The Paper - Guidelines
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1. The research-based essay can be constructed from any genre, as specified by the English teacher, including but not limited to:
- Expository
- Compare and Contrast
- Cause and Effect
- Argumentative (Persuasive)
- Critical Review
- Analytical
- Literary
2. Each essay must cite a minimum of five different sources. Encyclopedias and other general resources are not acceptable, including current, technological reference bundles. Students should strive for variety and balance in their selections.
3. Essays should be approximately six to eight pages of text.
4. The thesis statement should be in bold-faced type.
5. Sources should include at least one primary source, such as original documents, authoritative interviews, or analytical data based on interviews. Primary sources add immediacy and relevance to the research. Students whose primary sources are individuals should note in the text or annotate the person's area of expertise in the works cited entry. NOTE: Students should identify primary sources with bold-faced type in the works cited list.
6. Students should learn to interpret research in terms of possible bias and to examine research in terms of validity. This examination is critical when students are using online sources.
7. Research should take various forms, both primary and secondary, traditional and non-traditional. For example, students may design, administer, and analyze surveys, conduct interviews of experts, access online databases, or consult portable database products. Students should tailor the type of research to their research topic to ensure a reasonable balance of sources.
8. Students should be cautioned not to rely solely on online sources.
9. Students must carefully document all research information they cite in their papers. This should include parenthetical documentation within the paper and a list of works cited at the end of the paper.
10. Students should access the most recent edition of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers for guidelines for appropriate documentation.
Students should be thoroughly informed of research ethics and the serious consequences of plagiarism.
*Papers are completed during English III, typically during a student's junior year of high school.
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Topic Selection - Guidelines
The research topic should be one that requires cumulative knowledge across grade levels and content areas. It should be a natural outgrowth of interest and combine skills of all or most content areas. For example, a student who researches the changes in the ozone layer is using cumulative knowledge from English, math, science, and history.
The research topic should be broad enough to allow the student access to enough information yet narrow enough to make the research scope reasonable. For example, a student choosing the topic First Aid would find it impossible to include EVERYTHING about first aid (home remedies, history of emergency services, the treatment of burns, how to stop bleeding, evolution of first aid courses, etc.) On the other hand, a student choosing the research topic The Application of Band-Aids to Skin Abrasions probably would not find enough information.
The research topic should be one in which the student is interested, but not one about which the student is already an expert. For example, if a student had diabetes for ten years, worked closely with the Juvenile Diabetes Association, and has been a volunteer in the children's diabetic ward in a local hospital, they already know a great deal about the subject of juvenile diabetes. Unless that student pursues a new angle to diabetes, that topic might not yield much new learning.
The research topic should be academically and creatively challenging to the student. The student should not choose a topic that is limited to relatively simple ideas or one that has little application or extension possibilities. Making such a choice would relegate the essay, the product, and the presentation to the mundane and uninteresting. Instead, the topic should require an academic and creative stretch for the student.
Expenditures will not enhance the evaluation of the project. Students should avoid choosing topics that might involve expenses they cannot handle. For example, if the research will include travel or long-distance calls, the student may want to make another choice. If the product that grows out of the research will require expensive materials, the student may want to make another choice. Remember, the student is NOT EXPECTED to spend money to complete the project.
Students should avoid choosing topics that might endanger themselves or others. For example, potentially explosive experiments or activities such as handling poisonous snakes are inappropriate.
Primary research is a valuable component of any inquiry. It may be wise for students to explore the possibilities for personal interviews, informal surveys, empirical observation, etc., before finalizing the topic.
Some preliminary research may be helpful to the student. By reading about a certain topic, the student may expand their areas of interest. Possibilities for new areas of exploration may surface. For example, suppose a student was not able to find precisely what he or she needed but did find usable information. In that case, they can change focus while keeping the same main topic.
Students should use good judgment to ensure that the topics they choose are appropriate for presentation to a Review Board and the general public. Remember that the senior English teacher, the mentor, and the parent(s)/guardian(s) of the student must approve the selection of the topic.
