A research paper is a form of academic writing that offers interpretation, analysis, and argument based on detailed independent research. Research papers are more or less similar to literary essays; however, they are generally longer and more complex papers. They are created to assess your writing and scholarly expert research skills. Developing a good research paper requires you to illustrate strong topic knowledge, consult various sources, and contribute to the debate with original ideas.
How is a Research Paper Different from a Research Proposal?
Students often confuse the two terms, but they are very different. A research proposal clearly describes your objectives and motivation for a particular topic. It explains why you picked the research topic and your goals. It also highlights how the research can advance and expand in its relevant field. Lastly, provide a brief description of the process of conducting research.
On the other hand, a research paper is a detailed paper describing your research, which is longer than a research proposal. The research paper also includes an in-depth description of the results of your study.
Research Paper Outline
The following steps outline an effective but simple strategy for writing a research paper. However, you may need to rearrange the steps depending on the challenges you face along the way and your knowledge of the topic.
Step 1: Identify and Advance your Topic
Choosing a research topic can be challenging. As this is the initial step, you must do it correctly. Look at these tips for selecting a research topic.
- Choose a topic within the confines of the assignment. Your instructor will often provide precise instructions on what you may or may not write about.
- Please choose a topic that interests you and learn more about it. Your research writing process will be more accommodating if you write about something you’re interested in.
- Choose a topic for which there is sufficient information. Conduct a preliminary information search to determine if current sources meet your needs. If the information is too much, you’ll have to narrow your topic, and if there’s little information, you’ll have to broaden your topic.
- Be unique. Your instructor reads many research papers daily, most of which have the same topic. Be different from your classmates by choosing an interesting and unique topic.
If you cannot choose a research paper topic, contact homeworkgiants.com for help.
After identifying a topic, it may be more helpful to state it as a question. For instance, if you are interested in finding out about the drug and alcohol abuse of teenagers in the US, you can ask, “Why are American teenagers abusing drugs and alcohol?” When you present your subject as a question, it is easier to identify the primary keywords or concepts to use in the research.
You may ask, “Can you cover any topic for online homework help?” the answer is yes. homeworkgiants.com handles research papers covering all academic modules. All you need to do is let us know your interest, and we’ll develop a suitable research topic for your custom essay.
Step 2: Conduct a Preliminary Information Search
Before you begin your research, conduct a preliminary search to establish if there is sufficient information to set the background of your study. Use your keywords to search in encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other sources such as internet search engines, periodical databases, and book catalogues. Additional background information may be obtained from reserve readings, textbooks, and lecture notes. The resources you find may necessitate a change of topic.
Step 3: Find Materials
You can start looking for materials for your research topic with a clear research direction. There are various places to find information:
If you want a book, conduct a subject search in the Alephcatalog, you can do a keyword search if the subject search does not produce enough information. Write down or print the citation details (title, author, date, etc.) and the location (collection and call number) of the item(s). Note the circulation status. Look at other books nearby when you find the book, as similar books are placed in the same area. Also, the Aleph catalogue indexes a library’s audio-visual holdings.
Utilize the library’s electronic periodical databases to locate newspaper and magazine articles. Choose the formats and databases best suited to your specific topic.
Use search engines (Yahoo, Google, etc.) and subject directories to find materials on the internet. Look at the Internet Resources section of the NHCC Library website for useful subject links.
Step 4: Assess your Sources
Your instructor expects you to provide reliable, truthful, and credible information. This is essential when using internet resources, which many people consider unreliable.
Consult your chosen resources and note the information you’ll use in your research paper. Ensure that you document all the resources, even if you may not use the help. You will need the URL, publisher, title and other information later when crafting a bibliography.
Step 5: Write your Paper
Start by organizing the information you have gathered. Then, write a rough draft where you note your ideas on paper. This will help you manage your thoughts and determine the final paper’s form. After this, revise the rough draft as much as you want to develop a final product to submit to your instructor.
Step 7: Properly Cite your Sources
Acknowledge the source of the information you use in your paper, and cite your sources. Documenting or citing your sources has two purposes. First, it gives the proper credit to the authors of the sources used. Secondly, a free citation, such as the one provided by homeworkgiants.com, allows those reading your paper to duplicate your research and find the sources you provided as references. Not citing your sources is considered to be plagiarism. homeworkgiants conducts a plagiarism inspection & rigorous quality checks to ensure this does not happen.
Step 7: Proofread and Edit
The last step is to proofread your research paper. Peruse it and conduct a grammar check and punctuation errors. Ensure your sources are correctly cited, and your intended message has been thoroughly stated. You can contact homeworkgiants.com for proofreading and editing services, not only for your research paper but for other subjects as well.
Our essay editing and proofreading services are available for your physics homework help, math homework help, etc., with the finest homework tutors onboard.