Communication

What is a Research Paper?
This link leads you to the OWL at Purdue, an excellent website with information on all aspects of writing a paper.

Selecting the Right Source
What's the difference? Newspapers, Magazines, Journals, Books & Web sites

Research Paper Planner (Baylor University)
Learn the steps of the research process and schedule your time.

Assignment Calculator (Baylor University)
Set up a schedule for your research and get links to useful research items, by entering the due date for your assignment

When citing sources be sure to use the proper citation style for the course. Below are links to ONLINE summarized citation rules from some of the more popular style guides:

• APA Citation Quick Guide (University of California Libraries)
• APA (American Psychological Association)
• AAA (American Anthropological Association)
• MLA (Modern Language Association)
• Chicago Manual of Style --Click on Chicago-Style Quick Guide link
• Chicago Manual of Style via OWL at Purdue (University of Chicago Press)
• Turabian (Based on the Chicago Manual of Style)

Some other online sites that summarize citation rules:

• UW-Madison Writing Center Writer's Handbook
• Research and Documentation Online (Diana Hacker)

For more detail, consult the complete printed style manuals, available in many campus libraries:

• MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (7th edition)
• Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th edition)
• Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
• Turabian's A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations (7th edition)

For a general introduction to academic citation and intellectual property, see Bruin Success with Less Stress.

Preparing an annotated bibliography is often the first step in writing a research paper. Sometimes it is a stand-alone assignment. The links below will give you guidance in preparing an annotated bibliography.

See the Citing Sources Research Guide Section on Avoiding Plagiarism for more information.