assignment

research paper for college

  • Page Content
  • Sidebar Content
  • Main Navigation
  • Quick links

Back to Section Home

  • All TIP Sheets
  • Choosing and Using a Dictionary
  • How to Use a Thesaurus

How to Start (and Complete) a Research Paper

TIP Sheet HOW TO START (AND COMPLETE) A RESEARCH PAPER

You are a re-entry student and it's been fourteen years since you've written a paper. You coasted through high school on your charm and good looks and never actually wrote a research paper. You have written research papers, but every time is like the first time, and the first time was like a root canal. How do you start? Here is a step-by-step approach to starting and completing a research paper.

You may read this TIP Sheet from start to finish before you begin your paper, or skip to the steps that are causing you the most grief.

1. Choosing a topic: Interest, information, and focus Your job will be more pleasant, and you will be more apt to retain information if you choose a topic that holds your interest. Even if a general topic is assigned ("Write about impacts of GMO crops on world food supply"), as much as possible find an approach that suits your interests. Your topic should be one on which you can find adequate information; you might need to do some preliminary research to determine this. Go to the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature in the reference section of the library, or to an electronic database such as Proquest or Wilson Web, and search for your topic. The Butte College Library Reference Librarians are more than happy to assist you at this (or any) stage of your research. Scan the results to see how much information has been published. Then, narrow your topic to manageable size:

Once you have decided on a topic and determined that enough information is available, you are ready to proceed. At this point, however, if you are having difficulty finding adequate quality information, stop wasting your time; find another topic.

2. Preliminary reading & recordkeeping Gather some index cards or a small notebook and keep them with you as you read. First read a general article on your topic, for example from an encyclopedia. On an index card or in the notebook, record the author, article and/or book title, and all publication information in the correct format (MLA or APA, for example) specified by your instructor. (If you need to know what publication information is needed for the various types of sources, see a writing guide such as S F Writer .) On the index cards or in your notebook, write down information you want to use from each identified source, including page numbers. Use quotation marks on anything you copy exactly, so you can distinguish later between exact quotes and paraphrasing. (You will still attribute information you have quoted or paraphrased.)

Some students use a particular index card method throughout the process of researching and writing that allows them great flexibility in organizing and re-organizing as well as in keeping track of sources; others color-code or otherwise identify groups of facts. Use any method that works for you in later drafting your paper, but always start with good recordkeeping.

3. Organizing: Mind map or outline Based on your preliminary reading, draw up a working mind map or outline. Include any important, interesting, or provocative points, including your own ideas about the topic. A mind map is less linear and may even include questions you want to find answers to. Use the method that works best for you. The object is simply to group ideas in logically related groups. You may revise this mind map or outline at any time; it is much easier to reorganize a paper by crossing out or adding sections to a mind map or outline than it is to laboriously start over with the writing itself.

4. Formulating a thesis: Focus and craftsmanship Write a well defined, focused, three- to five-point thesis statement, but be prepared to revise it later if necessary. Take your time crafting this statement into one or two sentences, for it will control the direction and development of your entire paper.

For more on developing thesis statements, see the TIP Sheets "Developing a Thesis and Supporting Arguments" and "How to Structure an Essay."

5. Researching: Facts and examples Now begin your heavy-duty research. Try the internet, electronic databases, reference books, newspaper articles, and books for a balance of sources. For each source, write down on an index card (or on a separate page of your notebook) the publication information you will need for your works cited (MLA) or bibliography (APA) page. Write important points, details, and examples, always distinguishing between direct quotes and paraphrasing. As you read, remember that an expert opinion is more valid than a general opinion, and for some topics (in science and history, for example), more recent research may be more valuable than older research. Avoid relying too heavily on internet sources, which vary widely in quality and authority and sometimes even disappear before you can complete your paper.

Never copy-and-paste from internet sources directly into any actual draft of your paper. For more information on plagiarism, obtain from the Butte College Student Services office a copy of the college's policy on plagiarism, or attend the Critical Skills Plagiarism Workshop given each semester.

6. Rethinking: Matching mind map and thesis After you have read deeply and gathered plenty of information, expand or revise your working mind map or outline by adding information, explanations, and examples. Aim for balance in developing each of your main points (they should be spelled out in your thesis statement). Return to the library for additional information if it is needed to evenly develop these points, or revise your thesis statement to better reflect what you have learned or the direction your paper seems to have taken.

7. Drafting: Beginning in the middle Write the body of the paper, starting with the thesis statement and omitting for now the introduction (unless you already know exactly how to begin, but few writers do). Use supporting detail to logically and systematically validate your thesis statement. For now, omit the conclusion also.

For more on systematically developing a thesis statement, see TIP sheets "Developing a Thesis and Supporting Arguments" and "How to Structure an Essay."

8. Revising: Organization and attribution Read, revise, and make sure that your ideas are clearly organized and that they support your thesis statement. Every single paragraph should have a single topic that is derived from the thesis statement. If any paragraph does not, take it out, or revise your thesis if you think it is warranted. Check that you have quoted and paraphrased accurately, and that you have acknowledged your sources even for your paraphrasing. Every single idea that did not come to you as a personal epiphany or as a result of your own methodical reasoning should be attributed to its owner.

For more on writing papers that stay on-topic, see the TIP Sheets "Developing a Thesis and Supporting Arguments" and "How to Structure an Essay." For more on avoiding plagiarism, see the Butte College Student Services brochure, "Academic Honesty at Butte College," or attend the Critical Skills Plagiarism Workshop given each semester.

9. Writing: Intro, conclusion, and citations Write the final draft. Add a one-paragraph introduction and a one-paragraph conclusion. Usually the thesis statement appears as the last sentence or two of the first, introductory paragraph. Make sure all citations appear in the correct format for the style (MLA, APA) you are using. The conclusion should not simply restate your thesis, but should refer to it. (For more on writing conclusions, see the TIP Sheet "How to Structure an Essay.") Add a Works Cited (for MLA) or Bibliography (for APA) page.

10. Proofreading: Time and objectivity Time permitting, allow a few days to elapse between the time you finish writing your last draft and the time you begin to make final corrections. This "time out" will make you more perceptive, more objective, and more critical. On your final read, check for grammar, punctuation, correct word choice, adequate and smooth transitions, sentence structure, and sentence variety. For further proofreading strategies, see the TIP Sheet "Revising, Editing, and Proofreading."

Home | Calendars | Library | Bookstore | Directory | Apply Now | Search for Classes | Register | Online Classes  | MyBC Portal MyBC -->

Butte College | 3536 Butte Campus Drive, Oroville CA 95965 | General Information (530) 895-2511

Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

Writing a Research Paper

OWL logo

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

The pages in this section provide detailed information about how to write research papers including discussing research papers as a genre, choosing topics, and finding sources.

The Research Paper

There will come a time in most students' careers when they are assigned a research paper. Such an assignment often creates a great deal of unneeded anxiety in the student, which may result in procrastination and a feeling of confusion and inadequacy. This anxiety frequently stems from the fact that many students are unfamiliar and inexperienced with this genre of writing. Never fear—inexperience and unfamiliarity are situations you can change through practice! Writing a research paper is an essential aspect of academics and should not be avoided on account of one's anxiety. In fact, the process of writing a research paper can be one of the more rewarding experiences one may encounter in academics. What is more, many students will continue to do research throughout their careers, which is one of the reasons this topic is so important.

Becoming an experienced researcher and writer in any field or discipline takes a great deal of practice. There are few individuals for whom this process comes naturally. Remember, even the most seasoned academic veterans have had to learn how to write a research paper at some point in their career. Therefore, with diligence, organization, practice, a willingness to learn (and to make mistakes!), and, perhaps most important of all, patience, students will find that they can achieve great things through their research and writing.

The pages in this section cover the following topic areas related to the process of writing a research paper:

College Info Geek

How to Write a Killer Research Paper (Even If You Hate Writing)

research paper for college

C.I.G. is supported in part by its readers. If you buy through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Read more here.

research paper for college

Research papers.

Unless you’re a weirdo like me, you probably dread them. When I was in college, depending on the class, I even dreaded these.

It’s the sort of project that can leave even the most organized student quaking in their boots, staring at the assignment like they’re Luke Skywalker and it’s the Death Star.

You have to pick a broad topic, do some in-depth research, hone in on a research question, and then present your answer to that question in an interesting way. Oh, and you have to use citations, too.

How on earth are you supposed to tackle this thing?

Fear not, for even the Death Star had weaknesses. With a well-devised plan, some courage, and maybe a little help from a few midichlorians, you can conquer your research paper, too.

