The definitive research paper guide, Writing Research Papers combines a traditional and practical approach to the research process with the latest information on electronic research and presentation. This market-leading text provides students with step-by-step guidance through the research writing process, from selecting and narrowing a topic to formatting the finished document. Writing Research Papers backs up its instruction with the most complete array of samples of any writing guide of this nature. The text continues its extremely thorough and accurate coverage of citation styles for a wide variety of disciplines. The fifteenth edition maintains Lester's successful approach while bringing new writing and documentation updates to assist the student researcher in keeping pace with electronic sources. Available in two formats–perfect-bound and spiral-bound with tabs, a handier format at a slightly higher price)–Lester's text is one that students will keep throughout their college careers.
Author(s): James D. Lester, James D. Lester, Jr.
Edition: 15th Edition/Global Edition
Publisher: Pearson Education
Year: 2015
Language: English
Pages: 419
Tags: Report Writing: Handbooks, Manuals, etc, Research: Handbooks, Manuals, etc, Report Writing
Cover......Page 1
Title......Page 3
Copyright......Page 4
Contents......Page 5
Preface to the Instructor......Page 16
Acknowledgments......Page 20
1 Introduction to Academic Writing......Page 21
1a Why Do Research?......Page 23
1b Learning the Conventions of Academic Writing......Page 24
1c Understanding and Avoiding Plagiarism......Page 25
Understanding the Terminology......Page 26
1e Establishing a Research Schedule......Page 29
2 Topic Selection......Page 31
Connecting Personal Experience to Scholarly Topics......Page 33
Speculating about Your Subject to Discover Ideas and to Focus on the Issues......Page 34
Personal Interviews and Discussions......Page 38
2c Using Online Searches to Refine Your Topic......Page 39
Using an Internet Keyword Search......Page 40
2d Using the Library’s Electronic Databases to Find and Narrow a Topic......Page 41
2e Using the Library’s Electronic Book Catalog to Find a Topic......Page 42
2f Developing a Thesis Statement, Enthymeme, or Hypothesis......Page 44
The Short Proposal......Page 47
The Long Proposal......Page 48
Your Research Project......Page 52
3a Using a Basic Order to Chart the Course of Your Work......Page 53
3b Using Your Research Proposal to Direct Your Notetaking......Page 54
3d Writing a Rough Outline......Page 55
3e Using Questions to Identify Issues......Page 56
3f Setting Goals by Using Organizational Patterns......Page 57
3g Using Approaches across the Curriculum to Chart Your Ideas......Page 58
3h Using Your Thesis to Chart the Direction of Your Research......Page 59
Your Research Project......Page 61
4 Finding Web-Based Resources......Page 62
4a Beginning an Online Search......Page 63
4b Reading an Online Address......Page 67
4c Using Keyword and Boolean Expressions......Page 68
Metasearch Engines......Page 70
Educational Search Engines......Page 71
Educational Search Engines Maintained by Libraries......Page 73
RSS Feeds......Page 74
Web 2.0 and Social Bookmarking......Page 75
Online Journals......Page 76
4f Searching for Articles in Newspapers and Media Sources......Page 77
4h Accessing E-books......Page 79
Real-Time Chatting......Page 80
Search Engine......Page 81
Go to a Metasearch Engine......Page 82
Your Research Project......Page 84
5a Launching the Search......Page 85
5b Developing a Working Bibliography......Page 86
5c Finding Books on Your Topic......Page 87
Using the Library’s Bibliographies......Page 88
Searching the General Indexes to Periodicals......Page 91
Finding Indexes by Topic in the Appendix......Page 95
Searching for an Index to Abstracts......Page 96
5e Searching for a Biography......Page 98
5f Searching for Articles in Newspaper Indexes......Page 99
5g Searching Special Subject Directories......Page 100
5h Searching for Government Documents......Page 101
Your Research Project......Page 102
