Subject Guides: PSYC 442/542: Child Psychopathology: Write Your Paper

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Writing Your Research Paper

Writing Tips

Decide on the research paper's main research question first
Write the body of the research paper first and then write the introduction and conclusion
Everything in your research paper should point back to your research question

Prioritize and organize your main points and paragraphs:

Identify the information you want to use from your sources
Identify relationships between this information and synthesize them into common themes/answers to your research question you can build from this information
Arrange themes and arguments so that they logically build towards evidence-based conclusions about your research question

Research Paper Format

Research papers should be in APA format and have an introduction, a body, and a conclusion:

1. Introduction: summarizes what you will write and puts it into context

Start the introduction with background that contextualizes the paper's main research question
End the introduction with an outline of the main points of the paper and how you will address them

2. Body: presents the main points of the paper, with each paragraph representing one aspect of the paper's answers to your research question. Each paragraph should include a topic sentence, evidence, analysis, and a transition sentence:

The topic sentence summarizes the paragraph's main idea
Use information from your research sources to support or make the argument for your main ideas/themes
Analyze your evidence to show how it answers your broader research question
Include a transition sentence at the end of each paragraph to connect what you discussed in that paragraph with the main idea of the next paragraph

3. Conclusion: summarizes what you wrote and what you learned

Restate your research question from the introduction in different words
Briefly summarize your main points or arguments and pull them together to answer your paper's main research question
End with a strong, final statement that ties the whole paper together and makes it clear the paper has come to an end
No new ideas should be introduced in the conclusion, it should only review and analyze the main points from the body of the paper (with the exception of suggestions for further research)

4. References list: a list of the sources you cited