Let’s get started.

1. Pick a Topic

And pick one that interests you. This is not up for debate.

You and this topic are going to be spending a lot of time together, so you might as well pick something you like, or, at the very least, have a vague interest in. Even if you hate the class, there’s probably at least one topic that you’re curious about.

Maybe you want to write about “mental health in high schools” for your paper in your education class. That’s a good start, but take a couple steps to hone your idea a little further so you have an idea of what to research. Here’s a couple of factors to look at when you want to get more specific:

It’s good to be clear about what you’re researching, but make sure you don’t box yourself into a corner. Try to avoid being too local (if the area is a small town, for example), or too recent, as there may not be enough research conducted to support an entire paper on the subject.

Also, avoid super analytical or technical topics that you think you’ll have a hard time writing about (unless that’s the assignment…then jump right into all the technicalities you want).

You’ll probably need to do some background research and possibly brainstorm with your professor before you can identify a topic that’s specialized enough for your paper.

At the very least, skim the Encyclopedia Britannica section on your general area of interest. Your professor is another resource: use them! They’re probably more than happy to point you in the direction of a possible research topic.

Of course, this is going to be highly dependent on your class and the criteria set forth by your professor, so make sure you read your assignment and understand what it’s asking for. If you feel the assignment is unclear, don’t go any further without talking to your professor about it.

2. Create a Clear Thesis Statement

Say it with me: a research paper without a thesis question or statement is just a fancy book report.

All research papers fall under three general categories: analytical, expository, or argumentative.

So figure out what sort of paper you’d like to write, and then come up with a viable thesis statement or question.

Maybe it starts out looking like this:

Ok, not bad. You could probably write a paper based on this. But it’s not great , either. It’s not specific, neither is it arguable . You’re not really entering any sort of discussion.

Maybe you rework it a little to be more specific and you get:

Better. Now you can actually think about researching it.

Every good thesis statement has three important qualities: it’s focused , it picks a side , and it can be backed up with research .

If you’re missing any of these qualities, you’re gonna have a bad time. Avoid vague modifier words like “positive” and “negative.” Instead use precise, strong language to formulate your argument.

Take this thesis statement for example:

Sure, it’s arguable…but only sort of . It’s pretty vague. We don’t really know what is meant by “negative”, other than “generically bad”. Before you get into the research, you have to define your argument a little more.

Revised Version:

When in doubt, always look at your thesis and ask, “Is this arguable?”  Is there something you need to prove ? If not, then your thesis probably isn’t strong enough. If yes, then as long as you can actually prove it with your research, you’re golden.

Good thesis statements give you a clear goal. You know exactly what you’re looking for, and you know exactly where you’re going with the paper. Try to be as specific and clear as possible. That makes the next step a lot easier:

3. Hit the Books

So you have your thesis, you know what you’re looking for. It’s time to actually go out and do some real research. By real research, I mean more than a quick internet search or a quick skim through some weak secondary or tertiary sources.

If you’ve chosen a thesis you’re a little unsteady on, a preliminary skim through Google is fine, but make sure you go the extra mile. Some professors will even have a list of required resources (e.g. “Three academic articles, two books, one interview…etc).

It’s a good idea to start by heading to the library and asking your local librarian for help (they’re usually so excited to help you find things!).

Check your school library for research papers and books on the topic. Look for primary sources, such as journals, personal records, or contemporary newspaper articles when you can find them.

As you’re starting your research, create some kind of system for filing helpful quotes, links, and other sources. I preferred it to all be on one text document on my computer, but you could try a physical file, too.

In this text document, I start compiling a list of all the sources I’m using. It tends to look like this:

Research file example

Remember that at this point, your thesis isn’t solid. It’s still in a semi-squishy state. If your research starts to strongly contradict your thesis, then come up with a new thesis, revise, and keep on compiling quotes.

The more support you can find, the better. Depending on how long your paper is, you should have 3-10 different sources, with all sorts of quotes between them.

Here are some good places to look for reputable sources:

As you read, analyze your sources closely, and take good notes . Jot down general observations, questions, and answers to those questions when you find them. Once you have a sizable stack of research notes, it’s time to start organizing your paper.

4. Write an Outline

Even if you normally feel confident writing a paper without one, use an outline when you’re working on a research paper.

Outlines basically do all the heavy lifting for you when it comes to writing. They keep you organized and on track. Even if you feel tempted to just jump in and brain-dump, resist. You’ll thank me later.

Here’s how to structure an outline:

outline example

You’ll notice it’s fairly concise, and it has three major parts: the introduction , the body , and the conclusion . Also notice that I haven’t bothered to organize my research too much.

I’ve just dumped all the relevant citations under the headings I think they’ll end up under, so I can put in my quotes from my research document later as they fit into the overall text.

Let’s get a little more in-depth with this:

The Introduction

The introduction is made up of two main parts: the thesis and the introduction to the supporting points. This is where you essentially tell your reader exactly what sort of wild ride they’re in for if they read on.

It’s all about preparing your reader’s mind to start thinking about your argument or question before you even really get started.

Present your thesis and your supporting points clearly and concisely. It should be no longer than a paragraph or two. Keep it simple and easy to read.

Body Paragraphs

Okay, now that you’ve made your point, it’s time to prove it. This is where your body paragraphs come in. The length of this is entirely dependent on the criteria set by your professor, so keep that in mind.

However, as a rule, you should have at least three supporting points to help defend, prove, or explain your thesis. Put your weakest point first, and your strongest point last.

This doesn’t need a lot of outlining. Basically, take your introduction outline and copy it over. Your conclusion should be about a paragraph long, and it should summarize your main points and restate your thesis.

There’s also another key component to this outline example that I haven’t touched on yet:

Research and Annotations

Some people like to write first, and annotate later. Personally, I like to get my quotes and annotations in right at the start of the writing process.

I find the rest of the paper goes more smoothly, and it’s easier to ensure that I’ve compiled enough support for my claim. That way, I don’t go through all the work of writing the paper, only to discover that my thesis doesn’t actually hold any water!

As a general rule, it’s good to have at least 3-5 sources for every supporting point. Whenever you make a claim in your paper, you should support it with evidence.

Some professors are laxer on this, and some are more stringent. Make sure you understand your assignment requirements really, really, really well. You don’t want to get marked down for missing the correct number of sources!

At this stage, you should also be sure of what sort of format your professor is looking for (APA, MLA, etc.) , as this will save you a lot of headache later.

When I was in college, some professors wanted in-text parenthetical citations whenever I made a claim or used my research at all. Others only wanted citations at the end of a paragraph. And others didn’t mind in-text citations at all, so long as you had a bibliography at the end of your entire paper.

So, go through your outline and start inserting your quotes and citations now. Count them up. If you need more, then add them. If you think you have enough (read: your claims are so supported that even Voldemort himself couldn’t scare them), then move on to the next step:

5. Write the First Draft

Time to type this thing up. If you created a strong enough outline, this should be a breeze. Most of it should already be written for you. All you have to do at this point is fill it in. You’ve successfully avoided the initial blank-screen panic .

Don’t worry too much about grammar or prose quality at this point. It’s the rough draft, and it’s not supposed to see the light of day.

I find it helpful to highlight direct quotes, summaries, paraphrases, and claims as I put them in. This helps me ensure that I never forget to cite any of them.

So, do what you’ve gotta do . Go to a studious place or create one , put on an awesome playlist, close your social media apps, and get the work done.

Once you’ve gotten the gist of your paper down, the real work begins:

6. Revise Your Draft

Okay, now that you’ve word-vomited everywhere in a semi-organized fashion, it’s time to start building this thing into a cohesive paper. If you took the time to outline properly, then this part shouldn’t be too difficult.

Every paper has two editing stages:the developmental edit , and the line edit.

The developmental edit (the first one, at least) is for your eyes only. This is the part where you take a long, hard look at your paper and ask yourself, “Does this make sense, and does it accomplish what I want it to accomplish?” If it does, then great. If it doesn’t, then how can you rearrange or change it so that it does?

Here are a few good questions to ask yourself at this stage:

Once you’ve run the paper through this process at least once, it’s time for the line edit . This is the part where you check for punctuation, spelling, and grammar errors.

It helps to let your paper sit overnight, and then read it out loud to yourself, or the cat, or have a friend read it. Often, our brains know what we “meant” to say, and it’s difficult for us to catch small grammatical or spelling errors.

