Table of Contents

1. BASIC INFORMATION ABOUT THE RESEARCH PAPER.
Hatred of the research paper. Definition of the research paper. Format of the research paper. Reasons for the research paper. The report paper and the thesis paper. Drafts of the research paper. Writing the research paper: Steps and schedule. FAQ.
2. CHOOSING A TOPIC.
How to choose a topic. Topics to avoid. Narrowing the topic. FAQ.
3. THE LIBRARY.
Layout of the library. The computer. Online full-text databases. Microform indexes. Stacks. Main desk. Reserve desk. Audiovisual room. Microform room. Newspaper racks. Computer room. Carrels. Organization of the library collections. The Dewey Decimal System. The Cutter-Sanborn Author Marks. The Library of Congress Classi?cation System. Classification of periodicals. Classi?cation of nonbooks.
4. USING THE COMPUTER IN YOUR RESEARCH.
Computers and the research paper. The Internet. The World Wide Web. Online resources. Databases. Electronic journals. Online public-access catalogs (OPACs). Blogs and Social networks. Researching with search engines. Finding a search engine. Usenet, Listserv, telnet, and gopher. Evaluating Internet sources. Running a search. Useful Internet sites. FAQ.
5. DOING THE RESEARCH.
What information to look for. Where to look for information. Assembling a working bibliography. Selecting your sources: Skimming. Note-taking. Plagiarism and how to avoid it.
6. THE THESIS AND THE OUTLINE.
The thesis: Definition and function. The outline. Choosing an outline form.
7. TRANSFORMING THE NOTES INTO A ROUGH DRAFT.
Preparing to write the rough draft: A checklist. Writer’s block. Writing with a computer. Using your notes in the paper. How to use quotations to explore and discover. Writing with unity, coherence, and emphasis. Using the proper tense. Using graphics in your research paper. Writing the abstract.
8. Revising Your Rough Draft.
Principles of revision. Revising the opening paragraph. Revising sentences for variety and style. Revising words: Diction. Rules for Writers. Not.
9. THE MLA SYSTEM OF DOCUMENTATION.
Parenthetical documentation: Author-work (MLA). What to document. Format for “Works Cited” (MLA). Content notes. Finished form of the MLA paper. Peer review checklist. Submitting your paper electronically.
10. THE APA SYSTEM OF DOCUMENTATION.
Parenthetical documentation: Author-date (APA). Format for “References” (APA). Writing the abstract. Finished form of the paper. Peer review checklist. Submitting your paper electronically.
11. THE TRADITIONAL STYLE OF DOCUMENTATION (CMS)
Footnotes and endnotes. Subsequent references in footnotes and endnotes. Electronic sources. Finished form of the paper. Pagination and text format. Content or reference notes. Bibliography. Peer review checklist. Submitting your paper electronically.
12. SAMPLE STUDENT PAPERS.
Paper using author-work documentation (MLA). Paper using author-date documentation (APA). Paper using footnote documentation (CMS).

About the Author

Born in Belgium, the daughter of an American minister, Jo Ray McCuen-Metherell had moved from Brussels to Paris to Bern, Switzerland, by the time she was seven years old. In Bern, she attended the Freies Gymnasium and spoke not only fluent French and German but also English, which was the language spoken to her by her American parents. After World War II, Dr. McCuen-Metherell's parents sent her and her brother to Pacific Union College (in California's Napa Valley), where she received a B. A. in English. She taught English and French in high school for several years and then took night classes at the University of Southern California, where she earned an M.A. and Ph.D. While working on her doctorate, she was hired to teach English at Glendale Community College and later to serve as Dean of the Evening College. A chance meeting in 1973 with Anthony C. Winkler, a successful novelist, led to a literary partnership that has produced 15 coauthored textbooks used at colleges and universities across the United States. Born in Kingston, Jamaica West Indies, Anthony C. Winkler was educated in Jamaica at Excelsior College, Mount Alvernia Academy and Cornwall College, the last two being in Montego Bay. He was also educated at Citrus Community College, Glendora, California. Winkler taught briefly at Pasadena City College and for a year at Moneague Teachers College in Saint Anne, Jamaica, an experience chronicled in GOING HOME TO TEACH (1995). From 1968 to 1975 Winkler had sales territories as a bookman for Appleton Century Crofts textbook publishers, and later for Scott, Foresman. In 1969 he decided he could write textbooks as well as anyone. Through a chance meeting with the sales representative of another company, he submitted the manuscript POETRY AS SYSTEM and was offered a contract for its publication. Eventually, he met Jo Ray McCuen-Metherell and the two became textbook writers and collaborators. Over the years they have produced more than a dozen textbooks, most on rhetoric and writing. In addition to Winkler's textbooks, his body of work includes, among other books: THE PAINTED CANOE (novel, 1983); THE LUNATIC (novel, 1987); THE GREAT YACHT RACE (novel, 1992); DOG WAR (novel, 2006); TRUST THE DARKNESS: MY LIFE AS A WRITER (autobiography, 2008); THE BURGLARY (play, premiered in Toronto in 2005); THE LUNATIC (movie, filmed in 1991); THE ANNIHILATION OF FISH (movie, 1999); and BOB MARLEY, AN INTIMATE PORTRAIT BY HIS MOTHER (biography, 1996, with Cedella Booker).