NEW: At CSS, Turnitin is now embedded with Blackboard, so faculty wishing to have students use Turnitin should click here for more information from our Academic Technology and Online Learning (ATOL) center.
Turnitin compares submitted papers to its database full of Internet sites, other papers, and online resources. It generates an originality report which can be used to check for plagiarism and to double check student's work.
EndNote is software that can organize, store, and input citations into Word documents to help you with your research. The College of St. Scholastica has a site license which offers two options for you to access Endnote and you can either pick one or use both as the situation warrants.
Step 1 - Decide on a topic
Resources to help you:
Encyclopedias
Current events
Issues and interests in your life
Step 2 - Define your topic
Narrow your topic and break apart its terms, discern what the subject headings are for your topic, combine your terms with Boolean logic (and, or, not)
Resources to help you:
Encyclopedias
Academic Search Premier Subject Terms
MESH (MEdical Subject Headings)
Step 3 - Research your topic
Resources to help you:
Reference books
Books
Articles
Web sites
Your textbook
Step 4 - Organize your topic into subtopics, create an outline
Outline Worksheet
Step 5 - Set up your paper in APA 6th style or MLA 7th style
Resources to help you:
CSS Library's APA 6th LibGuide
Sample paper in APA 6th (pdf)
Step-by-step tutorial on how to set up your headers in APA 6th
YouTube video on how to set up your header in APA 6th
CSS Library's MLA 7th LibGuide
Step 6 - Evaluate your resources and select which ones you will use in your paper
Evaluation of Sources Worksheet
Criteria to Evaluate Resources
Step 7 - Ethically incorporate your resources into your paper - in-text or parenthetical citations
Resources to help you:
How to Ethically Use Sources and Avoid Plagiarism Including Turnitin
Library's APA 6th LibGuide
Library's MLA 7th LibGuide
Look at the articles and your textbook for examples for how they used resources in their writing
Step 8 - Create your References List
Resources to help you:
Library's APA 6th LibGuide
Library's MLA 7th LibGuide
Having trouble with getting started on your paper? Would you like your paper edited before turning it in?
The Rose Frenzel Warner Writing/Critical Thinking Center is available to help! For more information, click here.