The research paper is one requirement that some college students dread. For them, the paper means spending long hours of research, writing, analyzing and editing until it is polished. The process can be nerve-wracking but every student has to go through it to survive college.
Fortunately, there’s a wealth of information available today on the internet to help students create an in-depth and well-written research paper. As long as you follow the rules, there’s little chance that you can go wrong.
Choose a Good Topic
If you’re given the opportunity to propose your own topics, check all your notes, readings and previous discussions first and look for those that interest you. The topic should be very familiar to you and one that you’re passionate about so you will have a lot to write on.
Your professor may also initially provide general topics and then will require you to come up with more specific titles for your research paper. Make sure to create a title that’s closely related to the topic and then have it checked by your instructor.
Find Your Resources
Once you have decided on a particular topic, it’s time to look for your resources. The internet may have so much to offer but be mindful of your sources as they can make a huge difference in your paper. Do not just search for information on any website that you can find as not all provide accurate data.
For your guidance, go to websites with .edu, .com and .org domain extensions.
Create an Outline
An outline is essential as it serves as a guide while writing your academic papers. This should contain the different sections of your paper as well as sub-sections if necessary.
When you have an outline, it would also be easier to write the details as you are aware of what to include next and you can ensure that your writing will be more organized.
Do ensure that your research paper has a balance of your own sentences, quotes and paraphrases. Avoid using too many direct quotations. Ideally, your own sentences and paraphrases should be more dominant than quotations.
When using quotations, remember to cite your source. This also applies to your own sentences and paraphrases that came from the ideas of other people.
List Your Sources
A good and effective research paper should have a bibliography. This is the part where you list your sources hence, you need to write down each source as you are writing your paper. It will save you time as you go along.
Stick to Style Standards
Finally, know the style standard you would like to follow. Determine the in-text citation styles, page styles for references and heading or title page formats. When you can do this, you will be consistent from the start to the end of your research paper.
Here’s an infographic showing the steps to write a good research paper.