Introduction
The Social Studies Department term paper is considered a generic research assignment, which introduces our students to concepts and skills that we believe to be of lasting significance for college preparation and after. Long after the dates and names learned in history classes have faded, the fundamental research and communication skills acquired in the term paper process will remain irreplaceable. In an increasingly complex and competitive professional world of business, law, academics, and medicine, the ability to discover the previously unknown through systematic and creative investigation will surely become even more important.
Although the Social Studies Department assigns a variety of types of reports and papers across the curriculum from the ninth to the twelfth grades, employing traditional as well as new electronic internet techniques, the history term papers are the most structured and formal. This Guide is intended to be a short, functional analysis of the basic processes and standard requirements of our history term papers. It is not exhaustive, but is designed to be a flexible supplement to the unique circumstances of individual classes and pedagogical styles.
The processes outlined in this guide are drawn principally from Turabian’s A Manual for Writers and the University of Chicago’s A Manual of Style. Although similar in many ways to the Woodward English Department's procedures, this guide reflects the concerns unique to the discipline of history. Our research has shown that individual colleges, departments, and even professors use many different term paper systems with which our graduates must be familiar. We are confident that the term paper assignment is reasonably challenging and valuable and that this manual will serve the needs of our students well.
I. The Concept of the History Term Paper
The history term paper has two conceptual parts requiring unique, but inseparable skills. The first process is “research.” The goal of research is to learn about a topic about which you previously knew little. You will select a subject and endeavor to spend a few short weeks learning as much as you possibly can about this subject from a variety of types of sources. Research should be viewed most appropriately as a learning process, not just a narrow note-taking process.
The second conceptual part of the term paper is “communication.” This is the process through which you explain and make sense of what you have learned. Except in the case of self-edification, it does little good to research and learn, if you cannot reasonably communicate to others what you have learned.
Each part of the term paper process is important; however, in the end, learning can be judged or evaluated only by the success of the communication process. While it is true that little knowledge can be communicated from indifferent, incomplete, or unorganized research, it is equally true that even research done well, with deadlines met and note cards in abundance, has little value by itself. What you communicate and how well you communicate it will bear most heavily on the effectiveness of your paper and the final grade it will receive.
II. Starting Your Term Paper: Picking a Topic
Picking a topic is an important first step. Subjects that are too broad may lead to superficial research, while topics too narrow may be difficult to research. Try to pick a topic that you are interested in—it surely makes a term paper more fun. Although your teacher may already have an approved list of topics, consider more contemporary topics in Modern World History or U.S. History. It does not have to be two hundred years old to have significance! More recent issues offer more possible sources, even interviews. In U.S. history, consider the history of the South or local Georgia/Atlanta history since resources abound. In any case, pick a topic that has significance in the final analysis. Your teacher will help you select a reasonable topic considering time and resource limitations.
Although your teacher may allow you a few days to change topics, research time is short, and it is important to select a workable topic and study it with dedication.
III. Developing a Thesis
Your initial research should quickly lead you to the basic idea of your term paper, a thesis, or a theme, and a preliminary organization. Although your outline may change somewhat as you continue to research, the fundamental goal should only be refined with the discovery of new information. History term papers may have a variety of goals depending on the topics and individual interests. While some papers may be arguing issues of a debate to prove a point, others may be describing events, evaluating circumstances, comparing and contrasting viewpoints, or assessing causes and results. Your teacher may require a certain perspective for your paper or help you to arrive at a reasonable theme considering your topic and available resources.
Some history term papers will be researched and written around an explicit and clearly defined thesis. Usually communicated in an overt thesis statement in the introductory section of the paper, a thesis is a systematic argument intended to prove a point of view. A paper organized around a controlling thesis often addresses controversial issues and requires the acceptance of one prevailing side. In Modern World History a thesis statement might say:“Contrary to the historical view that Napoleon was nothing more than a self-indulgent military dictator, Napoleon was a child of the French Revolution and one of the most important protectors of its liberal ideals.” In U.S. history an example might be: “The insidious institution of slavery was the fundamental difference between the North and the South and was the basic cause of the Civil War.” Thesis driven research can be very interesting and may be required by some teachers in the Social Studies Department.
Other term paper topics may not be so problem-oriented, but will have a controlling focus, or theme. A thematic approach may aim to explain historical events in greater detail, elaborate on the lives of influential people, or trace issues over time. Requiring no explicit introductory statement, a Modern World History expository theme might describe the diplomatic forces leading to the construction of the Berlin Wall and its consequences, or analyze the reasons for the failure of the Weimar Republic in the early 1930s. In U.S. history a paper might explain the New Deal programs in Atlanta, evaluate the role of Teddy Roosevelt as president, or describe Atlanta’s Fox Theater and how it was preserved.
Historical Context Is Critical
Whether focused on theme or thesis, examination of the historical context is a critical element of the term paper. Any subject becomes significant only as you explain the larger historical circumstances which surround it. Likewise, nearly any development in history can be made significant if explained in larger context. Seemingly isolated or innocuous things become explicable if viewed in context. The study of Martin Luther’s theology has little meaning without the context of the preceding Medieval period. The founding of Tuskegee Institute by Booker T. Washington can be properly explained only in the context of the philosophy of the New South. To have an effective and complete term paper, you must concentrate on the narrow subject and the larger historical context. That is how you expand your research possibilities and arrive at the required length of eight to ten pages.
