Research papers that are usually assigned to students in schools and colleges may include observing events, making interviews, performing laboratory experiments, or systematically reading the ideas of thinkers and researchers in the field of research and then presenting the results of their work so that others can share and evaluate their ideas.
Research papers can be assigned by a professor or be a student’s own desire. The results can appear in the form of a paper or report designed for the class, or in the form of an article for public use and evaluation. Research papers are also made as a part of business presentations or term papers for the social science disciplines. In this case, they are either to introduce the main topic or to support/disprove it.
Sources to Use in Research Paper Writing
Research paper writing is more than just gathering information; it requires the student to exercise critical thinking skills of choosing the topic, focusing on a proper thesis, thoroughly investigating the subject, analyzing valid information, and reporting the results so that legitimate statements can be made about some aspect of reality. Students will need to evaluate a lot of sources while writing their research papers.
There are two types of sources – primary and secondary. Primary sources are first-hand reports or other original materials such as autobiographies, first records in media, surveys, films, music, etc. Secondary sources are second-hand information, reports, reviews, essays, and articles that interpret the work of others or words of others on the researched subject.
In order to write a successful research paper writer should choose a good mixture of primary and secondary sources in the paper. Research paper writing needs good paraphrasing and referencing skills in order to avoid any plagiarism in the academic paper. It is hard not to use someone’s ideas while accomplishing a research paper; students need to be smart enough to employ this idea as the central idea and still not plagiarize. It is very important to give properly arranged credit to the writer of the original work. Plagiarism is untruthful and brings bad consequences and penalties for students. In order to avoid plagiarism, students should document their sources whenever they use direct quotations, copy any types of diagrams and charts, construct a table from data made available by others, summarize or paraphrase some parts in their own words, and present specific examples taken from specific sources. Sources are documented in accordance with specific citation styles such as MLA (Modern Language Association), APA (American Psychology Association), ACS (American Chemical Society), CBE (Council of Biology Editors), Turabian, and CSM (Chicago Manual of Style) that are relevant to specific discipline types.
It is easy to succeed in research paper writing when having great samples, guides, and topic ideas at one’s fingertips. All the three things you can find in the list below.
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Another key to successful writing is the use of dependable sources to avoid fakes. One should check information in several sources to verify it. Use the following websites:
- The New York Times;
- Google Scholar;
- Jstor.
Research Paper Types
Depending on whether your assignment involves explaining the research or arguing a specific viewpoint, the research type will be divided into two categories:
Analytical research papers – this type of research paper requires the student to become an expert in the area under discussion, to learn all necessary aspects, and to use only useful information that is closely related to the researched question in order to explain it to readers.
Argumentative research papers – this type of research paper requires the writer to advocate his/her point of view about the issue. Students are required to take a specific position and express their opinion and argue the way they are right, and the opposition is not. They should also persuade the reader that their attitude is right.
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The Value of Research Paper Outline
It is hard to keep all the ideas in mind. Planning helps a student organize and structure a research paper to guarantee a logical flow. It is a visualization tool that does let a learner fail.
If a person has a detailed research paper outline, a student will not forget to add the required section to get the highest grade. A good outline includes titles and headings for the following parts:
- abstract,
- introduction,
- applied methods for the collection of information,
- research outcomes,
- discussion of results.
Besides, a student should add a title page, a bibliography section, and an appendix part. Titles, headings, and subheadings should be brief and precise. Besides, they should reflect the core message of the part.
The best way to check if the paper is top-notch is to create a list of the required things and make sure that you have done everything required. As a rule, this list consists of the following steps:
- research;
- make a research paper writing plan;
- analyze a good example of a research paper;
- write a paper;
- use grammar and plagiarism checkers;
- edit and proofread a paper.
Conclusion
A research paper is a multitasking assignment. A person has to devote enough time to it to investigate sources, compose a paper, and check the text to make sure that it has no grammatical, contextual, or formatting mistakes. Moreover, each introduced fact needs verification. So, one should devote enough time to plan everything and perform the task at a high level.
Frequently Asked Questions About Research Paper Writing
How long should a research paper be?
The length of such a paper depends on the assignment instructions and the topic. The average research paper can be anywhere from 4,000 to 6,000 words. However, there are short research papers that are around 2,000 words and some that reach up to 10,000 words. Complex topics that require extensive research influence the length of a research paper. The best advice is to adhere to the task instructions.
How to cite sources in a research paper?
The formatting style you should use is usually specified in the task instructions. In most cases, students are required to format their research papers according to the APA or MLA citation style, depending on the discipline in question. However, other citation styles are widely used as well, so check the requirements first.