your Thesis. Complete and Unify Your Discussion. A Strong Conclusion. Drafting the Title. The Purpose of the Title. Patterns for Academic Titles. Focus on Multimedia: Using and Integrating Graphics. Uses of Visuals in Your Research Writing. Planning Visuals for Your Paper. Parts of a Visual. Types of Visuals. Practicing Your Research: Activities and Checklist.9. Revising and Refining Your Research Paper.Introduction. Practical Strategies for Improving Your First Draft. Break Down Revising and Refining into Manageable Steps. Review Your Draft from Multiple Points of View. Use Your Software s Editing Tools as an Aid. Revising in Action: Fixing Global Issues. Editing in Action: Fixing Local Issues. Testing Your Ideas and Organization. Improving Your Reasoning. Eliminating Logical Fallacies. Improving Organizational Flow. Improving Paragraphs. Checking the Voice of Your Writing. Testing Your Level of Confidence. Testing for an Academic Style. Editing for Sentence Smoothness. Fixing Primer Style. Fixing Rambling Sentences. Fixing Unparallel Structures. Fixing Sluggish Sentence Structures. Using Active and Passive Voice of Verbs. Editing for Sentence Variety. Editing for Energetic Word Choice. Eliminate Wordiness. Replace Vague Wording with Precise, Concrete Terms. Hit the Right Diction Level. Replace Slanted Terms with Neutral Ones. Cut Clich s. Rework Pretentious and Flowery Language. Eliminate Jargon. Focus on Ethics: Plain and Fair English. Striving for Plain English. Striving for Respectful Language. Proofreading for Correctness. Test Your Draft for Accuracy. Check Quotation Integration and Punctuation. Check Titles of Works. Check Your Use of Historical Present Tense. Check for the Top Ten Grammar Errors. Check for Common Usage Errors. Focus on Your Major: Developing a Summary or Abstract. The Content and Style of a Summary. Writing a Summary. Practicing Your Research: Activities and Checklist.10. Sharing Your Research Writing.Introduction. Designing Your Research Document. Making Rhetorically-Driven Design Choices. Planning Your Research Document s Format. Thinking through Page Layout. Using Color. Making Typographical Choices. Submitting an Academic Paper. The Character of an Academic Paper. Submitting or Posting a Digital Document. Developing a Website. Contributing to a Wiki. Sharing Findings in a Blog. Preparing Research Presentations. Planning Your Presentation. Organizing and Developing Your Presentation. Delivering Your Presentation. Focus on Your Major: Developing a Poster Session. Focus on Multimedia: Using Presentation Software Effectively. Building Your Research-Writing Portfolio. Explore Your Project s Fit in Your Portfolio. Add Your Paper to Your Portfolio. Focus on Your Major: Writing into Your Discipline. Practicing Your Research: Activities and Checklist.11. Completing Team Research Projects.Introduction. Understanding Principles and Types of Collaboration. Principles of Collaboration. Types of Collaboration. Leading a Team Research Project. Leading Individuals. Leading the Group. Communicating in a Group. Brainstorming. Solving Problems. Making Decisions. Giving Criticism. Taking Criticism. Resolving Conflicts. Using Peer-Review and Peer-Editing Strategies. Writer s Role. Reviewer s Role. Peer-Review Systems. Integrating Teamwork into the Research and Writing Process. Dividing Tasks. Prewriting. Drafting. Revising. Refining. Practicing Your Research: Activities and Checklist.PART II: RESEARCH-WRITING FORMS AND PROJECTS.12. The Personal Research Paper.Introduction. Guidelines for Writing a Personal-Research Paper. Sample Student Paper: Personal-Research Writing. Writer s Reflection Student Model: The Pi-Nee-Waus Powwow: A Place to Gather by Michelle Winkler. Reading Research Writing: Questions. Practicing Your Research: Projects and Checklist.13. The Analytical Research Paper.Introduction. Guidelines for Writing an Analytical Paper. Analytical Modes: An Overview. Definition. Process. Classification. Compare-Contrast. Cause-Effect. Sample Student Paper: Analytical Research Writing. Writer s Reflection. Student Model: I Did Not Get My Spaghetti-O s : Death Row Consumption in the Popular Media by Stevie Jeung. Reading Research Writing: Questions. Practicing Your Research: Projects and Checklist.14. The Argumentative Research Paper.Introduction. Guidelines for Writing an Argumentative Paper. Argumentation: A Primer. Appealing to Character. Appealing to Emotion. Appealing to Reason. Sample Student Paper: Argumentative Research Writing. Writer s Reflection. Student Model: Making Waves: Finding Keys to Success in the Failures of the Fish Industry by Andrew Skogrand. Reading Research Writing: Questions. Practicing Your Research: Projects and Checklist.15. The Primary-Source Research Report.Introduction. Guidelines for Writing a Primary-Research Report. Sample Student Paper: Primary-Research Writing. Writer s Reflection. Student Model: Chew-Toy Color Preference in Kenneled Dogs (Canis) by Terri Wong. Reading Research Writing: Questions. Practicing Your Research: Projects