Research genre production means producing writing that follows the rules and expectations of a specific research format used by a specific academic community. Over this semester, I produced four distinct research genres: an annotated bibliography, a research proposal, a survey, and a works cited page  Each genre has its own requirements, and I learned to navigate each one.

The annotated bibliography genre requires more than just listing sources. Each entry must include three parts: a full MLA citation, a brief summary of the source, and an explanation of how the source connects to my own research question. My annotated bibliography follows this structure for all six sources. The summary shows I understood the source. The connection sentence shows I am not just collecting information—I am entering a scholarly conversation.

The research proposal genre follows a specific structure. It must begin with an introduction that establishes why the topic matters. Then it includes a literature review that surveys what scholars have already said. After that comes a gap statement that identifies what is missing. The research question emerges directly from that gap. The proposal then explains a methodology (how I would answer the question), a timeline, and a works cited page. My research proposal includes every one of these sections. The gap statement is the most important part because it justifies why my research needs to exist.

The survey genre has its own conventions. Questions must be unbiased and not leading. Response options must be consistent. My survey uses a 7-point Likert scale for all closed-ended questions so responses are comparable. I separated questions into thematic sections (emotional impact, visual elements, connection to real-world suffering, free response). I also included open-ended questions to capture qualitative data that numbers cannot show. These are standard features of survey design in social science research.

The works cited page genre follows MLA 9th edition conventions. Entries are organized alphabetically by the author's last name so readers can find a source quickly. Each entry includes all the information a reader would need to locate the source themselves: author, title, journal or book title, volume, issue, year, page range, and DOI when available. My works cited page follows these conventions exactly. I also learned that the works cited page only includes sources I actually cited in my proposal—not everything I read.

Even the image of Picasso's Guernica follows a genre convention. In academic writing, a reproduced artwork must include the artist's name, title, year, and current location. My image includes all of this information in the caption. This tells my audience exactly which painting I am analyzing and where to find it.

Not every genre choice was straightforward. When I originally planned my survey, I considered using a control painting to compare against Guernica. But I realized that a control painting would complicate my design and might not actually answer my research question. I chose to drop the control painting and focus on three audience groups instead. This was a choice I made within the constraints of the survey genre. I did not follow a template blindly. I adapted the genre to fit my specific research question.

Sidenote, the DOI was an important item that falls into the research genre as to be able to always retrieve that source down the road. That was a tidbit I was previously unaware of prior to this course.