Thoroughly revised advice on researching in the electronic age. Recognizing that first-time researchers can become overwhelmed by the volume of their search results, coverage of finding and evaluating sources has been improved to guide students to the best material:
--A new chapter on developing a research strategy gets students thinking critically about the types of sources that will best suit their purpose and audience before beginning an in-depth search.
--Expanded and updated coverage of electronic search tools helps students find high-quality sources more effectively. Additional screenshots and more detailed explanations offer extra help with library catalogs, periodical databases, and Web search engines.
--More thorough coverage of evaluating sources and advice on preparing an annotated bibliography help students think critically about their sources. The chapters on finding books, periodicals, and Web sources each include a new discussion of filtering and evaluating search results.
Improved coverage of audience and purpose. The text now defines three types of research papers, according to their purpose: a report, an analysis, and an argument. Examples throughout have been revised to show students making appropriate research and writing choices for these rhetorical situations.
More on avoiding plagiarism. Chapter 13's focus has been extended to include a discussion of intellectual property, academic integrity, and the citation conventions of different writing communities.
Expanded advice on organizing, drafting and revising. In response to instructor feedback, Part Four now includes expanded advice on developing an outline and using it to draft and revise, more on integrating sources, and a greater focus on global revision. A new extended example of revising for support helps students understand that effective revision involves more than just tinkering with paragraphs, sentences, and word choice.
Updated and expanded coverage of documentation. Providing the latest MLA, APA and Chicago style guidelines, this edition offers more advice and models for documenting audio-visual and electronic sources, as well as new quick-reference directories to the MLA and APA sample entries.
A companion Web site (http://bedfordstmartins.com/writingresearch) offering research exercises and links to research sources.