TERM PAPER FORMAT
(For students in 4th Year Science classes)
INTRODUCTION
The preparation of a research paper -- be it for a class term paper, a professional journal article, a technical report at a job, or a graduate thesis -- may generally be divided into five tasks:
This write-up describes the rules of the research paper format for this course. A number of the "rules" are really warnings of common errors that students make in preparing papers; a careful reading of these instructions will hopefully keep you from making the same errors. Failure to follow one or more of the instructions in this description will result in a substantial lowering of your grade on the paper.
ORGANIZATION
The text of the paper may be organized / structured in a variety of ways. However, the critical organizational elements are that: (a) there be an organization, and (b) the organization is apparent to the reader. In most cases, the easiest and clearest way to insure structure is to divide the paper into sections, each having a descriptive title. In general, a paper may be grouped into four main sections, as described in the following paragraphs. More sections are possible, depending on the paper length and topic. In each case a figure is presented for how much space each section should take; note that these are just rough estimates and not firm space rules -- adjust them as necessary.
First, the topic should be introduced within the context of some larger problem. For instance, the question of the possible exploration for oil in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge might be prefaced with a brief discussion of the worldwide demand for petroleum products and the U.S. need to be less dependent on outside sources of petroleum. This should take about one-fifth or less of the paper text, though not normally less than about one paragraph. (1.5 or Double Spaced - 1 1/2 pages)
Second, the specific topic of the paper needs to be identified and described. Here you need to define exactly what it is that you will be discussing in the paper. For example, if you are writing about oil exploration in Alaska, what aspect are you going to deal with? Are you concerned with the environmental implications, or the possible effects on the Alaskan economy, or with the details of the actual process of how exploration is undertaken? This should take at least a paragraph and maybe as much as a couple pages, depending on the length of the paper. Normally it will be no more than about one-fifth of the total paper text.
Third, the main body of the paper needs to be presented. This section should be carefully organized in a logical fashion, generally paying attention to the following:
Fourth, you need to summarize and/or comment on the points of the paper. Briefly draw together the ideas in the previous section and include any personal observations and comments. Come to some kind of conclusion to indicate that you have thought about the material. Students often do not appreciate the importance of this section and tend to just hurriedly dash something off. Remember, this is where you get to connect together everything else you have written and to make clear any insights that you have gained from the research. This section therefore needs to be clearly written and to say something of relevance. This may take from about one-fifth to two-fifths of the paper.
Each of the main parts of the paper should have a section heading, such as Introduction, Early History, The Current State of Research, Conclusion, etc. Note, for example, the section headings used in this handout and how they serve both to organize the information and to alert the reader about changes in subject matter. When listing a number of points or major ideas, set them apart with bullets, numbers, etc.
WRITING STYLE
The paper title should be relatively brief, precise and descriptive of what the paper is about. Remember, the title is the first thing that the reader encounters when picking up your paper and it will impact both the first impression of the paper (“This sounds like an interesting paper,”) and the final impression (“Wow, this paper does just what the title said it would do.”) The paper should be written in a professional manner. Clarity, logical organization, and conciseness are of primary importance. Assume that what you are writing will be read by another student who knows nothing about the topic, and include enough detail so that they will understand but not so much that they would be overwhelmed. Avoid the use of either slang or an excessive amount of jargon. Attempt to identify and properly employ only the commonly used professional terms relevant to a subject. If you use a specialized term or one that is likely to be unfamiliar to another student, be sure to explain it. Specialized terms are frequently shorthand for complex ideas, so be sure that the idea is clear or the term will be meaningless and/or confusing. Your goal is to communicate effectively, not to impress your reader with esoteric terminology, and the judicious use of terms can be very effective in helping to communicating ideas.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The length of your bibliography will vary with the topic but it will usually consist of more than a couple references. These may be journal articles, proceedings of professional meetings, portions of books, maps, research reports or Internet sources. Note two things:
- Identifying the problem or question to be dealt with;
- Collecting data (measured observations and/or bibliographic references) about the problem or question;
- Analyzing the data, either by statistical examination of the observations, or by reading, thinking about and organizing the literature;
- Describing in an organized and clearly understandable fashion what you did and what you found out;
- Putting the results of the research into the required finished format.
This write-up describes the rules of the research paper format for this course. A number of the "rules" are really warnings of common errors that students make in preparing papers; a careful reading of these instructions will hopefully keep you from making the same errors. Failure to follow one or more of the instructions in this description will result in a substantial lowering of your grade on the paper.
