What is an research paper

What image comes into mind as you hear those words: working with stacks of articles and books, hunting the "treasure" of others' thoughts? Whatever image you create, it's a sure bet that you're envisioning sources of information--articles, books, people, artworks. Yet a research paper is more than the sum of your sources, more than a collection of different pieces of information about a topic, and more than a review of the literature in a field. Regardless of the type of research paper you are writing, your finished research paper should present your own thinking backed up by others' ideas and information. To draw a parallel, a lawyer researches and reads about many cases and uses them to support their own case. In the same way, a history student writing about the vietnam war might read newspaper articles and books and interview veterans to develop and/or confirm a viewpoint and support it with evidence. A research paper is an expanded essay that presents your own interpretation or evaluation or argument. When you write a research paper you build upon what you know about the subject and make a deliberate attempt to find out what experts know. A research paper involves surveying a field of knowledge in order to find the best possible information in that field. In fact, this guide is designed to help you navigate the research voyage, through developing a research question and thesis, doing the research, writing the paper, and correctly documenting your ons or feedback about esc's online writing center? Contact us at t@ union avenue, saratoga springs, ny 12866 e to the purdue printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice at butors:jack raymond baker, allen brizee, ashley y:this handout provides detailed information about how to write research papers including discussing research papers as a genre, choosing topics, and finding g a research paperthe research will come a time in most students' careers when they are assigned a research paper. Writing a research paper is an essential aspect of academics and should not be avoided on account of one's anxiety. In fact, the process of writing a research paper can be one of the more rewarding experiences one may encounter in academics. What is more, many students will continue to do research throughout their careers, which is one of the reasons this topic is so ng an experienced researcher and writer in any field or discipline takes a great deal of practice.

What is a research paper

Remember, even the most seasoned academic veterans have had to learn how to write a research paper at some point in their career. And, perhaps most important of all, patience, a student will find that she can achieve great things through her research and handout will include the following sections related to the process of writing a research paper:Genre- this section will provide an overview for understanding the difference between an analytical and argumentative research ng a topic- this section will guide the student through the process of choosing topics, whether the topic be one that is assigned or one that the student chooses fying an audience- this section will help the student understand the often times confusing topic of audience by offering some basic guidelines for the do i begin- this section concludes the handout by offering several links to resources at purdue, and also provides an overview of the final stages of writing a research butors:jack raymond baker, allen brizee, ashley y:this handout provides detailed information about how to write research papers including discussing research papers as a genre, choosing topics, and finding and the research paperresearch: what it is. Research paper is the culmination and final product of an involved process of research, critical thinking, source evaluation, organization, and composition. It is, perhaps, helpful to think of the research paper as a living thing, which grows and changes as the student explores, interprets, and evaluates sources related to a specific topic. Primary and secondary sources are the heart of a research paper, and provide its nourishment; without the support of and interaction with these sources, the research paper would morph into a different genre of writing (e. The research paper serves not only to further the field in which it is written, but also to provide the student with an exceptional opportunity to increase her knowledge in that field. It is also possible to identify a research paper by what it is ch: what it is not. Research paper is not simply an informed summary of a topic by means of primary and secondary sources. The goal of a research paper is not to inform the reader what others have to say about a topic, but to draw on what others have to say about a topic and engage the sources in order to thoughtfully offer a unique perspective on the issue at hand. This is accomplished through two major types of research major types of research ntative research paper:The argumentative research paper consists of an introduction in which the writer clearly introduces the topic and informs his audience exactly which stance he intends to take; this stance is often identified as the thesis statement. An important goal of the argumentative research paper is persuasion, which means the topic chosen should be debatable or controversial. The student would support this thesis throughout her paper by means of both primary and secondary sources, with the intent to persuade her audience that her particular interpretation of the situation is ical research paper:The analytical research paper often begins with the student asking a question (a. Research may lead him to the following f is a poem whose purpose it was to serve as an exemplum of heterodoxy for tenth- and eleventh-century monastic his topic may be debatable and controversial, it is not the student's intent to persuade the audience that his ideas are right while those of others are wrong. Instead, his goal is to offer a critical interpretation of primary and secondary sources throughout the paper--sources that should, ultimately, buttress his particular analysis of the topic.