and Checklist.16. Analysis of a Literary Text. Introduction. Guidelines for Writing a Literary Analysis. Literary Research: A Primer. Critical Approaches. Secondary Research. Literary Terms. Poetry Terms. Sample Student Paper: Literary Research Writing. Writer s Reflection. Student Model: Stephen Dedalus: Finding Identity in Myth by Rebecca Mombourquette. Reading Research Writing: Questions. Practicing Your Research: Projects and Checklist.17. The Literature Review.Introduction. Guidelines for Writing a Literature Review. Sample Student Paper: Reviewing the Literature. Writer s Reflection. Student Model: The Role of MicroRNA in Cancer by Dmitriy Kolesnikov. Reading Research Writing: Questions. Practicing Your Research: Projects and Checklist.III. SYSTEMS OF DOCUMENTATION.18. MLA Style and Sample Paper.Introduction. Directory to MLA Documentation. MLA Documentation at a Glance. In-Text Citation: The Basics. Works Cited: The Basics. Sample MLA Paper: A Picture before a Thousand Words: Art Therapy and the Treatment of Anorexia Nervosa by Rubi Garyfalakis. Writer s Reflection. Sample First Page. Sample Middle Pages. Sample Works-Cited Page. MLA Format Guidelines. MLA Format at a Glance. Whole-Paper Format and Printing Issues. Typographical Issues. Page-Layout Issues. Footnotes and Endnotes in MLA Documentation. Content Notes. Bibliographic Notes. Format for Endnotes. In-Text Abbreviations in MLA Format. General Guidelines for In-Text Abbreviations. Acceptable In-Text Abbreviations. Conventions for Names, Titles, and Internet Addresses. Names of People. Capitalization and Punctuation of Titles. Listing an Internet Address. MLA In-Text Citations. General Guidelines for In-Text Citations. Guidelines for Sources without Authorship and/or Pagination. Sample In-Text Citations. MLA Works-Cited Entries. General Guidelines for the Works-Cited Page. Abbreviations of Publishers Names in Works-Cited Entries. Other Abbreviations for Works-Cited Entries. Works-Cited Entries: Print Books and Other Nonperiodical Documents. Works-Cited Entries: Print Periodical Articles. Works-Cited Entries: Online Sources. Works-Cited Entries: Other Sources (Primary, Personal,and Multimedia). MLA System: Checklist.19. APA Style and Sample Paper.Introduction. Directory to APA Documentation. APA Documentation at a Glance. In-Text Citation: The Basics. References: The Basics. Sample APA Paper: The Acculturation of Sex and Health: An Asian American Dilemma by Lanjun Wang. Writer s Reflection. Sample Title Page. Sample Abstract. APA Research Paper: The Body.Sample References Page. Sample Appendix. APA Format Guidelines. APA In-Text Citations. Guidelines for In-Text Citations. Sample In-Text Citations. APA References Entries. General Guidelines for the References Page. Reference Entries: Books and Other Documents. Reference Entries: Print Periodical Articles. Reference Entries: Online Sources. Reference Entries: Other Sources (Primary, Personal,and Multimedia). APA System: Checklist.20. Chicago/Turabian Style and Sample Paper.Introduction. Directory to Chicago Style. Chicago Documentation at a Glance. In-Text Citation: The Basics. Footnotes and Endnotes: The Basics. Bibliographic Entries: The Basics. Sample Chicago Paper: A Thorn Beneath the Shining Armor: Churchill, Bishop Bell, and Area Bombing by Robert Minto. Writer s Reflection. Sample First Page. Sample Middle Pages. Sample Endnotes. Sample CMS Notes and Bibliographic Entries. Books and Other Nonperiodical Sources (Print and Digital). Periodical Articles (Print and Digital). Online Sources. Other Sources (Primary, Personal, and Multimedia). CMS System: Checklist.21. CSE Style and Sample Paper.Introduction. Directory to CSE Style. CSE Documentation at a Glance. In-Text Citation: The Basics. Reference Entries: The Basics. Sample CSE Paper: Human Papillomavirus Infection in Males: Penile Carcinoma by Aurora Cruz. Writer s Reflection. Sample First Pages. Sample Middle Pages. Sample References Page. CSE References. Books and Other Nonperiodical Sources (Print and Digital). Periodical Articles (Print and Digital). Online Sources. Other Sources (Field and Multimedia). CSE System: Checklist.

EZ. Dr. Meyer is currently a contributing editor for Write Source and UpWrite Press. He is also a featured speaker in the School Improvement Network's instructional videos, Writing Across the Curriculum. Patrick Sebranek (M.A. University of Wisconsin, LaCrosse) taught English, speech, and multimedia classes for 16 years at Union Grove High School in Wisconsin. During that time, he served as the English department chair and worked on several district-wide projects, including a writing-across-the-curriculum program and a K-12 writing sequence. He has studied the works of James Moffett, Ken Macrorie, Linda Reif, Nancie Atwell, and many other contemporary educators dealing with writing and learning. Mr. Sebranek is an author and editorial director for the Write Source Educational Publishing House and works closely with teachers and educators on all new and revised handbooks and sourcebooks.