Fundamental Writer ’ s Rules

1. Fundamental Writer’s Rules • This is a scholarly paper. It is not an anecdotal account of your practice. • The paper must rest on facts established by formal research. • Unfortunately, you are not allowed to • have an opinion -- that’s called “bias,” • and it makes your study less than • meaningless.

2. Determining and Presenting the Content • Stay on topic. You MUST not veer off of the topic into ANY other area unless it is DIRECTLY related. This is one of the most common errors that students make! • Outline -- you should: • Outline each section individually • Outline the entire paper to make sure that you’ve covered all of the essential areas.

3. Determining and Presenting the Content (cont) • Make sure that your paper will contribute to the PRACTICAL knowledge that the field needs.

4. Essential Sections of the Research Project • Specific steps taken in a specific order. You MUST include: • Title page • Abstract • Introduction • Review of the Literature • Research Design • Data Reporting • Analysis and Discussion • Conclusions and Directions for Future Research • Bibliography

5. The Language You MUST Use • Remember the audience that will read your project. For example, • if your project is meant to be read by fellow professionals, you can write at a more technical level. • If the project is meant for professionals in other fields, you must explain any vision specific terminology. • If you are writing for families or other lay persons, you may use a more informal style which explains all technical information.

6. The Language You MUST Use (cont) • Never write in first person. Always use third person -- NOT • “I think that the Little Room is an excellent instructional tool for babies with visual impairments.”INSTEAD • “Researchers have demonstrated that the Little Room is an effective instructional tool for babies with visual impairments.”

7. The Language You MUST Use (cont) • Write in English -- not jargon. • Any abbreviations you use, you must spell them out the first time you use them. For example: • “An extensive program is available from the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSVBI)” • After that you can simply use the abbreviation: “Resources on this topic are provided by TSBVI.”

8. After the Paper is Finished. . . • Edit, edit, edit! • Do not “pad” your paper. DO NOT concentrate on how many pages the paper should be. There is NO answer to that question! MAKE IT AS LONG AS IT TAKES TO COVER THE TOPIC AND NOT ONE WORD MORE. It is better to write a 5 page paper that is well written than to produce a 25 page paper that is redundant and irrelevant. • Read it aloud.

9. Editing (cont) • Get some help! Have someone else read it.

10. Other Editing Problems that Drive Me Crazy!!!! • Misspelled words! USE YOUR SPELL CHECKER!!! If it has a red line under it, fix it! • Obvious grammatical errors (e. g. sentence fragments, run on sentences, paragraphs that last forever, etc.).

11. Fundamentals of Formatting • Consistency, consistency, consistency! • USE THE APA MANUAL! • Use other papers as an example.