LibGuides: Starting Your Research Paper: Some Stuff that Might Help

The Library and YOU

What Is College-Level Writing? by Patrick Sullivan (Editor); Howard Tinberg (Editor)
Call Number: PE1408. W45
ISBN: 9780814156742
Publication Date: 2006-06-06
Just what defines "college-level" writing? This book seeks to engage this essential question with care, patience, and pragmatism and includes perspectives, including high school teachers, who present their concerns about the discrepancy between what they tell their students is important in college writing courses and what students actually learn is important; student contributors, who write about their experiences transitioning from high school writing to college-level writing, and others.
Research Strategies: Finding Your Way Through the Information Fog by William Badke
Call Number: Z710. B33R43 2021
ISBN: 9781663218742
Publication Date: 2021-03-02
Everyone does research. Some just do it better than others. In this chaotic world of information and misinformation, referred to as "information fog," university students, in particular, need to learn how to conduct research effectively. Good research is about a quest to discover more, about a burning desire to solve society's problems and make a better world. Ultimately, research is a way forward to a resolution of life's greatest difficulties. In this seventh edition of Research Strategies: Finding Your Way through the Information Fog, author William Badke walks you step by step through the entire research process--from choosing a topic, to writing the final project, and everything in between.A seasoned researcher and educator, Badke offers tried-and-true tips, tricks, and strategies to help you identify a problem, acquire pertinent information, and use that information to address the problem. Employing a host of examples and humor, Research Strategies: Finding Your Way through the Information Fog shows how research can be exciting and fun.
A Student's Writing Guide by Gordon Taylor
Call Number: e-book
ISBN: 0511738919
Are you struggling to meet your coursework deadlines? Finding it hard to get to grips with your essay topics? Does your writing sometimes lack structure and style? Would you like to improve your grades? This text covers everything a student needs to know about writing essays and papers in the humanities and social sciences. Starting from the common difficulties students face, it gives practical examples of all the stages necessary to produce a good piece of academic work: - interpreting assignment topics - drawing on your own experience and background - reading analytically and taking efficient notes - developing your argument through introductions, middles and conclusions - evaluating and using online resources - understanding the conventions of academic culture - honing your ideas into clear, vigorous English. This book will provide you with all the tools and insights you need to write confident, convincing essays and coursework papers.
The Good Paper by Peter Stray Jørgensen; Lotte Rienecker
Call Number: ebook
ISBN: 8759331046
Publication Date: 2017-12-01
The international edition of The Good Paper is a handbook for students in higher education programs who are writing BA dissertations, masters' theses, project reports, research papers, or other essays. The book is written for students who must independently formulate a research question and search for the required literature for their research papers. The book includes numerous annotated examples of good papers coming from university and professional bachelor programs. It also provides activities along with necessary explanations. The Good Paper's view is that the research paper is a genre that cuts across fields and disciplines. This genre has five fundamental guiding elements which can be illustrated by a pentagon model: 1) the research question, 2) the purpose, 3) the data, materials, and phenomena, 4) the theories, concepts, and methods, and 5) the research design.

The Internet and YOU

TL;DR: A Very Brief Guide to Reading and Writing in University by Joel Heng Hartse

You’ve just been assigned your very first university paper, but you don’t know how to begin. Stressed about failing? Worried that you’ll have to pull an all-nighter to get the work done on time? And what even is APA style? When you’re already dealing with information overload, how can you possibly craft a paper well so you get the results you need? If you feel uncertain, stuck, or overwhelmed, be encouraged, because this book has the tools you need to get that assignment done. TL;DR’s quick, simple chapters will help you identify your audience, create an outline, get a handle on grammar and sentence structure, correctly quote a source, and write a strong conclusion. Written with simplicity and flexibility in mind, TL;DR can be used as an alternative or supplement to a textbook, a self-study guide, and a quick reference for specific writing topics. If you want to know what professors expect you to write – and why – so you can get those grades with as little pain as possible, this is the book for you.

TL;DR (too long; didn’t read): This book will show you how to write better papers, and it’s short, so you should read it! It's also available as a free, open access PDF--just click the green "Download" button on the book's webpage.

Internet Search Tips

A description of advanced tips and tricks for effective Internet research of papers/books, with real-world examples.