tips in research writing

Peer Recognized

Make a name in academia

How to Write a Research Paper: the LEAP approach (+cheat sheet)

In this article I will show you how to write a research paper using the four LEAP writing steps. The LEAP academic writing approach is a step-by-step method for turning research results into a published paper .

The LEAP writing approach has been the cornerstone of the 70 + research papers that I have authored and the 3700+ citations these paper have accumulated within 9 years since the completion of my PhD. I hope the LEAP approach will help you just as much as it has helped me to make an real, tangible impact with my research.

What is the LEAP research paper writing approach?

I designed the LEAP writing approach not only for merely writing the papers. My goal with the writing system was to show young scientists how to first think about research results and then how to efficiently write each section of the research paper.

In other words, you will see how to write a research paper by first analyzing the results and then building a logical, persuasive arguments. In this way, instead of being afraid of writing research paper, you will be able to rely on the paper writing process to help you with what is the most demanding task in getting published – thinking.

The four research paper writing steps according to the LEAP approach:

I will show each of these steps in detail. And you will be able to download the LEAP cheat sheet for using with every paper you write.

But before I tell you how to efficiently write a research paper, I want to show you what is the problem with the way scientists typically write a research paper and why the LEAP approach is more efficient.

How scientists typically write a research paper (and why it isn’t efficient)

Writing a research paper can be tough, especially for a young scientist. Your reasoning needs to be persuasive and thorough enough to convince readers of your arguments. The description has to be derived from research evidence, from prior art, and from your own judgment. This is a tough feat to accomplish.

The figure below shows the sequence of the different parts of a typical research paper. Depending on the scientific journal, some sections might be merged or nonexistent, but the general outline of a research paper will remain very similar.

Here is the problem: Most people make the mistake of writing in this same sequence.

While the structure of scientific articles is designed to help the reader follow the research, it does little to help the scientist write the paper. This is because the layout of research articles starts with the broad (introduction) and narrows down to the specifics (results). See in the figure below how the research paper is structured in terms of the breath of information that each section entails.

How to write a research paper according to the LEAP approach

For a scientist, it is much easier to start writing a research paper with laying out the facts in the narrow sections (i.e. results), step back to describe them (i.e. write the discussion), and step back again to explain the broader picture in the introduction.

For example, it might feel intimidating to start writing a research paper by explaining your research’s global significance in the introduction, while it is easy to plot the figures in the results. When plotting the results, there is not much room for wiggle: the results are what they are.

Starting to write a research papers from the results is also more fun because you finally get to see and understand the complete picture of the research that you have worked on.

Most importantly, following the LEAP approach will help you first make sense of the results yourself and then clearly communicate them to the readers. That is because the sequence of writing allows you to slowly understand the meaning of the results and then develop arguments for presenting to your readers.

I have personally been able to write and submit a research article in three short days using this method.

Step 1: Lay Out the Facts

You have worked long hours on a research project that has produced results and are no doubt curious to determine what they exactly mean. There is no better way to do this than by preparing figures, graphics and tables. This is what the first LEAP step is focused on – diving into the results.

How to p repare charts and tables for a research paper

Your first task is to try out different ways of visually demonstrating the research results. In many fields, the central items of a journal paper will be charts that are based on the data generated during research. In other fields, these might be conceptual diagrams, microscopy images, schematics and a number of other types of scientific graphics which should visually communicate the research study and its results to the readers. If you have reasonably small number of data points, data tables might be useful as well.

Tips for preparing charts and tables

• Try multiple chart types but in the finished paper only use the one that best conveys the message you want to present to the readers
• Follow the eight chart design progressions for selecting and refining a data chart for your paper: https://peerrecognized.com/chart-progressions
• Prepare scientific graphics and visualizations for your paper using the scientific graphic design cheat sheet: https://peerrecognized.com/tools-for-creating-scientific-illustrations/

How to describe the results of your research

Now that you have your data charts, graphics and tables laid out in front of you – describe what you see in them. Seek to answer the question: What have I found?  Your statements should progress in a logical sequence and be backed by the visual information. Since, at this point, you are simply explaining what everyone should be able to see for themselves, you can use a declarative tone: The figure X demonstrates that…

Tips for describing the research results :

• Answer the question: “ What have I found? “
• Use declarative tone since you are simply describing observations

Step 2: Explain the results

The core aspect of your research paper is not actually the results; it is the explanation of their meaning. In the second LEAP step, you will do some heavy lifting by guiding the readers through the results using logic backed by previous scientific research.

How to define the Message of a research paper

To define the central message of your research paper, imagine how you would explain your research to a colleague in 20 seconds . If you succeed in effectively communicating your paper’s message, a reader should be able to recount your findings in a similarly concise way even a year after reading it. This clarity will increase the chances that someone uses the knowledge you generated, which in turn raises the likelihood of citations to your research paper. 

Tips for defining the paper’s central message :

• Write the paper’s core message in a single sentence or two bullet points
• Write the core message in the header of the research paper manuscript

How to write the Discussion section of a research paper

In the discussion section you have to demonstrate why your research paper is worthy of publishing. In other words, you must now answer the all-important So what? question . How well you do so will ultimately define the success of your research paper.

Here are three steps to get started with writing the discussion section:

• Write bullet points of the things that convey the central message of the research article (these may evolve into subheadings later on).
• Make a list with the arguments or observations that support each idea.
• Finally, expand on each point to make full sentences and paragraphs.

Tips for writing the discussion section:

• What is the meaning of the results?
• Was the hypothesis confirmed?
• Write bullet points that support the core message
• List logical arguments for each bullet point, group them into sections
• Instead of repeating research timeline, use a presentation sequence that best supports your logic
• Convert arguments to full paragraphs; be confident but do not overhype
• Refer to both supportive and contradicting research papers for maximum credibility

How to write the Conclusions of a research paper

Since some readers might just skim through your research paper and turn directly to the conclusions, it is a good idea to make conclusion a standalone piece. In the first few sentences of the conclusions, briefly summarize the methodology and try to avoid using abbreviations (if you do, explain what they mean).

After this introduction, summarize the findings from the discussion section. Either paragraph style or bullet-point style conclusions can be used. I prefer the bullet-point style because it clearly separates the different conclusions and provides an easy-to-digest overview for the casual browser. It also forces me to be more succinct.

Tips for writing the conclusion section :

• Summarize the key findings, starting with the most important one
• Make conclusions standalone (short summary, avoid abbreviations)
• Add an optional take-home message and suggest future research in the last paragraph

How to refine the Objective of a research paper

The objective is a short, clear statement defining the paper’s research goals. It can be included either in the final paragraph of the introduction, or as a separate subsection after the introduction. Avoid writing long paragraphs with in-depth reasoning, references, and explanation of methodology since these belong in other sections. The paper’s objective can often be written in a single crisp sentence.

Tips for writing the objective section :

• The objective should ask the question that is answered by the central message of the research paper
• The research objective should be clear long before writing a paper. At this point, you are simply refining it to make sure it is addressed in the body of the paper.

How to write the Methodology section of your research paper

When writing the methodology section, aim for a depth of explanation that will allow readers to reproduce the study . This means that if you are using a novel method, you will have to describe it thoroughly. If, on the other hand, you applied a standardized method, or used an approach from another paper, it will be enough to briefly describe it with reference to the detailed original source.

Remember to also detail the research population, mention how you ensured representative sampling, and elaborate on what statistical methods you used to analyze the results.

Tips for writing the methodology section :

• Include enough detail to allow reproducing the research
• Provide references if the methods are known
• Create a methodology flow chart to add clarity
• Describe the research population, sampling methodology, statistical methods for result analysis
• Describe what methodology, test methods, materials, and sample groups were used in the research.

Step 3: Advertize the research

Step 3 of the LEAP writing approach is designed to entice the casual browser into reading your research paper. This advertising can be done with an informative title, an intriguing abstract, as well as a thorough explanation of the underlying need for doing the research within the introduction.

How to write the Introduction of a research paper

The introduction section should leave no doubt in the mind of the reader that what you are doing is important and that this work could push scientific knowledge forward. To do this convincingly, you will need to have a good knowledge of what is state-of-the-art in your field. You also need be able to see the bigger picture in order to demonstrate the potential impacts of your research work.

Think of the introduction as a funnel, going from wide to narrow, as shown in the figure below:

• Start with a brief context to explain what do we already know,
• Follow with the motivation for the research study and explain why should we care about it,
• Explain the research gap you are going to bridge within this research paper,
• Describe the approach you will take to solve the problem.

Tips for writing the introduction section :

• Follow the Context – Motivation – Research gap – Approach funnel for writing the introduction
• Explain how others tried and how you plan to solve the research problem
• Do a thorough literature review before writing the introduction
• Start writing the introduction by using your own words, then add references from the literature

How to prepare the Abstract of a research paper

The abstract acts as your paper’s elevator pitch and is therefore best written only after the main text is finished. In this one short paragraph you must convince someone to take on the time-consuming task of reading your whole research article. So, make the paper easy to read, intriguing, and self-explanatory; avoid jargon and abbreviations.

How to structure the abstract of a research paper:

• The abstract is a single paragraph that follows this structure:
• Problem: why did we research this
• Methodology: typically starts with the words “Here we…” that signal the start of own contribution.
• Results: what we found from the research.
• Conclusions: show why are the findings important

How to compose a research paper Title

The title is the ultimate summary of a research paper. It must therefore entice someone looking for information to click on a link to it and continue reading the article. A title is also used for indexing purposes in scientific databases, so a representative and optimized title will play large role in determining if your research paper appears in search results at all.

Tips for coming up with a research paper title:

• Capture curiosity of potential readers using a clear and descriptive title
• Include broad terms that are often searched
• Add details that uniquely identify the researched subject of your research paper
• Avoid jargon and abbreviations
• Use keywords as title extension (instead of duplicating the words) to increase the chance of appearing in search results

How to prepare Highlights and Graphical Abstract

Highlights are three to five short bullet-point style statements that convey the core findings of the research paper. Notice that the focus is on the findings, not on the process of getting there.

A graphical abstract placed next to the textual abstract visually summarizes the entire research paper in a single, easy-to-follow figure. I show how to create a graphical abstract in my book Research Data Visualization and Scientific Graphics.

Tips for preparing highlights and graphical abstract:

• In highlights show core findings of the research paper (instead of what you did in the study).
• In graphical abstract show take-home message or methodology of the research paper. Learn more about creating a graphical abstract in this article.

Step 4: Prepare for submission

Sometimes it seems that nuclear fusion will stop on the star closest to us (read: the sun will stop to shine) before a submitted manuscript is published in a scientific journal. The publication process routinely takes a long time, and after submitting the manuscript you have very little control over what happens. To increase the chances of a quick publication, you must do your homework before submitting the manuscript. In the fourth LEAP step, you make sure that your research paper is published in the most appropriate journal as quickly and painlessly as possible.

How to select a scientific Journal for your research paper

The best way to find a journal for your research paper is it to review which journals you used while preparing your manuscript. This source listing should provide some assurance that your own research paper, once published, will be among similar articles and, thus, among your field’s trusted sources.

After this initial selection of hand-full of scientific journals, consider the following six parameters for selecting the most appropriate journal for your research paper (read this article to review each step in detail):

• Scope and publishing history
• Ranking and Recognition
• Publishing time
• Acceptance rate
• Content requirements
• Access and Fees

How to select a journal for your research paper:

• Use the six parameters to select the most appropriate scientific journal for your research paper
• Use the following tools for journal selection: https://peerrecognized.com/journals
• Follow the journal’s “Authors guide” formatting requirements

How to Edit you manuscript

No one can write a finished research paper on their first attempt. Before submitting, make sure to take a break from your work for a couple of days, or even weeks. Try not to think about the manuscript during this time. Once it has faded from your memory, it is time to return and edit. The pause will allow you to read the manuscript from a fresh perspective and make edits as necessary.

I have summarized the most useful research paper editing tools in this article.

Tips for editing a research paper:

• Take time away from the research paper to forget about it; then returning to edit,
• Start by editing the content: structure, headings, paragraphs, logic, figures
• Continue by editing the grammar and language; perform a thorough language check using academic writing tools
• Read the entire paper out loud and correct what sounds weird

How to write a compelling Cover Letter for your paper

Begin the cover letter by stating the paper’s title and the type of paper you are submitting (review paper, research paper, short communication). Next, concisely explain why your study was performed, what was done, and what the key findings are. State why the results are important and what impact they might have in the field. Make sure you mention how your approach and findings relate to the scope of the journal in order to show why the article would be of interest to the journal’s readers.

I wrote a separate article that explains what to include in a cover letter here. You can also download a cover letter template from the article.

Tips for writing a cover letter:

• Explain how the findings of your research relate to journal’s scope
• Tell what impact the research results will have
• Show why the research paper will interest the journal’s audience
• Add any legal statements as required in journal’s guide for authors

How to Answer the Reviewers

Reviewers will often ask for new experiments, extended discussion, additional details on the experimental setup, and so forth. In principle, your primary winning tactic will be to agree with the reviewers and follow their suggestions whenever possible. After all, you must earn their blessing in order to get your paper published.

Be sure to answer each review query and stick to the point. In the response to the reviewers document write exactly where in the paper you have made any changes. In the paper itself, highlight the changes using a different color. This way the reviewers are less likely to re-read the entire article and suggest new edits.

In cases when you don’t agree with the reviewers, it makes sense to answer more thoroughly. Reviewers are scientifically minded people and so, with enough logical and supported argument, they will eventually be willing to see things your way.

Tips for answering the reviewers:

• Agree with most review comments, but if you don’t, thoroughly explain why
• Highlight changes in the manuscript
• Do not take the comments personally and cool down before answering

The LEAP research paper writing cheat sheet

Imagine that you are back in grad school and preparing to take an exam on the topic: “How to write a research paper”. As an exemplary student, you would, most naturally, create a cheat sheet summarizing the subject… Well, I did it for you.

This one-page summary of the LEAP research paper writing technique will remind you of the key research paper writing steps. Print it out and stick it to a wall in your office so that you can review it whenever you are writing a new research paper.

Now that we have gone through the four LEAP research paper writing steps, I hope you have a good idea of how to write a research paper. It can be an enjoyable process and once you get the hang of it, the four LEAP writing steps should even help you think about and interpret the research results. This process should enable you to write a well-structured, concise, and compelling research paper.

Have fund with writing your next research paper. I hope it will turn out great!

Learn writing papers that get cited

The LEAP writing approach is a blueprint for writing research papers. But to be efficient and write papers that get cited, you need more than that.

My name is Martins Zaumanis and in my interactive course Research Paper Writing Masterclass I will show you how to  visualize  your research results,  frame a message  that convinces your readers, and write  each section  of the paper. Step-by-step.

And of course – you will learn to respond the infamous  Reviewer No.2.

Hey! My name is Martins Zaumanis and I am a materials scientist in Switzerland ( Google Scholar ). As the first person in my family with a PhD, I have first-hand experience of the challenges starting scientists face in academia. With this blog, I want to help young researchers succeed in academia. I call the blog “Peer Recognized”, because peer recognition is what lifts academic careers and pushes science forward.

Besides this blog, I have written the Peer Recognized book series and created the Peer Recognized Academy offering interactive online courses.

Related articles:

One comment

• Pingback: Research Paper Outline with Key Sentence Skeleton (+Paper Template)

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I want to join the Peer Recognized newsletter!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

Privacy Overview

Copyright © 2024 Martins Zaumanis

Contacts:  [email protected]  

Privacy Policy 

• How to write a research paper

Last updated

11 January 2024

Reviewed by

With proper planning, knowledge, and framework, completing a research paper can be a fulfilling and exciting experience. 

Though it might initially sound slightly intimidating, this guide will help you embrace the challenge. 

By documenting your findings, you can inspire others and make a difference in your field. Here's how you can make your research paper unique and comprehensive.

• What is a research paper?

Research papers allow you to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of a particular topic. These papers are usually lengthier and more detailed than typical essays, requiring deeper insight into the chosen topic.

To write a research paper, you must first choose a topic that interests you and is relevant to the field of study. Once you’ve selected your topic, gathering as many relevant resources as possible, including books, scholarly articles, credible websites, and other academic materials, is essential. You must then read and analyze these sources, summarizing their key points and identifying gaps in the current research.

You can formulate your ideas and opinions once you thoroughly understand the existing research. To get there might involve conducting original research, gathering data, or analyzing existing data sets. It could also involve presenting an original argument or interpretation of the existing research.

Writing a successful research paper involves presenting your findings clearly and engagingly, which might involve using charts, graphs, or other visual aids to present your data and using concise language to explain your findings. You must also ensure your paper adheres to relevant academic formatting guidelines, including proper citations and references.

Overall, writing a research paper requires a significant amount of time, effort, and attention to detail. However, it is also an enriching experience that allows you to delve deeply into a subject that interests you and contribute to the existing body of knowledge in your chosen field.

• How long should a research paper be?

Research papers are deep dives into a topic. Therefore, they tend to be longer pieces of work than essays or opinion pieces. 

However, a suitable length depends on the complexity of the topic and your level of expertise. For instance, are you a first-year college student or an experienced professional? 

Also, remember that the best research papers provide valuable information for the benefit of others. Therefore, the quality of information matters most, not necessarily the length. Being concise is valuable.

Following these best practice steps will help keep your process simple and productive:

1. Gaining a deep understanding of any expectations

Before diving into your intended topic or beginning the research phase, take some time to orient yourself. Suppose there’s a specific topic assigned to you. In that case, it’s essential to deeply understand the question and organize your planning and approach in response. Pay attention to the key requirements and ensure you align your writing accordingly. 

This preparation step entails

Deeply understanding the task or assignment

Being clear about the expected format and length

Familiarizing yourself with the citation and referencing requirements 

Understanding any defined limits for your research contribution

Where applicable, speaking to your professor or research supervisor for further clarification

2. Choose your research topic

Select a research topic that aligns with both your interests and available resources. Ideally, focus on a field where you possess significant experience and analytical skills. In crafting your research paper, it's crucial to go beyond summarizing existing data and contribute fresh insights to the chosen area.

Consider narrowing your focus to a specific aspect of the topic. For example, if exploring the link between technology and mental health, delve into how social media use during the pandemic impacts the well-being of college students. Conducting interviews and surveys with students could provide firsthand data and unique perspectives, adding substantial value to the existing knowledge.

When finalizing your topic, adhere to legal and ethical norms in the relevant area (this ensures the integrity of your research, protects participants' rights, upholds intellectual property standards, and ensures transparency and accountability). Following these principles not only maintains the credibility of your work but also builds trust within your academic or professional community.

For instance, in writing about medical research, consider legal and ethical norms , including patient confidentiality laws and informed consent requirements. Similarly, if analyzing user data on social media platforms, be mindful of data privacy regulations, ensuring compliance with laws governing personal information collection and use. Aligning with legal and ethical standards not only avoids potential issues but also underscores the responsible conduct of your research.

3. Gather preliminary research

Once you’ve landed on your topic, it’s time to explore it further. You’ll want to discover more about available resources and existing research relevant to your assignment at this stage. 

This exploratory phase is vital as you may discover issues with your original idea or realize you have insufficient resources to explore the topic effectively. This key bit of groundwork allows you to redirect your research topic in a different, more feasible, or more relevant direction if necessary. 

Spending ample time at this stage ensures you gather everything you need, learn as much as you can about the topic, and discover gaps where the topic has yet to be sufficiently covered, offering an opportunity to research it further. 

4. Define your research question

To produce a well-structured and focused paper, it is imperative to formulate a clear and precise research question that will guide your work. Your research question must be informed by the existing literature and tailored to the scope and objectives of your project. By refining your focus, you can produce a thoughtful and engaging paper that effectively communicates your ideas to your readers.

5. Write a thesis statement

A thesis statement is a one-to-two-sentence summary of your research paper's main argument or direction. It serves as an overall guide to summarize the overall intent of the research paper for you and anyone wanting to know more about the research.

A strong thesis statement is:

Concise and clear: Explain your case in simple sentences (avoid covering multiple ideas). It might help to think of this section as an elevator pitch.

Specific: Ensure that there is no ambiguity in your statement and that your summary covers the points argued in the paper.

Debatable: A thesis statement puts forward a specific argument––it is not merely a statement but a debatable point that can be analyzed and discussed.

Here are three thesis statement examples from different disciplines:

Psychology thesis example: "We're studying adults aged 25-40 to see if taking short breaks for mindfulness can help with stress. Our goal is to find practical ways to manage anxiety better."

Environmental science thesis example: "This research paper looks into how having more city parks might make the air cleaner and keep people healthier. I want to find out if more green spaces means breathing fewer carcinogens in big cities."

UX research thesis example: "This study focuses on improving mobile banking for older adults using ethnographic research, eye-tracking analysis, and interactive prototyping. We investigate the usefulness of eye-tracking analysis with older individuals, aiming to spark debate and offer fresh perspectives on UX design and digital inclusivity for the aging population."

6. Conduct in-depth research

A research paper doesn’t just include research that you’ve uncovered from other papers and studies but your fresh insights, too. You will seek to become an expert on your topic––understanding the nuances in the current leading theories. You will analyze existing research and add your thinking and discoveries.  It's crucial to conduct well-designed research that is rigorous, robust, and based on reliable sources. Suppose a research paper lacks evidence or is biased. In that case, it won't benefit the academic community or the general public. Therefore, examining the topic thoroughly and furthering its understanding through high-quality research is essential. That usually means conducting new research. Depending on the area under investigation, you may conduct surveys, interviews, diary studies , or observational research to uncover new insights or bolster current claims.

7. Determine supporting evidence

Not every piece of research you’ve discovered will be relevant to your research paper. It’s important to categorize the most meaningful evidence to include alongside your discoveries. It's important to include evidence that doesn't support your claims to avoid exclusion bias and ensure a fair research paper.

8. Write a research paper outline

Before diving in and writing the whole paper, start with an outline. It will help you to see if more research is needed, and it will provide a framework by which to write a more compelling paper. Your supervisor may even request an outline to approve before beginning to write the first draft of the full paper. An outline will include your topic, thesis statement, key headings, short summaries of the research, and your arguments.

9. Write your first draft

Once you feel confident about your outline and sources, it’s time to write your first draft. While penning a long piece of content can be intimidating, if you’ve laid the groundwork, you will have a structure to help you move steadily through each section. To keep up motivation and inspiration, it’s often best to keep the pace quick. Stopping for long periods can interrupt your flow and make jumping back in harder than writing when things are fresh in your mind.

