How to Write a Research Paper

Research papers are generally longer pieces of written work than essays. Writing a research paper involves all of the steps for writing an essay plus some additional ones.

To write a research paper you must first do some research, that is, investigate your topic by reading about it in many different sources, including books, magazines, newspapers, and the Internet. In some cases you may also conduct interviews. The information you gather from these sources is then used to support the points you make in your paper.

Writing a research paper also involves documenting your sources of information in footnotes or endnotes. This way the reader knows where you got your information and can judge whether it is reliable.

Here are the steps to follow when writing a research paper:-

1. Try to pick a topic that's fun and interesting. Choose a topic that is broad enough to be interesting but narrow enough to be manageable. If your topic genuinely interests you, chances are you'll enjoy spending time working on it and it won't seem like a chore.
2. Finding a topic can be difficult. Give yourself plenty of time to read and think about what you'd like to do. Trying to answer questions you have about a particular subject may lead you to a good paper idea.

• What subject(s) are you interested in?
• What interests you most about a particular subject?
• Is there anything you wonder about or are puzzled about with regard to that subject?

3. Once you have a topic, you will probably need to narrow it down to something more manageable. For example-

Too general:
Training and Development

Revised:
Effect of Manpower Training on Organization’s Performance

4. One method for coming up with a more specific focus is called brainstorming (or free writing). Brainstorming is a useful way to let ideas you didn't know you had come to the surface.

• Sit down with a pencil and paper, or at your computer, and write whatever comes into your head about your topic.
• Keep writing for a short but specific amount of time, say 3–5 minutes. Don't stop to change what you've written or to correct spelling or grammar errors.
• After a few minutes, read through what you've written. You will probably throw out most of it, but some of what you've written may give you an idea that can be developed.
• Do some more brainstorming and see what else you can come up with

5.      Look for Sources

Ø  Take a trip to the library. Use the electronic catalog or browse the shelves to look for books on your topic. If you find a book that is useful, check the bibliography (list of sources) in the back of that book for other books or articles on that topic. Also check indexes of periodicals and newspapers. Check with a librarian if you need help finding sources.

Ø  Try to use as many different types of sources as you can, including books, magazine articles, and internet articles. Don't rely on just one source for all your information.

Ø  Keep a list of all the sources that you use. Include the title of the source, the author, publisher, and place and date of publication. This is your preliminary, or draft, bibliography

6.     Read Your Sources and Take Notes

After you've gathered your sources, begin reading and taking notes.

1.      Use 3 x 5 index cards, one fact or idea per card. This way related ideas from different sources can be easily grouped together or rearranged.

2.      On each index card, be sure to note the source, including the volume number (if there is one) and the page number. If you wind up using that idea in your paper, you will have the information about the source ready to put in your footnote or endnote.

3.      If you copy something directly from a book without putting it in your own words, put quotation marks around it so that you know it is an exact quotation. This will help you to avoid plagiarism. (For more, see What is Plagiarism?).

4.     Before you sit down to write your rough draft, organize your note cards by subtopic (you can write headings on the cards) and make an outline.

7.      Organize Your Ideas

Using the information collected on the note cards, develop an outline to organize your ideas. An outline shows your main ideas and the order in which you are going to write about them. It's the bare bones of what will later become a fleshed-out written report.

1.      Write down all the main ideas.

2.      List the subordinate ideas below the main ideas.

3.      Avoid any repetition of ideas.

8.     Write a First Draft

1.      Every essay or paper is made up of three parts:

·         introduction

·         body

·         conclusion

2.      The introduction is the first paragraph of the paper. It often begins with a general statement about the topic and ends with a more specific statement of the main idea of your paper. The purpose of the introduction is to:

·         let the reader know what the topic is

·         inform the reader about your point of view

·         arouse the reader's curiosity so that he or she will want to read about your topic

3.      The body of the paper follows the introduction. It consists of a number of paragraphs in which you develop your ideas in detail.

·         Limit each paragraph to one main idea. (Don't try to talk about more than one idea per paragraph.)

·         Prove your points continually by using specific examples and quotations from your note cards.

·         Use transition words to ensure a smooth flow of ideas from paragraph to paragraph.

4.      The conclusion is the last paragraph of the paper. Its purpose is to

·         summarize your points, leaving out specific examples

·         restate the main idea of the paper

9.     Use Footnotes or Endnotes to Document Sources

1.      As you write your first draft, including the introduction, body, and conclusion, add the information or quotations on your note cards to support your ideas.

2.      Use footnotes or endnotes to identify the sources of this information. If you are using footnotes, the note will appear on the same page as the information you are documenting, at the bottom (or "foot") of the page. If you are using endnotes, the note will appear together with all other notes on a separate page at the end of your report, just before the bibliography.

