Writing a Research Paper

An introduction to the key aspects of the research paper genre

Usually at the post-secondary level, when it finally comes time to write your first real research essay--or "paper" as it's more commonly called--you may find yourself confronted with confusion, resentment, panic, and a anger.'

Maybe you have a creative writing background from high school or even college where you were accustomed to writing "personal essays," the only research involved being a mental rifling through your brain's repositories for relevant experiences you've had.

Or you vaguely remember writing a five-paragraph expository essay in English Comp. 12 on William Golding's Lord of the Flies where the body of the essay was filled only with your ideas and examples straight from the text.

Or you have "reports" under your belt on Japanese culture or how papyrus was made and used in Ancient Egypt, neither of which you knew anything about at the time the assignment was given, so you absorbed information from the library and regurgitated your findings in summary form.

None of these are research papers!

True research papers are more than a loose collection of anecdotal memories or a patchwork of data pulled from dozen (or so) peer-reviewed articles on a specific topic. But while new to most students, a research paper can be incredibly exciting, rewarding, and even comforting to write because it finally allows you to really get into a subject you care about.

The following is here to help you through the process.

However, before you move along the steps laid out and pick up our breadcrumbs of wisdom, you're probably still wondering, and rightfully so, what exactly is a research paper?

Once you know what you're writing, it's time to do what so few first-year students do: give thought to who you're writing for. This is an integral part of research papers in particular because of the natural broadening of the audience that occurs from the consultation of "others" in the field: your outside sources.

Even when you are clear on the purpose and audience of your paper, one of the most intimidating, nerve-wracking, and dangerous aspects of research paper writing is plagiarism, especially when you're not experienced with the process of using secondary sources. But knowledge is power. It can't hurt you if you know what plagiarism is and how to avoid it.

Topic

Introduction

Don't be immediately scared of a topic or "topics" in general. Too often, students are exasperated from the beginning because they don't feel they have any authority or knowledge about their subject area. That's not a great attitude to start with. Have faith in your own smarts and course work. You'll start the research in the next step. Nobody's expecting you to be an expert or get your paper published in a journal, so just start jotting down ideas about things related to your topic. You may even want to keep a journal to keep everything in one place. So step one is to relax.

Think about your first year psychology class, what areas were most interesting to you?  Try a little surfing on the internet, yep that right, just do a Google Search on whatever interests you!  When you go through your results page, try to say away from the non-academic sites however they can be fun too!  After you find a topic, start looking at academic search engines like Ebsco, PubMed, and PsycWeb for example.  Read some papers (or abstracts at least) and lots of them. Absorb! Eventually, you will find something is both interesting and has a method that can be carried out with the resources that are available here.  Order that paper through interlibrary loans, as it is likely that our library will not have it articles! One of the oldest secrets to conducting good research is "read the reference section of the paper you just found".  The authors who published it are smart enough to get a publication, read what they read and you too will be smart enough to do the same.  Collect, read and take notes on (annotations) as many articles as it necessary.  Sooner or later you will identify a real problem or question.  Ask your self questions like, if I were these authors, what would I do next, what problems remain, is there disagreement in the field, and what are some alternative explanations. What ever you do, don't try to come up with an idea before reading the literature! 

The real key to successful papers that you can actually enjoy writing <gasp!> is motivation, which is why your topic choice is so important. During your idea-generation activities, once you have started seeing great things jumping out at you, finish your "session" and then make a list of why a potential topic is important.

Thesis or Question

A plan of attack for the keystone of your paper

We know the build up to the actual research step is getting to be really intense, but you need to learn to pick and refine a topic before figuring out the focal point of your paper, or research question. You just can't afford to waste time wandering aimlessly around the library, or even worse, in your paper. You need to know what your ultimate purpose is and what you need to know and do to get there.

What is the keystone of each paper without which the paper would literally fall apart. For the analytical paper, it is the unresolved topic or what is called the research question. You will be constructing a research paper for this class.  

Research Question

Here are some exercises you can do from the Empire State College Writer's Complex:

Can the topic be researched?

Is the question too broad or narrow?

Evaluate your own research question: an 8-point guide!