10. Cite your sources correctly

It's always a good practice to give credit where it's due, and the same goes for citing any works that have influenced your paper. Building your arguments on credible references adds value and authenticity to your research. In the formatting guidelines section, you’ll find an overview of different citation styles (MLA, CMOS, or APA), which will help you meet any publishing or academic requirements and strengthen your paper's credibility. It is essential to follow the guidelines provided by your school or the publication you are submitting to ensure the accuracy and relevance of your citations.

11. Ensure your work is original

It is crucial to ensure the originality of your paper, as plagiarism can lead to serious consequences. To avoid plagiarism, you should use proper paraphrasing and quoting techniques. Paraphrasing is rewriting a text in your own words while maintaining the original meaning. Quoting involves directly citing the source. Giving credit to the original author or source is essential whenever you borrow their ideas or words. You can also use plagiarism detection tools such as Scribbr or Grammarly to check the originality of your paper. These tools compare your draft writing to a vast database of online sources. If you find any accidental plagiarism, you should correct it immediately by rephrasing or citing the source.

12. Revise, edit, and proofread

One of the essential qualities of excellent writers is their ability to understand the importance of editing and proofreading. Even though it's tempting to call it a day once you've finished your writing, editing your work can significantly improve its quality. It's natural to overlook the weaker areas when you've just finished writing a paper. Therefore, it's best to take a break of a day or two, or even up to a week, to refresh your mind. This way, you can return to your work with a new perspective. After some breathing room, you can spot any inconsistencies, spelling and grammar errors, typos, or missing citations and correct them. 

• The best research paper format 

The format of your research paper should align with the requirements set forth by your college, school, or target publication. 

There is no one “best” format, per se. Depending on the stated requirements, you may need to include the following elements:

Title page: The title page of a research paper typically includes the title, author's name, and institutional affiliation and may include additional information such as a course name or instructor's name. 

Table of contents: Include a table of contents to make it easy for readers to find specific sections of your paper.

Abstract: The abstract is a summary of the purpose of the paper.

Methods : In this section, describe the research methods used. This may include collecting data , conducting interviews, or doing field research .

Results: Summarize the conclusions you drew from your research in this section.

Discussion: In this section, discuss the implications of your research . Be sure to mention any significant limitations to your approach and suggest areas for further research.

Tables, charts, and illustrations: Use tables, charts, and illustrations to help convey your research findings and make them easier to understand.

Works cited or reference page: Include a works cited or reference page to give credit to the sources that you used to conduct your research.

Bibliography: Provide a list of all the sources you consulted while conducting your research.

Dedication and acknowledgments : Optionally, you may include a dedication and acknowledgments section to thank individuals who helped you with your research.

• General style and formatting guidelines

Formatting your research paper means you can submit it to your college, journal, or other publications in compliance with their criteria.

Research papers tend to follow the American Psychological Association (APA), Modern Language Association (MLA), or Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) guidelines.

Here’s how each style guide is typically used:

Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS):

CMOS is a versatile style guide used for various types of writing. It's known for its flexibility and use in the humanities. CMOS provides guidelines for citations, formatting, and overall writing style. It allows for both footnotes and in-text citations, giving writers options based on their preferences or publication requirements.

American Psychological Association (APA):

APA is common in the social sciences. It’s hailed for its clarity and emphasis on precision. It has specific rules for citing sources, creating references, and formatting papers. APA style uses in-text citations with an accompanying reference list. It's designed to convey information efficiently and is widely used in academic and scientific writing.

Modern Language Association (MLA):

MLA is widely used in the humanities, especially literature and language studies. It emphasizes the author-page format for in-text citations and provides guidelines for creating a "Works Cited" page. MLA is known for its focus on the author's name and the literary works cited. It’s frequently used in disciplines that prioritize literary analysis and critical thinking.

To confirm you're using the latest style guide, check the official website or publisher's site for updates, consult academic resources, and verify the guide's publication date. Online platforms and educational resources may also provide summaries and alerts about any revisions or additions to the style guide.

Citing sources

When working on your research paper, it's important to cite the sources you used properly. Your citation style will guide you through this process. Generally, there are three parts to citing sources in your research paper: 

First, provide a brief citation in the body of your essay. This is also known as a parenthetical or in-text citation. 

Second, include a full citation in the Reference list at the end of your paper. Different types of citations include in-text citations, footnotes, and reference lists. 

In-text citations include the author's surname and the date of the citation. 

Footnotes appear at the bottom of each page of your research paper. They may also be summarized within a reference list at the end of the paper. 

A reference list includes all of the research used within the paper at the end of the document. It should include the author, date, paper title, and publisher listed in the order that aligns with your citation style.

10 research paper writing tips:

Following some best practices is essential to writing a research paper that contributes to your field of study and creates a positive impact.

These tactics will help you structure your argument effectively and ensure your work benefits others:

Clear and precise language:  Ensure your language is unambiguous. Use academic language appropriately, but keep it simple. Also, provide clear takeaways for your audience.

Effective idea separation:  Organize the vast amount of information and sources in your paper with paragraphs and titles. Create easily digestible sections for your readers to navigate through.

Compelling intro:  Craft an engaging introduction that captures your reader's interest. Hook your audience and motivate them to continue reading.

Thorough revision and editing:  Take the time to review and edit your paper comprehensively. Use tools like Grammarly to detect and correct small, overlooked errors.

Thesis precision:  Develop a clear and concise thesis statement that guides your paper. Ensure that your thesis aligns with your research's overall purpose and contribution.

Logical flow of ideas:  Maintain a logical progression throughout the paper. Use transitions effectively to connect different sections and maintain coherence.

Critical evaluation of sources:  Evaluate and critically assess the relevance and reliability of your sources. Ensure that your research is based on credible and up-to-date information.

Thematic consistency:  Maintain a consistent theme throughout the paper. Ensure that all sections contribute cohesively to the overall argument.

Relevant supporting evidence:  Provide concise and relevant evidence to support your arguments. Avoid unnecessary details that may distract from the main points.

Embrace counterarguments:  Acknowledge and address opposing views to strengthen your position. Show that you have considered alternative arguments in your field.

7 research tips 

If you want your paper to not only be well-written but also contribute to the progress of human knowledge, consider these tips to take your paper to the next level:

Selecting the appropriate topic: The topic you select should align with your area of expertise, comply with the requirements of your project, and have sufficient resources for a comprehensive investigation.

Use academic databases: Academic databases such as PubMed, Google Scholar, and JSTOR offer a wealth of research papers that can help you discover everything you need to know about your chosen topic.

Critically evaluate sources: It is important not to accept research findings at face value. Instead, it is crucial to critically analyze the information to avoid jumping to conclusions or overlooking important details. A well-written research paper requires a critical analysis with thorough reasoning to support claims.

Diversify your sources: Expand your research horizons by exploring a variety of sources beyond the standard databases. Utilize books, conference proceedings, and interviews to gather diverse perspectives and enrich your understanding of the topic.

Take detailed notes: Detailed note-taking is crucial during research and can help you form the outline and body of your paper.

Stay up on trends: Keep abreast of the latest developments in your field by regularly checking for recent publications. Subscribe to newsletters, follow relevant journals, and attend conferences to stay informed about emerging trends and advancements. 

Engage in peer review: Seek feedback from peers or mentors to ensure the rigor and validity of your research . Peer review helps identify potential weaknesses in your methodology and strengthens the overall credibility of your findings.

• The real-world impact of research papers

Writing a research paper is more than an academic or business exercise. The experience provides an opportunity to explore a subject in-depth, broaden one's understanding, and arrive at meaningful conclusions. With careful planning, dedication, and hard work, writing a research paper can be a fulfilling and enriching experience contributing to advancing knowledge.

How do I publish my research paper? 

Many academics wish to publish their research papers. While challenging, your paper might get traction if it covers new and well-written information. To publish your research paper, find a target publication, thoroughly read their guidelines, format your paper accordingly, and send it to them per their instructions. You may need to include a cover letter, too. After submission, your paper may be peer-reviewed by experts to assess its legitimacy, quality, originality, and methodology. Following review, you will be informed by the publication whether they have accepted or rejected your paper. 

What is a good opening sentence for a research paper? 

Beginning your research paper with a compelling introduction can ensure readers are interested in going further. A relevant quote, a compelling statistic, or a bold argument can start the paper and hook your reader. Remember, though, that the most important aspect of a research paper is the quality of the information––not necessarily your ability to storytell, so ensure anything you write aligns with your goals.

Research paper vs. a research proposal—what’s the difference?

While some may confuse research papers and proposals, they are different documents. 

A research proposal comes before a research paper. It is a detailed document that outlines an intended area of exploration. It includes the research topic, methodology, timeline, sources, and potential conclusions. Research proposals are often required when seeking approval to conduct research. 

A research paper is a summary of research findings. A research paper follows a structured format to present those findings and construct an argument or conclusion.

Should you be using a customer insights hub?

Do you want to discover previous research faster?

Do you share your research findings with others?

Do you analyze research data?

Start for free today, add your research, and get to key insights faster

Editor’s picks

Last updated: 18 April 2023

Last updated: 27 February 2023

Last updated: 22 August 2024

Last updated: 5 February 2023

Last updated: 16 August 2024

Last updated: 9 March 2023

Last updated: 30 April 2024

Last updated: 12 December 2023

Last updated: 11 March 2024

Last updated: 4 July 2024

Last updated: 6 March 2024

Last updated: 5 March 2024

Last updated: 13 May 2024

Latest articles

Related topics, .css-je19u9{-webkit-align-items:flex-end;-webkit-box-align:flex-end;-ms-flex-align:flex-end;align-items:flex-end;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-direction:row;-ms-flex-direction:row;flex-direction:row;-webkit-box-flex-wrap:wrap;-webkit-flex-wrap:wrap;-ms-flex-wrap:wrap;flex-wrap:wrap;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;row-gap:0;text-align:center;max-width:671px;}@media (max-width: 1079px){.css-je19u9{max-width:400px;}.css-je19u9>span{white-space:pre;}}@media (max-width: 799px){.css-je19u9{max-width:400px;}.css-je19u9>span{white-space:pre;}} decide what to .css-1kiodld{max-height:56px;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;}@media (max-width: 1079px){.css-1kiodld{display:none;}} build next, decide what to build next.

• 10 research paper

Log in or sign up

Get started for free

Fall 2024 Admissions is officially OPEN.  Sign up for the next live information session here .

How to Write a Research Paper

Undergrads often write research papers each semester, causing stress. Yet, it’s simpler than believing if you know how to write a research paper . Divide the task, get tips, a plan, and tools for an outstanding paper. Simplify research, writing, topic choice, and illustration use!

A research paper is an academic document that involves deep, independent research to offer analysis, interpretation, and argument. Unlike academic essays, research papers are lengthier and more detailed, aiming to evaluate your writing and scholarly research abilities. To write one, you must showcase expertise in your subject, interact with diverse sources, and provide a unique perspective to the discussion. 

Research papers are a foundational element of contemporary science and the most efficient means of disseminating knowledge throughout a broad network. Nonetheless, individuals usually encounter research papers during their education; they are frequently employed in college courses to assess a student’s grasp of a specific field or their aptitude for research. 

Given their significance, research papers adopt a research paper format – a formal, unadorned style that eliminates any subjective influence from the writing. Scientists present their discoveries straightforwardly, accompanied by relevant supporting proof, enabling other researchers to integrate the paper into their investigations.

This guide leads you through every steps to write a research paper , from grasping your task to refining your ultimate draft and will teach you how to write a research paper.

Understanding The Research Paper

A research paper is a meticulously structured document that showcases the outcomes of an inquiry, exploration, or scrutiny undertaken on a specific subject. It embodies a formal piece of academic prose that adds novel information, perspectives, or interpretations to a particular domain of study. Typically authored by scholars, researchers, scientists, or students as part of their academic or professional pursuits, these papers adhere to a well-defined format. This research paper format encompasses an introduction, literature review, methodology, results, discussion, and conclusion. 

The introduction provides context and outlines the study’s significance, while the literature review encapsulates existing research and situates the study within the broader academic discourse. The methodology section elucidates the research process, encompassing data collection and analysis techniques. Findings are presented in the results section, often complemented by graphical and statistical representations. Interpretation of findings, implications, and connection to existing knowledge transpire in the discussion section. 

Ultimately, the conclusion encapsulates pivotal discoveries and their wider import.

Research papers wield immense significance in advancing knowledge across diverse disciplines, enabling researchers to disseminate findings, theories, and revelations to a broader audience. Before publication in academic journals or presentations at conferences, these papers undergo a stringent peer review process conducted by domain experts, ensuring their integrity, precision, and worth.

Academic and non-academic research papers diverge across several dimensions. Academic papers are crafted for scholarly circles to expand domain knowledge and theories. They maintain a formal, objective tone and heavily rely on peer-reviewed sources for credibility. In contrast, non-academic papers, employing a more flexible writing style, target a broader audience or specific practical goals. These papers might incorporate persuasive language, anecdotes, and various sources beyond academia. While academic papers rigorously adhere to structured formats and established citation styles, non-academic papers prioritize practicality, adapting their structure and citation methods to suit the intended readership.

The purpose of a research paper revolves around offering fresh insights, knowledge, or interpretations within a specific field. This formal document serves as a conduit for scholars, researchers, scientists, and students to communicate their investigative findings and actively contribute to the ongoing academic discourse.

Research Paper Writing Process – How To Write a Good Research Paper

Selecting a suitable research topic .

Your initial task is to thoroughly review the assignment and carefully absorb the writing prompt’s details. Pay particular attention to technical specifications like length, formatting prerequisites (such as single- vs. double-spacing, indentation, etc.), and the required citation style. Also, pay attention to specifics, including an abstract or a cover page.

Once you’ve a clear understanding of the assignment, the subsequent steps to write a research paper are aligned with the conventional writing process. However, remember that research papers have rules, adding some extra considerations to the process.

When given some assignment freedom, the crucial task of choosing a topic rests on you. Despite its apparent simplicity, this choice sets the foundation for your entire research paper, shaping its direction. The primary factor in picking a research paper topic is ensuring it has enough material to support it. Your chosen topic should provide ample data and complexity for a thorough discussion. However, it’s important to avoid overly broad subjects and focus on specific ones that cover all relevant information without gaps. Yet, approach topic selection more slowly; choosing something that genuinely interests you is still valuable. Aim for a topic that meets both criteria—delivering substantial content while maintaining engagement.

Conducting Thorough Research 

Commence by delving into your research early to refine your topic and shape your thesis statement. Swift engagement with available research aids in dispelling misconceptions and unveils optimal paths and strategies to gather more material. Typically, research sources can be located either online or within libraries. When navigating online sources, exercise caution and opt for reputable outlets such as scientific journals or academic papers. Specific search engines, outlined below in the Tools and Resources section, exclusively enable exploring accredited sources and academic databases.

While pursuing information, it’s essential to differentiate between primary and secondary sources. Primary sources entail firsthand accounts, encompassing published articles or autobiographies, while secondary sources, such as critical reviews or secondary biographies, are more distanced. Skimming sources instead of reading each part proves more efficient during the research phase. If a source shows promise, set it aside for more in-depth reading later. Doing so prevents you from investing excessive time in sources that won’t contribute substantively to your work. You should present a literature review detailing your references and submit them for validation in certain instances. 

Organizing And Structuring The Research Paper

According to the research paper format , an outline for a research paper is a catalogue of essential topics, arguments, and evidence you intend to incorporate. These elements are divided into sections with headings, offering a preliminary overview of the paper’s structure before commencing the writing process. Formulating a structural outline can significantly enhance writing efficiency, warranting an investment of time to establish one.

Start by generating a list encompassing crucial categories and subtopics—a preliminary outline. Reflect on the amassed information while gathering supporting evidence, pondering the most effective means of segregation and categorization.

Once a discussion list is compiled, deliberate on the optimal information presentation sequence and identify related subtopics that should be placed adjacent. Consider if any subtopic loses coherence when presented out of order. Adopting a chronological arrangement can be suitable if the information follows a straightforward trajectory.

Given the potential complexity of research papers, consider breaking down the outline into paragraphs. This aids in maintaining organization when dealing with copious information and provides better control over the paper’s progression. Rectifying structural issues during the outline phase is preferable to addressing them after writing.

Remember to incorporate supporting evidence within the outline. Since there’s likely a substantial amount to include, outlining helps prevent overlooking crucial elements.

Writing The Introduction

According to the research paper format , the introduction of a research paper must address three fundamental inquiries: What, why, and how? Upon completing the introduction, the reader should clearly understand the paper’s subject matter, its relevance, and the approach you’ll use to construct your arguments.

What? Offer precise details regarding the paper’s topic, provide context, and elucidate essential terminology or concepts.

Why? This constitutes the most crucial yet challenging aspect of the introduction. Endeavour to furnish concise responses to the subsequent queries: What novel information or insights do you present? Which significant matters does your essay assist in defining or resolving?

How? To provide the reader with a preview of the paper’s forthcoming content, the introduction should incorporate a “guide” outlining the upcoming discussions. This entails briefly outlining the paper’s principal components in chronological sequence.

Developing The Main Body 

One of the primary challenges that many writers grapple with is effectively organizing the wealth of information they wish to present in their papers. This is precisely why an outline can be an invaluable tool. However, it’s essential to recognize that while an outline provides a roadmap, the writing process allows flexibility in determining the order in which information and arguments are introduced.

Maintaining cohesiveness throughout the paper involves anchoring your writing to the thesis statement and topic sentences. Here’s how to ensure a well-structured paper:

• Alignment with Thesis Statement: Regularly assess whether your topic sentences correspond with the central thesis statement. This ensures that your arguments remain on track and directly contribute to the overarching message you intend to convey.
• Consistency and Logical Flow: Review your topic sentences concerning one another. Do they follow a logical order that guides the reader through a coherent narrative? Ensuring a seamless flow from one topic to another helps maintain engagement and comprehension.
• Supporting Sentence Alignment: Each sentence within a paragraph should align with the topic sentence of that paragraph. This alignment reinforces the central idea, preventing tangential or disjointed discussions.

Additionally, identify paragraphs that cover similar content. While some overlap might be inevitable, it’s essential to approach shared topics from different angles, offering fresh insights and perspectives. Creating these nuanced differences helps present a well-rounded exploration of the subject matter.

An often-overlooked aspect of effective organization is the art of crafting smooth transitions. Transitions between sentences, paragraphs, and larger sections are the glue that holds your paper together. They guide the reader through the progression of ideas, enhancing clarity and creating a seamless reading experience.

Ultimately, while the struggle to organize information is accurate, employing these strategies not only aids in addressing the challenge but also contributes to the overall quality and impact of your writing.

Crafting A Strong Conclusion 

The purpose of the research paper’s conclusion is to guide your reader out of the realm of the paper’s argument, leaving them with a sense of closure.

Trace the paper’s trajectory, underscoring how all the elements converge to validate your thesis statement. Impart a sense of completion by ensuring the reader comprehends the resolution of the issues introduced in the paper’s introduction.

In addition, you can explore the broader implications of your argument, outline your paper’s contributions to future students studying the subject, and propose questions that your argument raises—ones that might not be addressed in the paper itself. However, it’s important to avoid:

• Introducing new arguments or crucial information that wasn’t covered earlier.
• Extending the conclusion unnecessarily.
• Employing common phrases that signal the decision (e.g., “In conclusion”).

By adhering to these guidelines, your conclusion can serve as a fitting and impactful conclusion to your research paper, leaving a lasting impression on your readers.

Refining The Research Paper

• Editing And Proofreading 

Eliminate unnecessary verbiage and extraneous content. In tandem with the comprehensive structure of your paper, focus on individual words, ensuring your language is robust. Verify the utilization of active voice rather than passive voice, and confirm that your word selection is precise and tangible.

The passive voice, exemplified by phrases like “I opened the door,” tends to convey hesitation and verbosity. In contrast, the active voice, as in “I opened the door,” imparts strength and brevity.

Each word employed in your paper should serve a distinct purpose. Strive to eschew the inclusion of surplus words solely to occupy space or exhibit sophistication.

For instance, the statement “The author uses pathos to appeal to readers’ emotions” is superior to the alternative “The author utilizes pathos to appeal to the emotional core of those who read the passage.”

Engage in thorough proofreading to rectify spelling, grammatical, and formatting inconsistencies. Once you’ve refined the structure and content of your paper, address any typographical and grammatical inaccuracies. Taking a break from your paper before proofreading can offer a new perspective.

Enhance error detection by reading your essay aloud. This not only aids in identifying mistakes but also assists in evaluating the flow. If you encounter sections that seem awkward during this reading, consider making necessary adjustments to enhance the overall coherence.

• Formatting And Referencing 

Citations are pivotal in distinguishing research papers from informal nonfiction pieces like personal essays. They serve the dual purpose of substantiating your data and establishing a connection between your research paper and the broader scientific community. Given their significance, citations are subject to precise formatting regulations; however, the challenge lies in the existence of multiple sets of rules.

It’s crucial to consult the assignment’s instructions to determine the required formatting style. Generally, academic research papers adhere to either of two formatting styles for source citations:

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

Moreover, aside from MLA and APA styles, occasional demands might call for adherence to CMOS (The Chicago Manual of Style), AMA (American Medical Association), and IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) formats.

Initially, citations might appear intricate due to their numerous regulations and specific details. However, once you become adept at them, citing sources accurately becomes almost second nature. It’s important to note that each formatting style provides detailed guidelines for citing various sources, including photographs, websites, speeches, and YouTube videos.

Tips For Writing An Effective Research Paper 

By following these research paper writing tips , you’ll be well-equipped to create a well-structured, well-researched, and impactful research paper:

• Select a Clear and Manageable Topic: Choose a topic that is specific and focused enough to be thoroughly explored within the scope of your paper.
• Conduct In-Depth Research: Gather information from reputable sources such as academic journals, books, and credible websites. Take thorough notes to keep track of your sources.
• Create a Strong Thesis Statement: Craft a clear and concise thesis statement that outlines the main argument or purpose of your paper.
• Develop a Well-Structured Outline: Organize your ideas into a logical order by creating an outline that outlines the main sections and their supporting points.
• Compose a Captivating Introduction: Hook the reader with an engaging introduction that provides background information and introduces the thesis statement.
• Provide Clear and Relevant Evidence: Support your arguments with reliable and relevant evidence, such as statistics, examples, and expert opinions.
• Maintain Consistent Tone and Style: Keep a consistent tone and writing style throughout the paper, adhering to the formatting guidelines of your chosen citation style.
• Craft Coherent Paragraphs: Each paragraph should focus on a single idea or point, and transitions should smoothly guide the reader from one idea to the next.
• Use Active Voice: Write in the active voice to make your writing more direct and engaging.
• Revise and Edit Thoroughly: Proofread your paper for grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, and sentence structure. Revise for clarity and coherence.
• Seek Peer Feedback: Have a peer or instructor review your paper for feedback and suggestions.
• Cite Sources Properly: Accurately cite all sources using the required citation style (e.g., MLA, APA) to avoid plagiarism and give credit to original authors.
• Be Concise and Avoid Redundancy: Strive for clarity by eliminating unnecessary words and redundancies.
• Conclude Effectively: Summarize your main points and restate your thesis in the conclusion. Provide a sense of closure without introducing new ideas.
• Stay Organized: Keep track of your sources, notes, and drafts to ensure a structured and organized approach to the writing process.
• Proofread with Fresh Eyes: Take a break before final proofreading to review your paper with a fresh perspective, helping you catch any overlooked errors.
• Edit for Clarity: Ensure that your ideas are conveyed clearly and that your arguments are easy to follow.
• Ask for Feedback: Don’t hesitate to ask for feedback from peers, instructors, or writing centers to improve your paper further.

