(For WRTG 1150 – Spring 2010)
Below are some links to handouts that will give you instruction in relevant aspect of writing a research paper. I didn’t require that you buy a textbook for this class because you can find so many good resources for free online, but you have to actually read them to benefit from them. 🙂
Don’t limit yourself only to the resources below. If you have a question about a particular aspect of writing a research paper, look it up on Google. However, even when you’re just searching for advice, you should still evaluate your sources. The advice you might find on a web site for a university writing program or writing center is probably relatively safe, although keep in mind that different universities cater to different populations of students, so the advice might be targeted to students whose writing skills are far less advanced than yours or far more advanced. Advice you find on web sites associated with textbooks on writing and rhetoric or composition are probably also relatively safe, although the same caveat applies regarding the intended audience of the site.
What you probably shouldn’t pay attention to is the advice on web sites trying to make money by sharing research tips, particularly if they’re involved in any way in helping students purchase all or parts of a paper. (The papers available for students to purchase online are notoriously terrible in quality, as is the advice given by the sites that sell them. Buying a paper online not only calls a student’s morals into question, it also calls into question his or her ability to read!)
The Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab) is well-known as being one of the best resources on the web for advice about writing. You can find advice on every stage of the writing and research process as well as on different types of writing. I find that their handouts are sometimes on the short side, leaving out some key details students might appreciate. But they’re certainly a good place to start. These two handouts contain information relevant to helping you figure out what kind of research paper you want to write and how to create a thesis statement.
The Bedford Research Room is another well-known and reliable source. Students often find the tutorials on the site particularly helpful with various aspects of the research process. Read these short overviews on the Research Guides section of the Bedford Research Room web site:
The Writing Program at Colorado State University (CSU) also has a well-known and comprehensive set of resources to help you with a variety of writing concerns. These links take you to the opening pages of two of the many sections of CSU’s site that will help you with writing a college paper. Be sure to follow the links in the right sidebar menu of each opening page to see all the parts of each handout.
- Building a Thesis Statement (best for argument papers)
- Organization (see all the subsections on the right sidebar menu)