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How to Write a Research Paper

Establish Your Topic

Try to pick a topic that*s fun and interesting. If your topic genuinely interests you, chances are you*ll enjoy spending time working on it and it won*t seem like a chore.

Finding a topic can be difficult. Give yourself plenty of time to read and think about what you*d like to do. Trying to answer questions you have about a particular subject may lead you to a good paper idea.

What subject(s) are you interested in?
What interests you most about a particular subject?
Is there anything you wonder about or are puzzled about with regard to that subject?

Once you have a topic, you will probably need to narrow it down to something more manageable. For example, say you are assigned to write a 10-page paper, and you decide to do it on Ancient Egypt. However, since Ancient Egypt is a big topic, and you only have a limited number of pages, you will have to focus on something more specific having to do with that topic.
Too general:
Ancient Egypt.
Revised:
The building of the pyramids of Ancient Egypt.

One method for coming up with a more specific focus is called brainstorming (or freewriting). Brainstorming is a useful way to let ideas you didn*t know you had come to the surface.
Sit down with a pencil and paper, or at your computer, and write whatever comes into your head about your topic.
Keep writing for a short but specific amount of time, say 3–5 minutes. Don*t stop to change what you*ve written or to correct spelling or grammar errors.
After a few minutes, read through what you*ve written. You will probably throw out most of it, but some of what you*ve written may give you an idea that can be developed.
Do some more brainstorming and see what else you can come up with.

Look for Sources of Information
Take a trip to the library. Use the electronic catalog or browse the shelves to look for books on your topic. If you find a book that is useful, check the bibliography (list of sources) in the back of that book for other books or articles on that topic. Also check indexes of periodicals and newspapers. Check with a librarian if you need help finding sources.
Try to use as many different types of sources as you can, including books, magazine articles, and internet articles. Don*t rely on just one source for all your information.
Keep a list of all the sources that you use. Include the title of the source, the author, publisher, and place and date of publication. This is your preliminary, or draft, bibliography.

Read Your Sources and Take Notes
After you*ve gathered your sources, beginreading and taking notes.
Use 3 x 5 index cards, one fact or idea per card. This way related ideas from different sources can be easily grouped together or rearranged.
On each index card, be sure to note the source, including the volume number (if there is one) and the page number. If you wind up using that idea in your paper, you will have the information about the source ready to put in your footnote or endnote.
If you copy something directly from a book without putting it in your own words, put quotation marks around it so that you know it is an exact quotation. This will help you to avoid plagiarism. (For more, see What is Plagiarism?).
Before you sit down to write your rough draft, organize your note cards by subtopic (you can write headings on the cards) and make an outline.

Organize Your Ideas
Using the information collected on the notecards, develop an outline to organize your ideas. An outlineshows your main ideas and the order in which you are going to write about them.It*s the bare bones of what will later become a fleshed-out written report.
Write down all the main ideas.
List the subordinate ideas below the main ideas.
Avoid any repetition of ideas.

Write a First Draft
Every essay or paper is made up of three parts:
introduction
body
conclusion
The introduction is the first paragraph of the paper. It often begins with a general statement about the topic and ends with a more specific statement of the main idea of your paper. The purpose of the introduction is to:
let the reader know what the topic is
inform the reader about your point of view
arouse the reader*s curiosity so that he or she will want to read about your topic
The body of the paper follows the introduction. It consists of a number of paragraphs in which you develop your ideas in detail.
Limit each paragraph to one main idea. (Don*t try to talk about more than one idea per paragraph.)
Prove your points continually by using specific examples and quotations from your note cards.
Use transition words to ensure a smooth flow of ideas from paragraph to paragraph.
The conclusion is the last paragraph of the paper. Its purpose is to
summarize your points, leaving out specific examples
restate the main idea of the paper

Use Footnotes or Endnotes to Document Sources
As you write your first draft, including the introduction, body, and conclusion, add the information or quotations on your note cards to support your ideas.
Use footnotes or endnotes to identify the sources of this information. If you are using footnotes, the note will appear on the same page as the information you are documenting, at the bottom (or "foot") of the page. If you are using endnotes, the note will appear together with all other notes on a separate page at the end of your report, just before the bibliography.
There are different formats for footnotes (and endnotes), so be sure to use the one your teacher prefers.
Note that footnotes can be shortened if the source has already been given in full in a previous footnote. (see below)

Write a Bibliography
A bibliography is a list of the sources youused to get information for your report. It is included at the end of yourreport, on the last page (or last few pages).
You will find it easier to prepare yourfinal bibliography if you keep track of each book, encyclopedia, or article youuse as you are reading and taking notes. Start a preliminary, or draft,bibliography by listing on a separate sheet of paper all your sources. Notedown the full title, author, place of publication, publisher, and date ofpublication for each source.
Also,every time a fact gets recorded on a note card, its source should be noted inthe top right corner. (Notice that in the sample note card, The World Book, Volume 2, page21, has been shortened to: WB, 2, p.133.) When you are finished writing yourpaper, you can use the information on your note cards to double-check yourbibliography.
When assembling a final bibliography, listyour sources (texts, articles, interviews, and so on) in alphabetical order byauthors* last names. Sources that don*t have authors (encyclopedias, movies)should be alphabetized by title. There are different formats for bibliographies,so be sure to use the one your teacher prefers.