Here are a couple more final questions to ask yourself before you call it a day:

If you need help editing your paper, and your regular software just isn’t cutting it, Grammarly is a good app for Windows, Mac, iOS, and Chrome that goes above and beyond your run-of-the-mill spell-checker. It looks for things like sentence structure and length, as well as accidental plagiarism and passive tense.

7. Organize Your Sources

The paper’s written, but it’s not over. You’ve still got to create the very last page: the “works cited” or bibliography page.

Now, this page works a little differently depending on what style your professor has asked you to use, and it can get pretty confusing, as different types of sources are formatted completely differently.

The most important thing to ensure here is that every single source, whether big or small, is on this page before you turn your paper in. If you forget to cite something, or don’t cite it properly, you run the risk of plagiarism.

I got through college by using a couple of different tools to format it for me. Here are some absolute life-savers:

Onwards: One Step at a Time

I leave you with this parting advice:

Once you understand the method, research papers really aren’t as difficult as they seem. Sure, there’s a lot to do, but don’t be daunted. Just take it step by step, piece by piece, and give yourself plenty of time. Take frequent breaks, stay organized, and never, ever, ever forget to cite your sources. You can do this!

Looking for tools to make the writing process easier? Check out our list of the best writing apps .

Image Credits: featured

Have a language expert improve your writing

Run a free plagiarism check in 10 minutes, generate accurate citations for free.

How to Write a Research Paper | A Beginner's Guide

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 takes you through the entire writing process, from understanding your assignment to proofreading your final draft.

Table of contents

Understand the assignment, choose a research paper topic, conduct preliminary research, develop a thesis statement, create a research paper outline, write a first draft of the research paper, write the introduction, write a compelling body of text, write the conclusion, the second draft, the revision process, research paper checklist, free lecture slides.

Completing a research paper successfully means accomplishing the specific tasks set out for you. Before you start, make sure you thoroughly understanding the assignment task sheet:

Carefully consider your timeframe and word limit: be realistic, and plan enough time to research, write, and edit.

There are many ways to generate an idea for a research paper, from brainstorming with pen and paper to talking it through with a fellow student or professor.

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 other 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, m eets the criteria of your assignment, and i s possible to research. Aim for ideas that are both original and specific:

Receive feedback on language, structure, and formatting

Professional editors proofread and edit your paper by focusing on:

See an example

research paper for college

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 glaring.

Do not only verify the ideas you have in mind, but look for sources that contradict your point of view.

In this stage, you might find it helpful to formulate some research questions to help guide you. To write research questions, try to finish the following sentence: “I want to know how/what/why…”

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.

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.

A structure outline can help make the writing process much more efficient, so it’s worth dedicating some time to create one.

Your first draft won’t be perfect — you can polish later on. Your priorities at this stage are as follows:

You do not need to start by writing the introduction. Begin where it feels most natural for you — some prefer to finish the most difficult sections first, while others choose to start with the easiest part. If you created an outline, use it as a map while you work.

Do not delete large sections of text. If you begin to dislike something you have written or find it doesn’t quite fit, move it to a different document, but don’t lose it completely — you never know if it might come in useful later.

Paragraph structure

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.

Example paragraph

George Orwell’s 1946 essay “Politics and the English Language” has had an enduring impact on thought about the relationship between politics and language. This impact is particularly obvious in light of the various critical review articles that have recently referenced the essay. For example, consider Mark Falcoff’s 2009 article in The National Review Online, “The Perversion of Language; or, Orwell Revisited,” in which he analyzes several common words (“activist,” “civil-rights leader,” “diversity,” and more). Falcoff’s close analysis of the ambiguity built into political language intentionally mirrors Orwell’s own point-by-point analysis of the political language of his day. Even 63 years after its publication, Orwell’s essay is emulated by contemporary thinkers.

Citing 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.

You can use our free citation generators to automatically create citations and save your reference list as you go.

APA Citation Generator MLA Citation Generator

The research paper introduction should address three questions: What, why, and how? After finishing the introduction, the reader should know what the paper is about, why it is worth reading, and how you’ll build your arguments.

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.

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. However, remember that the outline is only a guide and, when writing, you can be flexible with the order in which the information and arguments are presented.

One way to stay on track is to use your thesis statement and topic sentences . Check:

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.

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 might also discuss the more general consequences of the argument, outline what the paper offers to future students of the topic, and suggest any questions the paper’s argument raises but cannot or does not try to answer.

You should not :

There are four main considerations when it comes to the second draft.

The goal during the revision and proofreading process is to ensure you have completed all the necessary tasks and that the paper is as well-articulated as possible.

Global concerns

Fine-grained details

Check the content of each paragraph, making sure that:

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 .

Finally, you need to make sure your paper is correctly formatted according to the rules of the citation style you are using. For example, you might need to include an MLA heading  or create an APA title page .

Scribbr’s professional editors can help with the revision process with our award-winning proofreading services.

Discover our paper editing service

Checklist: Research paper

I have followed all instructions in the assignment sheet.

My introduction presents my topic in an engaging way and provides necessary background information.

My introduction presents a clear, focused research problem and/or thesis statement .

My paper is logically organized using paragraphs and (if relevant) section headings .

Each paragraph is clearly focused on one central idea, expressed in a clear topic sentence .

Each paragraph is relevant to my research problem or thesis statement.

I have used appropriate transitions  to clarify the connections between sections, paragraphs, and sentences.

My conclusion provides a concise answer to the research question or emphasizes how the thesis has been supported.

My conclusion shows how my research has contributed to knowledge or understanding of my topic.

My conclusion does not present any new points or information essential to my argument.

I have provided an in-text citation every time I refer to ideas or information from a source.

I have included a reference list at the end of my paper, consistently formatted according to a specific citation style .

I have thoroughly revised my paper and addressed any feedback from my professor or supervisor.

I have followed all formatting guidelines (page numbers, headers, spacing, etc.).

You've written a great paper. Make sure it's perfect with the help of a Scribbr editor!

Open Google Slides Download PowerPoint

Is this article helpful?

Other students also liked.

More interesting articles

What is your plagiarism score?

research paper for college

How to Write a Research Paper

High school student sitting on the couch with a laptop writing a research paper

Table of Contents

Share this post.

Independent research is one of the most impressive things a high school student can achieve and is an increasingly popular option among the most talented students, who are working ever harder to secure a spot at top colleges. The end goal of research is the publication, having your work reviewed and deemed meritorious by others, and made available to the broader academic community. 

Before you can publish your research, however, you need to write a research paper. Academic research papers are quite different from the essays you write in high school, or even college, and serve a different purpose. In this article, we’ll cover how to write a research paper step by step, from start to finish.

The Purpose of a Research Paper

Every research paper is arguing for a conclusion. Research begins with a question, then you gather data to learn the answer. Once you have drawn a conclusion from your data, the purpose of the paper is to present your data and show how it leads to your conclusion. Your result may or may not be the one you intended when you began your research, but should be supported by the data regardless. 

We won’t go into the details of actually doing research in this article, as that varies greatly by field and discipline. Instead, we’ll cover each piece of the research paper, the purpose they serve, and how to write them. Let’s jump in and show you how to write a research paper.

The Abstract

The abstract serves to summarize your paper in brief, so that readers can determine if the paper is relevant to their studies. The abstract should detail your thesis, your data collection process, and the conclusions you drew from your data. Generally, the abstract only consists of a few hundred words, often less. Not all papers require an abstract; they are more common in the sciences than in the humanities. 

The abstract should be concise and to the point. Don’t include unnecessary details, but briefly cover the main points of your research. You will read many abstracts during your own research, and come to understand their utility. When you are going through hundreds of potential sources, you don’t want to read the whole paper every time. 

Thesis and Introduction

This is similar to many papers you have written already. In this part of your paper, you outline what you intend to study, and what claims you are arguing. Your thesis is a statement you intend to prove through your data and conclusions; it is the main point of the entire paper. 

For this reason, the thesis (and often introduction as a whole) is one of the hardest parts of a research paper to write. Indeed, it is sometimes easier to write the rest of the paper first, than to return and complete the introduction. Whatever your thesis is, however, you should ensure it is well supported by your data and arguments. It is better to change your thesis to match your data than to manipulate data to reach a conclusion you prefer.

Literature Review

This is not needed in all research papers, but if others have already done significant work in your field of study, you are expected to acknowledge it, especially if it colors your current studies. The point of the literature review section is to cover these and address how they impacted your own research. 

Most research itself begins with a literature review. We recommend reading all recent articles in the narrow field you are studying because it’s important to know if anyone else has already asked the same question as you before you begin. You can repeat a previous experiment to see if you attain different results, but this should be done consciously, not by accident. 