ORGANIZATION
The text of the paper may be organized / structured in a variety of ways. However, the critical organizational elements are that: (a) there be an organization, and (b) the organization is apparent to the reader. In most cases, the easiest and clearest way to insure structure is to divide the paper into sections, each having a descriptive title. In general, a paper may be grouped into four main sections, as described in the following paragraphs. More sections are possible, depending on the paper length and topic. In each case a figure is presented for how much space each section should take; note that these are just rough estimates and not firm space rules -- adjust them as necessary.
First, the topic should be introduced within the context of some larger problem. For instance, the question of the possible exploration for oil in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge might be prefaced with a brief discussion of the worldwide demand for petroleum products and the U.S. need to be less dependent on outside sources of petroleum. This should take about one-fifth or less of the paper text, though not normally less than about one paragraph. (1.5 or Double Spaced - 1 1/2 pages)
Second, the specific topic of the paper needs to be identified and described. Here you need to define exactly what it is that you will be discussing in the paper. For example, if you are writing about oil exploration in Alaska, what aspect are you going to deal with? Are you concerned with the environmental implications, or the possible effects on the Alaskan economy, or with the details of the actual process of how exploration is undertaken? This should take at least a paragraph and maybe as much as a couple pages, depending on the length of the paper. Normally it will be no more than about one-fifth of the total paper text.
Third, the main body of the paper needs to be presented. This section should be carefully organized in a logical fashion, generally paying attention to the following:
- Select and deal with only 2-4 major points; don’t attempt to cover too much.
- Avoid simply listing points; instead you should develop and discuss each point at some depth.
- Organize the points so that the reader knows where you are and where you are going at all times; do not jump around in a disjointed manner.
- Present just the facts and support them with references to data, either in the form of collected measurements or citations to literature.
- Do not interject personal comments or conclusions at this point; this is appropriately done in the conclusion / comments section.
Fourth, you need to summarize and/or comment on the points of the paper. Briefly draw together the ideas in the previous section and include any personal observations and comments. Come to some kind of conclusion to indicate that you have thought about the material. Students often do not appreciate the importance of this section and tend to just hurriedly dash something off. Remember, this is where you get to connect together everything else you have written and to make clear any insights that you have gained from the research. This section therefore needs to be clearly written and to say something of relevance. This may take from about one-fifth to two-fifths of the paper.
Each of the main parts of the paper should have a section heading, such as Introduction, Early History, The Current State of Research, Conclusion, etc. Note, for example, the section headings used in this handout and how they serve both to organize the information and to alert the reader about changes in subject matter. When listing a number of points or major ideas, set them apart with bullets, numbers, etc.
WRITING STYLE
The paper title should be relatively brief, precise and descriptive of what the paper is about. Remember, the title is the first thing that the reader encounters when picking up your paper and it will impact both the first impression of the paper (“This sounds like an interesting paper,”) and the final impression (“Wow, this paper does just what the title said it would do.”) The paper should be written in a professional manner. Clarity, logical organization, and conciseness are of primary importance. Assume that what you are writing will be read by another student who knows nothing about the topic, and include enough detail so that they will understand but not so much that they would be overwhelmed. Avoid the use of either slang or an excessive amount of jargon. Attempt to identify and properly employ only the commonly used professional terms relevant to a subject. If you use a specialized term or one that is likely to be unfamiliar to another student, be sure to explain it. Specialized terms are frequently shorthand for complex ideas, so be sure that the idea is clear or the term will be meaningless and/or confusing. Your goal is to communicate effectively, not to impress your reader with esoteric terminology, and the judicious use of terms can be very effective in helping to communicating ideas.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The length of your bibliography will vary with the topic but it will usually consist of more than a couple references. These may be journal articles, proceedings of professional meetings, portions of books, maps, research reports or Internet sources. Note two things:
- An encyclopedia is not an acceptable reference for a college level term paper.
- While Internet sources are acceptable and may provide valuable information, if a minimum number of references is specified for a term paper, Internet sources are not counted toward the minimum number. In order to count, sources must be from published, peer reviewed / edited literature; this means books, journal articles and technical reports.
Research Paper Topics
- Cryonics – Can Science Cheat Death?
- Revolution in Evolution – Evolution vs. Intelligent Design
- Genius – Myth and Reality
- Ecology/Global Warming – Myth and Reality
- Environmental Skeptic (Several Topics)
- Science & Society (Several Topics)
- Chaos Theory and Complexity
- Cloning
- Skepticism & Religion
- Human Population – Explosion vs. Control
- A.I. & Theology of UFOs
- Human Development – Nature vs. Nurture
- Medieval UFOs – Myth and Reality
- Anthropology Wars (Several Topics)
- String Theory – Science or Science Fiction
- PseudoScience (Several Topics)
- Open Choice
since 9/18/09
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