Helpful Books
Selecting a Topic, Taking Notes, Organizing a Draft
- Hacker, Diana. The Bedford Handbook. 7th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2006. (Olin Reference PE 1408 .H277 2006)
- Menasche, Lionel. Writing a Research Paper. Revised ed. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1997.
(Olin Stacks PE 1478 .M4x 1997) - A textbook designed to help English as a Second Language students write research papers. Includes a set of assignments, exercises, and answers; a glossary of writing and research items, and an index.
Writing the Paper: Style and Usage
- Garner, Bryan A. Garner's Modern American Usage. 4th ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016.
(Online. Also in print: Olin Reference PE 1464 .G37 2016; shelved behind the Olin reference desk) - Find the best word, the correct usage, the felicitous phrase with this standard and highly readable work.
- Lunsford, Andrea A. The Everyday Writer. 4th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2009.
(Olin Reference PE 1408 .L86 2009) - Strunk, William and E.B. White. The Elements of Style. In many editions; search the title in our Catalog.
The Final Product: Format and Documentation
- Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. 7th ed. Washington: APA, 2020.
(Olin Reference BF 76.7 .P83 2020; shelved behind the Olin reference desk) - The authoritative style manual for anyone writing in psychology and allied fields. Its chapters discuss the content and organization of a manuscript; writing style; and the American Psychological Association citation style for in-text citations and bibliographies.
- MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 8th ed. New York: Modern Language Association, 2016.
(Olin Reference LB 2369 .G53 2016); shelved behind the Olin reference desk - This handbook is based on the MLA Style Manual and is intended as an aid for college students writing research papers. Included here is information on selecting a topic, researching the topic, note taking, the writing of footnotes and bibliographies, as well as sample pages of a research paper. Useful for the beginning researcher.
- Turabian, Kate L. A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations: Chicago Style for Students and Researchers. 9th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2018.
(Olin Reference LB 2369 .T8 2018; shelved behind the Olin reference desk) - Kate Turabian's standard guide for student writers based on the University of Chicago style. Chapters cover everything you've ever wanted to know about putting a paper together, from writing introductory chapters to formatting your bibliography.
For further information and links to online citation guides, see Citation Styles: Handbooks, Resources, and Guides.
Return to Library Research at Cornell
Review the Seven Steps of the Research Process
Revised 06 March 2020; Michael Engle
