ESSENTIALS	GOOD SOURCES	GRAMMAR	GOOD WRITING
VERB TENSE	COMMA SPLICE	PARALLELISM	VAGUE PRONOUN
PRONOUN AGREEMENT	QUOTATION MARKS	CITATIONS	BIBLIOGRAPHY CITES
WITHIN-TEXT CITES	ETHICS/PLAGIARISM	SEXIST LANGUAGE	ACTIVE VOICE
PARAGRAPHS	STEPS TO WRITE A PAPER

  Writing is not some sort of trial by fire for college students. It is the intellectual glue which helps to hold civilization together and allows us to interact with each other in the most effective manner using what is, as far as we know, unique to the human being – the reasoning process. You will not be successful in almost any career, and in many non-vocational endeavors,  without the ability to communicate well. This means not only saying things eloquently but saying them in a manner that is persuasive due to the clarity of the ideas and the logic and credible support for the ideas. College research exercises are aimed at developing these essential skills.

 Writing also is the path to the highest stage in intellectual development, namely the ability to be a producer of ideas and information and not merely a consumer. In productive life one has to make this transition.

 Writing also is a means to learning. Listening to lectures may assist in learning and even stimulate to learn – perhaps one of the most critical functions of lecturing. But nothing has yet proven to be more effective in learning than one’s own delving into a topic, exploring it at some depth and developing a well written exposition of the ideas studied. The results of any written exercise will often be remembered long after some of the exciting thoughts heard in a lecture have faded from memory.

At the bottom of this Web page is a quick outline of steps for writing a research paper. To do this just click here.You may want to skip to it first and then come back to these basic items of information while writing a research paper.

1. Content:

Essential to a good paper are:
    a. good details leading to meaningful general statements: Simply lining up numbers or individual events is often interesting but begs the question of "So what?" What do these details tell us in general about the subject at hand.

    b. general statements supported by good details: simply saying, "Many people believe" leads me to ask which people and how do you know. Cite sources and statistics.

    c. logical connections between ideas: Terms such as "causes," "leads to," and "means,"   should be carefully thought out. However, don't simply avoid such terms. They often are critical to a good paper since you are seeking to explain the significance of social behavior and not merely describe particular items of information.

  d. good supporting data from credible sources: credible sources are:

        (1) national or international news sources such as The New York Times, The Christian Science Monitor, The Economist, The Times of London and The Manchester Guardian. Such news sources have well-earned reputations of accuracy in reporting (not that they are perfect -- thus, use more than one source!), well trained reporters, and good access to information sources.

        (2) peer-reviewed professional journals such as The American Political Science Review, Journal of Politics, Comparative Politics, Western European Politics, and Parliamentary Affairs. Articles in such journals are reviewed by other scholars before they are accepted for publication and often are in tough competition with only a small percentage of articles being published.

        (3) books on specialized topics: It is good to go through several books since even "objective" social scientists have their preferences and perspectives that sometimes need to be confirmed by more than one source.

        (4) court cases: These are rich sources of information as well as determinative statements of law. Obviously more useful in some studies than in others, but if one is studying issues that have been spoken to in court cases they constitute a major source of information that must be explored.

        (5) reference books: country studies, United Nations data, and various other compilations of data are readily locatable in the library and on the Web. These are good sources for some comparative data so that if one is speaking of the level of income in Mexico it is possible to obtain quickly information on the level of income in other countries in order to put the data on Mexico in comparative perspective.

e. good organization of ideas to include:

        (1)  presentation of topic at the beginning
        (2)  body of the paper with good transition from paragraph to paragraph and idea to idea
        (3) conclusion clearly supported by the information and ideas in the body of the paper
 

2. Grammar, spelling, and sources citations will be evaluated as a major part of the quality of the paper. Guides such as the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers should be used.

Some generally accepted ideas on good writing include:

    a. write economically/avoid wordiness.

        (1) eliminate uneconomical phrases: "at this point in time" (a holdover from the Watergate hearings) should simply be "at this time." "Due to the fact that" can usually be replaced with "because."

