If you’re a college student, you will probably have to write at least one college-level research paper. Research paper writing can be a challenge. But with a little practice, it can become an important part of your academic toolkit. Writing a good research paper can be scary if you have never done it before.
What is Research Paper?
A research paper is the final procedure of research about a specific topic. When you studying at school and college, you will likely be asked to prepare research papers. A research paper can be used for exploring and identifying scientific, technical and social issues.
Writing a research paper with good writing skiils involves eight main steps. The following steps will help you write a research paper.
Choosing a topic:
Choosing your topic is the first and most important step in your research paper project. If you are struggling to choose a topic then ask your professor or classmates for advice. They will inspire you with new ideas. You can also use the guidelines given by your instructor to select your topic.
Once you have decided on a topic and determined that enough information is available, you are ready to proceed. If you are not determined about the topic. Then don’t waste the time and immediately change your topic.
Researching your topic:
After selecting a topic the next step is to begin research. You can do research in numerous forms including web pages, journal articles, books, and blog posts, among others.
- You can also take help from your class notes.
- Go to your local library or university library and take help from the librarian.
Making an outline:
Creating an outline is the process of organizing your thoughts and what you are going to write in your research paper. This step is very important to highlight key facts and phrases.
- The outline should be an overview of your entire paper in bullet points.
- Place your strongest points at the beginning and end of your essay.
- When you make an outline, putting your ideas in a specific order.
- As you go through your notes, mark down the author, page number, title, and publishing information for each resource. This will help when you craft your bibliography or works on the cited page.
Write the Introduction:
This will help you identify the main points and define the purpose of your paper. These tips will attract your reader’s attention, provide reader interest to read the whole essay.
Write the Conclusion:
Write a conclusion that briefly summarizes your answers and provides a sense of closing. It repeats your main contention without just repeating what you said previously in your paper.
Choose the Citation Formats:
If your professor doesn’t give the specific format for research paper then you need to choose the proper format. MLA, APA, and Chicago are the three most common citation formats.
- MLA format is typically used for literary research papers and uses a ‘works cited’ page at the end. This format requires in-text citations.
- APA format is used by researchers in the social sciences field and requires in-text citations as well. It ends the paper with a “references” page, and may also have section headers between body paragraphs.
- Chicago formatting is used mainly for historical research papers and uses footnotes at the bottom of each page rather than in-text citations and works cited or references page.
Recheck Before Submitting:
After writing the research paper you need to reread your article at least two times. You can find out some big mistakes and easily remove this.
Also, check for basic grammatical and spelling errors as well as the flow and form of your paper.
Create the final draft:
When you have edited and re-edited your paper, formatted your work according to the subject matter, and finalized all the main points. Adjust the font, line spacing, and margins to meet the requirements set by your professor.
Conclusion:
Your research paper will be finalized by following these steps!
