Writing a Research Paper for Your Science Fair Project

[Pages:15]W riting a Research Paper for Your Science Fair Project

Key I nfo

? As you do your research, follow your background research plan and t ake not es from your sources of

inform at ion. These not es will help you writ e a bet t er sum m ary. More inform at ion about t he background research plan can be found on t he Proj ect Guide page at .

? The purpose of your r e se a r ch pa pe r is t o give you t he inform at ion t o underst and why your

experim ent t urns out t he way it does. The research paper should include:

o The hist ory of sim ilar experim ent s or invent ions o Definitions of all im portant words and concepts that describe your experim ent o Answers to all your background research plan questions o Mat hem at ical form ulas, if any, t hat you will need t o describe t he result s of your experim ent ? For every fact or pict ure in your research paper you should follow it wit h a cit at ion t elling t he reader

where you found t he inform at ion. A citat ion is j ust the nam e of t he aut hor and t he dat e of t he publicat ion placed in parent heses like t his: ( Aut hor, dat e) . This is called a reference cit at ion when using APA form at and parent het ical reference when using t he MLA form at . I t s purpose is t o docum ent a source briefly, clearly, and accurat ely.

? I f you copy t ext from one of your sources, t hen place it in quot at ion m arks in addit ion t o following it

with a citation. Be sure you understand and avoid plagiarism ! Do not copy another person's work and call it your own. Always give credit where credit is due!

? Most t eachers want a research paper t o have t hese sect ions, in order: o Tit le page ( wit h t he t it le of your proj ect , your nam e, and t he dat e) o Your report o Bibliography o Check wit h your t eacher for addit ional requirem ent s, such as page num bers and a t able of

con t en t s

Overview

Year aft er year, st udent s find t hat t he report called t he research paper is t he part of t he science fair proj ect where they learn the m ost. So, take it from those who preceded you, the research paper you are preparing to write is super valuable.

W hat I s a Research Paper?

The short answer is t hat t he research paper is a report sum m arizing t he answers t o t he research quest ions you generated in your background research plan. I t's a review of the relevant publications ( books, m agazines, websites) discussing the topic you want to investigate.

The long answer is t hat t he research paper sum m arizes t he t heory behind your experim ent . Science fair j udges like t o see t hat you underst and why your experim ent t urns out t he way it does. You do library and I nternet research so that you can m ake a prediction of what will occur in your experim ent, and then whether that prediction is right or wrong, you will have the knowledge to understand what caused the behavior you ob ser v ed .

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From a pract ical perspect ive, t he research paper also discusses t he t echniques and equipm ent t hat are appropriate for investigating your topic. Som e m ethods and techniques are m ore reliable because they have been used m any t im es. Can you use a procedur e for your science fair proj ect t hat is sim ilar t o an experim ent that has been done before? I f you can obtain this inform ation, your proj ect will be m ore successful. As they say, you don't want to reinvent the wheel!

I f t hese reasons sound t o you like t he reasons we gave for doing background research, you're right ! The research paper is sim ply t he "writ e- up" of t hat research.

Special I nform ation to I nclude in Your Research Paper

Many science experim ent s can be explained using m at hem at ics. As you writ e your research paper, m ake sure t hat you include as m uch relevant m at h as you underst and. I f a sim ple equat ion describes aspect s of your science fair proj ect, include it. I f you are doing an engineering or program m ing proj ect that involves designing or inventing a new device, procedure, com puter program , or algorithm , then be sure to read Engineering & Program m ing Proj ect Tips, found on t he Proj ect Guide page at . You should have som e additional inform ation in your research paper.

W riting the Research Paper

Note Taking

As you read the inform ation in your bibliography, you'll want to take notes. Som e teachers recom m end t aking not es on not e cards. Each card cont ains t he source at t he t op, wit h key point s list ed or quot ed underneat h. Ot hers prefer t yping not es direct ly int o a word processor. No m at t er how you t ake not es, keep t rack of t he sources for all your key fact s.

How to Organize Your Research Paper

The best way t o speed your writ ing is t o do a lit t le planning. Before st art ing t o writ e, t hink about t he best order t o discuss t he m aj or sect ions of your report . Generally, you will want t o begin wit h your science fair proj ect quest ion so that the reader will know the purpose of your paper. What should com e next? Ask yourself what inform ation the reader needs to learn first in order to understand the rest of the paper. A typical organization m ight look like this:

? Your science fair proj ect quest ion or t opic ? Definitions of all im portant words, concepts, and equations that describe your experim ent ? The hist ory of sim ilar experim ent s ? Answers to your background research questions

W hen and How to Footnote or Reference Sources

When you write your research paper you m ight want to copy words, pictures, diagram s, or ideas from one of your sources. I t is OK t o copy such inform at ion as long as you reference it with a cit ation. I f t he inform at ion is a phrase, sent ence, or paragraph, t hen you should also put it in quot at ion m arks. A cit at ion and quot at ion m arks tell the reader who actually wrote the inform ation.

