The document provides instructions for a research paper assignment for an Honors Biology class. Students must include a title page, introduction, body, and conclusion section. The body will discuss the experimental problem, objectives, hypothesis, materials, and experimental design. References must be in APA style and include a minimum of four scientific journal articles, two published books, and two internet sources. The paper must follow specific formatting guidelines, including an Arial 12 point font, double spacing, and 1 inch margins.

1. Honors Biology
Johns Creek High School
Fall 2009
Research Paper
Due: Wednesday, 11/18/09
What is the Research Paper?
The Research Paper is a formal paper that “melds” together all of the research proposal benchmarks. The
research paper is a descriptive, analytical and well constructed representation of your research topic.
What needs to be included in the research paper?
1. Title Page: This is the first page and must include the research title, your first and last name, course
title, date, teacher name, and period. Do not begin writing paper on the title page.
2. Introduction: Contains relevant background information from researched resource material. Use
proper APA citation when paraphrasing or quoting resource material. Within the paragraphs of the
paper, show the source of a particular fact or idea, etc by using parenthetical documentation. Example: At
the age of five, Tennessee was stricken with Bright’s disease, leaving him bedridden for many weeks (Boxhill,
1995). This example properly shows that the facts used in the sentence were from an article or book by the
author, Boxhill, in1995.
• Include an opener –an attention getter that grabs the reader and lets them know what the
general subject of the paper will be; i.e. a quotation, a question, a starting statement.
• Include relevant background information. This would be material necessary for the reader to
know in order to understand the rest of the paper
3. Body: Contains detailed and thorough information on each aspect of the experimental research
proposal. Use proper APA citation when paraphrasing or quoting resource material.
• Discuss the experimental problem. Do this by stating what the problem is and fully describe
and/or explain.
• Describe the objectives of the experiment.
• State the hypothesis and discuss how/why it was developed?
• List (in paragraph form) the materials needed for the experiment as well as the amounts and
discuss why they were chosen.
• Experimental Design – Discuss the control(s), control group, independent variable,
dependent variable and the procedures to be followed in the experiment.
4. Conclusion: Contains a summary of the entire proposal.

2. • Summarize the proposal and finalize any ideas from the proposal.
5. Works Cited Page: This page includes an alphabetized citation of all references.
• The references must be in cited APA style using the fifth edition of the Publication Manual of the
American Psychological Association format. Anything else is unacceptable. Examples of how to
reference the paper using the proper APA style were provided to you when you were presented with the
benchmarks. If you need help, see your teacher; however, don’t expect help at the “last minute”.
• References must include a minimum of four published articles from a peer reviewed scientific
journal, two published books (not textbooks or reference books) and two internet sources.
• Regarding internet sources. The web addresses must be static and must be about your topic.
Sites such as Google, Wikipedia, etc. are not valid references.
• Encyclopedias and dictionaries are not acceptable references, online or otherwise.
Is there a specific font or style to be used in the paper?
• Yes, the proposal must be typed in the following format?
o Arial 12 point font
o Double-spaced
o 1 inch margins
o No headings on paragraphs (this is not a laboratory report; it is a proposal)