Research Article Project

Your Research Article Project submission must be based upon the use of primary and secondary sources.

If you are unfamiliar with these terms, click the following links for more information about what constitutes a primary or secondary source:

UA Libraries Research Guides for History: Finding Primary Sources
UA Libraries Research Guides for History: Finding Secondary Sources
National History Education Clearing House – Primary Sources: What Are They?
National History Education Clearing House – Secondary Sources: What Are They?
Assignment Requirements:

You must use at least three scholarly, secondary sources obtained via the UA Libraries’ website.

Access the University of Alabama Libraries’ online resources.
Here is a listing of all electronic databases housed in the University of Alabama Library.
You must use at least two primary sources.

The University of Alabama history research guide includes a list of primary and secondary resources.
You may not use the following sources:

your textbook.
Wikipedia, or Wikipedia-like web sites.
about.com, or associated sites.
ask.com, or associated sites.
non scholarly-minded web sites. In other words, “Johnny’s Totally Awesome World War II Web site” won’t work.
juvenile literature (regardless of whether or not you accessed it on the UA Libraries website).
book reviews.
encyclopedias of any kind.
You must include citations in the Chicago Manual of Style format, noting the location in which you found your information. For instructions on how to cite your evidence, view the following sites.

The Perdue OWL – Chicago Manual of Style.
Automatic Citation Generator for the Chicago Manual of Style – for some reason, this site includes a comma after the journal title, the issue number, and a colon after the date. This is incorrect. Do not include include these items.
The Chicago Manual of Style.
Beware of the citations offered on the UA Library website. Nearly all of then contain at least one mistake.
You must include an annotation for each bibliographic record listed. Annotations need not be longer than a brief paragraph, but they must describe what information you intend to draw from the source and how that information supports your thesis.

For more information on how to create an annotation, view the following sites.

National History Day Annotated Bibliography Resource
The Perdue OWL: Annotated Bibliographies
The following sample annotation is from the Perdue OWL website:

Davidson, Hilda Ellis. Roles of the Northern Goddess. London: Routledge, 1998.

Davidson’s book provides a thorough examination of the major roles filled by the numerous pagan goddesses of Northern Europe in everyday life, including their roles in hunting, agriculture, domestic arts like weaving, the household, and death. The author discusses relevant archaeological evidence, patterns of symbol and ritual, and previous research. The book includes a number of black and white photographs of relevant artifacts.