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What is 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, designed to assess not only your writing skills but also your skills in scholarly research. Writing a research paper requires you to demonstrate a strong knowledge of your topic, engage with a variety of sources, and make an original contribution to the debate.
This step-by-step guide will take you through the entire writing process, from understanding your assignment to proofreading your final draft.
APA
Style Guide Format
The APA style guide, named for the
American Psychological Association, is used in behavioural and social science
research, including educational and psychological studies. Here are some basic tips for formatting an APA research paper:
⮚ Paper should be on 8 ½ x 11-inch white
paper, with 1-inch margins on the top, bottom, and sides.
⮚ Font is 12’ Times New Roman.
⮚ Lines are double-spaced.
⮚ Cover pages are required in APA papers
and are centre-aligned.
⮚ Each page needs a left-aligned running
header with the title of your study.
⮚ Right-align page numbers at the top of
each page, including the cover page.
⮚ Indent the first word in each paragraph, except
in the abstract.
⮚ The title itself is not bolded, but
individual section headings (for e.g. Background, Methodology) are.
⮚ In-text citations of other studies,
reports, and articles include the author’s or organization’s name, as well as
the year of publication.
The
Process
1)
Understand the
Assignment
2)
Choose a Research
Paper Topic
3)
Conduct
Preliminary Research
4)
Develop a Thesis
Statement
5)
Create a Research
Paper Outline
6)
Write the First
Draft of the Research Paper
7)
Write the
Introduction
8)
Write a
Compelling Body of Text
9)
Write the
Conclusion
10)
Write the Second
Draft
11)
Edit for Grammar
12)
The Revision
Process
13) References
1) Understand the Assignment
● 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 bulleted list of the key points, then go back and cross completed items off as you’re writing.
● Carefully
consider your timeframe and word limit: be realistic, and plan enough time to research, write and edit.
2)
Choose
a Research Paper Topic
● You can try free writing, which involves taking a broad topic and writing
continuously for two or three minutes to identify absolutely anything relevant
that could be interesting.
● You can also gain inspiration from somebody else’s research. The discussion or
recommendations sections of research papers often include ideas for other
specific topics that require further examination.
● Once you have a broad 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.
3)
Conduct
Preliminary 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.
● First off, skimming. You don’t have to read in-full everything ever written
about your topic. Identify key points and arguments without having to read
every word.
● Next, find reliable resources. Take what you have learned from a Google
search or a Wikipedia article and dig deeper. Check out the sources on the
article, use keywords from your internet search to search an academic database.
● Finally, don’t ignore information. Work to understand all of the different
viewpoints and schools of thought on your topic. This can be done by reading a
variety of articles, reading a book or article that gives an overview of the
topic and incorporates different points of view.
4)
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 be concise, contentious, and coherent.
That means it should briefly summarize your argument in a sentence or two; make
a claim that requires further evidence or analysis; and make a coherent point
that relates to every part of the paper.
● 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.
5)
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.
6)
Write
a First Draft of the Research Paper
● Maintain forward momentum — write now, perfect later.
● Pay attention to clear organization and logical ordering of paragraphs and
sentences, which will help when you come to the second draft.
● Express
your ideas as clearly as possible, so you know what you were trying to say when you come back to the
text.
● Structure
your Paragraphs: Paragraphs are
the basic building blocks of research papers. Each one should focus on a single
claim or idea that helps to establish the overall argument or purpose of the
paper.
● Cite
your Sources: It’s also
important to keep track of citations at this stage to avoid accidental
plagiarism. Each time you use a source, make sure to take note of where the
information came from.
7)
Write
the Introduction
The research paper introduction should address three questions: What,
why, and how?
● What: Be specific about the topic of the
paper, introduce the background, and define key terms or concepts.
● Why: This is the most important, but also the
most difficult, part of the introduction. Try to provide brief answers to the
following questions: What new material or insight are you offering? What
important issues does your essay help define or answer?
● How: To let the reader know what to expect
from the rest of the paper, the introduction should include a “map” of what
will be discussed, briefly presenting the key elements of the paper in
chronological order.
8)
Write
a Compelling Body of 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. One way to
stay on track is to use your thesis
statement and topic sentences.
● Check:
⮚ topic sentences against the thesis
statement;
⮚ topic sentences against each other, for
similarities and logical ordering;
⮚ and each sentence against the topic
sentence of that paragraph.
● Be aware of paragraphs that seem to cover
the same things. If two paragraphs discuss something similar, they must
approach that topic in different ways. Aim to create smooth transitions between
sentences, paragraphs, and sections.
9)
Write
the Conclusion
● The research paper conclusion is designed
to help your reader out of the paper’s argument, giving them a sense of finality.
● Trace the course of the paper, emphasizing how it all comes together to prove your thesis statement. Give the paper a sense of finality by making sure the reader understands how you’ve settled the issues raised in the introduction.
You should not:
⮚ Offer new arguments or essential
information.
⮚ Take up any more space than necessary.
⮚ Begin with stock phrases that signal you
are ending the paper (for e.g. “In conclusion”).
10)Write
the Second Draft
● Check how your vision of the paper lines up with the first draft and, more
importantly, that your paper still answers the assignment.
● Identify
any assumptions that might require (more substantial) justification, keeping your reader’s perspective
foremost in mind. Remove these points if you cannot substantiate them further.
● Be
open to rearranging your ideas. Check whether any sections feel out of place and 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 or condense them. You might also find that new and
well-suited ideas occurred to you during the writing of the first draft — now
is the time to make them part of the paper.
11) Edit for Grammar
It is also important to edit for grammar.
Check out resources like Grammarly
or Strunk and White’s Elements of Style
if you’re unsure of what to do with commas, semicolons, or run-on sentences.
12) The
Revision Process
⮚ Confirm that your paper completes every
task specified in your assignment sheet.
⮚ Check for logical organization and flow
of paragraphs.
⮚ Check paragraphs against the introduction
and thesis statement.
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 transition words and phrases to show the connections
between your ideas. Look for typos, cut unnecessary words and check for consistency in aspects such as heading
formatting and spellings.
13) References
Give References after the Conclusion: Mention the links to all primary as well
as secondary sources of information that helped you in writing the Research
Paper. Mention special credits to any and all people that helped you in its
making. Cite all your sources at the end of the Research Paper.
Links
to Some Good Samples of Research Papers
http://www.thewritesource.com/apa/apa.pdf
https://www.myperfectwords.com/blog/research-paper-examples/college-research-paper-example.pdf
https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/paper-format/student-annotated.pdf
https://onedrive.live.com/View.aspx?resid=9E1D26621EA2350E!922&wdEmbedFS=1&authkey=!ACb0W46RTUEyCPk
https://www.csun.edu/~hbsoc126/soc4/Writing%20Sample%20and%20Refernce%20Guide%20as%201%20file.pdf
Compiled by
Satakshi Darmwal
Batch of 2023
B.A. (Hons.) Journalism
Lady Shri Ram College for Women, New Delhi