The following is an example of what his thesis statement may look like once he has completed his beowulf is often read as a poem that recounts the heroism and supernatural exploits of the protagonist beowulf, it may also be read as a poem that served as an exemplum of heterodoxy for tenth- and eleventh-century monastic communities found in the statement does not negate the traditional readings of beowulf; instead, it offers a fresh and detailed reading of the poem that will be supported by the student's is typically not until the student has begun the writing process that his thesis statement begins to take solid form. In fact, the thesis statement in an analytical paper is often more fluid than the thesis in an argumentative paper. Such is one of the benefits of approaching the topic without a predetermined butors:jack raymond baker, allen brizee, ashley y:this handout provides detailed information about how to write research papers including discussing research papers as a genre, choosing topics, and finding ng a topicthe first step of any research paper is for the student to understand the assignment. Student will often encounter one of two situations when it comes to choosing a topic for a research paper. Many first-time researchers appreciate such an arrangement by the instructor because it eliminates the stress of having to decide upon a topic on their r, the student may also find the topics that have been provided to be limiting; moreover, it is not uncommon for the student to have a topic in mind that does not fit with any of those provided. Be respectful, and ask the instructor if the topic you have in mind would be a possible research option for the assignment. Remember, as a first-time researcher, your knowledge of the process is quite limited; the instructor is experienced, and may have very precise reasons for choosing the topics she has offered to the class. If not, do not take it personally and choose the topic from the list that seems most interesting to second situation occurs when the instructor simply hands out an assignment sheet that covers the logistics of the research paper, but leaves the choice of topic up to the student. Typically, assignments in which students are given the opportunity to choose the topic require the topic to be relevant to some aspect of the course; so, keep this in mind as you begin a course in which you know there will be a research paper near the end. Instead, realize that it takes practice to become an experienced researcher in any a discussion of evaluating sources, see evaluating sources of s for choosing a ng early leads to starting early. Brainstorming is often a successful way for students to get some of these ideas down on paper. Research topics are often fluid, and dictated more by the student's ongoing research than by the original chosen topic. Such fluidity is common in research, and should be embraced as one of its many purdue owl also offers a number of other resources on choosing and developing a topic:Understanding writing ng the writing ion slide butors:jack raymond baker, allen brizee, ashley y:this handout provides detailed information about how to write research papers including discussing research papers as a genre, choosing topics, and finding fying an audienceidentifying an concept of audience can be very confusing for novice researchers. Should the student's audience be her instructor only, or should her paper attempt to reach a larger academic crowd?

Therefore, it is important for the student to articulate an audience that falls somewhere in is perhaps helpful to approach the audience of a research paper in the same way one would when preparing for an oral presentation. So it is with writing a research paper (in fact, you may need to transform your written work into an oral work if you find yourself presenting at a conference someday). Instructor should be considered only one member of the paper's audience; he is part of the academic audience that desires students to investigate, research, and evaluate a topic. Try to imagine an audience that would be interested in and benefit from your example: if the student is writing a twelve page research paper about ethanol and its importance as an energy source of the future, would she write with an audience of elementary students in mind? What is more, she would assume the audience to be at a certain educational level; therefore, she would not spend time in such a short research paper defining terms and concepts already familiar to those in the field. The audience i am writing for is not particularly interested in my topic, what should i do to pique its interest? One of the purposes of a research paper is to add something new to the academic community, and the first-time researcher should understand her role as an initiate into a particular community of scholars. Once again, practice lies at the heart of the butors:jack raymond baker, allen brizee, ashley y:this handout provides detailed information about how to write research papers including discussing research papers as a genre, choosing topics, and finding do i begin? Is neither template nor shortcut for writing a research paper; again, the process is, amongst other things, one of practice, experience, and organization, and begins with the student properly understanding the assignment at many college students know, the writer may find himself composing three quite different research papers for three quite different courses all at the same time in a single semester. Each of these papers may have varying page lengths, guidelines, and ore, in order for a student to become an experienced researcher and writer, she must not only pay particular attention to the genre, topic, and audience, but must also become skilled in researching, outlining, drafting, and a discussion of where to begin one's research, see research: ing is an integral part of the process of writing. No drafting should take place without a research question or thesis statement; otherwise, the student will find himself writing without a purpose or direction. The research the student has completed is a vast sea of information through which he must navigate; without a compass, the student will be tossed aimlessly about by the waves of sources. In the end, he might discover the americas (though the journey will be much longer than needed), or—and what is more likely—he will some helpful ideas concerning the initial stages of writing, see starting the writing process . Editing, ng is the process consisting of:Major, sweeping, changes to the various drafts of a evaluation of word choice throughout the removal paragraphs and sometimes, quite painfully, complete pages of king the whole project and reworking it as g is a process interested in the general appearance of a text, and includes the following:Analysis of the consistency of tone and voice throughout the tion of minor errors in mechanics and tion of the logical flow of thought between paragraphs and major process is best completed toward the final stages of the project, since much of what is written early on is bound to change eading is the final stage in the writing process, and consists of a detailed final reread in order to find any mistakes that may have been overlooked in the previous a discussion of proofreading, see proofreading your writing .

