Writing for Inquiry and Research

Reviewed by Dexter Booth, Residential English Faculty, Mesa Community College on 4/17/25

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

This book is very comprehensive, with a variety of example types ranging from selection of student papers to visual aids and instructional videos to help convey the ideas of each chapter's sub-sections. These examples are especially useful when discussing the types of sources (primary vs. secondary, scholarly vs. popular), as well the annotation process. There’s no glossary but I don’t think that’s necessary given how well the writing covers the subject matter and the thoroughness of the linked resources. The appendix is quite rigorous and carefully considered, and the table of contents clear in the naming and navigation of each of the chapter’s materials.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The content is accurate given the time of publication. An updated version might include a larger discussion of AI or other technologies, but the author’s do state the limits of what they intend to address, highlighting in the preface their investment in writing as a human-based process. It would be nice to have dedicated sections on plagiarism and AI (rather than a brief mention of AI in an example thesis statement), but these can easily be discussions a professor engages in as context supplemental to the textbook. These conversations are so new and move so quickly that I can't hold it against this version of the textbook, which is really well done. The information in the book is error-free and unbiased, highlighting its focus on inquiry and the technical processes of writing a research paper.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

I don’t believe that this text will be obsolete anytime soon. The subjects covered are timely, though there are spaces where, if the authors intend to, sections can be updated to include more nuanced discussions about things like AI, emerging research databases, and evolving research methods. There’s enough here to make a solid toolkit for students developing writing and research skills and space to add new sections that might aid future students as the field progresses, but this textbook supplies the meat and potatoes of how to ask questions and begin a thorough and thoughtful research and writing journey.

Clarity rating: 5

The author’s do a great job of making all of the language accessible and very clear for students. For those students who need a bit of extra assistance there are numerous videos and visual aids that help reiterate and reinforce the book’s ideas.

Consistency rating: 5

The author’s ensure that the text is very consistent in its methodology and framework. It’s clear they all have experience with first-year writing students and are good at breaking down the writing and researching processes appropriately for this audience.

Modularity rating: 5

Headings and sections are very clearly labeled and easy to navigate. Given the subject of the text it likely wouldn’t make sense to move major sections around too much but the sub-sections provide ample space to expand on or add other information an instructor might find important, and some sub-section information (such as those on reading strategies, library databases, types of sources, and citation styles) could be presented in a slightly different order depending on what you believe should be highlighted first for overall student comprehension. As a whole, though, all of the sections feel intentionally organized and solidly scaffolded for student learning.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

This is very well organized, with each chapter covering a specific and clear portion of the research process thoroughly, while also providing additional information via the appendices. An instructor could choose to add sections of information as supplemental material to deepen or expand on the specifics of certain chapters, as necessary. This could easily be taught as a standalone series of chapters and a student can follow this information from initial brainstorm to completed research paper without any problems. This is a book about process, and that's very clear in the consideration the authors give to the layout and presentation of the text.

Interface rating: 5

All included images, charts, and videos are clear and easy to navigate. The interface is easy to scroll through and all clickable links are functional. I didn’t notice any problems with the text or fonts.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

This is a professionally written and editing text and seems clear of any glaring grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

It is not culturally insensitive or offensive. The book doesn’t lean toward any particular background and ensures even the examples (which are varied) focus on the task of inquiry, researching, and brainstorming.

This book does an excellent job of breaking down the research process into concise steps that are digestible and relevant to first-year student writing, providing a number of resources and examples, but not overwhelming or over complicating things. The authors lead by example here, obviously giving great consideration to their audience and making this very easy to read and understand. I love that each chapter has its own introduction and lets the reader know what should be learned by the end of that chapter, setting up and reinforcing practical goals for students. The book is well-paced and detailed in all the necessary places.

All of the information can be covered in a single semester. The variety of examples (the links, videos, and images) make this a good book to use as-is, while also allowing some flexibility for instructors to bring in their own additional resources or examples if they have a specific project theme or course objective approach. This is broad enough to be applicable for all first-year writing courses while also being malleable, allowing space for instructors to build on what’s here to expand for individual classroom and professor tastes. This is stripped down to only what’s necessary, and demystifies the research process, making it totally appropriate for first-year students learning to think critically as they dive into a research project. I’m impressed with how lean this book is and believe it would be a valuable addition to any first-year writing course.

Reviewed by Jason Parks, Professor of English, Anderson University on 9/1/24

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

While the introduction cited four specific writing projects covered in this book: an annotated bibliography, a research proposal, a literature review, and a research essay, the appendices and extra material at the end of each chapter provides even more than you might expect. I was immediately copying links and bookmarking pages once I read through each chapter. I would definitely use this in a first-year writing course.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

Everything is clear, up to date, and unbiased. This was clearly put together by experts who understand the practical needs of college students.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

Everything in this book is recent and applicable to students currently (Fall 2024) writing research papers. There's even some discussion of AI, though updates will be needed as we continue to figure out how to integrate new technologies into approaches to writing instruction.

Clarity rating: 5

Everything is succinct and direct. Any jargon that is used (such as metadiscourse), includes videos and explanations. The videos are especially helpful in clarifying terms.

Consistency rating: 5

Everything is cohesive and consistent in terms of framework. While each chapter has a different focus, they all work together and point toward the same objectives of helping students make sense of the research and writing process.

Modularity rating: 4

Everything is well-organized and headings are clear. The videos were easy to access and all the links were well marked. I especially liked the additional sections at the end of the chapters that linked to more textbooks and writing center resources.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

Each chapter guides students through the process of compositing/creating a specific project. There were plenty of breaks between sections with charts, diagrams, and videos.