6 Conducting Field Research......Page 104
Interviewing Knowledgeable People......Page 105
Writing Letters and Corresponding by E-mail......Page 106
Attending Lectures and Public Addresses......Page 107
6b Investigating Government Documents......Page 108
6c Examining Audiovisual Materials, Television, and Radio......Page 109
6d Conducting a Survey with a Questionnaire......Page 110
6e Conducting Experiments, Tests, and Observation......Page 112
Your Research Project......Page 113
7 Plagiarism and How to Avoid It......Page 115
7b Placing Your Work in Its Proper Context......Page 116
7c Understanding Copyright......Page 117
7d Avoiding Plagiarism......Page 118
Common Knowledge......Page 120
Correctly Borrowing from a Source......Page 122
7f Honoring and Crediting Sources in Online Classrooms......Page 125
7g Seeking Permission to Publish Material on Your Website......Page 127
Your Research Project......Page 128
8a Finding Reliable Sources......Page 129
Evaluating the Key Parts of an Article......Page 136
Evaluating the Key Parts of a Book......Page 138
Evaluating the Key Parts of an Internet Article......Page 141
8e Summarizing a Source......Page 143
8f Preparing an Annotated Bibliography......Page 145
8g Preparing a Review of the Literature on a Topic......Page 148
Your Research Project......Page 154
Gathering Printouts, Photocopies, Scanned Images, and Downloaded Data......Page 155
9b Writing Personal Notes......Page 156
9c Writing Direct Quotation Notes......Page 158
Quoting Primary Sources......Page 159
Quoting Secondary Sources......Page 160
9d Writing Paraphrased Notes......Page 161
9e Writing Summary Notes......Page 163
9f Writing Précis Notes......Page 165
Use the Précis in a Plot Summary Note......Page 166
Use the Précis As the Form for an Abstract......Page 167
A General All-Purpose Model......Page 168
Model for the Analysis of Creative Works......Page 169
Model for Analysis of History......Page 170
Model for a Comparative Study......Page 171
Using Standard Outline Symbols......Page 172
Writing a Formal Sentence Outline......Page 173
Your Research Project......Page 174
10 Drafting the Paper in an Academic Style......Page 176
10a Focusing Your Argument......Page 177
10b Refining the Thesis Statement......Page 178
Using Questions to Focus the Thesis......Page 179
Adjust or Change Your Thesis During Research if Necessary......Page 181
10c Writing an Academic Title......Page 182
Writing from Your Notes......Page 183
Writing in the Proper Tense......Page 185
Writing in the Third Person......Page 186
10e Using Visuals Effectively in a Research Essay......Page 188
10f Avoiding Sexist and Biased Language......Page 191
Your Research Project......Page 193
11a Blending Reference Citations into Your Text......Page 194
Putting the Page Number Immediately after the Name......Page 195
Citing the Title of a Magazine Article......Page 196
11c Citing Nonprint Sources That Have No Page Number......Page 197
Identify the Nature of the Information and Its Credibility......Page 198
Omitting Page and Paragraph Numbers to Internet Citations......Page 199
11e Citing Indirect Sources......Page 200
11f Citing Frequent Page References to the Same Work......Page 202
11g Citing Material from Textbooks and Large Anthologies......Page 203
One of Several Volumes......Page 204
Several Authors in One Citation......Page 205
Commas and Periods......Page 206
Question Marks and Exclamation Marks......Page 208
11j Indenting Long Quotations......Page 209
Quoting Three Lines of Poetry or More......Page 211
Retaining Internal Quotations within a Block......Page 212
11l Handling Quotations from a Play......Page 213
11n Omitting Quoted Matter with Ellipsis Points......Page 214
11o Altering Quotations with Parentheses and Brackets......Page 217
Brackets......Page 218
Your Research Project......Page 219
Provide the Thesis Statement......Page 220
Provide the Enthymeme......Page 221
Relate to the Well Known......Page 222
Review the Literature......Page 223
Take Exception to Critical Views......Page 224
Provide a Brief Summary......Page 225
