Think of writing your paper as using evidence, collected from peer-reviewed journal articles, to answer your research question. Think of your paper writing as having several steps that lead up to the final product.
Review research articles. This will include reading through: research design, methods, and findings related to your topic. As you read through articles consider the following. (This will help you formulate the BODY of your paper
What type of research is being conducted, and what level of evidence is it? (in vitro, clinical trial, systematic literature review).
What does the research say about my question?
How would I summarize the methodology and results from this paper? Is this article reputable? (use guidelines from your reputable references assignment)
Look at the research articles as a whole. Consider: (this will help you formulate the CONCLUSION of the paper)
What do they say collectively?
Are there notable limitations?
Can you confidently answer your question? Why or why not?
Write your paper! Consider:
Style of writing: should be clear and concise, see below for more information
In text citations: clear and consistent citations
Clarity of evidence: you’ve been reading through these articles, but does your paper clearly summarize evidence, including strengths and weaknesses in addressing your question?
Paper Format
The paper should be 2 pages single-spaced minimum (not including references or images) with at least 3 references from peer-reviewed journals. Other reputable references can be used in addition to journal articles; most excellent papers use many more references than the minimum. Keep in mind that these are minimums. But longer isn’t necessarily better. Please see the Research Paper Rubric on Canvas before you begin writing to see how it will be graded.
Please use your question as the title of your paper. The 1st paragraph of your paper should introduce the topic, engage the reader, and include the question that you want to answer at the end of the paragraph. You are welcome to write in the first person in the introduction and conclusion of the paper. This is a time for your voice to come through if you’d like it to. For example, many good topics papers describe in the first paragraph why they chose the research question that they did. Generally the introduction will be a single paragraph.
The body should provide a description of what you found in your references in a well-organized and developed way. This should be primarily a description of research you found that you’ll use to answer your research question. Subheadings are fine if you would like to use them within the body. The final paragraph should conclude what is known on the topic and whether you can answer your research question. Keep in mind that a conclusion should not introduce new information.
In addition, the paper should include an image/figure related to the topic.
Tables are welcome, but they are not images (this includes an image of a table). Remember to cite where the image/figure came from if appropriate. See the citation instructions below.
The paper should not paraphrase what you learned in the class or from a textbook/flexbook. Your target audience is the other students in the course, so you do not need to explain concepts/information that they should know. Your paper should present new ideas and/or new information. Quoting word-for-word text is used sparingly in scientific writing, so the majority, if not all, of the paper should be paraphrased.
Citations, References/Literature Cited
You will need to include in-text citations and a “References Cited” section at the end of your paper. You may use whatever style you are most comfortable with (e.g. AMA, MLA, APA, other). Consistency is key! The references/literature cited part of your paper should contain the following information needed to correctly identify the article (Authors, Article Title, Journal Name, Date published or updated, Page numbers) or website (Author, Date of publication or last revision, Title of Webpage, Retrieved on month day, and year you visited the site, from URL). Books and other reputable references can also be used.
Through K-State libraries you have access to Refworks (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site., which is an online reference management center you could choose to use to help you manage and cite your references. Here is the link to the K-State Libraries Citations and Bibliographies page (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.. In the libraries GET IT button menu there is an option to save the citation to Refworks, which is a nice way to collect citations if you wish to use it. You can also use this citation builder (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.to help you make the citations if you wish.
Ask myself or ask a librarian (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. if you have any questions or for help if needed. Losing points for incorrect citations and references is unfortunate, but it’s important that you learn how to do these correctly.
Instructions for submitting your research question paper
Name it Your Name.doc, .docx, or .pdf file (points will be deducted if it isn’t in one of these file formats).
Select Research Question Paper quiz.
Once inside select “Take This Quiz.”
On the next page use “Choose a File” to browse for your document.
Once it says “Your file has been successfully uploaded” in green text hit the purple submit quiz button.
Select the Reaction Assignment Discussion from the Reaction Assignment Module. Start a new thread (use the reply below the instructions, don’t reply to another person’s thread with your own), put the title of your paper in the thread, and attach your research question paper and hit the post reply button. Students will review and give feedback on this research question paper for the reaction assignment.
