How To Set Up An Analysis Paper

Few things strike more than fear in academics than the accursed research paper , a term synonymous with long hours and difficult work. Luckily in that location'south a secret to aid you lot get through them. Every bit long as y'all know how to write a research paper properly, you'll discover they're not so bad . . . or at least less painful.

In this guide we concisely explain how to write an academic enquiry paper stride past step. Nosotros'll cover areas like how to showtime a inquiry paper, how to write a enquiry paper outline, how to apply citations and testify, and how to write a conclusion for a enquiry paper.

But earlier we get into the details, let'southward accept a expect at what a research newspaper is and how it's unlike from other writing.

What is a research paper?

A research paper is a blazon of academic writing that provides an in-depth assay, evaluation, or interpretation of a single topic, based on empirical evidence. Enquiry papers are similar to belittling essays, except that research papers emphasize the use of statistical data and preexisting research, along with a strict code for citations.

Research papers are a bedrock of modern science and the about constructive manner to share information beyond a broad network. However, most people are familiar with research papers from school; college courses ofttimes use them to test a student's knowledge of a item area or their research skills in general.

Considering their gravity, research papers favor formal, even bland language that strips the writing of any bias. Researchers state their findings patently and with corresponding show and then that other researchers can consequently utilise the newspaper in their ain enquiry.

Keep in mind that writing a research paper is unlike from writing a research proposal . Essentially, research proposals are to acquire the funding needed to get the data to write a research paper.

How long should a research paper be?

The length of a research paper depends on the topic or assignment. Typically, research papers run around 4,000–6,000 words, but information technology's common to come across curt papers around ii,000 words or long papers over 10,000 words.

If you lot're writing a newspaper for schoolhouse, the recommended length should exist provided in the assignment. Otherwise, let your topic dictate the length: Complicated topics or all-encompassing enquiry volition crave more explanation.

How to write a research paper in ix steps

Below is a step-by-step guide to writing a research paper, catered specifically for students rather than professional person researchers. While some steps may non utilize to your item assignment, remember of this as more of a general guideline to keep you on track.

1 Sympathise the assignment

For some of you this goes without saying, but yous might exist surprised at how many students showtime a research newspaper without fifty-fifty reading the consignment guidelines.

And then your first stride should be to review the assignment and carefully read the writing prompt. Specifically, look for technical requirements such equally length , formatting requirements (single- vs. double-spacing, indentations, etc.) and commendation style . Also pay attending to the particulars, such every bit whether or non y'all demand to write an abstract or include a cover page.

Once you empathize the assignment, the next steps in how to write a research paper follow the usual writing process , more or less. There are some extra steps involved considering research papers have actress rules, but the gist of the writing process is the same.

2 Choose your topic

In open up-ended assignments, the student must choose their ain topic. While it may seem uncomplicated enough, choosing a topic is actually the most important decision you'll make in writing a research newspaper, since information technology determines everything that follows.

Your height priority in how to choose a inquiry paper topic is whether it will provide enough content and substance for an entire inquiry paper. You'll desire to choose a topic with enough data and complexity to enable a rich discussion. Yet, you too want to avoid general topics and instead stick with topics specific plenty that yous can cover all the relevant information without cutting likewise much.

Endeavor not to be robotic nearly choosing your topic, though; it's still best to pick something that you lot're personally interested in. Ideally, you'll find a topic that satisfies both requirements, something that provides a suitable corporeality of content and also keeps you lot engaged.

three Gather preliminary research

The sooner you first researching, the better—afterward all, information technology'south called a inquiry paper for a reason.

To refine your topic and ready your thesis statement, find out what research is bachelor for your topic every bit before long as possible. Early on inquiry tin can help dispel any misconceptions you have about the topic and reveal the best paths and approaches to find more material.

Typically, yous can observe sources either online or in a library. If yous're searching online, make sure y'all utilize credible sources similar science journals or academic papers. Some search engines—mentioned beneath in the Tools and resources section—allow y'all to browse only accredited sources and academic databases.

Keep in mind the difference between primary and secondary sources as y'all search. Primary sources are firsthand accounts, similar published articles or autobiographies; secondary sources are more removed, like disquisitional reviews or secondhand biographies.

When gathering your research, it's improve to skim sources instead of reading each potential source fully. If a source seems useful, prepare it aside to give it a full read later. Otherwise, yous'll be stuck poring over sources that y'all ultimately won't utilise, and that fourth dimension could be ameliorate spent finding a worthwhile source.

Sometimes you're required to submit a literature review , which explains your sources and presents them to an authority for confirmation. Even if no literature review is required, information technology's nonetheless helpful to compile an early list of potential sources—you'll be glad you lot did later.

