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Introduction | |
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How to Use This Book | |
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What You're Not to Read | |
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Foolish Assumptions | |
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How This Book Is Organized | |
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Bonus Web Chapter | |
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Icons Used in This Book | |
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Where to Go from Here | |
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Figuring Out What You Are Writing and How to Write It | |
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Running a Marathon in Sandals, or Writing a Research Paper | |
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Writing Research Papers Is for Your Own Good, Honest | |
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Cooking Up a Research Paper: The Basic Ingredients | |
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Meeting the Family: Characteristics of Each Type of Research Paper | |
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Climbing the Steps to Successful Research Papers | |
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Getting on the Right Track: Tips for Saving Time and Effort | |
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Making a Long Story Short | |
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Timing Is Everything | |
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Finding a Method That Suits Your Madness | |
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Discovering a Method That Suits Your Authority Figure's Madness | |
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What Am I Writing About? | |
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Defining Terms: Subject, Topic, and Thesis | |
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Selecting a Subject for Your Paper: The Subject of Your Affection | |
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Attending to the Topic of Topics | |
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Moving from a Topic to a Thesis | |
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Surveying the Territory: When Your Paper Doesn't Need a Thesis | |
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Finding Everything about Anything: Research | |
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Casting a Wide Net: Choosing Sources for Your Paper | |
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Sourcing Your Paper: How Many and What Kinds Do You Need? | |
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Stalking the Wild Source: A Field Guide | |
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Distrusting What You Find: A Guide to Evaluating Sources | |
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Surfing Safari: Researching Online | |
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Creating an Effective Search | |
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Taking You Where You Want to Go: Search Engines and Subject Catalogues | |
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Traveling Express: Metasearch Engines | |
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Searching Online Databases | |
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Finding the Best of the Internet: Good Spots to Begin Your Research | |
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Drowning in Information? How to Swim to Shore | |
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Working from Traditional Sources | |
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Researching from Library Books | |
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Finding Books in Bookstores | |
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Locating Newspaper and Magazine Articles | |
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Panning for Gold in the Pamphlet File | |
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Finding Audio-Visual Sources: You Oughta Be in Pictures | |
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Associating with Experts | |
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Examining George Washington's Letters: Researching from Special Collections | |
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Real Live People: Interviewing Techniques | |
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Finding Interview Subjects: Where the People Are | |
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Getting the Interview | |
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Preparing for the Interview | |
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Conducting the Interview | |
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Cleaning Up: Changing Real Speech into Readable Quotations | |
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Collecting Pearls of Wisdom: How to Take Notes | |
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One Size Does Not Fit All: Note-Taking Methods | |
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Carding--the Old System | |
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Note Taking on the Computer | |
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Can't We All Get Along? Combining Note Cards and Computers | |
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Highlighting and Indexing | |
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Indexing Audio-Visual Sources | |
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Documenting Your Sources | |
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Note Taking: What to Write, What to Skip | |
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Surveying the Field: Preliminary Notes | |
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Note Taking with Focus | |
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Avoiding Common Pitfalls: Too Many, Too Few, and Repetitive Notes | |
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N Tkg W/Abbr. | |
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Taking Proper Notes: An Example | |
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Staying on the Right Side of the Law | |
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Avoiding Plagiarism for Fun and Profit | |
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Quote Unquote | |
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Deciding When to Cite Sources | |
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Seeing What You Don't Have to Cite | |
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Following the Golden Rule of Citations | |
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Staying on the Right Side of the Copyright Law | |
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More Than Sharpening Pencils: Preparing to Write | |
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Forming a Thesis Statement | |
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Laying a Firm Foundation for Your Paper | |
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Forming a Thesis and Writing a Thesis Statement | |
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Avoiding Potholes: Too Broad, Too Narrow, or Self-Evident Theses | |
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Examining Quality Thesis Statements | |
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Forming a Topic Sentence | |
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Choosing a Title | |
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Choosing a Structure for Your Paper | |
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Marrying Form and Content: The Right Structure with the Right Thesis | |
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Considering the Options: Structures for Every Occasion | |
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Organizing a Paper That Doesn't Have a Thesis | |
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Personalizing a Structural Framework | |
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Organizing the Information: Subtopics | |
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Mining Research Notes for Subtopics | |
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Matching Subtopics to Structure | |
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Sorting Notes: Placing the Right Idea in the Right Basket | |
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The Battle Plan: Constructing an Outline | |
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Drawing Up a Battle Plan: Why Outlines Are Necessary | |
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Indenting by the Rules: How to Format an Outline | |
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Turning Notes into an Outline: A Practical Guide | |
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Checking the Logical Path | |
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Turn on the Computer, Fill the Fountain Pen: It's Time to Write | |
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Allow Me to Introduce Myself: Writing an Effective Introduction | |
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Setting Your Reader on the Right Path: What an Introduction Accomplishes | |
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Creating and Placing the Essential Elements of the Introduction | |
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Steering Clear of Vague Introductions | |
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Writing Introductions for Science and Business Research Papers | |
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The Body of Evidence | |
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Putting Meat on the Bones: Writing the Body of the Paper | |
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Defining Paragraphs and Writing Topic Sentences | |
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Staying on Topic: The Tuna Fish Defense | |
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Connecting the Dots: Moving from One Subtopic to Another | |
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Presenting Evidence and Relating It to a Thesis | |
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Inserting Quotations | |
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One Picture Is Worth | |
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Answering Objections in Advance: Concession and Reply | |
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And in Conclusion | |
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Summarizing versus Concluding: How to Tell the Difference | |
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Packing the Essentials: What the Conclusion Must Contain | |
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Getting It Together: How to Combine the Essential Elements of a Conclusion | |
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Concluding a Survey Paper | |
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Concluding Science Research Papers | |
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The Picky Stuff: Citing Sources | |
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Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due: Documenting Sources | |
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Meeting the Major Players in the Citation Game | |
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It's a Breeze: The Final Draft | |
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Polishing Is Not Just for Shoes | |
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Styling Your Sentences | |
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Fixing Grammar Gremlins | |
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Putting It All Together | |
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Solving Special Problems | |
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Adjusting Length: The Long and the Short of It | |
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Overcoming Writer's Block | |
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Surviving Research Disasters | |
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The Part of Tens | |
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The Ten Best Ways to Start Electronic Research | |
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Designing a Search | |
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Revving Up a Search Engine | |
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Taxing Government Resources | |
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Hitting the Library | |
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Hitting the Other Library | |
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Checking Your FAQs | |
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Getting Down to Business | |
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Reading the Paper | |
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Opening Up a Subject Catalogue | |
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Finding People | |
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The Ten Best Ways to Start Traditional Research | |
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Asking the Boss | |
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Asking the Librarian | |
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Opening the Catalogue | |
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Referring to Reference Books | |
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Checking the Children's Section | |
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Reading the Reader's Guide | |
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Noting the News | |
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Perusing the Pamphlet File | |
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Browsing Bowker's | |
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Going Shopping | |
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Appendix | |
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Arts | |
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Arts Topics for Younger Writers | |
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History | |
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History Topics for Younger Writers | |
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Literature and Language | |
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Literature Topics for Younger Writers | |
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Science, Mathematics, and Technology | |
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Science, Mathematics, and Technology Topics for Younger Writers | |
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Social Science and Psychology | |
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Social Science and Psychology Topics for Younger Writers | |
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Interdisciplinary Ideas | |
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Interdisciplinary Ideas for Younger Writers | |
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Index | |