Jack raymond baker, allen brizee, ashley y:this handout provides detailed information about how to write research papers including discussing research papers as a genre, choosing topics, and finding g a research paper: generating questions & topics workshopthis workshop discusses strategies for getting started on a research paper, including generating questions and ideas for topics. Research papers mean hours spent in the library,More hours toiling with notes and drafts, and the dealing with the arcane rules of you begin working on a research paper in any course,It is important to understand what a research paper is. Research paper is not a summary hing you can goal is not to collect everything you can find a subject and summarize it. Research paper is not a list of focus of your paper is your point of view, your quotations, facts, and statistics may be woven paper, but they should support your position. Research paper does not support a g up facts that support what you already believe genuine research. Research paper does not present of others without ch papers must use documentation methods to from plagiarizing sources. Research paper meets the needs of the instructors give specific requirements for , detailing topics, use of sources, and sure you fully understand the scope of the the needs of the assignment in mind as you your paper. Research paper has a clear more narrow you make your subject, the easier your be to write. A good research paper distinguishes le and biased sources, between authoritative and tics, between fact and ce reader, third edition, web site by e to the purdue ch and citation •. Writing tanding writing g a research and the research fying ting questions & topics ted bibliographies. How to navigate the new printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice at and the research y: this handout provides detailed information about how to write research papers including discussing research papers as a genre, choosing topics, and finding butors:jack raymond baker, allen brizee, ashley velzquezlast edited: 2011-03-30 09:06:ch: what it is. Categories » education and communications » research and articlewikihow to write a research methods:choosing your topicresearchingmaking an outlinewriting your papersample research papers and outlinescommunity q& studying at higher levels of school and throughout college, you will likely be asked to prepare research papers. A research paper can be used for exploring and identifying scientific, technical and social issues. If it's your first time writing a research paper, it may seem daunting, but with good organization and focus of mind, you can make the process easier on yourself.

Writing a research paper involves four main stages: choosing a topic, researching your topic, making an outline, and doing the actual writing. The paper won't write itself, but by planning and preparing well, the writing practically falls into place. Although you may be limited by specific classroom or work related guidelines, choosing your topic is the first and most important step in your research paper project. Regardless of whether your topic can be anything you want or has rigid requirements, it is important to keep a few questions in mind: is there enough research available on this topic? Writing about something you enjoy certainly shows in the final product, making it more likely that you will be successful writing a paper about something you original. How can you keep your paper unique and interesting if everyone is writing about the same thing? Asking a professor for help may seem frightening, but if they are worth anything as a professor, they want you to be successful with your work, and will do what they can to make that ’t be afraid to change your topic. If you choose a topic, begin researching, and realize that it isn’t the right decision for you for some reason, don’t fret! Although it requires a bit more time, you have the ability to change your topic even after you begin researching your research. Research comes in numerous forms including web pages, journal articles, books, encyclopedias, interviews, and blog posts, among others. Take time to look for professional resources who offer valid research and insight into your topic. Although it may seem old fashioned, libraries are chock full of helpful research materials from books to newspapers and magazines to journals. Don’t be afraid to ask the librarian for help either - they are trained in research and know where everything about your topic is online. Using a search engine and picking the top three results isn’t necessarily the best method of researching; use critical thinking to thoroughly read every source and determine if it is legitimate.