4 Write a thesis statement

Using what yous found in your preliminary research, write a thesis argument that succinctly summarizes what your research paper volition exist well-nigh. This is unremarkably the first sentence in your paper, making it your reader'southward introduction to the topic.

A thesis statement is the best respond for how to kickoff a inquiry newspaper. Bated from preparing your reader, the thesis statement likewise makes it easier for other researchers to appraise whether or not your newspaper is useful to them for their own research. Likewise, you lot should read the thesis statements of other research papers to determine how useful they are to you.

A good thesis argument mentions all the important parts of the discussion without disclosing as well many of the details. If you're having trouble putting it into words, try to phrase your topic every bit a question and then answer it .

For instance, if your inquiry paper topic is nearly separating students with ADHD from other students, you'd commencement enquire yourself, "Does separating students with ADHD improve their learning?" The answer—based on your preliminary research—is a practiced footing for your thesis statement.

five Make up one's mind supporting prove

At this phase of how to write an academic research newspaper, it's fourth dimension to knuckle down and do the actual enquiry. Here's when you become through all the sources you collected before and find the specific data you lot'd like to utilise in your newspaper.

Normally, you lot detect your supporting testify by reading each source and taking notes. Isolate simply the information that's directly relevant to your topic; don't bog downwards your newspaper with tangents or unnecessary context, notwithstanding interesting they may be. And always write down page numbers , not only for you to discover the information afterwards, but also considering y'all'll need them for your citations.

Aside from highlighting text and writing notes, some other common tactic is to use bibliography cards . These are simple index cards with a fact or direct quotation on one side and the bibliographical information (source commendation, page numbers, subtopic category) on the other. While bibliography cards are not necessary, some students observe them useful for staying organized, peculiarly when it'southward time to write an outline.

vi Write a research paper outline

A lot of students want to know how to write a research paper outline. More than than informal essays, inquiry papers require a methodical and systematic structure to make sure all issues are addressed, and that makes outlines peculiarly important.

First make a list of all the important categories and subtopics you demand to encompass—an outline for your outline! Consider all the information you gathered when compiling your supporting evidence and ask yourself what the best style to split up and categorize everything is.

Once you have a listing of what you want to talk about, consider the best gild to present the information. Which subtopics are related and should go adjacent to each other? Are there any subtopics that don't make sense if they're presented out of sequence? If your information is fairly straightforward, feel free to take a chronological approach and nowadays the information in the order it happened.

Because research papers tin can become complicated, consider breaking your outline into paragraphs. For starters, this helps you stay organized if you accept a lot of information to comprehend. Moreover, it gives yous greater command over the flow and direction of the research paper. Information technology's always better to fix structural problems in the outline phase than later after everything's already been written.

Don't forget to include your supporting bear witness in the outline too. Chances are you'll have a lot you lot want to include, then putting it in your outline helps forbid some things from falling through the cracks.

7 Write the outset draft

Once your outline is finished, it's fourth dimension to outset actually writing your research paper. This is by far the longest and most involved step, but if you've properly prepared your sources and written a thorough outline, everything should run smoothly.

If you don't know how to write an introduction for a enquiry paper, the beginning can exist difficult. That's why writing your thesis statement beforehand is crucial. Open with your thesis statement and and then make full out the rest of your introduction with the secondary information—save the details for the body of your research paper, which comes next.

The trunk contains the bulk of your research paper. Dissimilar essays , research papers usually dissever the torso into sections with separate headers to facilitate browsing and scanning. Use the divisions in your outline as a guide.

Follow along your outline and get paragraph by paragraph. Because this is but the showtime draft, don't worry about getting each give-and-take perfect . Later you'll be able to revise and fine-tune your writing, but for now focus simply on maxim everything that needs to be said. In other words, it's OK to make mistakes since yous'll go back later to right them.

1 of the most common bug with writing long works like enquiry papers is connecting paragraphs to each other. The longer your writing is, the harder it is to tie everything together smoothly. Use transition sentences to improve the menstruation of your paper, peculiarly for the first and last sentences in a paragraph.

Even after the body is written, you still need to know how to write a determination for a research newspaper. Only like an essay decision , your research paper conclusion should restate your thesis , reiterate your main evidence , and summarize your findings in a way that'southward piece of cake to understand.

Don't add whatever new information in your conclusion, only experience free to say your own personal perspective or estimation if it helps the reader sympathise the big picture.

8 Cite your sources correctly

Citations are office of what sets enquiry papers autonomously from more casual nonfiction like personal essays . Citing your sources both validates your information and too links your research paper to the greater scientific community. Considering of their importance, citations must follow precise formatting rules . . . problem is, in that location's more than i set of rules!

