TIPS FOR WRITING RESEARCH PAPERS
(COMMON MISTAKES) (rev. 8/2009)
There are far more rules than this, but I have encountered these problems most frequently in the course of correcting papers.  Most can be solved with the aid of a good grammar and style book.  Please, use the Academic Success Center if you feel you need assistance for the mechanical aspects of your research project.  If I feel you need assistance, I will recommend this resource to you, and require that you visit the facility.  This is an effective and often underused resource provided by 
Midlands Tech.   

1.	Use a thesaurus and a dictionary.  Those two references will aid in avoiding common, vague and overused words.  However, check the definition of the intended word, because even a thesaurus does not differentiate between shades of meaning.
2.	No “of” ever in dates.  Do this:  January 14, 2004.   Or do this:  14 January 2004 (note, no comma in this style).  Never do this:  January of 2004 or January 14 of 2004.
3.	Never write a date like this:  January 14th, 2004  or 14th January 2004.
4.	Do not depend solely on spell-check to correct your spelling.  Check with your own eyes.  It’s call editing, and is essential to proper mechanics.  Computers do not solve your editing problems.  Spell-check does not correct trail when you meant to use trial.  It looks correct to your computer.
5.	Avoid thing and it.  Find a proper word, not vague, slang, or casual.  Thing and It are only occasionally appropriate.
6.	Avoid connecting statements with numbers, such as, “firstly”, “secondly”, etc.  Break up that redundancy.  Use words such as:  primarily, initially, additionally, furthermore, finally.  Only use numbers occasionally to aid the reader in keeping track of your points.  Also, alter sentence structure in this type of listing to avoid boredom.  You’ll lose your reader’s interest.
7.	Put variety in sentence structure.  Sentences do not have to consistently have subject/predicate in that order, but of course, a complete sentence must have both.
8.	Avoid fragments and run-on sentences for scholarly assignments.  Creative writing may afford exceptions to this rule, but this is not a creative writing class.
9.	Pertaining to sentence structure, do not back into your sentence with participial phrases, except occasionally.  When you do, make sure that phrase is modifying the proper noun.
10.	Italicize titles of books, ships, magazines, newspapers, court cases, airplanes, etc.  You really do need a stylebook to get this right.  Underlining is outdated, unless you are handwriting a project, or your computer does not have an italics capability.
11.	No color print and underlining for URLs.  Your computer probably does that automatically, but you must manually override that feature for academic papers.  If you don’t know how to override, ask me.
12.	I cannot stress the value of familiarizing yourself with MLA style.  There are other styles out there, but you must use this method for this class.  MLA style offers a specific writing style for research papers with rather precise rules that should be followed for the proper completion of a writing task.
13.	Long quotes are set apart in block format, unlike short quotes, which are embodied in the paragraph of a paper.  Double-space long quotes, indent a tab length for all lines at the left-hand margin, omit quotation marks, and cite your source at the end of the quote.
14.	In reference to citing sources:  If the words are not your own, you must cite, and often, but not so much, it disrupts the flow of your paper.  I recommend you cite after every paragraph.  No exceptions for citing sources.  It’s plagiarism, otherwise.  You must cite direct quotes, but you must also cite those passages that you have paraphrased, or those passages that contain ideas you have used in the context of your paper.  It’s plagiarism, otherwise.  You have also plagiarized if you use the exact wording from a source even if you used a parenthetical reference at the end of the sentence or paragraph.  You have also plagiarized if you only slightly alter the wording of the source information.
15.	A well-written paragraph will generally reflect the ideas of more than one source.
16.	Spell out numbers below 100.  There are exceptions to this rule, but you should refer to a stylebook to know what they are.
17.	Do not use emotionally charged statements or perspectives in your paper.  Do not use the paper as a forum for voicing your opinion.
18.	Use the full name of person for first reference, then the last name after that as a general rule.
19.	Do not use first-person or second-person references for these papers. (No I, me, we, us, mine, ours, or you, yours)  
20.	Know the difference between “its” and “it’s”.  They are not the same, and not interchangeable. “Its” is possessive, and “it’s” is a contraction for “it is”.
21.	Edit, edit, edit your work.  Many of you could have higher grades if not for poor editing practices.  Have another set of eyes review your papers.  (I still do!  Yes, mistakes may still slip through, but the goal here is to minimize.)  Perfectly edited papers, regardless of the age and experience of the author, rarely, if ever, exist, but the author should always strive.  Attention to detail is an absolute for a successful academic career.