In conclusion, we’ve explored the essential steps to write a research paper . From selecting a focused topic to mastering the intricacies of citations, we’ve navigated through the key elements of this process.

It’s vital to recognize that adhering to the research paper writing tips is not merely a suggestion, but a roadmap to success. Each stage contributes to the overall quality and impact of your paper. By meticulously following these steps, you ensure a robust foundation for your research, bolster your arguments, and present your findings with clarity and conviction.

As you embark on your own research paper journey, I urge you to put into practice the techniques and insights shared in this guide. Don’t shy away from investing time in organization, thorough research, and precise writing. Embrace the challenge, for it’s through this process that your ideas take shape and your voice is heard within the academic discourse.

Remember, every exceptional research paper begins with a single step. And with each step you take, your ability to articulate complex ideas and contribute to your field of study grows. So, go ahead – apply these tips, refine your skills, and witness your research papers evolve into compelling narratives that inspire, inform, and captivate.

In the grand tapestry of academia, your research paper becomes a thread of insight, woven into the larger narrative of human knowledge. By embracing the writing process and nurturing your unique perspective, you become an integral part of this ever-expanding tapestry.

Happy writing, and may your research papers shine brightly, leaving a lasting mark on both your readers and the world of scholarship.

Related Posts

CCIR Academy Featured by Nature, The World’s Most Prestigious Academic Publication

Our Exceptional Alumni: College Admission Results 2020-2023

High School Student Researcher Arnav’s Paper on Modeling of PEDOT Electrodes for Skin-based Technologies Wins Best Paper Award at IEEE ECBIOS 2024 Conference

What Is The National Merit Scholarship Program

How To Write Enduring Issues Essay

High School Student Researcher Daniel’s Paper on Examining NATO Enlargement and Nuclear Proliferation Accepted at the Midwest Political Science Association (MPSA) in Chicago

Download Programme Prospectus

• Programme structure
• Research course catalogue
• Professor biographies
• Tuition and Scholarship

Start Your Application

Cambridge Future Scholar (Fall 24)

Admission is OPEN.

Early Admissions Deadline: 1 Oct

Regular Admissions Deadline: 15 Oct

Rolling Admissions.

1-on-1 Research Mentorship Admission is open all year.

• Ask LitCharts AI
• Discussion Question Generator
• Essay Prompt Generator
• Quiz Question Generator

• Literature Guides
• Poetry Guides
• Shakespeare Translations
• Literary Terms

How to Write a Research Paper

Use the links below to jump directly to any section of this guide:

Research Paper Fundamentals

How to choose a topic or question, how to create a working hypothesis or thesis, common research paper methodologies, how to gather and organize evidence , how to write an outline for your research paper, how to write a rough draft, how to revise your draft, how to produce a final draft, resources for teachers .

It is not fair to say that no one writes anymore. Just about everyone writes text messages, brief emails, or social media posts every single day. Yet, most people don't have a lot of practice with the formal, organized writing required for a good academic research paper. This guide contains links to a variety of resources that can help demystify the process. Some of these resources are intended for teachers; they contain exercises, activities, and teaching strategies. Other resources are intended for direct use by students who are struggling to write papers, or are looking for tips to make the process go more smoothly.

The resources in this section are designed to help students understand the different types of research papers, the general research process, and how to manage their time. Below, you'll find links from university writing centers, the trusted Purdue Online Writing Lab, and more.

What is an Academic Research Paper?

"Genre and the Research Paper" (Purdue OWL)

There are different types of research papers. Different types of scholarly questions will lend themselves to one format or another. This is a brief introduction to the two main genres of research paper: analytic and argumentative. 

"7 Most Popular Types of Research Papers" (Personal-writer.com)

This resource discusses formats that high school students commonly encounter, such as the compare and contrast essay and the definitional essay. Please note that the inclusion of this link is not an endorsement of this company's paid service.

How to Prepare and Plan Out Writing a Research Paper

Teachers can give their students a step-by-step guide like these to help them understand the different steps of the research paper process. These guides can be combined with the time management tools in the next subsection to help students come up with customized calendars for completing their papers.

"Ten Steps for Writing Research Papers" (American University)  

This resource from American University is a comprehensive guide to the research paper writing process, and includes examples of proper research questions and thesis topics.

"Steps in Writing a Research Paper" (SUNY Empire State College)

This guide breaks the research paper process into 11 steps. Each "step" links to a separate page, which describes the work entailed in completing it.

How to Manage Time Effectively

The links below will help students determine how much time is necessary to complete a paper. If your sources are not available online or at your local library, you'll need to leave extra time for the Interlibrary Loan process. Remember that, even if you do not need to consult secondary sources, you'll still need to leave yourself ample time to organize your thoughts.

"Research Paper Planner: Timeline" (Baylor University)

This interactive resource from Baylor University creates a suggested writing schedule based on how much time a student has to work on the assignment.

"Research Paper Planner" (UCLA)

UCLA's library offers this step-by-step guide to the research paper writing process, which also includes a suggested planning calendar.

There's a reason teachers spend a long time talking about choosing a good topic. Without a good topic and a well-formulated research question, it is almost impossible to write a clear and organized paper. The resources below will help you generate ideas and formulate precise questions.

"How to Select a Research Topic" (Univ. of Michigan-Flint)

This resource is designed for college students who are struggling to come up with an appropriate topic. A student who uses this resource and still feels unsure about his or her topic should consult the course instructor for further personalized assistance.

"25 Interesting Research Paper Topics to Get You Started" (Kibin)

This resource, which is probably most appropriate for high school students, provides a list of specific topics to help get students started. It is broken into subsections, such as "paper topics on local issues."

"Writing a Good Research Question" (Grand Canyon University)

This introduction to research questions includes some embedded videos, as well as links to scholarly articles on research questions. This resource would be most appropriate for teachers who are planning lessons on research paper fundamentals.

"How to Write a Research Question the Right Way" (Kibin)

This student-focused resource provides more detail on writing research questions. The language is accessible, and there are embedded videos and examples of good and bad questions.

It is important to have a rough hypothesis or thesis in mind at the beginning of the research process. People who have a sense of what they want to say will have an easier time sorting through scholarly sources and other information. The key, of course, is not to become too wedded to the draft hypothesis or thesis. Just about every working thesis gets changed during the research process.

CrashCourse Video: "Sociology Research Methods" (YouTube)

Although this video is tailored to sociology students, it is applicable to students in a variety of social science disciplines. This video does a good job demonstrating the connection between the brainstorming that goes into selecting a research question and the formulation of a working hypothesis.

"How to Write a Thesis Statement for an Analytical Essay" (YouTube)

Students writing analytical essays will not develop the same type of working hypothesis as students who are writing research papers in other disciplines. For these students, developing the working thesis may happen as a part of the rough draft (see the relevant section below). 

"Research Hypothesis" (Oakland Univ.)

This resource provides some examples of hypotheses in social science disciplines like Political Science and Criminal Justice. These sample hypotheses may also be useful for students in other soft social sciences and humanities disciplines like History.

When grading a research paper, instructors look for a consistent methodology. This section will help you understand different methodological approaches used in research papers. Students will get the most out of these resources if they use them to help prepare for conversations with teachers or discussions in class.

"Types of Research Designs" (USC)

A "research design," used for complex papers, is related to the paper's method. This resource contains introductions to a variety of popular research designs in the social sciences. Although it is not the most intuitive site to read, the information here is very valuable. 

"Major Research Methods" (YouTube)

Although this video is a bit on the dry side, it provides a comprehensive overview of the major research methodologies in a format that might be more accessible to students who have struggled with textbooks or other written resources.

"Humanities Research Strategies" (USC)

This is a portal where students can learn about four methodological approaches for humanities papers: Historical Methodologies, Textual Criticism, Conceptual Analysis, and the Synoptic method.

"Selected Major Social Science Research Methods: Overview" (National Academies Press)

This appendix from the book  Using Science as Evidence in Public Policy , printed by National Academies Press, introduces some methods used in social science papers.

"Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper: 6. The Methodology" (USC)

This resource from the University of Southern California's library contains tips for writing a methodology section in a research paper.

How to Determine the Best Methodology for You

Anyone who is new to writing research papers should be sure to select a method in consultation with their instructor. These resources can be used to help prepare for that discussion. They may also be used on their own by more advanced students.

"Choosing Appropriate Research Methodologies" (Palgrave Study Skills)

This friendly and approachable resource from Palgrave Macmillan can be used by students who are just starting to think about appropriate methodologies.

"How to Choose Your Research Methods" (NFER (UK))

This is another approachable resource students can use to help narrow down the most appropriate methods for their research projects.

The resources in this section introduce the process of gathering scholarly sources and collecting evidence. You'll find a range of material here, from introductory guides to advanced explications best suited to college students. Please consult the LitCharts  How to Do Academic Research guide for a more comprehensive list of resources devoted to finding scholarly literature.

Google Scholar

Students who have access to library websites with detailed research guides should start there, but people who do not have access to those resources can begin their search for secondary literature here.

"Gathering Appropriate Information" (Texas Gateway)

This resource from the Texas Gateway for online resources introduces students to the research process, and contains interactive exercises. The level of complexity is suitable for middle school, high school, and introductory college classrooms.

"An Overview of Quantitative and Qualitative Data Collection Methods" (NSF)

This PDF from the National Science Foundation goes into detail about best practices and pitfalls in data collection across multiple types of methodologies.

"Social Science Methods for Data Collection and Analysis" (Swiss FIT)

This resource is appropriate for advanced undergraduates or teachers looking to create lessons on research design and data collection. It covers techniques for gathering data via interviews, observations, and other methods.

"Collecting Data by In-depth Interviewing" (Leeds Univ.)

This resource contains enough information about conducting interviews to make it useful for teachers who want to create a lesson plan, but is also accessible enough for college juniors or seniors to make use of it on their own.

There is no "one size fits all" outlining technique. Some students might devote all their energy and attention to the outline in order to avoid the paper. Other students may benefit from being made to sit down and organize their thoughts into a lengthy sentence outline. The resources in this section include strategies and templates for multiple types of outlines. 

"Topic vs. Sentence Outlines" (UC Berkeley)

This resource introduces two basic approaches to outlining: the shorter topic-based approach, and the longer, more detailed sentence-based approach. This resource also contains videos on how to develop paper paragraphs from the sentence-based outline.

"Types of Outlines and Samples" (Purdue OWL)

The Purdue Online Writing Lab's guide is a slightly less detailed discussion of different types of outlines. It contains several sample outlines.

"Writing An Outline" (Austin C.C.)

This resource from a community college contains sample outlines from an American history class that students can use as models.

"How to Structure an Outline for a College Paper" (YouTube)

This brief (sub-2 minute) video from the ExpertVillage YouTube channel provides a model of outline writing for students who are struggling with the idea.

"Outlining" (Harvard)

This is a good resource to consult after completing a draft outline. It offers suggestions for making sure your outline avoids things like unnecessary repetition.

As with outlines, rough drafts can take on many different forms. These resources introduce teachers and students to the various approaches to writing a rough draft. This section also includes resources that will help you cite your sources appropriately according to the MLA, Chicago, and APA style manuals.

"Creating a Rough Draft for a Research Paper" (Univ. of Minnesota)

This resource is useful for teachers in particular, as it provides some suggested exercises to help students with writing a basic rough draft. 

Rough Draft Assignment (Duke of Definition)

This sample assignment, with a brief list of tips, was developed by a high school teacher who runs a very successful and well-reviewed page of educational resources.

"Creating the First Draft of Your Research Paper" (Concordia Univ.)

This resource will be helpful for perfectionists or procrastinators, as it opens by discussing the problem of avoiding writing. It also provides a short list of suggestions meant to get students writing.

Using Proper Citations

There is no such thing as a rough draft of a scholarly citation. These links to the three major citation guides will ensure that your citations follow the correct format. Please consult the LitCharts How to Cite Your Sources guide for more resources.

Chicago Manual of Style Citation Guide

Some call  The Chicago Manual of Style , which was first published in 1906, "the editors' Bible." The manual is now in its 17th edition, and is popular in the social sciences, historical journals, and some other fields in the humanities.

APA Citation Guide

According to the American Psychological Association, this guide was developed to aid reading comprehension, clarity of communication, and to reduce bias in language in the social and behavioral sciences. Its first full edition was published in 1952, and it is now in its sixth edition.

MLA Citation Guide

The Modern Language Association style is used most commonly within the liberal arts and humanities. The  MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing  was first published in 1985 and (as of 2008) is in its third edition.

Any professional scholar will tell you that the best research papers are made in the revision stage. No matter how strong your research question or working thesis, it is not possible to write a truly outstanding paper without devoting energy to revision. These resources provide examples of revision exercises for the classroom, as well as tips for students working independently.

"The Art of Revision" (Univ. of Arizona)

This resource provides a wealth of information and suggestions for both students and teachers. There is a list of suggested exercises that teachers might use in class, along with a revision checklist that is useful for teachers and students alike.

"Script for Workshop on Revision" (Vanderbilt University)

Vanderbilt's guide for leading a 50-minute revision workshop can serve as a model for teachers who wish to guide students through the revision process during classtime. 

"Revising Your Paper" (Univ. of Washington)

This detailed handout was designed for students who are beginning the revision process. It discusses different approaches and methods for revision, and also includes a detailed list of things students should look for while they revise.

"Revising Drafts" (UNC Writing Center)

This resource is designed for students and suggests things to look for during the revision process. It provides steps for the process and has a FAQ for students who have questions about why it is important to revise.

Conferencing with Writing Tutors and Instructors

No writer is so good that he or she can't benefit from meeting with instructors or peer tutors. These resources from university writing, learning, and communication centers provide suggestions for how to get the most out of these one-on-one meetings.

"Getting Feedback" (UNC Writing Center)

This very helpful resource talks about how to ask for feedback during the entire writing process. It contains possible questions that students might ask when developing an outline, during the revision process, and after the final draft has been graded.

"Prepare for Your Tutoring Session" (Otis College of Art and Design)

This guide from a university's student learning center contains a lot of helpful tips for getting the most out of working with a writing tutor.

"The Importance of Asking Your Professor" (Univ. of Waterloo)

This article from the university's Writing and Communication Centre's blog contains some suggestions for how and when to get help from professors and Teaching Assistants.

Once you've revised your first draft, you're well on your way to handing in a polished paper. These resources—each of them produced by writing professionals at colleges and universities—outline the steps required in order to produce a final draft. You'll find proofreading tips and checklists in text and video form.

"Developing a Final Draft of a Research Paper" (Univ. of Minnesota)

While this resource contains suggestions for revision, it also features a couple of helpful checklists for the last stages of completing a final draft.

Basic Final Draft Tips and Checklist (Univ. of Maryland-University College)

This short and accessible resource, part of UMUC's very thorough online guide to writing and research, contains a very basic checklist for students who are getting ready to turn in their final drafts.

Final Draft Checklist (Everett C.C.)

This is another accessible final draft checklist, appropriate for both high school and college students. It suggests reading your essay aloud at least once.

"How to Proofread Your Final Draft" (YouTube)

This video (approximately 5 minutes), produced by Eastern Washington University, gives students tips on proofreading final drafts.

"Proofreading Tips" (Georgia Southern-Armstrong)

This guide will help students learn how to spot common errors in their papers. It suggests focusing on content and editing for grammar and mechanics.

This final set of resources is intended specifically for high school and college instructors. It provides links to unit plans and classroom exercises that can help improve students' research and writing skills. You'll find resources that give an overview of the process, along with activities that focus on how to begin and how to carry out research. 

"Research Paper Complete Resources Pack" (Teachers Pay Teachers)

This packet of assignments, rubrics, and other resources is designed for high school students. The resources in this packet are aligned to Common Core standards.

"Research Paper—Complete Unit" (Teachers Pay Teachers)

This packet of assignments, notes, PowerPoints, and other resources has a 4/4 rating with over 700 ratings. It is designed for high school teachers, but might also be useful to college instructors who work with freshmen.

"Teaching Students to Write Good Papers" (Yale)

This resource from Yale's Center for Teaching and Learning is designed for college instructors, and it includes links to appropriate activities and exercises.

"Research Paper Writing: An Overview" (CUNY Brooklyn)

CUNY Brooklyn offers this complete lesson plan for introducing students to research papers. It includes an accompanying set of PowerPoint slides.

"Lesson Plan: How to Begin Writing a Research Paper" (San Jose State Univ.)

This lesson plan is designed for students in the health sciences, so teachers will have to modify it for their own needs. It includes a breakdown of the brainstorming, topic selection, and research question process. 

"Quantitative Techniques for Social Science Research" (Univ. of Pittsburgh)

This is a set of PowerPoint slides that can be used to introduce students to a variety of quantitative methods used in the social sciences.

• PDFs for all 136 Lit Terms we cover
• Downloads of 1991 LitCharts Lit Guides
• Teacher Editions for every Lit Guide
• Explanations and citation info for 42,043 quotes across 1991 books
• Downloadable (PDF) line-by-line translations of every Shakespeare play

Need something? Request a new guide .

How can we improve? Share feedback .

LitCharts is hiring!

• Quizzes, saving guides, requests, plus so much more.

Tips on Writing a Good Research Paper

By Dr. Robert Gordon, CPC   |  05/16/2023

Writing an academic research paper can often feel overwhelming, especially for new college students. Academic writing often requires in depth research using credible sources, formal sentence structure, a works cited section, and sometimes a literature review and other academic requirements.

What are the best ways for students to approach writing academic research papers?

While writing a paper can be a time-consuming process, selecting a good thesis statement and employing the right research strategies may help students efficiently gather information, maximize their time, and produce a high-quality research paper.

Based on my experience, here are several tips to help with writing a high-quality research paper.

Understand the Assignment

The first step, before you conduct any research, is to review the assignment to make sure you thoroughly understand the requirements. If you have any questions about the assignment, contact your professor immediately for clarification. You do not want to start down the path of researching and writing only to discover you're headed in the wrong direction.

Next, identify the important components of the assignment. This task includes elements like paper length (number of pages or word count) and formatting requirements (font style and size, spacing, and margin dimensions).

Also, make sure you fully understand how to properly cite sources (don't lose points for mistakes in citation formatting!). Lastly, make sure you know the deadline date and the correct process for submitting your paper.

Armed with all this information, start planning how you're going to tackle this assignment. Time management is often a challenge for students, especially those who are just starting on their academic journey or for students who are trying to balance work and family life.

Use a calendar to estimate how long you're going to need to complete each of the steps (some steps may take a few hours) and be sure to build in some wiggle room in case something comes up that interferes with your plans. Giving yourself these mini-deadlines can help you make sure you're on schedule towards completing a high-quality research paper by the deadline.

Develop a Clear Research Question

The second task that you must complete before writing is to develop a clear research paper topic. Before starting your research, have a precisely defined idea of what topic you want to investigate.

Having a clear direction for your paper helps you focus your efforts and ensures you are gathering relevant information. It is best to write down your research topic as a question, such as:

• “Is renewable energy important to the future of the environment?”
• “What are some effective strategies for entrepreneurs?”
• “What are important skills for people in a management role?”

Writing down your research question and reviewing it will help you with the next step, which is to develop a thesis statement. You may have multiple research questions, which can also be incorporated into your thesis statement.

Mold Your Research Question into a Strong Thesis Statement

The third task to do when you write a research paper is to translate your research question into a thesis statement.

A thesis statement is a topic sentence that presents the main point or argument of an essay or research paper. It is typically located at the end of the introduction paragraph and provides a clear, concise summary of your paper's main idea.

A strong thesis statement that summarizes your central idea guides the entire paper and helps your reader understand the purpose and direction of your research paper. Using a research question (or questions) as a starting point will help you develop a strong thesis statement, such as:

·       "The use of renewable energy sources is necessary to combat climate change and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels."

·       "The building of a strong team dedicated to the vision of the entrepreneur is essential for success."

·       "Leadership is an important skill for anyone in a management role."

Use Peer-Reviewed, Academic Sources

Fourth, find and use peer-reviewed secondary sources as you conduct research and find answers to your questions. Unless you are going to do original research for a master's or doctoral thesis, most academic papers use secondary sources from other researchers. Secondary sources are interpretations and analyses of primary research sources, such as books, articles, and documentaries.

Make sure to document all of the sources that you use in a research paper. Keeping track of these sources will make your research easier. Collecting and tracking your sources during the research phase can also help when you're putting together bibliographical information for citing sources.

Academic papers require students to ensure their research sources are properly cited, typically in a reference section or bibliography page at the end of the paper. The citation format depends on the university's required citation style (such as American Psychology Association [APA], Modern Language Association [MLA], Chicago and so on).

In addition, many writing software programs have a references section that can maintain and organize your references and make citations easier. These programs can seamlessly change from one format to another without the need for you to re-enter your references to help ensure sources are properly cited.

Efficiently Use Databases And Search Engines

Fifth, utilize databases and search engines to conduct your research. Academic databases – such as ProQuest, located in the Richard G. Trefry Library at the University – can help you find relevant published articles and other documents for your paper.

For your preliminary research, the University also has many research tools, such as Research@APUS, that can serve as useful guides. Remember that there are videos and documents in the library to help you become better at conducting your own research, so regardless of which learning style you have, resources in the library can help you find what you need.

You can also use a search engine such as Google Scholar to supplement your research. Google Scholar is very helpful if you are researching a newer topic. This type of search engine might bring up fewer academic materials, but they are still research-based.

Remember to be specific in what you are looking for when you use a search engine or an academic database. Ideally, you should use academic databases whenever possible because those sources will likely be more credible and research-based.

Students should only use non-academic sites (like Wikipedia) for research during the beginning phases. For instance, these sites could be useful when you’re seeking background information or wanting to understand the big picture about a broad topic. These sites are not scholarly (although they sometimes include academic resources in their citations) so they cannot be used in your research paper when citing your sources.

