2. Where we are
O You’ve chosen a topic
O Researched your topic
O 4 sources
O 1 graphic source
O Organized your research into an outline
O You might want to revisit your outline, and
improve it based on feedback before you draft.
O You should be able to write your rough draft
straight from your outline
O Written a clear, concise thesis that states your
topic and position
3. Plagiarism
O Plagiarism is very serious, and incidental
plagiarism is easy to do in a research paper.
Perhaps you didn’t put something in quotes
when taking notes, or you didn’t paraphrase
enough
O Be sure to avoid it!
O Double check your notes for paraphrasing,
direct quotes and summaries
O Be sure to parenthetically cite at the end of
where you got the information
O When in doubt, Google the phrase to double
check
4. Drafting tips…
O You also need to use citations in your paper,
so I know where your information came from
O Research papers include facts, not opinions,
so you should make sure you don’t lean on
one side or another, or have bias in your
paper
O Avoid personal pronouns
O You need to determine what your purpose, or
reason for writing is
O Your paper should have an objective tone to
it, so that the facts can be trusted
5. More drafting tips
O Write an introduction that outlines your
entire paper
O Be sure your research is organized by
sub-topics
O Don’t get hung up on pages. Focus on the
writing, if you’ve done all the steps
correctly, you’ll be fine.
O Once you finish writing, set it aside for a
little bit. Later, come back and read it out
loud to catch any mistakes
6. Feedback
O Once your rough draft is graded, it is very
important that you go back through and
read your feedback.
O I expect to see these changes made in
your final draft.
