Enhancing Your Writing with Research

1. Enhancing Your Writing with Research by Heather McCartney-Christensen Professor of English College of Staten Island

2. Enhancing Your Writing with Research What is research? When you research, you look for information that will help you gain a better understanding of a subject, which will then help you create a well-supported essay. Research for Academic Writing There is a formal type of writing called the Research Paper. Many types of academic essays, especially those with the purpose of persuading, can benefit from research. Facts, quotations, and statistics can help support arguments.

3. Enhancing Your Writing with Research Evaluate Internet Sources The Internet is a valuable tool; many important magazines and newspapers publish on the Internet. However, be careful that the information is from a credible, reliable source.

4. Enhancing Your Writing with Research Book, Magazine, Newspaper: Author�s full name Title of article Title of book, magazine, or newspaper Publishing information (name of publisher, city, and date of publication) Pages used Website: Author�s full name Title of article Title of website Date of publication or updating Date you accessed the site Complete web address

5. Enhancing Your Writing with Research Paraphrase, Summarize, Quote: Paraphrase�you use your own words to present someone�s ideas. Summarize�you briefly state the main ideas of another�s work. Quote�you directly state a person�s exact words and use quotation marks. Avoid Plagiarism: Whenever you paraphrase, summarize, or use quotes, always provide the author�s last name in your essay; list the source on the Works Cited page at the end of the essay.

6. Enhancing Your Writing with Research The following actions are examples of plagiarism: Buying another work and presenting it as your own. Using another student�s work. Failing to use quotation marks. Using ideas from another source without citing that source. Making only slight modifications to an author�s sentences, but presenting the work as your own.

7. Enhancing Your Writing with Research How to Introduce or Integrate a Quotation: Phrase introduction�introduce quote with a phrase. Capitalize first letter of first word in quote. Sentence introduction�introduce quote with a sentence. Capitalize first letter of first word in quote. Integrated quotation�place quote in sentence. Do not capitalize first letter of first word in quote. Words that Introduce Quotations: admits, claims, comments, concludes, explains, maintains, mentions, observes, reports, speculates, suggests, warns.

8. Enhancing Your Writing with Research Citing the Source in the Body of Your Essay Include the author and page number in parentheses. Example: Successful people fight to succeed: �They haven determined that nothing will stop them from going forward� (Carson 224).

9. Enhancing Your Writing with Research Citing the Source in the Body of Your Essay Include the page number in parentheses if the author�s name is mentioned in the sentence. Example: �Successful people don�t have fewer problems,� writes Ben Carson (224).

10. Enhancing Your Writing with Research Citing the Source in the Body of Your Essay Include Internet site. Example: Furthermore, according the Bureau of Statistics for the U.S. Department of Labor, elephant trainers have a hazardous job, and �the relative risk is 68 times greater than for the typical worker� (�Dangerous�).

11. Enhancing Your Writing with Research Preparing a Works Cited Page (References list or Bibliography) Centered, at the top of a page, write the following words: Works Cited. List each source alphabetically, using the last names of the authors. Indent the second line and all subsequent lines of each reference.

12. Enhancing Your Writing with Research Book 1. One author Last name, First name. �Title of Article.� Title of Book. City: Publisher, Year. Tan, Amy. The Joy Luck Club. New York: Random House, 1990. 2. Two or more authors Last name, First name, and First name Last name. �Title of Article.� Title of Book. City: Publisher, Year. Ember, Carol R., and Melvin Ember. Cultural Anthropology. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2002.

13. Enhancing Your Writing with Research 3. Magazine or newspaper Last name, First name. �Title of Article.� Title of Magazine or Newspaper Date: pages. Foster, Don. �The Message in the Anthrax.� Vanity Fair October 2003:180-200. 4. Journal Last name, First name. �Title of Article.� Title of Journal Volume. Issue (Year): pages. Seligman, Martin. �The American Way of Blame.� APA Monitor 29.7 (1998): 97.

14. Enhancing Your Writing with Research 5. Internet Site If the information was published on the Internet, include as much of the following information as you can find. Keep in mind that some sites do not contain complete information. Author. �Title of Article.� Title of Site or Online Publication. Date of publication. Date you accessed the site <network address>. Krystek, Lee. �Crop Circles.� Museum of Unnatural Mystery. 2003. 16 May 2005 <http://www.unmuseum.org/cropcir.htm>.

15. Enhancing Your Writing with Research If the author is not mentioned on the site, begin with the title and include as much information as you can find. (Note that MLA style does not use periods with the abbreviation US.) �Dangerous Jobs.� US Department of Labor. 22 July 1997. 28 May 2004 <http://stats.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/cfar0020.pdf>.