Research Step 2

Research Step 2

Overview

Yahoo! It is our second research step!

Step 2 for your research paper is compiling a Preliminary Bibliography, and it consists of listing 22 sources in MLA Bibliographic format. This research step is especially important any time you have been given the ability to choose your own research topic since it is a test of the topic’s research viability. Remember if you cannot find 22 sources, there is a very strong chance that your research topic is not sufficient for the final project: the research paper. Also, you need to give a variety of sources so that the topic’s coverage is thorough.

Instructions

There are 6 parts to Step 2, and they are listed below:

1. Find and give the bibliographic citation for 1 encyclopedia article and copy a paragraph of the article under the citation.
2. Find and give bibliographic citations for 5 books.
3. Find and give bibliographic citations for 5 magazines/journals.
4. Find and give bibliographic citations for 5 newspapers.
5. Find and give bibliographic citations for 5 internet sites.
6. Find and give the bibliographic citation for 1 source with a bibliography and copy a part of the bibliography list under the citation.

***You might want to return to the preceding Pages/Modules and watch the videos showing how to navigate each database type as you do your Step 2; doing so will give you the names of the databases and walk you through the process of finding sources and getting bibliographic citations.

***Remember, too, that you need to review the announcement that explains the Permalink so that you can return to the articles later this semester when you are working on the rest of the steps.

NOTES: Remember to do the following two tasks when compiling your list:

• alphabetize under each subheading
• use a hanging indent if the citations fall onto the second line.

See Sample Step 2.

See also MLA Rules, Encyclopedias, Books, Magazines/Journals, Newspapers, Internet, and Source with Bibliography.