You demand to bank check with the assignment to meet which formatting manner is required. Typically, academic research papers follow one of 2 formatting styles for citing sources:

MLA (Modern Language Clan)
APA (American Psychological Association)

The links higher up explain the specific formatting guidelines for each mode, along with an automatic citation generator to assistance you get started.

In addition to MLA and APA styles, you occasionally come across requirements for CMOS (The Chicago Transmission of Style), AMA (American Medical Association) and IEEE (Establish of Electric and Electronics Engineers).

Citations may seem confusing at first with all their rules and specific information. Nonetheless, in one case you become the hang of them, you lot'll exist able to properly cite your sources without even thinking about it.

9 Edit and proofread

Concluding but not least, you want to get through your enquiry paper to correct all the mistakes. We recommend going over information technology twice: once for structural issues such as calculation/deleting parts or rearranging paragraphs and once for word choice, grammatical, and spelling mistakes. Doing ii unlike editing sessions helps you focus on one area at a time instead of doing them both at once.

To help you lot take hold of everything, here's a quick checklist to proceed in mind while you edit:

Structural edit:

Is your thesis statement articulate and concise?
Is your paper well-organized, and does information technology flow from get-go to cease with logical transitions?
Do your ideas follow a logical sequence in each paragraph?
Have you lot used concrete details and facts and avoided generalizations?
Do your arguments back up and prove your thesis?
Accept y'all avoided repetition?
Are your sources properly cited?
Have you checked for accidental plagiarism?

Discussion selection, grammar, and spelling edit:

Is your language clear and specific?
Practice your sentences period smoothly and clearly?
Accept yous avoided filler words and phrases ?
Have yous checked for proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation?

Some people find it useful to read their paper out loud to catch problems they might miss when reading in their head. Another solution is to have someone else read your paper and point out areas for improvement and/or technical mistakes.

Revising is a separate skill from writing, and existence skilful at ane doesn't necessarily brand yous good at the other. If yous desire to amend your revision skills, read our guide on self-editing , which includes a more complete checklist and avant-garde tips on improving your revisions.

Technical issues like grammatical mistakes and misspelled words can exist handled effortlessly if you use a spellchecker with your word processor, or fifty-fifty meliorate, a digital writing banana that also suggests improvements for give-and-take selection and tone, like Grammarly (nosotros explain more in the Tools and resource department below).

Tools and resources

If you want to know more about how to write a research paper, or if you lot want some aid with each footstep, have a expect at the tools and resources beneath.

Google Scholar

This is Google'due south own search engine, which is dedicated exclusively to academic papers. It'due south a great way to find new research and sources. Plus, information technology'due south gratuitous to use.

Zotero

Zotero is a freemium, open-source inquiry manager, a cross between an organizational CMS and a search engine for academic inquiry. With it, you can scan the internet for enquiry sources relevant to your topic and share them easily with colleagues. Also, it automatically generates citations.

FocusWriter

Writing long enquiry papers is always a strain on your attention bridge. If you take trouble avoiding distractions during those long stretches, FocusWriter might be able to assistance. FocusWriter is a minimalist word processor that removes all the distracting icons and sticks only to what y'all type. You lot're also free to choose your own customized backgrounds, with other special features like timed alarms, daily goals, and optional typewriter sound effects.

Google Charts

This useful and free tool from Google lets you create simple charts and graphs based on whatever data you input. Charts and graphs are excellent visual aids for expressing numeric data, a perfect complement if yous need to explain complicated evidential research.

Grammarly

Grammarly goes way beyond grammar, helping you hone word selection, checking your text for plagiarism, detecting your tone, and more than. For strange-linguistic communication learners, it can make your English language sound more than fluent, and even those who speak English as their principal language benefit from Grammarly'south suggestions.

Research paper FAQs

What is a research paper?

A enquiry paper is a piece of academic writing that analyzes, evaluates, or interprets a unmarried topic with empirical show and statistical data.

When will I need to write a research paper in college?

Many college courses utilise research papers to test a student'south knowledge of a particular topic or their inquiry skills in full general. While research papers depend on the form or professor, you can await to write at least a few before graduation.

How practice I determine a topic for my research paper?

If the topic is not assigned, try to discover a topic that's general enough to provide ample evidence but specific enough that you're able to cover all the basics. If possible, choose a topic you're personally interested in—it makes the work easier.

Where tin I conduct research for my newspaper?

Today about research is conducted either online or in libraries. Some topics might benefit from old periodicals like newspapers or magazines, as well equally visual media like documentaries. Museums, parks, and historical monuments tin also be useful.

How practise I cite sources for a enquiry newspaper?

The correct formatting for citations depends on which style yous're using, so check the assignment guidelines. Most school research reports use either MLA or APA styles, although in that location are others.

This commodity was originally written by Karen Hertzberg in 2022. Information technology'south been updated to include new information.