Qtip 1:  Choose and narrow down a topic.  Depending on the length of your paper, an essay on dogs would probably be impossible.  There are entire books on dogs.  There are even entire books on German Shepherds.  The best thing to do is narrow down your topic as much as possible.  Perhaps an essay on German Shepherds as police dogs is specific enough?  This is what your professor means when she says "narrow down your topic."

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Qtip 2:  Carefully choose your sources.  Avoid websites like gradesaver.net or essayhelp.com.  These are not reputable websites.  Just as your teachers and professors have probably already told you to avoid Wikipedia and websites like Sparknotes, avoid any sources that are not academic sources.  Some professors even require that your sources be peer reviewed.  Good resources include prominent and respected online newspapers and magazines and most sources which can be found in online academic journals such as via JSTOR (short for journal storage) and EBSCOHOST.  *For Tennessee residents, the TEL (Tennessee Electronic Library is an excellent resource.  Found here:  https://tntel.info/

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Qtip 3:  Begin your rough draft VERY early and leave yourself several days to revise your work.  This means you'll need to finish your rough draft at least two days before your essay is due.

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Qtip 4:  Have a friend, teacher, parent, or classmates help you to proofread; it's very difficult to find all of your own errors in your writing.

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Qtip 5:  Read your writing aloud (preferably to another human).  This will help you to find any sentences which may be unclear to the reader.

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Qtip 6:  Compare the layout of your paper to a professional research paper online.  The heading, title, spacing, and works cited formats should essentially look the same.

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Qtip 7:  Ask your professor or teacher for help if there is something you don't understand.  We have no idea whether our students need help unless they ask for it, and we're happy to help!

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Qtip 8:  Even if you aren't required to write an outline, write an informal one anyway.  Plan out what you intend to write in each of your paragraphs and the source material you intend to cite.

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*More tips added each day!!! - Professor Q

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