Middle School Research Paper Tips
What's a "research paper"?
A research paper is a formal report written that includes both your own opinions and research that you've used from books, the Internet, newspapers, magazines, or any other source. You will have to cite sources for your research papers and include a bibliography.
What's the secret to picking a good topic for my research paper?
With regards to middle school research paper tips, the secret to picking a good topic for your research paper is to make sure you pick something you're interested in. This is something you are going to have to be spending a lot of time on, looking up news articles, books, and magazines; so make sure the topic is something that you have an interest in. If you're having a hard time finding an article, go and talk to your teacher about the research paper. Ask them what some possible topics for your research paper are, they may give you some great ideas.
What is a "thesis statement"?
A thesis statement is going to be a clear declarative sentence in your introductory paragraph that tells what you're going to be writing your paper about. Think if your teacher asked you "what is this paper about?" your thesis statement should be the answer to that question.
What's the secret to writing a great thesis statement?
The secret to writing a great thesis statement is to make sure you're extremely specific about what you're going to write about. Remember, your thesis is answering the question, "what am I writing about and why". So think, you need to give very specific information in a thesis statement, like you're using a sign, of where you are going to be going with your paper.
What is the "rule of three" regarding research papers?
Basically, the rule of three is a way of structuring paragraphs in research papers. For every paragraph that you write in your research paper, you should have a topic sentence, just like an essay, saying what you're talking about in that paragraph. And you should have at least three pieces of supporting information for each one of those points; meaning you need to provide three very specific examples or references in each body paragraph of your research paper.
How can I effectively cite my sources in a research paper?
In order to effectively cite sources you want to take your own ideas and incorporate pieces of your research into your ideas using the "MLA" format. Here's how it works. "The Civil War was a "bloody bath of brother against brother,"" (these quotation marks means that is taken directly out of a book; these are not your words) "that tore families apart," this is your own analysis. This means that you are using this piece of research to prove your point. At the end of the sentence you would put Stein, comma, 98. That means that you got this from a book written by Stein on page 98. You would have the full source written in your bibliography included at the end of your research paper.
What are the rules regarding plagiarism?
In middle school, plagiarism is when you take another author's works and cite them as your own. This means you're taking somebody else's words and taking credit for them. It's not enough just to change around a few words and say that you wrote it, the plagiarism rules mean you need to take a piece of what that author wrote, put it into your own words, and then also give them credit for it. Make sure that your teacher knows you didn't write those very fancy words and that somebody else did, and you need to give them credit where it's deserved.
