Example

Dress Rehearsal

Your teacher’s latest torture device, better known as a writing assignment, is to research a topic of your choosing in order to define and describe a process. You’ve chosen to explore the amazing world of deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA. At your computer, you type “DNA” into a search engine, but unfortunately, just over 373 million websites mention the term. Yikes!

Try another approach. To refine your search, you use the advanced search option, which excludes and includes certain criteria. You might limit the results by date, type of document, or by where the term is found, such as in the title only. You can also use this feature to search only specific websites that you know are credible. This strategy helps you get right to the good stuff.

In a video segment titled “DNA Structure” by Patrick Roisen, an AP Biology teacher, you learn that “the building blocks of DNA are nucleotides with three basic components: a phosphate group with a negative charge; a pentose sugar of five carbons; and a base composed of nitrogen. The phosphate and carbons are arranged in strands; the sequence of nitrogenous bases determines the genetic code. A molecule of DNA is made up of two strands known as the double helix. The strands are held together by the hydrogen bonds between the nitrogenous bases in an anti-parallel arrangement.” This information supports what your textbook explained about the structure of DNA. Got it? Not so much?

An image found on the Internet gives you a better picture of what a double-helix looks like:

Oh, why didn’t they just say that?

Are these sources reliable, accurate, and credible? Can you use them in a research-based project? You decide to look into the authors to be sure. An analysis of each determines that Roisen has been a science teacher for 16 years; Freundenrich has a bachelor’s degree in biology and a PhD in physiology; and the five authors of your textbook (published by National Geographic), Alton Briggs (high school biology teacher), Peter Rillero (Professor of Science Education with ASU since 1994), Lucy Daniel (educational consultant for Rutherford County Schools, North Carolina), Edward Paul Ortleb (science consultant, St. Louis, MO) and Dinah Zike (educational consultant, San Antonio, TX) are degreed and experienced writers of science. They’ve got more degrees than a Fahrenheit thermometer!

Since the authors of the information are all experts in their fields, you determine that they are credible and reliable sources, certain to be giving accurate information. The information given here is appropriate for your project since they all address the structure of DNA. The information is also current which is important for science topics. Now it’s time to analyze the information in order to draw conclusions about what it all means and why it matters. This is what makes the paper yours. Yep, all yours.

In writing your report, it will be necessary to give credit to these sources for their ideas and information. Even if you paraphrase or summarize, you must cite where those facts and ideas originated. Finally, be sure to use quotation marks around material that is exactly as written in the source, even if it’s only a phrase or part of a sentence.

Following these steps will help you avoid plagiarism, taking credit for someone else’s work. You know, the act that earns you a zero in the grade book and an uncomfortable meeting with your mother. Follow the rules about MLA or APA formatting of parenthetical references and your bibliography or works cited page

Sources:

Biggs, Alton, et al. Biology. McGraw Hill: New York, 2009.

“DNA Structure.” Biology. Cosmo Learning, 2007-2011. Web. 25 May 2012.
http://www.cosmolearning.com/video-lectures/dna-structure-12369.

Freundenrich, Craig, Ph.D. “How DNA Works.” How Stuff Works. How Stuff Works, Inc., 2012. Web. 25 May 2012. http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/life/cellularmicroscopic/dna1.htm.

That’s a Wrap

Because sources are important in the development of sound essays and arguments, students must be able to confidently use information that is accurate and credible. You’ve given them the basics on how to analyze sources, and they also understand the importance of proper citations in avoiding plagiarism. Now they can replicate that every time.

Quiz Questions