• Topics in the social sciences
• Require American Psychological Association (APA) documentation
Three key challenges
Support a thesis
Cite sources to avoid plagiarism
Integrate quotes and other source materials
• Select a good topic
• Use a systematic approach
• Do not get behind with your work
1. Is it interesting to you? Do you want to know the answer to your question?
2. Are there ample sources of information of the kind required in your assignment? Or is there only one major source?
3. Does it fit the size/length of the paper and time given?
4. Is the topic too trivial for an academic project?
5. Is the topic specific/ narrow enough? A topic that is too broad (e.g. How will the Internet affect business?) will be hard to manage.
Three major phases:
1. Research Stage
2. Writing Stage
3. Revision Stage
Give credit when you borrow someone else’s words or ideas (be it a direct quote, a summary, paraphrase or synthesis)
Topics related to UB majors:
Communication
Psychology
Sociology
Business/Economics/International Trade
Inter- disciplinary
-2500 words (minimum)
double-spaced
APA documentation style
argumentative (thesis-driven paper)
-Individual assignment
-minimum 10 sources (max. 20):
6 -10 scholarly journal articles
4-10 non-scholarly materials including credible websites (organization/educational/ governmental websites; news websites and other credible websites)
1-2 books (academic books)
• What are your assignment requirements?
• What is your tentative research question?
• How long will your paper be?
• How much time can you spend on this assignment?
*research paper is an argumentative paper see notes on UB learns for more information on the research paper

Minimum 2500 words double spaced in 12-point font, Calibri/ Arial

Sources must be reputable and reliable
Scholarly journals
Academic books
Minimum 12 sources maximum 20 sources
All sources can also be journal articles