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Research and Style Manual (2021 revision)
Introduction
A research project, whether it is a traditional paper, a video, or a multimedia presentation, is the
end product of a thinking process which involves student-centered questioning.
Research is a life skill. We are always seeking information. What car or stereo should I buy?
Which college should I choose? Which book should I read next? How can I sell this idea to my
boss? How can I convince the school board to act on my proposal? Our ability to use information
helps us reach conclusions, make our choices, and communicate more effectively.
Just as the careful car stereo buyer may "research" Consumer Reports and ask friends for
comments about which model is the best, the careful student researches a topic in the process of
thinking through his or her project. He or she consults as many varied, reliable sources as
possible, makes notes, asks questions, consults additional sources, and develops a point of view
based upon all of the information he or she has found. As students gather information to reach a
conclusion or support a hypothesis, they develop lifelong skills of information literacy.
Information literacy is the ability to access, evaluate and use information from multiple formats --
books, newspapers, videos, subscription databases, or the Web. Information literacy is a set of
competencies-- skills that will grow with students, even when current operating systems, search
engines, or computer platforms are obsolete. Information problem solving skills are required
across all disciplines.
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Research and Style Manual
"Where Do I Start?"
The research process and the writing process are connected. Research is of little value unless you
effectively communicate what you have learned. The same skills you use to write an expository
paper are used to develop the research paper or project. Developing a clear and focused thesis,
sketching an outline, drafting, revising, peer reviewing, and editing all are steps with which you
are already familiar.
The steps that you should take are as follows:
1. Read about a broad topic with "peripheral vision," looking for subtopics and
important terms.
2. Identify a focused topic or question you are interested in investigating.
3. Gather a working source list.
4. Gather information and evaluate the sources of information.
5. Take notes via a local or cloud-based tool or app.
6. Develop a clear and focused thesis.
7. Identify strong supporting points and rank them, making certain the research and
logical reasoning support them.
8. Develop an outline, or construct, and complete a mind/concept map.
9. Prepare a rough draft.
10. Add research documentation to the draft.
11. Revise the draft.
12. Have a peer review your work.
13. Revise the draft.
14. Edit the draft.
15. Prepare, proofread, and submit the final copy.
Collecting Sources
Gather a large list of books, articles, and Web-based information on your topic. Even if you are
not sure the source will have what you want, keep accurate information on EVERY source in
case you need it later. When using Web pages, you might want to print out the first page of the
document, making sure the URL is printed on the page. Locate your sources through the online
library catalog, in print and online reference works, online databases and journal indices, other
bibliographies, and sources suggested by your teacher or library media specialist.
One of the most useful resources we have available outside of your school library is the online
databases offered by local or state library systems or available from your school. Ask your
library media specialist for information about access to these.
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Research and Style Manual
Source and Notes Information
Use a separate page or file for each source of information. Include on the page:
1. All of the publication information needed to include the work on your final WORKS
CITED AND CONSULTED page. (This will save time because you will not have to look
up the information again.)
2. All of the information on each page in proper MLA format. (Consult the examples on the
Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) site. There are citation examples for anything you
need! It is a good idea to also include the URL of any online source you use..
3. The call number of the book. (If a book is out or not in the library, you can find it at a later
time without looking it up in the online card catalog again - another time saver.)
4. This source page will also include your notes from the source.
Taking Notes
The easiest way to prepare your research project is to base it on notes which you make as you
consult your sources. If you prepare your notes properly, you will find it much easier to organize
your material later and to complete your project. Make your notes clear. Doing this from the
beginning will save you time later. You shouldn't need to go back to find information you missed.
You will waste time, however, if you take notes on every fact on your topic. To avoid this, before
you start your note-taking, complete a thesis page which may include:
1. A statement of what you tentatively plan to prove about your topic.
2. Four to five general questions which will help you focus your research.
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Research and Style Manual
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the act of presenting someone else's work as your own. Plagiarism is theft of
intellectual property. The most obvious form of plagiarism consists of stealing an author's exact
words and failing to use quotation marks or to cite the author. However, other more subtle
degrees of plagiarism exist. To avoid unintentional plagiarism, a writer must be aware of this fact.
The following passage is quoted exactly from F. R. Leavis's book The Great Tradition. Various
revisions of it will demonstrate the difference between plagiarism and proper paraphrasing.
