Green Marketing
J. Tally
W. W. Hölbling
General Comments on Writing Research Papers
Based on grading a good number of seminar papers & M. A. theses over the last years, the following is a list of suggestions of which some may apply to you while others may not.
But a review is always good, so as this is a prelude to the work you must do on your upcoming seminar papers & M. A. theses, perhaps you find it helpful.
The most frequent problems have to do with referencing. Once you decide on a style, stick to it. Too many papers use more than one style, creating the impression that people include material directly from the internet or elsewhere without modifying the reference.
1st Option: If you include the reference directly within your written text, open parenthesis, write in last name of the author/editor of the book, and either use a comma or a colon (it is even possible to use neither) and then the page number. Ex: (Brown:43) or (Brown, 43) or
(Brown, p. 43) or (Brown 43). BE CONSISTENT! And use the Anglistik/Amerikanistik Style
Sheet! The name and page number should refer directly to your Bibliography or Works Cited section at the end of the paper. It is therefore unnecessary and cumbersome to include more reference information within your text. This means, however, that your Bibliography must be very clear, last name of author/editor first, and all in alphabetical order.
If you have included in your bibliography two or more works by the same author, use an abbreviated but clear reference to the actual text you are referring to in the citation, eg.,
(Brown, “Magic Realism,” p. 43) as opposed to (Brown, Rites of Passage, p. 46).
Alternatively, you might use the date of publication (Brown, 1989:43) as opposed to (Brown,
1993:56).
Web references have presented a problem. We suggest to make an independent list of
“Webliography”, including the entire webpage address and the date you consulted it. As webpages can be excessively long, you may also include an
W. W. Hölbling
General Comments on Writing Research Papers
Based on grading a good number of seminar papers & M. A. theses over the last years, the following is a list of suggestions of which some may apply to you while others may not.
But a review is always good, so as this is a prelude to the work you must do on your upcoming seminar papers & M. A. theses, perhaps you find it helpful.
The most frequent problems have to do with referencing. Once you decide on a style, stick to it. Too many papers use more than one style, creating the impression that people include material directly from the internet or elsewhere without modifying the reference.
1st Option: If you include the reference directly within your written text, open parenthesis, write in last name of the author/editor of the book, and either use a comma or a colon (it is even possible to use neither) and then the page number. Ex: (Brown:43) or (Brown, 43) or
(Brown, p. 43) or (Brown 43). BE CONSISTENT! And use the Anglistik/Amerikanistik Style
Sheet! The name and page number should refer directly to your Bibliography or Works Cited section at the end of the paper. It is therefore unnecessary and cumbersome to include more reference information within your text. This means, however, that your Bibliography must be very clear, last name of author/editor first, and all in alphabetical order.
If you have included in your bibliography two or more works by the same author, use an abbreviated but clear reference to the actual text you are referring to in the citation, eg.,
(Brown, “Magic Realism,” p. 43) as opposed to (Brown, Rites of Passage, p. 46).
Alternatively, you might use the date of publication (Brown, 1989:43) as opposed to (Brown,
1993:56).
Web references have presented a problem. We suggest to make an independent list of
“Webliography”, including the entire webpage address and the date you consulted it. As webpages can be excessively long, you may also include an
Bibliography: London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997. Baltimore & London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997.