Related Research Guides
Start your research: Step-by-step guide
Step-by-step tutorial on research methods will help you gain practical skills and knowledge you can apply for all research needs, including how to evaluate resources from magazines, journals, scholarly, and peer-reviewed sources.
Resources available to Northwestern Students and Faculty
The following list of resources are available to assist you with writing public policy related documents, including resources on campus, how to cite your resources, and guides for writing public policy and legal materials.
Resources on campus
School of Professional Studies Learning Studio
SPS Learning Studios are self-paced, self-directed and individualized online tutorials to support SPS students and assist in student success. These Studios are optional, non-credit, and zero-tuition courses housed in Canvas, with no registration requirements in Caesar.
The Writing Place is a free tutorial service for students currently enrolled in a Northwestern University School of Professional Studies class to provide extra help with writing assignments. Many students are at the earliest stages of researching a paper and seek help focusing a topic or developing a thesis. Others come in with a final draft and wish to have a perfectly clean paper. No matter the class or stage of the writing process, The Writing Place offers one-on-one advice and assistance from an experienced writer who can analyze the student's text and suggest improvements.
Citing your resources
APA Citations: Purdue University Writing Lab
APA (American Psychological Association) style is most commonly used to cite sources within the social sciences. This resource, revised according to the 6th edition, second printing of the APA manual, offers examples for the general format of APA research papers, in-text citations, endnotes/footnotes, and the reference page.
Bluebook Citation for Legal Materials: Purdue University Writing Lab
The Bluebook style guide is used in the American legal profession for citation of all relevant sources. Additionally, the Chicago Manual of Style recommends its use for all citation of legal material.
Writing legal and public policy documents
The Craft of Research by Call Number: 001.42 B725c 2008ISBN: 9780226065656With more than 200,000 copies in print, The Craft of Research is the unrivaled resource for researchers at every level, from first-year undergraduates to research reporters at corporations and government offices.
They Say / I Say by ISBN: 9780393935844Publication Date: 2014-02-04"They Say / I Say" identifies the key rhetorical moves in academic writing, showing students how to frame their arguments in the larger context of what others have said and providing templates to help them make those moves. And, because these moves are central across all disciplines, the book includes chapters on writing in the sciences, writing in the social sciences, and--new to this edition--writing about literature.
The Rowman and Littlefield Guide to Writing with Sources by ISBN: 1442205695Publication Date: 2011-11-17The Rowman & Littlefield Guide to Writing with Sources offers the most thorough and up-to-date discussion of plagiarism and the proper use of sources available today. The new edition incorporates the latest revisions to MLA, CSE, and CMS styles and the lexicon of electronic materials. This succinct and accessible handbook helps writers of all levels to assess, quote, cite, and present information from a variety of sources, including electronic and Internet sources. It features samples, updated throughout, of writing and style sheets, as well as a checklist for quoting and paraphrasing, to help strengthen writing in any field.
