The Research Paper

and Citation
Methodology
The Basics
The Details of the Research Paper
 8-10 pages of text
 Cover page and reference page are not included in 8-10 page
count; your paper needs to be 10-12 pages in total.
 Minimum of 8 references. (The paper must cite at least 8 different
references from 2002 or later, including articles from current
journals and at least five scholarly, peer reviewed articles).
 APA citing of sources is required – footnotes are not accepted.
 Proper spelling and grammar is required
 Appropriate main headings are required.
 Due Week 7
 Please carefully review the assignment detail in the week 7 course
material section.
Your Writing Voice (Hint – It’s different
from an essay)
 Use a research voice throughout your paper.
Use third person words, i.e., he, she, it, one or
they or “this author” or “this researcher”. Do not
use first person words like me, us, I, or our.
 Minimize your presence in the paper. Avoid
words like should and must, and be objective in
tone. Let the reader decide how to feel about
the material you’re presenting.
What is APA?
 APA citation style refers to rules that were developed by
the American Psychological Association for
documenting sources used in a research paper, in order
to enhance reading and comprehending the material
and making understanding the original sources easier.
 APA style requires both in-text citations and a reference
list. For every in-text citation there should be a full
citation in the reference list, and there should be no
sources on the reference list that are not referred to in
the text.
Avoiding Plagiarism
 One thing that characterizes academic research papers is the citing
of sources of information used within the paper. Failure to cite
sources is considered plagiarism, or stealing the intellectual
property of a writer. Plagiarism can result in serious consequences
– anything from an “F” on the paper to an “F” in the course, to
expulsion from college. You should cite your source when:
 You are making an important statement or using a unique idea from
something you read. The citation should include the author(s) and year
of publication.
 You are using direct quote, in which case you also cite the page
number(s).
 You are citing specific statistics, dates, or numbers (also cite page
numbers).
Citations
 Since it is a research paper, most of the material must
be either paraphrased or presented as a direct quote.
However if you are a subject matter expert, you will
need to introduce yourself as such in the beginning of
the paper – and then you can provide some of your own
ideas – but you still need to have the appropriate
number of sources. You should strive to have a balance
of quoted and paraphrased material.
Citing Basics

 Because this is a research paper – you must give

credit to the original author for any information
that you learn through your research process and
then share with your reader. You can do this in
two different ways.
 You can either use a sentence that introduces
the author, (signal phrase) or you can add the
author’s name at the end of your sentence.
Citing Examples
 Regardless if you quote or paraphrase, you
need to provide the last name of the author, the
year of publication, and if you quote material –
the page or paragraph number.
 Paraphrased Signal Phrase
 According to Smith (2004), the cost of treating alcoholism is
increasing dramatically.

 Direct Quote
 “The cost of treating alcoholism is exceeded only by the cost of
treating illnesses from tobacco use, and is increasing
exponentially” (Smith, 2004, p. 9).
Citing Examples, cont.
 In the paraphrased example, the page number is not
required. In the quoted example it is. If there is no page
number you need to use the paragraph number. If there is
no name of an author you need to provide the name of the
article, organization or website. If there is no date – you
need to use the letters n.d. to represent no date. You need
to provide appropriate information within the text that lets
the reader identify your source on the Reference Page in
case the reader wants to learn more, and check out your
source.
Quoted Material Examples
 Critser (2003) noted that despite growing numbers of
overweight Americans, many health care providers still
“remain either in ignorance or outright denial about the
health danger to the poor and the young” (p.5).
Or it can be written as follows:
 Many health care providers still “remain either in
ignorance or outright denial about the health danger to
the poor and the young” despite the growing numbers of
overweight Americans (Critser, 2003, p.5).
 The examples are from Hacker (2006, p. 714).
Period Placement
 Notice in the previous examples that the
period is placed after the right parenthesis.
A good way to remember this is to consider
the information in the parenthesis and the
actual parenthesis as part of the sentence.
Long Quotes – Over 40 words
 Long quotes need to be typed in indented
block form. This formatting lets the reader
know that the material is quoted. In long
quotes, the period gets placed before the
information in the parenthesis.
Main Headings
 Your research paper needs to be structured in a
logical manner. Main headings act like a road
map for both you and the reader and they help
you to outline or structure the piece. Sub
headings allow you to provide even more
structure within main heading sections. Main
headings are a required element in the research
paper.
Main Headings – The Beginning
 Your Introduction section (beginning) lets the
reader know what the topic is, and what
question or questions you as the researcher will
answer. It should also provide some history or
background of the topic, provide some statistics
if available, and discuss the importance of your
research. If you provide this information – it
usually makes the reader interested in reading
more.
Main Headings – The Middle
 The middle section is referred to as the “Body of
Literature” which means that you are providing more
information that answers your research question and
that elaborates on your topic by providing examples of
main points.
 You can have the main heading for this section be
called Body of Literature, or you can name it something
that is more relevant to your actual paper’s topic. You
can have several unique main headings in this section.
You can also have sub headings within a main heading.
Wrapping it up – The End
 The Conclusion section (ending) wraps up your
discussion. It can re-introduce the research
question and can discuss researched findings
for the future, or recommendations for further
research .
 Don’t end your paper with cliché’s or with
preaching. Consider what your most important
point was and summarize it. Avoid repeating
phrases word for word from other parts of your
paper.
Objective Examination of a Topic
 The objective in this assignment is to see how well you can select a
topic, narrow it down, find appropriate academic source material (at
least 8 references), decide on the scope of your paper, collect
information and then put it all together in a document that educates
the reader.
 Since it is a research paper, it is expected that most of the material
will either be paraphrased or presented as a direct quote.
 You should strive for a balance of quoted and paraphrased
material.
 You should have at least 3-4 citations (either paraphrased material
or direct quotes) per page.
 You should keep your opinions and your experiences to a minimum
– although they are important, and valued, in a research paper you
must provide an objective examination of your topic. This is
accomplished by presenting facts.
References

 References need to be in alphabetical order: by author

last name, and if that’s not available then by article
name, organization name or website name.
 The second line and each subsequent line within a
single reference should be indented.
 Please review the Ottawa University APA Writing Style
Guide and the other APA related sites available in the
Resource Room for details about reference formatting
for specific types of sources .