Academic databases give you the ability to ask for very specific information by presenting multiple search query boxes as well as archives containing only a single type of resource (such as only journal articles or only newspapers). Take advantage of this ability to ask for specific information by using as many of the query boxes as you your school library and ask the librarian for a full list of the academic databases they subscribe to, as well as the passwords for creative with your research. This should contain many more books and journals that are about your topic as te your research. Once you’ve gathered all your research, print it out (if it is an online source) and gather post-its or anything you need to mark notes in the books/magazines you are using. This step is very important: read through your research, take notes on what you think is important, and highlight key facts and phrases. Write directly on copies you’ve made, or use slips of paper tucked into pages to mark places of importance. Make marks on anything that you think might be remotely important or that could be put to use in your you mark off important pieces in the research, add your own commentary and notes explaining to yourself where you might use it in your paper. Writing down your ideas as you have them will make writing your paper much easier and give you something to refer back ze your notes. Annotating your research can take quite a bit of time, but needs to be taken one step further in order to add a bit more clarity for the outlining process. For example, if you are writing a paper analyzing a famous work of literature, you could organize your research into a list of notes on the characters, a list of references to certain points in the plot, a list of symbols the author presents, et writing each quote or item that you marked onto an individual note card. For example, write everything from a particular book or journal on a single sheet of paper in order to consolidate the notes, and then everything that is related to characters highlight in green, everything related to the plot mark in orange, et uct a preliminary bibliography/references page. This will come in handy when you craft your bibliography or works cited page later in the fy the goal of the paper. Generally, speaking, there are two types of research paper: an argumentative research paper or an analytic research paper. Each requires a slightly different focus and writing style which should be identified prior to starting a rough argumentative research paper takes a position on a contentious issue and argues for one point of view.

The issue should be debatable with a logical counter analytic research paper offers a fresh look at an important issue. This is not simply a regurgitation of ideas from your research, but an offering of your own unique ideas based on what you have learned through ine your audience. Although you want to write for your professor or other superior, it is important that the tone and focus of your paper reflect the audience who will be reading it. On the other hand, if you are writing for an audience who doesn’t know much about your subject, it will be important to include explanations and examples of more fundamental ideas and theories related to your research. The thesis statement is a 1-2 sentence statement at the beginning of your paper that states the main goal or argument of your paper. All of your body paragraphs and information will revolve around your thesis, so make sure that you are clear on what your thesis is. What is the primary question or hypothesis that you are going to go about proving in your paper? This can then determine what your thesis is - whatever your answer to the question is, is your thesis thesis should express the main idea of your paper without listing all of your reasons or outline your entire paper. It should be a simple statement, rather than a list of support; that’s what the rest of your paper is for! Go through your research and annotations to determine what points are the most pivotal in your argument or presentation of information. Which ideas to you have plenty of firm facts and research to back with evidence? Write your main points down on paper, and then organize the related research under you outline your main ideas, putting them in a specific order is important. Single main point doesn’t have to be kept to a single paragraph, especially if you are writing a relatively long research paper. Depending on your paper rubric, class guidelines, or formatting guidelines, you may have to organize your paper in a specific way.

