English 150                                                       The Research Paper Project                                                          Spring 2007

     One of the most common misconceptions about research is that it is something we do on subjects about which we know absolutely nothing.  Actually, this rarely happens.  Instead, we most often do research on a topic we are familiar with in some ways, but about which we wish to know much more.  Research, then, should be understood as an extension of present knowledge.

     To reinforce this basic principle we will complete a research paper project in this course that builds upon already completed work, one of the complete one-page papers you have already written (the process essay; the comparison/contrast essay; the cause and effect essay; or the definition essay).  We will go to the library having already delineated our present knowledge (the written essay) in a search for additional information (research).

     This approach to research has a second dividend:  it makes clear what material in a research paper needs to be acknowledged, through documentation, as deriving from the work of others.  That is, it makes plagiarism--the failure to attribute information to appropriate sources--almost impossible.  If what is in the already written essay represents your present knowledge, almost everything that is added later must come from research and therefore will require acknowledgment.  Such documentation will ensure against unintentional plagiarism.  The principles observed in conducting this research project can be carried forward into any later research assignments you face, as a student or as a graduate, insuring a logical method of developing a topic and of avoiding unintentional plagiarism.

    Here is our schedule for the project:

April 16:  We review the sources to be used in this project (outlined below) and discuss the ways in which new material found through research can be integrated with the original essay in an expanded format.

April 23:  You may bring to class a printout or copy of your original one-page essay and whatever material from sources you've gathered to that point.  We will use old and new material to outline the longer paper.  That is, we will review how the material from research is added to the original essay (which can also be revised in the process).   Questions about documentation format can be answered and help offered on finding sources.

April 25:   Turn in the final product in printed format (so italics and other special characteristics are visible).

     The following directions govern the research and taking of notes on this project.

1.  All library research must be done in the Longwood library.  No books, however, will be checked out of the library.  The amount of material you can use is specifically limited, so you will not need the sources themselves, only time enough to look through them for appropriate information.

2.  You may use only as many notes as will fit on one sheet of paper, one side single-spaced, or ten 3x5 cards.  This is to encourage you to gather only information specifically related to the original essay, either supporting or contradicting your original argument.  Quality, not quantity, is the object of this assignment.
 
3.  Put notes from each source together with the bibliographical information on one tenth of a sheet of paper single-spaced (that's just six lines) or one 3x5 card.  The final one tenth of a sheet of paper or note card will be devoted to what is called common knowledge on your topic (information that is so frequently cited by authorities writing on your subject that no acknowledgment is needed).  Thus, you will have no more than nine different sources.

5.  You need to have the following different kinds of sources:  at least one printed book; at least one one essay from a popular magazine, periodical, or newspaper; at least one article from a scholarly periodical; at least one internet source.

6.  You must have a minimum of five different sources. (A book or other work which contains more than one article or essay is still considered only one source.)

7.  Each source must have the bibliographical information appropriate to that kind of source (MLA style).  Pay special attention to how to handle material found through computer services.
 
8.  Notes can be of three kinds and must be clearly hand-labeled:  direct quotations (which appear within quotation marks and are the exact words in the exact order as the original with nothing left out); paraphrase (the same ideas as presented in the source, but entirely in your own words); and summary (which does not appear in quotation marks but is clearly marked in the margin as "summary"; unlike paraphrase, summaries always condense material).  I strongly recommend direct quotations.  Each entry must include the exact single page number(s) on which it was found in the source (except for internet sources, which will include URLs).

Note:  The most common excuse for incomplete work is that no material could be found on the topic.  This excuse will not be accepted:  you are required to find the best available information, even if it is not what you had hoped to find.  For example, if your topic is the happiness you found from building log cabins, and you go to the library looking for a book entitled The Joys of Log Cabin Building, but do not find it, you may not stop there.  You must broaden the range of your search and take what you can find--information on log cabins in general, on building traditional frame houses, on constructions of other structures, whatever is there.  There is information in print and on the Web that will add to your original essay.  You must develop the flexibility to find it and fit it into your expanding research paper.  You must also begin your search in the library early enough that, even if something comes up at the last minute and you are unable to continue work in the library, you will already have enough accomplished that you can go forward.