Keep Search Terms Specific and Narrow

Sixth, make sure to use specific, narrow search terms when you are searching for publications to use in your paper. Also, you can narrow your search results by using words such as “and” and “or” between two different words or put quotation marks around a search term. This way, a search engine or database is more likely to provide an exact match to the information you’re seeking for your paper.

Narrowing your search terms helps you find the most relevant articles for your paper, rather than sifting through many articles because you used broad search terms that yielded too many results.

For example, if you do a search for management, you will likely get a ton of articles. However, if you search “business,” “management” and “best practices” but not “project management,” that will yield a much smaller number of articles that will be more focused on your paper’s main topic.

Use an Outline or Mind Map to Organize Your Information

The seventh task before starting the writing process is to organize the information that you have decided to use. Once you have gathered your paper’s information, organize it in a way that makes sense to you.

You may want to use an outline, a mind map or another tool to help you structure your paper. I also copy down key points or quotes that I want to use and keep track of where they came from, so that it is easy to use them when I’m writing a paper.

Writing Your Research Paper

At this stage, you've selected a particular topic, formed your thesis statements, conducted preliminary research from reliable sources, created a research paper outline. Now, it's time to start writing and create a first draft.

Following your research paper outline, use your topic sentence as a guide for body paragraphs. The writing process can differ, based on your own preferences. Some students group information together in specific sections – like a jigsaw puzzle – before they start the writing process.

Other researchers prefer to just start writing to get their own ideas on paper, and then go back to each section to add in relevant research and sources. The more research papers you write, the more comfortable you'll get with the writing process and the style of writing a scholarly academic research paper.

Editing, Reviewing, and Rewriting Your Research Paper

After you've completed a first draft, it's time to edit. Keep in mind that your first draft may need many revisions. Editing, reviewing, and rewriting are significant steps in writing a research paper, so be sure to give yourself enough time before the final draft is due.

When editing and reviewing your research paper, look for both broad, big picture issues as well as small details.

For example, make sure your main points are clear, there's a logical flow to the paper, and you've presented information in an interesting way. Also, make sure your sentences form strong body paragraphs (paragraphs aren't too long or too short). You want to make sure the reader (your professor!) has a clear understanding of the topic and that your paper comprehensively answers your research questions.

Also, make sure you're reviewing the details of your research paper. Check that your paper uses proper grammar and spelling, so that you don’t lose points for grammatical errors or spelling mistakes. In addition, be sure to use your own words (and do not plagiarize from your sources!).

Lastly, review the requirements from the assignment sheet to make sure you've included all the necessary components. This work may include a literature review, page numbers, and the correct format for citations. Also, make sure that you're not using unnecessary words to try to increase the word count to meet the requirements of your research paper.

Writing a Research Paper Is Challenging, But a Strong Writing Process Can Help

Writing an academic research paper is always a challenge. But by following these tips on writing a research paper, you can typically produce your paper efficiently and effectively without wasting time on irrelevant information and sources. As a result, your final paper should be well organized to help present information in a logical sequence that conveys the in depth research and hard work you put into writing this research paper.

Relevant Articles:

• How Does Turnitin™ Work?
• Call: 877-755-2787
• Email: [email protected]
• Chat: Live chat   Live Chat --> Live chat

How To Write A Dissertation Or Thesis

8 straightforward steps to craft an a-grade dissertation.

By: Derek Jansen (MBA) Expert Reviewed By: Dr Eunice Rautenbach | June 2020

Writing a dissertation or thesis is not a simple task. It takes time, energy and a lot of will power to get you across the finish line. It’s not easy – but it doesn’t necessarily need to be a painful process. If you understand the big-picture process of how to write a dissertation or thesis, your research journey will be a lot smoother.  

In this post, I’m going to outline the big-picture process of how to write a high-quality dissertation or thesis, without losing your mind along the way. If you’re just starting your research, this post is perfect for you. Alternatively, if you’ve already submitted your proposal, this article which covers how to structure a dissertation might be more helpful.

How To Write A Dissertation: 8 Steps

• Clearly understand what a dissertation (or thesis) is
• Find a unique and valuable research topic
• Craft a convincing research proposal
• Write up a strong introduction chapter
• Review the existing literature and compile a literature review
• Design a rigorous research strategy and undertake your own research
• Present the findings of your research
• Draw a conclusion and discuss the implications

Step 1: Understand exactly what a dissertation is

This probably sounds like a no-brainer, but all too often, students come to us for help with their research and the underlying issue is that they don’t fully understand what a dissertation (or thesis) actually is.

So, what is a dissertation?

At its simplest, a dissertation or thesis is a formal piece of research , reflecting the standard research process . But what is the standard research process, you ask? The research process involves 4 key steps:

• Ask a very specific, well-articulated question (s) (your research topic)
• See what other researchers have said about it (if they’ve already answered it)
• If they haven’t answered it adequately, undertake your own data collection and analysis in a scientifically rigorous fashion
• Answer your original question(s), based on your analysis findings

In short, the research process is simply about asking and answering questions in a systematic fashion . This probably sounds pretty obvious, but people often think they’ve done “research”, when in fact what they have done is:

• Started with a vague, poorly articulated question
• Not taken the time to see what research has already been done regarding the question
• Collected data and opinions that support their gut and undertaken a flimsy analysis
• Drawn a shaky conclusion, based on that analysis

If you want to see the perfect example of this in action, look out for the next Facebook post where someone claims they’ve done “research”… All too often, people consider reading a few blog posts to constitute research. Its no surprise then that what they end up with is an opinion piece, not research. Okay, okay – I’ll climb off my soapbox now.

The key takeaway here is that a dissertation (or thesis) is a formal piece of research, reflecting the research process. It’s not an opinion piece , nor a place to push your agenda or try to convince someone of your position. Writing a good dissertation involves asking a question and taking a systematic, rigorous approach to answering it.

If you understand this and are comfortable leaving your opinions or preconceived ideas at the door, you’re already off to a good start!

Step 2: Find a unique, valuable research topic

As we saw, the first step of the research process is to ask a specific, well-articulated question. In other words, you need to find a research topic that asks a specific question or set of questions (these are called research questions ). Sounds easy enough, right? All you’ve got to do is identify a question or two and you’ve got a winning research topic. Well, not quite…

A good dissertation or thesis topic has a few important attributes. Specifically, a solid research topic should be:

Let’s take a closer look at these:

Attribute #1: Clear

Your research topic needs to be crystal clear about what you’re planning to research, what you want to know, and within what context. There shouldn’t be any ambiguity or vagueness about what you’ll research.

Here’s an example of a clearly articulated research topic:

An analysis of consumer-based factors influencing organisational trust in British low-cost online equity brokerage firms.

As you can see in the example, its crystal clear what will be analysed (factors impacting organisational trust), amongst who (consumers) and in what context (British low-cost equity brokerage firms, based online).

Need a helping hand?

Attribute #2:   Unique

Your research should be asking a question(s) that hasn’t been asked before, or that hasn’t been asked in a specific context (for example, in a specific country or industry).

For example, sticking organisational trust topic above, it’s quite likely that organisational trust factors in the UK have been investigated before, but the context (online low-cost equity brokerages) could make this research unique. Therefore, the context makes this research original.

One caveat when using context as the basis for originality – you need to have a good reason to suspect that your findings in this context might be different from the existing research – otherwise, there’s no reason to warrant researching it.

Attribute #3: Important

Simply asking a unique or original question is not enough – the question needs to create value. In other words, successfully answering your research questions should provide some value to the field of research or the industry. You can’t research something just to satisfy your curiosity. It needs to make some form of contribution either to research or industry.

For example, researching the factors influencing consumer trust would create value by enabling businesses to tailor their operations and marketing to leverage factors that promote trust. In other words, it would have a clear benefit to industry.

So, how do you go about finding a unique and valuable research topic? We explain that in detail in this video post – How To Find A Research Topic . Yeah, we’ve got you covered 😊

Step 3: Write a convincing research proposal

Once you’ve pinned down a high-quality research topic, the next step is to convince your university to let you research it. No matter how awesome you think your topic is, it still needs to get the rubber stamp before you can move forward with your research. The research proposal is the tool you’ll use for this job.

So, what’s in a research proposal?

The main “job” of a research proposal is to convince your university, advisor or committee that your research topic is worthy of approval. But convince them of what? Well, this varies from university to university, but generally, they want to see that:

• You have a clearly articulated, unique and important topic (this might sound familiar…)
• You’ve done some initial reading of the existing literature relevant to your topic (i.e. a literature review)
• You have a provisional plan in terms of how you will collect data and analyse it (i.e. a methodology)

At the proposal stage, it’s (generally) not expected that you’ve extensively reviewed the existing literature , but you will need to show that you’ve done enough reading to identify a clear gap for original (unique) research. Similarly, they generally don’t expect that you have a rock-solid research methodology mapped out, but you should have an idea of whether you’ll be undertaking qualitative or quantitative analysis , and how you’ll collect your data (we’ll discuss this in more detail later).

Long story short – don’t stress about having every detail of your research meticulously thought out at the proposal stage – this will develop as you progress through your research. However, you do need to show that you’ve “done your homework” and that your research is worthy of approval .

So, how do you go about crafting a high-quality, convincing proposal? We cover that in detail in this video post – How To Write A Top-Class Research Proposal . We’ve also got a video walkthrough of two proposal examples here .

Step 4: Craft a strong introduction chapter

Once your proposal’s been approved, its time to get writing your actual dissertation or thesis! The good news is that if you put the time into crafting a high-quality proposal, you’ve already got a head start on your first three chapters – introduction, literature review and methodology – as you can use your proposal as the basis for these.

Handy sidenote – our free dissertation & thesis template is a great way to speed up your dissertation writing journey.

What’s the introduction chapter all about?

The purpose of the introduction chapter is to set the scene for your research (dare I say, to introduce it…) so that the reader understands what you’ll be researching and why it’s important. In other words, it covers the same ground as the research proposal in that it justifies your research topic.

What goes into the introduction chapter?

This can vary slightly between universities and degrees, but generally, the introduction chapter will include the following:

• A brief background to the study, explaining the overall area of research
• A problem statement , explaining what the problem is with the current state of research (in other words, where the knowledge gap exists)
• Your research questions – in other words, the specific questions your study will seek to answer (based on the knowledge gap)
• The significance of your study – in other words, why it’s important and how its findings will be useful in the world

As you can see, this all about explaining the “what” and the “why” of your research (as opposed to the “how”). So, your introduction chapter is basically the salesman of your study, “selling” your research to the first-time reader and (hopefully) getting them interested to read more.

How do I write the introduction chapter, you ask? We cover that in detail in this post .

Step 5: Undertake an in-depth literature review

As I mentioned earlier, you’ll need to do some initial review of the literature in Steps 2 and 3 to find your research gap and craft a convincing research proposal – but that’s just scratching the surface. Once you reach the literature review stage of your dissertation or thesis, you need to dig a lot deeper into the existing research and write up a comprehensive literature review chapter.

What’s the literature review all about?

There are two main stages in the literature review process:

Literature Review Step 1: Reading up

The first stage is for you to deep dive into the existing literature (journal articles, textbook chapters, industry reports, etc) to gain an in-depth understanding of the current state of research regarding your topic. While you don’t need to read every single article, you do need to ensure that you cover all literature that is related to your core research questions, and create a comprehensive catalogue of that literature , which you’ll use in the next step.

Reading and digesting all the relevant literature is a time consuming and intellectually demanding process. Many students underestimate just how much work goes into this step, so make sure that you allocate a good amount of time for this when planning out your research. Thankfully, there are ways to fast track the process – be sure to check out this article covering how to read journal articles quickly .

Literature Review Step 2: Writing up

Once you’ve worked through the literature and digested it all, you’ll need to write up your literature review chapter. Many students make the mistake of thinking that the literature review chapter is simply a summary of what other researchers have said. While this is partly true, a literature review is much more than just a summary. To pull off a good literature review chapter, you’ll need to achieve at least 3 things:

• You need to synthesise the existing research , not just summarise it. In other words, you need to show how different pieces of theory fit together, what’s agreed on by researchers, what’s not.
• You need to highlight a research gap that your research is going to fill. In other words, you’ve got to outline the problem so that your research topic can provide a solution.
• You need to use the existing research to inform your methodology and approach to your own research design. For example, you might use questions or Likert scales from previous studies in your your own survey design .

As you can see, a good literature review is more than just a summary of the published research. It’s the foundation on which your own research is built, so it deserves a lot of love and attention. Take the time to craft a comprehensive literature review with a suitable structure .

But, how do I actually write the literature review chapter, you ask? We cover that in detail in this video post .

Step 6: Carry out your own research

Once you’ve completed your literature review and have a sound understanding of the existing research, its time to develop your own research (finally!). You’ll design this research specifically so that you can find the answers to your unique research question.

There are two steps here – designing your research strategy and executing on it:

1 – Design your research strategy

The first step is to design your research strategy and craft a methodology chapter . I won’t get into the technicalities of the methodology chapter here, but in simple terms, this chapter is about explaining the “how” of your research. If you recall, the introduction and literature review chapters discussed the “what” and the “why”, so it makes sense that the next point to cover is the “how” –that’s what the methodology chapter is all about.

In this section, you’ll need to make firm decisions about your research design. This includes things like:

• Your research philosophy (e.g. positivism or interpretivism )
• Your overall methodology (e.g. qualitative , quantitative or mixed methods)
• Your data collection strategy (e.g. interviews , focus groups, surveys)
• Your data analysis strategy (e.g. content analysis , correlation analysis, regression)

If these words have got your head spinning, don’t worry! We’ll explain these in plain language in other posts. It’s not essential that you understand the intricacies of research design (yet!). The key takeaway here is that you’ll need to make decisions about how you’ll design your own research, and you’ll need to describe (and justify) your decisions in your methodology chapter.

2 – Execute: Collect and analyse your data

Once you’ve worked out your research design, you’ll put it into action and start collecting your data. This might mean undertaking interviews, hosting an online survey or any other data collection method. Data collection can take quite a bit of time (especially if you host in-person interviews), so be sure to factor sufficient time into your project plan for this. Oftentimes, things don’t go 100% to plan (for example, you don’t get as many survey responses as you hoped for), so bake a little extra time into your budget here.

Once you’ve collected your data, you’ll need to do some data preparation before you can sink your teeth into the analysis. For example:

• If you carry out interviews or focus groups, you’ll need to transcribe your audio data to text (i.e. a Word document).
• If you collect quantitative survey data, you’ll need to clean up your data and get it into the right format for whichever analysis software you use (for example, SPSS, R or STATA).

Once you’ve completed your data prep, you’ll undertake your analysis, using the techniques that you described in your methodology. Depending on what you find in your analysis, you might also do some additional forms of analysis that you hadn’t planned for. For example, you might see something in the data that raises new questions or that requires clarification with further analysis.

The type(s) of analysis that you’ll use depend entirely on the nature of your research and your research questions. For example:

• If your research if exploratory in nature, you’ll often use qualitative analysis techniques .
• If your research is confirmatory in nature, you’ll often use quantitative analysis techniques
• If your research involves a mix of both, you might use a mixed methods approach

Again, if these words have got your head spinning, don’t worry! We’ll explain these concepts and techniques in other posts. The key takeaway is simply that there’s no “one size fits all” for research design and methodology – it all depends on your topic, your research questions and your data. So, don’t be surprised if your study colleagues take a completely different approach to yours.

Step 7: Present your findings

Once you’ve completed your analysis, it’s time to present your findings (finally!). In a dissertation or thesis, you’ll typically present your findings in two chapters – the results chapter and the discussion chapter .

What’s the difference between the results chapter and the discussion chapter?

While these two chapters are similar, the results chapter generally just presents the processed data neatly and clearly without interpretation, while the discussion chapter explains the story the data are telling  – in other words, it provides your interpretation of the results.

For example, if you were researching the factors that influence consumer trust, you might have used a quantitative approach to identify the relationship between potential factors (e.g. perceived integrity and competence of the organisation) and consumer trust. In this case:

• Your results chapter would just present the results of the statistical tests. For example, correlation results or differences between groups. In other words, the processed numbers.
• Your discussion chapter would explain what the numbers mean in relation to your research question(s). For example, Factor 1 has a weak relationship with consumer trust, while Factor 2 has a strong relationship.

Depending on the university and degree, these two chapters (results and discussion) are sometimes merged into one , so be sure to check with your institution what their preference is. Regardless of the chapter structure, this section is about presenting the findings of your research in a clear, easy to understand fashion.

Importantly, your discussion here needs to link back to your research questions (which you outlined in the introduction or literature review chapter). In other words, it needs to answer the key questions you asked (or at least attempt to answer them).

For example, if we look at the sample research topic:

In this case, the discussion section would clearly outline which factors seem to have a noteworthy influence on organisational trust. By doing so, they are answering the overarching question and fulfilling the purpose of the research .

For more information about the results chapter , check out this post for qualitative studies and this post for quantitative studies .

Step 8: The Final Step Draw a conclusion and discuss the implications

Last but not least, you’ll need to wrap up your research with the conclusion chapter . In this chapter, you’ll bring your research full circle by highlighting the key findings of your study and explaining what the implications of these findings are.

What exactly are key findings? The key findings are those findings which directly relate to your original research questions and overall research objectives (which you discussed in your introduction chapter). The implications, on the other hand, explain what your findings mean for industry, or for research in your area.

Sticking with the consumer trust topic example, the conclusion might look something like this:

Key findings

This study set out to identify which factors influence consumer-based trust in British low-cost online equity brokerage firms. The results suggest that the following factors have a large impact on consumer trust:

While the following factors have a very limited impact on consumer trust:

Notably, within the 25-30 age groups, Factors E had a noticeably larger impact, which may be explained by…

Implications

The findings having noteworthy implications for British low-cost online equity brokers. Specifically:

The large impact of Factors X and Y implies that brokers need to consider….

The limited impact of Factor E implies that brokers need to…

As you can see, the conclusion chapter is basically explaining the “what” (what your study found) and the “so what?” (what the findings mean for the industry or research). This brings the study full circle and closes off the document.

Let’s recap – how to write a dissertation or thesis

You’re still with me? Impressive! I know that this post was a long one, but hopefully you’ve learnt a thing or two about how to write a dissertation or thesis, and are now better equipped to start your own research.

To recap, the 8 steps to writing a quality dissertation (or thesis) are as follows:

• Understand what a dissertation (or thesis) is – a research project that follows the research process.
• Find a unique (original) and important research topic
• Craft a convincing dissertation or thesis research proposal
• Write a clear, compelling introduction chapter
• Undertake a thorough review of the existing research and write up a literature review
• Undertake your own research
• Present and interpret your findings

Once you’ve wrapped up the core chapters, all that’s typically left is the abstract , reference list and appendices. As always, be sure to check with your university if they have any additional requirements in terms of structure or content.  

Psst... there’s more!

This post was based on one of our popular Research Bootcamps . If you're working on a research project, you'll definitely want to check this out ...

20 Comments

thankfull >>>this is very useful

Thank you, it was really helpful

unquestionably, this amazing simplified way of teaching. Really , I couldn’t find in the literature words that fully explicit my great thanks to you. However, I could only say thanks a-lot.

Great to hear that – thanks for the feedback. Good luck writing your dissertation/thesis.

This is the most comprehensive explanation of how to write a dissertation. Many thanks for sharing it free of charge.

Very rich presentation. Thank you

Thanks Derek Jansen|GRADCOACH, I find it very useful guide to arrange my activities and proceed to research!

Thank you so much for such a marvelous teaching .I am so convinced that am going to write a comprehensive and a distinct masters dissertation

It is an amazing comprehensive explanation

This was straightforward. Thank you!

I can say that your explanations are simple and enlightening – understanding what you have done here is easy for me. Could you write more about the different types of research methods specific to the three methodologies: quan, qual and MM. I look forward to interacting with this website more in the future.

Thanks for the feedback and suggestions 🙂

Hello, your write ups is quite educative. However, l have challenges in going about my research questions which is below; *Building the enablers of organisational growth through effective governance and purposeful leadership.*

Very educating.

Just listening to the name of the dissertation makes the student nervous. As writing a top-quality dissertation is a difficult task as it is a lengthy topic, requires a lot of research and understanding and is usually around 10,000 to 15000 words. Sometimes due to studies, unbalanced workload or lack of research and writing skill students look for dissertation submission from professional writers.

Thank you 💕😊 very much. I was confused but your comprehensive explanation has cleared my doubts of ever presenting a good thesis. Thank you.

thank you so much, that was so useful

Hi. Where is the excel spread sheet ark?

could you please help me look at your thesis paper to enable me to do the portion that has to do with the specification

my topic is “the impact of domestic revenue mobilization.

Submit a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

• Print Friendly

Ten Tips for Effective Research Writing

Many assessments engage students in research writing. Depending on their level of experience and the difficulty of the task, students may need some guidance on how best to engage in this process. It is helpful to remind them that writing processes vary depending, in part, on personal preference and disciplinary expectations. Although there is no single recipe for success, here are some practical suggestions to share with your learners when they begin a research writing project.

• Create a Plan : Establish deadlines for yourself when it comes to data collection, analysis, and the actual writing phase. Aim to meet or exceed these deadlines.
• Determine Audience : What are the expectations, assumptions, and existing knowledge of your audience? Consider writing for readers with less background knowledge than your actual target audience, as this can help improve your clarity.
• Style: Carefully analyze the writing style of articles in your target publication and emulate that style. Ensure that all ideas are properly cited based on your disciplinary norms.
• Research process and methodology : Simply tell readers what you did. Keep your discussions of various alternative methods to a minimum and avoid excessive detail.
• Keep it direct and simple: Avoid clichés and re-examine any uses of discipline-specific jargon that might be unclear to your reader. Strive for clear, straightforward sentences. The simplest form is best. Recognize that revision will be necessary.
• Outline: Decide which of your findings are important and give them a prominent place. For the sake of clarity, be prepared to relegate some of your findings to the appendices.
• Presenting your Data: Be prepared to struggle with the presentation of statistics. Remember that tables should speak for themselves. Readers should not have to dig through the main text to make sense of them.
• Peer Review: Share your writing with readers of various levels. Their input can prove illuminating. The Writing Centre is a great place to receive support.
• Copy Edit: Always proofread a hard copy of your writing. If possible, work with a partner and read your prose out loud, punctuation and all.