Two Models for Establishing Historical Context
One way of approaching context is thorough stratified layered history, which emphasizes context over space.
This model suggests that historical events cut like geological faults across layers of geography. By examining the topic as it evolved in each layer, you move toward a more complex and complete understanding. Also, local developments now justifiably take on greater significance as they reflect general trends. For example, a term paper discussing the evolution of automobile transportation in the 1920s might describe this growth at each level, with emphasis on the local level. The same could be done for the effects of the Depression, the home front in World War II, the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s, and so on.
Another model emphasizes threads of history, which pull together historical context over time.
This technique concentrates research on one defined area, but first reaches backward in time context, and finally forward in time for future significance. For example, a paper concerning Renaissance Humanism might first survey the problems of the 14th century which led to the Renaissance, then conclude with the effects of Humanist thinking into the 20th century. The Cuban Missile Crisis would have roots in the Monroe Doctrine of 1823 and the Cold War, as well as implications for contemporary Cuban-American relations. The end result with either model is a well-rounded analysis in historical context.
IV. Beginning Your Research: Finding Good Sources
As you begin the learning process, try to assume a broad vision of historical context and potential sources. Beyond traditional printed texts, historians are increasingly employing a wide variety of resources, including audio-visuals, interviews, electronics, etc. Different topics offer different learning possibilities and historical knowledge can be found in many places—archives, museums, government agencies, historical societies, even at home. Keep an open mind!
If you know little about a topic and need a basic introduction, consult your textbook or a general encyclopedia (print or online), such as Encarta, Compton’s, or Britannica. Because of their superficial coverage, these sources are not acceptable in your term paper. However, specialized multivolume encyclopedias are more scholarly and generally acceptable sources. The Carlos Library has the following:
World History
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Encyclopedia of Philosophy – 103 ENC
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Encyclopedia of the Holocaust – 940.5318 ENC
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Great Lives From History – 920 GRE
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Great Events From History – 904 GRE
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Encyclopedia of Latin American History & Culture – 980.003 ENC
U.S. History
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Dictionary of American History – 973.03 DIC
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Annals of America – 973 ANN
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Encyclopedia of North American Colonies – 973.2 ENC
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Contemporary Black Biography – 920 CON
You will be fortunate to discover a ready-made bibliography that will save you time and provide context. Your textbook may have a list of sources at the end of chapters, which can be of considerable value. The previously mentioned encyclopedias, collected works, and on-line sources may also have useful bibliographies.
A Note of Caution about Sources
You must keep in mind that not all sources have the same value—or any value. Just because it appears in print, spoken in an interview, or put on a web page, it does not mean that it should be used in an effective research paper. Weak sources can never be authoritative learning tools and can often provide a flawed foundation for a term paper. When in doubt concerning the appropriateness or validity of any source, get the opinion and the approval of your teacher. Your teacher will also advise you about minimum source requirements for your paper, including primary and secondary sources.
Once you have a basic understanding of your topic, its historical context, and a preliminary organization, your are ready to find sources in the library.
Historical Journals: A Treasure Chest of Information
Historical journals are periodicals containing short essays (usually about twenty pages), written by history scholars. Because of their focus, succinctness, and scholarship, historical journals are easy to use and very valuable. Dozens of journals are published on a periodic basis by colleges and historical organizations. You can locate historical journals by going to internet links on the Carlos Library web page and clicking on the History Journal Index link. Some of the historical journals in the Carlos Library are:
World History
U.S. History
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American Heritage
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American History Illustrated
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Atlanta History: A Journal of Georgia and the South
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Georgia Historical Quarterly
Books
For books on your topic, begin by searching the Carlos Library on-line catalog. From a broad historical context, identify both specific and general subjects. For example, information about Elizabeth I can be found by looking up ELIZABETH I, GREAT BRITAIN-HISTORY, and KINGS, QUEENS, RULERS, etc. Examine all conceivable cross-references in the largest historical context. Type PRIMARY SOURCE to search for primary materials. Books can be a convenient, bountiful source of information. However, because of their length and complexity, learning from books can often be a daunting task. A student learning about Peter the Great may become overwhelmed by a nine-hundred-page biography. When you find a book that seems to have potential, check the index and table of contents for your topic. Try to narrow down the scope of the book to fit your historical model. Also, take some time to read a section or chapter before your begin taking notes. This will help you to better judge the book's importance. If the book looks useful, go ahead and check it out since time is limited and books are in demand.
