Most history courses require term papers
(1) to give students opportunities to become familiar with every detail of one very limited aspect of the vast amount of material in the course,

(2) to train students in the use of historical materials as well as in selection, organization, and evaluation of information gained from various sources; and

(3) to help students develop habits and methods of independent research to apply to any report required by a business or profession.

A term paper is an exercise in organizing and presenting the results of an investigation in a carefully delimited field of knowledge. This investigation involves reading primary or secondary sources and gathering and compiling notes. Your instructor must be the final arbiter as to what resources are acceptable, including sources found on the Internet.

Choose a topic with your own interests in mind.
   Since history records all aspects of human life, find a subject which relates to your interests, from art to zoology. For example, if you are interested in literature, you might choose to research the life of a great author, the climate of opinion in the author's time or with political, economic, or other factors which may have influenced this author's writings.

Define the topic by developing a question to answer through research.

*Don't ask a simple question such as "What happened?" or "Who was there?"
that has an answer readily available in a standard reference (an encyclopedia) or in a single book or article. Questions dealing with origins, causes, and effects generally provide good starting points for a paper. Construct a paper that records the results of research and scholarship.

*Don't write a paper of personal opinion or conviction. Avoid controversial
topics on which you have strong convictions.

*Do limit yourself to a manageable topic considering limited time and space.

*Don't try to answer a question such as "How did Calvin influence Europe's religious thinking?" in 2500 words.

Research:
   The library catalog THOMCAT, on-line computer search programs, various guide to periodical literature, and general reference works will give you start. Do not ignore the obvious in research--use your textbook's bibliography and the bibliographies of other sources to lead you to more information. Be aware of biases in research, remembering that interpretations differ among sources. Do not get sidetracked by interesting but unconnected topics.

Note Taking:
   Take accurate notes in your own words rather than using the source's words to save time and to become familiar with the material. If you want to quote verbatim, be sure that your quotation is exact. The major reasons for using direct quotations are (1) to reproduce precisely the author's position or (2) to show that the writer's phrasing was so vivid that the student could not improve up on it. In general, do not quote without a very good reason.

   Accurately record the exact source of the information you put on your note cards or computer.

Avoiding Plagiarism:
   Put in quotation marks all directly quoted material.
Paraphrase and cite the source for all other material that is not common knowledge.

How to Paraphrase:
   Read the material as often as needed to grasp the substance of the writer's idea. Then, without referring to the source, write your own version of the writer's idea.Finally, check your statement of the idea against the source to be sure that

(1) you have not unconsciously reproduced the author's words, and

(2) you have accurately represented the thought of the source. Then cite the course.

   The mere fact that you have not quoted the source directly does not absolve you from giving credit for the idea. Reference any material, quoted or paraphrased, that is not common knowledge

What is common knowledge?
   (from James D. Lester's Writing Research Papers: A Complete Guide (New York: Longman, 1999, available in Thomason Library).

*Would an intelligent person know this information?

*Did you know it before you discovered in in the source?

*Is it encyclopedia-type information?

*Have you found this information in at least three different sources?


The Paper:
   Plan the organization of your paper. Make an outline with the answer to your question (the overall main point or thesis) and two, three , or more main divisions that will prove that thesis. A well-written topic sentence for each paragraph will improve your writing and the level of your analysis.

   The paper should include an introduction showing the purpose of the paper, the body which proves your thesis, in well-developed paragraphs,and a conclusion that is based on evidence in paper. Write in simple past tense and avoid passive voice or long convoluted sentences.
Revise, revise, revise and polish the final effort. The time you spent on research is worth a good presentation.

   Take your draft to the Writing Center in Neville 206 (call 7083 for an appointment). Several tutors are history majors who can be especially helpful in responding to your paper, but all of the tutors can give you an idea of the strengths of your organization and places where a reader would be confused.

   The Writing Center also has many books with information on writing and citing sources in history papers: Kate L. Turabian's A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations and Gray Wood's Historian' s Handbook: A Key to the Study and Writing of History.

Type and double space the final draft with 250-300 words per page. The average paper is 12-15 pages, including endnotes and bibliography. Do not forget to number pages and present your work stapled or in binder (see your instructor's exact requirement.)

Citing Quotations or Paraphrases
   Use endnotes in history term papers, not parenthetical citations. Extended quotations (three or more lines) should be used sparingly. If you do use them, indent and single space without quotation marks. Integrate the citation into your text to avoid awkward structure.

Bibliography
   Sources for biblography information, including instructions for endnotes, are Kate L. Turabian's A Manual for Writers of Term Paper, Theses, and Dissertations (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1964) and Wood Gray's Historian's Handbook: A Key to the Study and Writing of History (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1964). Both are available in the Writing Center in Neville Hall 206.