How to Write a Research Paper:
A research paper is a piece of academic writing that provides analysis, interpretation, and argument based on in-depth independent research.
Research papers are similar to academic essays, but they are usually longer and more detailed assignments. Writing a research paper requires you to demonstrate a strong knowledge of your topic,with a variety of sources, and make an original contribution to the debate. The following steps take you through the entire writing process, from understanding your assignment to your final draft.
Understand the assignment:
Completing a research paper successfully means accomplishing the specific tasks set out for you. Before you start, make sure you thoroughly understand the assignment task.
Read it carefully, looking for anything confusing you might need to clarify with your professor.
Identify the assignment goal, deadline, length specifications, formatting, and submission method.
Make a list of the key points.
Carefully consider your timeframe and word limit, be realistic, and plan enough time to research, write and edit.
Choose a research paper topic:
There are many ways to generate an idea for a research paper, from brainstorming with pen and paper to talking it through with a fellow student or professor.
You can try free writing.
You can also gain inspiration from other research.
Once you have a subject area, narrow it down to choose a topic that interests you, meets the criteria of your assignment, and is possible to research. Aim for ideas that are both original and specific.
Conduct introductory research:
Note any discussions that seem important to the topic, and try to find an issue that you can focus your paper around. Use a variety of sources, including journals, books, and reliable websites, to ensure you do not miss anything glaring.
Do not only verify the ideas you have in mind but look for sources that contradict your point of view.
In this stage, you might find it helpful to formulate some research questions to help guide you.
Develop a thesis statement:
A thesis statement is a statement of your central argument. It establishes the purpose and position of your paper. If you started with a research question, the thesis statement should answer it. It should also show what evidence and reasoning you’ll use to support that answer.
The thesis statement should briefly summarize your argument in a sentence or two. You will probably revise and refine the thesis statement as you do more research, but it can serve as a guide throughout the writing process. Every paragraph should aim to support and develop this central claim.
Create a research paper outline:
A research paper outline is essentially a list of the key topics, arguments, and evidence you want to include, divided into sections with headings so that you know roughly what the paper will look like before you start writing.
A structured outline can help make the writing process much more efficient, so it’s worth dedicating some time to creating one.
Write a first draft of the research paper:
Your first draft won’t be perfect, you can polish it later on. Your priorities at this stage are as follows:
Maintaining the forward momentum write now, perfect later.
Paying attention to organizing and ordering paragraphs and sentences, will help when you come to the second draft.
Expressing your ideas as clearly as possible, so you know what you were trying to say when you come back to the text.
You do not need to start by writing the introduction. Begin where it feels most natural for you. If you created an outline, use it as a map while you work.
Write the introduction:
The research paper introduction should address three questions: What, why, and how? After finishing the introduction, the reader should know what the paper is about, why it is worth reading, and how you’ll build your arguments.
What? Introduce the background, and define key terms or concepts.
Why? This is the most important, but also the most difficult, part of the introduction.
How? To let the reader know what to expect from the rest of the paper.
Write a compelling body of the text:
The major struggle faced by most writers is how to organize the information presented in the paper, which is one reason an outline is so useful.
However, remember that the outline is only a guide and when writing, you can be flexible with the order in which the information and arguments are presented.
Avoid paragraphs that seem to cover the same things.
Smooth transitions between sentences, paragraphs, and sections.
Write the conclusion:
The research paper’s conclusion is designed to help your reader out of the paper’s argument, giving them a sense of finality.
Give the paper a sense of finality by making sure the reader understands how you’ve settled the issues raised in the introduction.
You might also discuss the more general consequences of the argument, outline what the paper offers to future students of the topic, and suggest any questions the paper’s argument raises but cannot or does not try to answer.
The second draft:
There are four main considerations when it comes to the second draft.
Check how the paper lines up with the first draft and, more importantly, that your paper still answers the assignment.
Identify any assumptions that might require justification, keeping your reader’s perspective in mind. Remove these points if you cannot substantiate them further.
Be open to rearrange your ideas. Check whether your ideas could be better organized.
If you find that old ideas do not fit as well as you anticipated, you should cut them out.
Now is the time to make them part of the paper.
The revision process:
The goal during the revision and final process is to ensure you have completed all the necessary tasks and that the paper is as well-articulated as possible.
Global concerns:
Confirm that your paper completes every task specified in your assignment.
Check for the flow of paragraphs.
Check paragraphs against the introduction and thesis statement.
Fine-grained details:
Check the content of each paragraph, making sure that. Each sentence helps support the topic sentence. No unnecessary or irrelevant information is present. All technical terms your audience might not know are identified. Next, think about sentence structure, grammatical errors, and formatting. Check that you have correctly used phrases to show the connections between your ideas. Cut unnecessary words and check for consistency in aspects such as headings for conferences and spellings. Finally, you need to make sure your paper is correctly formatted according to the rules.
You must be logged in to post a comment.