Introduction to Research Writing
A Grade 7 worksheet introducing the fundamentals of research writing, including identifying reliable sources, understanding plagiarism, and outlining research papers.
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Introduction to Research Writing
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Read each question carefully and provide thoughtful answers. For multiple-choice questions, circle the best answer. For fill-in-the-blank questions, complete the sentence with the correct term. For short answer questions, write your answer in the space provided.
What is Research Writing?
Research writing is a fascinating way to explore topics you're curious about and share what you learn with others. It's more than just copying information; it's about asking questions, finding reliable answers, and organizing those answers into a clear, well-supported paper. When you write a research paper, you become a detective, searching for clues (information) to solve a mystery (your research question).
A key part of research writing is using reliable sources. Think about it: would you trust health advice from a random blog or from a doctor's website? The same applies to research. Reliable sources are written by experts, backed by evidence, and often found in academic journals, reputable news organizations, or government websites. Unreliable sources, like personal blogs or forums, might have opinions without facts.
Another crucial aspect is avoiding plagiarism. Plagiarism is like stealing someone else's words or ideas and pretending they are your own. It's a serious academic offense. To avoid it, always give credit to the original author by citing your sources, and put direct quotes in quotation marks. Paraphrasing (putting information in your own words) is also a great way to use sources, but you still need to cite them!
1. Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of reliable sources?
Written by experts
Backed by evidence
Contains personal opinions without facts
Found in academic journals
2. What is the main purpose of citing sources in research writing?
To make the paper longer
To avoid plagiarism and give credit to authors
To confuse the reader
To show off how many books you read
3. Research writing is about asking questions, finding answers, and organizing those answers.
4. is when you use someone else's words or ideas without giving them credit.
5. When you put information from a source into your own words, it is called , and you still need to cite the source.
6. Personal blogs are always considered highly reliable sources for academic research.
True
False
7. Putting direct quotes in quotation marks is one way to avoid plagiarism.
True
False
8. Imagine you are researching the eating habits of pandas. List two types of reliable sources you would look for.
9. Explain, in your own words, why it is important to avoid plagiarism in research writing.