Original Text by Leavis:
Dickens, as everyone knows, is very capable of sentimentality. We have it in Hard Times (though
not to any seriously damaging effect) in Stephen Blackpool, the good, victimized working man,
whose perfect patience under infliction we are expected to find supremely edifying and
irresistibly touching as the agonies are piled on for his martyrdom. But Sissy Jupe is another
matter. A general description of her part in the fable might suggest the worst, but actually she has
nothing in common with Little Nell: she shares in the strength of the Horse-riding. She is wholly
convincing in the function Dickens assigns to her (235). -F. R. Leavis, The Great Tradition. New
York: New York University Press, 1964.
Revision 1:
Charles Dickens, most agree, can be sentimental. We see it in Hard Times, (although it doesn't
cause any great problems) in Blackpool, who is an honest worker with whom we sympathize
because he suffers a lot. Sissy Jupe is different. Although she sounds like a sentimental character,
she is very different from Little Nell. She takes part in riding horses, and Dickens makes her very
convincing in that role.
Comment on Revision 1:
Revision 1 demonstrates the work of someone who either intends to commit plagiarism or who
doesn't realize what plagiarism is. Plagiarism cannot be avoided just by substituting a few words
and transforming some sentences. This version is plagiarism because it copies Leavis's sequence
of ideas, a type of fingerprint that will give away the guilty student writer. The student has not
cited Leavis as the source and has not used the information meaningfully.
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Revision 2:
Sometimes Dickens is sentimental. Examples of his sentimental characters include Blackpool in
Hard Times and Little Nell. Sissy Jupe is another character that might be considered sentimental
at first glance, but she is different. She has greater depth and is more convincing as a character
than the others.
Comment on Revision 2:
Examples like Revision 2 typically result from sloppy note taking. The student writer was
probably trying to get the bare essentials and intended to put them into his or her own words later.
In composing the draft, however, the writer forgot how closely tied these words are to the
original. Notice that Revision 2 is limited to the ideas in the original. This revision is plagiarism
because the student copied Leavis's ideas without giving him credit and because there is no
evidence of the student's own thought here. This version could be saved from plagiarism by citing
Leavis as the source of the ideas.
Revision 3:
Dickens' novel Hard Times rises above sentimentality. Some characters, for instance, Stephen
Blackpool, do appear sentimental. Blackpool exceeds all reasonable expectation in tolerating a
drunken woman who repeatedly robs him, runs off, and throws herself on his mercy when she
needs help. Likewise, his patient, calm manner towards his bully of an employer (never once does
he lose his temper) is unrealistic and calculated to squeeze sympathy from a reader. Sissy Jupe,
however, is a more complete character. Instead of making her a mere victim, Dickens develops
her role. He gives her a consistent strength and point of view. For example, when her teacher asks
if a nation with fifty millions of money was a prosperous nation, she answers, "...I couldn't know
whether it was a prosperous nation...unless I knew who had got the money, and whether any of it
was mine" (Dickens 982).
Comment on Revision 3:
Revision 3 is an example of the proper use of a source. This student has picked up some ideas but
has looked for other examples to support them. Notice that this version has its own topic
sentence. This student, therefore, was independently following a plan and not simply taking
another author's material.
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Research and Style Manual
Setting Up Your Paper
The completed draft of your project should include the following:
1. A title page, containing the title, your name, the teacher's name, the specific class, and the
date of submission.
2. The text of the paper. Number only the pages of the text, beginning with page 2, unless
your teacher instructs you otherwise.
3. Works Cited and Consulted page set-up page.
Margins and
Other Information
Font: Courier New 12
Margin set-up for entire paper:
1" top, bottom, left and right margins
Center all information on the title page
Start title of paper 1/4 page from top
Title of the paper in ALL CAPS
Double space and type your name
Type name of instructor at 3/4 page
Double space and type name of class
Double space and type today's date
One staple in upper left-hand corner
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MLA QUICK START GUIDE
GENERAL
• Type your paper on a computer and print it out on standard-size paper (8.5” x 11”)
• Double-space your paper
• Set the margins of your document to 1” on all sides
• Create a header that numbers all pages consecutively in the upper right-hand corner, one-half inch
from the top and flush with the right margin, starting on the first page of the text of your paper.
(Note: Your instructor may ask that you omit the number on your first page. Always follow your
teacher's guidelines.)
• Use italicizing throughout your essay or paper for highlighting the titles of longer works or for
providing emphasis.
• If you have any notes, include them on a page before your Works Cited and Consulted page and
format them using the same format as found on that page.