Common myths:  Good writing …

• Must be perfect, the first time – Expecting your first draft to be your final product is unrealistic and demands perfectionism that can be paralyzing.
• Requires me to know exactly what I think before I even start writing – Writing is a process of discovery. Attempting to write in a linear fashion can be overwhelming and often results in procrastination. Outlining is an excellent first step and is much less daunting.
• Emerges spontaneously because of inspiration – Waiting for the muse to strike is a common pitfall that can lead to procrastination and self-doubt.
• Should proceed quickly and effortlessly – Perpetuated by impatience, this myth can result in frustration and binge writing. Expect to spend time making necessary revisions and spread the writing process out over a reasonable amount of time. Good writing takes work.
• Comes from extensive training or an innate “gift” – There is no secret formula for writing success; although, much like physical exercise, the more writing you do, the easier it gets.
• Requires large blocks of time – Whole days of uninterrupted writing time are hard to come by, so this myth can result in procrastination and anxiety.
• Must be all consuming – Devoting all your time and attention to your writing is unrealistic and unnecessary.

Working towards productive writing

• Make writing part of your regular routine. For example, consider writing 250 words a day. Even though this does not seem like a lot, it will add up quickly and reduce writing anxiety.
• Set realistic goals for each session. Divide large projects into a set of smaller tasks. This practice helps support consistency long term and prevent writing burnout.
• Write at a time of day that works best for you. You’re more likely to be productive when feeling energized and alert. Know your own peak periods and work with them rather than against them.
• Be task specific and plan ahead. Take a few minutes near the end of each session to gauge your progress and map out your next steps so you can easily pick up where you left off.

If you would like support applying these tips to your own teaching, CTE staff members are here to help.  View the  CTE Support  page to find the most relevant staff member to contact.

• Booth, W.C., Colomb, G.G., & Williams, J.M. (1995)   The craft of research . University of Chicago Press.
• Delamont, S., Atkinson P., & Parry, O. (eds.). (2004)  Supervising the doctorate: A guide to success . McGraw-Hill Education.
• OSiochrú, C. (2023). Student guide to writing research reports, papers, theses and dissertations . Routledge.
• University of Waterloo Library: Research Paper Assignment Planner
• Wang, G. T., & Park, K. (2016). Student Research and Report Writing: From Topic Selection to the Complete Paper . John Wiley & Sons.
• Writing and Communication Centre Online Resources

This Creative Commons license  lets others remix, tweak, and build upon our work non-commercially, as long as they credit us and indicate if changes were made. Use this citation format:  Ten Tips for Effective Research Writing . Centre  for Teaching Excellence, University of Waterloo .

Catalog search

Teaching tip categories.

• Assessment and feedback
• Blended Learning and Educational Technologies
• Career Development
• Course Design
• Course Implementation
• Inclusive Teaching and Learning
• Learning activities
• Support for Student Learning
• Support for TAs

15 Steps to Good Research

• Define and articulate a research question (formulate a research hypothesis). How to Write a Thesis Statement (Indiana University)
• Identify possible sources of information in many types and formats. Georgetown University Library's Research & Course Guides
• Judge the scope of the project.
• Reevaluate the research question based on the nature and extent of information available and the parameters of the research project.
• Select the most appropriate investigative methods (surveys, interviews, experiments) and research tools (periodical indexes, databases, websites).
• Plan the research project. Writing Anxiety (UNC-Chapel Hill) Strategies for Academic Writing (SUNY Empire State College)
• Retrieve information using a variety of methods (draw on a repertoire of skills).
• Refine the search strategy as necessary.
• Write and organize useful notes and keep track of sources. Taking Notes from Research Reading (University of Toronto) Use a citation manager: Zotero or Refworks
• Evaluate sources using appropriate criteria. Evaluating Internet Sources
• Synthesize, analyze and integrate information sources and prior knowledge. Georgetown University Writing Center
• Revise hypothesis as necessary.
• Use information effectively for a specific purpose.
• Understand such issues as plagiarism, ownership of information (implications of copyright to some extent), and costs of information. Georgetown University Honor Council Copyright Basics (Purdue University) How to Recognize Plagiarism: Tutorials and Tests from Indiana University
• Cite properly and give credit for sources of ideas. MLA Bibliographic Form (7th edition, 2009) MLA Bibliographic Form (8th edition, 2016) Turabian Bibliographic Form: Footnote/Endnote Turabian Bibliographic Form: Parenthetical Reference Use a citation manager: Zotero or Refworks

Adapted from the Association of Colleges and Research Libraries "Objectives for Information Literacy Instruction" , which are more complete and include outcomes. See also the broader "Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education."

Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

Writing a Research Paper

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 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:

• Genre - This section will provide an overview for understanding the difference between an analytical and argumentative research paper.
• Choosing a Topic - This section will guide the student through the process of choosing topics, whether the topic be one that is assigned or one that the student chooses themselves.
• Identifying an Audience - This section will help the student understand the often times confusing topic of audience by offering some basic guidelines for the process.
• Where Do I Begin - This section concludes the handout by offering several links to resources at Purdue, and also provides an overview of the final stages of writing a research paper.

• SUGGESTED TOPICS
• The Magazine
• Newsletters
• Managing Yourself
• Managing Teams
• Work-life Balance
• The Big Idea
• Data & Visuals
• Reading Lists
• Case Selections
• HBR Learning
• Topic Feeds
• Account Settings
• Email Preferences

A (Very) Simple Way to Improve Your Writing

• Mark Rennella

It’s called the “one-idea rule” — and any level of writer can use it.

The “one idea” rule is a simple concept that can help you sharpen your writing, persuade others by presenting your argument in a clear, concise, and engaging way. What exactly does the rule say?

• Every component of a successful piece of writing should express only one idea.
• In persuasive writing, your “one idea” is often the argument or belief you are presenting to the reader. Once you identify what that argument is, the “one-idea rule” can help you develop, revise, and connect the various components of your writing.
• For instance, let’s say you’re writing an essay. There are three components you will be working with throughout your piece: the title, the paragraphs, and the sentences.
• Each of these parts should be dedicated to just one idea. The ideas are not identical, of course, but they’re all related. If done correctly, the smaller ideas (in sentences) all build (in paragraphs) to support the main point (suggested in the title).

Most advice about writing looks like a long laundry list of “do’s and don’ts.” These lists can be helpful from time to time, but they’re hard to remember … and, therefore, hard to depend on when you’re having trouble putting your thoughts to paper. During my time in academia, teaching composition at the undergraduate and graduate levels, I saw many people struggle with this.

• MR Mark Rennella is Associate Editor at HBP and has published two books, Entrepreneurs, Managers, and Leaders and The Boston Cosmopolitans .  

Partner Center

Have a language expert improve your writing

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

• Knowledge Base
• Research paper

Writing a Research Paper Introduction | Step-by-Step Guide

Published on September 24, 2022 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on March 27, 2023.

The introduction to a research paper is where you set up your topic and approach for the reader. It has several key goals:

• Present your topic and get the reader interested
• Provide background or summarize existing research
• Position your own approach
• Detail your specific research problem and problem statement
• Give an overview of the paper’s structure

The introduction looks slightly different depending on whether your paper presents the results of original empirical research or constructs an argument by engaging with a variety of sources.

Instantly correct all language mistakes in your text

Upload your document to correct all your mistakes in minutes

Table of contents

Step 1: introduce your topic, step 2: describe the background, step 3: establish your research problem, step 4: specify your objective(s), step 5: map out your paper, research paper introduction examples, frequently asked questions about the research paper introduction.

The first job of the introduction is to tell the reader what your topic is and why it’s interesting or important. This is generally accomplished with a strong opening hook.

The hook is a striking opening sentence that clearly conveys the relevance of your topic. Think of an interesting fact or statistic, a strong statement, a question, or a brief anecdote that will get the reader wondering about your topic.

For example, the following could be an effective hook for an argumentative paper about the environmental impact of cattle farming:

A more empirical paper investigating the relationship of Instagram use with body image issues in adolescent girls might use the following hook:

Don’t feel that your hook necessarily has to be deeply impressive or creative. Clarity and relevance are still more important than catchiness. The key thing is to guide the reader into your topic and situate your ideas.

Scribbr Citation Checker New

The AI-powered Citation Checker helps you avoid common mistakes such as:

• Missing commas and periods
• Incorrect usage of “et al.”
• Ampersands (&) in narrative citations
• Missing reference entries

This part of the introduction differs depending on what approach your paper is taking.

In a more argumentative paper, you’ll explore some general background here. In a more empirical paper, this is the place to review previous research and establish how yours fits in.

Argumentative paper: Background information

After you’ve caught your reader’s attention, specify a bit more, providing context and narrowing down your topic.

Provide only the most relevant background information. The introduction isn’t the place to get too in-depth; if more background is essential to your paper, it can appear in the body .

Empirical paper: Describing previous research

For a paper describing original research, you’ll instead provide an overview of the most relevant research that has already been conducted. This is a sort of miniature literature review —a sketch of the current state of research into your topic, boiled down to a few sentences.

This should be informed by genuine engagement with the literature. Your search can be less extensive than in a full literature review, but a clear sense of the relevant research is crucial to inform your own work.

Begin by establishing the kinds of research that have been done, and end with limitations or gaps in the research that you intend to respond to.

The next step is to clarify how your own research fits in and what problem it addresses.

Argumentative paper: Emphasize importance

In an argumentative research paper, you can simply state the problem you intend to discuss, and what is original or important about your argument.

Empirical paper: Relate to the literature

In an empirical research paper, try to lead into the problem on the basis of your discussion of the literature. Think in terms of these questions:

• What research gap is your work intended to fill?
• What limitations in previous work does it address?
• What contribution to knowledge does it make?

You can make the connection between your problem and the existing research using phrases like the following.

Now you’ll get into the specifics of what you intend to find out or express in your research paper.

The way you frame your research objectives varies. An argumentative paper presents a thesis statement, while an empirical paper generally poses a research question (sometimes with a hypothesis as to the answer).

Argumentative paper: Thesis statement

The thesis statement expresses the position that the rest of the paper will present evidence and arguments for. It can be presented in one or two sentences, and should state your position clearly and directly, without providing specific arguments for it at this point.

Empirical paper: Research question and hypothesis

The research question is the question you want to answer in an empirical research paper.

Present your research question clearly and directly, with a minimum of discussion at this point. The rest of the paper will be taken up with discussing and investigating this question; here you just need to express it.

A research question can be framed either directly or indirectly.

• This study set out to answer the following question: What effects does daily use of Instagram have on the prevalence of body image issues among adolescent girls?
• We investigated the effects of daily Instagram use on the prevalence of body image issues among adolescent girls.

If your research involved testing hypotheses , these should be stated along with your research question. They are usually presented in the past tense, since the hypothesis will already have been tested by the time you are writing up your paper.

For example, the following hypothesis might respond to the research question above:

Don't submit your assignments before you do this

The academic proofreading tool has been trained on 1000s of academic texts. Making it the most accurate and reliable proofreading tool for students. Free citation check included.

Try for free

The final part of the introduction is often dedicated to a brief overview of the rest of the paper.

In a paper structured using the standard scientific “introduction, methods, results, discussion” format, this isn’t always necessary. But if your paper is structured in a less predictable way, it’s important to describe the shape of it for the reader.

If included, the overview should be concise, direct, and written in the present tense.

• This paper will first discuss several examples of survey-based research into adolescent social media use, then will go on to …
• This paper first discusses several examples of survey-based research into adolescent social media use, then goes on to …

Full examples of research paper introductions are shown in the tabs below: one for an argumentative paper, the other for an empirical paper.

• Argumentative paper
• Empirical paper

Are cows responsible for climate change? A recent study (RIVM, 2019) shows that cattle farmers account for two thirds of agricultural nitrogen emissions in the Netherlands. These emissions result from nitrogen in manure, which can degrade into ammonia and enter the atmosphere. The study’s calculations show that agriculture is the main source of nitrogen pollution, accounting for 46% of the country’s total emissions. By comparison, road traffic and households are responsible for 6.1% each, the industrial sector for 1%. While efforts are being made to mitigate these emissions, policymakers are reluctant to reckon with the scale of the problem. The approach presented here is a radical one, but commensurate with the issue. This paper argues that the Dutch government must stimulate and subsidize livestock farmers, especially cattle farmers, to transition to sustainable vegetable farming. It first establishes the inadequacy of current mitigation measures, then discusses the various advantages of the results proposed, and finally addresses potential objections to the plan on economic grounds.

The rise of social media has been accompanied by a sharp increase in the prevalence of body image issues among women and girls. This correlation has received significant academic attention: Various empirical studies have been conducted into Facebook usage among adolescent girls (Tiggermann & Slater, 2013; Meier & Gray, 2014). These studies have consistently found that the visual and interactive aspects of the platform have the greatest influence on body image issues. Despite this, highly visual social media (HVSM) such as Instagram have yet to be robustly researched. This paper sets out to address this research gap. We investigated the effects of daily Instagram use on the prevalence of body image issues among adolescent girls. It was hypothesized that daily Instagram use would be associated with an increase in body image concerns and a decrease in self-esteem ratings.

The introduction of a research paper includes several key elements:

• A hook to catch the reader’s interest
• Relevant background on the topic
• Details of your research problem

and your problem statement

• A thesis statement or research question
• Sometimes an overview of the paper

Don’t feel that you have to write the introduction first. The introduction is often one of the last parts of the research paper you’ll write, along with the conclusion.

This is because it can be easier to introduce your paper once you’ve already written the body ; you may not have the clearest idea of your arguments until you’ve written them, and things can change during the writing process .

The way you present your research problem in your introduction varies depending on the nature of your research paper . A research paper that presents a sustained argument will usually encapsulate this argument in a thesis statement .

A research paper designed to present the results of empirical research tends to present a research question that it seeks to answer. It may also include a hypothesis —a prediction that will be confirmed or disproved by your research.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Caulfield, J. (2023, March 27). Writing a Research Paper Introduction | Step-by-Step Guide. Scribbr. Retrieved September 1, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/research-paper/research-paper-introduction/

Is this article helpful?

Jack Caulfield

Other students also liked, writing strong research questions | criteria & examples, writing a research paper conclusion | step-by-step guide, research paper format | apa, mla, & chicago templates, get unlimited documents corrected.

✔ Free APA citation check included ✔ Unlimited document corrections ✔ Specialized in correcting academic texts

• Writing & Research Conference
• UW Course Descriptions
• Support the Writing Program

University Writing Program

Columbian College of Arts & Sciences

• Conference Program Spring 2024
• News Archive
• Events Archive
• Funding Transparency & Restrictions
• WID Graduate Assistants and Peer Writing Preceptors
• WID Course Guidelines for Faculty
• WID Teaching Resources for Faculty
• WID GA Workshops & Practicum
• Writing Center
• UW 1020 Writing Template for Faculty
• Student Resources
• Julian Clement Chase Prizes
• Eckles Prize for Research Excellence
• WID Teaching Awards

A Guide to Writing a Research Paper

This handbook hopes to assist students studying international affairs, political science, and history. Students of political science should focus their research papers on identifying a theoretical puzzle (e.g., a case that cannot be explained by an existing theory, or that illustrates conflicts between two competing theories) and solve it. Policy-oriented political science students should center their research papers on identifying a significant policy issue; analyze it, and present recommendations. Cultural history students approach the study of world politics by examining not only history and politics but also literature and film as artistic expressions interpreting history. Why don’t we begin thinking about your research paper as your opportunity to improve by setting your goals: write out what your weaknesses are in your writing and add what are your strengths. Secondly, state your goals in improving writing and how you will meet your goals. Lastly, check out your professor’s comments and restate your goals: what goals have you met and which still need to be met. Build on your writing skills by being very aware of your weaknesses and your strengths. Remember you are not alone: consult GWU’s  The Writing Center at GWU  (202-994-3765) and WID Studio .

All good writing starts with analytical reading. When you start reading a book or viewing a film, immediately make connections, stretch your imagination, ask questions, and anticipate conclusions. By becoming an active reader your mind will be analyzing the information simultaneously as you experience the journal article, book or film. Evaluating sources is a skill perfected over several years; this handbook offers ways to assess texts quickly.

Structuring and writing research papers can be challenging and in the end rewarding because it is your unique contribution to understanding a body of texts, a series of historical events, and cultural expressions in film, art, and literature. Your personal voice and your particular interpretation will intrigue your readers if your thesis is clearly argued. Creating Writing Strategies including clustering ideas, drawing diagrams, and planning a “road map” will help you visualize the stages that you need to map out to build a strong paper. Research papers always start with disparate ideas, indiscriminate notions, and false starts. This process is necessary to think through your strategy. Harnessing and structuring your random ideas is essential at the beginning to ensure solid results in your line of argument.

An initial draft helps you generate ideas, sketch a plan, and build on your first impressions. Revision and more revision will ensure that your case is chiseled into a fine paper with clear objectives and well-argued beliefs. This is perhaps the most essential piece to receiving high grades. If you write your paper the night before it is due, you will not allow time to revise. Instead, plan to write your initial draft two weeks before it is due. You will have time to rewrite the draft at least twice. Comparing each draft should convince you to always make time to write three drafts. Formatting your paper appropriately to your professor’s taste is crucial. Routinely papers follow this format: a Title Page, after which each page is numbered consecutively; pages are double-spaced with left one-inch margins at top, bottom, and sides.

Citations add depth to your opinions and will substantiate them. A variety of sources always makes a paper interesting to read and intensifies your argument. The risk that all writers confront is over use of quoting from secondary texts. The overuse of citations buries your personal voice and your particular point of view.  

Reading Analytically

It is often possible to confuse or understand partially what a scholar, journalist, or author is trying to argue. This is the first wrong step towards a weak paper. In evaluating a scholarly argument, you are making claims about what an author has stated. You do not have the freedom to put arguments in authors’ mouths; you must be able to back up every claim you make about an author’s argument through reference to the text. This exercise in analyzing arguments intends to strengthen your skills in developing your own argumentation.

Read an article in The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, American Political Science Review, or Foreign Affairs and start to record your thoughts:

• What is the author’s argument?
• What is the thesis question?
• What are the premises underlying it?
• What is the thesis?
• What is the “road map” or the individual points the author will have to prove to make the thesis be true?
• What assumptions has the author made which remain unaddressed?
• What arguments does the author make that may be challenged?
• Premises underlying thesis question.
• Individual points of the argument in the “road map,” or body of the work.
• If you wanted to challenge this author, how would you go about it?
• Choose one point — either a premise underlying the thesis question, or a part of the author’s “road map.”
• What kind of primary source evidence would you be looking for to “test” this point? What kinds of primary source evidence would tend to support the author? What kinds would undermine the author’s argument?
• The last step would be to go to the primary source evidence itself, and see what you find.

Exercise for reading analytically

Read the excerpt below taken from the first issue of Foreign Affairs for 2009 and write out your questions and answers (the entire article is online):

Beyond Iraq

A New U.S. Strategy for the Middle East

Richard N. Haass and Martin Indyk

Summary:  To be successful in the Middle East, the Obama administration will need to move beyond Iraq, find ways to deal constructively with Iran, and forge a final-status Israeli-Palestinian agreement.

On taking office, U.S. President Barack Obama will face a series of critical, complex, and interrelated challenges in the Middle East demanding urgent attention: an Iraq experiencing a fragile lull in violence that is nonetheless straining the U.S. military, an Iran approaching the nuclear threshold, a faltering Israeli-Palestinian peace process, weak governments in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories challenged by strong militant Islamist groups, and a U.S. position weakened by years of failure and drift. He will also discover that time is working against him.

For six years, U.S. policy in the Middle East has been dominated by Iraq. This need not, and should not, continue. The Obama administration will be able to gradually reduce the number of U.S. troops in Iraq, limit their combat role, and increasingly shift responsibility to Iraqi forces. The drawdown will have to be executed carefully and deliberately, however, so as not to risk undoing recent progress.

The improved situation in Iraq will allow the new administration to shift its focus to Iran, where the clock is ticking on a dangerous and destabilizing nuclear program. Obama should offer direct official engagement with the Iranian government, without preconditions, along with other incentives in an attempt to turn Tehran away from developing the capacity to rapidly produce substantial amounts of nuclear-weapons-grade fuel. At the same time, he should lay the groundwork for an international effort to impose harsher sanctions on Iran if it proves unwilling to change course.

Preventive military action against Iran by either the United States or Israel is an unattractive option, given its risks and costs. But it needs to be examined carefully as a last-ditch alternative to the dangers of living with an Iranian bomb. To increase Israel’s tolerance for extended diplomatic engagement, the U.S. government should bolster Israel’s deterrent capabilities by providing an enhanced anti-ballistic-missile defense capability and a nuclear guarantee.

The U.S. president should also spend capital trying to promote peace agreements between Israel and its Arab neighbors, in particular Syria. Damascus is currently allied with Tehran, and an Israeli-Syrian deal would weaken Iran’s regional influence, reduce external support for Hamas and Hezbollah, and improve the prospects for stability in Lebanon. On the Israeli-Palestinian front, there is an urgent need for a diplomatic effort to achieve a two-state solution while it is still feasible. Although divisions on both sides and the questionable ability of the Palestinian Authority (PA) to control any newly acquired territory make a sustainable peace agreement unlikely for the moment, these factors argue not for abandoning the issue but rather for devoting substantial time and effort now to creating the conditions that would help diplomacy succeed later. What all these initiatives have in common is a renewed emphasis on diplomacy as a tool of U.S. national security policy, since the United States can no longer achieve its objectives without the backing of its regional allies as well as China, Europe, and Russia.

Some might argue that these efforts are not worth it, that the Bush administration paid too much attention to and invested too much American blood and treasure in an ill-advised attempt to transform the Middle East and that the Obama administration should focus its attention at home or elsewhere abroad. But such arguments underestimate the Middle East’s ability to force itself onto the U.S. president’s agenda regardless of other plans. Put simply, what happens in the Middle East will not stay in the Middle East. From terrorism to nuclear proliferation to energy security, managing contemporary global challenges requires managing the Middle East.

Three easy questions to ask yourself:

• Is there a “valid” argument: an argument structured such that, given that the premises are correct, the conclusion must be correct. How do the authors construct their argument, dissect paragraph by paragraph their line of debate.
• What would a scholar from Egypt write on this subject and perhaps a scholar from Iran. Can you now come up with a counter argument?
• What is the “road map” for this paper? That is, what is the chain of reasoning this paper must pursue if it is to demonstrate the veracity of its thesis?

Good reading is about asking questions of your sources. Keep the following in mind when reading primary sources. Even if you believe you can’t arrive at the answers, imagining possible answers will aid your comprehension. Reading primary sources requires that you use your historical imagination. This process is all about your willingness and ability to ask questions of the material, imagine possible answers, and explain your reasoning. Reading a primary source may seem simple but you would be surprised how easy it is to become distracted, unfocused, and when your mind wonders you lose the impact of the thesis. This also happens when we sit at our computers to write, but with a strong foundation and a road map, it should be easier to compose.

