The research paper must include a

• Title page

  Instructions for the title page can be found in the Brief Holt. Note: The diagram in the Holt, however, is misleading. Please follow the directions for the title page and not the diagram.

  • Drop down one half of the page and type in the title of your paper
  • Drop down two inches and type the word "By"
  • Double space down and type your name.
  • Drop down two inches and type the instructor's name
  • Double space down and type the class name and section number
  • Double space down and type the due date

   

• Outline

  An outline is based on coordination and subordination. That means the headings at the same level in an outline should be coordinate and parallel to each other (both the same kind of thing) and subheadings are subordinate to the heading they are under. Since headings are parallel in meaning, they should also be parallel grammatically. If one heading is a noun, the rest should be nouns, and so on.

   

• Body

  For me, the maximum number of pages is a guide. I will allow the paper to be longer, but it must be at least the minimum number of pages assigned. Within the body, students should tag all information to indicate from which source the information came. We will be using the Modern Language Association (MLA) documentation style. Information on this documentation style can be found in the Brief Holt under the white MLA tab.

   

• Works Cited page

  The format for the Works Cited page will also follow the MLA as is given in the Brief Holt. Every source which a student uses should be listed on the Works Cited page.

  Whenever possible, begin the Works cited listing for your paper with the name of the author of the article or book you are using. If you are using an article from an edited source, you may either begin the citation listing with the editor's name (followed by ed. or eds.) or with the title of the article. If you are using several articles from reference works, it might be better to use the editor's name so that your documentation tags will be easier to follow. Remember, the parenthetical documentation or tag is used to identify the page of the source used and to point the reader to a single source on the Works Cited page. The Works Cited page gives the reader all the information necessary to find an exact copy of the source used in the paper.

  In reference works, the name of the author of the article often is placed at the end of the article rather than at the beginning.

  If you use two or more articles by the same author, do not repeat the author's name at the beginning of the second Works Cited entry. Instead begin the entry with three dashes followed by a period (---.).

  Only list works on the Works Cited page which you actually use in your paper. Sometimes writers will create a Works Consulted page to indicate works referred to but not cited. Remember, if you include anything in your paper which you read in one of your sources, you must tag your use of the information and include the work on your Works Cited page. This means that you tag not only things which you quote, but also anything which you paraphrase or summarize.

  • If you are using sources which are essays from volumes in multivolume works, be sure to use the supplement to the syllabus which I distributed to the class last week.
  • If you are using articles contained in one volume works, be sure to include the name of the author of the article if it is listed (usually appears at the end of the article) and the title of the article (surrounded by quotation marks) as well as the title of the book (underlined or in italics).
  • If you are using an article from a popular encylopedia as a source (c.f., Encylopaedia Britannica), cite it following #16 on page 296 in the Brief Holt.
  • If you do not use a source in your paper (although you looked at it in the course of your research), do not include it on the Works Cited page. Include only those sources which you cite.
  • Be sure to identify editors separately from authors. If the editor's name leads the citation, follow the name with a comma and ed. (eds. if multiple editors).
  • Use UP to indicate a University Press. For instance,

    U of Chicago P (for University of Chicago Press)
    Oxford UP (for Oxford University Press)