Requirements for research papers

Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that every word tell.

A research paper presents the results of your investigations on a selected topic. Based on your own thoughts and the facts and ideas you have gathered from a variety of sources, a research paper is your own synthesis of these facts and ideas, with complete documentation of where those facts and ideas came from. In this sense a research paper is a new work that you create by consulting several sources to answer a research question.

A research paper is not a summary of an article or book or a collection of summaries of articles or books. You should demonstrate that you understand the problems by interpreting and evaluating the information you present.

The purpose of writing a research paper is two-fold: (i) to broaden your knowledge of a specific topic, and (ii) most importantly to help you gain experience in writing such papers: the experience in gathering, interpreting, and documenting information, developing and organizing ideas and conclusions, and communicating them clearly by itself constitutes an important part of your education.

STRUCTURE

Abstract: Summary of the paper - 100-150 words

Introduction: Statement of the problem by providing background information and outlining what you intend to do in the body of the paper. The Introduction should end with a paragraph describing what is done in each section of the paper.

Body: Presenting the results of your research in an organized and consistent manner. It should be clearly seen that you understand the material well. Use every opportunity to analyze critically different views on the subject you are presenting - this is the best way to demonstrate understanding. You must avoid writing mere summaries of what other authors have written on the subject. Give your opinion.
The body of the paper should itself be divided into sections - see FORMAT below.

Conclusion: Summary of the most important results of your research discussed in the body of the paper.

FORMAT

1. The first page starts with title, name, abstract (100-150 words), list of the section titles, and the beginning of the Introduction of the paper. If you like you can put a front page, but this does not affect what should be on the first page.

2. Your paper should be structured - divided into sections: Introduction, ... (Section titles)... Conclusion(s), References.

3. See an example of the first page of a paper.

• The paper should be well-structured and should demonstrate your ability to analyze the problems you are writing on.
• The paper should contain no typos and no basic grammar mistakes.
• The essay should be typewritten double spaced, font size 12, and all pages should be numbered.
• References - according to the MLA citation style; see also (or the local copy 1 and copy 2 of these documents)
• Late submissions of papers will result in lowering the grade by five marks per day (including holidays and weekends).
• Papers should be submitted as hard copies; no email submissions are accepted.
• Students should keep copies of their work since submitted papers are not returned.