Professor Patrick Rael of Bowdoin College has drawn up a useful evaluating system when reading primary sources:

• Purpose of the author in preparing the document
• Argument and strategy she or he uses to achieve those goals
• Presuppositions and values (in the text, and our own)
• Epistemology (evaluating truth content)
• Relate to other texts (compare and contrast)
• Who is the author and what is her or his place in society (explain why you are justified in thinking so)? What could or might it be, based on the text, and why?
• Why did the author prepare the document? What was the occasion for its creation?
• What is at stake for the author in this text? Why do you think she or he wrote it? What evidence in the text tells you this?
• Does the author have a thesis? What — in one sentence — is that thesis?
• What is the text trying to do? How does the text make its case? What is its strategy for accomplishing its goal? How does it carry out this strategy?
• What is the intended audience of the text? How might this influence its rhetorical strategy? Cite specific examples.
• What arguments or concerns do the author respond to that are not clearly stated? Provide at least one example of a point at which the author seems to be refuting a position never clearly stated. Explain what you think this position may be in detail, and why you think it.
• Do you think the author is credible and reliable? Use at least one specific example to explain why. Make sure to explain the principle of rhetoric or logic that makes this passage credible.

Presuppositions

• How do the ideas and values in the source differ from the ideas and values of our age? Offer two specific examples.
• What presumptions and preconceptions do we as readers bring to bear on this text? For instance, what portions of the text might we find objectionable, but which contemporaries might have found acceptable. State the values we hold on that subject, and the values expressed in the text. Cite at least one specific example.
• How might the difference between our values and the values of the author influence the way we understand the text? Explain how such a difference in values might lead us to miss-interpret the text, or understand it in a way contemporaries would not have. Offer at least one specific example.

Epistemology

• How might this text support one of the arguments found in secondary sources we’ve read? Choose a paragraph anywhere in a secondary source we’ve read, state where this text might be an appropriate footnote (cite page and paragraph), and explain why.
• What kinds of information does this text reveal that it does not seem concerned with revealing? (In other words, what does it tell us without knowing it’s telling us?)
• Offer one claim from the text which is the author’s interpretation. Now offer one example of a historical “fact” (something that is absolutely indisputable) that we can learn from this text (this need not be the author’s words).
• Relate: Now choose another of the readings, and compare the two, answering these questions:
• What patterns or ideas are repeated throughout the readings?
• What major differences appear in them?
• Which do you find more reliable and credible?

As you can begin to see, once you start thinking about it, one simple question can lead to a huge chain of questions. Remember, it is always better to keep asking questions you think you cannot answer than to stop asking questions because you think you cannot answer them. But this can only happen when you know enough about your subject to know how to push your questioning, and this depends on reading and understanding the assigned material.  

Evaluating Sources

Reading secondary historical sources is a skill which is honed over years of practice and becomes second nature after a while. Reading academic material well is an active process and you’ll find success reading even the most difficult material if you can master these skills. The key here is taking the time and energy to engage the material — to think through it and to connect it to other material you have covered. A good idea is to keep a journal recording your ideas about a variety of sources to see later if there are connections among them.  

How to read a book

You can quickly size up a volume to judge if it is indeed a book that you need to read fully. Read and define the title. Think about what the title promises for the book; look at the table of contents; read the foreword and introduction (if an article, read the first paragraph or two). Read the conclusion or epilogue if there is one (if it is an article, read the last one or two paragraphs). After all this, ask yourself what the author’s thesis might be. How has the argument been structured?

The same idea holds for reading chapters quickly: read the first and last paragraph of each chapter. After doing this and taking the step outlined above, you should have a good idea of the book’s major themes and arguments. Good topic sentences in each paragraph will tell you what the paragraph is about. Read actively and just take notes when necessary; avoid taking copious notes on minor details. Remember to record your gut reactions to the text and ask: What surprised you? What seemed particularly insightful? What seems suspect? What reinforces or counters points made in other readings? This kind of note taking will keep your reading active, and actually will help you remember the contents of the piece better than otherwise.

To better write your own research paper it is very useful to dissect an author’s work asking the following: How has the author structured her work? How would you briefly outline it? Why might she have employed this structure? What historical argument does the structure employ? After identifying the thesis, ask yourself in what ways the structure of the work enhances or detracts from the thesis. How does the author set about to make her or his case? What about the structure of the work makes it convincing?

A thesis is not just a statement of opinion, or a belief, or a thought. It is an argument and therefore it is subject to evaluation and analysis. Is it a good argument? How is the big argument (the thesis) structured into little arguments? Are these little arguments constructed well? Is the reasoning valid? Does the evidence support the conclusions? Has the author used invalid or incorrect logic? Is she relying on incorrect premises? What broad, unexamined assumptions seem to underlay the author’s argument? Are these correct? This part of the evaluation process asks you not for your opinion, but to evaluate the logic of the argument. Finally, when you have recorded your thoughts, mapped out the author’s points sustaining the thesis argument, now need to come to a conclusion: Where is the author’s argument weak or vulnerable? Where is the evidence thin? What other interpretations of the author’s evidence is possible? At what points is the author’s logic suspect? If the author’s case is weak, what is the significance of this for the argument as a whole?

If you read actively, record your opinions, and map out arguments you are creating your own research paper as you are analyzing. Eventually you will create your own voice and style through this method.  

Writing Strategies

Perhaps the most important message to understand is that you should start thinking about possible theses from the very start of your paper preparation, but you need to examine your primary sources before you can develop a strong thesis. It is impossible to develop a good thesis without already having begun to analyze the primary sources which supply your evidence. How can you know what is even possible to argue if you haven’t looked closely at your data?

Good writing is a process of continually evaluating your work — of constantly asking yourself if your evidence and analysis supports your thesis. Remember, the thesis is not the starting point of your exploration, but the result of it.

Writing exercises — to flush out all your ideas and then to reduce them to the essentials — are useful for structuring your paper. Making lists of your ideas, free writing in prose about your thesis, and clustering relationships among your ideas, can all be helpful in the first phase. Subdividing your subject and restricting your purpose will help you narrow your thesis.

INTRODUCTION

• Introduce the problem
• Define key terms
• State the thesis
• Stems from good question
• Tentative answer is “hypothesis”
• Refine hypothesis into thesis
• How is the paper organized?
• Topic sentence (mini-thesis)
• Argument supporting topic sentence
• Transition to next mini-thesis
• Arguing in paragraphs
• Mini-thesis
• Analysis (what does evidence support?)
• Re-state the thesis
• Significance of thesis (why should we care about the problem?)

The introduction is usually one paragraph, or perhaps two in a paper of eight pages or more. Its purpose is to: (1) set out the problem to be discussed; (2) define key terms that will be used in that discussion; (3) outline the structure of the argument; (4) CLEARLY STATE THE THESIS.

Quickly establish the issue your paper confronts. Where and when are we? What are we examining? It is especially important to clearly define the limits of your exploration. Tell the reader how interested you are in the subject, set a tone conveying that the topic is of vital concern. Some writers grab the reader by starting with an example, a quotation, a statistic, or a complaint. This opening theme must run through your paper so that it unifies your paper.

Provide a clear road map of your argument: Let your reader know where you are headed, how you plan to substantiate your thesis but without giving away your best ideas. If, for instance, your paper breaks down into political, cultural, and social components, announce this to your reader so she will know what to expect.

The last function of the introduction is to present your thesis. The thesis is the central idea around which you construct the rest of your paper. The best theses are good precisely because the questions they answer are significant, complex, and original. The thesis statement is the one-sentence version of your argument. A good thesis will require you to introduce the gist of the thesis itself without revealing your conclusion.

The body takes up several pages, and constitutes the bulk of your paper. Here is where you argue your thesis. The content of this section largely will depend on your thesis, and what it requires you to argue. Think to yourself, “What do I need to support this argument?” If you find yourself unable to answer, consult your analyses of secondary texts to review how authors construct their body. You may not have an interesting enough thesis.

The general movement in the body is from the general to the specific. Start with general statements and then move on to specific statements which support your general statement. Your paper is built on paragraphs. Each paragraph should be a minimum of four sentences and not exceed 10. The first sentence of each paragraph is called the “topic sentence.” The topic sentence introduces what the paragraph will be about similar to a mini-thesis. You may have several mini-theses in your paper supporting your general thesis.

When you add support from secondary texts remember that you should not merely quote or paraphrase from the raw data but you need to interpret and analyze the quoted material. This is especially true of quotes. Never just plop a quote in and expect it to be clear to the reader how it supports the mini-thesis. Explain how it supports the point you are making.

The body of the paper must flow from one idea to the next and transitions from one paragraph to the next must be clear. This linking of ideas is accomplished through transitional phrases. There are transitions between paragraphs, and transitions within paragraphs. Often, but not always, the last sentence of a paragraph begins to guide the reader to the next idea. It is often a good idea to end paragraphs with a sentence summing-up your findings.

As you structure the body, your scholarly arguments marshal facts — and analyze those facts — in a fashion intended to persuade the reader through reason. The most important technique for doing this is to anticipate the counter-arguments your argument is likely to receive. You must constantly ask yourself, what arguments which counter my thesis make sense.

Your conclusion is usually one paragraph long, and briefly recapitulates your thesis, pulling all your arguments together. The first sentence of the concluding paragraph is a clear, specific re-statement of the thesis. The conclusion should do more than simply re-state the argument. It also suggests why the argument is important in the bigger scheme of things, or suggests avenues for further research, or raises a bigger question.  

Revision, Revision, Revision

Write first draft: Even if you haven’t finished all your research but you feel ready to start writing a first draft, read over your clustering notes, your sketch of how to execute the paper and arrange your notes according to your outline. Your paragraphs should correspond to your outline, and each should advance your goal of supporting your hypothesis. A first draft will challenge you to articulate ideas that have been floating around in your head. As you start writing you will probably realize that what you thought were simple ideas are actually complex, and are more difficult to express than you expected. That is normal.

Let your paper sit for awhile, two or three days. As the researcher and writer, you have been too close to your work. You might want to change some of the original organization, or delete parts which are tangential or insignificant to your main argument. You may also need to do some additional research and strengthen your arguments. Revise your argument first to tighten the thesis and your “road map” lining up all the evidence. Reduce your evidence to only the relevant pieces and strengthen your argument by including the most salient of citations.

Think about how you have arranged the arguments in your paper. Does the paper’s organization offer the most effective arrangement of your ideas and evidence to support the theme? Reread the topic sentence for each paragraph. Does the sentence make your point and does the information in the paragraph support it? Be sure that you have placed your topic in its historical context, preferably in the first few pages of the paper.

Locate your argument among those offered in the secondary historical works which you have read. At this point, you should have some idea of how your approach/theme adds to the body of historical literature on your topic. Think about your introduction and conclusion. Remember that these are crucial to the paper and you should take some time when writing them. The introduction not only interests the reader in getting beyond the first few pages but it also presents the focus of your argument. The conclusion is your chance to make a lasting impression on your audience; take advantage of it!

The final revision of your paper should include a check of overall organization, style and composition, spelling, proof of thesis, and format (arrangement of title page, pagination, endnotes if applicable, bibliography, citation form.) Scrutinize your words, sentences, and paragraphs. Look at the VERBS are they active (not passive)? Are there a variety of verbs, if not use the thesaurus and empower your prose by strong verbs. REDUCE the use of the verb to be. Wordy sentences weaken your thesis, take out the “fat”: prepositional phrases (change to gerunds –ing); count the number of prepositions in a sentence and limit to two. Check on misplaced and dangling modifiers if you don’t know what this means, look it up. Longer sentences can be reduced to several sentences or with the use of semicolons. Lastly, literally check the logic of the transitions among paragraphs. Do you find a paragraph not making sense and not linking up to the paragraph above and below it?

Very important to your revising is to read your paper out loud and listen to it. Does it flow well? What do you hear that is superfluous? Is the logic sound and is the thesis clear? What is unessential weakens your thesis, so eliminate.

The best known authors follow this advice: Throughout the paper writing process, the most important and challenging task will be to constantly edit and revise your work.  

Formatting Your Paper

Use the MLA-Chicago style to format your research paper and consult the following:

William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White, The Elements of Style

Mary Lynn Rampolla, A Pocket Manual to Writing in History, 3rd ed.

Kate Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 6th ed.

Diana Hacker, Rules for Writers, 3rd ed. (Boston: Bedford Books of St. Martin’s Press, 1996).

Quotations, footnotes, and bibliographies: Small matters of style, such as where footnote numbers are placed, the use of commas, or how indenting works, are important. You will be learning and using citation styles for the rest of your life; it is crucial that you become proficient in following them closely. Citations

A citation is the part of your paper that tells your reader where your source information came from. This is one of the most important elements to your paper. In order to evaluate your argument, your reader must be able to consult the same sources you used. Proper citing is crucial to making a credible and persuasive argument.. Citations in history papers can take the form of footnotes or endnotes. History papers should not use the parenthetic citation style common to literature and social science papers. These do not perform the other function of footnotes and endnotes, which is to provide space to clarify your use of complex data or arguments, expand on points you believe do not merit lengthy consideration in the body of your text, and to directly address the arguments of other historians.

Each time you quote a work by another author, or use the ideas of another author, you should indicate the source with a footnote. A footnote is indicated in the text of your paper by a small Arabic numeral written in superscript. Each new footnote gets a new number (increment by one). The number refers to a note number at the bottom of the page (or following the text of the paper, if you are using endnotes). This note contains the citation information for the materials you are referencing. For examples of footnotes in action, consult Rampolla (“Quoting and Documenting Sources”).

Either footnotes or endnotes are fine. Most history books are now produced using endnotes, which are commonly thought to provide cleaner looking pages. Most history professors, however, prefer footnotes, so they can quickly check sources. Especially if you have a computer word-processor, which makes the task easy, you should try to use footnotes.

Paraphrase or quote your sources or do both; but do only one at a time. You either paraphrase or quote, but do nothing in between. To paraphrase a source (or part of a source) is to reproduce it in words and word orders substantially different from the original. When you paraphrase well, you keep the sense of the original but change the language, retaining some key words, of course, but otherwise using your own words and your own sentence patterns. As a rough guide, if you copy more than three words in a row from a source, these words should be in quotation marks.

To quote a source (or part of a source) is to reproduce it exactly. When you quote well, you keep both the sense and language of the original, retaining its punctuation, its capitalization, its type face (roman or italic), and its spelling (indeed, even its misspelling).

Remember to include a source citation every time you use the ideas or words of another author, either directly (through quotation) or indirectly (through paraphrase). The only exception is common factual knowledge of the variety found in encyclopedia. The easiest and most important rule to remember is: when in doubt, it is better to cite a source than to not cite a source. In avoiding plagiarism, it is always wiser to choose more rather than less information.

Enjoy researching your paper and enjoy writing it. Professors grade students on their effort, their ability to improve during the semester, and on their willingness to follow directions. GOOD LUCK THIS SEMESTER.

Online guides for citing sources:

• Citing Electronic Sources (from the Library of Congress) http://memory.loc.gov/learn/start/cite/index.html

Guides for citing standard electronic sources

• A Brief Citation Guide for Internet Sources in History and the Humanities http://www.h-net.msu.edu/about/citation/

Writing Guide

This guide was created for Harvard Library employees, but we hope it’s helpful to a wider community of content creators, editors, producers — anyone who’s trying to communicate a message online.

If you work at Harvard Library 

This is our website style guide. It helps us create clear and consistent digital content that’s welcoming and useful for our users. Please use it as a reference whenever you’re writing content for library.harvard.edu.

If you work at another organization

We invite you to use and adapt this style guide as you see fit. It — like our entire website — is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Speaking of credit: Several other writing guides inspired this one. Those include: MailChimp’s Content Style Guide , Harvard University Style Guidelines & Best Practices , 18F’s Content Guide , Federal Plain Language Guidelines , and City of Boston Writing Guide . These are great resources for additional reading on the topic.

We love to talk shop. If you have questions about this writing guide or the Harvard Library website contact the Harvard Library communications team at [email protected].

With every piece of content we publish, our goal is to empower our users so they can use our services and tools to get their work done and discover new ideas. 

We do this by writing in a clear, helpful and confident voice that guides our users and invites them to engage with us. Our voice is: 

• Straightforward 
• Conversational 
• Trustworthy 
• Confident 
• Proactive  
• Knowledgeable 

Our voice is also positive — instead of rules and permissions, think options and opportunities. It’s also welcoming and accessible to all audiences. 

The Harvard brand brings with it a lot of history. We want to highlight our association with the positive attributes — credible, trusted, secure, historic, bold. But we also want to do our best to break down barriers, which means overcoming other attributes some people may assign to Harvard, such as elite, academic, exclusive, traditional.

Part of being credible, trusted, and secure is ensuring every bit of content we have on our website is up to date, accurate, and relevant to our users. 

The tips that follow in this guide will help us fulfill these goals. 

"Damn those sticklers in favor of what sounds best to you, in the context of the writing and the audience it’s intended for." —Merrill Perlman, Columbia Journalism Review

Things To Do

Write for the user first.

Before you start writing, ask yourself: 

• Who is going to read this content? 
• What do they need to know? 
• What are they trying to accomplish? 
• How might they be feeling? 

Put yourself in their shoes and write in a way that suits the situation. Remember: You’re the expert, not your users. 

Put the most important information up top

Users tend to scan web pages until they find what they need. Most people will only read 20 percent of a page . Use the “inverted pyramid” technique by putting the most important information at the top of a page. That’s the section users are most likely to read.

Choose clarity over cleverness

Say what you mean and avoid using figurative language, which can make your content more difficult to understand.

Address users directly 

Use pronouns to speak directly to your users, addressing them as “you” when possible. If necessary, define “you” at the beginning of your page. And don’t be afraid to say “we” instead of “the library.” 

• Instead of:  The Harvard Library has staff members who can assist with research.  We’d write: Our expert librarians are here to help answer your research questions. 

Shorter sentences and paragraphs make your content easier to skim and less intimidating. Paragraphs should top out around 3 to 8 sentences. Ideal sentence length is around 15 to 20 words.

Use plain language 

Using words people easily understand makes our content more useful and welcoming. Don’t use formal or long words when easy or short ones will do. 

• Use write instead of compose , get instead of obtain , use instead of utilize , and so on. Plainlanguage.gov has a great list of word alternatives . 

Use the active voice 

The active voice supports brevity and makes our content more engaging. 

Using the passive voice deemphasizes who should take action, which can lead to confusion. It also tends to be more wordy than the active voice. 

• Instead of: Overdue fines must be paid by the borrower. We would write: The borrower must pay any overdue fines. 

How to recognize the passive voice: If you insert “by zombies” after the verb and the sentence still makes sense, you’re using the passive voice.

Write for the user with the least amount of knowledge on the topic

It’s not dumbing down your content. It can actually be harder to to make information simple and easy to understand. The truth is: even experts or people with more education prefer plain language.

Imagine your audience and write as if you were talking to them one-on-one, with the authority of someone who can actively help.  

Try reading your writing out loud and listen for awkward phrases or constructions that you wouldn’t normally say. Better yet, have someone else read your writing to you. 

Create helpful hyperlinks 

When links look different from regular text, they attract users’ attention. That’s an opportunity that shouldn’t be missed. 

When creating hyperlinks, keep these tips in mind:  

• Meaningful links should stand alone and help users with scanning the page.
• Write descriptive and true link text — explain where users are going and why.
• Use keywords to describe the link’s destination — look at the destination page for context.
• The link destination should fulfill the promise of your link text .
• If linking to a PDF, indicate that. 

For example: 

• Instead of:  This collection is available online here . Try:  Browse this collection online.
• For PDFs:   Our pricing guide PDF  provides estimates for various reproduction formats. 

Break up your content 

Large paragraphs of text can lose readers. Using subheads and bullet points is a way to help provide clear narrative structure for readers, particularly those in a hurry.

Tips for breaking up your content: 

• Add useful headings to help people scan the page.
• Use bulleted lists to break up the text when appropriate.
• Write short sentences and short sections to break up information into manageable chunks.

"Look for the clutter in your writing and prune it ruthlessly. Be grateful for everything you can throw away ... Writing improves in direct ratio to the number of things we can keep out of it that shouldn't be there." —William Zinsser, On Writing Well

Things to Avoid

Jargon or acronyms.

Jargon and acronyms are often vague or unfamiliar to users, and can lead to misinterpretation. If you feel an acronym or a jargon term must be used, be sure to explain what it means the first time you use it on a page.

We strongly discourage writing FAQs , or Frequently Asked Questions. Why? Because FAQs:

• Are hard to read and search for
• Duplicate other content on your site
• Mean that content is not where people expect to find it — it needs to be in context

If you think you need FAQs, review the content on your site and look for ways to improve it. Take steps to give users a better experience.

Ask yourself:

• Is the content organized in a logical way?
• Can you group similar topics together?
• Is it easy to find the right answer?
• Is it clear and up to date?

If people are asking similar questions, the existing content isn’t meeting their needs. Perhaps you need to rewrite it or combine several pieces of content. Pay attention to what users are asking for and find the best way to guide them through the process.  

Linking users to PDFs can make your content harder to use, and lead users down a dead end. The Nielsen Norman Group has done multiple studies on PDFs and has consistently found that users don’t like them and avoid reading them.

Avoid using PDFs for important information you’re trying to convey to users. Some supplementary information may make sense as a PDF — or something a user would need to print. 

If you must link users to a PDF, be sure to let them know. For example: 

Our pricing guide (PDF)  provides estimates for various reproduction formats. 

Duplication

If something is written once and links to relevant information easily and well, people are more likely to trust the content. Duplicate content produces poor search results, confuses the user, and damages the credibility of our websites.

Before you publish something, check that the user need you’re trying to address has not already been covered.  

Style Guide

With some exceptions, we’re following Associated Press style guidelines on the Harvard Library website.

Here are some common tips: 

Abbreviations and acronyms

Spell out abbreviations or acronyms the first time they are referenced. Avoid abbreviations or acronyms that the reader would not quickly recognize. 

Capitalization

In general, capitalize proper nouns and beginnings of sentences. For nouns specific to Harvard University and other common academic uses, please refer to the Harvard-specific guidelines below.

As with all punctuation, clarity is the biggest rule. If a comma does not help make clear what is being said, it should not be there. If omitting a comma could lead to confusion or misinterpretation, then use the comma. We do use serial commas.

Compositions

Capitalize the principal words in the names of books, movies, plays, poems, operas, songs, radio and TV programs, works of art, events, etc. Use italics or quotes when writing about them online. 

One word, no hyphen. However, use the hyphen for  e-book and e-reader.

A plural noun, it normally takes plural verbs and pronouns. However, it becomes a collective noun and takes singular verbs when the group or quantity is regarded as a unit. 

Right: The data is sound. (A unit.) 

