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Project...Research Paper Option

Research Paper Tutorial

Submitting the Paper

You've done it! You finally got the paper finished and it is time to get it to me.

I ask that all my students send me their papers electronically. This saves a tree or two every year and it allows me to easily store and review them any time. Blackboard provides a mechanism to send me papers (called the drop box) and you should follow the instructions I've included about how to submit papers to me.

This section of the tutorial is simply a laundry list of tips for submitting papers to me successfully. Please follow all of these tips as they are all important to your success in this project.

Submit your finished paper early. If you are done, send it...do not wait until the due date...that is when your computer is going to crash.
Save your file in multiple places...a good place to save it is by sending it to yourself in an email. This places a copy of the file on a remote server somewhere where you can get at it if it gets lost (you do not want to lose this thing!!)
Do SPELL CHECK and GRAMMAR CHECK...but be sure to use these tools carefully. Word processors do not always know the difference between "there", "their", and "they're".
Have someone read your paper. Your paper should be readable by just about anyone and they should understand it. If someone does not understand your paper it is YOU who has failed to communicate, not them.
Read your paper outloud to yourself and an audience. If you stumble saying your paper outloud then you have some writing clarity issues. You paper should flow.
Please do not submit your title page as a separate file. Your title page should be part of the same document as the rest of your paper...the same applies to your References page(s). Whoever instructed you to do this (as I receive many like this every semester) should be taken out and hit with water balloons.
Take criticism from your audiences well...including criticism from me. Critique of your writing is not an analysis of your personality or your intelligence...HOWEVER, when you write in the "real world" it IS a demonstration of your personality and your intelligence. Practice those skills now so you don't look like a fool later. People who do not write well are considered "stupid" by the general public (and by potential employers).
Be proud of the work you have done...academic expression is one of the greatest freedoms we have in this country...it is often threatened on many fronts.

OK...I think that is enough information about Research Papers! Enjoy the process! Doing this kind of literature review/research is a wonderful way to get the FACTS about a topic rather than relying on Dinner-Table-Conversation and the Media to make up your mind.

Links for Research Paper Tutorial