How to write a college research paper

Figuring out what you want to write about will be your first major battle when beginning a college-level research paper.

To pick a topic, consider:

• The requirements. Know the parameters of the assignment. What type of paper is your professor asking for? How long must it be? Always read the instructions over and over again to ensure you won't face problems later.


• Your interests. If you've been assigned an open-ended paper, tying in an interest of yours is a surefire way to motivate you through the paper-writing process. What do you want to learn about? What do you hope to learn from this class? If it's for a class outside your major, think of ways you can connect your field of study to the subject. The more knowledgeable you start out, the easier your paper will be.


• Narrowness. One common pitfall is picking too big a focus. Be sure to pick a topic that's manageable within the confines of your paper. For instance, a topic like the "Electoral College" would be considered too large by many professors. Focusing it into a question such as "Is the Electoral College the fairest way to elect a president" is better.

The next step is to reduce your topic into a claim, or thesis.

For more help, visit: Research Paper Ideas: How to Pick a Topic
A fantastic list of topics for argumentative papers can be found here: Argument Topics

So now you should have an idea of what you want to write about. But how do you turn your topic into a thesis?

A thesis statement is basically a claim. To make the question, "Is the Electoral College the fairest way to elect a president?" into a thesis, I could simply state "The Electoral College is not a fair way to elect a president."

Good theses will have real world significance or bring something new to a field of a study. For instance, I could also research alternatives to the Electoral College, and pick one and claim it's the best way to represent voters for a thesis.

Sometimes your paper may be "research for research's sake," and that's okay for some college courses. A history paper analyzing whether Napoleon betrayed the French revolution, for instance, wouldn't necessarily be significant outside your class or provide new insight. But it would be a compelling enough thesis that it could be a solid research paper.

Always check with your professor or teaching assistant to determine whether your thesis is well-suited for the research assignment.

Google, Yahoo, Ask, and other major search engines can't help you when searching for sources on the Internet (well, except for Google Scholar). Sure, you may be able to find relevant, helpful information, but you will not be able to use it as support for your paper.

Why?

College research papers often require peer-reviewed work by experts. Peer-reviewed means other experts have examined the paper's findings and research and found the author's methods to be scientifically sound.

Academic journals are where you'll find peer-reviewed articles for your paper. Books published by university presses are also acceptable resources. Books published by other presses can be reputable, but you'll need to research the credentials of the author.

Your college's library is your best friend when writing research papers. Databases located on their website will help you find the proper academic articles. And don't forget about browsing through their catalog of books.

Academic journals can be tough to read. If you need help, check out this article:
How to Read Articles in Academic or Scholarly Journals

You have your thesis and your research. Are you ready to start writing?

Beginning a research paper can be intimidating. How do you start? Think of your introduction as needing these key ingredients:

• An attention grabber: A statistic, a quote, an anecdote, or a thought-provoking statement that illustrates your thesis or the problem can be effective ways to hooking an audience.


• Context: What do your readers need to know in order to understand the problem?


• Problem: What's the problem? Why is this a problem? If you're doing a "research for research's sake" paper, then explain why readers should care about your topic.


• Proposed solution or response (thesis): How do you respond to the problem? What's your thesis? This is the most important part of your introduction.


• Road Map: Sometimes professors prefer you to outline the major reasons supporting your thesis.

For ideas on attention grabbers, visit: How to Start a Research Paper

After you finish your introduction, your biggest challenge awaits: writing the bulk of your research paper.

The Craft of Research details a great formula for supporting your thesis and therefore the rest of your paper.

Your major reasons supporting your thesis will delineate the main sections of your research paper. Reasons are what you can logically deduce after examining the evidence. You may support each reason with subreasons.

But you must also provide the evidence for your reasoning and explain how the evidence supports your reasoning. The more evidence for each reason and subreason, the better.

A rough sketch of a paper may look something like this:

First section:

• Reason 1
  
  • Subreason 1
    
    • Evidence supporting Subreason 1
      
      • Explanation of how evidence supports Subreason 1
  
  
  • Subreason 2
    
    • Evidence supporting Subreason 2
      
      • Explanation of how evidence supports Subreason 2
  
  

Second section:

• Reason 2
  
  • Subreason 1
    
    • Evidence supporting Subreason 1
      
      • Explanation of how evidence supports Subreason 1
  
  
  • Subreason 2
    
    • Evidence supporting Subreason 2
      
      • Explanation of how evidence supports Subreason 2
  
  

So if one of my reasons supporting the unfairness of the Electoral College was "it favors smaller states," I must back up this reason with facts, and then explain why the facts fit my reasoning.

In the conclusion, you should:

• Remind the reader of your major reasons that support your thesis.


• Restate your thesis. Was it right? Wrong? Does more research need to be done?


• Discuss the broader implications of your research, or why this research is important.

After writing your paper, always check your citations.

Remember you need in-text citations when:

• You directly quote from a source. Use quote marks to designate the quoted material.


• You paraphrase from a source. Be careful here. If your paraphrase is too close to the source's language, it's considered plagiarism even if you cite it.


• You take an idea from a source. For instance, if I got the idea of the Electoral College disadvantaging third parties from a source, I would need to credit that source.

You should also make sure you stick to one style and your in-text citations are uniform to that style (i.e. you don't switch from MLA to APA.

You must also include a bibliography and works cited page of all the sources you used.

For more information on how to cite sources, check out Easy Bib or Diane Hacker's website.

No matter what field of study you're writing a paper for, grammar counts. Always proofread your paper several times before submitting it.

Be sure to look out for these trouble spots:

• Subject and verb agreement


• Possessives and plurals


• Contractions


• Subject and antecedent agreement


• Passive voice

If you struggle with grammar, visit your college's writing center. Or you can invest in a grammar book.

This article also provides some information on common mistakes in articles: How to Proofread Your College Paper: A Guide to Common Hotspot Areas and Mistakes

Find that you cannot concentrate on your paper? Try stepping away from your computer (which can be quite distracting) and writing some of your points out by hand. Or try working on tasks that don't require a lot of concentration such as compiling your bibliography.

For more tips, visit: How to Stop Procrastinating on Your Research Paper