The "So What?" Test

Whenever you plan on writing a research paper, there is an extremely important point that you must constantly keep in the forefront of your mind--even English teachers frequently mention it as something students fail to do time and time again. What is it? To be sure to choose a topic worth arguing about or exploring. This means to construct a research question about a problem that is still debated, controversial, up in the air or unknown.

So arguing that drinking and driving is dangerous-- while you could find a ton of evidence to support your view --would be pretty worthless nowadays. Who would want to read something they already knew? You wouldn't be persuading them of anything and all your work would be pretty meaningless.

What this means is that during the topic-formulating stage and again now, always keep asking "SO WHAT?", "WHO CARES?" or to paraphrase the famous Canadian journalist Barbara Frum: "Tell me something new about something I care about." That will automatically make your paper significant and interesting both for you to write and the reader to study.

Hunting for resources and recording the information

With tentative  research question in hand, you've got what will likely become the focal point of your paper. You have a focus, a goal, a purpose--in essence, the bones of your essay. But now you need flesh for those bones; that's where research comes in.

Remember you have to keep your eyes open for a methodology you are going to us.  Remember, you have to be able to complete the project in the course of the semester and there is no money available for research equipment. 

The research step you are about to embark on will be exhilarating because your on your way to finally gather some proof for how to answer to your research question. By immersing yourself in a pool of outside knowledge and integrating it with your own ideas, the research step is what distinguishes this genre from other kinds of essays, namely the more personal or creative variety.

Before jumping into that pool, you may be asking, "Why not do an outline first?" Research-question writers probably have only vague ideas of what they might possibly come across in the debates they're analyzing. In either case though, we suggest putting together an outline after you do research. You don't want to narrow yourself too much at this point. A very clear thesis or question gives you enough direction to keep you on task, but still leaves you open to new angles on the subject.

Outline

A possible outline template for an Research Paper

To complete an outline you should have 90% of your research completed!  With an outline done, ideally you should be able to devote more of your energy to writing. A good outline is about two pages!

Working Title

Introductory Paragraph

-start with a general statement out area and perhaps why it is important

-state the hypothesis (remember try to be subtle)

-state what could be gained by answering the research question

-transition statement on some research

Second Section (think about this and remember that you have to convince the reader this research is important and unique so that means you have to review the literature here)

-built the argument about why the question is unique and important by reviewing literature on the topic

Third Section

-list the short comings of the previous research, what is still not known, or left unanswered

-what method could be used to solve, answer or figure out what the answer

-what is the best method and why

(remember - you have to reference peer-reviewed articles)

The prose transformation as composition finally begins

Before you begin writing, you should have a thesis or question that you're comfortable with and an outline that gives you structure on what you need to say and where. Now just take pen to paper or fingers to keyboard and write. "Sure, easier said than done," you might be thinking. Fair enough, but we aren't asking you to come up with polished prose. It can be as rough as you want it to be. And with practice, it does get easier and faster.

Believe it or not, drafting should be the least time-consuming step in the research paper process. Invention should take longer. Research should take longer. And revising should definitely take longer. If it's taking you a month of Sundays just to eke out a thousand words, two things could be happening:

1. you don't have any clue what you should be saying (in which case you don't have a focal point or outline yet and so are starting too early!) or . . . 
2. you're revising while you draft so that you end up with one sentence an hour.

If it's the latter (as it often is), separate your duties out. Within every writer, there is a Creator and a Critic. Write a letter to your Critic telling him or her to go to sleep for this step and wake up for the next one. Let your Creator shine for now.

Procrastination and writer's block

Procrastination (a.k.a. "putting things off" or "waiting 'til the last minute") usually occurs because students are afraid of how slow or imperfect their drafting is and therefore wait for pressure to become the ultimate motivator. As a result, students typically hand in first-draft quality material because the tight constraints didn't leave them time to even reflect let alone revise.

Procrastination is a habit. It's a way some writers have learned to approach writing because of negative experiences they've had in the past like 'blocking,' or getting stuck.

