The Research Paper in History: HIS 400 Assignment Sheet
You should use Benjamin's A Student's Guide to History both to assist with doing history research [A Student's Guide to History (chap. 4)] and to assist with writing a research paper, including citation forms and basic layout [A Student's Guide to History (chap. 5)] (N.b. both of these links are "internal" C of I Intranet reserve documents: you must be on campus and logged onto the campus network to access them).
Basic Requirements: (you will be docked three percentage points from
the grade otherwise earned for the assignment for each requirement
missing from your paper)
1) The paper must be word processed/typed, must have page numbers in the top right-hand corner of each page after the first, must have a maximum of 1 inch margins throughout, must be double spaced, and must be printed out in 12 point type font (Courier or Times Roman). You may use a cover sheet or place necessary information in the top left-hand corner of the first page of your paper. Each paper should have at least your name, the course for which it is being turned in, the date, and an accurate word count. Your paper must have a brief but appropriately illustrative title. The paper will be a minimum of 15 pages and a maximum of 20 (4500 to 6000 words). Staple or otherwise securely fasten your papers in the top left-hand corner. Do NOT use plastic covers or binders of any sort.
2)
The paper must have at least 1 independent scholarly source for
each page in length (e.g. 15 sources for a 15 page paper) and a separate bibliography
(at the end) conforming to
A note on the quality of sources: you should preferentially use high-quality academic sources over popular histories or older books and articles (pre-1940). You should NOT rest satisfied with the first eight or ten sources you find and should search for a variety of sources, both books and articles. Academic books can generally be identified by their publication through university or major trade presses and articles through publication in respected, refereed academic journals. Ideally your paper should rely most heavily on these types of sources and the assessment of your research and use of sources will rest heavily on your use of such sources. Thus, a paper that relies only on encyclopedias and nineteenth-century books, for example, would not be considered well researched. Generally at least half of your scholarly sources should come from recent work after about 1980.
3) You should do research following the advice laid out in the Research Process Guide and using the resources provided on the History Department Research page. For more general guidance on doing history research, see A Student's Guide to History (chap. 4); on writing a research paper, including citation forms and basic layout, see A Student's Guide to History (chap. 5); for a listing of bibliographical, journal and online sources (including primary sources), see A Student's Guide to History (Appendix A), The Information-Literate Historian (Chap. 6), and The Information-Literate Historian (Chapter 7). (N.b. these links are "internal" C of I Intranet reserve documents: you must be on campus and logged onto the campus network to access them).
4) You must write your paper in the stages laid out in the syllabus. All of the stages, with grades and comments, must be included in the final research portfolio. Late penalties will apply to each stage: 5% reduction for each 24 hour period the assignment is late.
General
Requirements:
1)
Read the Research
Process Guide and follow the
instructions for selecting a topic, researching it, and writing a paper on
it. Be certain to utilize all the
research tools available, including Inter
2) The paper must have a concrete thesis stated in its introductory paragraph. Each following paragraph and each example/argument should be explicitly chosen and developed to support that thesis. The conclusion should restate the thesis as an answered question and, ideally, extend the argument to issues of greater historical concern. As the old saying goes, "Tell 'em what you're gunna tell 'em [introduction], tell 'em [and show/demonstrate to them in the body of the paper with evidence], tell 'em what you told 'em [conclusion]." Analysis and argumentation are crucial. Your paper should always be able to pass the “so what?” test; that is, you should always seek to convince your reader of the importance and interest of your topic. Furthermore, the importance of the information and arguments in the paper should always explicitly support a clearly developed and defended thesis that is central to your topic.
3) General narratives of development or descriptions of situations must be supported with concrete and specific evidence. Specific examples, quotations, and other evidence are essential to historical analysis. Thus, note these points:
a. Paragraphs within the body of a research paper should generally have at least one source citation and one concrete example each. You must cite your sources even when paraphrasing or relating information in your own words drawn from a specific source. Judicious use of quotations, especially from primary sources, can add dramatically to the power and effectiveness of your arguments. Even though you are writing a research paper, and will naturally rely on secondary-source analyses, incorporation of primary-source materials is central to this research project.
b. Overuse of quotations can detract from the quality of your paper. Generally speaking, you should only quote those phrases that are outstandingly striking and illustrative or use long quotations (of a full sentence or more) when the material is so powerful that it cannot be paraphrased without detracting from its usefulness. If you use long quotations, note that those of over three lines should be block indented. Furthermore, as a general rule, long quotations should be followed by at least as much independent explication of meaning or analysis as the length of the quotation. If you are quoting from a secondary source, it is usually the best to acknowledge the author of the work in the body of the text with a signal phrase ("As Ranajit Guha notes, . . . "). A research paper should always be more than simply a set of strung together quotations of other people's arguments and analyses.
4) If you refer to a historical debate or a contested point of interpretation among historians, you should indicate the principle figures in the debate and provide citations to key articles or books that demonstrate their various positions. If it detracts from the flow of your paper to include these in the body of the text, provide this information in the form of an informational footnote.
5) In a research paper you should use and display the use of a wide range of sources in your footnotes. It is a sign of poor research and a narrow evidential base if the same source is repeatedly referred to. If you have several sources that convey similar information or interpretation, mix your references to these sources to demonstrate the breadth of your research work through the scholarly apparatus of the footnote.
Some common
writing errors to avoid:
1) when
indicating decades, the plural, not the possessive should be used: thus,
1960s NOT 1960's (according to the Chiago Manual of Style).
2) do not
confuse its (the possessive form) and it's (the contraction): remember,
it's = it is, ALWAYS!
3) do not simply string quotations from other writers together into a series of parroted points. Paraphrase and blend the material, adding your own ideas and analysis, in order to add something new to the topic.