Dr. Debora B. Schwartz
English Department, California Polytechnic State University
 


 Research Paper Prospectus and Working Bibliography 

Depending on the course in which you are enrolled, the Prospectus and Working Bibliography for your Research Paper are due between weeks 5 and 7 of the quarter (see course homepage and/or Calendar of Assignments for specific date).  This date has been set to allow you to receive meaningful feedback on your research project early enough in the quarter to be able to make a significant difference in the quality of your final research paper.  Additionally, the Prospectus and Working Bibliography must have been submitted prior to the midterm exam, as I use them to grade the Paper Preview section of the midterm.

The Prospectus is normally ungraded: if it is submitted on time, it will be used solely for feedback to help you write a stronger final research paper.  If however no prospectus is submitted or the prospectus does not fulfill the requirements of the assignment, it will be graded and will count for 10% of your final course grade. In that case, the weight of the research paper will be reduced accordingly.  (Note: this means that failure to submit a prospectus will result in 10% of your final course grade = F.) 


The Paper Prospectus should consist of the following components:
  • a working title which clearly identifies the work(s) you will discuss and gives some indication of the topic you will explore and/or the thesis you will argue in your paper (a two-part title separated by a colon often does the trick nicely); 
  • a fully articulated thesis, i.e., an explicit statement of the interpretation of your text(s) which you will argue in your paper (what you will argue about your topic, not just a statement of the topic itself); 
  • a tentative outline of your paper mapping out its paragraph structure (to ensure you will make your points in logical order) and indicating what, specifically, you will argue about the evidence you will introduce in each paragraph

The Working Bibliography should provide correct and complete citations for at least eight secondary sources on your topic (the specific primary reading[s] which you are researching).  List the sources on your Working Bibliography alphabetically by author; do not provide annotations (as you must do for the Annotated Bibliography distributed in class on the day of your Oral Presentation).  Be sure to format your bibliographic citations correctly; consult the citation guidelines on Dr. Schwartz's Guide to Research Tools (fuller details are found in your MLA Handbook).  Each citation should be followed by a parenthetical indication of the mode of access which you used to obtain the resource in question.

In choosing your sources, be sure to include at least one of each of the following kinds of sources: 

  • a book written entirely by an individual or joint author(s) (i.e. not an edited collection); 
  • an essay from an edited collection published in book form (what the MLA Bibliography refers to as a "book article");
  • a scholarly journal article.
Additionally, the sources must include items obtained using all of the following modes of access: 
  • at least one item from Cal Poly library's print collections (indicate "Cal Poly" and provide call number in parentheses after citation); 
  • at least one item obtained through LINK+ (e.g. an essay in an edited collection or other book not in Cal Poly's collections; indicate LINK+ in parentheses after citation); 
  • at least one item obtained through ILL (e.g. an article from a journal not avilable in Cal Poly's collections or a book not available through LINK+; indicate ILL in parentheses after citation); 
  • at least one REPUTABLE SCHOLARLY SOURCE accessed electronically (typically, an article from one of the online journal databases or an ebook from NetLibrary; bibliographic citation will include indication of database used).
Remember that I will consult your Working Bibliography when grading the Paper Preview section of your midterm exam.

Contents of this and linked pages Copyright Debora B. Schwartz, 1999-2006

Click here for Dr. Schwartz's Guide to Research Tools

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