Magazines and Newspapers
Magazines and newspapers are fundamentally contemporary sources, written at the time of the historical event. Without the advantage of time, which brings a more balanced objectivity, these sources reflect a snap-shot of the circumstances of the historical moment, including any prevailing emotions or biases. This is their weakness as a source for history, and their great strength. Magazines from 1948 may show the high emotions of the summer as Jackie Robinson integrated major league baseball, but they have no way of judging his long-range effect on race relations. In the 1930s, as Atlanta newspapers reported events leading to world war in Europe, readers did not get a broad objective understanding, but a glimpse of events from the perspective of a small, provincial southern city, thousands of miles away, struggling to deal with economic depression. For more recent topics, learning from newspapers and magazines can be useful and richly rewarding, but also challenging to evaluate and time-consuming to undertake. Your teacher will help you assess the appropriateness of these sources for your topic and may require their use in your term paper.
PROQUEST: Journals, Magazines, and Newspapers
The Carlos Library subscribes to ProQuest, an on-line electronic database which indexes thousands of journals, magazines,and newspapers, with abstracts and full text articles.
Newspapers: New York Times
The Carlos Library collection includes the Historical New York Timesnewspapers (1851-2006) as a part of the ProQuest database. The Historical New York Times database offers full page and article images with searchable full text back to the first issue. As a supplement to other research, newspapers can be interesting to use as much for themselves as for the information they reveal about your topic.
Full-text Primary Documents, Journals, and Magazines
The Carlos Library has on-line databases which provide indexing and full texts of general interest magazines, news service reports, primary documents, reference books, and multimedia. Databases are available for Biography Resource Center, History Resource Center, Literature Resource Center, Student Resource Center, JSTOR, Opposing Viewpoints, LexisNexis, the New York Times archive, andThe Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The Internet
The internet offers an interesting and ever-growing array of research possibilities; however, its use has limitations and raises concerns. Since there is generally no scholarly editing process employed, the internet must be used with considerable discretion. Remember that anyone can publish on the web. Many sites offer a lot of misinformation, propaganda, and pure opinion. Judging the validity of internet sources is an important activity. Consider the following questions when evaluating a web site:
- What is the relative value of the web site in comparison to the range of information available on the topic?
- How valuable is the information provided on the internet site?
- What is the authority or expertise of the individual or group that created this web site?
- Does the article contain any annotation which can be referenced for support?
- Is there an obvious source bias that needs to be considered?
Internet sites should not be considered the core learning sources for your paper, but a supplement to your other research. Your teacher may establish internet requirements and limitations that are appropriate for various topics.
V. Compiling Information: Note Taking and Outlining
As you begin to gather information over a period of weeks, organization becomes very important. Just as you take notes in regular classes to help you remember what you have learned, you will also take notes for your term paper. It is difficult to compose a good paper from jumbled or messy research. Although there are numerous methods for taking historical notes, this section will analyze some basic procedures followed by the Social Studies department for note taking and outlining.
A Caveat (Helpful Warning) Concerning Note Taking
Although note taking procedures are important, they are not an end in themselves. The goal of doing research is to learn about your topic, not to take notes. Note cards should be seen only as instruments of organization and communication, not as aesthetic jewels or works of art. By themselves, note cards have no intrinsic value. The only use for notes is to help you remember what you have learned so that you may better communicate with others. You take notes in regular classes so that you can write an essay on a test. You are not evaluated by your notebook, but by what you write on the test. This is equally true of the term paper. Just because you have the required number of note cards—or even twice the required number—does not necessarily mean you have completed the research or have a meaningful historical analysis. It means only that you have an arbitrary minimum number of cards aimed at coercing you to work on this important assignment. Although your teacher will establish note taking standards and procedures that may factor somewhat into your final grade, the ultimate evaluation of your paper will depend predominantly upon your ability to communicate what you have learned.
Note Taking Procedures
There comes a point in the learning process when the acquiring of sources slows down and you begin to take notes. However, do not rush into note taking. It is important to spend time evaluating a source and its usefulness. If you find a book which seems to have potential, try reading a chapter first before taking any notes. An historical journal article might be read completely before you take any notes. Note cards constructed immediately without reflection and an understanding of context will have disconnected, isolated information without much meaning. Take some time to learn what you need to take notes about!
The information you learn and the notes you create will provide the foundation for the paper write. For this reason, your notes must be very accurate and well structured. There are a variety of formats you can use in note taking. You can use notebook paper, 3×5 or 4×6 note cards to take notes. If your teacher has a preference, you will be informed; otherwise, you should select one and use it throughout the note taking process.
The first step in taking notes is to fill out a bibliography card on the source you are using. The bibliography card must contain all the information about the source needed to make footnote and bibliography entries. Failure to incorporate this information completely and correctly may lead to charges of plagiarism. Placing the call number on the bibliography card will save you time if you need to check the book again. You must assign each source a bibliography code number or letter which you will reference on each note card taken from each source.
Sample Bibliography Card for a Book
Sample Bibliography Card for a Magazine
There are two basic techniques used in note taking: direct quoting and paraphrasing. Caution must be taken when you are paraphrasing. This does not mean simply omitting a few words or rearranging phrases. Paraphrasing is the process of learning and then making notes almost completely in your own words. It is at least intellectually deceitful, and potentially plagiaristic, to just reorganize someone else's words and call in paraphrasing. Although more time-consuming, quoting a source directly and exactly onto a note card may minimize future confusion about the information and will provide a more reliable foundation for paraphrasing as you compose the final paper. Your teacher may express a preference or require a specific technique.
