Any academic writing begins with a certain amount of anxiety. But if you’re a beginner, start a research paper in the wrong way, and it might be a recipe for disaster. Understanding how to write effectively means following a process that starts from the beginning. Starting a research paper can be challenging, but using DoMyPaper can help you develop a strong foundation and structure for your work. Domypaper.com offers tailored writing assistance, making it an ideal resource for students looking to begin their research papers effectively.
The Assignment
You can’t really plan how to execute an essay until you have all of the basics on who, what, when, where, why and how: how long is the paper meant to be? What format or style should you use? What information do you need to cite? What topics or themes do you need to cover? When a professor assigns an essay, take some time to read through the assignment and instruction details. It’s easy to be on the wrong track before you’ve even started writing if you missed something in the assignment. Will you have time to check your sources to make sure they’re credible? Or will you try to meet the deadline by just using the first stuff you come across? When it comes to writing essays, sloppy habits are not your friends.
Choosing Your Topic
One of the most important steps in starting work on your research paper is selecting a topic. If your professor hasn’t assigned a topic, then you’ll have to select one yourself. It needs to be something that’s related to the course material and to your interests. The first step in choosing your topic, then, is to brainstorm. A good place to start might be with the end of your last course. Look over your lecture notes, readings and assignments – what intrigued you? What issues or questions are you still thinking about? Perhaps there is a timely news story that’s related to your course material. Perhaps there’s a controversial issue or debate on which you have an opinion. Maybe there are multiple lines of research on the topic, and it is unresolved.
To effectively begin a research paper, leveraging a reliable research paper service can provide valuable insights and support for crafting a solid introduction. Based on this, you want to work on becoming more specific. You need to define your focus. A topic that’s too broad won’t be manageable, and you won’t be able to make it exhaustive within the size of your paper. On the other hand, a topic that’s too narrow might not give enough substance for your research. Find your balance. You want to be detailed on the topic, and make it so during your research.
Conducting Preliminary Research
Having chosen a topic, you can begin some preliminary research to get a feel for what information is available on your topic, and to help you refine your focus. Start with general sources – encyclopedias or textbooks, or general and reliable resources online – about your topic, to get a sense of the major ideas and terms relevant to your topic.
As you do this preliminary research, note down any ideas, potential arguments or questions that you encounter. They can be starting points for deeper research later. On the other hand, note down the sources of these general references because they can guide you to more specific, more scholarly sources that you can use in your paper.
Developing a Research Question
With this foundation, you are now ready to formulate your research question, which you will hold on to as you conduct your research and continue to engage with it while writing. A good research question is specific, relevant to one’s field of study, answerable within one’s paper, and sufficiently complex to require an argument and analysis rather than a simple true/false response.
An example might be: How did economic factors in Germany contribute to the rise of Nazi power and the outbreak of the Second World War?Instead of opening up every direction at once when investigating a topic, this kind of question guides your research.
Creating a Working Thesis
Formulate your working thesis statement. Your working thesis is intended to be a tentative answer to your research question, and you will use it as a guide as you further your research and write. This means that your working thesis may change as your research develops and you refine your arguments.
Your working thesis should be clear, brief and debatable. It should offer your claim (or argument) in one sentence or two, which you will refine and adapt to the results of your research.
Gathering and Evaluating Sources
Armed with your research strategy, you are now ready to start identifying useful sources pertinent to your topic and research question. In your university library, in the scholarly databases online, and on the websites of more traditional, academic sources, identify scholarly articles, books and other legitimate sources that might be relevant. Engage in the search process mindful of your research question and the working thesis you have developed.
As you locate possible sources, then, you must ask yourself: what does this tell me? Is this a credible source telling me the truth? Is this information relevant to my topic? Who is this source, and what is the purpose of this publication or post? Who is the audience, and does that audience get at the truth? Who is speaking and in what format? You’ll want to consider carefully the claims made in online sources. Universities typically have .edu domain names; you know you’re on the right track when looking at a website with a .gov domain name. When you’re evaluating websites, look for citations, author information, and links to other reputable organizations.
Annotate important information from each source, such as quotes, data, your thoughts and reactions. Make sure to jot all the citation information so that you don’t have to scramble for those later. You can organize your notes by themes or subtopics to spot connections between different sources and what you are still missing.
Outlining Your Paper
While you are reading and making notes on your sources, begin to outline your paper. The outline is a plan of how your paper will be organized, which will make it easier to write your paper in a logical sequence. Start with a basic outline of your introduction, the main body paragraphs and the conclusion. Then add the main points and details to each part.
At this stage, your outline need not be too detailed, but it should provide some clear direction as to how you are developing your argument. You’ll want to include your working thesis in your introduction, and focus your main points so that your argument develops logically. As you continue to research and refine your ideas, your outline can increase in its detail.
Writing Your Introduction
You now have a rough framework for your paper, and you have a good sense of your topic. It’s time to write your introduction. The intro gives the paper an orientation and a frame for the question and thesis. You start with a hook: something that will draw the reader in, perhaps a fact that will startle, a question that will engage the mind, an anecdote that will tie into the topic.
Now set the scene for the reader as to why you’re asking your research question. For example, provide a summary of the current state of knowledge on your topic, or justify your research question’s importance. At the end of your introduction, set out your stall, and have your thesis statement.
Moreover, this is the first part of your paper your reader will see – and their perceptions of your paper will be built from their experience of reading the introduction. You might even like to write a quick draft of your introduction now, and then return to polish it when you’ve completed the rest of your paper. You can also revise your introduction by paraphrasing or rewriting it.
Moving Forward with Your Research Paper
You’ve begun drafting a research paper. That’s a huge step – and you’ve now done a few more: You know what you’re supposed to do. You know what your thesis is. And so you’ve written your intro. The rest of the process is iterative: you’ll no doubt develop your thesis, and your outline and intro, throughout your research and thinking.
When you’re actually writing your paper, keep checking in on your research question and your thesis; make sure you’re still moving in the same direction – or start moving in a whole new direction if something makes you think about your topic in a new way. Stay organized. Stay on schedule. Call on your peer writing support, your instructor, your campus writing center when you get stuck. But mostly keep writing.
Writing a research paper is not only your chance to participate in the larger conversation of scholarship and to become a more capable thinker and writer, but the more effective your planning and research, the more likely you are to write a well-argued paper in the first place.
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