Research Paper

Research

• 7-8 (7 full) pages
• In-text citations from a minimum of 6 reliable sources. (3 of your sources must be peer-reviewed/scholarly)
• MLA format (1” margins)
• 12 point font, Times New Roman

Your final paper will be a research paper. The last sentence of your first paragraph will be your thesis statement/argument and you will then prove that argument with evidence from reliable/scholarly sources.

This paper is open topic. Don’t settle for a topic that’s been beaten to death unless you can find a local angle on it. Pursue something that truly interests you. What makes you angry, joyful, solemn, or sad? All of these emotions, linked to the world, can make for excellent research topics.
 

Most students—indeed, most people—are put off by the notion of the so-called formal research paper, since it conjures images of hours spent at the computer, converting material into a paper that essentially rehashes some often-researched topic in a standard, dull tone. You would do well, here, to dispense with that notion as quickly as possible, since it’s likely you will write just such a paper unless you reconsider what research may be.