Each note card should contain only one topic from one source. Since you are collecting large quantities of information over a period of weeks, note cards with multiple sources and subjects would quickly become confusing as you decide where to put the information in your paper. Also, avoid writing on both sides of the note card. If the notes extend beyond the bounds of one card use another and number it appropriately.
Sample Note Cards—Quoting
Sample Note Card—Paraphrasing
Outlining Procedures
Before you progress too far in the research of your paper, you should prepare a preliminary outline. You need to develop a working plan long before you begin the actual writing of your paper. This shows you where gaps exist, it tells you which areas need more research attention, and helps direct your efforts towards more productive issues. The outline is a working plan that can make the researching and writing of the paper easier. It is the blueprint of the paper identifying the major subtopics of your research. As your learning progresses, you may find it necessary to revise your preliminary outline; it is unlikely that the blueprint you begin with the first week will be the final outline. As new sources become available, or as you alter directions in relation to your topic, change your outline. Flexibility in researching and outlining may lead to an improved finished product.
Steps in the Preparation of Outlines
- Write down ideas for major topics and sub-topics as you begin your research. There is not need to put them in a set order yet.
- Write down sub-topics on your note cards. Arrange your cards into the major topics and sub- topic groupings. This will reveal to you any deficiencies in your research.
- Once your note cards are organized you are ready to prepare your outline. Use your sub-topics as the main ideas in the term paper and your note cards as the support or evidence.
- Prepare the introduction and conclusion for the paper. The outline will give you help in organizing these two sections.
- Choose the type of outline you will use. Your teacher will tell you which type to use. An example of a topic outline follows.
Topic Outline
With a topic outline everything is a noun phrase or its equal: gerund phrase, or an infinitive phrase. This topic outline is probably the most commonly used outline form. It establishes precisely the areas of research, but, because of its brevity, it does not relate research deficits to the writer.
Sample Outline
VI. Annotation: Policies and Procedures
Footnotes and Bibliography in the History Paper
When historians write books and journal articles, they usually employ a technique of making critical or explanatory comments attached to the body of the paper, called annotation. There are numerous ways of annotating a paper, such as footnoting, which means placing a note at the foot of the page. Notes such as these can serve many important functions, allowing the writer to explain ideas in greater depth without cluttering the body of the text or hindering the flow of the argument. Since the term paper is a compilation of material gleaned from other sources, annotations are imperative as a means of crediting your research sources. Failure to make such notes would be deceitful and plagiaristic attempts to pawn off the ideas of others as your own.
While some academic disciplines may use other forms of annotation, such as parenthetic notation in the body of the text, the Social Studies Department requires the use of footnotes. For historical research, footnoting is a superior technique, which offers a convenient, inconspicuous location for additional analysis, bibliographic comment, or single/multiple source references. Footnotes identify your sources and help the reader evaluate the reliability of your research and the validity of your conclusions. Footnotes are one of the most valuable tools available for truly communicating what your learned during weeks of research. Footnoting is also a procedure you will likely be required to use in college.
General Rules for Footnoting
For your history term paper you may choose to place your notations at the bottom of each page as footnotes, or on a single page immediately preceding the bibliography at the end of the paper as endnotes. Except for the location, the form for endnotes is exactly the same as footnotes. Either is completely acceptable.
The footnote is indicated in the text, after the material to which it refers, by an Arabic number raised above the line (superscript), for easy visibility; there is no period after the number. The footnotes are numbered consecutively in the text from the beginning of the paper to the end. The footnote number should come at the end of the sentence.
Footnotes at the bottom of the page are separated from the text by a solid line of fifteen spaces typed from the left margin. Much like a typical paragraph, the first line of each footnote is indented five spaces from the left margin. Subsequent lines begin at the left margin. Each footnote should be single-spaced, with double space between footnotes. The footnote citations are indicated by a superscript number corresponding to the number on the same page in the text of the paper.
It is not appropriate to footnote information considered common knowledge. However, it is safer to give credit than to be accused of plagiarism. It is incumbent upon you to acknowledge anything you borrow or learn from someone else, including words (quoted and paraphrased) and ideas. Do not feel reluctant to admit your sources because, after all, the original purpose of the assignment was to learn from others what you did not know. When in doubt, footnote!
Forms for Footnotes
The form of footnotes varies according to the type of source (book, journal, newspaper, etc.). After you identify the type of source you have used and need to cite, construct your footnote exactly as the following examples show. If you have a source that matches none of these examples, ask your teacher for assistance.
Books
Book with one author
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1 James B. Conant, The American High School Today (New York: McGraw Hill Book Company, Inc., 1961), 6.
Book with two authors
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2 Porter G. Perrin and George H. Smith, The Perrin-Smith Handbook of Current English (Chicago: Scott, Foresman and Company, 1962), 195.
Book with more than two authors
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3 Floyd C. Watkins, et al., Practical English Handbook (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1965), 3–5.