For a science fair proj ect , a reference cit at ion ( also known as aut hor- dat e cit at ion) is an accept ed way t o reference inform at ion you copy. Cit at ion referencing is easy. Sim ply put t he aut hor's last nam e, t he year of publicat ion, and page num ber ( if needed) in parent heses aft er t he inform at ion you copy. Place t he refer ence cit at ion at t he end of t he sent ence but before t he final period. Make sure t hat t he source for every cit at ion item copied appears in your bibliography.

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Re fe r e nce Cit a t ion For m a t

Type of Cit a t ion

Parenthetical Reference

Re fe r e nce Cit a t ion

MLA Form at ( Author - page)

APA Form at ( Author - date) *

Work by a single author

( Bloggs 37)

( Bloggs, 2002)

Direct quot e of work by single

( Bloggs 37)

( Bloggs, 2002, p. 37)

aut hor

Work by two authors

( Bloggs and Sm ith 37)

( Bloggs & Sm ith, 2002)

Work by t hree t o five aut hors ( first ( Kernis, Cornell, Sun, Berry, and ( Kernis, Cornell, Sun, Berry, &

tim e)

Harlow 183-185)

Harlow, 1993)

Work by three to five authors

(Kernis et al., 1993)

( subsequent tim es)

Work by six or m ore author

(Harris et al. 99)

(Harris et al., 2001)

Two or m ore works by t he sam e

( Berndt, 1981a)

author in the sam e year ( use lower-

( Berndt, 1981b)

case letters t o order the entries in

bibliography)

Two or m ore works by t he sam e

( Berndt , Short ened First Book Tit le

aut hor

221) then

( Berndt , Short ened 2nd Book Tit le

68)

Two or m ore works in t he sam e

( Berndt 221; Harlow 99)

( Berndt, 2002; Harlow, 1983)

par en t h eses

Authors with sam e last nam e

( E. Johnson 99)

( E. Johnson, 2001; L. Johnson,

1998)

Work does not have an aut hor, cit e ( Book Tit le 44) or

( Book Tit le, 2005) or

the source by its title

( Short ened Book Tit le 44)

( "Art icle Tit le" , 2004)

Work has unknown author and date

( "Art icle Tit le", n.d.)

* APA Not e: I f you are direct ly quot ing from a work, include t he aut hor, year of publicat ion, and page

num ber for the reference ( preceded by "p.") .

Ex a m ple s of Re fe r e nce Cit a t ions usin g APA For m a t

Below are exam ples of how reference cit at ions would look in your paper using t he APA form at .

"I f you copy a sentence from a book or m agazine article by a single author, the reference will look like this. A com m a separates the page num ber ( or num bers) from the year" ( Bloggs, 2002, p. 37) . "I f you copy a sentence from a book or m agazine article by m ore than one author, the reference will look like this" ( Bloggs & Sm ith, 2002, p. 37) . "Som etim es the author will have two publications in your bibliography for j ust one year. I n that case, the first publicat ion would have an 'a' aft er t he publicat ion year, t he second a 'b', and so on. The reference will look like this" (Nguyen, 2000b) . "When the author is unknown, the text reference for such an entry m ay substitute the title, or a shortened version of t he t it le for t he aut hor" ( The Chicago Manual, 1993) . " For reference cit at ions, only direct quot es need page num bers" ( Han, 1995) . "Som e sources will not have dates" ( Blecker, n.d.) .

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Cr e dit W he r e Cr e dit I s D ue !

When you work hard t o writ e som et hing, you don't want your friends t o j ust copy it . Every aut hor feels t he sam e way.

Plagiarism is when som eone copies t he words, pict ures, diagram s, or ideas of som eone else and present s them as his or her own. When you find inform ation in a book, on the I nternet, or from som e other source, you MUST give t he aut hor of t hat inform at ion credit in a cit ation. I f you copy a sent ence or paragraph exactly, you should also use quotation m arks around the text.

The surprising t hing t o m any st udent s is how easy it is for parent s, t eachers, and science fair j udges t o detect and prove plagiarism . So, don't go there, and don't m ake us try to hunt you down!

How to Form at Your Research Paper

For m ore inform at ion about how t o form at your research paper, visit and you will find t he " How t o Form at Your Research Paper" link on t he Proj ect Guide's " Research Paper " page under " Relat ed Links." Or, your t eacher m ight have passed t his out t o you.

Sam ple

To see a sam ple research paper, visit and you'll find t he " Sam ple Research Paper" link on t he Proj ect Guide's " Research Paper" page under " Relat ed Links."

Re se a r ch Pa pe r Che ck list

W hat Makes a Good Research Paper?

Have you defined all-im portant term s? Have you clearly answered all your research quest ions? Does your background research enable you to m ake a prediction of what will occur in your experim ent ? Will you have the knowledge t o understand what causes the behavior you observe? Have you included all t he relevant m at h t hat you underst and? Have you referenced all inform ation copied from another source and put any phrases, sentences, or paragraphs you copied in quotation m arks? I f you are doing an engineering or program m ing proj ect, have you defined your target user and answered questions about user needs, products that m eet sim ilar needs, design criteria, and im portant design t r adeof f s?

For a Good Research Paper, You Should Answ er "Yes" to

Every Quest ion Yes / No Yes / No

Yes / No

Yes / No

Yes / No

Yes / No

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