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Research Paper

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  Step 1: Understand the assignment and select a topic

• Ask your professor! No one can better explain what they want than they can themselves.
• Give careful attention to the instructions (UNC)
• Do some preliminary research on Google, Wikipedia, etc., just to understand the options with your topic(s)
  - Look for a general survey of research on your possible topics to begin.

  Step 2: Draft your thesis or research question

• This statement is the guiding principle of your whole project, what everything else is meant to prove. You will probably want to return to this step at least once during your project, to make sure the argument still makes sense after you have done more research.
• How to create a research question
• How to create a thesis statement
• Consider talking to a SSC instructor about how to formulate a good thesis

  Step 3: Find/evaluate evidence and sources

• Once you know what you want to argue, you will be able to start looking for information to back up your claim. Remember that you are only starting; you may have to look for more specific or different sources, as you develop your essay's structure.
• Subject guides at the StFX Library
• Consider talking to a research librarian to develop a research plan.
• What is a scholarly / peer-reviewed source (UMN)
• Try applying the CRAAP test

  Step 4: Critically read & evaluate sources

• You may not need to read ALL of each source, but you need to find the useful parts. Learn how to read selectively / skim an article (UNC)
• Steps #3 (Finding Sources), #4 (Reading & Evaluating Sources), and #5 (Developing Structure) may cycle back-and-forth several times; that is normal and good
• Start with the more general sources and sections/points of the paper that you are sure you will need, before moving on to the ones that support specific details of your argument.
• How to take research notes

  Step 5: Develop structure. Draft citations.

• Organize the sequence of ideas in your paper. Consider using a graphic organizer.
• Outlining is one of the best methods for keeping your ideas in their separate boxes (paragraphs).
• Make a master list of sources in the style appropriate for your assignment. See style guides on the SSC website.
• Consider using Zotero or other reference management systems.
• What are citations?

  Step 6: Write first draft

• Write from your notes, not from original source text.
• How to paraphrase / quote correctly
• Format templates in the major styles
• Write section-by-section, taking breaks in between.
• Ask yourself, does the thesis still make sense, or does it need to be changed and complicated. Going back to steps #4 and #5 is normal here.

  Step 7: Revise your draft

• Writer's proofreading guide
• Be especially careful to check that each major idea you want to explain has its own paragraph and is finished before you begin the next.
• Check for transitions between those sections: does each one start with some version of, "if that matters, then this matters too"?
• Consider talking to a SSC instructor to review your work at this point.

  Step 8: Polish & put paper in final form

• Use the spelling & grammar checker in Word (but don't trust it to do all the work).
• Use a good writing style guide.
• Consult the citation & reference guides for the appropriate style to ensure that the references/bibliography and citations are 100% correct. In alphabetization, indenting, punctuation, fonts, etc., there is one perfectly correct way to do it.