Supply Data, Statistics, and Special Evidence......Page 226
Organize by Chronology......Page 227
Compare or Contrast Issues, Critical Views, and Literary Characters......Page 229
Define Your Key Terminology......Page 230
Ask Questions and Provide Answers......Page 231
Use a Variety of Other Methods......Page 232
12c Writing the Conclusion of the Research Paper......Page 233
Close with an Effective Quotation......Page 234
Compare the Past to the Present......Page 235
Offer a Directive or Solution......Page 236
Your Research Project......Page 237
Revising the Introduction......Page 239
Revising the Conclusion......Page 240
13b Formatting the Paper to MLA Style......Page 241
Title Page or Opening Page......Page 242
Abstract......Page 243
Appendix......Page 244
Using the Computer to Edit Your Text......Page 245
13d Proofreading on the Screen and on the Printed Manuscript......Page 246
Your Research Project......Page 247
14 MLA Style: Citations......Page 270
14a Formatting the Works Cited Page......Page 271
Index to Works Cited Models: MLA Style......Page 272
Citing Sources Found Online......Page 276
14c Works Cited Form—Citing Database and CD-ROM Sources......Page 282
14d Works Cited Form—Books......Page 284
14e Works Cited Form—Periodicals......Page 296
14f Works Cited Form—Newspapers......Page 299
14g Works Cited Form—Government Documents......Page 301
14h Works Cited Form—Other Sources......Page 302
Theoretical Article......Page 309
15b Writing in the Proper Tense for an APA Paper......Page 310
15c Using In-Text Citations in APA Style......Page 311
Index to Bibliographic Models: APA Style......Page 318
Book......Page 319
Periodical......Page 320
Abstract......Page 321
Sources Accessed Online......Page 322
Article from a Library Database......Page 326
Theoretical Paper......Page 327
Review Article......Page 328
15g Sample Paper in APA Style......Page 329
16 CMS Style: The Footnote System......Page 338
16a Inserting a Superscript Numeral in Your Text......Page 339
Index to CMS Footnote Models......Page 340
16b Formatting and Writing the Footnotes......Page 341
16c Writing Footnotes for Electronic Sources......Page 343
16e Writing Endnotes Rather Than Footnotes......Page 345
16f Writing Content Footnotes or Content Endnotes......Page 346
16h Writing a Bibliography Page for a Paper That Uses Footnotes......Page 349
16i Sample Research Paper in the CMS Style......Page 350
17 CSE Style: Citations for Technical Writing......Page 357
Guide by Discipline......Page 358
17a Writing In-Text Citations Using the CSE Citation-Sequence System......Page 359
17b Writing a References Page......Page 360
17c Writing In-Text Citations with Name and Year......Page 361
17d Using Name-Year with Bibliography Entries......Page 363
17e Sample Paper Using the CSE Citation-Sequence System......Page 365
18a Beginning the Digital Project......Page 377
18b Building Digital Presentations......Page 378
Importing, Entering, and Modifying Text......Page 379
18d Using Graphics in Your Electronic Research Paper......Page 380
18e Using Sound and Video in Your Electronic Research Paper......Page 381
18f Preparing a Writing Portfolio......Page 382
18g Presenting Research in Alternative Formats......Page 384
Your Research Project......Page 385
Glossary: Rules and Techniques for Preparing the Manuscript in MLA Style......Page 386
Historic Issues of Events, People,and Artifacts......Page 395
Scientific Issues in Physics, Astronomy,and Engineering......Page 396
Social and Political Issues......Page 397
Issues in the Arts, Literature, Music,and Language......Page 398
Environmental Issues, Genetics,and the Earth Sciences......Page 399
Issues in Religion, Philosophy, and Psychology......Page 400
Issues in Business and Economics......Page 401
Popular Culture, Current Events,and Modern Trends......Page 402
Credits......Page 403
A......Page 404
B......Page 405
C......Page 406
E......Page 408
G......Page 409
I......Page 410
L......Page 411
M......Page 412
O......Page 413
P......Page 414
S......Page 415
T......Page 416
W......Page 417
Z......Page 418
