| A good academic paper starts out with a clearly | | | | project, you can begin to gather information from |
| defined topic which is neither too broad or too narrow. | | | | authoritative reference sources: pertinent books, |
| For example, "Cactus" would be too broad a topic. On | | | | encyclopedias, and articles in magazines and journals. |
| the other hand, A topic is too narrow if you can't find | | | | Be cautious when using material from the Internet. |
| any information about it. For example, suppose your | | | | Before citing Internet sources, check the credentials of |
| foreign language subject to, "foreign language policy in | | | | the writer. Are they associated with a university or |
| South Dakota." Although you might have a strong | | | | well-known corporation? What experience and training |
| interest in this topic, South Dakota may not have a | | | | do they have in the field? |
| specific policy about foreign languages. If you have | | | | Before you turn in your paper, double check it for |
| chosen the topic, "teaching Chinese in elementary | | | | errors. If you can, after you have checked for errors, |
| schools," and your research attempts have been | | | | let another person (for example, your parent or an |
| fruitless, it may be that you are considering a topic that | | | | older sibling) check it too. Are there any references |
| no one else has previously presented. In other words, | | | | missing from the bibliography. Is referenced material |
| no one has determined that Chinese should be a | | | | from sources properly cited? Do the sentences and |
| major language taught as commonly as Spanish or | | | | reasoning make sense. Did you include an abstract or |
| French. | | | | summary of the paper in the case of APA format |
| Using an outline can help you organize your material | | | | papers? As soon as you are satisfied with your paper, |
| and can also help you discover connections between | | | | run a spell and grammar check. (Check your spell |
| pieces of information that you weren't aware of when | | | | checker setting and make sure that they set to |
| you first conceived the topic of your paper, After you | | | | Grammar and style). At that point, you can hand in |
| have identified a topic and prepare an outline of the | | | | your paper. |