Introduction to Scholarly Writing

Week 9

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Introduction to Scholarly Writing

In some ways, the next few weeks are an extension of the previous ones because you will continue to work on graduate-level skills, which you may or may not need to improve. You will now focus on the skills needed to write a scholarly paper.

In Week 7, you identified a topic of interest related to the field of MFT and conducted research in that area. Now you will expand upon your knowledge on that topic and prepare a paper outline. You will include the resources you discussed in Week 7 within your outline. Next week, you will compose an essay that brings to light the key points that you identified in the resources you located in response to your systemic question.

Communicating in writing is a skill you must consistently use throughout this program. Additionally, you will use this skill in your profession as an MFT when you write reports, assessments, case notes, letters to judges, and much more. All written communication must be organized and concise to facilitate your readers’ understanding. This week, you will be asked to work on a skill associated with writing a paper in an organized and concise manner: an outline. The purpose of an outline is to help you organize your thoughts and goals for an upcoming essay. It is important to remember that as you construct it. You will receive feedback from your professor on this outline to incorporate into your Week 10 assignment.

Please note that in scholarly papers, the goal is not to simply summarize the articles (this is what the annotation is for), but to develop a message that ties together the ideas presented in these research articles. Your message is essentially your answer to the question you asked about your topic. You are taking the information gained from your sources, integrating this information into a cohesive picture, and then presenting a research-supported answer to your question. It is important that you make clear points relative to your question, and then support this information with the details from the resources. Your writing will integrate ideas from the scholarly sources you selected while convincing the reader of the validity of the conclusions you have drawn about the topic.

With all of this in mind, identify some of the key pieces of information that your sources provided relative to the question you wanted to answer. How do the findings relate across the articles? What were some of the most important issues driving the research, and how did the research meet and/or fail to meet these issues? Drawing on information from across the sources, what two to three main points would you make concerning your question about your topic? Your thinking here will be the basis for your outline.

There are no required resources assigned this week. However, you may want to visit the Academic Success Center as well as Academic Writer for writing tips, including outlining.

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List of Topics and Sub-Modules for Week 9

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Assignment

Top of Form

Due February 12 at 11:59 PM

Bottom of Form

Using the seven scholarly and professional resources you located for Week 7, submit an outline for the paper you will submit next week. When you write your paper for Week 10, you will have the opportunity to practice both syntheses of sources and persuasiveness in writing. The outline you write this week will help you prioritize, organize, and synthesize the information from your peer-reviewed articles to prepare you to write a strong paper next week.

Develop an outline for your paper that includes the following components:

I. Introduction (start broad and end with a concise statement about the main points you plan to cover in the paper—your thesis statement)

II. Main point #1: State the main point

a. Describe and analyze evidence supporting this point

b. Transition to next point

III. Main point #2: State the main point

a. Describe and analyze evidence supporting this point

b. Transition to next point

IV. Main point #3: State the main point

a. Describe and analyze evidence supporting this point

b. Transition to the conclusion

V. Conclusion (summarize your main points and draw them together by how they support your thesis statement)

Your outline does not need to include complete sentences, but it must include specific information from your resources and a clear demonstration of how you are conceptualizing the material. The outline should synthesize the information from all sources (not present distinct information from each source individually).

When synthesizing, you are identifying the main points from multiple sources of information. This may include where there are similarities or contradictions. Also, in-text citations must be included in the outline. (Hint: This will help you next week with proper placement of in-text citations within your paper.)

Length: 2-4 pages, not including title and reference pages.

Your outline should demonstrate thoughtful consideration of the ideas and concepts presented in the course by providing new thoughts and insights relating directly to this topic. Your response should reflect scholarly writing and current APA standards where appropriate. Be sure to adhere to Northcentral University’s Academic Integrity Policy.

Upload your document, and then click the  Submit to Dropbox button.