Paper Topic Development: International: Introduction

Contents: What in the world should I write about? -- How do I find out what has been said and who has said it? -- How do I know this is worth talking more about? -- Do I really have to read everything that's out there? -- How do I use all this information? -- Putting pen to paper.

The authors of this guide are former BLS faculty. There are three copies in the Reserve collection & one circulating copy in the Main collection.
Contents: Introduction: scholarly writing in law school -- Exploration: choosing and narrowing a topic -- Inspiration: finding and developing a thesis -- The mostly research stage -- The writing process: getting it down on paper -- The writing process: revising and polishing -- Footnotes and the ethical use of borrowed materials -- Writing with care -- Writing with style -- The law review process: evaluating and editing the work of others -- Getting mileage: winning awards, publishing your work, and joining the conversation.

Contents: Finding what to write about (the claim) -- Test suites : making prescriptive claims more sound -- Writing strategy -- Writing the introduction -- Writing the "background" section -- Writing the proof of the claim -- The conclusion and after the conclusion -- Finishing the first draft, and the zeroth draft -- Tips on researching -- Editing : general principles -- Editing : getting help from your faculty advisor -- Writing : logical problems to watch for -- Writing : paragraph-level problems to watch for -- Writing : sentence/clause problems to watch for -- Writing : word/phrase problems to watch for -- Writing : rhetorical problems to watch for -- Editing exercises -- Using evidence correctly -- Writing and researching : timeline and summary -- A sample highly successful student article -- Turning practical work into articles -- Writing seminar term papers -- Cite-checking others' articles -- Publishing and publicizing -- Entering writing competitions -- Getting on law review -- Academic ethics.