        (2) write sentences that convey the intended meaning: Instead of "Elections are where the voters decide the outcome" one can say "Voters decide the elections."

    b. active voice is generally preferable to passive voice. Excessive use of the passive weakens prose and makes it harder for the reader to determine the source of actions. In social science writing, it is particularly important to alert readers to the "prime mover" and not just the "acted upon." Compare:

        "Wasteful spending was objected to by Senator Byrd." (Passive)
        "Senator Byrd objected to wasteful spending." (Active)

    c. spelling: Be careful of common spelling problems such as placing an apostrophe in "it's" when one means the possessive "its" and "their" for "there." With computer spell checks this problem is actually increased since the word is spelled correctly but not for the use intended. One still has to  carefully proof-read for spelling errors even after spell check.

    d. writing with precision: Good writing is precise writing. Avoid unnecessary embellishment and search for the right word. For example, to say that relations have been "emasculated" between two countries is quite different than when they have been "exacerbated." Don't hesitate to use the dictionary to check on the precise meaning of a word.

    e. verb tense consistency: A common error is to begin a paper in one tense, e.g., the present, and then shifting to past tense when no shift in time has actually taken place. This is not a mechanical thing; thus, one need not always remain in the past or the present. But the tense needs to be adjusted in accordance with the specific time under consideration.

    f. comma splice: This means to join two independent clauses with only a comma. For example note the following: The President sent the bill to Congress, Congress failed to pass the bill. Each clause on the sides of the comma have a subject and a verb, thus two independent clauses.

To be correct the second sentence needs a coordinating conjunction (for example:  and, but, for): The President sent the bill to Congress, and Congress failed to pass the bill.

A period may be used to simply indicate the two complete sentences: The President sent the bill to Congress. Congress failed to pass the bill.

    h. vague pronoun references: This is one of the most common errors found in writing.  A pronoun has reference to something; what is it? Often there is confusion. Scott and Garrison (see cite above) provide a good example from history: "When John F. Kennedy appointed his brother Robert to the position of U.S. attorney general, he had little idea how widespread the corruption in the Teamsters Union was." To whom does the pronoun "he" refer  -- to John F. Kennedy or to Robert Kennedy?

    i. pronoun agreement: This is especially troubling with terms such as each and nobody and everybody. For example: Everybody received their checks is incorrect. Everybody is singular. Thus one needs to say: Everybody has received his or her check. "Everybody" is a singular noun and "their" is a plural pronoun; thus, "their" has to be replaced with a singular pronoun such as "his" or "her" or both of them as is used in this example.

    j. quotation marks: If 4 or fewer lines in a quote use quotation marks. If more lines then indent, single space and do not use quotation marks. Periods at the end of sentences go inside quotation marks. Colons and semicolons go outside quotation marks.

    i. incomplete sentences or sentence fragments: A complete sentence has a subject and a verb such as: Clinton voted. The problem comes in with what are called "subordinating words" placed before the subject and verb. For example: "that Clinton voted" is now a clause subordinate to something else and not an independent clause that can stand on its own. It could correctly fit into the following: He was angry that Clinton voted. Some good examples again from Scott and Garrison (see citation above) are the following:

        Wrong: Our study shows that there is broad support for improvement in the health care system. And in the unemployment system.
        Right: Our study shows that there is broad support for improvement in the health care system and in the unemployment system.

        Wrong: Several representatives asked for copies of the vice president's position paper. Which called for reform of the Environmental Protection Agency.
        Right: Several representatives asked for copies of the vice president's position paper, which called for reform of the Environmental Protection Agency.

j. Sexist language: The use of language can lead to cultural stereotypes and implications that carry over into one's thinking and behavior, thus the effort to avoid sexist language. For example, instead of referring to "the voter changes his vote" regularly one can say "voters change their votes regularly." Another device is to use "his or her" instead of "his". Some writers have used "her" instead of "his" to make the point of sexual neutrality or inclusion of women more forcefully, e.g., "A good president does not seek to attain all of her program."

