Table of Contents
Understand the assignment requirements
Before writing any extensive article or essay, it is important to properly understand the assignment and its goals. Your assignment instructions might have been delivered in written form or verbally by your professor. Whatever the medium of instruction is, make sure you understand the basics of the assignment, its main purpose, as well as the audience for the research paper. Check if you know the following things:
- The word limit and deadline for the assignment
- The method or technique that your professor want you to follow for the research paper writing process
- Figure out the purpose of the research paper- analyze, describe, compare, evaluate, or explain
- What kind of sources are required for the research paper
Choose a suitable topic and develop a research question
If the topic is not already defined by your professor, you have to research and find a suitable topic to pose your research question. This takes some browsing through the library and trending topics within your areas of interest. Here are some tips to explore a unique and interesting topic:
- Just skimming through journals or news articles related to your subject will help you brainstorm. Wait for that creative spark to get the first hint regarding what you want to write about
- In order to write a focused and clear research paper, you need to narrow down the broad topic that interests you
- Check if there is enough literature on the topic so that you have enough information before you start writing
When you are done choosing a topic which fits your expertise and interest, you need to pose a research question. For a meaningful research study, you should formulate a narrowed down question that has scope. For example, instead of saying ‘What are the effects of social media?’, a research question should be something like ‘What are the effects of social media on e-commerce?’. This will help you find a relationship between the two variables.
Conduct effective research using reliable sources
To conduct effective and focused research, you will need a focused research question and then a carefully devised research plan. A good research plan includes a timeline, the kind of information you will be needing and where you are going to look for it, keywords to look for and how you will determine the reliability of the sources. Once this process is cleared, you can start searching for relevant literature in your university’s academic database, search engines, online journals, etc. When you search online, use a variety of keywords and phrases and avoid taking information from personal blogs and unreliable social media pages. If you come across a research paper, check its reliability by looking at the author’s credentials and the publishing date. While you are reading through these texts, remember to analyse critically all the information you are taking in and make notes about it. You will need to cite all the important information so remember to note down the page numbers.
Use effective writing strategies and techniques
Effective writing is linked to your thought process which traces back to effective research work. When you have enough reliable evidence to back up your claims, you will find it easier to write.
Remember that academic writing is straightforward and concise so do not confuse it with a long fiction piece that requires your imagination. You have to just express what you see and be objective- so using a third person tone is recommended. Remove all repetitions and irrelevant information from your research paper. Going into the detail of basic jargon is also unnecessary as academics will be reading your paper. Using a formal tone is very important so avoid slang and colloquialism because it confuses readers.
Develop a clear and concise thesis statement
As the thesis statement summarises the crux of your paper, you need to condense it in a sentence or two. State clearly what you are trying to assert about the issue through your research and then refer to one or two pieces of evidence that support your opinion. This will help you synthesise a strong and concise thesis statement.
Organize and structure your research paper effectively
All the different sections of a research paper have a specific purpose to serve so do not forget to properly align the structure of your research paper according to the standard format. Once you have all your ideas, gather them into an organised outline. The structure of a research paper is as follows:
- The title page containing information about the author and their professional affiliation
- Introduction
- Literature review
- Research Methodology
- Results
- Discussion
- Conclusion
- References
Write a strong introduction and conclusion
A strong introduction is important to catch the attention of the reader and give them something meaningful to look forward to in the research paper. After giving an overview of the entire topic, include some prominent prior research on the topic to give the reader some context. This will lead to the gap you found which made the rationale of the paper. Describe the methodology you have used and what the rest of the paper contains. Then close with the thesis statement.
Concluding the research paper is not a reiteration of the results section. If you haven’t included suggestions for future research in the discussion section, you can include it in the conclusion. State how important your findings are for the field.
Use proper citation and referencing to avoid plagiarism
It is important to include citations and references for everything you have quoted and paraphrased to credit the original author and avoid plagiarism. A good academic respects the integrity of the works of others and this is why formatting styles exist- so that there is a uniform system to refer back to the knowledge that you have taken from elsewhere. You must follow the formatting style specified by your professor- MLA, APA, Harvard referencing, etc. If you have trouble finishing your paper on time and do not have enough time for formatting, you can get some help and fix the fallacies.
Proofread and edit your research paper carefully
Proofreading and editing makes sure that your research paper is following the proper format. Removing all the grammar, spelling and punctuation errors is very important before submission so remember to read it multiple times to pick any errors that you might have ignored. If you do not feel confident about your grammar, you should hire a professional proofreader so that your grade does not get affected.