Book, multi-editors, multivolume, published over several years
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4 Edward Waldo Emerson and Waldo Emerson Forbes, eds., The Journal of Ralph Waldo Emerson (10 vols., Boston, 1909–1914), X, 294.
Book with no author given
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5
Webster’s Biographical Dictionary (Springfield, Massachusetts: G.&C. Merriam Company, 1961), 4–6.
Book with sponsoring organization instead of author
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6 Department of the Army, The United States in the World War, 1917–1919 (17 vols., Washington, 1948), X, 22.
Volume in a work of more than one volume
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7 Harold W. Smith, A History of Drama from Sophocles to Williams (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1965), III, 323
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7
Freedom: A Documentary History of Emancipation, 1861–1867, vol. 1, The Wartime Genesis of Free Labor: The Upper South, ed. Ira Berlin (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993), 321–23.
Editor in place of an author
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8 J. N. Anderson, ed., The World’s Religions (London: Inter-Varsity Fellowship, 1950), 145.
Work translated by another
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9 Ivar Lissener, The Living Past, trans. by J. Maxwell Brown, John (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Son, 1957), 60.
Periodicals
Scholarly journal
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10 William R. Wells II, “The Perception of Naval Protection: The Southern Galleys, 1798–1800,” Georgia Historical Quarterly, Winter 1996, 737–758.
Magazine, signed article
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11 Walter V. Bingham and James Rorty, “How the Army Sorts Its Manpower,” Harper’s Magazine, September. 1942, 436.
Magazine, unsigned article, untitled article
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12
Newsweek, August 22, 1966, 25.
Magazine, titled but unsigned
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13 “Six O’Clock in America,” Current Opinion, August 1913, 113–114.
Newspaper
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14 Tyler Marshall, “Collapse of America,” Wall Street Journal, November 1, 1966, 8.
Encyclopedias
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15 J. W. Comyns-Carr, “Blake, William,” Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th ed., vol. IV, 36–38.
Manuscripts
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16 Eric Geddes to David Lloyd George, Private and Personal, October 13, 1918, Drawer 90, Folder 53, William Wiseman Papers (Yale University Library).
Government Documents
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17 Cong. Record, 62 Cong. 2 Sess., 2815–33 (March 5, 1912).
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18
Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896).
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19
The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies (128 vols., Washington, 1880–1901), Ser. I, vol. XXXVIII, pt. III, 678–680.
Multi-Citations
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20 Thomas Ashe, Travels in America in 1806 (New York, 1811), 38; Gilbert Imlay, A Description of the Western Territory of North America (Dublin, 1793), 33–34; Bayrd Still, “The Westward Migration of a Planter Pioneer in 1796,” William and Mary Quarterly, October 1941, 327. See also Everett Dick, The Dixie Frontier (New York, 1948), 19.
Interviews
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21 Interview with Gardner Smith, July 17, 1967.
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22 Interview, Gardner Smith by James F. Howard, May 13, 1969, James F. Howard Collection (Kentucky Library, Western Kentucky University).
Indirect Sources
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Sometimes you will cite material that is quoted in a source, and it has been taken from another source. It is best to find the original source. If you can not do this, cite the original source and the source you found the material.
23 George Harmon Knowles, The Jazz Age (Stanford: Stanford Press, 1989), 31, quoted in C. Vann Woodward, The Old World New World (Oxford: Oxford Press, 1991), 46.
Electronic Sources
Over the past few years, more and more research has utilized electronic documentation. Electronic media are of two types: (1) physical entities such as CD-ROMs, diskettes, and magnetic tapes, and (2) on-line sources such as computer services, networks, and bulletin boards. The following are some examples of electronic documentation.
CD-ROM
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23 Bureau of the Census, Median Gross Rent by Counties of the United States, 1990, prepared by the Geography Division in cooperation with the Housing Division, Bureau of the Census (Washington, D.C., 1995).
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24
United States v. Shabani, document no. 93–981. (U.S. Supreme Ct. 1994), reproduced in SIRS Government Reporter CD-ROM (Boca Raton, Fla.: Social Issues Resources Series, 1995).
Book On-Line
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25 William J. Mitchell, City of Bits: Space, Place, and the Infobahn (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1995, accessed 29 September 1995); available from http:// www.mitpress.mit.edu:80/City_of_Bits/Pulling_Glass/index.html; Internet.
Journal On-Line
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26 Joanne C. Baker and Richard W. Hunstead, “Revealing the Effects of Orientation in Composite Quasar Spectra,” Astrophysical Journal 452 : L95–L98, 20 October 1995; available from http://ww.aas.org/ApJ/v452n2/5309.html; Internet; accessed 29 September 1995.
Database On-Line
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27 “Professional Help from the Enemy,” in Civil War Online, 1997, available from http://web2.airmail.net/mbusby/stories.htm; Internet; accessed 2 June 1998.
Web Site
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To cite a source from the World Wide Web you should include the following information: the author’s name (if known); title of the document, in quotation marks; the title of the complete work in italics or underlined; the date of the last revision; the url (web address) contained in angle brackets; and the date you accessed document.
