Research paper writing is assigned to the students at almost all levels of their academic life. It is a very interesting type of academic writing that often seems difficult and annoying to the students.
For a well-written research paper, the writer must have a strong grip over the topic. This could be done only if the writer does detailed homework on the topic before he/she hops on to the writing phase.
Research and writing is anyway a daunting task for most of us. This could be made interesting by understanding some basics of writing a research paper including its synthesis and formatting.
This blog has everything you need to know for writing your research paper. Read it till the end and hopefully writing a research paper will not be a difficult task for you anymore.
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A research paper is basically a type of essay. It is much more expanded and covers a large area of analysis and interpretation. Every college student writes a research paper at least once in their academic life.
The research paper is a basic element in the academic world. While students typically find it easy to gather information from multiple sources. But many of them grapple with new conventions of academic discourse and the synthesis of these foreign concepts into their own writing.
To organize your research paper well, it is important to its elements completely. A professional research paper has a proper structure and a good flow.
To ensure that you start your research paper correctly, follow the following steps:
It is important to mention here that the research process should never end while you are completing your research paper. Keep on looking for new data till your paper is all done and try to add as much information as possible.
You can make changes multiple times in the paper until your final submission. So, nothing should stop you from adding new information until the final compilation phase.
“What are the steps in writing a research paper?”
Once you have collected all the information, it is time to create and start writing the document formally. To write a research paper, follow the below-mentioned key points:
The first and foremost part of writing your research paper is to understand the requirements. You need to establish a sense of the kind of assignment you are supposed to submit.
If you successfully understand all the requirements, it will be easy for you to complete the paper with all requirements being fulfilled.
For this purpose search for all instruction words and phrases to know the exact meaning of them. The steps below will clarify how you can understand the requirements in a sequence.
Knowing your target audience is the most technical part of your research paper. This is because you have to write according to the level of perception of the reader.
Your target audience gets affected by the following elements of your writing:
Suppose if you are writing a masters level topic then make sure your intended audience is of that academic group. Obviously, for a high school student, it would be impossible to understand and for a doctorate level person, it would be too simple to consider.
This is yet another difficult task in research paper writing. The topics for the research paper lead towards a formal introduction and then creating a relevant thesis statement.
You can find a topic of interest from different sources. You can surf the internet, read some articles and books, or arrange a group discussion session with your teacher or mates.
The topic you choose should have the following features.
A writer should conduct thorough research work to find relevant ideas and information to write in the paper. It would also clear the vision and area to select and write on. Use authentic sources such as journals, books, and official websites to gather data of your interest.
Address the following questions as well.
This will also help you in developing your research questions and topic sentences.
“How to write a thesis statement for a research paper?”
A thesis statement is one precise sentence that helps you to express the main idea of your research paper. Not just a research paper has such a statement, but any essay or thesis has a thesis statement.
Writing a thesis statement is an essential part of the process of writing a research paper. The thesis statement is drawn after the research phase. It describes the purpose of your argument. To support your thesis statement, try to provide valid reasons and facts.
Moreover, a thesis statement should be precise, composed, and to the point. No extra information should be a part of a thesis statement.
The objective of a research proposal is to introduce and legitimize the need to contemplate a research issue. It also introduces the methodology by which the proposed research ought to be conducted.
The elements that design a research proposal are not fixed. They vary from topic to topic and thus, you have to be specific to your topic. This is why the guidelines and instructions for research proposals are different and less formal than a general project proposal.
The following are a few questions that need to be addressed within a research proposal.
“How to write a research paper outline?”
An outline for the research paper helps in keeping your paper organized and arranged. Since a research paper should have a constant flow, the outline is the key to that.
A good outline makes the writing of your research paper easier and makes it more understandable and easy to read.
Bring together all your thoughts and create an outline. Make sure it has all the required details. Add all your key topics, provide facts, and include arguments. Making an outline is time-consuming so make sure that you spare a reasonable amount of time for it.
Following are the components of an effective research paper outline:
Research Paper Outline (PDF)
Remember that research papers are written in different formats. Look down below and see how an apa research paper format looks like.
APA Research Paper Format (PDF)
Remember that it is not necessarily important to write the introduction in the first place. It is totally up to the writer and his level of understanding. There are some writers who prefer to write the difficult sections before the easy ones.
The best solution to clear this ambiguity is to use the outline you have created. It will guide you on how to proceed and prevent your document from getting messed up.
To write the first draft flawlessly, keep the following things in mind.
Make sure to add details to the arguments.
“How to write an abstract for a research paper?”
The abstract is generally referred to as the summary of each section of the research paper. In the abstract, the writer needs to give an explanation for the introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion briefly.
The word count of the abstract should always be somewhere from 150 to 250. Make sure that this limit is maintained well. This word count will make the abstract almost half page long.
The introductory section of a research paper must be addressing questions like ‘What?’, ‘Why?’, and ‘How?’. In an introduction, things should be kept concise and composed.
“How to write an introduction for a research paper?”
A good introduction is expected to give a complete overview of your paper. The reader must get an idea of the research topic.
The introduction is followed by the literature review. In this section, all the pre-existing research and projects related to your topic are discussed.
Include the discussion regarding the past work, about the present situation, and also predict the expected future of the issue under discussion.
Once again use your research paper outline as a guide for the composition of the body paragraphs. It will keep everything logical and also support all the information you are adding.
The proper way to start a body paragraph is to add a topic sentence in the beginning. This way it would be easy for you to complete that paragraph. Moreover, add evidence related to the topic you are discussing in that paragraph.
Also, add examples to make your point more convincing and compelling. Look out for some transitions between the body paragraphs, they will keep the body paragraphs more coherent.
“How to write a conclusion research paper?”
In the conclusion paragraph, you need to wrap up everything. Writing the conclusion is the last phase of the research paper. It should give a summary of the entire paper. Mention the key points including the ways you have used to support your research topic.
Moreover, do not add anything new to the conclusion part. Make sure that the readers are not left with any questions in their minds. But yes, you may give a glimpse of your plans for research on some related new topics.
After you are done writing the first draft, move towards the second draft. Make sure to keep the below-mentioned aspects in your mind while you are writing the second draft.
This is formally the last phase of your research paper writing. Once you are done with all the writing parts and have added all the required information, it's time to revise the document. This revision is done to pick out mistakes.
Proofread the document carefully and look for all types of mistakes including, spelling mistakes, grammatical mistakes, and the order of the document.
A professional writer never misses out on this step and repeats this more than once.
How to Write a Research Paper (PDF)
The structure of a research paper is built using two types of research. The types of research are mentioned below.
In this type of research, the data is collected and analysis is done in a very natural way. Basically, the data quality is not disturbed and the target is to obtain the data based on field notes and through open-ended questions.
Qualitative research has further six main types.
Quantitative research is the opposite of the research method discussed above. In this research method, the type of data collected and analyzed is numerical and based on statistics. It is also used to quantify the behavior, attitude, and opinions of the subjects.
Both research types are different from each other in regard to the data collection methodology, characteristics, and evaluation method. Both are important in their own place and used according to the need.
Examples are one of the best tools from the writing lab. This is why you must look at a few examples before you write any kind of essay or paper. Here are some well-written examples of research papers on different topics. Read them carefully and use them as a guide to creating an effective research paper.
Research Paper on Education (PDF)
Here is another research paper that was written on a very important topic.
Research Paper on Depression (PDF)
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