Some Tips for Writing an Effective Paper
Professor Joe Rosse
When grading your paper, I will be evaluating three basic dimensions: quality of research (40%), critical analysis (40%), and style/professionalism of presentation (20%). Let me say a few words about each, along with some tips based on past experience grading student papers.
The starting point for your paper is to conduct sound
research into your topic. By “sound” I
mean that the information should be well-grounded. Since you are probably not expert in your
topic, the best way to find well-grounded information is to use credible
sources, particularly those that have had the benefit of pre-publication review
by experts. That is why I insist that
half of your references come from scholarly/academic journals that use a peer
review system, or from books. Examples
of scholarly journals that are written for a general business audience include
the
It is very important to point out that you should NOT rely heavily on material you find on the Internet, unless it happens to be on-line versions of otherwise-acceptable journals. Much of the material on the Internet is written by people with a particular point of view; they use the internet as a means of communicating that point of view, without having to undergo any kind of quality check. Rarely will such material have anything approaching editorial or peer review, which is why you need to be very suspect of its credibility. That’s not to say that everything on the web is untrue or biased. Rather, the point is that it’s often difficult—especially for a novice—to determine whether it’s accurate. I’m also not saying that you can’t use material you find with a general Internet search engine. But you need to use it very critically, and sparingly (and as a supplement to, not a replacement for, scholarly/academic research).
So how else do you find material for your paper? If you’re a big fan of Google, try using the Scholar version (http://scholar.google.com/). Or try the various bibliographic resources in the library—after all, you’re paying for them!! Start with http://libraries.colorado.edu/; more specialized business-related information can be found at http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/research/findarticles/business.htm (see ABI/Inform in particular). Or just walk into the library and ask a reference librarian for help! (Keep in mind that the assistants at the Circulation desk may be helpful and knowledgeable, but they don’t have the expertise of the reference librarians at the Reference desk. Get to know the librarians; they can be a wonderful resource!!)
One other point about research has to do with material from the textbook(s) and class discussion. While it’s important that your research extend beyond these materials, it’s also important that you use the class materials as a foundation. They don’t count as part of your research, but they should certainly be included and cited as appropriate.
Notice that I said that doing good research is the starting point for your paper—it’s critical, but there’s more to a good paper than good research. I want your paper to reflect, but not simply mirror, what you’ve read. Even peer-reviewed material can be wrong—or one-sided—so I want to know what YOU think of what you’ve read. This typically is easiest if you find two sides in your research (which is almost always the case). That allows you to describe two (or more) perspectives, then critique each perspective, and finally provide your reasoned conclusion. Note that this is more than simply your opinion—it’s a conclusion based on a critical analysis of the various perspectives and defended as such. For most topics, you should also provide your recommendations. Think of these as recommendations you might make to your boss, and make sure the recommendations follow naturally from your analysis.
Students are sometimes surprised that I grade papers for such features as spelling, grammar, and other “stylistic” characteristics. Great ideas have less ability to (positively) influence others if they’re not understandable, or if they are shrouded in errors that cause the reader frustration, or lead to doubt about the writer’s credibility. That applies in the business world as well as in school, so I’d be remiss if I overlooked these characteristics.
In general, style issues can be addressed by reviewing generally accepted guides, such as the Chicago Manual of Style, or the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. I use the APA manual for most of my writing and am most familiar with it; it is also for reference in the White Business Library (for a summary of the key points, see http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/business/APA20040823.pdf ).
One item that I particularly want to emphasize is to properly reference the sources of information you used in your research. Failing to cite these sources is at the very least unprofessional; more serious cases of plagiarism are grounds for receiving a failing grade for the paper or the course. For more information about plagiarism, see the CU Honor Code. My own general guide is to provide a reference for information that is not generally known and that is relatively specific. If you think I might ask, “How did you know that/find that out,” provide a reference in the paper. Another way to think of it is to put yourself in the shoes of an interested reader who wants to learn more about your topic; let that person know where to go to follow up on what you’re telling him or her in your paper.
A few words about quotes. Quoted material ALWAYS requires a reference citation (including the page number at which the quote can be found). Quoted material should be kept relatively brief—usually no more than 50-100 words will suffice, and overall no more than perhaps 10% of your paper should consist of quotes. There are two reasons for this. The technical reason is that excessive quoting may be a violation of fair use laws, even if you do cite the source. But for student papers the more important reason is that if you spend too much time quoting others, it’s difficult for me to gauge YOUR writing and thinking. Relying too much on others is a crutch; instead paraphrase or summarize what they said, using your own words and providing your own interpretations. (Don’t forget, though, that you may still need to provide a reference citation even for paraphrases.)
Finally, don’t succumb to the temptation to simply cut and
paste material from various articles that you read, and call the resulting
material your own. It is at this point
that you may cross over into blatant plagiarism and serious violations of the
honor code (http://www.colorado.edu/academics/honorcode/). Changing a few words here and there is NOT a
defense in these cases. The