3.      There are different formats for footnotes (and endnotes), so be sure to use the one your teacher prefers.

4.      Note that footnotes can be shortened if the source has already been given in full in a previous footnote. (see below)

10. Write a Bibliography

A bibliography is a list of the sources you used to get information for your report. It is included at the end of your report, on the last page (or last few pages).

You will find it easier to prepare your final bibliography if you keep track of each book, encyclopedia, or article you use as you are reading and taking notes. Start a preliminary, or draft, bibliography by listing on a separate sheet of paper all your sources. Note down the full title, author, place of publication, publisher, and date of publication for each source.

Also, every time a fact gets recorded on a note card, its source should be noted in the top right corner. (Notice that in the sample note card, The World Book, Volume 2, page 21, has been shortened to: WB, 2, p.133.) When you are finished writing your paper, you can use the information on your note cards to double-check your bibliography.

When assembling a final bibliography, list your sources (texts, articles, interviews, and so on) in alphabetical order by authors' last names. Sources that don't have authors (encyclopedias, movies) should be alphabetized by title. There are different formats for bibliographies, so be sure to use the one your teacher prefers.

General Guide to Formatting a Bibliography

For a book:

Author (last name first). Title of the book. City: Publisher, Date of publication.

EXAMPLE:

Dahl, Roald. The BFG. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1982.

For an encyclopedia:

Encyclopedia Title, Edition Date. Volume Number, "Article Title," page numbers.

EXAMPLE:

The Encyclopedia Britannica, 1997. Volume 7, "Gorillas," pp. 50-51.

For a magazine:

Author (last name first), "Article Title." Name of magazine. Volume number, (Date): page numbers.

EXAMPLE:

Jordan, Jennifer, "Filming at the Top of the World." Museum of Science Magazine. Volume 47, No. 1, (Winter 1998): p. 11.

For a newspaper:

Author (last name first), "Article Title." Name of newspaper, city, state of publication. (date): edition if available, section, page number(s).

EXAMPLE:

Powers, Ann, "New Tune for the Material Girl." The New York Times, New York, NY. (3/1/98): Atlantic Region, Section 2, p. 34.

For a person:

Full name (last name first). Occupation. Date of interview.

EXAMPLE:

Smeckleburg, Sweets. Bus driver. April 1, 1996.

For a film:

Title, Director, Distributor, Year.

EXAMPLE:

Braveheart, Dir. Mel Gibson, Icon Productions, 1995

CD-ROM:

Disc title: Version, Date. "Article title," pages if given. Publisher.

EXAMPLE:

Compton's Multimedia Encyclopedia: Macintosh version, 1995. "Civil rights movement," p.3. Compton's Newsmedia.

Magazine article:

Author (last name first). "Article title." Name of magazine (type of medium). Volume number, (Date): page numbers. If available: publisher of medium, version, date of issue.

EXAMPLE:

Rollins, Fred. "Snowboard Madness." Sports Stuff (CD-ROM). Number 15, (February 1997): pp. 15-19. SIRS, Mac version, Winter 1997.

Newspaper article:

Author (last name first). "Article title." Name of newspaper (Type of medium), city and state of publication. (Date): If available: Edition, section and page number(s). If available: publisher of medium, version, date of issue.

EXAMPLE:

Stevenson, Rhoda. "Nerve Sells." Community News (CD-ROM), Nassau, NY. (Feb 1996): pp. A4-5. SIRS, Mac. version, Spring 1996.

Online Resources

Internet:

Author of message, (Date). Subject of message. Electronic conference or bulletin board (Online). Available e-mail: LISTSERV@ e-mail address

EXAMPLE:

Ellen Block, (September 15, 1995). New Winners. Teen Booklist (Online). Helen Smith@wellington.com

World Wide Web:

URL (Uniform Resource Locator or WWW address). author (or item's name, if mentioned), date.

EXAMPLE: (Boston Globe's www address)

http://www.boston.com. Today's News, August 1, 1996.

11.       Revise the First Draft

1. Try to set aside your draft for a day or two before revising. This makes it easier to view your work objectively and see any gaps or problems.
2. Revising involves rethinking your ideas, refining your arguments, reorganizing paragraphs, and rewording sentences. You may need to develop your ideas in more detail, give more evidence to support your claims, or delete material that is unnecessary.
3. Read your paper out loud. This sometimes makes it easier to identify writing that is awkward or unclear.
4. Have somebody else read the paper and tell you if there's anything that's unclear or confusing.

Proofread The Final Draft And Publish

1. Look for careless errors such as misspelled words and incorrect punctuation and capitalization.
2. Errors are harder to spot on a computer screen than on paper. If you type your paper on a computer, print out a copy to proofread. Remember, spell checkers and grammar checkers don't always catch errors, so it is best not to rely on them too much.