The Research Paper |
| 1. The Thesis: The thesis is the heart of your paper. In this case, you are half way there because you already have a research question. Based on your research, you should have some idea of what an answer to that question might be. The answer to the research, or essential, question is your thesis. If you have further questions, see what what the Purdue Online Writing Lab has to say about writing a thesis. | Write your thesis statement here:
Discuss your thesis with your advisor. |
Click here to download an outline template: Discuss your outline with your advisor. |
2. Outline: So, you have completed your research and you have the thesis statement. Put that thesis at the top of a blank page and create an outline below that. An outline, in general terms, is the organization of subtopics that when explained together, supports the thesis. You can also break down your subtopics in to, what we might call, sub-subtopics. All of these subtopics come from your research. If you have further questions, see what what the Purdue Online Writing Lab has to say about outlines. |
| 3. Start Your First Draft: The first draft, of course, is derived from your outline. It is the first attempt at making a serious effort to put your thesis and its explanation into words. If you have further questions, see what what the Purdue Online Writing Lab has to say about first drafts. Discuss your first draft with your advisor. | 4. Revision: The best way to start to revise is to compare your first draft with your outline. Are your ideas in the order that they belong? Once you have completed that step, review the grammar and sentence structure. A great grammar resource is The Guide to Grammar and Writing. Make any corrections that will improve the clarity of your paper. If you have further questions, see what what the Purdue Online Writing Lab has to say about revisions. |
| 5. Write Your Final Draft: Your final draft comes from you revisions. You might want revise more than once. But you need to give yourself lots of time to go through the revision process. | 6. Bibliography: Your bibliography is generated from your annotated bibliography. Delete and source that you did not site in your paper. Delete all of the annotations. Now you have your bibliography. Click here for a model of the MLA bibliography. Click here for a model of the APA bibliography. |
Other Resources If you have further questions on a research paper, use these resources: |