28 Alfred Martin, “Napoleon Bonaparte,” <http://www.napoleon.org> (22 March, 2001).
Gopher Site
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29 P.J. Stahl, “Questions Concernng Oswald’s Personality,“ The Real FAQ; Questions Concerning Lee Harvey Oswald, January 2, 1999, <gopher://freenet.akron.oh.us/ho/SIGS/JFK/FAQ?02faq.html> (28 June 2001).
Subsequent Citations (Citing Sources More Than Once)
The first time you footnote a source you must include all of the publishing information. Subsequent footnote citations of the same source use a short form which remind the reader of the full citation that has already been used.
The short form begins with the author’s last name followed by the page number. You must include the title if you use multiple sources by the same author. The abbreviation ibid. must be used when the citation is the same (including page number) as the immediately preceding footnote, with no other footnote intervening. If it is from a different page, the new page is noted after the ibid. Ibid. is capitalized only if it is the first word in the note. Examples of these forms follow.
First citation (a book)
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30 Richard N. Current, Secretary Stimson, a Study in Statecraft (New Brunswick, New Jersey: University of New Jersey Press, 1954), 35.
Later citation (exactly the same as the previous source)
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31 Ibid.
Later citation (same as the previous source but a different page)
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31 Ibid., p. 45.
Short form of source previously cited
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32 Bailey, 189.
An Example of Footnotes and Endnotes
The following two pages are an excerpt of a history masters thesis about Jimmy Carter, which employs footnotes and endnotes. Look closely at the numerican supercripts in the text of the paper, the spacing of the footnotes and endnotes, and the techniques of subsequent notations. Notice also the ways that quotations are used and footnoted, including the block quotation on the first page. Your paper should look very much like this model. To create your footnote or endnote citations you may use the Landmark Citation Machine to produce Turabian style reference citations for print and online sources.
Example
During the presidential campaign of 1976, candidate Jimmy Carter was asked, “Why should blacks vote for Jimmy Carter?” The peanut farmer from Plains responded that “My record speaks for itself. When I was governor of Georgia every act that I performed was designed for those who need the services of government the most, black or white…the people who quite often don’t have a voice in the shaping of government programs.”1 Carter continued to explain that the primary means by which he gave such folks “voice” in the government was through his power of appointment. Despite such assertions by candidate Carter, his gubernatorial record on race relations was quite ambiguous and left African-American voters no clear impression of what to expect.
At no time was Carter’s message to African-Americans more mixed than during his gubernatorial campaign of 1970. Carter’s main opponent in the Democratic primary that year was former governor Carl Sanders. Sanders, governor from 1963–67, was known for his “dignified moderation in racial matters” and “vigorous support of Lyndon Johnson in the 1964 presidential election.”2 Carter’s strategy in the primary election, then, was to concede the black vote to Sanders while portraying himself as the common-man candidate. “Although eschewing outright race-baiting,” Numan Bartley and Hugh Graham note that “Carter struck hard at busing, identified himself with former segregationist Governor Lester Maddox, and promised to invite George Wallace to visit Georgia.”3 In the end, Carter received only five percent of the black vote in the primary election, but he still won the Democratic nomination handily.
With the Democratic nomination in hand, however, Carter did not appeal to racially charged issues such as busing in the general election. During the campaign, Carter stated that “you can appeal to these people on something other than race.”4 In fact, Carter sought and received the support of several key black leaders such as Andrew Young and state senator Leroy Johnson of Atlanta. Carter ultimately succeeded in forming a “colorblind populist coalition” of rural voters, urban working class whites, and substantial black support which gave him sixty percent of the vote and a victory over Republican Hal Suit.5
As governor, Carter quickly established himself as a leader of the emerging “New South” breed of politicians. New South governors such as Reuben Askew of Florida, Bill Waller of Mississippi, Dale Bumpers of Arkansas, and Carter shunned the politics of racism so often embraced by their brethren. In his inaugural address, Carter shocked the racist status quo in Georgia when he proclaimed that “I say to you quite frankly that the time for racial discrimination is over.”6 “His subsequent performance, however,” argues Earl Black, “failed to match the promise of his inaugural.”7 While Governor Carter frequently tried to erase racial discrimination in Georgia, he tended to focus on symbolic rather than substantive issues. For example, because of the efforts of Carter, portraits of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other black leaders were hung in the state capitol for the first time. Carter also raised the number of black appointees on state boards and agencies from three to fifty-three. He increased the total number of black state employees from 4,850 to 6,684.8 Finally, Carter established a close working relationship with black leaders such as Andrew Young, Martin Luther King, Sr. and Maynard Jackson.
- The Presidential Campaign, 1976, Vol. I (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1978), 135.
- Numan Bartley and Hugh Graham, Southern Politics and the Second Reconstruction (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1975), 148.
- Ibid., 149–50.
- Earl Black, Southern Governors and Civil Rights (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1976), 148.
- Randy Sanders, ”’The Sad Duty of Politics: Jimmy Carter and the Issue of Race in His 1970 Gubernatorial Campaign,” The Georgia Historical Quarterly (Vol. LXXVI, no. 3, Fall 1992), 635.