Also right: The data have been carefully collected. (Individual items.) 

Use figures for date, abbreviated month when used with a specific date. So: January 2018 but Jan. 2, 2018. Use an s without an apostrophe to indicate spans of decades or centuries: the 1900s, the 1920s. 

Headlines/Headers/Subheads

Capitalize all words that aren’t articles.

Numerals 

In general, spell out one through nine. Use figures for 10 or above and whenever preceding a unit of measure or referring to ages of people, animals, events, or things. 

Use figures for: Academic course numbers, addresses, ages, centuries, dates, years and decades, decimals, percentages and fractions with numbers larger than 1, dimensions, distances, highways, monetary units, school grades. 

Spell out: at the start of a sentence, in definite and casual uses, names, in fractions less than one. 

Phone numbers 

123-456-7890 

am, pm, Lowercase, no periods. Avoid the redundant 10 am this morning.

web, website, webcam, webcast, webpage, web address, web browser, internet

Harvard Style Guidelines 

Here are tips for Harvard-specific terms and other terms you may encounter more frequently based on the nature of our website. They're based on guidelines provided in the Harvard University Style Guidelines .

Harvard University Proper Nouns

Capitalize the full, formal names of:

• Departments
• Colleges and schools
• Institutions
• Residential houses
• Academic associations
• Scholarships

However, do not capitalize names used informally, in the second reference. For example, when calling it the center, or the department.

Example: The Science Center contains five lecture halls; you can reserve space at the center by submitting a room request.

The exception is to capitalize College, School, and University when referring to Harvard, as well as the Yard.

Always capitalize Harvard Library. Do not capitalize Harvard libraries. Be careful in referencing Harvard Library, so as not to give users the idea that the Harvard Library is a place. 

Capitalize formal titles when used immediately before a name.

Lowercase formal titles when used alone or in constructions that set them off from a name by commas.

Use lowercase at all times for terms that are job descriptions rather than formal titles.

Named professorships and fellowships are capitalized even following the person’s name.

Academic years and terms

Terms designating academic years and terms are lowercased, like senior, first-year student, fall semester

Class titles

Capitalize the name of classes. Course titles and lectures are capitalized and put in quotes.

Example: June teaches Literature 101. Professor John Doe is teaching “The Art of Guitar Playing” this semester.

Concentrations

Concentrations are not capitalized. 

Harvard academic titles

Unlike AP, use title case for named professors, like Jane Mansbridge, Adams Professor of Political Leadership and Democratic Values.

Treat all other academic titles as formal titles: capitalized when used immediately before a name.

The preferred format is to spell out the degree. Capitalize an individual's specific degree, but do not capitalize when referring to a degree generically.

For example: John Smith holds a Master of Arts in English. She is working toward her bachelor’s degree.

If abbreviating degrees, use capitalized initials with periods: A.B., S.B.

When referring to someone’s year of graduation, capitalize “class.” Example: John Harvard, Class of 1977, was in town for a lecture.

"Writing is an instrument for conveying ideas from one mind to another; the writer’s job is to make the reader apprehend his meaning readily and precisely." —Sir Ernest Gowers, The Complete Plain Words

Tools & Resources

There are tons of tools available online to help you accomplish the goals outlined above and test your content for readability. Here are some to get you started: 

Affiliate 💸

Get started free

Literature Review

12 Best Tools For Perfect Research Summary Writing

Discover the 12 best tools to streamline your research summary writing, ensuring clarity and precision every time.

Aug 29, 2024

Consider you finally find the time to tackle that research paper for your class. You pull up your literature search and see dozens of articles and studies staring back at you. As you scroll through the titles and abstracts, you realize you need to figure out how to summarize the research to get started on your paper. 

Writing a practical research summary can feel daunting, but it doesn’t have to. In this guide, we’ll break down what a research summary is, why it’s essential, and how to write one. This information lets you confidently write your research summary and finish your paper. 

Otio’s AI research and writing partner can help you write efficient research summaries and papers. Our tool can summarize academic articles so you can understand the material and finish your writing.

Table Of Contents

What is a research summary, purpose of a research summary, how do you write a research summary in 10 simple steps, what is a phd research summary, examples of research summary, supercharge your researching ability with otio — try otio for free today.

A research summary is a piece of writing that summarizes your research on a specific topic. Its primary goal is to offer the reader a detailed study overview with critical findings. A research summary generally contains the structure of the article. 

You must know the goal of your analysis before you launch a project. A research overview summarizes the detailed response and highlights particular issues. Writing it may be troublesome. You want to start with a structure in mind to write a good overview. 

Related Reading

• Systematic Review Vs Meta Analysis • Impact Evaluation • How To Critique A Research Article • How To Synthesize Sources • Annotation Techniques • Skimming And Scanning • Types Of Literature Reviews • Literature Review Table • Literature Review Matrix • How To Increase Reading Speed And Comprehension • How To Read Research Papers • How To Summarize A Research Paper • Literature Gap

A research summary provides a brief overview of a study to readers. When searching for literature, a reader can quickly grasp the central ideas of a paper by reading its summary. It is also a great way to elaborate on the significance of the findings, reminding the reader of the strengths of your main arguments. 

Having a good summary is almost as important as writing a research paper. The benefit of summarizing is showing the "big picture," which allows the reader to contextualize your words. In addition to the advantages of summarizing for the reader, as a writer, you gain a better sense of where you are going with your writing, which parts need elaboration, and whether you have comprehended the information you have collected. 

1. Read The Entire Research Paper

Before writing a research summary , you must read and understand the entire research paper. This may seem like a time-consuming task, but it is essential to write a good summary. Make sure you know the paper's main points before you begin writing.

2. Take Notes As You Read

As you read, take notes on the main points of the paper. These notes will come in handy when you are writing your summary. Be sure to note any necessary information, such as the main conclusions of the author's writing. This helpful tip will also help you write a practical blog summary in less time.

3. Organize Your Thoughts

Once you have finished reading and taking notes on the paper, it is time to start writing your summary. Before you begin, take a few minutes to organize your thoughts. Write down the main points that you want to include in your summary. Then, arrange these points in a logical order.

4. Write The Summary

Now that you have organized your thoughts, it is time to start writing the summary. Begin by stating the author’s thesis statement or main conclusion. Then, briefly describe each of the main points from the paper. Be sure to write clearly and concisely. When you finish, reread your summary to ensure it accurately reflects the paper's content.

5. Write The Introduction

After you have written the summary, it is time to write the introduction. The introduction should include an overview of the paper and a summary description. It should also state the main idea.

6. Introduce The Report's Purpose

The summary of a research paper should include a brief description of the paper's purpose. It should state the paper's thesis statement and briefly describe each of the main points of the paper.

7. Use Keywords To Introduce The Report

When introducing the summary of a research paper, use keywords familiar to the reader. This will help them understand the summary and why it is essential.

8. State The Author's Conclusions

The summary of a research paper should include a brief statement of the author's conclusions. This will help your teacher understand what the paper is trying to achieve.

9. Keep It Concise

A summary should be concise and to the point. It should not include any new information or arguments. It should be one paragraph long at maximum.

10. Edit And Proofread

After you have written the summary, edit and proofread it to ensure it is accurate and precise. This will help ensure that your summary is effective and free of any grammar or spelling errors.

1. Otio: Your AI Research Assistant  

Knowledge workers, researchers, and students today need help with content overload and are left to deal with it using fragmented, complex, and manual tooling. Too many settle for stitching together complicated bookmarking, read-it-later, and note-taking apps to get through their workflows. Now that anyone can create content with a button, this problem will only worsen. Otio solves this problem by providing researchers with one AI-native workspace. It helps them: 

1. Collect a wide range of data sources, from bookmarks, tweets, and extensive books to YouTube videos. 

2. extract key takeaways with detailed ai-generated notes and source-grounded q&a chat. , 3. create draft outputs using the sources you’ve collected. .

Otio helps you to go from a reading list to the first draft faster. Along with this, Otio also enables you to write research papers/essays faster. Here are our top features that researchers love: AI-generated notes on all bookmarks (Youtube videos, PDFs, articles, etc.), Otio enables you to chat with individual links or entire knowledge bases, just like you chat with ChatGPT, as well as AI-assisted writing. 

Let Otio be your AI research and writing partner — try Otio for free today ! 

2. Hypotenuse AI: The Versatile Summarizer  

Like all the AI text summarizers on this list, Hypotenuse AI can take the input text and generate a short summary. One area where it stands out is its ability to handle various input options: You can simply copy-paste the text, directly upload a PDF, or even drop a YouTube link to create summaries. 

You can summarize nearly 200,000 characters (or 50,000 words) at once. 

Hypotenuse AI summarizes articles, PDFs, paragraphs, documents, and videos. 

With the AI tool, you can create engaging hooks and repurpose content for social media. 

You'll need a paid plan after the 7-day free trial. 

There needs to be a free plan available. 

The AI tool majorly focuses on generating eCommerce and marketing content. 

3. Scalenut: The Beginner-Friendly AI Summarizer  

Scalenut is one of the powerful AI text summarizers for beginners or anyone starting out. While it's not as polished as some other business-focused apps, it's significantly easier to use — and the output is just as good as others. If you want a basic online text summarizer that lets you summarize the notes within 800 characters (not words), Scalenut is your app. 

With Scalenut, you get a dedicated summary generation tool for more granular control. 

The keyword planner available helps build content directly from the short and sweet summaries. 

The AI tool integrates well with a whole suite of SEO tools, making it a more SEO-focused summarizer. 

You only get to generate one summary per day. 

Scalenut's paid plans are expensive compared to other AI tools. 

You must summarize long-form articles or blogs at most the limit of 800 characters. 

4. SciSummary: The Academic AI Summarizer  

SciSummary is an AI summarizer that helps summarize single or multiple research papers. It combines and compares the content summaries from research papers, article links, etc. 

It can save time and effort for scientists, students, and enthusiasts who want to keep up with the latest scientific developments. 

It can provide accurate and digestible summaries powered by advanced AI models that learn from feedback and expert guidance. 

It can help users read between the lines and understand complex scientific texts' main points and implications. 

It may only capture some nuances and details of the original articles or papers, which may be necessary for some purposes or audiences. 

Some types of scientific texts, such as highly technical, specialized, or interdisciplinary, may require more domain knowledge or context. 

Some sources of scientific information, such as websites, videos, or podcasts not in text format, may need help summarizing. 

5. Quillbot: The AI Summarizer for Academic Papers  

QuillBot uses advanced neural network models to summarize research papers accurately and effectively. The tool leverages cutting-edge technology to condense lengthy papers into concise and informative summaries, making it easier for users to navigate vast amounts of literature. 

You can upload the text for summarization directly from a document. 

It's excellent for summarizing essays, papers, and lengthy documents. 

You can summarize long texts up to 1200 words for free. 

The free plan is limited to professionals. 

There could have been some more output types. 

QuillBot's Premium plan only gives you 6000 words for summaries per month. 

6. Scribbr: The Research Paper Assistant  

Scribbr is an AI-driven academic writing assistant with a summarization feature tailored for research papers. The tool assists users in the research paper writing process by summarizing and condensing information from various sources, offering support in structuring and organizing content effectively. 

7. TLDR This: The Online Article Summarizer  

TLDR This uses advanced AI to effectively filter out unimportant arguments from online articles and provide readers only with vital takeaways. Its streamlined interface eliminates ads and distractions while summarizing key points, metadata, images, and other crucial article details. 

TLDR This condenses even very lengthy materials into compact summaries users can quickly consume, making it easier to process a vast range of internet content efficiently. 

Ten free "AI" summaries 

Summarization of long text 

Basic summary extraction 

Premium option cost 

No significant improvement in premium options 

8. AI Summarizer: The Text Document Summarizer  

AI Summarizer harnesses artificial intelligence to summarize research papers and other text documents automatically. The tool streamlines the summarization process, making it efficient and accurate, enabling users to extract essential information from extensive research papers efficiently. 

Easy-to-understand interface 

1500-word limit 

Multiple language support 

Contains advertisements 

Requires security captcha completion 

Struggles with lengthy content summarization 

9. Jasper: The Advanced Summarizer  

Jasper AI is a robust summarizing tool that helps users generate AI-powered paper summaries quickly and effectively. The tool supports the prompt creation of premium-quality summaries, assisting researchers in distilling complex information into concise and informative outputs. 

Jasper offers some advanced features, like generating a text from scratch and even summarizing it. 

It integrates well with third-party apps like Surfer, Grammarly, and its own AI art generator. 

It's versatile and can be used to create summaries of blogs, articles, website copy, emails, and even social media posts. 

There's no free plan available — though you get a 7-day free trial. 

You'll need to have a flexible budget to use Jasper AI. 

The Jasper app has a steep learning curve. 

10. Resoomer: The Summary Extractor  

Resoomer rapidly analyzes textual documents to determine the essential sentences and summarizes these key points using its proprietary semantic analysis algorithm. 

By automatically identifying what information matters most, Resoomer can condense elaborate texts across diverse subjects into brief overviews of their core message. With swift copy-and-paste functionality requiring no signup, this specialized tool simplifies the reading experience by extracting only vital details from complex writings. 

Clear and accurate summaries 

Creative sentence combining 

Variety of modes and options 

Lengthy text summarization without word limit in premium mode 

Confusing interface with irrelevant features 

Long-winded summaries spread across multiple pages 

11. Anyword: The Marketing-Focused Summarizer  

When I saw Anyword's summary, I could easily state that the content was unique and worth sharing, making this AI tool an excellent choice for marketers. Plus, it's very easy to use.  

Once you've copied-pasted the text and chosen a summary type, paragraph, keywords, or TL;DR, it generates a summary in minutes. Approve it; you can share the text directly without worrying about plagiarized content. 

You can test the AI tool with the 7-day free trial. 

The Anyword's text generator and summarizer are perfect for creating long-form pieces like blog posts with snippets. 

You can give detailed prompts to the AI tool to customize the generated text. 

Any word is expensive for a more limited set of features than other AI summarizers. 

It can sometimes be slower to use. 

There is no free Anyword plan available. 

12. Frase: The SEO Summarizer  

Frase is a powerful AI-powered summarizer that focuses on SEO. This means it can generate summaries that attract audiences and rank higher. Its proprietary model stands out, providing more flexibility, competitive pricing, and custom features. 

Frase uses BLUF and Reverse Pyramid techniques to generate summaries, improving ranking chances. 

It's free to use Frase's summary generator. 

Instead of GPT-3.5 or GPT-4, Frase uses its proprietary model. 

There's no way to add links to the blog or article to generate a summary. 

You can input up to 600-700 words for summarization. 

It might not be an ideal article summarizer for those who don't care about SEO. 

A research summary for a PhD is called a research statement . The research statement (or statement of research interests) is included in academic job applications. It summarizes your research accomplishments, current work, and future direction and potential. The statement can discuss specific issues such as funding history and potential requirements for laboratory equipment and space and other resources, possible research and industrial collaborations, and how your research contributes to your field's future research direction. 

The research statement should be technical but intelligible to all department members, including those outside your subdiscipline. So keep the “big picture” in mind. The strongest research statements present a readable, compelling, and realistic research agenda that fits well with the department's needs, facilities, and goals. Research statements can be weakened by: overly ambitious proposals lack of apparent direction lack of big-picture focus, and inadequate attention to the needs and facilities of the department or position. 

• Literature Search Template • ChatGPT Prompts For Research • How To Find Gaps In Research • Research Journal Example • How To Find Limitations Of A Study • How To Do A Literature Search • Research Concept Map • Meta-Analysis Methods • How To Identify Bias In A Source • Search Strategies For Research • Literature Search Template • How To Read A Research Paper Quickly • How To Evaluate An Article • ChatGPT Summarize Paper • How To Take Notes For A Research Paper

Research Summary Example 1: A Look at the Probability of an Unexpected Volcanic Eruption in Yellowstone 

Introduction  .

If the Yellowstone supervolcano erupted massively , the consequences would be catastrophic for the United States. The importance of analyzing the likelihood of such an eruption cannot be overstated.  

Hypothesis  

An eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano would be preceded by intense precursory activity manifesting a few weeks up to a few years in advance.  

Results     

Statistical data from multiple volcanic eruptions happening worldwide show activity that preceded these events (in particular, how early each type of activity was detected).   

Discussion and Conclusion  

Given that scientists continuously monitor Yellowstone and that signs of an eruption are normally detected much in advance, at least a few days in advance, the hypothesis is confirmed. This could be applied to creating emergency plans detailing an organized evacuation campaign and other response measures.     

Research Summary Example 2: The Frequency of Extreme Weather Events in the US from 2000-2008 as Compared to the ‘50s

Weather events bring immense material damage and cause human victims.    

Extreme weather events are significantly more frequent nowadays than in the ‘50s.   

Several categories of extreme events occur regularly now and then: droughts and associated fires, massive rainfall/snowfall and associated floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, Arctic cold waves, etc.   

Discussion and Conclusion 

Several extreme events have become significantly more frequent recently, confirming this hypothesis. This increasing frequency correlates reliably with rising CO2 levels in the atmosphere and growing temperatures worldwide. 

In the absence of another recent significant global change that could explain a higher frequency of disasters, and knowing how growing temperature disturbs weather patterns, it is natural to assume that global warming (CO2) causes this increase in frequency. This, in turn, suggests that this increased frequency of disasters is not a short-term phenomenon but is here to stay until we address CO2 levels.  

Researchers, students, and knowledge workers have long struggled with the initial stages of research projects. The early steps of gathering and organizing information , taking notes, and synthesizing the material into a coherent summary are vital for establishing a solid foundation for any research endeavor. 

These steps can be tedious, overwhelming, and time-consuming. Otio streamlines this process so you can go from the reading list to the first draft faster. Along with this, Otio also helps you write research papers/essays faster. Here are our top features that researchers love: 

AI-generated notes on all bookmarks (Youtube videos, PDFs, articles, etc.), Otio enables you to chat with individual links or entire knowledge bases, just like you chat with ChatGPT, as well as AI-assisted writing. 

• Sharly AI Alternatives • AI For Summarizing Research Papers • Literature Review Tools • How To Identify Theoretical Framework In An Article • Graduate School Reading • Research Tools • AI For Academic Research • Research Paper Organizer • Best AI Tools For Research • Zotero Alternatives • Zotero Vs Endnote • ChatGPT For Research Papers • ChatGPT Literature Review • Mendeley Alternative • Unriddle AI Alternatives • Literature Matrix Generator • Research Assistant • Research Tools • Research Graphic Organizer • Good Websites for Research • Best AI for Research • Research Paper Graphic Organizer

Aug 31, 2024

15 Best AI For Research (Quick and Efficient)

Aug 28, 2024

22 Good Websites For Research Papers and Academic Articles

Join over 50,000 researchers changing the way they read & write

Chrome Extension

© 2024 Frontdoor Labs Ltd.

Terms of Service

Privacy Policy

Refund Policy

Join thousands of other scholars and researchers

Try Otio Free

© 2023 Frontdoor Labs Ltd.

Research Implications | Definition, Examples & Tips

Introduction

What are research implications, why discuss research implications, types of implications in research, how do you present research implications.

Every scientific inquiry is built on previous studies and lays the groundwork for future research. The latter is where discussion of research implications lies. Researchers are expected not only to present what their findings suggest about the phenomenon being studied but also what the findings mean in a broader context.

In this article, we'll explore the nature of research implications as a means for contextualizing the findings of qualitative research and the foundation it sets for further research.

Research implications include any kind of discussion of what a particular study means for its research field and in general terms. Researchers write implications to lay out future research studies, make research recommendations based on proposed theoretical developments, and discuss practical and technological implications that can be applied in the real world.

To put it another way, research implications are intended to answer the question "what does this research mean?". Research implications look forward and out. Once findings are presented and discussed, the researcher lays out what the findings mean in a broader context and how they could guide subsequent research.

An aspect of academic writing that's related to implications is the discussion of the study's limitations. These limitations differ from implications in that they explore already acknowledged shortcomings in a study (e.g., a small sample size, an inherent weakness in a chosen methodological approach), but these limitations can also suggest how future research could address these shortcomings. Both the implications and recommendations are often coupled with limitations in a discussion section to explain the significance of the study's contributions to scientific knowledge.

Strictly speaking, there is a fine line between limitations and implications, one that a traditional approach to the scientific method may not adequately explore. Under the scientific method, the product of any research study addresses its research questions or confirms or challenges its expected outcomes. Fulfilling just this task, however, may overlook a more important step in the research process in terms of demonstrating significance.

One of the more famous research examples can provide useful insight. Galileo's experiments with falling objects allowed him to answer questions raised by Aristotle's understanding about gravity affecting objects of different weights. Galileo had something of a hypothesis - objects should fall at the same speed regardless of weight - based on a critique of then-current scientific knowledge - Aristotle's assertion about gravity - that he wanted to test in research. By conducting different experiments using inclines and pendulums (and supposedly one involving falling objects from the Tower of Pisa), he established a new understanding about gravity and its relationship (or lack thereof) to the weight of objects.

Discussion of that experiment focused on how the findings challenged Aristotle's understanding of physics. It did not, however, pose the next logical question: Why would an object like a feather fall at a much slower rate of descent than an object like a hammer if weight was not a factor?

Galileo's experiment and other similar experiments laid the groundwork for experiments on air resistance, most famously the Apollo 15 experiment on the moon where a feather and hammer fell at the same rate in a vacuum, absent any air resistance. The limitation Galileo had at the time was the inability to create a vacuum to test any theories about gravity and air resistance. The implications of his experiments testing Aristotle's claims include the call to further research that could eventually confirm or challenge his understanding of falling objects.

In formal scientific research, particularly in academic settings where peer review is an essential component, contemporary researchers are supposed to do more than simply report their findings. They are expected to engage in critical reflection in placing their research findings in a broader context. The peer review process in research publication often assesses the quality of a research paper by its ability to detail the significance of a given research study. Without an explicit description of the implications in research, readers may not necessarily know what importance the study and its findings holds for them.

Put your data to work with ATLAS.ti

Download a free trial of our powerful analysis platform to generate critical insights from your research.

Breaking down the kinds of implications that your research findings might have will be useful in crafting a clearer and more persuasive presentation. More important than saying that the findings are compelling is arguing in what aspects the findings should prove useful.

There are different types of implications, and the type you should emphasize depends on your target audience.

Theoretical implications

When research findings present novel scientific knowledge, it should have an influence on existing theories by affirming, contradicting, or contextualizing them. This can mean the proposal of a brand new theoretical framework or developments to a existing one.

Keep in mind that, in qualitative research , researchers will often contextualize a theory rather than confirm or refute it. This means that a theory or conceptual framework that is applied to an unfamiliar context (e.g., a theory about adolescent development in a study involving graduate students) will undergo some sort of transformation due to the new analysis.