Presenting Your Data

The next step is to describe how you collected your data and then present it. How to do this varies greatly based on what you were actually studying, but often involves charts, tables, or other figures.

When describing data collection, go into detail. You want people reading the paper to be able to replicate your process exactly should they desire. Discuss what sample size you used, and why you made the decisions you did when collecting data if necessary. This section is far longer for science papers than for humanities. 

When presenting your data, try to be as clear as possible. If you have written lab reports before, you will have some sense of how this is done, just on a grander scale. Label the axes of your graphs clearly, identify all figures and don’t use acronyms without explanation.

Finally, include sources of error, and statistical analysis of your data (if necessary). If there were possible contaminations in how you collected data that could impact your results, you should detail those. This is important to include so that if others try to replicate your work, they can do so with even greater precision. 

Female student with headphones writing a research paper for school withwith a laptop and notebook

When presenting your data through graphs, tables, or other images, each should be assigned a figure number and a caption. The figure numbers allow you to reference each within your own text with ease, allowing readers to refer to them when necessary. Captions should be a brief, one-sentence description of what a figure shows. These make it easy for readers to tell at a glance what they are looking at.

Analyzing Your Data and Drawing Conclusions

After presenting your data, it’s time to draw conclusions from it. You outlined what conclusions you would be drawing in your introduction, but you now need to argue in favor of them. The goal is to present logically how your data supports your points. 

The length of this section depends on what you are arguing, and what conclusions you are drawing from your data. For humanities papers, these sections are often longer, as the bulk of the paper is analysis, rather than the presentation of data. It is generally far shorter in scientific papers, where the presentation of the data often takes up much of the length of the essay. The social sciences can go in either direction, depending on the data presented and the conclusions are drawn. 

Your conclusion sums up what you proved, and lays out possible areas for additional study. It should tie back in with the introduction, and restate your thesis, now that you have proved it. The conclusion is generally quite short, only a paragraph in length.

Footnotes and Bibliography

You need to cite your sources in a research paper; this is done through both footnotes and a bibliography at the end. You may use MLA , APA , or Chicago style citations as you prefer, but you should use a consistent style, for both footnotes and the bibliography. Some journals will mandate the use of one style or another.

Footnotes can also be used to include other tangential information or important notes. Some academics use footnotes to indirectly (or directly) denigrate the theories of their peers. We recommend you not do this, though we do recommend reading footnotes for this reason. 

Whenever you use an idea or data from an outside source, you need to cite where it came from. The standards of academic honesty are quite high for publication, and we don’t want your paper to get rejected during review due to citation errors. 

Audience and Tone

Research papers are formal and should be written formally. Don’t use slang (unless writing a paper on the linguistics of slang). You should also avoid the use of personal pronouns to reference yourself or the reader. The tone should be authoritative and aimed at an expert audience. Do not obfuscate merely for the sake of doing so, but present information at an expert level and expect to be understood. 

Some papers and journals are specifically aimed at laypeople, and if you are writing a paper for one of these, you should use more accessible language, and explain assuming a lower level of background knowledge of the subject. 

Final Thoughts

The ultimate goal of research is to discover something worthwhile and to share that discovery with the broader academic community. The fact that this looks great on a college application should be tangential but is a nice bonus for your hard work. 

Of course, writing a research paper is challenging, and takes a lot of effort. If you would like help designing a research project, drafting a paper, or any other aspect of building your candidacy for college, schedule a free consultation with us today to learn how we can help you. We have helped students in every field prepare for college, and we’re always happy to hear from you.

Need help with college admissions?

Download our "guide to everything," a 90-page pdf that covers everything you need to know about the college admission process., more to explore.

research paper for college

How to Appeal your Financial Aid Award

College is expensive, and financial aid is meant to bridge the gap between how much you are expected to pay, and how much you can

Young woman college student studying with laptop, distantly preparing for test exam, writing essay doing homework at home, distantly education concept.

Writing About Trauma in College Essays

A recent TEDx talk by Tina Young entitled: The Rise of the “Trauma Essay” in College Applications caught my attention, as many of the points

research paper for college

Ivy Scholars is the leading educational consultant in Sugar Land, Texas, providing admissions coaching, test prep, and more to help students enroll at top tier schools.

research paper for college

Get In Touch

Call us now: (281) 215-5148

Sugar Land: 77 Sugar Creek Center Blvd, #375, Sugar Land, TX 77478

View Sugar Land Location

Houston: 4265 San Felipe St, Suite 1100, Houston, TX 77027

Get Started

Subscribe for updates, © all rights reserved.

research paper for college

How To Write A Research Paper For College?

Link Copied

Share on Facebook

Share on Twitter

Share on LinkedIn

How To Write A Research Paper For College?

Your research for research ends here

The inevitable has come; You finally have to write a research paper for your college or dissertation. Many colleges require a research paper from students to complete their degrees. You don’t have to fret, though. We have everything you need about how to write a research paper for a college right here in this blog.

What is a research paper?

A research paper is an academic article that offers a thorough examination, assessment, interpretation, and in-depth analysis of a subject supported by empirical evidence or data. Analytical essays and research papers are similar, but the former place more emphasis on using statistical data and previous studies (like a literature review ), while the latter adheres to a strict citation style. A research project is always intended to find a problem’s solution. However, most people are already aware of research papers from school; they are frequently used in college courses to assess a student's familiarity with a particular subject or their general research abilities.

Types of research papers

Types of research paper

Before learning how to write a research paper, let us know about different types of research papers. Knowing the type of research paper needed for your assignment is crucial because every type has various requirements for preparation. The most common types of research papers needed for college assignments or dissertations are:

1. Analytical Research Paper

2. Argumentative Research Paper

3. Cause and Effect Research Paper

4. Experimental Research Paper

5. Problem-Solution Research Paper

6. Report Paper

7. Survey Research Paper

Research paper format

Deciding your research paper format before starting to write a research paper is very important. The format of your paper will depend on the style guide you choose to follow. There are three commonly used research paper formats - the APA , MLA , and Chicago style, whose manuals provide formatting guidelines for things like font choices, page design, heading type, and reference page structure, in addition to citation requirements. Here are the basic guidelines for each research paper format:

American Psychological Association (APA)

Modern Language Association (MLA)

Chicago or Turabian style

How to write a research paper for college?

How to write a research paper for college?

Choose your topic

You may be given a topic to write on, or you may have to choose one on your own, depending on the assignment. If your instructor did not provide you with a topic, you would have to choose a topic on your own. You should pick a research topic which you feel connected to and feel confident about. The topic or the problem for the research paper should not be too vague or too narrow so that it does not become hard to find the relevant data.

Conduct preliminary research

While finding sources online is a simple way to start a research project, determining the reliability of a source is more crucial. The sources for your research should be credible and reliable. You can source your data and information from encyclopedias, journals, google Scholar, libraries, trustworthy publications or case studies. This will be your first stage, i.e. the preliminary stage of research. This is the stage where you will get a clear idea about your topic for research writing through the data you have sourced and skimmed.

Write a Thesis Statement

A thesis statement conveys the main idea of your research paper, and it typically appears at the end of your introduction. This is one of the important parts of a research paper you should take care of while you write a research paper. Your thesis statement should have an interesting and compelling hook which draws the readers’ attention. A strong thesis statement gives the reader a clear understanding of the topics and arguments you will be discussing in your work. Your thesis should be one or two sentences long and should be well-written, so readers know exactly what they will encounter in your paper. 

Conduct in-depth research

After you are done with the preliminary research, you need to source enough research which will be relevant to your research writing. You can conduct data through various methods such as experiments, surveys or questionnaires. Always keep in mind that your research writing should be unbiased and should be factual. This is the stage where you will go through the information you have collected while doing the preliminary research and find out supporting evidence. Only include details that are directly related to your issue; avoid including irrelevant data even if they seem interesting. 

Write a research paper outline

The foundation of your paper is an outline. There are various sections or components that make up a research paper outline. Your paper will surely include an introduction, body and conclusion. These headings will include relevant subheadings, which will be supported by empirical evidence. You need to make a list of all the vital topics, subtopics and categories to include in your paper.

Each section should be expertly written to ensure that the work is successful and well-structured overall.

Title/Cover Page

First impressions are important, which is why picking the right title can greatly impact how your research paper is perceived. A simple formula for a great title is: “[Result]: A [method] study of [topic] among [sample]”, and you can modify this as per the type of research paper you’re working on. This is just one of the crucial components of a research paper . Some types of research paper titles are:

No matter which type you’re going for, you need to keep these few things in mind. Be concise yet descriptive, and don’t make your title too lengthy. Keep it between 5 to 15 words. Make sure it matches the guidelines and avoid the use of symbols and slang. 