For example, when writing in apa format you must organize your paper by headings including the introduction, methods, results, and discussion. Justify main points to the left, and indent subsections and notes from your research below each. Make sure to include in-text citations at the end of each point, so that you don’t have to constantly refer back to your research when writing your final your body paragraphs. Although it may seem counter-intuitive, writing your introduction first may be more difficult to accomplish than starting with the meat of your paper. Because this is a research paper, there shouldn’t be any remarks that you make that cannot be supported by facts directly from your ample explanations for your research. Although you certainly want to present plenty of evidence, make sure that your paper is uniquely your own by adding commentary in whenever using many long, direct quotes. Although your paper is based on research, the point is for you to present your own ideas. Unless the quote you intend on using is absolutely necessary, try paraphrasing and analyzing it in your own words clear segues into adjacent points in your paper. Start by briefly restating the thesis statement, then remind the reader of the points you covered over the course of the paper. Slowly zoom out of the topic as you write, ending on a broad note by emphasizing the larger implication of your goal of the conclusion, in very simplified terms, is to answer the question, “so what? Depending on the topic of your research and your field of study, you will have to use different styles of formatting. Mla, apa, and chicago are the three most common citation formats and determine the way in-text citations or footnotes should be used, as well as the order of information in your format is typically used for literary research papers and uses a ‘works cited’ page at the end. This format requires in-text format is used by researchers in the social sciences field, and requires in-text citations as well. It ends the paper with a “references” page, and may also have section headers between body o formatting is used mainly for historical research papers and uses footnotes at the bottom of each page rather than in-text citations and works cited or references your rough draft.

Although it is tempting to simply read over your essay and use the spell-check tool, editing your paper should be a bit more in-depth. Have them edit for basic grammatical and spelling errors as well as the persuasiveness of your essay and the flow and form of your you edit your own paper, wait at least three days before returning to it. If they suggest that you rewrite a section of your paper, there is probably a valid reason for their request. When you have edited and re-edited your paper, formatted your work according to the subject matter, and finalized all the main points, you are ready to create the final draft. If necessary, create an introduction page and a works cited or references page to bookend your paper. Make sure to save the paper (in multiple places, for extra security) and print out your final research papers and scientific research literary research environmental research research paper making a research paper require me to invent something new or it is just about gathering information? Introduction should set out what you intend to discuss and prove in the research paper, and outline the approaches per topic or heading section. It is also nice to open the topic and lead into it in an interesting way that helps the reader to want to read do we know what topic is better than the other ones? Can publish a research paper through established journals or you can use open source online publishing sites, such as ssrn or researchgate. If your research paper is long enough, you could also publish it as a small book or an ebook, and disseminate it via book sales sites and you need to number the second and third pages? You are numbering the pages, then yes, the second and third pages should be you use contractions in a research paper? If you must use them, make sure they are spelled correctly and used in the right should be the length of the research paper? You don't want to over exhaust the topics or include unless information just to get a page should we attach our questionnaire in the research paper? Believe that the questionnaires are attached in the appendix section of the paper with the survey forms, raw data, documentations and other can i write correct english words for other languages such as thai?

If there is more than one convention, you can choose one and state which one you're going to use in the preface to your to get the main idea in research? More unanswered sure to get your assignments done on not wait until the last minute to do for the important themes, questions and key issues when researching. Try to home in on what you really want to explore rather than having too many broad ideas in the sure that the information matches the topic and is to research a to get started with a research to write a term to write a research to write a paper in a to write a paper for school in mla to write a to write a thesis to write a research to write a conclusion for a research s and citations. 83923&sid=ed article categories: featured articles | research and no: scrivere una tesina di ricerca, español: escribir un trabajo de investigación, português: escrever uma pesquisa, deutsch: eine wissenschaftliche arbeit schreiben, русский: написать научно–исследовательскую работу, français: écrire un rapport de recherche, 中文: 写一篇研究论文, čeština: jak napsat výzkumnou práci, bahasa indonesia: menulis naskah penelitian, nederlands: een onderzoeksverslag schrijven, ไทย: เขียนรายงานวิจัย, العربية: كتابة الورقة البحثية, हिन्दी: एक शोधपत्र (research paper) लिखें, tiếng việt: viết một bài nghiên cứu, 한국어: 리포트 쓰는 방법, 日本語: 研究論文を書く. Of people told us that this article helped d articleshow to research a paperhow to get started with a research projecthow to write a term paperhow to write a research text shared under a creative commons d by answer questions.