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| ARTICLE |
A
Guide for Writing Research Papers Based on Modern Language
Association (MLA) Documentation
An
Introduction to Research Techniques A research paper presents
the results of your investigations on a selected topic.
Based on your own thoughts and the facts and ideas you
have gathered from a variety of sources, a research paper
is a creation that is uniquely yours. The experience of
gathering, interpreting, and documenting information,
developing and organizing ideas and conclusions, and communicating
them clearly will prove to be an important and satisfying
part of your education. There are many approaches to research
— an essential part of every business and profession
— and many ways to document findings. The library
has books which will help you, and most English composition
textbooks contain chapters on research techniques and
style. It is important to follow consistently and accurately
a recommended format that is clear and concise and that
has been approved by your teacher. The formatting of citations
recommended in this guide is based on Modern Language
Association recommendations. If your instructor requires
another format, you can ask that instructor how such a
format will be different from the recommendations we have
made and make the appropriate adjustments. (Pay special
attention to the material on "Footnotes and Endnotes"
appearing in the section called "Parenthetical Documentation.")
This guide may suffice for most students' needs for most
academic purposes, but for advanced research projects
it is by no means a substitute for the Modern Language
Association Handbook for Writers of Research Papers Fifth
Edition (1999). That handbook can be purchased in most
bookstores and copies should be available in every college
and municipal library. A Guide similar to this one, but
based on the APA style, is also available online (see
link on the navigation bar). Your best source of advice
on all these matters is, of course, your instructor and
library professionals.
This
resource was originally based on recommendations in the
MLA Handbook's fourth edition and is currently being updated
to conform to the fifth edition of the MLA Handbook (1999).
We will remove this notice when revisions are complete.
This
page is maintained by Professor of English and College
Webmaster Charles Darling. Your comments and suggestions
are appreciated. We regret, however, that we cannot answer
questions about documentation issues not addressed in
the Guide to Writing Research Papers.
This
Guide to Writing Research Papers has no official relationship
with the Modern Language Association and is not endorsed
by the MLA.
Writing
a Research Paper
You don't have to dread writing research papers; all you've
got to do is take the time to organize and prepare yourself
for them. With proper planning you can write a better
paper more efficiently.
Don't
be intimidated by the amount of work you'll have to do.
Keep this Chinese proverb in mind when you start: A journey
of a thousand miles is begun with a single step. Don't
let the fear of the paper keep you from...
Getting
Started
The first thing you want to do is give yourself enough
time to work. For an average length (10- 20 pgs) paper
you should give yourself a month to adequately collect
the library research and materials. At a bare minimum
you should give yourself a week. Organization will help
you make the most of however much time you have. Write
a quick schedule to help you keep track of time: list
the days you have left and the time during the day you'll
be able to work. You will need to allot yourself time
to go to your school library, take notes, write an outline,
write a first draft, and revise the paper. Try not to
set yourself up for a lot of late nights, unless you're
a night person. Generally, people do better work when
they're alert.
It
is very important to start out your research with a solid
Thesis Statement. This is the question you propose to
answer in the paper. Some professors will want to see
the proposed thesis statement before you start your research.
A couple of hints:
Keep
it simple; you don't need an enormous subject to work
with.
Make
it specific. It is much easier to do research on a narrowly
selected subject than a massive idea. Help yourself by
sharpening it down.
Make
sure your idea will work. Check with your professor about
the suitability of the thesis to the assignment. Do a
little preliminary research in the library to make sure
there's enough available material on your topic.
Take some time to familiarize yourself with the libraries
you'll be using. Each library has its own system for reference
materials, and, chances are, they'll have separate technologies
to help you along. It is a good idea to talk to one of
the reference librarians about where and how to start.
If you're under deadline, you don't want to waste precious
time trying to locate materials. Every minute counts.
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