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Guide To Writing A Research Paper

Choosing a Topic

Researching the Topic

Writing the Paper

Building the Bibliography

Writing for Specific Purposes

Writing the Paper

The Outline

Before you actually begin to write your paper, you should develop an outline. You have already established the starting point of your paper in your thesis or research question. You also probably have a good idea of what your conclusion might be based on the research you have conducted. Now you must connect the two with the supporting information. An outline will help you to focus on the major points and subpoints that you want to make, and identify gaps in your research.

Scroll down to read more about outlines or choose one of the links below:

Identifying the main topics

The first step in creating a working outline is to review the notes from your research and jot down any broad categories from your findings that relate to your research question. If you have used note cards, sort them into piles of related information and then label the piles accordingly. Use these categories or labels as headings in your outline. Your first attempt might look something like this:

Intellectual Property and the Human Genome: Some Ethical Concerns
  • Introduction
  • Historical Background
  • Patent of Genetic Information
  • Bioinformatics

Identifying subtopics

Once you have some idea of the main topics of your paper; look through your notes again to determine if they can be grouped into subcategories beneath the main topic headings:

Intellectual Property and the Human Genome: Some Ethical Concerns
  • Introduction
  • Historical Background
    • the Human Genome Project
      • initial conception
      • growth of the project
  • Patent of Genetic Information
    • US patent law
    • genetic material and patents
    • competition for Patents

Unless you have to hand in your outline, do not get caught up in using the formal structure of roman-numerals, letters, and numbers. There are many ways to structure an outline. See the useful links at the end of this section for more information.

Re-evaluating your thesis

Once you have completed the outline, you should spend some time reviewing it in relation to your thesis statement. Ask yourself the following questions:

  • Do you have enough information to adequately cover the topics listed in your outline? If not, make that additional trip to the library. It will be worth it in the end.
  • Does the information you collected support your thesis? Perhaps your research does not support your initial argument. You might have to re-evaluate your thesis or state it in a different way.

Useful Links