Writing Research Papers in Education

The college-level research paper is more than just a summary of book chapters and research articles. An acceptable paper takes a clearly defined topic or idea, supports it through research of the current literature, and presents it in a logical and consistent fashion. Below you will find resources that will aid you throughout the process of writing a research paper in the field of education.

STUDENT GUIDES FOR DOING RESEARCH IN THE FIELD OF EDUCATION

• ERIC as a Resource for the Teacher Researcher
  This ERIC digest outlines the salient characteristics of teacher-led research and its benefits.

• How to Write a Scholarly Research Report
  This ERIC digest discusses the common sections of a research report along with frequently made mistakes. While the emphasis here is on reports prepared for scholarly, peer-reviewed publication, these points are applicable to other forms of research reports.

USING THE APA STYLE FOR WRITING YOUR RESEARCH PAPER

• American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
  This print resource provides all the rules that govern the formatting of your final manuscript. Please note that this style guide governs more than just the organization of your bibliography. There are rules, for example, concerning your paper's font size, margins, pagination and punctuation. You can locate this guide in virtually any public or academic library.
  
  
• APA Publication Manual Crib Sheet
  Produced by Professor Russ Dewey of Georgia State University and edited by Bill Scott, this is a reference to the most commonly used rules and reference formats from the APA Style Guide.

• APA Style for Research Papers
  Online summary of the American Psychological Association's guide to writing research papers. This resource provides summarized instructions for citing references as well as how to prepare a manuscript.