Simply put, this is a short and appealing overview of your research paper. When writing a research paper, make sure you give a brief background of the problem being studied and the manner of your solution. Also, be sure to include the main findings from your study and use keywords in your abstract.

Introduction

A good research paper introduction includes the problem’s background and any solutions presented in the literature along with its reasons and focuses mainly on the problem you’re aiming to solve. Write this section of the research paper in a logical way to make it easier for the reader to follow along with your thought process. Don't forget to start with your thesis statement.

Limitations

This section should tell the reader what obstacles you faced during your research. Make sure you keep all information relevant to the results and are concise. Avoid the use of unnecessary words and don’t include the results mentioned in the results section. 

Methodology

The main purpose of having a methods section is to allow anyone to reproduce your experiments. So, you should give enough detail to allow others to do so. However, you can skip detailing previous experiments as readers can find these in the references you’ve provided. Make sure to write in past tense and use standard nomenclature and numbers. Here’s a checklist of what you should include:

This section will contain the bulk of your research paper. Unlike college essays, your research paper should be divided into sections with separate headers to make it easier for readers to scan. When writing a research paper’s first draft, don’t worry about perfecting each and every word. You can fine-tune it later when you’re editing and proofreading the paper. To improve the flow of the paper, you can use transition sentences, tying each section together smoothly.

A research paper's conclusion is quite similar to that of an essay. Make sure you reiterate your thesis statement, summarize your study’s findings, and reiterate evidence backing your results in as simple a manner as possible.

Bibliography

It’s important to acknowledge any previous studies that you discuss in your paper to avoid plagiarism and to let readers easily navigate to these sources. Make sure to maintain a detailed list of all your references and include these in your bibliography section as per the format you are following, such as MLA, APA, etc. 

These are the fundamental components of every research paper outline, regardless of the format style you use.

Write the first draft

Now that you have finalised an outline for your research paper. Here comes the most important and exciting part. You will now actually start to write a research paper. This step won’t be very intimidating if you have all the sources and data with a proper outline ready. Your research paper should contain all three: an introduction, body and conclusion, along with an abstract, citations and bibliography. This is the part where you will support your thesis statement with empirical evidence and facts. While you write a research paper, you have to remember that this section contains the main ideas and is the soul of your paper. The methods used to obtain information, the findings, and a discussion of the findings and outcomes are all found in the body of your research paper. The conclusion and the introduction carry the same importance. The research paper's concept is restated in the conclusion, along with the author's, i.e. your personal viewpoint on the subject. Your conclusion cannot include the facts that are already stated in your paper or new facts or information.

Cite your research paper

Citations are a very important part of how to write a research paper. Citation basically means quotations from any reference books, papers or authors. It mentions the referenced quotes' mainly in scholarly works. According to the paper format you are using, citations follow a certain set of guidelines and rules. Your final page, also known as the bibliography page, will contain all the citations and lists of all the references and sources that you used to gather your data.

Edit and proofread

Once you have finished writing a research paper and all the elements of your paper have been written and compiled, proofread it many times to ensure that it is error-free. Before submitting it, make sure you check for all the minor details and make sure you do a thorough grammar check. Go over your paper twice so you do not miss anything.  

Tips for writing a research paper

Who doesn’t love extras? Extra ketchup, extra mayo, extra tips? You can check out these topics to learn more about how to write a research paper effectively and efficiently. 

1. Select a topic you feel connected to.

2. Using Index cards to jot notes down will be helpful.

3. Take enough time to edit and polish your paper.

4. Find a distraction-free environment.

5. Start writing a research paper early to avoid procrastination.

6. You can definitely ask for help if you needed.

7. Have enough sleep and rest.

8. Store copies of your research and work as backup.

Tools & Resources for Writing a Research Paper

With so much to keep in mind, writing a research paper well can certainly be quite stressful. No need to worry; Your little helpers are here. These tools and resources make writing a research paper a lot easier and faster. Using these when writing your research paper is a great way to work smarter, not harder. 

Managing citations has never been easier with citation manager apps that take up the task of acquiring metadata, organising citations, and formatting references. Mendeley, Zotero, Endnote, and Refworks are a few apps that you can use.

Language might not be your forte, and your reviewers aren’t going to correct your grammatical errors. So here are a few editing tools that will do just the trick - Hemingway Editor, Grammarly, and Trinka.

Now that you have learnt how to write a research paper, you can finally start writing a research paper. We know you can do it. The task of writing a research paper seems ginormous as it involves a lot of hard work and brain activities. Get enough sleep and rest and avoid procrastination, and you should write a research paper while enjoying it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do i have to write a research paper in college, can a blog be used in a research paper, how do i choose a topic when writing a research paper, how do i cite sources when writing a research paper, when writing a research paper, where can i conduct research, unlock your free flight ticket.

Your ideal student home & a flight ticket awaits

Follow us on :

cta

© 2022 All Rights Reserved. The content, images and logos used on this are copyright protected and copyrights vests with the respective owners. The usage is intended to promote, identify and search. No endorsement or partnership is implied.

Trust Score 4.8/5

2000+ Reviews by students

research paper for college

research paper for college

Student Research Papers

By Issue Date Authors Titles Subjects

Search within this community and its collections:

Sub-communities within this community

Built environments, college of [0], communications, department of [14], comparative history of ideas program [20], disability studies [1], earth and space sciences [89], english, department of [1], foster school of business [0], friday harbor laboratories [654], gender, women and sexuality studies, department of [22], geography, dept. of [5], henry m. jackson school of international studies [107], history, department of [8], ischool [3], japan studies [4], linguistics [4], materials science and engineering [25], mathematics, department of [0], oceanography, school of [322], speech and hearing sciences department [1], summer institute in the arts and humanities [26], uw law school [1], collections in this community, daniel j. evans school of public policy & governance [2], library research award for undergraduates [162], museology master's theses [60], physiology and biophysics, department of [2], population health research award for undergraduates [3], uw school of medicine [1], recent submissions, timing is everything: the effect of tidal timing on biodiversity during heatwaves , working on wellbeing: a wellbeing toolkit for emerging museum professionals , some like it hot: temperature stress and juvenile development in the invasive colonial tunicate botrylloides violaceus , effects of sori incubation temperature on nereocystis luetkeana gametophyte and sporophyte development , effects of temperature and food availability on growth and development of pisaster ochraceus larvae , eat, prey, love: sex influences nest intruder behavior in the maritime earwig (anisolabis maritima) , uncovering dietary diversity through gut microbiomes for several species of elongated fishes , comparative study of sea urchins strongylocentrotus purpuratus and s. droebachiensis adhesive performance , pigeon guillemot nesting behavior on san juan island, washington , the effect of flow on filtering and gaping behavior in mytilus galloprovinicalis , interspecific transmission of seagrass wasting disease from pacific oysters, crassostrea gigas, to eelgrass, zostera marina , the effects of multiple environmental stressors on the respiration rate of mytilus galloprovincialis , denticle morphology in the pacific spiny dogfish, squalus suckleyi , effect of nutrient enrichment on turf algae productivity , the urch- to eat: effect of encrusting bryozoans on the growth and feeding behavior of green urchins , what’s that smell a whiff of gunnel olfactory morphology , is tense (t)ense in nêhiyawêwin an exploration of nêhiyawêwin anchoring , indigenizing the cultural sector: museums and change , indigenous perspectives on repatriation: reflections from tribal members of the confederated tribes of grand ronde , marine heat waves' impact on zooplankton populations and implications for biogeochemical cycling .

feed

How To Make A Paper

Staff Writers

Contributing Writer

Learn about our editorial process .

Updated January 31, 2023

CollegeChoice.net is an advertising-supported site. Featured or trusted partner programs and all school search, finder, or match results are for schools that compensate us. This compensation does not influence our school rankings, resource guides, or other editorially-independent information published on this site.

Are you ready to discover your college program?

A step-by-step guide to save time and energy.

With all the things you have going on as a student, writing a paper can seem like a daunting task. Many students opt to put off that daunting task, which ultimately leads to bad grades on papers that would otherwise have been easy A's. On top of that, papers often make up a large portion of a student's overall grade in any class, which makes them even higher risk ventures.

Here, we'll walk you through the most important aspects of making a paper, from beginning to end so you won't have to whip up a paper in an afternoon, plagiarize, or neglect to do the assignment.