                    Book -Single Author:  (Jones 1998, 14-16)
                    Book—Multiple Authors: (Jones and Terrence 1999, 21 - 24)
                    Scholarly Journal Article: (Bartels 1993,  267-85)
                    Newspaper Article: If news articles are included in the bibliography then one need only use the author - date format: (Benton 1999). If numerous articles then  lower case letters can be added to the bibliographical entries and referred to in the within-text citations, for example: Benton, Scott. 1999a  “Israel’s Last Election.” New York Times 12 Feb. 1999, C7.  The within-text citation would be (Benton 1999a).
                                If newspapers are not included in the bibliography than the full citation is necessary: Benton, Scott,  “Israel’s Last Election,” New York Times 12 Feb. 1999, C7. Note that in these citation commas are used instead of periods as are found in bibliographical entries.
                           NOTE: many of the news articles are now being located through online sources, thus requiring online citation formats. For college papers it is best to place the news articles in the bibliography with full citation format and then use the short form for within-text citations. Thus one could refer simply to author - date to indicate the bibliographical source.
                Magazine Article: Barney 1999,  10-12.
                Court Case: Baker v. Carr 1962

           Online Data Bases: You need only use the above formats since the online information is in the full citations in the bibliography.
 

3. Ethics: Any writing should be one’s own work. This includes using proper citations in order to indicate the source of particular information, especially when quoting information, ideas from someone else. Plagiarism is defined in the MLA Handbook as follows:" To use another person’s ideas or expressions in your writing without acknowledging the source is to plagiarize."  The Handbook also states: "In writing your research paper, then, you must document everything that you borrow-not only direct quotations and paraphrases but also information and ideas. " Examples are provided in the Handbook. Also, turning in a paper that one has done in another course is indicated as a form of "self-plagiarism" in the Handbook  and will be treated as plagiarism. For a student's guide to avoiding plagiarism see Murphy Library.

Earl Babbie in his book, The Basics of Social Research (revised edition of the 8th ed. published in 1998)pp. 430 - 431. indicates the following guides:

    1. You cannot use another writer's exact words without using quotation marks and giving a complete citation, which indicates the source of the quotation such that your reader could locate that quotation in its original context. As a general rule, taking a passage of eight or more words without citation is a violation of federal copyright laws.

    2. It's also not acceptable to edit or paraphrase another's words and present the revised version as your own work.

    3. Finally, it's not even acceptable to present another's ideas as your own - even if you use totally different words to express those ideas.

Babbie provides the following examples of acceptable and unacceptable use of another's work:

    The original work states: Systems are like babies: once you get one, you have it. They don't go away. On the contrary they display the most remarkable persistence. They not only persist; they grow. And as they grow, they encroach.

    Acceptable uses of this work are indicated as follows:

       (1)  John Gall, in his work Systematics, draws a humorous parallel between systems and infants: "Systems are like babies: once you get one, you have it. They won't go away. On the contrary, they display the most remarkable persistence, They not only persist; they grow." (The text is then cited in footnote)

        (2) John Gall warns that systems are like babies. Create a system and it sticks around. Worse yet, Gall notes, systems keep growing larger and larger. (The text is then cited in footnote.)

        (3) It has also been suggested that systems have a natural tendency to persist, even grow and encroach (Gall 1975: 12).  [Note that even though not in quotes, the text is still cited but using the form that is used when the text is found in the bibliography. In the above two examples the footnotes would have been complete citations if there were not a bibliographical entries. ]
          Note especially that this example is probably very close to what students do much of the time except without citations (!) since it is not a direct quote and is simply the basic idea with most of the original words but not most. Without the citation it becomes plagiarism since it is taking someone else's ideas and making them appear as one's own.

        Unacceptable uses would be as follows:

          (1) In this paper, I want to look at some of the characteristics of the social systems we create in our organizations. First, systems are like babies: once you get one, you have it. They don't go away. On the contrary, they display the most remarkable persistence. ---- This is a direct quoting of someone's words without using quotation marks and providing citation.

           (2) In this paper, I want to look at some of the characteristics of the social systems we create in our organizations. First, systems are a lot like children: once you get one, it's yours. They don't go away: they persist. They not only persist, in fact: they grow. ---- Babbie indicates that the problem here is the editing of another's work and presenting it as your own. This is easy to slip into as you take information down on note cards or copy from internet downloaded texts. Often you can find yourself simply rearranging a few words and adding a little flavor of your own without providing proper citation to indicate that the source of the ideas and information and even much of the phrasing is someone else's.

