ENGL 4663: RESEARCH PAPER Student: _______________________ In the blanks under the S[tudent]column, please check only the items you think you have handled in the prescribed way. The most important items are in boldface. Please paper-clip this checklist to the front of your completed research paper. Do NOT staple the paper.

MANUSCRIPT FORM S T

1. Is the entire paper (including the four-line heading) double-spaced (with NO extra

spaces before or after the title), left-justified (NOT right-justified), and printed in a

size-12 font, with one-inch margins on all four sides? ___

2. Does the heading appear in correct form in the upper left of the first page, listing

your name, the instructor’s title and last name, the course number, and the date? ___

3. Does your last name followed by a space and the page number appear as a header

in the upper right of each page? ___

4. Is the title of your paper

a. a fragment rather than a complete sentence? ____ ____

b. correctly capitalized (capitalize first, last, and all other words except articles,

coordinate conjunctions, and prepositions)? ____ ____

c. NOT underlined, italicized, or placed in quotation marks?

d. centered below the four-line heading on the first page? _ _ ____

5. Is the first line of each paragraph indented one-half inch from the left margin? ____ ____

CONTENT

6. Have your topic and approach been approved by the instructor? ____ ____

7. Is your topic adequately narrowed and focused for a short paper? ____ ____

8. Does the content of the paper clearly relate to the history and development of the

English LANGUAGE (as opposed to merely politics, religion, culture, etc.)? ____ ____

9. Is the paper clear and understandable, using plain English and avoiding jargon? __ ____

10. Does the paper contain enough specific information to support its thesis? ____ ____

11. Does the paper avoid merely repeating our textbook or any single source? ____ ____

ORGANIZATION AND DEVELOPMENT

12. Does the title of the paper clearly and specifically reveal its content? __ ____

(Example: The Fight over Ebonics in the Oakland Public Schools)

13. Does the introduction

a. catch the reader’s interest in the paper? __ ____

b. introduce the topic, briefly explaining any background information necessary to

the reader’s understanding of the paper? __ ____

c. avoid excessive length, not exceeding about one-half page (to save space for the

development of the body)? ____ ____

14. Does the thesis

a. appear at the end of the introductory paragraph? ____ ____

b. clearly and concisely state the one idea that the body of the paper supports?____ ____

c. [optional:] concisely list (in parallel structure and in the same order as in the

body) the main points covered in the body? ____ ____

15. Do the body paragraphs avoid illogical, repetitious overlapping with each other? __ ____

16. Are the body paragraphs arranged in a logical order (such as order of importance

[ending with the most important or convincing paragraph] or chronological order)? ____ ____

17. Does each body paragraph have a topic sentence that

a. appears at the beginning of the paragraph or is easily recognizable? ____ __

b. clearly relates to your thesis about the topic (repeating key words or

concepts from the thesis)? __ __

c. covers the content of the entire paragraph? __ ____

18. Does each body paragraph

a. provide full development to support its topic sentence? __ ____

b. include plenty of specific, concrete details and examples rather than mere

generalizations? __ ____

c. have an appropriate length (usually about one-third to two-thirds of a page)? ____ ____

d. make clear how your discussion directly relates to the thesis? ____ ____

19. Do you effectively use transitions

a. at the beginning (rather than the end) of body paragraphs? ____ ____

b. as needed within paragraphs? ____ ____

20. Does the concluding paragraph

a. restate the thesis (in different words)? __ ____

b. give the paper a completed sound? __ ____

21. Is the essay (excluding Works Cited) no shorter than four (4) full pages and no

longer than about six (6) pages (or, for graduate credit, eight [8] to ten [10] pages)? ____ ____

RESEARCH AND DOCUMENTATION

22. Along with your research paper, have you submitted printouts or photocopies of

3 pages from which you have taken information for your paper? ____ ____

Are these 3 printouts or photocopies

a. so clearly marked or highlighted that the instructor will have no problem

comparing the source with your use of the source in the paper? ____ ____

b. clear evidence of your ability both to quote accurately and to put sources’

ideas in your own words? ____ ____

c. placed on top of the corresponding pages in your paper? ____ ____

23. Have you avoided plagiarism by providing parenthetical documentation for

every reference to a source's words or ideas (except for “common knowledge”:

factual information that is found in many sources)? __ ____

24. Are your parenthetical documentation and punctuation following it in correct

MLA form? __ ____

25. Are the page numbers in parentheses

a. exactly accurate? ____ __

b. citable page numbers from print sources or PDF files rather than uncitable

numbers from sources accessed by computer? __ ____

26. Have you avoided plagiarism by placing in quotation marks all direct quotations

of phrases or sentences? (Copying three [3] or more exact words in order can be

considered plagiarism.) __ ____

27. Do you avoid long quotations, relying instead on very brief quotations of only a

phrase or sentence? ____ ____

28. If, on a rare occasion, you have a quotation of five (5) or more lines of prose or four

(4) or more lines of poetry, do you use correct MLA form,

a. indenting ten (10) spaces from the left margin and no spaces from the right

margin? ____ ____ b. continuing to double-space (not single-spacing or leaving additional spaces

before and after the indented quotation)? ____ ____

29. Are all quotations exactly accurate, including capitalization and ellipsis marks? __ __

30. Rather than beginning to quote without warning, do you correctly and smoothly

introduce every quotation? ____ ____

31. Have you put most ideas from sources in your own words rather than making

your paper a mere patchwork of quotations? __ ____

32. Have you avoided plagiarism by putting paraphrases and summaries of sources

completely in your own words and your own sentence structure? (Merely

substituting synonyms into a source’s sentence structure is considered plagiarism.) ____ ____

33. Have you accurately represented the ideas of each source? __ ____

34. Do you make clear where your use of each summarized or paraphrased source begins

by introducing it if necessary? __ ____

35. Does each page of your paper thoroughly integrate information from various

sources rather than relying on just one source at a time? ____ ____

36. Does the Works Cited page

a. alphabetically list all sources documented in the paper (and only those)? __ ____

b. list at least five (5) sources, not counting our textbook, the OED, or The Professor

and the Madman? __ ____

c. include a variety of different kinds of sources (rather than all books or all Web sites)? __ ____

d. use correct MLA form for each entry? (See MLA Handbook, 6^th ed. [2003], various

academic Web sites, or www.mla.org.) __ ____

EDITING AND PROOFREADING

37. Have you edited your paper to eliminate awkward, unclear sentences and to ensure

effective sentence structure and word choice? __ ____

38. Have you edited your essay to eliminate wordiness and unnecessary repetition? ____ ____

39. Have you proofread to eliminate serious errors in grammar and sentence

structure: sentence fragments, comma splices, run-on sentences, agreement errors,

and verb errors? __ ____

40. Have you proofread to correct details of spelling, grammar, and punctuation? __ ____

41. Have you used spell-check on the final document? __ ____

42. Have you proofread the hard copy of the final document to eliminate all obvious

errors? (If you find errors and can’t reprint, make corrections in blue or black ink.) ____ ____