How to Write a Research Paper: 5 Easy Steps

Writing a research paper can be challenging. But at the same time, this academic activity can help you develop a wide array of useful skills that will come in handy in college and later in life. Below are some simple yet effective tips to help you nail your research papers and build a successful academic career.

Take in Instructions and Set Schedules

Often, students don’t bother to carefully read instructions and rubrics provided by their teachers and jump straight into the writing process. As a result, they deliver poor-quality assignments that lack proper substantiation, coherence, etc. Of course, you can always hire a research paper service to handle any academic paper of any difficulty. Still, you should be sure to understand all instructions.

If necessary, read them several times until you fully take in everything written there. You must also set a schedule according to the due dates. For this, you need to figure out how long it might take to complete each section of your assignment and set realistic terms based on that.

Choose a Research Topic

If you haven’t been assigned a research topic, you should take the time to pick the right one. The right research topic usually means an appropriate debatable topic that is narrow, fresh, and interesting enough to devote a whole paper to.

You may start by choosing a question to which you might be excited to find the answer and fill in the scientific gaps in a certain field. If you’re not sure about the relevance and appropriateness of a chosen topic, make sure to stop by your writing center and ask your instructor for approval.

Read Sources for Your Research Paper

If you’re reading a paper as a requirement for a class, you’ll be focusing on comprehension rather than determining utility. You’ll need to study the hypotheses, the methods they used, the findings, and the limitations of their conclusions. As you proceed with your education, you will likely write many of your own research papers.

After all, doing so is one of the most powerful ways to stand out and strengthen your research skills. When looking for the right literature to rely on for your future paper, be sure to determine the relevance and value of a chosen source prior to committing a more in-depth reading and analysis. You can also use research papers as tools to figure out other relevant papers that might come in handy in your own research. So, make sure to take advantage of the assigned papers’ reference list.

Depending on the purpose of writing a research paper, your approach to reading available sources may differ considerably. So, keep this in mind prior to getting down to your assignment.

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Create an Outline

As with any research undertaken, you need to clearly visualize your purpose and means to achieve it. Once you’ve researched relevant sources and gathered all the necessary information for your future paper, you need to construct a visual representation of your ideas.

To put it simply, you need to create an outline that will serve as a skeleton for your paper. No need to create a fancy, complex outline unless you’ve been specifically asked to. You can go with a simple outline where you’ll organize your thoughts and offer preliminary substantiation for your arguments. To make your plan as helpful as possible, you’ll want to group all your notes and pick information that can be useful in covering each point. Ideally, each of your paragraphs should contain approximately the same amount of information. So, factor this in when constructing your outline.

Start Writing

Now that you have your outline at hand, you can get down to work. Start with a draft. Note that you might need to create multiple drafts until you finally manage to come up with the strongest and most effective version that can satisfy even the pickiest of professors. With this in mind, you won’t want to spend too much time figuring out how to structure your paragraph or back up a certain idea in the fanciest way possible. That said, don’t take drafting too lightly.

Process and evaluate researched information carefully, and add your personal voice and conclusions. Read and re-read your draft to spot minor errors and significant omissions. After revisiting your initial drafts, move on to the next stage and create a final, polished version of your research paper. Make sure it’s error-free and clearly organized. Ensure you’ve added all the necessary citations and references and formatter your work properly.