You’ve done your research and have found a dozen articles that you imagine will work perfectly for your paper. But now it’s time to write your paper and you don’t know where to start. Take a deep breath. You are not alone. It’s overwhelming to take all of the information from those articles and try to mold them all into one cohesive piece. That’s what we’re here for! We will tell you the fundamentals of how to write a research paper, give you a few tips on research paper writing, and provide some additional resources for when you’re done reading this. Let’s start by exploring what a research paper actually is?
What Is A Research Paper?
A research paper is a document that details your findings after conducting a meticulous study. It should be thorough, accurate, and well-organized. The writing process for this kind of assignment can be challenging, but it’s possible to enjoy the work if you have a clear process to follow. If you follow these steps and practice them as often as possible, you’ll find that writing papers becomes easier over time:
Developing A Solid Research Question
A research question is the foundation of your paper. It should be specific, clear and easy to understand. A good question should also be answerable within the scope of your research. It’s important that you develop a topic of interest rather than using someone else’s ideas or work as your basis for developing a question.
A well-written research question will:
- Be clear and short (no more than three sentences).
- Be written as a statement containing an action word (such as what, who or why).
- Include all necessary components such as an active verb and an object if applicable.
Finding Relevant Material
Use search engines to find relevant articles and resources. You can use Google for basic information, but some academic databases like Affordable Dissertation UK are more specific and useful. For example, if you are writing about a particular time period or country, start your research with World History from credible websites.
Ask your friends and classmates if they have any ideas on where to find good sources of information. Your peers will usually be happy to share their expertise in this area—and they might even have some suggestions that you hadn’t thought of!
Look for print sources as well as online ones; both types can provide valuable insights into your topic area and help you develop an understanding of its history and context
Sorting Out What Is Relevant And What Isn’t
Relevance is one of the most important things in research paper writing. You cannot write a good research paper if you do not know how to sort out relevant data from non-relevant data. In order to make sure that your research paper will be of high quality, you should learn how to effectively sort out relevant and non-relevant material.
There are many ways to do this. One of the most important things to remember is that you should never take anything at face value, because it might not be true. Always check whether the data, statistics and arguments presented in your sources are valid or not.
Writing A Thesis Statement
A thesis statement is the central idea of your research paper. It gives your reader a clear understanding of what you’re trying to say and serves as a basis for all of your other ideas.
A good thesis statement should be:
- Clear – The reader should be able to understand it without any confusion.
- Complete – It summarizes all of the points you’ll make in your paper.
- Correctly worded – If possible, avoid using words like “the” or “a” in your thesis statement because they could mean anything (e.g., “The author argues that…”). Instead, write something like “This essay will explore how…” or “In this essay I will examine…”
- Original – This is probably the most important part of your thesis statement. Don’t just regurgitate what you’ve read or heard; find ways to make it your own.
Creating An Outline For The Paper
In this step, you should create an outline for your research paper. The outline will help you in organizing all the information and ideas in your mind into a standard format that can be used to write the introduction, body and conclusion of your paper.
The outline should include:
- A summary of the research question and thesis statement.
- A list of subheadings or sections that you plan on using in your research with each containing its own main topic/point (for example, “Introduction,” “Literature Review” etc.).
Research Paper Writing And Remembering About Editing And Proofreading
Research paper writing is a process. It’s not as simple as just sitting down, typing out your work, and calling it good. Writing is different from editing and proofreading. For example, it may help to understand the difference between these two stages of writing:
- Editing involves correcting mistakes in grammar, spelling, punctuation and word usage; checking for logical flow; ensuring that key sections are properly referenced; integrating quotations with their original sources.
- Proofreading involves checking your work for typos or missing words (perhaps because you were thinking about something else while typing).
This is why it’s important to proofread your paper before you submit it. Proofreading allows you to ensure that the content is correct, complete and consistent. It also gives you an opportunity to fix any typos and spelling mistakes that may have slipped through during editing. It is always good to have a second pair of eyes edit and proofread your work. In this regard, you can always seek research paper help from online experts.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we hope that this article has helped you see that research papers are not as scary as they seem. With the right approach and some determination, you can turn research paper writing from a daunting task into something enjoyable and even somewhat fun! Remember that if at any point during writing or editing your paper feels overwhelming, take a break for 15 minutes before continuing on. You’ll be amazed at how much clearer everything looks after having some time off!
