Transcript DRAFTING THE PAPER

DRAFTING THE PAPER
As you begin drafting your research, follow a few general
guidelines:
1. Work systematically through a preliminary plan or
outline to keep order as your notes expand your research.
2. Leave wide margins, use triple spacing, and put blank
spaces between paragraphs.
3. Use your notes, photocopies, downloaded material, and
research journal to transfer material directly into the text.
4. Provide quotations and paraphrases of key sentences, but
avoid the temptation of borrowing too much.
DRAFTING THE PAPER (2)
5. Do not quote an entire paragraph unless it is crucial to your
discussion and you cannot easily reduce it to a precis.
6. Let the writing find its own way, guided, but not controlled,
by your outline or paradigm.
7. Use different methods of development. Write with
comparison, cause and effect, process analysis, and so
forth.
DRAFTING THE PAPER (3)
•
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
As you are drafting your research paper, there are
eight things to consider:
Writing with Unity and Coherence.
Writing in the Proper Tense.
Using the language of the discipline.
Using Source Material to Enhance your Writing.
Writing in the Third Person.
Writing with the Passive Voice.
Placing Graphics Effectively
Avoiding Sexist and Biased Language
(For further reading, refer to your Principles of
Writing Research Papers pp. 110-114)