Research writing rules and dos and don'ts

Research Writing Reminders
Your mantra: Writing research papers can be fun. Research is fun. Writing is fun. (Say it 3 times and it will be true!)
In text citations
Use author’s last name and page number (Jones 2).
Use the TITLE of the WORK if there is no author. This does not mean the article’s title, but the title of the book, website, etc. (Shakespeare’s Characters 88).
For a website where page numbers are not marked use only the author or the title of the website when no author is given.
Little things
When using a large quote, take out parts that are not relevant to your writing. These deleted parts have an ellipses. Ex: “…above all….be true.”
A very large quote should be blocked. This is MORE than 4 lines TYPED. When blocking indent twice, do not use quotation marks and put the period inside the citation. Most professors/teachers will see these warily. If you have block quoted, be certain that you are going above and beyond paper requirements in terms of length.
How much to cite?
In a research paper, every time you have utilized a source, you should cite it. This is always the case with direct quotes, but also applies when paraphrasing into your own words.
Cite directly after a quotation. If an entire paragraph comes from one source and is not directly quoted, you can cite at the end of a paragraph.
Citing….
Do not put two citations back to back. EX: (Jones 33) (Smith 111). Work it out so that the information is divided into two or more sentences so that it can be cited correctly.
With research, most paragraphs will have at least one citation.
Paraphrase into your own words when possible. Less than 1/8 of the entire length of the assignment should be direct quotes. Again, cite ANY information that was not your own originally, even if in your own words.
Works Cited
Sources are listed alphabetically.
Sources use reverse or “hanging” indentations.
Center the words “Works Cited.”
All sources on this page MUST be cited in the paper.
Any sources consulted but not cited must go on a separate page that is titled “Works Consulted.”
Format
Cover page: title, your name, date, class/professor’s name. If a professor prefers, the information can be put on page one at the top right. (I do not.)
Put last name and page in top right. Include a running title header in the top left. Set as HEADERS that are NOT in the text of the essay itself.
Avoid: cliché’, personal pronouns, ending with prepositions, using the word SO, etc.
Don’t forget to….
Use variety in word choice and sentence styles.
Use transitions not only at the beginning of a paragraph, but in the middle of a paragraph or as a sentence that leads into the next paragraph.
Use a topic sentence in each body paragraph.
Go beyond the five paragraph format.
What’s really important?
Organization: Connect ideas. Chunks of ideas don’t work unless there is a connection between them.
Introductions should be interesting.
Conclusions should be brief, used to briefly summarize, give a solution of sorts, and should not list the points like a grocery list. No grocery lists in the introduction either.
Read your paper. Leave time in between to go back and look at it later. Have someone else read it, too.
Finally…
While it is incredibly easy to find papers on the web, it is that easy for your professors/teachers to find them, too. There are, literally, hundreds of websites for teachers that will run an essay through a plagiarism detector. Even Google will locate phrases that have appeared elsewhere. It isn’t worth it. You will get a zero and possibly fail amongst other punishments.Universities are free to expel you and to not give a tuition refund.