New understandings will likely develop more complex descriptions of theories as they are interpreted and re-interpreted in new contexts. The discussion of theoretical implications here requires researchers to consider how new theoretical developments might be applied to new data in future research.

Practical implications

More applied forums are interested in how a study's findings can be used in the real world. New developments in psychology could yield discussion of applications in psychiatry, while research in physics can lead to technological innovations in engineering and architecture. While some researchers focus on developing theory, others conduct research to generate actionable insights and tangible results for stakeholders.

Education research, for example, may present pathways to a new teaching method or assessment of learining outcomes. Theories about how students passively and actively develop expertise in subject-matter knowledge could eventually prompt scholars and practitioners to change existing pedagogies and materials that account for more novel understandings of teaching and learning.

Exploring the practical dimensions of research findings may touch on political implications such as policy recommendations, marketable technologies, or novel approaches to existing methods or processes. Discussion of implications along these lines is meant to promote further research and activity in the field to support these practical developments.

Methodological implications

Qualitative research methods are always under constant development and innovation. Moreover, applying research methods in new contexts or for novel research inquiries can lead to unanticipated results that might cause a researcher to reflect on and iterate on their methods of data collection and analysis .

Critical reflections on research methods are not meant to assert that the study was conducted without the necessary rigor . However, rigorous and transparent researchers are expected to argue that further iterations of the research that address any methodological gaps can only bolster the persuasiveness of the findings or generate richer insights.

There are many possible avenues for implications in terms of innovating on methodology. Does the nature of your interview questions change when interviewing certain populations? Should you change certain practices when collecting data in an ethnography to establish rapport with research participants ? How does the use of technology influence the collection and analysis of data?

All of these questions are worth discussing, with the answers providing useful guidance to those who want to base their own study design on yours. As a result, it's important to devote some space in your paper or presentation to how you conducted your study and what you would do in future iterations of your study to bolster its research rigor.

Presenting research implications or writing research implications in a research paper is a matter of answering the following question: Why should scholars read or pay attention to your research? Especially in the social sciences, the potential impact of a study is not always a foregone conclusion. In other words, to make the findings as insightful and persuasive to your audience as they are to you, you need to persuade them beyond the presentation of the analysis and the insights generated.

Here are a few main principles to achieve this task. In broad terms, they focus on what the findings mean to you, what it should mean to others, and what those impacts might mean in context.

Establish importance

Academic research writing tends to follow a structure that narrates a study from the researcher's motivation to conduct the research to why the research's findings matter. While there's seldom a strict requirement for sections in a paper or presentation, understanding commonly used patterns in academic writing will point out where the research implications are discussed.

If you look at a typical research paper abstract in a peer-reviewed journal , for example, you might find that the last sentence or two explicitly establishes why the research is useful to motivate readers to look at the paper more deeply. In the body of the paper, this is further explained in detail towards the end of the introduction and discussion sections and in the conclusion section. These areas are where you should focus on detailing the research implications and explaining how you perceive the impact of your study.

It's essential that you use these spaces to highlight why the findings matter to you. As mentioned earlier, this impact should never be assumed to be understood. Rather, you should explain in detail how your initial motivation to conduct the research has been satisfied and how you might use what you have learned from the research in theoretical and practical terms.

Tailor to your audience

Research is partly about sharing expertise and partly about understanding your audience. Scientific knowledge is generated through consensus, and the more that the researcher ensures their implications are understood by their audience, the more it will resonate in the field.

A good strategy for tailoring your research paper to a particular journal is to read its articles for the implications that are explored in the research. Applied journals will focus on more practical implications while more theoretical publications will emphasize theoretical or conceptual frameworks for other scholars to rely on. As a result, there's no need to detail every single possible implication from your study; simply describing those implications that are most relevant to your audience is often sufficient.

Provide useful examples

One of the easier ways to persuade readers of the potential implications of your research is to provide concrete examples that are simple to understand.

Think about a study that interviews children, for example, where the methodological implications dwell on establishing an emotional connection before collecting data. This might include practical considerations such as bringing toys or conducting the interview in a setting familiar to them like their classroom so they are comfortable during data collection. Explicitly detailing this example can guide scholars in useful takeaways for their research design.

Generate relevant insights with ATLAS.ti

Analyze your qualitative data with ease using ATLAS.ti. Start with a free trial today.

BIOL 101: The Cell: Writing Lab Reports

• Getting Started
• Finding Articles
• Finding Books
• Citation Searching
• Evaluating your sources
• Citing Your Sources

Writing Lab Reports

Here are some tips for writing lab reports! While lab reports are similar in structure and content to research articles published in scientific journals, they have a different purpose and audience, which will shape how you write them. The purpose of your lab report is to share the importance, analysis, and scope of your research. Your audience is your professor, instructor, or peers. While you probably won't be submitting your report to a journal for peer-review, it is still a good idea to adhere to the conventions and guidelines specified by your instructor, because writing these reports is really good practice for any science writing you may go on to do in your career!

Argumentation in Science

"The research report is more than a narrative; it is a careful argument. The authors of a research report find themselves in the position of building a case for their research, not simply recounting actions and observation" 

Penrose, A. M., & Katz, S. B. (2001). Writing in the sciences : exploring conventions of scientific discourse / Ann M. Penrose, Steven B. Katz . Pearson Custom Pub. Pp. 33

Writing Style

Avoid first person -  It is best to use a passive, third person voice when describing your experiment and results.

• For example - "The sample was analyzed. The results were positive."

Tenses - 

• Present tense: Use to describe accepted scientific information.
• Past tense: Use when discussing your research and findings.
• Future: Use when discussing how your research applies to future scientific endeavors.

Species -  All species should be referred to in their full Latin name, in italics

• For example -  Escerichia coli   or shortened to  E. coli
• Engage readers with the major concepts and ideas from your work in the order they are presented in the paper. Avoid analysis or lengthy descriptions.
• Write this section last, after you have already written the other sections. This will make it easier to summarize your findings.
• Keep it concise relatively brief. 

Introduction

•  Describe the scientific context and importance of the research area. How does this context connect to the purpose of your research?
• Then illuminate relevant primary literature and key concepts integral to understanding the research. Make sure to cite every piece of information and idea you include, following this  libguide .
• Explain the significance of your research, what are you hoping to add to the scholarly conversation?
• Introduce your hypothesis.
• In a logical order, present the materials and procedures used in the experiment.
• Someone with sufficient background knowledge should know how to reproduce the experiment by reading this section.
• In this class, your lab manual provides sufficient information for this section, but be aware that in other courses, you may need to take extra time to clearly and efficiently describe your methods.
• Considered the "heart" of the report!
• Stay away from more nuanced interpretation, instead sticking to statistical trends and summaries.
• You should connect observations about your results to the central argument of the report, without interpreting.
• All figures should be clearly labeled (Figure # or Table #).
• Refer reader to a specific figure or table as you explain your results. 
• Remember to stick to the past tense.
• What do your results mean? Interpret your results in the context of the concepts, literature, and purpose discussed in the introduction.
• Each conclusion you draw in this section should be backed up by evidence from your experiment.
• End with a summary of your findings and the bigger picture. Why does this research matter? What are the limitations of this study, and what would future follow-up studies look like to further add to this research?
• You can use the present tense in this section.
• List your references in alphabetical order using APA formatting.

Writing Resources

• << Previous: Citing Your Sources
• Last Updated: Aug 29, 2024 1:13 PM
• URL: https://libguides.williams.edu/biol101

Tips for Writing a Research Protocol

A brilliant advanced practitioner colleague, whose article you will find in this issue, asked whether JADPRO would publish her successfully funded grant application. When I asked about her motivation to become a researcher and seek grant funding after years of a successful clinical career, she had the most astonishing reply. “Physicians can be physician scientists, and I wanted to be a nurse practitioner scientist.” Her motivation made me wonder how many other advanced practitioners (APs) share the same desire: To strike a balance between conducting innovative research and maintaining patient care responsibilities. Indeed, her career path seemed remarkably similar to mine.

Current Issue

Artificial Intelligence: How Is it Relevant to Advanced Practitioners?

Beth Faiman, PhD, MSN, APRN-BC, AOCN®, BMTCN, FAAN, FAPO

July 19, 2024

Improving Practice in a Head and Neck Oncology Clinic Using the PRO-CTCAE Tool

Rose Ann Ruddy,(1) DNP, MSN, RN, ACNP-BC, Brigit Carter,(2) PhD, RN, CCRN, FAAN, Maryanne Giuliante,(1) DNP, MBA, RN, GNP, ANP-C, NEA-BC, HEC-C, and AnnMarie Lee Walton,(2) PhD, RN, MPH, OCN®, CHES, FAAN 

Interaction of the Gut Microbiome With Cancer Treatment

Paula M. Barrenechea, MPAS, PA-C

Recent Issues

• Event Website Publish a modern and mobile friendly event website.
• Registration & Payments Collect registrations & online payments for your event.
• Abstract Management Collect and manage all your abstract submissions.
• Peer Reviews Easily distribute and manage your peer reviews.
• Conference Program Effortlessly build & publish your event program.
• Virtual Poster Sessions Host engaging virtual poster sessions.
• Customer Success Stories
• Wall of Love ❤️

Mastering the Art of Writing an Effective Conference Abstract

Published on 30 Aug 2024

Conference abstracts are crucial in the world of academic research and professional health associations. They serve as the gateway to presenting your work at conferences, where you can share your findings, network with peers, and contribute to advancing your field. Writing a compelling abstract that stands out and increases your chances of acceptance requires careful attention to detail and an understanding of what reviewers are looking for.

What is the Purpose of a Conference Abstract?

A conference abstract is a succinct summary of your research that highlights the significance of your work, your methodology, and your findings. It is often the first (and sometimes only) piece of your work that conference organizers and reviewers see. The abstract must capture their attention, convey the essence of your research, and persuade them of its value to the conference and its attendees. Like the summary on the back of a novel that makes you want to read more, your abstract should give readers an intriguing glimpse into the larger story that your research can tell .

The Key Components of an Effective Abstract

If it’s your first time submitting to a conference, you may be tempted to simply copy and paste the introduction of your research paper into the abstract field. Don’t. An abstract and an introduction serve different purposes and have different formats . A well-crafted abstract typically includes the following key components:

Your title should be clear, concise, and descriptive. It should accurately reflect the content of your research and intrigue the reader. Avoid jargon and strive for a title that is both informative and engaging.

This section provides context for your study. Briefly describe the problem or gap in knowledge that your research addresses. The background should be compelling enough to establish the importance of your work within the broader field.

Clearly state the primary aim or research question of your study. This section should articulate what you set out to achieve with your research.

Summarize the methodology you used to conduct your research. This includes the study design, population or sample, data collection techniques, and analytical methods. Be precise and ensure that the methods align with your stated objectives.

Present the key findings of your study. Even if your research is ongoing, include any preliminary results that are available. The results should directly address your research objectives and provide evidence supporting your conclusions.

Conclude your abstract by summarizing the implications of your findings. Discuss how your research contributes to the field , its potential impact, and any recommendations for future research or practice.

Tips for Writing a Conference Abstract

1. focus on clarity in your writing.

Avoid technical jargon and overly complex language. Your abstract should be accessible to a broad audience, including those outside your area of expertise.

2. Keep Your Abstract Concise

Most conference abstracts are limited to 250-500 words. Make every word count by focusing on the most important aspects of your research. Eliminate unnecessary details and ensure that each section flows logically into the next.

3. Use an Active Voice if Possible

Writing in an active voice makes your abstract more engaging and direct. For example, instead of writing, "The study was conducted to assess...," write, "We conducted the study to assess..." 

4. Highlight the Novelty in Your Research

Emphasize what makes your research unique or innovative. If your study fills a gap in the literature, challenges existing paradigms, or introduces a new method or perspective, make that clear.  If your research will have practical implications in the world, outline that too. Reviewers are often looking for work that will inspire discussion and further research.

5. Align Your Abstract with Conference Themes

Tailor your abstract to fit the themes or focus areas of the conference. Demonstrating that your research aligns with the conference’s goals can increase its relevance to the reviewers. 

6. Give Yourself Plenty of Time to Revise and Edit

A well-written abstract requires multiple revisions. Review your abstract for clarity, conciseness, and coherence. Before submitting, ask colleagues or mentors to review your abstract. They can provide valuable insights and help identify areas for improvement.

Common Conference Abstract Mistakes to Avoid

Another great way to write a good abstract is to first think about how NOT to write one . Here’s a list of common mistakes to avoid when writing and editing your submission:

1. Lack of Focus

An abstract that tries to cover too much can become unfocused and difficult to follow. Stick to the main points of your research. If you’re debating if something is important enough to include, you’re probably better off leaving it out.

2. Vague or General Statements

Be specific in your description of the background, objectives, methods, and results. Vague statements can leave reviewers unsure about the significance of your work. Don’t feel the need to include every detail of course, but make sure you highlight WHY the details matter (i.e. why would someone want to learn more about your work).

3. Ignoring Word Limits

Exceeding the word limit can result in automatic rejection. Double-check and be sure to adhere to the guidelines provided by the conference.

4. Omitting Key Results

If your abstract lacks results or presents them in a vague manner, it may be perceived as incomplete or unconvincing. Reviewers want to be told why they should care about your work. Results are a huge part of that.

5. Submitting at the Last Minute

Early submission gives you more time to make revisions if needed and reduces the stress of last-minute technical issues. Most abstract management platforms allow you to return and edit your submissions up to the deadline. So, you’re better off submitting at least a day or two early.

The Importance of Following Conference Guidelines

Each conference may have specific guidelines for abstract submission, including formatting, word limits, and content requirements. These guidelines are designed to standardize submissions and ensure that all abstracts can be fairly reviewed. Failing to adhere to these guidelines can result in your abstract being rejected, regardless of the quality of your research. Always review the conference's submission instructions carefully and ensure your abstract meets all the requirements. If the instructions given aren’t clear, it never hurts to reach out to the organizing committee to clarify before you submit.

Once you’ve confirmed the guidelines for your conference, check if the organizers have provided a list of sample abstracts for you review. Some organizations will give guidance to help you write your submission, like this list of example abstracts provided by the Association for Applied Sport Psychology .

Writing a Great Conference Abstract

Crafting a compelling abstract is both an art and a science. By understanding the purpose of an abstract, focusing on clarity and conciseness, avoiding common mistakes, and adhering to conference guidelines, you can significantly increase your chances of having your work accepted and making an impact in your field. And, if you do get accepted, be sure to come back here for more tips on how to write your speaker bio and how to present your research at a conference .

5 Best Event Registration Platforms for Your Next Conference

By having one software to organize registrations and submissions, a pediatric health center runs aro...

5 Essential Conference Apps for Your Event

In today’s digital age, the success of any conference hinges not just on the content and speakers bu...

• Managed Services
• Citation Building
• Citation Audit
• Citation Cleanup
• SEO Packages
• Keyword Gap Analysis
• Backlink Gap Analysis
• Keyword Research
• Content Strategy
• SEO Consulting Service
• Google Ads Management
• White Label PPC
• SEO Copywriting
• Blog Writing
• Content Brief Writing
• Guest Posts
• Niche Edits
• Authority Links
• Brand Links
• Press Releases
• Content Marketing Services
• Client Results
• SEO Community

• Book a strategy call
• Refund Policy
• Privacy Policy
• Affiliate Program

How to Write a White Paper (+Template and Writing Tips)

Hand off the toughest tasks in SEO, PPC, and content without compromising quality

The thought of writing a white paper can be a bit… intimidating (not to mention bah-oring).

Worry no more. I’ve put together this no-BS guide that’ll have you churning out white papers that don’t just inform but convert—even if you haven’t written a lick of content since your high school days.

What Are White Papers?

In a nutshell, white papers are a persuasive, in-depth report on a specific topic. Marketers create white papers to showcase their expertise, educate their audience, and (ideally) convince them that their solution or approach is the best way to tackle a particular problem.

Now, you might be thinking, “Isn’t that a blog post?” Sort of, but not quite.

While both white papers and blog posts aim to be informative, white papers are typically more formal, research-backed, and focused on a specific problem or solution. Think of them as a blend between a blog post and a research paper.

Not to mention, they are often offered as a download behind a lead capture of some sort.

Benefits of White Papers in Content Marketing

Unlike a fleeting social media post or a quick blog skim, white papers require a bit more commitment from your audience.

That’s because they offer something truly valuable: in-depth insights, original research, and actionable solutions to real problems. The real deal. Strike this cord, and you’ll be creating content that not only generates leads but also establishes your brand as a thought leader in your industry.

It’s common practice to gate white papers behind a lead capture form (asking for an email address, job title, etc.).

There are two benefits to this approach. 1) You get their contact information for future campaigns, and 2) readers who are willing to give up some of their personal information are the folks who are serious about solving their problems and are more likely to convert into paying customers down the line.

The potential of white paper isn’t just anecdotal. It’s backed by data.

A recent study revealed that white papers are serious contenders in the content marketing world. You see, 43 percent of marketers reported white papers as one of their top-performing content formats. In fact, they ranked fourth in effectiveness, just trailing in-person/online events, webinars/online courses, and research reports.

How to Write a Great White Paper (Even if You’re Not a Writer)

Alright, this thing ain’t going to write itself, so it’s time to roll up your sleeves and get this white paper written. Hesitant? Don’t worry if you don’t consider yourself a “writer”—I’m going to walk you through the process step-by-step.

Step 1: Define Your Goal and Target Audience

Before diving headfirst into research and writing, take a moment to clarify some goals.

What are you hoping to achieve with this white paper? Generate leads, position your company as a thought leader, or educate your audience about a complex topic?

And who are you talking to? Are they newbies or well-versed in your field of expertise?

Open a doc and write down your answers. Then, refer to them as you write. It’ll help you stay on track.

Step 2: Conduct Your Initial Research

Now that you know what you want to achieve and to whom you’re talking to, whack that lab coat of yours on and start the research process.

Dissect industry reports, case studies, and relevant data to back up your claims and insights. Remember, providing valuable information is the backbone of every good white paper, so make sure your research is thorough and credible.

Step 3: Structure Your White Paper the Right Way (a Template)

Once you’ve gathered your information, create a detailed outline that maps out the white paper’s structure. Super important. Great outlines guide the journey to excellent content.

Here’s how a white paper is typically structured (go right ahead—copy and paste it and use it as a template, if you’d like):

Title Page: Your white paper’s business card. It should include:

• A strong, attention-grabbing title that reflects your topic and keywords
• Your name (or your company’s name)
• The date of publication
• (Optional) Your company logo or a relevant image

Executive Summary: This is your white paper’s elevator pitch. In a few concise paragraphs, summarize:

• The problem you’re addressing
• Your proposed solution(s)
• The key benefits readers will gain

Introduction: Now’s your chance to hook the reader. Start with a compelling stat, a thought-provoking question, or a relatable anecdote. Then, provide some background context on the problem and why it matters.

Problem Description: Time to really go deep into the problem. Explain its causes, consequences, and why it’s important to address it now. Use data, statistics, and real-world examples to paint a vivid picture of the issue.

Solution Description: Your time to shine. Present your solution(s) in detail, explaining how they address the problem and why they’re the best approach. Be sure to back up your claims with evidence and data.

Benefits: Don’t just tell readers what your solution is—show them how it will benefit them. Highlight the tangible outcomes they can expect, such as increased efficiency, cost savings, or improved performance.

Implementation Guidelines: Get practical and actionable. Provide a step-by-step guide on how to implement your solution, including tips, best practices, and potential roadblocks to watch out for.

Conclusion: Wrap it all up with a powerful conclusion that summarizes the key points and reinforces the value of your solution. Include a strong call to action, encouraging readers to take the next step, whether it’s contacting you for more information, downloading a resource, or implementing your recommendations.

(Optional) Appendices and References: If you have additional data, charts, or research that supports your claims, include them in appendices. Also, cite any references you used throughout the white paper to add credibility.

Step 4: Writing the Content

Alright, you’ve got your outline, your research is locked and loaded, and now it’s time to face the blank page. Deep breaths, everyone. Let’s do this.

Here are a few white paper-specific writing tips to keep in mind:

• Tailor your language and tone to your target audience. Are you speaking to tech-savvy engineers or marketing executives? Adjust your vocabulary and level of detail accordingly.
• A white paper isn’t a novel. It’s a problem-solving document. Clearly articulate the problem , offer a well-researched solution, and back it up with evidence.
• If you’re proposing a new method or approach, explain your methodology and reasoning in detail. This builds trust and credibility.
• Don’t leave your readers hanging. Tell them what you want them to do after reading your white paper. Should they contact you for a consultation? Download a related resource? Make it clear and easy for them to take the next step.

Step 5: Time to Edit

Now that your white paper’s first draft is done, resist the urge to hit “publish” straight away. Take a step back (wait a day or two if you can), grab a fresh cup of coffee, and begin the editing process.

Hit the basics first. Give your white paper a thorough read-through. Look for typos, grammatical errors, and awkward phrasing. Does your writing flow smoothly? Are your points clear and concise? If not, don’t be afraid to make cuts or rephrase sentences for clarity.

Next, consider the bigger picture. Does your white paper’s structure make sense? Are your arguments well-supported by evidence? Is your call to action compelling? If not, it might be time for some refining or rearranging of sections.

If you’re feeling stuck, don’t hesitate to ask a colleague or friend for feedback. A fresh pair of eyes can often spot things you might have missed.

And if you really want to polish your prose, consider hiring a professional editor. They’ll help you refine your writing and ensure your white paper is error-free and engaging.

A well-edited white paper not only reflects your brand well but also makes your content more accessible and enjoyable for readers. So, take the time to polish your masterpiece before releasing it into the wild.

Conclusion and Next Steps

While crafting a killer white paper can feel like scaling Mount Everest, the rewards—in terms of leads, authority, and brand recognition—are worth the climb. But hey, if you’d rather leave the heavy lifting to the experts (and focus on what you do best), we’ve got your back.

At Loganix, we’re all about helping you achieve your SEO goals—whether that’s through top-notch content creation or a comprehensive SEO strategy that drives real results.

Ready to take your online presence to the next level?

🚀 Book a strategy call with us today, and let’s develop a plan that fits your unique goals. 🚀

Written by Aaron Haynes on August 14, 2024

CEO and partner at Loganix, I believe in taking what you do best and sharing it with the world in the most transparent and powerful way possible. If I am not running the business, I am neck deep in client SEO.

Now it’s your turn.

Now I’d like to turn it over to you to spark a debate or lead a new discussion.

What in this post were you excited about? What was useful? What would you like to read more about?

Or maybe you just have a question about something you read.

Either way, let us know in the comments below.