2.4: Academic Research Essay

Overview

For this assignment, you will go back to the topic you chose for your Researched-Argument about the Brain. You will now write a 500-750 word (2-3 page, double spaced) literature-review essay on the same topic (this is sometimes called research-background or past-research). A literature review is an important part of research you will be asked to complete throughout your college experience, especially for the type of big research project you will complete for an advanced degree such as a master's or PhD.

You already got a good idea of the conversation that exists about your topic according to informal and news sources, and as well as the community perspective. Now, in this new assignment, you will review and join the academic conversation that has taken place surrounding your topic. You will access scholarly sources to increase your understanding of the topic related to the human brain. You will continue the discussion about your topic by reviewing a minimum of three scholarly sources and becoming a speaker in the existing academic conversation.

Assignment Objectives and Directives

• Improve, revise, and edit the thesis statement (argument/claim/main idea) from your previous essay relating to brain research. Determine whether you need to narrow your focus. Use your instructor/tutor comments, module resources, and your own reflections to re-write, re-word, and strengthen your thesis. Be sure to check for grammatical correctness and parallel structure.
• Conduct scholarly research using the library databases to search for journal articles connected to the general topic of your brain research essay (remember, the articles might not cover your exact thesis idea--and that's good!) Select your three sources carefully so that you can explain and respond to their main ideas. Remember: hey must be from ACADEMIC JOURNALS to count as scholarship research for this assignment.
• Write a new introduction for your new sources and your revised thesis statement. This introduction needs to introduce your topic in a more formal way, reference the general research topics discussed in the 3 scholarly sources you've selected, and reveal your new-and-improved thesis argument.
• Demonstrate a deepened understanding of your topic and the conversation that is
  happening within formal sources and among intelligent academics. Use your summary and paraphrase skills to make sure you explain the author's ideas without plagiarizing. Then, join those who are sharing significant ideas on this topic!
• Connect your own main ideas and opinions to the content review. Consider what you bring to the conversation. Consider how your opinions contribute to an ongoing debate. Consider what has not yet been researched or what is missing from the discussion. What questions do you still have? What knowledge is missing that could greatly benefit society if discovered?
• Write with a high style of formality. Demonstrate your ability to be precise and direct.
• Edit carefully, cut clutter, vary your sentences, and transition effectively.
• Include a works cited page in MLA format. Be very careful to check all the details of your essay and works cited page to follow all the MLA guidelines.

Review of Scholarly Source Info

Please review what you learned and practiced in your previous scholarly-research assignment, especially the following critical pieces:

1. How can I turn my ideas for an essay topic into search terms to begin my research?

2. How can I use the DVC library databases for scholarly research?

Find the academic journal articles in the DVC library databases

• Go to the DVC library website
• At the bottom (under FIND), click on A-Z list of databases
• Click the first option in the list: "academic search complete" (enter DVC as your school and log in)

• Look under the big search bar and click “advanced search”

Use filters to search the DVC library databases

1. Enter a key search term related to your topic (use AND, OR, NOT) and hit SEARCH (see the videos above, if you're not sure how)
2. Look at the left menu and apply filters: Check the box for Full text and Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals
3. Set the date range (within 5 years? 10 years? 15 years?) Your choice depends on your topic. Do you want to see the history of something? Change over time? Or only modern sources? Set the range that you want to see.
4. Don’t worry about “source type” because you already selected scholarly journals
5. Select subject filters:
   Read through the subjects (these are subject topics that show you what your search results are without you having to read through all the article title), click “show more,” click on the topics that are most relevant to what you want to know
6. Click on title, read subject terms and abstract, determine whether this article will be useful for you
7. Click on the full text link . Do NOT just read the abstract. An abstract is just a very short summary of the actual article. When you have a long/complex article, open the full-text, but focus your reading on the intro and conclusion sections, as well as any past research that's used/reviewed/explained (such as a literature review or a references section).
8. Download. Click the down arrow at the top right. Save the full article to a safe place on your computer (don’t just save the link).

3. How do I read a journal article?

• Read abstracts first, to help you make your source selections. An abstract is a short summary of the articles main ideas. However, do NOT stop reading there. Any quotes you use in your essay should come from the full article, not just the abstract.
• You do NOT need to read/understand the whole article . Sometimes they are very long, but can still contain great information for you to use in your research.
• Focus your reading on the following sections (these sections may have different names in different articles, or may not be named at all, but will probably still be there if you look for them):
  • Introduction
  • Conclusion (Findings)
  • Past Research (Literature review)
  • References (Works Cited)
  • Anything else you find important or interesting as you scan through the article
• You can often avoid reading parts of an article that explain a research process in detail (research methodology or process) since that probably won't be very important to the main ideas of your essay topic. Focus instead on the ideas that came from the research. These will likely be explained in a conclusion section.

4. How can I use scholarly sources AND avoid plagiarism?

Sometimes people copy words/phrases/sentences because they don't understand what the article is saying or how to reword it. My advice to you:

• Do NOT copy words or phrases from a source (unless it's used a direct quotation with a correct citation).
• Choose the article you select very carefully. Do NOT simply pick the first article that comes up in your search. Choose one that has something you find interesting, is clearly related to your topic (though it might not be EXACTLY like your essay's thesis--and that's actually a god thing), and contains at least some material and ideas that you understand well. If you don't understand anything from the article, keep searching. There may be an article that is better suited to your needs.
• Use all the skills you've practiced and developed about summary and paraphrasing to make sure you REALLY REALLY COMPLETELY change the wording of all the ideas you want to summarize or paraphrase.
• Cite your sources. Make sure the title and author are always clear to your readers, whether you are using a direct quotation (with quotation marks), or a summary/ paraphrase of an author's idea (in your own words). Introduce all sources clearly with a sentence or two that reveals the source and use citation verb and attributive tags to continue to refer to the author (The author explains, the writer describes, the researcher concludes, etc.) After EVERY quote, summary, or paraphrase in your essay, always include a parenthetical citation with the page number to say where you got that particular piece of information. Write in-text citations in MLA format.
• Include a Works Cited page as the last page of your essay that clearly cites all sources that you used in your essay. Do NOT cite sources that you read or looked at, but did not reference in your essay. Follow the MLA guide for a Works Cited page.
• Before you submit an assignment that incorporates other people's words and ideas, it's always a good idea to run your essay (or written speech) through a plagiarism checker.