This image and list-based, step-by-step tutorial is the closest thing to writing a plug and chug paper you can get. In this tutorial you'll learn:

So, are you ready to ace this paper of yours? Get out some paper and a pencil and let's get started!

How do I Know What My Professor is Looking for?

The answer to this question is easy: look at the materials the prof gives you. But, it’s important to get started  the exact same day  that the prof hands you the assignment, and it will only take 30 minutes. There’s no time to waste.

Let’s deal with the first one right now: Looking at what the prof wants you to do.

1. Write to the Rubric

The first important step in writing a paper is taking some time to understand what the professor is looking for. If you know that, you can write to the rubric and pick up easy points along the way.

Universities mandate that professors given students rubrics or some form of assessment guideline. Remember, the rubric for the course on the assignment sheet you’ve been given, you will find a general rubric in the class syllabus, or the professor will include a rubric with an assignment sheet.

If the professor does not provide these things to you, don’t be afraid to ask for them. It’s completely unfair to assess a student if the student doesn’t know what’s expected of them. When you ask, be courteous.

2. Begin with the End in Mind

Once you have that rubric and assignment sheet in hand, you’re ready to discern the things your prof will look for when grading the assignment. This means you can begin with the end in mind, crafting the paper around what you know the prof wants to see. To begin with the end in mind, you need to follow three simple steps:

– Look at the Assignment With a Critical Eye

Take a few moments to review the assignment and rubric with a pen and highlighter, making notes and underlining key elements the prof wants to see.

– Write an Anchor Sentence

Once you know what the prof wants, you can write a one sentence reference that you can refer to whenever you feel like you’re going off course.

– Assess your Gaps

Make a list of three strengths and weaknesses you have as a writer. Be mindful of the pitfalls and confident about your high points.

All this should take you no more than 10 or 15 minutes.  It may seem counter-intuitive, but using time to get organized saves you time later, and makes the writing process so much simpler. So, here it is, step-by-step:

3. Look at the Assignment Critically

Now, let’s take a look at a sample assignment. Say you have to write a paper for your Linguistics class. Take a look at this assignment from an actual college professor:

a1

Yow! Even with bullets and commands that’s a lot of text. Let’s take it section by section, one directive at a time.

First, let’s start with the macro. Go through and find the concepts the prof wants you to cover in the paper.

This prof is doing what profs do: pontificating. Lord love ‘em, but professors are notorious for giving more information than necessary or saying more than what needs saying, so do your best to boil the assignment down to the essentials with your highlighter:

a4

Take note, these macro concepts are often suggestions, not commands. They are the prof telling you how to be impressive, clear, or to raise your grade through a demonstration of your wits and knowledge.

Your profs know when you don’t take time prewriting, and they know when you’re being wishy-washy or only reading to reinforce your opinion. This is your prof letting you know that.

Second, go micro. Go through and underline actionable items. These are the items that must be included in the paper for you to get a good grade. Usually they are very specific:

a5a

Clearly, if your paper uses first-person pronouns, it will irk the person giving you the grade—probably best to stay away from that. Also, you should be using scholarly research, which means no random Googling and picking the first things you ping.

Take a look at the first section of the assignment sheet. See where the prof tells you exactly what your paper should be?

Also, take a look at the section at the “Requirements” section. This paper better be formatted in a particular way!

a6

Also, watch for specific requests about format changes and due dates. Circle them!

a6b

These are no-nonsense statements/compromises that the prof needs you to abide.

Why would a prof do this? Well, the answer is simple. Your profs aren’t trying to bust your chops (they do, in fact, have other things to do than make you miserable)—they’re trying to streamline the grading process. Imagine you have 75 papers to grade written by your 75 students.

Imagine just how much variation and diversity would occur between those 75 people and their papers if the prof left it all to chance—all of these students like different fonts, would cite things differently based on their preferences, and would hand in widely varied papers, at least doubling the time it would take to read those papers.

So, don’t you want to help that prof out? Make that prof love you by following these directions. If you follow the directions, this prof will direct their ire elsewhere.

Now that you understand why profs are such format sticklers, take a look at the rubric:

The rubric is a list of direct touch points that will be examined by the professor as they grade your work. Take note, they’re specific and they break down your potential performance. In this case, you can see five discrete categories, each with its own stakes, and the number value that corresponds to your performance:

a7

The prof will take the rubric and keep it within reach while grading. Along with making notes on your paper, the prof will also check off your performance in each category—summarizing your performance in that category:

rubric2

If you have a hundred-point paper, each one of these categories is worth 20 points. The prof will add up the categories and multiply that number by 4 to get your grade: 4 + 5 + 5 + 4 + 5 = 23 x 4 = 92.

To get an A on this paper, you have to perform with excellence in 3 categories and above average in at least 2 of the other categories.

Now you have a goal. Which three categories are you going to absolutely kill in?

At least one of them—formatting—is a gimmie. All it takes is attention to detail—Microsoft Word has all the tools you need to score perfectly there.

Focus on Development and Body Paragraphs for your other two. They’re simple—almost completely made of a thesis statement and transitions.

rubric3

Now that you have that figured out, let’s move on to the next step: Crafting a reminder that you can revisit while you write.

4. Writing an Anchor Sentence

It might seem like a silly thing to do, but an anchor sentence is as vital as a thesis statement. It’s essentially a thesis statement for the paper writing process. With this sentence you will remind yourself about what the prof wants and how you’re going to give it to them.

– Summarize the Elements

It’s clear from the highlighting and underlining that the prof wants an argumentative paper that’s well-organized and thoughtful. Note that there is nothing about originality in this rubric.

The prof isn’t asking you to reinvent the wheel or come up with something that will change the field of Linguistics forever—they’re simply asking you to take some important ideas from your linguistics class and apply them to something that you like.

– Understand the Concept

It’s also clear that this prof wants you to synthesize the research in the field of linguistics, not conduct new research.

This goes back to the originality idea—demonstrate you’ve been listening and can apply the concepts of the class to the practices and concepts in another field of study or personal interest.

– Create the Anchor

Now that you have an idea of what’s needed, go ahead and write one or two sentences combining steps 1 and 2:

In this paper, I will demonstrate my understanding of a linguistic concept I learned this semester and how it relates to my field of study. I will demonstrate this knowledge by staying organized, using relevant research, and sticking to my thesis statement.

Yes, it seems a bit silly. But now you have an anchor. If you get stuck while writing, pull out this sentence and see where you’ve gone astray, or where you go to get back on track.

5. Assessing Your Gaps

You know what the prof wants, you know how you’re going to give it to them. Now all you need to know is where it could all fall off the rails. In this step, you name your strengths and weakness so you know exactly where you stand walking in.

It’s super-simple—all you do is answer two questions, making a list of two or three things for each:

Simple as that. Now all you need to do is play to those strengths and be cognizant of the weaknesses. You’re ready to move on to the next step, so get to it! Let’s talk about how to execute.

How do I Organize my Research Paper?

1. sit down.

Ernest Hemingway famously said that “the hardest part about writing is getting your ass in the chair.” And he’s absolutely correct. If you can sit down to write, you’ve got 90% of the work behind you already.

Completing this second step immediately—before you go to bed on the day you get the assignment—is essential to acing this paper.

That said, you should go back to your room, get out your calendar, and start looking at specific pockets of time in your days between when you’re assigned the paper and when the assignment is due.

Follow these tips when making the schedule:

Make the time non-negotiable

It will be tough, but don’t let friends or activities derail your schedule. Set the plan and execute, execute, execute—this is the only way to achieve the results you want.

Be specific about how you spend the time

When making the schedule, set completion goals so that the time isn’t open-ended. If your time is nebulous, you will be more likely to drop the ball. You’ve got a date with a chair and life-long learning.

Commit to the process

Keep in mind that one of the crucial ingredients of successful writing is time. You need time to think, research, and create. If you fail to acknowledge this, you will write a crumby paper every time.

You’re working toward something bigger

It can be easy to fixate on the trees at the expense of seeing the whole forest, so be sure to remember that what you’re doing is adding to your overall career. If the paper is good, you can use it as a writing sample or try to publish it, which will build your résumé. Resist the impulse to think of the paper as a hurdle.

Take advantage of support systems

You’re not writing in a vacuum—you have academic support at your fingertips, as well as friends who are in the same boat. Make an appointment with the writing center to get a semi-professional set of eyes, and had that paper to a friend for quick notes.

2. Get Organized

Your next step is to organize your time. You’re going to fill out an hour or two of work each day, accounting for other classes, social engagements, and priority requirements.

