Writing Resources

Good academic writing is one of the most important skills you can acquire as a college student. Employers are always looking for good writers. You may also have to do research as part of your job and it is important to cite the sources of your information to protect yourself and your employer legally.

College research papers should be more than book reports and they certainly should not be a series of paragraphs cut and pasted from the internet. Many teachers use Turnitin.com to verify the originality of their students' work. You can open an account at Turnitin.com anytime at no cost. Turnitin. com has training videos and user manuals which help you learn about their system.

The Cultural Anthropology Project and the Dancing on Heaven's Doorstep Research Paper links to your left give you detailed instructions about finding material for specific classes. For more general information, there are links and sample papers on the Student Skills page of my faculty web site at San Jose State. Some useful resources are:

• The American Anthropologist Style Guide,
• Internet Search Strategies,
• Chicago Citation System Information,
• Data Collection Sheet for Cultural Anthropology,
• Data Collection Sheet for Dancing on Heaven's Doorstep,
• When to Use Hyphen, En dash, and Em Dash,
• Essay Grading Standards,
• Sample Reference List for Papers,
• Sample Paper Showing Form,
• Developing a Good Thesis, and
• When You Must Cite.