- Congressional Quarterly, President Carter—1977 (Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly, Inc., 1978), 9.
- Black, 71.
- Ibid.
Bibliography: Function and Form
A bibliography is an alphabetical listing of the sources you consulted in your research. Bibliographies come in a variety of forms—annotated bibliographies, including brief notations evaluating sources; bibliographic essays, with more elaborate historiographic and critical analysis of sources; selected bibliographies, an abridged list without annotation; and works cited, including only sources actually footnoted. For the history term paper, the Social Studies Department requires only the most basic bibliography, including not only sources you footnoted, but also any source you consulted in any form. This type of bibliography is more comprehensive than a works cited and can be more useful to a reader who is interested in evaluating your overall research and in learning more about your topic. Although wide in scope, you should include in your bibliography only significant sources which truly assisted you in learning and might help others. An artificially augmented bibliography is not impressive and will be considered dishonest.
General Rules for Constructing the Bibliography
Virtually the opposite of footnotes, each bibliography entry begins at the left margin (no numbers), with each subsequent line indented about five spaces. Each entry is single-spaced, with a double-space between individual entries. Bibliography entries are arranged alphabetically by the author’s last name. Sometimes an organization, government agency, or committee may be considered the author of an source. If there is no author, the entry is listed by the first word of the title, excluding the articles (a, an, the). If you are listing two or more items by the same author, you should use a horizontal line about one inch long instead of the author’s name in all entries after the first. Your teacher may require you to divide your bibliography into “primary” and “secondary ” sources.
Forms for Bibliography Entries
Much like the forms for footnotes, bibliography entries vary by the type of source (book, journal, interview, etc.). The information is fundamentally the same, but the construction is somewhat different. After you identify the type of source you need to cite, construct your bibliography entry exactly as the following examples show. If you have a source that matches none of these examples, ask your teacher for assistance.
To create your bibliography you may use the Landmark Citation Machine to produce Turabian style bibliography entries for print and online sources.
Books
One author
- Storey, Moorfield. Charles Sumner. Boston: New England Press, 1900.
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Two authors
- Boughton, Bill, and Stange, G. Robert. Victorian Poetry and Poetics. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1959.
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Three authors
- Kaughn, Mark, Sid Golden, and Cecil Austin. Innovation. New York: Gates and Sons, 1994.
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More than three authors
- Smith, Jarvis and et. al. Religion and Politics in the 18th Century. New York: New Press, 1964.
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No author given
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The New Calendar. London: Limerick Press, 1987.
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Editor as author
- Davis Richard., ed. Sports and the Press. Atlanta: Silver Press, 1978.
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Separately titled volume in a multivolume work
- Durant, Will. The Story of Civilization. Vol. 1: Our Oriental Heritage. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1942.
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Periodicals
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Article in a magazine
- Everett, William. “Life on the Frontier.” Americana, September 1970, pp. 65–78.
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Article in a journal
- Fearson, Phillip. “Dialogue with a Catalogue.” Library Quarterly, December 1963, pp. 113–125.
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Newspaper article
- “Hunting in the Amazon,” New York Times. January 12, 1969, E11.
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Interviews
- Burrows, Dr. Lewis. Personal interview on Puerto Rican workers in New York City hospital. Mt. Sinai Hospital, New York City, New York, June 3, 1988.
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Electronic Sources
Web site
- Smith, Bill. “The Time Bomb.” n.d. <http://www.university.edu/timbom.htm> (22 May 2002).
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Database on-line
- Hughes, Samuel. The Warsaw Pact, 1980. Database on-line. Available from Dialog, Eric, ED 987634.
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A Sample Bibliography Page
The bibliography is the final page of your paper and should look much like the following model. Notice the spacing, the variety of forms, and the multiple entry for the same author for the first two books.
Bibliography
Cash, Phyllis. Emerson, An American Puzzle. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1986.
_________. Hindu Influence in America. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1989.
Churchill, Winston S. The Second World War. 6 vols. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1948–1953.
Clark Alan. Barbarossa: The Russian-German Conflict 1941–1945. New York: Morrow Publishing Co.,
1965."Day in the Forest." Time, February 7, 1944, pp. 27–28.
FitzGibbon, Louis. The Katyn Cover-up. London: Tom Stacey Ltd., 1972.
General Sikorski Historical Institute. Documents on Polish-Soviet Relations 1939–1945.
Vol. II: 1943–1945. London: Heineman, 1961.
"Goebbels in Katyn." Nation, 8 May 1943, p. 670.
Heydecker, Joe J. and Johannes Leeb. The Nuremberg Trial. New York: The World Publishing Company, 1962.
Kimball, Warren F. ed. Churchill and Roosevelt: The Complete Correspondence. 3 vols.
Vol. III: Alliance Declining February 1944–April 1945. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984.
Lochner, Louis P. ed. The Goebbels Diaries 1942–1943. New York: Doubleday and Company, 1948.
