How To Outline A Research Paper:
After conducting preliminary research, you should be able to identify a specific area or issue that needs further development.
Topic:
The first thing you need maybe a topic. In contrast to a book, a research paper should not aim to tackle a whole academic discipline. Instead, the topic must be focused and narrow. A potential discussion might focus on an underused source base, a particular debate, or a new development.
Source Base:
Once you have decided upon a subject, you will need to establish a source base. Like the topic, this needs to be focused and narrow. This is the stage in which you will conduct the bulk of your research. Ask yourself, what are the sources telling you? Do they change your idea in any way? And, are there any extra sources you might have missed that could be necessary for your topic?
The Argument:
After completing a significant amount of research, you should be able to form an argument. What will your evidence suggest? How does this contribute to the debates you originally intended to address? This is a good time to start listing the relevant points you’ll want to cover in the body. It can also be helpful to write your argument down. While it might change in the process of writing, or after further research, it’s good to have a focus. A research paper should not be descriptive and so it can be helpful to have a preliminary argument written to keep your writing focused.
Choosing a Publisher:
Lastly, before writing you should identify which journal you want to submit to. It’s vital to pick a journal that covers your field of study as this can give you a greater chance of publication. Can it also mean that assigned reviewers are more knowledgeable on your current academic discipline and so will offer better guidance in their feedback? A good method is to check your own secondary research. What are the most common journals you use? Then you can use their websites to assess whether your topic and methodology fit their style guidelines. Sometimes it might be worth emailing the journal editor with a brief summary of your article to enquire if it would be something of interest.
How To Structure A Research Paper:
After creating an outline of your points and argument, this needs to be organized into a written format. The length of your paper will depend upon your field of study, methodology, referencing style and intended publisher. Journals will list the length of publications they accept on their website so you should use that as a guide. While articles are commonly between 10-20 pages, some journals can accept pieces up to 50 pages.
Introduction:
Arguably the most important part of any written piece, the introduction needs to be engaging to catch the reader’s attention. Here, you should summarize your topic and approach before finishing with a thesis statement.
Main Body:
The main body will feature the main points that you listed for your argument. Make sure each section is relevant and linked. Going off on a tangent will create your work look unorganized. Your argument might seem less convincing if there is little or no apparent relation between each point. It’s important to remember that you shouldn't organize your sections by sources, but by theme. It is also a good idea to finish with your strongest point as it will help make your conclusion look more convincing.
Conclusion:
Here you should revisit your original thesis statement made in the introduction and then summarize how you have shown this to be true. Go over each point making it clear how it contributes to your argument. The conclusion is also where you might counsel that further research is needed into the broader topic. Revisions lastly, it is always crucial to revise your work. A good research paper will probably be drafted at least a couple of times. Make sure to check these three key things:
- Grammar and readability
- The clarity and flow of your argument
- References and factual evidence used
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