Welcome back Adult Learners! I hope you’re rested, ready, and energized to begin the next part of our guide to research papers: finding and evaluating sources for your assignment. In general, the point of a research paper is to:

• pick a topic (which we did last time),
• find books, journal articles, websites, and other resources that provide more information and opinions about that topic, and
• combine that evidence with your own original thoughts to either paint a descriptive picture of a topic (descriptive paper)  or present a strong argument for one side or the other of a controversy (persuasive or argumentative paper)

That’s easier said than done, I’m well aware.

Continue reading “The College Success Central guide to research papers: finding sources” »

 Well, you can’t put it off any longer, and there’s nothing for it. It’s time to start writing this semester’s big research paper. Whether this is your first college paper or your last, the feelings are the same. Most adult learners, heck, most students, feel uncertain about where to begin when starting a temp paper. That’s nothing to be afraid of or ashamed about, by the way. When you’re starting to organize your thoughts on a research paper, you want to leave yourself open to as many directions as possible. Starting a research project with more than a basic idea of what the final product will look like is almost always a recipe for writing a bad paper. By not limiting yourself too soon, you will have more room to be creative, learn unexpected facts about your topic, and brainstorm new approaches to your topic you might not have considered. All that said, there are a few things to keep in mind as you create your plan of attack, pick a topic, and forge onward to your outline and ultimately your finished paper. In short, getting started on a paper is all about brainstorming, and you should see the below tips as gentle guidance and reassurance, rather than a step-by-step list.

Continue reading “The College Success Central Guide to Research Papers: Getting Started” »

Hello Adult Learners! I’ve talked a little about writing here and there on this blog. However, we haven’t really gone into the process in any depth, and that’s a bit of an oversight for a website that is devoted to college success. However, it will take WAY more than one post to do this topic justice.  Today I’m starting of my series on researching and writing a successful term paper. I think it’ll be 8 parts, but I reserve the right to make more or less sections. In each section I’ll talk a bit about what you should be learning about your topic or the writing process, the emotions you may be feeling in the process, and steps you’ll need to take to successfully complete that part of the paper process. Today’s post is an overview of what we’ll be covering.

Continue reading “The College Success Central guide to writing research papers: introduction” »