research paper

Research Paper You will be conducting library research to support and develop a thesis on the topic you choose. This project is to be informative in nature. For this reason, you should approach the assignment by brainstorming information questions. Think of yourself as a teacher/expert, having to share information and knowledge with your audience. You are not to reveal your opinions in this project. You are not to use first person in this project. Format: You will use APA guidelines for your paper and will include a cover sheet, body of your paper, in-text citations, and attach your TREC outline to the paper. Length: 6 to 8 pages for the body of your paper. Use 1” margins on all sides. Double space everything. Make a Running head: ABBREVIATED TITLE on the cover sheet. Add the assigned running head/abbreviated title to page 2 and all following pages. Page numbers will begin with the cover sheet as page 1 and continue through the paper and outline attached at the end. Indent each new paragraph 0.5 inches. Put 2 spaces after each period/punctuation. APA documentation will be discussed in class. **Do not write in first person and do not use contractions in your Research Paper** Researching and writing your paper: 1- Formulate a research question, and provide facts that clearly support your thesis /research topic. For example, for research questions, you might ask, “What are schools doing to curb bullying? What programs have they initiated? How are students involved?” Questions such as these help you to search for answers and to narrow your topic. From researching, reading, and careful note-taking, you should have learned quite a bit about your topic, especially if you are moving forward with the topic from your exploratory essay. 2- For finding a topic and a focus, you can search newspapers and magazines (paper or online). Think about issues related to the environment, to ethics in modern life, to education, etc. Getting the “big picture” can help you to focus on an in-depth idea for a specific research topic. Expect to do considerable reading on a topic before you find a specific avenue for academic research. 3- Your paper must include an abstract which immediately follows the cover page. Pay special attention to APA formatting for abstracts (ie: no indentation in first line, etc). Your paper should have a clear thesis which you’ll support with reasons and evidence. The introduction should set up the scope and importance of the research to follow. Another function of the introduction is to gain the interest of your readers. The body of your paper will provide the bulk of your evidence and will relate this information to your thesis in a clear manner. Evidence of the highest quality is critical to your success with this assignment. Finally, write a sensitive conclusion that reflects the thesis and summarizes the main points of the essay. **Note: The paper should have a clear introduction with thesis, multi-paragraphed body (Reasons and Examples), conclusion, reference page, and TREC or PREP outline. 2- Secondary Sources: You must gather information from 6-8 secondary sources. At least one of your sources must be a scholarly journal article. At least two of your sources must be from an RMU online database (**On the hard copy of your paper, star the two sources that came from the RMU online database). Please stick to well-recognized journals, articles, newspapers, and books as your sources. This will be a 6-8 page essay (not including cover sheet, reference page, or outline). 5- Make a TREC or PREP Outline (type it double-spaced, indent Examples 0.5 inch) The title for the outline is to be centered on top line. TREC/PREP Outline: Title of Your Paper Thesis/Point: Thesis statement: Major point you are trying to make. Should be one or two sentences. Reasons: There should be several reasons in the body of your paper. Each Reason should begin a new paragraph and be followed in one or more paragraphs with several specific examples that illustrate/demonstrate/support your reasons. Conclusion/Point restated: The conclusion should sum up your findings. It reflects your thesis and summarizes the main points of the essay. RMU online database:   -A- ABI/Inform Complete (via Proquest)  Academic Search Complete (via EBSCO)  Accessible Archives  ACS (American Chemical Society) (Access to: Environmental Science & Technology) ACM Digital Library AIS eLibrary   New! (Browse AIS eJournals and AIS Conference Proceedings and other affiliated conference proceedings).  **Please note that access to MIS Quarterly and Information Systems Journal are available via Business Source Premier, and not the AIS eLibrary -B-  BNA Tax Management Portfolios  Business Source Premier (via EBSCOhost)  -C- Cabell’s Directories    Checkpoint (from Thomson Reuters) Chronicle of Higher Education  CINAHL Complete  Claritas Segmentation and Market Solutions (formerly Nielsen Market Segmentation and Market Solutions) Cochrane Library Communication and Mass Media Complete  CQ Researcher   Credo Reference -D- Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)  -E-  EBSCOhost  EBSCO Ebooks (View EBSCO eBooks Tip Sheet) eBrary  (Now ProQuest eBooks Central) EconLit  Econ Edlink Education Research Complete (EBSCO) Education Retrospective Index  EBSCO Electronic Journals Service (EJS) Electronic Federal Depository Library Collection Environmental Science Subject Collection (Science Direct)  Environment Complete (via EBSCOhost)  ERIC  Euromonitor Passport  -F- Films on Demand   -G- Gale  Gale Virtual Reference Library  Global Road Warrior  Government Documents Online @ RMU Library GreenFILE -H- Hoover’s Company Profiles (from ProQuest) Humanities & Social Sciences Index Retrospective (1907 – 1984)  -I-  IEEE (Access to Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, IEEE Security & Privacy)   Issues & Controversies  -J- Journal Metrics/ Journal Citation Impact (Elsevier) JSTOR  JSTOR eBooks   New! -K- Kanopy  *Kanopy DDA/PDA Access is currently paused until the end of the semester. However, if you need access to a film for a course you are teaching, please submit your request and we will contact Kanopy & follow up with your shortly* (A list of currently licensed titles is available here) -L- LexisNexis Academic (see Nexis Uni – the new Lexis Nexis platform)    LibraryLit Full Text  Slated for cancellation – December 2018 Local Market Audience Analyst (SRDS)/Claritas Segmentation and Market Solutions (formerly Nielsen Segmentation and Market Solutions)  **Please note that you need to click on “Nielsen Market Segmentation and Market Solutions” from within the left-side navigation menu; then, at the following screen, click on the green button “Login to Nielsen SMS” and wait 10-15 seconds for that program to load. -M- Marketline  MathSciNet  MEDLINE with full text (via EBSCOhost)  Slated for cancellation – December 2018; use: PubMed  Mergent Online  MLA International Bibliography  -N- National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) Nexis Uni (new version of LexisNexis Academic)    New York Times Historical Archive (ProQuest) Nielsen Segmentation and Market Solutions (now Claritas Segmentation and Market Solutions, and formerly Local Market Audience Analyst) Nursing Video Clips (Medcom, Intelecom, and Ask Harvard Medical School)  -O- OED (Oxford English Dictionary)  Ovid Nursing Full Text Plus  Oxford Art Online  -P- Periodicals Archive Online – Literary Studies Collection  Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Historical Archive (ProQuest)     Philadelphia Inquirer Historical Archive (ProQuest)     Political Handbook of the World Project Muse  PQD Open (freely available dissertations from ProQuest)  ProQuest  ProQuest Accounting & Tax ProQuest Asian Business & Reference ProQuest Banking Information Resource  ProQuest Biology Journals ProQuest Career & Technical Information ProQuest Central ProQuest Computing  ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global  ProQuest Dissertations & Theses @ RMU  ProQuest eBooks Central  (formerly eBrary)   ProQuest Education Journals  ProQuest Ethnic Newswatch ProQuest European Business  ProQuest Genderwatch ProQuest Health & Medical Complete  ProQuest Military Collection ProQuest Newsstand ProQuest New York Times Historical ProQuest Nursing & Allied Health  ProQuest Philadelphia Inquirer Historical Archive     ProQuest Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Historical Archive    ProQuest Psychology ProQuest Science ProQuest Social Science PsycARTICLES (via EBSCOhost)  PubMed  PubMed Central (PMC)  -R- Readers’ Guide Retrospective (1890 – 1982)  ReferenceUSA  Regional Business News (via EBSCOhost)  RIA Checkpoint (from Thomson Reuters) -S- SAGE Premiere  SAGE Reference eBook Collection  – New! SAGE Research Methods eReference Collection (CREDO)  SAGE Research Method Online (SRMO)  Sports Market Analytics (Formerly SBRnet) Science Direct e-Journals  Science Direct Environmental Science Subject Collection Scopus SnapShots (from ProQuest) SPORTDiscus with Full Text  Springer Nature eJournal Package  (SRDS) Claritas Segmentation and Market Solutions (formerly Nielsen Segmentation and Market Solutions, and formerly Local Market Audience Analyst)  -T- Taylor and Francis e-Journals   Times (UK) Digital Archive  -U- Ulrichsweb    UpToDate  (View instructions for UpToDate app) -W- Wiley e-Journals Database