FORMATTING THE FIRST PAGE OF A PAPER WITHOUT A TITLE PAGE
• Do not make a title page for your paper unless specifically requested to do so.
• If there is no title page, provide a double-spaced entry in the top left corner of the first page that
includes your name, your instructor’s name, the course, and the date.
• Create a header that numbers all pages consecutively in the upper right-hand corner, one-half inch
from the top and flush with the right margin, starting on the first page of the text of your paper.
(Note: Your instructor may ask that you omit the number on your first page. Always follow their
guidelines.)
• Center your title on the line below the header, and begin your paper immediately below the title.
Pete Purdue 1
Dr. D. Smith
English 9A
11 November 2016
Building a Dream: Reasons to Expand the Nauset High School Stadium
During the 2015 season, the Nauset Warriors won the Division 1 Championship, earned their first
trip to the Rose Bowl in thirty-four years, and played consistently to sold-out crowds. Looking to
the future…
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MAKING REFERENCE TO THE WORKS OF OTHERS IN YOUR TEXT
In MLA style, referring to the works of others in your text must be done in two ways. When you make
reference to someone else’s idea, either through paraphrasing or quoting them directly, you
• provide the author’s name (or the title of the work) and the page (or paragraph) number of the
work in a parenthetical citation, and
• provide full citation information for the work in your Works Cited and Consulted list
MLA format follows the author-page method of citation. This means the author’s last name and the page
number(s) from which the quotation is taken must appear in the text and a complete reference must appear
in your Works Cited and Consulted list.
The Purdue Online Writing Lab has overviews and examples for in-text citations on this page.
FORMATTING YOUR WORKS CITED AND CONSULTED PAGE
• Label the page Works Cited and Consulted (do not underline, bold, italicize the words or put them
in quotation marks)
• Double-space the entire page. Do not put extra spaces between the entries.
• The first line of an entry is flush with the left-hand margin of the page.
• Each subsequent line of an entry is indented 5 spaces.
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Research and Style Manual
In-Text Citation
In-text documentation is the newly recognized format for acknowledging borrowed information
within your original text. No longer are footnotes or endnotes used, unless you need to clarify or
add some information.
Use in-text documentation to cite a source whenever you:
use an original idea from one of your sources, whether you quote or paraphrase it
summarize original ideas from one of your sources
use factual information that is not common knowledge (Common knowledge is information
that recurs in many sources. If you are not certain it is common knowledge, cite to be safe.)
quote directly from a source
use a date or fact that might be disputed
The purpose of this format is to give immediate source information without interrupting the flow
of the paper. Usually parenthetical citations are placed at the end of a sentence, but they may be
placed in the middle. The academic world takes in-text documentation seriously. Inaccurate
documentation is as serious as having no documentation at all.
Again, the Purdue Owl site provides instruction on in-text citation creation here.
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Research and Style Manual
Works Cited and Consulted for Grades 7-12
No research paper is complete without a list of the materials from which you have borrowed
ideas, facts, opinions, or quotations. You created a running list of sources when you filled out
your source cards. Now you must formalize the list to accompany your paper so that a reader can
see your sources.
1. Go through your source information, discarding any sources you did not use.
2. The "Works Cited and Works Consulted" page should consist of all works that you
specifically quoted, paraphrased, referred to in your text and all works you consulted but
did not actually cite in your text.
3. Arrange information sources alphabetically according to the author's last name. If no author
is indicated, alphabetize by the first prominent word in the title (ignore A, AN, THE). If the
work is published by a society and no author is named, use the society as the author in
order to alphabetize.
4. Generally the following publication information should be included and in this order (omit
any category that is not applicable):
The entire Works Cited and Consulted page is double-spaced.
Head a new sheet of paper WORKS CITED AND CONSULTED in all capital letters and
centered at the 1/4 page mark. Do not underline or italicize this title.
Copy the information from the alphabetized source information of all works used in your
paper.
Double-space all lines on the WORKS CITED AND CONSULTED page.
The first line of each new entry starts at the left-hand margin.
Indent the second and all subsequent lines in each citation half an inch. This is called a
hanging indent.
After the last entry, double-space and type your name.
Place the WORKS CITED AND CONSULTED page(s) immediately after the last page of
the text.
The Purdue Writing Lab site includes examples for each type of source you are citing here
and here.
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Research and Style Guide by Kathy Schrock is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Adapted, with permission, on a work at sdst.libguides.com.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available by emailing
kathy@kathyschrock.net.
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