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
Sections
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 a thesis statement, which outlines 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 main focus. Prioritize and organize your main points and paragraphs to logically build your arguments to a compelling conclusion. Each paragraph should include a topic sentence, evidence, analysis, and a transition sentence:
- The topic sentence summarizes the paragraph's main idea
- Use evidence from your research sources to support or make the argument for your main ideas
- Analyze your evidence to show how it makes you think about your 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
- Supporting materials too detailed or big too include for the paper body, such as tables of raw data, charts, graphs, or other materials should be an Appendix and not included in the Results section
- Example: If you had a chart that you wanted to include, you would use a parenthetical referral to send the reader to its place in the Appendix, i.e. (See Appendix: Chart 1)
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 main research question
- End with a strong, final statement that ties the whole literature review 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
5. Appendices
- Supporting materials, such as tables of raw data, charts, or graphs, referred to in the body of the paper
- Order the appendices by when and where the material is referred to in the body of your paper
- For example, a chart referred to on page 2 would appear in the appendix before a chart on page
For more writing help, contact the Writing Center and make an online appointment to meet with one of their consultants (for extra credit).
Grading Rubric
Detailed information about how Dr. Clark Foos will grade your Final Paper assignment