            (3) In this paper, I want to look at some of the characteristics of the social systems we create in our organizations. One thing I've noticed is that once you create a system, it never seems to go away. You might say systems are a lot like children in that respect. ---- Babbie uses this as an example of paraphrasing someone else's ideas and presenting them as your own.
 

Why? Writing exercises develop the ability to learn, think and communicate. You develop the active intellect instead of the passive one. This is the essence of education that extends far beyond any course or phase in your formal education.

1. Summary of Steps: Elaborated Below
    a. Choose Topic
    b. Search for Sources Possibilities
    c. First Draft of Bibliography
    d. Read Some of Sources and Refine Bibliography
    e. First Draft of Outline
    f. Read Through Sources Taking Notes re: Outline
    g. First Draft of Paper
    h. Proofread Paper for Content, Organization, Grammar
    i. Refine Paper

2. Choose topic:
    This sounds like a given but it is a key feature to successful research. You need to choose a topic that (a) fits the course requirements and (b) is doable.

    Choose something (1)about which you probably have resources available in the library or over the internet (2) it is not too extensive and actually is several topics in one, that is, is manageable in the time available.

    You might have several topics in mind but not know which ones fit the above. A brief hunt in the library and internet resources will provide a clue as to whether the topic is doable. A discussion with the professor will help to see if the topic is narrow enough. I’ll ask for your topic prior to other parts of the process so we can have this discussion if necessary.

3. Search for bibliographic sources:
    To gain an idea of what is available you should look for (1) books then (2) articles and then (3) news sources. Primary sources such as government documents and court opinions may fit your topic. Information sources such as poll data, statistics, etc. may also be useful. See Maris page at http://www.stetson.edu/~gmaris for various leads to various sources. A review of the types of sources may be useful before beginning any research just o know what possible routes you have.

    a. Use the Maris Web page on resources or go directly to Stetson’s library Web page. The Maris page indicates which sources for which items and refers you to sources outside of the Library, so you might use this also if you go directly to the Library page.

    The Maris Web page is located at http://www.stetson.edu/~gmaris. Upon getting there click on “Resources List.” This will provide internet links to Stetson’s library page (Web Cat), specific pages for searching for journal article, news articles, court cases, country statistics, etc.

    b. Books: Check first for books on topic in the library. If you have sufficient time to use interlibrary loan, this will help in major papers, but generally this is not fast enough for your work unless done within the first few weeks. You can search the library holdings of schools in Florida, including UCF and U. of Fla. If you have means to get to them and wish to do so. The link to this is located on the Maris page under books.

    c. Journal Articles: These are best searched using the search databases available through Stetson’s library page. You can link to this from the Maris page. The best to look at is EbscoHost and Social Sciences (Wilson Web). For law review articles see Lexis-Nexis. These allow you to ask for only “peer-reviewed” articles. These are the best since they have met academic standards for research and scholarship. They will indicate if the article can be found in the Stetson library and if full text. If the latter you can print from the Web site.

    d. News Articles: The News BankInfoWeb data base is the best starting point. EbscoHost also has numerous news articles. You want national newspapers such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and Christian Science Monitor. The Maris page also has a link to Kindon news sources which will allow you to locate newspapers anywhere I the US and around the world.

    e. Government Sources: For links to state of Florida and U.S. government sources see Maris page. Stetson has an extensive government documents section. See the reference librarian for how to access indexes for this.

    f. Internet Sites: These can be useful but also problematic. Often they are loaded with bias, e.g., sites for choice in abortions and those against will tend to have statistics and articles more heavily in their favor. The same is with gun control, euthanasia, etc. Even “think tank” sites need to be viewed carefully. These are excellent sources but Brookings Institution tends to more “liberal” positions, Heritage Foundation to more conservative, etc. They can be located through the various “search engines” such as Yahoo and Google. Se Maris page for links.

    g. Legal Information: Lexis-Nexis is the best search site. It can be located from Maris page or from the Stetson library page. Here one can find news articles, law review articles, court opinions.

