What is academic writing? One definition is “scholars writing for scholars.”  A better one may be “writing supported by documented research.”  Claims and arguments are strengthened by well-documented research, regardless of whether or not the subject is viewed as scholarly.  The point is that scholars do research; the better point is that being well-informed requires research.  Therefore, for all citizens of the world, scholar or not, research is important.

If you’re taking classes, you’re a scholar.  Sorry.  That means you will probably be required to write researched, documented essays–long, short, in-between.  And, if your instructor has been paying attention to current composition research, you will probably be integrating your own research (primary) with the published research you find through the library (secondary).  This is a plan I developed for my students; I hope it gives you an idea about how to proceed.  At the very least, it may point out some questions to ask your instructor.

Research Steps:

Primary & Secondary Research

Step 1: Issue Proposal

In a typed, double-spaced paper, do the following:

1. Introduce the subject.

2. Why is it compelling to you?

3. What do you already know about your topic?

4. What more do you need to learn about your topic?

5. Anticipate how you are going to argue your issue.

6.  State your thesis and how it differs from current understanding/approach to the question.

Step 2:  Primary Research—Surveys or Interviews

Begin with a list of about 10 questions that will help you to answer your research question.  Get feedback on the list by discussing the questions with peers, and revise them as needed.  After you have decided on the content of your survey, you should revise it so that the form is “correct.”  The format is discussed in the document “Finalizing Your Survey Questions.” The next step is to distribute the surveys (or conduct the interview/s), either by hand or via an online format.

Step 3:  Secondary Research—Library

While waiting for the results of your primary research (this applies if you are using an online format for your surveys), you should begin to research existing sources—library or internet.  You will analyze the rhetorical relationship in each source, that is, the relationship between the genre of the text, the author’s purpose and choices (tone, language, format, approach, etc.), and the apparent audience.  You will also be dealing with the author’s bias and argument—structure, appeals, and fallacies.  The research term for this step of the process is “review of the literature,” not in the sense of a short story or a novel, but in the sense of what’s already been said about your question.   As you do your reseach, you will be narrowing down the potential sources.  You will probably look at more sources than are required for this paper, but you will be deciding on the best ones.  First, you will decide on the best 10 sources; finally, the best 5, although you are free to use more than that. The final paper will include an analysis of at least 5 sources you feel are most relevant to your argument.    

 Step 4: Working Bibliography

As you research what’s been written about your question, you should keep a list of what seems relevant; having such a list will help you to decide on the best sources to use in your paper.  The list, called a working bibliography, should include the publication information and will later help you to build the works cited section of the paper.

Create an MLA-style working bibliography for at least ten (10) potential sources.  This working bibliography must be typed.

Step 5:  Framework for Academic Writing—Putting It Together

            Now it’s time to begin putting all of the parts together.  You have written a proposal, which give the background and direction of your paper; you have thought about your thesis and written questions to test that thesis; you have done research to find out what’s already been written on the question; you will compare the results of your surveys with the ideas you’ve found in your secondary research.  Here’s the “outline” you will use to present your research:

The Proposal: Statement of the Problem

Secondary Research:  Review of the Literature

Primary Research:  Instrument Design

Results of Primary Research:  Data Collection

Comparison of Results:  Summary

Your Argument:  Conclusion

Step 6: Annotated Bibliography

Create an MLA-style annotated bibliography for at least Five (5) sources. For you, the 5 sources used in this bibliography will be the same sources used in your paper—the annotations will focus on how and why the source was valuable to your research. The annotated bibliography must be typed.

Step 7: Writing the Rough Draft

1.  Complete a typed draft of the research paper; please include the heading

2.  Parenthetical documentation

3.  Works Cited

Step 8: Peer edit, in class

Step 9: Self-edit

Step 10: Final Draft,  including Survey Report