History Question

The Final Research Paper is worth 350 points (35% of total course grade).

Objective: Create an original work of History.

Due: Week 8

Congratulations on making it to this point! You are about to contribute something original to the field of History.

Contributing something original may be overwhelming, but remember that:

• It is usually possible to say something new about a topic by looking at that topic from a different angle, with evidence that has not been used on your topic before, or with a new method / approach. (Methods are the approaches that we learned in HIST 289).
• The scope is very small. Think about journal articles you have read. They do not write the entire history of, say, New South Wales. Instead they cover a very narrow sliver of an event or a phenomenon during a narrow period in New South Wales. In other words, this paper is not book-length. It is article length.
• We are all in this together. If you find yourself overwhelmed or stuck, reach out. Say something to your professor or to your classmates. You are not alone.

How to Use These Instructions

1. Read the Quick Hits
2. Read the Deep Dive
3. Use the Rubric as a Checklist

Each of the following is a requirement. All of these items appear on the rubric.

Quick Hits HIST 495 Final Research Paper Requirements

Introduction: 300 500 words (1-2 pages)

• Provides a Clear Thesis / Argument in the first paragraph This paper will argue that ____.

• Introduces Supporting Points (also called sub-theses).
• States What Is New what is original in this paper. For example:
  • New sources
  • New approach
• Purpose: To tell your readers what you are going to claim and why that is different from what everyone else has argued.

Historiography: 1,000 2,000 words (4 8 pages)

• Provides a Thesis / Argument about the Historiography.
  • For example: Scholars generally agree that ____, however there are competing views about _____.
  • Or: Up until the middle of the twentieth century, it was widely accepted that ____. Then scholars began to question this.

• Cites 8 or More Scholarly Secondary Sources.
• Summarizes Secondary Source Arguments.
• Provides a Conclusion that reminds the reader of the key arguments other scholars have made about your topic.
• Purpose: To tell your readers what other scholars have already said about your topic. This will set you up to explain how what you say is new.
• This section is written in HIST 309.

Transition: 150 250 words in 1 2 paragraphs (1/2 page 1 page)

• Restates Clearly What Is New. Elaborate on the originality mentioned in the Introduction. What new, original aspect the paper brings to the field? For example:
  • New sources
  • New approach

• Explains the historical approach/es used to examine the topic and how it/they inform the understanding of the topic.
• Restates the thesis of the paper.
• Purpose: To tell your readers what you are going to claim and how that is different from what everyone else has argued.

Supporting Points (Body): 2,500 4,000 words (10 16 pages)

• Supports Thesis / Argument with 7 or More Primary Sources.
• Supports Thesis / Argument with Sub-Theses, which are also called sub-arguments or supporting points.
• Quotes No Secondary Sources.
• Purpose: To support your original argument.

Conclusion: 300 500 words (1-2 pages)

• Restates Thesis.
• Restates Sub-Theses.
• Optional: May suggest areas for further research for future scholars.
• Purpose: To remind your readers of your evidence and how well it supports your argument.

Endnotes: 60 100+ Notes

• Adheres to Chicago Style Notes Bibliography Form (not Author-Date) for endnotes
• Uses Arabic numerals (not Roman)
• Adheres to Chicago Style Notes Bibliography Form in Superscript Arabic Numeral in the Body Paragraphs
  • A Note on Citation: After you have cited a source in full, complete form once in endnotes, all subsequent citations may use the Short Form. See the . You may have heard of or seen Ibid for referencing the same source in two endnotes in a row. The 17th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style discourages the use of Ibid., and instead encourages Short Form notes for greater clarity, particularly when notes extend over several pages.
• FYI – If you want to use Footnotes, ask your professor if this is allowed. Some professors allow footnotes.
• Purpose:
  1. To provide readers with the means to go directly to relevant passages in sources, which will allow them to use your research as a foundation for their own.
  2. To give credit where credit is due.
  3. To associate your work with the names of respected scholars.

Bibliography

• Adheres to Chicago Style Notes Bibliography Form (not author-date) for bibliographies.
• Uses Hanging Indentation for each entry.
• Uses Single-Spacing with a blank line between each entry.
• Alphabetizes sources by authors last name.
• Purpose: To provide a quick reference for readers to see your sources organized alphabetically by last name.

Form & Style

• Uses double spacing.
• Indents the first line of each paragraph.
• Organizes paragraphs and points for coherent reading.
• Structures (length) paragraphs to contribute substantively to the paper’s overall clarity.
• Flows comfortably from paragraph to paragraph.
• Has historical focus (not editorial).
• Limits quotations to only those that provide support and clarity to the argument.
• Demonstrates fluent writing mechanics and thorough proofreading.
• Exhibits professional polish and formalities (no contractions such as they’re, it’s, would’ve; or no informalities in such as “stuff” or “cool” or “crazy,” etc; no I statements such as I believe or I think.
• Length: 5,000 words long (20 pages not including footnotes or bibliography).

Key Items

• Contributes something new / original to the field.
• Supports a clear argument.
• Draws heavily on primary sources.
• Adheres to Chicago Style.
• Demonstrates polished prose.

Deep Dive HIST 495 Final Research Paper Requirements

1. The Final Research Paper will be a thesis paper, and the first paragraph (the Introduction) will contain the papers thesis statement. A thesis statement is an argument or assertion about your topic. The thesis/argument will describe a historical event. In our work, historians write original research papers such as the one you are writing now. These are the articles that appear in JSTOR.

As such, our papers and your paper will explain why a historical event occurred, historical change over time, or an explanation of the past. Editorials about modern events and topics (especially politics) or what someone should do in the future are not history papers. The thesis will make it clear what the argument is. It is perfectly acceptable even helpful – to say, “This paper will argue that …”.

The Introduction paragraph will also introduce the main supporting points that we will use to prove our thesis.

2. The Final Research Paper will offer the something new to the field in terms of argument, evidence, method, or approach. We are producing something original here. This is not about rehashing what secondary source authors have already argued. We do that in the Historiography section only, and we do so only in order to put our own argument in the context of what others have said to show how what we say is different.

This is how an original research paper is different from a term paper, which only addresses what has already been argued.

This paper will host a new argument about a historical event, and it will base that argument on primary sources.

3. The Final Research Paper will have a Historiography of the papers topic immediately after the introduction/thesis paragraph. The Historiography section of the Final Research Paper is a refined version of your Historiographical Essay from HIST 309. When historians write original research papers for scholarly journals, the Historiography section is where we describe what past scholars have written about our subject so that the reader will know where our argument and research fit within the larger historical debates about our topic.

The Historiography will describe the arguments of at least 8 secondary sources related to your paper topic. The Historiography should be between 1000 and 2000 words long (4 to 8 pages).

4. The Final Research Paper will have a Transition immediately after the Historiography. In the Transition, we explain for our readers what is new about our project. We answer the question: How is our work different from the 8+ secondary sources that we have just summarized in the Historiography?

The Transition also defines what historical approaches we are using in the paper. The approach/es might be what is new about your project. To refresh your memory, historical approaches are what HIST 289 explores, for example: economic history, Annales School, labor history, sociological history, quantitative history, social history, cultural history, gender approach, post-structural history, post-modern approach or post-colonial approach.

Note: Fields of History like Military History and Art History are not historical approaches. They are sub-fields within the larger field of History.

Everyone should be using some of the empiricist approach, so there is no need to specify that unless you are taking a totally different approach like the post-modern approach which denies some of the empiricist models. The Transition should be 1 2 paragraphs.

5. The Final Research Paper will have Supporting Points. This is the distinguishing portion of an original research paper. This is where you get to shine and lay out the evidence supporting your original thesis / argument. This section is solely for primary sources no secondary sources should appear here.

By relying entirely on primary sources here, you step out into the field in the role of historian. The Supporting Points will draw on a bare minimum of 7 primary sources, which will each be cited more than once. The more primary sources the better. The Supporting Points should be between 2500-4000 words (10-16 pages) long.

6. The Final Research Paper will have a Conclusion. The Conclusion will be detailed enough for the reader to review the essential points made in the paper. In the Conclusion we restate the thesis in the very first sentence. After the thesis comes a review of the main supporting arguments or sub-theses and evidence established in the body of your paper. Explain how these sub-theses and evidence buttress your thesis. The Conclusion should be between 1 and 2 pages in length.

7. The Final Research Paper will be at least 5,000 words (20 pages) long: The main body should be approximately 2,500 to 4,000 words, and the Introduction and Conclusion should be approximately 300 to 500 words each. The Historiography section should be 1,000 to 2,000 words long.

Each double-spaced page is about 250 words with Times New Roman 12 point font and 1″ margins. Endnotes and Bibliography do not count to the word/page minimums for this paper.

To keep track of your word count, there are two options.

• If you see ____ words at the bottom of the page, click on ____ words. A window entitled Word Count will pop up. Unclick the box that says Include footnotes and endnotes.
• Click on Tools: Word Count. This will bring up the same window. Unclick the box that says Include footnotes and endnotes.

This will give you a proper tally. You might want to keep your Bibliography in a separate document until you are done writing. This will ensure that the Bibliography is not counted in your tally.

Papers longer than 5,000 words are acceptable. 5,000 is the minimum.

8. The Final Research Paper will have page numbers in the upper right-hand corner. In Microsoft Word, click on Insert and then Page Number. Place page numbers in the header rather than the body of the page.

9. The Final Research Paper will use endnote citations. The endnotes will be entitled Endnotes and will come after the Conclusion. We will be using the Chicago Style method of citations specifically Notes-Bibliography (not Author-Date). A 20-page paper will have between 60 and 100 or more endnotes. 100 is a good target. Endnotes use superscript numbering rather than parentheses. Endnotes go at the end of the paper – just before the Bibliography not at the bottom of each page. If you wish to use Footnotes, ask your professor. Some faculty allow this. As noted above, Endnotes do not count as part of the required length of the paper.

A Note on Citation: After you have cited a source in full, complete form once in endnotes, all subsequent citations may use the Short Form. See the .

You may have heard of or seen Ibid for referencing the same source in two endnotes in a row. The 17th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style discourages the use of Ibid., and instead encourages Short Form notes for greater clarity, particularly when notes extend over several pages.

10. The Final Research Paper will include a formal Bibliography after the endnotes. The Bibliography will be entitled Bibliography and will come at the end of the paper. It will conform to the models for Chicago Style bibliographic entries and bibliographies. Specifically follow the Notes-Bibliography form (not Author-Date). This is not an annotated bibliography, but instead a bibliographical listing of the sources you used in your paper. The Bibliography only includes sources that are cited in the Endnotes.

As noted above, the Bibliography does not count as part of the required length of the paper. You might want to keep your Bibliography in a separate document until you are done writing. This will ensure that the Bibliography is not counted in your tally while you write.

11. The Final Research Paper will use paragraphs to break up ideas. Pay attention to their order once you have an initial draft of the entire paper. Check to see if your paragraph structure/order is consistent with your methodological statement in the introduction. Break up run-on paragraphs. As a rule, no paragraph should be longer than one page (250 words). The paper will follow essay form. You may subdivide the main body into two or more subsections for structure and clarity.

12. The Final Research Paper must be submitted as a Word document. This means that the file name will end in .doc or .docx.

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