Helppp

STYLE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR RESEARCH PAPER

Papers will be graded on the basis of five criteria: viz., content, organization, interpretation, documentation, and style. Content essentially deals with what you have included in your paper (as well as what you have left out). You need to select certain information to answer the research question you are dealing with. Good content means you have not only selected well, but that your information is factual. Obviously, if you tell me that “The Bantu migrations involved the widespread dispersion of militaristic Asiatic peoples across Europe in the late Middle Ages,” it would be poor (wildly inaccurate!) content. Remember to stick to historical facts.

Organization has to do with the way you arrange your content. Is it logical? Does it have a coherent flow to it? In most historical research papers, a chronological approach is best. That is, begin with the earliest period and continue through to the most recent. For example, a paper on the Mongol (Yuan) dynasty of China in the 13th century should probably begin with a discussion of who the Mongols were, what their culture was like, etc., then proceed to an overview of the military campaigns of the Khans, and finally give an accounting of the breakdown and overthrow of their empire.

Interpretation is extremely important. I grade heavily on this factor. Good interpretation means you’ve done more than just list facts of content. You’ve gone beyond that to weigh and judge historical events, and synthesize the information to come to your own conclusions about them. In other words, you have placed the subject within context and told about it in your own words.

One way to tell if you have good interpretation is to note the kind of references you are using. If you have two sources you are using to put the paper together, say “A” and “B,” then reference to the two should be intermittent. Put another way, if you have a first paragraph which contains information drawn from source A, page 3; source A, page 5, source A, page 10 and source A, page 11, then there probably isn’t much interpretation (it is more like a book report), On the other hand, if in the first paragraph, references proceed like: source A, page 12, source B, page 4, source B, page 27, source A, page 19, then there is a greater degree of interpretation.

Documentation means that you have cited sources to complete your paper. That you have a bibliography and notes, and that they are neatly done and complete. Finally, you should pay attention to style. Although I do not mark off for each comma out of place, etc., I do take style into consideration. You should watch for misspelled words. Also, beware of bad grammar (use of double negatives, incomplete sentences, etc.). A paper that is sloppily worded throughout will be downgraded. An especially annoying mistake is spelling the word “to” when you really mean “too.”

On notes and bibliography: Remember, you must include both notes and bibliography with your paper if you want full credit. A bibliography is simply a list of all the sources you used to complete the paper (i.e., books, articles, internet sources). Bibliographic references are listed on a separate sheet(s) at the very end of the paper. Bibliographic entries are usually arranged alphabetically by the author’s name. Sample bibliographic entries are shown below:

Goodwin, Janet R. Alms and Vagabonds: Buddhist Temples and Popular Patronage in Medieval Japan. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1994.

Wilson, Thomas A. “The Ritual Formation of Confucian Orthodoxy and the Descendants of the Sage.” Journal of Asian Studies 55 (August 1996): 559-582.

Budge, E. A. Wallis. “Papyrus of Ani; Egyptian Book of the Dead.” http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/Books/Papyrus_Ani.html

In addition to a bibliography, you must use some form of reference notes. These are NOT the notes you take in class. (Some people mistakenly believe they are, and attach them to the paper). Basically, there are two types of notes. The first is to cite a source that you have quoted directly. The second is to cite material taken indirectly from a source.

There are many different styles of notes. Endnotes (numbered sequentially and placed on a separate paper at the end of the text, before the bibliography) and footnotes (numbered sequentially and placed at the bottom of the page) are quite popular and acceptable forms in this class. An equally acceptable (and probably easier) format is to use parenthetical notes. These are where you make reference to the material by the author’s name and relevant page number within parentheses at the end of a sentence in the text. The title of the work should be used in the event there is no author. An example is shown below:

The presence of urban centers with religious structures centered on a “plaza” is one of the most common general characteristics of Mesoamerican civilization (Craig et al., p. 360).

In the event you use your lecture notes in the preparation of the paper, you should probably cite it by the date of the class:

Following the Persian Wars, the Athenians under Themistocles began construction of a much more powerful fleet (class lecture, 21 September 2015).

ALSO REMEMBER:

Papers are also downgraded if two criteria are not met:

1. You must not use ONLY internet sources*;

2. You must use at least ONE primary source.

1. The internet is a vast—and sometimes useful—collection of data. However, it should be used with caution. Some sites (including Wikipedia) are not edited (or poorly edited) for content. This sometimes makes them unreliable. It is essential that you move beyond this to include “non-net” sources. Many alternate sources are available. There are, of course, books (particularly “monographs,” i.e., books dealing with a single, specific topic). In addition, countless articles appear in scholarly journals and even well-regarded magazines (e.g., National Geographic). Government documents and newspaper articles may also be relevant.

*Books, complete journal articles, newspapers, etc. are now often found online. Thus, you may complete this assignment using only sources found online. However, you must, as indicated above, avoid using ONLY sources that have no traditional format outside of the internet.

2. It is also necessary to include at least one primary source in your paper if you want full credit. It is relatively easy to distinguish between primary sources and secondary sources. A primary source is a source that is written at (or very near) the time of the events that it describes. A secondary source is one that is written after the event—in some cases much after the event. All textbooks, for example, are secondary sources. In addition to histories (books, etc.), primary sources may include diaries, government records, newspaper articles, travel accounts, etc.

Please remember: it is possible to find a primary source printed within a secondary source. Diaries kept by people in the past (e.g., the Venerable Bede, Einhard) count as primary sources (as long as the subject of your paper takes place at the time of their writing) even though they may be included in a book published recently.

Remember also, the internet can be a good way to search for other (non-internet) sources. “ArticleFirst” as well as “JSTOR” are both popular sites where you may enter search words for the subject you are researching. These sites then list possible articles, etc. that may be of use. In some cases, the full text of the article may be retrieved on line.

Also: Please be sure to DOUBLE-SPACE your paper; further, I recommend you use a 12 point font.

As always, if you have any questions or are in doubt about what’s expected—see me.