Make a specific tab for your paper, and fill in the times you can work:

cal1

The most important part about this is that you’re  specific —setting tangible completion goals for each work session. Most of your sessions should be no more than an hour or two, but some activities—like research—might need to be a bit longer:

calendar2aaa

If you notice, most of your writing time will be spent on the front end—creating the first draft of the paper. This is because everything after that will be revisionary.

calendar2a1

Don’t forget to find your revision buddy, and make an appointment at the writing center!

calendar2aba

If you stick to this schedule, you will not only complete your paper on time, you will complete it well. Every writer on the planet will tell you that the schedule is the foundation of good writing—the more time you spend in the chair, the better the writing gets.

How do I Come Up with Ideas for a Paper?

So you’ve completed the first two steps before bed on the day your assigned the paper, now comes the tough stuff. It will, however, be a bit easier now that you know exactly what your prof wants and you’ve got a schedule in place.

To generate ideas, you’ve got a few options.  Free writing  is often popular, but it can be really time consuming, and also not particularly helpful for research papers. As well, some profs advise talking it out with a friend, which can be distracting.

But you don’t have much time, so you want to focus and narrow your ideas—it’s essential to success. The best method for this is mapping. Mapping is a technique that allows you to freely record your ideas in a logical manner.

Mapping will give you strong guiding questions as well as demonstrate how your ideas are connected, which is super useful for writing a long research paper. Mapping looks something like this:

img_0347-1

Note that the ideas get more specific the further away they are from the center topic. As well, note that they’re written as interrogatives—questions stimulate thought. Circle the ones that are most specific and uses them for your paper.

web1

Pro tip: One simple angle that always seems to work is “how is your subject different, altered, or effected by technology and the contemporary trappings of the 21 st  century?” You can apply this concept to  every  paper you will write in college.

So, apply your field of study, your interests, or something topical to the subject. Let’s say you’re studying to be a teacher and are interested in ESL students—that’s a lens every topic and question in this list can be examined through. Here are some ideas based upon that…

Out of the above, which sounds like it has the most juice? Probably number one. Even without doing any Googling, it seems evident that there will be research in this area that you can draw from. As well, you can rely on non-technical, non-academic observation to give you better ideas—you can use your experience to shape your subject matter. So go with number 1.

Now, plug the subject into Wikipedia to get an overview of what the subject is.

wiki1

Ctrl + F to search the page and look for key words, like  technology

find

No shock that there’s a whole section on Wikipedia to get you going. Take a look at these specific ideas that you can use in your research phase:

find2

Click the numbered hypertext to see resources. Looks like 23-26 will be helpful:

find3a

And look, you can scroll to the bottom of the page to get a jump on specific articles to use in your research. As well, 51 mentions your keyword!

find4

Now that you know—on a very general level—what’s happening in the field, you can get going on making your thesis and outline.

How do I Write a Thesis Statement?

With our tutorial on writing a thesis statement, you will see thesis examples, ways to craft a thesis sentence, and how to organize your paper around a thesis statement. First, you’ll need a decent grasp of your topic. Second, you will need specific examples to write about. Third, you will need to organize those three items effectively. And, fourth, you will need to make an outline.

For this step-by-step tutorial of thesis examples, we’re going to break things down for super efficiency so you can create the backbone of the paper.

The writing of the thesis is broken into four parts. Master these and the paper will be a cinch.

1. Creating the Topic Overview

The first step to creating a successful thesis statement is generating a concise overview of the topic at hand. In this case, technology and the ESL classroom is the topic upon which the paper is based. So the first portion of your thesis should be a generalized statement that describes the imperatives which make your paper relevant.

Begin by making a list of why you think your paper topic is relevant. In this case, we could say that…

– technology use inside and outside the classroom has increased in the past decade.

– students use their phones in class, which is a distraction to learning.

– social media interaction is now just as important to most students as face-to-face interaction.

– students are often taken from the expansive digital world outside of the classroom and are bored in a classroom with walls.

– student learning is increasingly social and communal in nature, as opposed to being delivered by an expert.

Now, let’s take those ideas and try to make them into one sentence:

Teachers who refuse to use technology in the classroom are not engaging their students and are disregarding their students’ natural ways of learning and their social needs.

Sounds pretty good, eh? Yep! Now, let’s punch up that language a bit, so we can sound a bit smarter:

Teachers who do not embrace technology in their classes risk losing students to academic boredom, not to mention that they will be perceived by their students as tedious and irrelevant. This is because technology and sociability aren’t extracurricular—students’ lives are increasingly technology oriented and social in nature in ways that weren’t around years ago.

Oh! Even better! But there are still some simple things we can do to punch up the language, like use Word’s synonyms function by right-clicking:

ennui

Be careful as you do this—sometimes the tool can be a bit off since it can’t improvise well for word forms. But go through word by word and tighten, change, and you’ll get this:

thesisrev

That sounds great, doesn’t it? With adding then subtracting, expanding then consolidating, moving from the general to the specific, you can craft an overview to be used in the thesis. Also, note the use of old tricks, like opposing vocabulary (extracurricular v. intercurricular) which heighten the rhetoric.

So, check the rubric—did we hit any goals? Yep! See Development, Language and vocabulary, and Sentence structure!

2. Constructing the Specifics

Now that you’ve nailed down the overview, switch gears into getting really narrow. Here, you’re going to identify three solutions to the issue that you presented in the crafting of the overview.

While these things will be more specific than the previous section, they aren’t going to be hyper-specific, but broad enough to act as a reference points for the rest of the paper.

The problem presented was that instructors take away learning tools from students and replace them with less interesting forms of learning and stop social interaction with the classroom. As well, instructors give little attention to technology-based learning tools as an avenue for education.

How can this problem be fixed? Teachers should…

– Leverage technology to get students talking about work when not in class

– Integrate unconventional technologies in class (like iPhones)

– Make technology use a classroom priority

Now, take those things and combine them into a single statement:

ESL instructors should make using technology a priority of education, both inside and outside the classroom.

But, let’s try massage it a bit more, like the last one. Let’s try to keep our triad of ideas intact, that way we can make at least three different sections to the paper:

ESL instructors should try to increase digital interactions between students outside of class, use digital technology inside of class, and make digital avenues of education a learning priority.

Pretty good, but we can make it sound even more academic. Again, use the Word synonym function, and try to bring out the parallel structure even more:

thesisp2

Yeah—that’s great!

3. Crafting the Thesis Sentences

We’re so close to being done with the thesis! All we need now is to connect the two sentences together with some kind of sentence, transitional phrase, or conjunction. In this case (as with almost everything in writing, actually) keep it simple:

thesisrev2

Some of you are saying “Hey! Wait a sec! You can’t begin a sentence with  because !” In fact, you can. You’ve been lied to if that’s what you think.

Many teachers tell students this because it prevents them from writing incomplete thoughts, or writing sloppily, but it’s totally street legal and, in this case, quite stylish as a prepositional phrase. So use it with abandon, so long as you complete the sentence!

Now, check the rubric again!—clarity of the argument, arguable thesis, and well-organized ideas! Check and check and check! You’re killing it.

You have a thesis!

4. Make an Outline

From there, you can also build your outline, and break up your potential sources, like so:

Introduction/Hook (Engaging anecdote to transition you into the thesis)

Thesis sentences

Part 1 (first portion of the thesis)

– 3-4 sources

Part 2 (second portion of the thesis

Part 3 (third portion of the thesis)

Conclusion/Charge (Wrapping up, charging the reader to make a change)

It’s really just that simple. And, to top it all off, you now have three areas of research to focus on!

Now that we’ve got that square, let’s move on to some techniques for transitioning between ideas.

How do I Create a Transition?

Often students writing long, research-based papers struggle with smoothly connecting the related ideas within the paper. This isn’t uncommon, and—good news—is easily fixed! There are three simple steps. First, you must identify the relationship between the two ideas. Second, you must craft a transition. And, third, you must be careful of potential pitfalls.

1. Determine the Relationship

Let’s say you have this paragraph to open the first section of your Linguistics paper:

1para

You need to get from that really broad idea to a much simpler idea: that people from different cultures have trouble communicating, or—as it’s written in the paper, this:

2para

See how jarring the logical jump is from the broad statement to the specific assertion? Take a look at the two statements together, as they are color coded—red being broad, blue being specific:

3para

You need something between them to link them logically together and to help the reader make the leap with you, so you’ll need to make a sentence to go between them—one that embodies both the broad and the specific together.