But "needing pressure" is no excuse to procrastinate. If pressure keeps you cooking, there are other ways to create it besides waiting until the wee hours of the morning on a paper's due date. A week or two before deadline, try

• pretending your first draft is an essay exam. Set a timer, consult your outline, and write. Have a friend or relative in the room watch you so that the timed aspect becomes real.
• setting small goals for yourself. Pressure is ultimately about goals: getting such-and-such done by such-and-such time. Give yourself a ballpark time limit for each paragraph in your paper. Reward yourself for each completed goal.
• imagining that you have to give an oral presentation on your subject. You have 10 minutes to get the main points across coherently. Go!

See, there are ways to keep you motivated that still give you room to breathe and revise.

For anxious 'blockers' (the two often go hand in hand), try the oral route as well by tape-recording yourself and then transcribing the tape. We are less critical of how we speak than how we write.

Freewriting and other invention techniques are more great ways to get creative juices flowing and examine why you're stuck. Try the prompt "I'm stuck because . . . " and write for 15 minutes; then switch to the prompt "What I can do (or need to do) to get unstuck . . . " You'll likely find your problem(s) and solution(s) after doing this exercise.

If staring at a blank screen is what is scary and intimidating, turn down the brightness on your monitor and concentrate on what you want to say, not how it will look. Alternately, type in your outline and put spaces under each heading. Start any place that looks inviting.

There are a dozen other techniques for getting started early and for just getting started. Here are just a few:

Overcoming Writer's Block and Coping with Writing Anxiety from Purdue

Overcoming Writer's Block from St. Cloud State University LEO (Literacy Education Online)

Oh, and if you still have unrealistic expectations about what first drafts are all about, be reassured by the UVic Writer's Guide's The First Draft page

Procrastination and writer's block

Procrastination (a.k.a. "putting things off" or "waiting 'til the last minute") usually occurs because students are afraid of how slow or imperfect their drafting is and therefore wait for pressure to become the ultimate motivator. As a result, students typically hand in first-draft quality material because the tight constraints didn't leave them time to even reflect let alone revise.

Procrastination is a habit. It's a way some writers have learned to approach writing because of negative experiences they've had in the past like 'blocking,' or getting stuck.

But "needing pressure" is no excuse to procrastinate. If pressure keeps you cooking, there are other ways to create it besides waiting until the wee hours of the morning on a paper's due date. A week or two before deadline, try

• pretending your first draft is an essay exam. Set a timer, consult your outline, and write. Have a friend or relative in the room watch you so that the timed aspect becomes real.
• setting small goals for yourself. Pressure is ultimately about goals: getting such-and-such done by such-and-such time. Give yourself a ballpark time limit for each paragraph in your paper. Reward yourself for each completed goal.
• imagining that you have to give an oral presentation on your subject. You have 10 minutes to get the main points across coherently. Go!

See, there are ways to keep you motivated that still give you room to breathe and revise.

For anxious 'blockers' (the two often go hand in hand), try the oral route as well by tape-recording yourself and then transcribing the tape. We are less critical of how we speak than how we write.

Freewriting and other invention techniques are more great ways to get creative juices flowing and examine why you're stuck. Try the prompt "I'm stuck because . . . " and write for 15 minutes; then switch to the prompt "What I can do (or need to do) to get unstuck . . . " You'll likely find your problem(s) and solution(s) after doing this exercise.

If staring at a blank screen is what is scary and intimidating, turn down the brightness on your monitor and concentrate on what you want to say, not how it will look. Alternately, type in your outline and put spaces under each heading. Start any place that looks inviting.

There are a dozen other techniques for getting started early and for just getting started. Here are just a few:

Overcoming Writer's Block and Coping with Writing Anxiety from Purdue

Overcoming Writer's Block from St. Cloud State University LEO (Literacy Education Online)

Oh, and if you still have unrealistic expectations about what first drafts are all about, be reassured by the UVic Writer's Guide's The First Draft page

Revision

The editing and rewriting process

We've been telling you all along to be critical whenever you read and reading over your draft is no exception. You hopefully turned off your "Critic" long enough to generate enough raw material in the last step; now turn it back on.

The point is not that what you wrote was bad, but let's face it, not even professional writers tap out perfectly thought-out prose the first time at the keyboard. So now is the time to become your own audience and evaluate your work just as we told you to analyze texts while researching. Revision is RE-VISION. After letting your draft sit for a few days, look at your work with a new critical eye, critical for what doesn't work and what does.

