Comprehend the Topic
You have just been assigned by your instructor to create a paper on a topic. Relax, this is simply not going to be as bad as this indicates. You just need to get started. Check out suggestions to help make the process as painless as you are able to. Remember, when you have any questions ASK.
What is the Instructor asking for
Could be the assignment a formal research paper for which you have to do research and cite other sources of data, or perhaps is the assignment asking you for your response to a certain topic where whatever you will need to do is collect your thoughts and organize them coherently. Should you need to research your topic, be sure you know what style manual your instructor prefers (MLA, APA, Chicago, etc).
Make certain you keep track of any restrictions that your instructor places for you. In case your instructor wants a 4 page paper, they will not be happy with a 2 page paper, or a 10 page paper. Remember that the instructor knows roughly how long it must take to pay for the subject. Should your paper is just too short, you probably aren’t taking a look at enough materials. You need to narrow your topic if you paper is too long. Also, several times the instructor may restrict you to definitely certain kinds of resources (books written after 1946, scholarly journals, no internet sites). That you don’t wish to automatically lessen your grade by not following the rules. Remember the key rule, if you have any questions pose a question to your instructor!
You shall must also know which audience that you are writing for. Have you been writing to an audience that knows nothing regarding your topic? If so you will have to write this kind of a way which you paper is reasonable, and that can be understood by these folks. Should your paper is tailored for peers that have a similar background of information you won’t need to include that variety of information. In the event your paper is for specialists in the field, you’ll not have to include background information.
If you’re lucky, you had been given a narrow topic by your instructor. You might never be thinking about your topic, but you can be reasonably certain that the subject is not too broad. Almost all of you aren’t likely to be that lucky. Your instructor gave you a broad topic, or no topic at all and you are clearly going to need to pick the specific topic for the paper.
There are numerous rules that are general you should use to help choose and narrow a subject. Does a particular topic interest you? If you’re excited by a field that is particular choose a subject from that field. While doing research you shall find out more about the field, and learn which journals are written for the topic. Are you answering a relevant question? You and your instructor are going to be bored if a paper is being written by you in the hazards of drunken driving. However, it might become more interesting to publish by what causes individuals to drink and drive. The more interesting your topic the greater you will enjoy and study from writing your paper. You may also would you like to give attention to a specific point of view concerning the topic, such as what teenagers think what causes drunken driving are.
Now that you have a subject, it is time to start doing research. Don’t jump to the card catalog plus the indexes yet. The research that is first you should do is some general research on your own topic. Uncover what some of the terms used in the field are. Additionally, you will discover that this research can further help you define you topic.
One supply of general scientific studies are a general encyclopedia. With respect to the encyclopedia, in the final end of every entry there might be a bibliography of suggested works. Good encyclopedias to consult are Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Americana, and World Book.
You will desire to check to see in case the topic is in a field that has a subject Encyclopedia, a Subject Handbook, or a topic Dictionary. These guides contain information regarding a multitude of topics inside a field that is specific. Generally the information in more detailed that what exactly is found in a general encyclopedia. Also the bibliographies are more extensive.
Now we need to find information about our specific topic that we have some background information on our topic. Before searching, ask yourself which kind of information you are interested in. You will need to look in certain types of sources if you want to find statistical information. You will need to look in other types of sources if you are looking for news accounts of an event. Remember, when you have a question in what sort of source to use, ask a librarian.
Have you asked your instructor for suggestions on where to look? You will want to? This person has experience in the field, and they have been doing research than you have in it longer. They can recommend authors who write in your topic, in addition they can suggest a list that is short of that may contain info on your topic.
Books are one type of resource that can be used for the research. The CamelCat to find a book on your topic, you will need to use the online catalog. Taking the listing of keywords which you created while doing research that is general do keyword searches in the catalog. Glance at the titles that are being returned, do any look promising? If none do, revise your hunt using other keywords. If a person does, consider the record that is full that book. Check the subject headings that it is cataloged by. If one of those headings looks pertinent to your quest, do an interest search using that particular heading.
Once you’ve got the books that you would like to make use of start evaluating perhaps the book is likely to be useful. Will it be authored by an author that is knowledgeable about that particular topic? May be the author qualified to create in regards to the topic? What biases does the author have concerning the topic? Could be the book current adequate to contain useful information?
Once you have answered these relevant questions, make use of the books which you deem useful for your research. Remember while taking notes to get the information you need to do a proper citation. Also, look closely at any bibliographies that are within the book. These could help you locate other books and articles that could be useful for your quest.
The Campbell University Libraries sign up for a wide number of Indexes and Journals when it comes to usage of students and faculty. Increasingly these materials are given as Electronic Databases. These databases contain citations of articles and perhaps the text that is full of on a number of topics. If you don’t know which database should be useful for you, ask a librarian and they will be very happy to work with you. You can even make use of the Find Articles backlink to search multiple databases at one time for home elevators your topic.
Once you have selected a database to utilize, utilize the keywords that you developed from your own general research to get articles which will be ideal for you. Once you have found one, see which terms the database used to catalog the article and employ those terms to get more articles. Do not forget to set limits on the database to make certain that only scholarly articles are returned when your instructor has made that a requirement for your paper.
Go through the journal articles that you have selected, and examine the bibliographies. What are the authors which can be mentioned in more than one article? Are there any articles that are mentioned over and over again? Those authors should be found by you and articles and include them in your quest.
There are some other sources that are useful you need to use in your research. In the event the report is often on a business topic or you need company information for your research there are numerous companies that provide company reports. The contents of those reports differ, depending on which service that you will be using. Generally speaking you will find company officers, financial statements, lists of competitors, and stock price.