Interface rating: 5

The text was all consistent in terms of font, headings, and visuals. There were no complicated interfaces, mostly just simple scrolling through the information.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

Everything was professionally edited and clearly written.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The text was very neutral. The examples were not limited to and didn't favor any specific background, race, or ethnicity. The video links and other topics raised in the examples had plenty of variety.

I was especially impressed with the efficiency and level of expertise. Each chapter was paired down to key points and useful tips that are relevant to current research on first-year writing programs. I thought the videos were all helpful and easy to access. I also appreciated the extra links at the end of each chapter. I will definitely be using this in my first-year research courses this semester. There was only one link to the following OER resource that didn't work: Writing a Research Paper, A Potential Method for Jerry Rhodes, "The Main Steps of Research Paper Writing". Otherwise, you could share this with students right now. If I was going to write my own textbook for an introductory research course, this is definitely the kind of book I'd want to write. After 17 years of teaching first-year composition and research, I've seen the full range of first-year research and rhetoric textbooks, and I feel like this is the kind of resource that we need, although you'd definitely want to pair this with your own examples and materials, especially if you have specific themes and/or objectives for your classes. It's not prescriptive and is useful as guide/handbook for any of the individual projects, so the chapters can definitely be used separately.

Reviewed by Terry Lovern, Adjunct Instructor, Radford University on 5/27/24

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

The book is quite comprehensive, showcasing the experience from all the authors. The authors' interdisciplinary approach works well, adding to the text's depth and breadth. Incorporating explanatory videos in the sections is an excellent choice, which eliminates the need to add more tutorials via YouTube. It covers all the necessary steps for conducting and composing a research paper.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

Although the authors leave out important topics like emergent digital technologies and plagiarism, they at least acknowledge those shortcomings as they advocate that writing is always a human-centric action. An instructor could easily supplement other materials to cover these missing topics though.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The authors focus on what they view as the most important, evergreen steps of research writing. This approach will help the text endure over time as opposed to needed constant updates for things like digital media. Technology could be supplemented with other OER texts or by the instructor.

Clarity rating: 5

The book is clear and concise. First-year students and instructors alike should have no problem following the text due to its well organized content.

Consistency rating: 5

The book has no consistency problems. The authors use a simple, easy to follow organization of topics; their accumulated experience with first-year writing keeps the content consistent.

Modularity rating: 5

The authors do an excellent job of breaking the research writing process into easy to use sections. Assigning them out of order in class would be confusing; however, an instructor could spend a week or longer on a chapter, adding anything else they feel is necessary.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

Excellent organization. Each section is distinct and separate, but shows how the entire research process is connected and scaffolded. The appendices are also laid out well and organized.

Interface rating: 5

No interface issues or problems with the text itself.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

No discernible surface errors are in the text.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The book is fairly neutral, so any first-year student or instructor should be able to use it. The text contains nothing culturally insensitive or offensive and focuses on how to do research writing.

This would make a great text for anyone teaching the research writing component of first-year composition. The step-by-step structure makes it easy to scaffold and incorporate into a syllabus schedule. The book would also be excellent for mentoring TA's who are learning to teach the material and for new instructors who might want more structure to their course plans.

Reviewed by Angelica Rivera, Director, Northeastern Illinois University on 4/16/24

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

This book consists of a Preface, Introduction, Chapters I thru Chapter IV. and it also has an Appendix I to Appendix III. Chapter I covers the Annotated Bibliography, Chapter II covers the Proposal, Chapter III covers the Literature Review and Chapter IV covers the Research Essay. Each section is broken down into smaller sections to break down each topic. The book is written by 3 different authors who are experts in their field and who write about different writing genres. The authors are interdisciplinary in their approach which means students in various disciplines can use the manual to begin their inquiry process and continue with their research process. This book also has short videos that provide explanations, and references after every chapter to provide additional learning resources. Appendix I covers Reading Strategies, Appendix II covers Writing Strategies and Appendix III covers Research Strategies. Appendix I and Appendix II also have additional resources for reading and writing strategies. This book will help most first year students who are transitioning from high school to college.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

This book is accessible for first year students who are in English, Composition or First year experience courses. However, the authors note that there are some limits to the topics addressed as the text does not cover research methods, databases, plagiarism and emerging writing technologies. The authors believe that writing is a human based process regardless of the tools and technologies that one uses when writing.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

This book is well researched and will survive the test of time as it is accessible and will serve as a reference tool for a student who is looking to develop their writing question and develop their research approach.

Clarity rating: 5

This book is well researched, well organized and well written.

Consistency rating: 5

There was consistency throughout the text as all of the authors had experience with working with first year students and/or with the writing process.

Modularity rating: 5

The first 3 chapters can be assigned in any order but the fourth chapter should be the 4th step as that part consists of writing the actual research essay. This book is not meant to be used by itself and thus provides additional bibliographic sources and topics to further develop one’s knowledge of the writing process.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

This book is written in the logical process of developing a research question and then conducting the research. An instructor can easily assign these chapters in chronological order and it will help the student to brainstorm to create their question and then follow the steps to conduct their research.

Interface rating: 5

There were no issues with the books interface.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

I found this manuscript to be well written and it contained no visible grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

I found this book to be neutral and accessible to all students irrespective of their various backgrounds.

I give this book 5 stars because it helps students and instructors break down the research process into smaller steps which can be completed in a semester-long course in research writing.