How to Write a Research Paper

• Selecting a Topic
• Locating Information
• Searching the Web
• Evaluating Sources
• The Writing Process
• Acknowledging Sources

Selecting a Topic

• How to Select a Research Topic
• Best Information on the Net: A list of popular paper topics and links to information about them
• Issues and Controversies: Another list of topics

Locating Information

• Help Searching the Library Catalog
• How to Read a Call Number

Searching the Web

• Bare Bones 101: A Very Basic Web Searching Tutorial
• Choose the Best Search for Your Information Needs
• Boolean Searching for the Web [from UC Berkeley]
• Boolean Searching on the Internet: A Primer in Boolean Logic

Evaluating Sources

Journal Articles

• Scholarly Journals vs. Popular Magazine Articles
• Popular Magazines vs. Trade Magazines vs. Scholarly Journals

Primary vs. Secondary Sources

• Identifying Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Sources

Evaluating Web Sites

• Evaluation Criteria: from “The Good, The Bad & The Ugly …”
• Information Competency- Evaluating Sources: An interactive tutorial

The Writing Process

• Annotated Bibliography Guidelines
• Argument & Opinion Essay Writing 
• Book and Article Review or Critique Guidelines
• How to Write a Term Paper
• Internet Writing Resources
• Writing Book Reviews

Acknowledging Sources

Avoiding Plagiarism

• Plagiarism Resources for Students: A collection of web sites
• Plagiarism Court: You be the Judge: A tutorial
• Plagiarism: What it is and How to Avoid It

Citing Sources

• Citation Writing Tutorial
• Using American Psychological Association (APA) Format
• APA format summary
• Using Modern Language Association (MLA) Format
• MLA format summary
• Research and Documentation: Style guides for the Humanities [MLA], Social Sciences [APA], History [Chicago Manual of Style] and the Sciences [CBE (Council of Biology Editors)]