4. Bibliography:

    a. Include sources which you are using for paper. I require a “Works Cited” page in order to see which sources you actually use in the paper. Avoid “padding” bibliography with sources not used.

    b. Citations: Use proper citations. See Maris page for specific information at http://www.stetson.edu/~gmaris/Write.htm , Note especially need to use Internet citations for any sources taken off the Internet (e.g., New York Times articles, peer-reviewed journal articles)

5. Outline: This will need to go through some revision as you read through sources. However, you should read through some of the sources and between that and what is required in the course for ideas to be covered in the assignment, you can construct a draft outline. This will help guide further reading of sources and note-taking. I tend to indicate specifics to be included in papers. E.g., in PE 105E and PE 235C I indicate specific outlines of subtopics to be covered. You need to follow these carefully
.
6. First Draft: Writing: See Maris Web site http://www.stetson.edu/~gmaris/Write.htm for tips on writing papers. A careful review of this page prior to writing your paper and after the first draft may help avoid common errors in writing. (The value of this page is not due to the brilliance of this particular professor but contains material gleaned from various sources including other faculty members.)

7. Proofread–Proofread—Proofread: Proofread for the following:

    a. Content: Have you covered the various ideas, subtopics required for the assignment. Is the content written in an understandable and meaningful manner? You might ask someone else to read to see if understandable (clear, logical) and meaningful (information and ideas presented relate effectively to the topic overall and the subtopics discussed). Have you supported ideas with careful reasoning and/or supporting evidence (including cited source materials).

    b. Organization: Have you organized the ideas so that the information flows logically from idea to idea?

    c. Grammar/Spelling: Re-read Maris page on writing at http://www.stetson.edu/~gmaris/Write.htm.

8. Refine Paper: This is the process of revision. You will be allowed to revise after the first draft(not graded) and then after the first graded paper.

9. Quality of Paper: Your major goal is a good quality paper for your intellectual development and satisfaction. In doing this you should also be able to obtain a satisfactory grade (a practical concern in college courses but the goal is the development of good writing for success in many other ways beyond college). What will determine quality?

    a. Effective overall treatment of the topic at hand.

    b. Using good resources:
        (1) scholarly books (carefully documented, well-argued, seeking an unbiased presentation [no one is totally unbiased even in the scholarly world] supported by evidence and careful reasoning)
        (2) peer-reviewed journals (as distinguished from Time, Newsweek, etc.)
        (3) primary sources such as poll data from reputable polling organizations, court opinions, government documents, news reports, personal interviews, survey data done by self in careful and scientific fashion, and primary works such as Plato’s Republic instead of an article or book discussing The Republic.(Journal articles are considered secondary sources since they are written on the basis of analysis of the primary sources. )
        (4) news sources should be good newspapers, preferably national and international papers that use their own reporters trained in the fields in which they are writing.
        (5) internet sites: Some are good sources, such as the Democratic and Republican Party sites in the U.S. for gathering information from these political parties. However, many are loaded for or against gun control, etc. If this is recognized and the pro-con sites are both explored and information compared, they can be useful but are still tricky.

    c. Effective use of sources: Often students have excellent sources but have not explored and used them carefully. This takes careful reading and extractions of information and then relating it to the overall topic and the various subtopic and ideas.

    d. Writing:
        (1) Spell-check on the computer does not catch all!!
        (2) Citation format must be accurate. Internet cites are necessary.
        (3) Citations must be provided for all information taken from various sources even if not in quotes. It’s better to err on the side of too many citations than too few.
        (4) Works Cited: Do you list only those works actually cited in the text of your paper? Do they indicate use of the resources required in the course if such a requirement is indicated? For example, I tend to ask for a certain number of news articles, peer-reviewed articles, etc. in order to help guide towards what is good research in the time available in a semester. This is also to avoid your writing a paper from only a couple of sources without engaging in the intellectual exercise of going through several sources and picking out relevant information and then organizing it into a meaningful piece of writing.
        (5) Is the organization of ideas logical?
        (6) Are your arguments logical/reasonable given the information you have at hand. That is, can you draw the inferences you do from the information at hand? Do you have support for your comments? (e.g., do you refer to “most people believe” without any good poll data to back it up? Or do you infer a reasoning for a court opinion or public opinion or Congressional opinion/law without indicating someone who actually said it, or, at least, citing a secondary source such as your textbook where the argument/information is placed with citation to its source? Etc.)
        (7) Does the conclusion to your paper follow from the information/reasoning within the paper, i.e., being supported by the ideas/information presented in the paper?