Take a look at this, which logically fills in the gap for the reader, so that the reader doesn’t have to fill in the gaps themselves:

4para

Now give it a read all together:

5para

2. Make the Connections

– the author identified the relationship.

It’s clear here that people’s abilities to communicate define their cultural importance. This idea is loosely connected to another idea the author is writing toward—that those unique cultural differences are often the culprit for communication breakdown.

The author sees that the relationship is one of contrasts, so they try to name the contrast to create a connection in the transition—the green text is the merging of contrasts:

– The author crafted the transition

Using a really simple, but subtle writing skill, this author used word choice to make deeper connections between the sentences. See the color coded portions:

7para

The phrases “existing in the world” and “shared paradigm” mean almost the same thing. As do the phrases “mutual conventions” and “cultural overlap.” The author is essentially re-saying what was just previously stated, but in a more specific way or with different vocabulary. Not how the ideas from each paragraph come together in the transition.

– The author is careful not to fall into traps

In a paper, it’s easy to use simple transition words— therefore, consequently,  etc. There is nothing wrong with a transition word here and there, but they are very easy to overuse. Most blogs, like  this one ,  this one , and  this one  make using transition words an important part of this process.

And it is, sort of, but we’re teaching you how to do this better than average, remember?

You’re trying to ace this paper, which means you have to do a little extra and move past the things that all students can do into things that exceptional students do.

The elegant transition based on nuanced vocabulary is an exceptional student move. Check it against the rubric: readability/unity, logical/seamless transitions, demonstration of knowledge through word choice, vocab, and logical thought—you got it! Bam!

How Do I Edit My Paper?

After you’ve filled in your outline and placed some of your research into your paper, you will have completed first draft. This is more than most students have when they hand in a paper. The editing portion has five steps: First, you revise to tighten and clarify. Second, you edit for grammar, usage, and mechanics. Third, you give a clean copy to a friend and visit academic support. Fourth, you do your final read through to clean things up. And, fifth, recheck the paper against the rubric.

Remember when you were one of those foolish plebes handing in a paper you wrote hours before it was due and hope for an C? Aren’t you glad you know better now?

You’ve finished your preliminary draft and now you need to get it looking sexy for your prof. There are two ways to do this—revising and editing.

–  Revising comes first.  Revising is when you literally  re-vision  the piece. You make big changes—fix transitions or pieces research alongside organization and structure.

–  Editing comes second.  Editing is making small changes to the piece—correcting the grammar, usage, and mechanics, changing the diction to alter the tone a bit.

These terms aren’t interchangeable, though many people make mistakes and use them interchangeably.

Step 1: Revise

After you have finished that paper, it’s important to go back and make large-scale changes. You aren’t going to change the bedrock of the paper—the thesis and the research to go along with it—but you are going to change things that make the paper flow, like smoothing out the transitions, evening out the structure and order of the paragraphs, and make sure all the ideas link together naturally.

This is also a time to add ideas to the basic premise of each section or to eliminate tangents that you may have followed in the heat of the moment. Add what must be added and cut out anything that doesn’t need to be there.  Some common things to look for:

– Paragraphs have a logical unfolding order

– Rambling, overly long sentences

– All sections echo back to the thesis

– Appropriate, academic tone

– Engaging to reader

– Claims contain evidence and support

– Transitions are clear

– All ideas are fully developed

– Adding section headings

– Introduction and conclusion serve thesis well

Step 2: Edit

Now that the paper is set, your job is to go through and tighten all the sentences, make changes to word choice (remember Word’s synonym function), and correct and errors in grammar or punctuation that you find. Some common things to look for:

Pro reading tip: While you’re re-reading for your edits, it might be good to move through the paper backwards, that way you can disorient yourself a little and catch more mistakes. Start with the last sentence, then read the second to last sentence, and so on until you get to the first sentence.

Step 3: Review

Next, you’re ready to give this paper to other people for them to examine. First, find a friend you trust and share the paper with them. Next, make an appointment with the campus writing center. With both of these reviews, hand over this set of questions for your reviewers to answer:

Your reviewer can answer these directly with by talking it out, or offer suggestions by making notes. Once you have this feedback, make the suggested changes you feel make sense.

Step 4: Last Pass

You’ve done so much work and you’re almost complete! You have one more important step: download the  Natural Reader Pro app . This app will cost you $10 and is well worth the price. Natural Reader reads documents, PDFs, and websites to you in a range of speeds and voices so that you can hear your paper as it is written, not as you wish it was written.

Print out your paper, fire up Natural Reader, and follow along. Mark any spots that don’t feel right and correct any final mistakes.

Step 5. Check the Rubric

At this point, it might seem like it’s over the top with all the excellent work you just finished. But take one moment to look at the rubric one last time. And the assignment sheet, too.

Ask yourself honestly: Did I fulfill these requirements?

Based on all the work you did above, it’s very unlikely that you didn’t nail the assignment. Unless there are any glaring errors, you’re finished!

Print that sucker out and hand it in! You’re done! Get ready to see a bump in your GPA!

We hope you’ve enjoyed this College Choice tutorial on writing the perfect research paper. Stay tuned for more tutorials on all things related to thriving in college.

Online College Resources

Helping you prepare and gain the most out of your educational experience.

IMAGES

  1. Apa College Paper Format : FREE 6+ Sample APA Format Title Page

    research paper for college

  2. 012 Good Research Paper Topics Proposal Essay Examples Pics Com

    research paper for college

  3. Sample Research Paper Assignment

    research paper for college

  4. Professional Research Paper For Undergraduate CS Student from Experts

    research paper for college

  5. How to Write a College Paper

    research paper for college

  6. Addictionary

    research paper for college

VIDEO

  1. class 10 chemistry annual paper

  2. B.A. (Pass Course) 1st Semester Examination

  3. paper College box diy😍😱#shortsvideo #trending #diy #youtubeshorts #viral

  4. Research Paper Writing Course Promo

  5. College Old Paper. 6th sem Desi boy ......Physics. Jammu University

  6. Mini Vlog Part 20 : Khatam Paper College Life End , Zero Degree Gaye #viral #minivlog #trending

COMMENTS

  1. How Do You Make an Acknowledgment in a Research Paper?

    To make an acknowledgement in a research paper, a writer should express thanks by using the full or professional names of the people being thanked and should specify exactly how the people being acknowledged helped.

  2. What Is a Sample Methodology in a Research Paper?

    The sample methodology in a research paper provides the information to show that the research is valid. It must tell what was done to answer the research question and how the research was done.

  3. What Is a Good Title for My Research Paper?

    The title of a research paper should outline the purpose of the research, the methods used and the overall tone of the paper. The title is important because it is the first thing that is read. It is important that the title is focused, but ...

  4. How to Start (and Complete) a Research Paper

    How to Start (and Complete) a Research Paper · Choose a topic. · Read and keep records. · Form a thesis. · Create a mind map or outline. · Read again. · Rethink your

  5. Writing a Research Paper

    Writing a research paper is an essential aspect of academics and should not be avoided on account of one's anxiety. In fact, the process of writing a research

  6. How to Write a Killer Research Paper (Even If You Hate Writing)

    How to Write a Killer Research Paper (Even If You Hate Writing) · 1. Pick a Topic · 2. Create a Clear Thesis Statement · 3. Hit the Books · 4. Write

  7. How to Write a Research Paper

    Table of contents · Understand the assignment · Choose a research paper topic · Conduct preliminary research · Develop a thesis statement · Create a research paper

  8. How to Write a Research Paper: A Step by Step Guide

    Academic research papers are quite different from the essays you write in high school, or even college, and serve a different purpose.

  9. The Ultimate Guide to Writing a Research Paper

    The length of a research paper depends on the topic or assignment. Typically, research papers run around 4,000–6,000 words, but it's common to

  10. Practical Tips on Writing an A+ Research Paper

    Understand the Research Paper Assignment Before You Start · Choose an Engaging Topic for Your Research Paper · Start Searching for Reputable

  11. Top 200+ Ideas For Research Paper Topics 2023

    College Research Paper Topics · The bias in the selection of the college internships and scholarships · The problems of reverse discrimination in post-college

  12. How To Write A Research Paper For College?

    Your research paper should contain all three: an introduction, body and conclusion, along with an abstract, citations and bibliography. This is

  13. Student Research Papers

    Built Environments, College of [0] · Communications, Department of [14] · Comparative History of Ideas Program [20] · Disability Studies [1] · Earth and Space

  14. How To Make A Paper

    Techniques for managing your time while you work on a long term research paper or short term writing assignment; Approaches to generating solid topic ideas that