In this PowerPoint you'll learn which information in a research paper requires documentation; you'll also learn about citations and Works Cited entries.
6. Very likely your information came from books,
magazines, and online sources.
But remember that research
can also involve travel,
phone calls, and personal
interviews.
When Edward A. Berlin
researched his biography of
composer Scott Joplin, he
traveled widely and found
much new information about
Joplin.
8. Make sure you know which documentation
system your instructor wants you to use.
ï MLA is the usual choice for papers in English courses
and the humanities
ï APA is recommended for papers in the physical and
social sciences
ï Some institutions prefer the Chicago Manual of Style or
Turabian.
ï Ask your instructor!
9. Youâll need to locate a documentation guide.
Details (periods, commas, word order) have to be
done carefully.
ï If your college or university has an official handbook, make
sure you have a copy. It will have instructions for
documenting your paper.
ï Your institutionâs library has handbooks and other resources.
ï OWL (The Online Writing Lab) at Perdue University is a
wonderful free resource: https://owl.english.purdue.edu.
ï Librarians are glad to answer questions (but donât expect
them to do your work for you).
11. The next step is to understand which information
needs to be documentedâand which doesnât.
12. You should document only information that
someone might question. For exampleâŠ
But there is disagreement
about:
ï the causes of the Civil War
ï the way mushrooms are
classified
ï Scott Joplinâs date of birth
(thereâs no birth certificate)
ï the proper role of the
Supreme Court
Nobody is going to argue about:
ï when President Theodore
Roosevelt was born
ï the names of generals during
the Civil War
ï the scientific names of most
plants and animals
13. And you must always give sources forâŠ
ï quotations
ï statistics
ï data
14. How to Insert Sources
Reread your research
paper. Every time you
come to a fact, quotation,
or statistic that must be
documented, write an in-
text citation (shown in
blue).
A research study by Max Morath
and John Edward Hasse found
that by 1930 at least 220
women had published at least
one rag or ragtime song (White
316).
15. How to Insert Sources
If youâve done your
research carefully, you
should already have
written down the
information you need
(author, title, page number,
etc.).
If not, you may have to do
some backtracking.
16. Letâs look at page 1 of our research paper about
ragtime. (The citations are done in MLA format.)
17. There are several historic facts in the first paragraph. How
many of them require documentation?
18. The answer is none. Thereâs no controversy
about most historic facts.
X In 1976 Joplin posthumously received a Pulitzer Prize.
X By the time Joplin died, ragtime was losing popularity.
X By the 1970s, Americans were rediscovering ragtime.
X Ragtime became popular again in the 1970s.
X Scholars became interested in ragtime.
19. And we wonât document the thesis. Itâs the main
point of this research paper, and weâll be
supporting it in every paragraph.
X Historians today point to the ragtime era (1895-1915) as
a turning point in American musical history. THESIS
20. But we WILL need to document other kinds of
information:
â Quotations
â Information from experts
â Historical facts that require verification
22. This is a useful quotation because it indicates
how important ragtime music was.
According to music scholars William Schafer and Johannes Riedel,
âRagtime effected a total musical revolution, the first great impact of
black folk culture on the dominant white middle-class culture of
Americaâ (xi).
23. If we look up William Schafer in the Works Cited
List on the last page, weâll find that heâs the co-
author ofâŠ
26. If you want to look up the quotation, youâll find it
on page xi (in the Introduction).
According to music scholars
William Schafer and
Johannes Riedel, âRagtime
effected a total musical
revolution, the first great
impact of black folk culture
on the dominant white
middle-class culture of
Americaâ (xi).
28. Just before Joplin died, he
announced that he was working
on a symphony (Berlin 238).
No traces of a symphony
by Scott Joplin have been
found. Is the story true?
29. Yes, itâs true! Scholar Edward Berlin dug through
some old newspaper articles and found an
interview with Joplin that mentioned his
symphony.
The story is told on
page 238 of Berlinâs
book King of Ragtime.
31. The publisher is the Oxford University Press. MLA
style requires a capital âUââyou donât spell out
âUniversityâ in a citation.
32. Letâs do one more citation. Hereâs a story from
page two of the research paper.
33. This story is useful because it shows how popular ragtime
wasâeven the Presidentâs daughter loved it! But is this
story true?
34. The answer is yes. H. Loring White verified the story
and included it in his book Ragging It.
35. Here are the story and the citation:
Ragtime was heard everywhere: Alice Roosevelt, daughter of
President Theodore Roosevelt, once interrupted a diplomatic
reception at the White House to ask the Marine Band to play
Joplinâs âMaple Leaf Ragâ (White 216).
36. Notice that I provided the author and page
number so that readers can find the sourceâŠ
Ragtime was heard everywhere: Alice Roosevelt, daughter of
President Theodore Roosevelt, once interrupted a diplomatic
reception at the White House to ask the Marine Band to play
Joplinâs âMaple Leaf Ragâ (White 216).
37. âŠon the Works Cited page at the end of the
research paper.
38. The Works Cited page at the end of the research
paper lists complete information about each source:
ï author
ï title
ï date of publication
ï publisher
ï city of publication
39. You should write down this information while youâre
reading so that youâll have it when you need it.
ï author
ï title
ï date of publication
ï publisher
ï city of publication
40. Be sure to include every source on your Works
Cited page.
42. Hereâs another tip: Encyclopedia entries often
have recommended reading lists that are good
starting points for research.
43. If you have questions about research or
documentation, talk to your instructor or a
librarian.
44. You can read the entire ragtime paper free at
www.ragtimeresearchpaper.com.
Please take a few minutes
to look at it!
Youâll see how itâs
organized and how all the
parts work together.
45. And be sure to watch all five parts of the Writing
Your Research Paper series at
www.ResearchPaperSteps.com:
I Researching Your Topic
II Focusing Your Research Paper
III Organizing Your Paper
IV Drafting Your Research Paper
V Documenting Your Sources
46. If youâd like to sharpen your writing skillsâŠ
âŠgo to Amazon.com
for a free preview of
What Your English
Teacher Didnât Tell You
by Jean Reynolds, Ph.D.
47. And remember to check out the free resources at
www.WritewithJean.com.