Before you go over the heuristic we've devised below to help you revise, remember that revision is not proofreading. Revision deals with underlying issues and content while proofreading deals largely with surface details and presentation. Like a funnel, you have to start at "higher order" concerns (how the essay and individual paragraphs hold together) and then move down to "lower order" concerns (sentences, word choice, mechanics).

ASK YOURSELF . . .

• Does your title give readers a good idea of what's to come? (Have you even come up with one yet? Remember, "Assignment #3" is not a title!)
• Is your thesis statement or research question clearly stated?
• Is there enough lead-in in the introduction to establish the importance of and context for the statement/question? Is there too much? Too little? By the end of the introduction, is it clear to the audience what kind of material will follow? If so, are these expectations fulfilled, that is, do you follow through?
• Is it clear where your introduction ends and body begins and where the body ends and the conclusion begins? In other words, are your paragraph indents meaningful?
• At the same time, are there transitions between all sections and paragraphs to create flow and unity?
• Does each body paragraph have a topic sentence? If you took your thesis/question and all your topic sentences, would that correspond to what you want to say in your paper? If not, do you need to revise your thesis/question or re-examine your subpoints?
• Do the topic sentences (1) make a connection back with the thesis/question, (2) establish a link with the previous paragraph's content (perhaps the chronological relationship, any comparisons/contrasts?) and (3) give enough information that the audience could guess where a particular paragraph's development would lead?
• With or without a formal concluding sentence, do you somewhere near the end of each paragraph remind readers why you are saying what you are saying by moving back up to abstract, general terms?
• Does the order of paragraphs make sense? (e.g., maybe the transitions seem forced because they aren't in the right order)
• Are your paragraphs too short (say, fewer than 4 sentences) or too long ( longer than about 8)? Is there some combining or separating of issues that needs to take place? Or do you simply need to generate more content or delete irrelevant material?
• Are your examples reliable, representative, and convincing? Are there enough of them (or too many) to develop the main idea of the paragraph in the word count you have available?
• Are your sources convincing? Is there enough balance between your own insights and expert opinions?
• Is anything that should be referenced, referenced?
• Are all sources and direct quotations explained or have you left them standing on their own?
• Has anything that goes off topic or is not essential (given your word limit) been cut? (TIP: whenever you know you have to cut something but you're finding it hard to do, cut and paste it in a separate file so that you feel it hasn't been obliterated. In a couple of weeks, you'll probably go back and wonder why you were so attached to the passage in the first place!)
• Does the conclusion say something different from your introduction? Does it leave a good lasting impression or is it wishy-washy?

As the folks at Ashland University's Writing Center put it, there are 4 basic actions that will occur during the revisions you now hopefully plan to make:

ADD. Insert needed words, sentences, and paragraphs. If your additions require new content, return to the idea-gathering techniques.

CUT. Get rid of whatever goes off the topic or repeats what has already been said.

REPLACE. As needed, substitute new words, sentences, and paragraphs for what you have cut.

MOVE MATERIAL AROUND. Change the sequence of paragraphs if the material is not presented in logical order. Move sentences.

All of these actions are easily done electronically, but try not to do all your revision on the computer. Alternating between "screen" and "paper" copy is a great way to achieve perspective.

Now what about 'lower order' concerns? These issues are highly individualized so look through old marked papers for comments you received at the level of sentences and diction (word choice). Are there any trends you notice? Bring in a writing sample to a tutor and we can examine a piece for you and look for things you both do well and seem to have difficulty with. The most common mistakes are a lack of clarity (perhaps because you're trying to sound "academic" or have forgotten that you're writing to an audience) and general wordiness.

First visit our peer editing page and then come back to the links below for more advice.

LINKS

From Purdue:

Higher Order Concerns & Lower Order Concerns

Checklist for Eliminating Wordiness plus an exercise

Some Strategies for Improving Sentence Clarity

From the University of Richmond's Writer's Web:

Glossing

Using Transitions

Subordinating Ideas

From Literacy Online Education from St. Cloud University:

Combining sentences for variety and clarity

Strategies for Reducing Wordiness

Others:

Revising a Draft from Bemidji State University Writing Resource Center Online

Basic Prose Style from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute