Each student will produce a research paper on the topic of his/her choosing in the period under study. Research should include the use of at least 10 relevant secondary sources, especially recent articles about the topic in scholarly journals. It should also contain pertinent primary sources material. The fruit of this research will be presented in a paper of eight (8) to ten (10) pages, with citations according to the Chicago Manual of Style. Citation guidelines are available at the Trefry Library here at APUS.  You can locate those at https://www.apus.edu/apus-library/resources-services/Writing/writing-center/chicago-style-guide-info.html

The paper should include:

        A discussion of the significance of the topic

        The historiography of the topic

        A clear thesis statement about your position regarding the topic

        A well developed historical argument sustaining your thesis.

Research Paper Writing Resources:

As an APUS student, you have access to numerous resources at the Online Librarys Tutorial & Student Studies Center that will not only help with Chicago style, but will also help polish grammar skills, organize your papers and help you to avoid plagiarism. I encourage you to examine these resources, especially before beginning your research paper, but also as often as you feel is necessary during the actual writing process.

Review the following for more information on writing a history research paper.

http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/resdoc5e/RES5e_ch05_o.html

http://www.bowdoin.edu/writing-guides/

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/658/1/

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/717/01/

For more on Analyzing Primary Sources, I recommend the

Document Analysis Worksheets found at http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/worksheets/

Follow the footnote (or endnote) and bibliography humanities style in the Chicago Manual of Style for the citation of all sources and the formatting of your bibliography. That is the citation and bibliographic style used by historians. Do not use the in-text and reference list citation style that is also allowed by Chicago style for the physical, natural, and social sciences. You also need to format your paper according to the elements listed in the Chicago Manual of Style. Brief Chicago Manual of Style citation guides are also available at the following websites:

http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html

http://www.docstyles.com/archive/cmscrib.pdf (also provides essay format guidelines)