VII. Writing Your Paper: Communicating
What You Have Learned
At some point you will probably be forced by time to stop researching and to begin communicating what you have learned. Your revised outline and notes will become very important as you begin to organize your information and conclusions. Your teacher may require you to turn in a rough draft. Your term paper will be judged largely by your ability to explain what you have learned, using the appropriate term paper techniques described in this guide.
What you write and how well you write it, is critically important. Although your teacher may not explicitly grade spelling, grammar, syntax, punctuation, or vocabulary, these language components factor greatly into the effectiveness of your composition. It almost goes without saying that passive voice is weak, first person is unacceptable, subjects and verbs must agree, or all sentences must be in past tense. No less than any other discipline, the quality of your discourse will positively or negatively impact your final grade. A poorly composed paper can never really be good and any attempt to extract research from the overall composition for separate credit is an act of academic kindness. This section makes a few fundamental suggestions that may help you write your final paper and improve its quality.
Quotations
Minimize quotations: avoid strings of pearls
Students often incorrectly believe that research is simply the process of collecting quotations, and that writing the term paper is the process of hooking together note cards filled with quotations, much like creating strings of pearls. Although you will certainly divide up your information and group notes according to an outline, it is improper to view your paper as a collection of quotations. The reader wants to read what you have learned, not what you have just copied from others. A term paper founded on strings of quotations is ill-conceived and intellectually lazy. Although such a paper may get you by, it will never rise to a high level of historical significance.
Quotations must be used with great discretion. You should quote only when the language is unique in construction, and the words carry implied meaning or conjure subtle impressions, which add significantly to the understanding of your topic. The lesson is clear—borrow the ideas, not the exact words; quote only when it can not be said better.
Suggestions for using quotations the right way
If used sparingly and correctly, quotations can add greatly to the impact of your analysis. The following examples are taken from a masters thesis on Jimmy Carter.
Quotation suggestion 1.
Most sentences that you would be tempted to directly quote are too long and contain many words which serve only syntax functions. When quoting, carefully dissect sentences, eliminating superfluous, unimportant words, and extracting the word or phrase that has real meaning. These words can then be eased smoothly into the body of your paper (with quotation marks and footnotes), surrounded by your own words. For example:
Carter continued to explain that the primary means by which he gave folks “voice” in the government was through his power of appointment.1
Two more examples of whittled-down quotations:
Sanders, governor from 1963–7, was known for his “dignified moderation in racial matters” and “vigorous support of Lyndon Johnson in the 1964 presidential election.” 2
Carter ultimately succeeded in forming a “colorblind populist coalition” of rural voters, urban working class whites, and substantial black support which gave him sixty percent of the vote and a victory over Republican nominee Hall Suit. 3
Quotation suggestion 2.
A longer quotation—perhaps an entire sentence—may be useful, if massaged into the flow of the text. This can be done in a variety of ways by overtly acknowledging the origin of the words at the beginning of the sentence or after an introductory phrase. Here are two examples:
“Although eschewing outright race-baiting,” Numan Bartley and Hugh Graham note that “Carter struck hard at busing, identified himself with former segregationist Governor Lester Maddox, and promised to invite George Wallace to visit Georgia.” 4
In his inaugural address, Carter shocked the racist status quo in Georgia when he proclaimed that “I say to you quite frankly that the time for racial discrimination is over.” 5 “His subsequent performance, however,” argues Earl Black, “failed to match the promise of his inaugural.” 6
Quotation suggestion 3.
Never throw in an entire quoted sentence as though it was your own. That is lazy communication, and unfairly shifts the burden of understanding to the reader. It is your responsibility to communicate, not the reader’s. Besides, readers tend to skip over such quotations! For example:
The peanut farmer from Plains responded that “My record speaks for itself. When I was Governor of Georgia every act that I performed was designed for those who need the services of government the most, black or white…the people who quite often don’t have a voice in the shaping of government programs.” 1
Block quotations.
Quotations that are longer than two lines should be placed in block quotations, indented and single-spaced (without redundant quotation marks). These also should be acknowledged as quotations and introduced directly in the text.
Use discretion when using quotations.
Remember, when using quotations, discretion is important. Since these words are not originally your own, they are often intentionally overlooked by the reader. As the example shows, however, if you edit them severely and employ them sparingly, block quotations can actually work very well.
A Final Caution about Plagiarism
The Woodward Social Studies Department acknowledges and enforces the Upper School policies concerning plagiarism, as explained in the student handbook. It is imperative that you follow these guidelines in order to avoid violating the spirit, as well as the letter, of these rules. Intentional and unintentional plagiarism are both serious violations of academic responsibility and intellectual respectability. With some degree of vigilance, you can easily avoid both problems. If you have questions or need assistance, ask your teacher.
Collating the Final Draft and Grading
Your teacher will tell you about specific requirements for the final draft, including the title page, page numbers, margins, outlines, binders, note cards, etc. Keep at least one photocopy of your paper, just in case the original is accidentally destroyed of lost.
Although the term paper is generally standardized across the history curriculum concerning length and quality expectations, the final grading process varies by course, level (Prep, Academic, Honors), and student experience. Your teacher will explain exactly how your paper will be evaluated and the impact it may have on your semester grade.
Page last updated: 12/18/09