History of research papers.

Picking a topic is perhaps the most important step in writing a research paper. To do it well
requires several steps of refinement. First you have to determine a general area in which you
have an interest (if you aren't interested, your readers won't be either). You do not write a paper
"about the Civil War," however, for that is such a large and vague concept that the paper will be
too shallow or you will be swamped with information. The next step is to narrow your topic. Are
you interested in comparison? battles? social change? politics? causes? biography? Once you
reach this stage try to formulate your research topic as a question. For example, suppose that you
decide to write a paper on the use of the films of the 1930's and what they can tell historians
about the Great Depression. You might turn that into the following question: "What are the
primary values expressed in films of the 1930's?" Or you might ask a quite different question,
"What is the standard of living portrayed in films of the 1930's?" There are other questions, of
course, which you could have asked, but these two clearly illustrate how different two papers on
the same general subject might be. By asking yourself a question as a means of starting research
on a topic you will help yourself find the answers. You also open the door to loading the
evidence one way or another. It will help you decide what kinds of evidence might be pertinent
to your question, and it can also twist perceptions of a topic. For example, if you ask a question
about economics as motivation, you are not likely to learn much about ideals, and vice versa.
No one should pick a topic without trying to figure out how one could discover pertinent
information, nor should anyone settle on a topic before getting some background information
about the general area. These two checks should make sure your paper is in the realm of the
possible. The trick of good research is detective work and imaginative thinking on how one can
find information. First try to figure out what kinds of things you should know about a topic to
answer your research question. Are there statistics? Do you need personal letters? What
background information should be included? Then if you do not know how to find that particular
kind of information, ASK. A reference librarian or professor is much more likely to be able to
steer you to the right sources if you can ask a specific question such as "Where can I find
statistics on the number of interracial marriages?" than if you say "What can you find on racial
attitudes?"

What a research paper should not be:

The first mistake a student often makes in approaching a research-based assignment is to assume that the
task this time involves identifying an "issue," that is, one of those debate topics typical of TV talk shows:
alcoholism, UFOs, abortion, the ozone layer, spotted owls, mainstreaming, date rape, and so on. Next,
this student, a week before the paper's due date, looks through a recent edition of Readers' Guide to
Periodical Literature and jots down references to the first few articles available in Time, Christianity
Today, and Sports Illustrated. When writing the paper, this student offers a "thesis" paragraph that merely
identifies the topic amid lots of filler, followed by summaries of the articles one by one with hefty and
pointless quotation, and a tack-on conclusion usually to the tune of "[issue X] is a big problem in society
today and something must be done." This student slides the paper under the instructor's door a few hours
after it is due near the end of the semester, studies for that infinitely more important killer Chem final,
revels in winter or summer break (woo), and totally can't believe a D in English when final grades arrive.
Facts do not "speak for themselves." The research paper is not a "report," nor is it an argumentative paper
crammed with factoids. Like all writing, it is a way of communicating an idea, not just facts, from one
person to another. A research paper is a special mode of this communication, a mode that requires that the
writer take an authoritative stance and present both the factual information and an interpretation of those
facts. Too often, "reporting" the information makes the paper boring, disabling that paper as a
communicative tool. However, certain strategies for presenting information can help your writing avoid
sounding like someone has haphazardly listed lots of facts and references.

How to start a research paper:

Start a research paper as you would start any other writing project. Discover what you are interested in
writing about, within the guidelines of the assignment. Your writing is not going to be very good if you
have no interest in the subject. When exploring your ideas, bombard the subject with questions of all
sorts, narrowing down a possible thesis all the time. Jot down notes and thoughts, even words and phrases
that come to mind regarding the subject. Consider what should be covered in a paper on the subject, what
needs to be explained. After all this is done, and this is a significant part of the work on the project, begin
to look for helpful information.
Realize that your paper should ultimately add a new idea to the wealth of printed material produced by
our forebears. (If the paper were just a rehashing of other people's ideas, we'd read their writings instead.)

The purpose of supporting information:

We don't use facts to create a paper, we use them to support it. Supporting information is used to provide
a writer with an authority that he or she may not have otherwise. Part of your job is to convince the reader
that you know what you are talking about. Quoting other people's work on the subject shows the reader
that your thoughts have validity and therefore your writing has validity. Think of the process this way: a
conversation is going on about a particular subject (possibly within the framework if not directly on the
topic itself). You listen in to gather what it is you need to understand about the state of that conversation,
and seek to join in. It would make no sense to repeat what others have already said, nor do you just come
out of left field with a blast of facts or of opinion. Instead, you want to acknowledge what has been said
so far, but only in order to launch your own thoughts. This is what happens in the research writing
process--the conversation simply takes place in print.
Supporting information is not the most important part of the paper! The most important part of the paper
is your idea and the way that you express it. This is where so many papers that use supporting information
go astray. When the writer finds his or her thoughts expressed elsewhere, he or she often lets them
become the to your writing.

How to gather useful sources:

Once you have a good idea of where your paper is going you can begin to look for support. Having a
focused topic allows you to weed out a lot of superfluous information. Sessions in the library are valuable
if you have a direction in mind, if you know the kinds of sources you'll need. Pay attention to what
indexes cover your type of topic. Recognize the important difference between magazines and journals,
and which would lend the most validity to your discussion.
Later, if you have a point that you feel is weak and needs some bolstering then research that point. Often,
when you are already well into a paper, you may think of a point you want to make and find that you need
to go do a bit more research. We're never finished researching; we just stop.

How to arrange all this information gathered:

This is entirely up to you. You need to find the best way to keep yourself and your information organized.
Here are some suggestions:

Copy the articles and pages you use. (You may be asked to turn them in with the assignment.)

Write all the publishing information at the top of the articles and pages (author, title, place of
publication, publishing company, date, page numbers), and the library call number in case you
need to get the source again.

In the margin at the beginning of the copy, summarize the article briefly.

Highlight useful quotations or information that you might use to support the paper.

After this, get it all together and start writing. One sure-fire way to convince readers that you
have not thought through the subject is to summarize your sources one by one throughout the paper. So
instead, organize the discussion of the subject yourself first; then draw from the sources only as they
relate to the components of your discussion. Again, facts do not speak for themselves. It is the job of the
paper to show how you are analyzing the facts, finding meaning and implications of the information.
Remember that your voice should dominate the discussion. Therefore, do not end paragraphs with
quotation; all final words (in paragraphs and in the conclusion itself) should be yours!

What is research paper

"Research paper." What image comes into mind as you hear those words: working with stacks of articles
and books, hunting the "treasure" of others' thoughts? Whatever image you create, it's a sure bet that
you're envisioning sources of information--articles, books, people, artworks. Yet a research paper is more
than the sum of your sources, more than a collection of different pieces of information about a topic, and
more than a review of the literature in a field. A research paper analyzes a perspective or argues a point.
Regardless of the type of research paper you are writing, your finished research paper should present your
own thinking backed up by others' ideas and information.
To draw a parallel, a lawyer researches and reads about many cases and uses them to support their own
case. A scientist reads many case studies to support an idea about a scientific principle. In the same way, a
history student writing about the Vietnam War might read newspaper articles and books and interview
veterans to develop and/or confirm a viewpoint and support it with evidence.

Definition of research paper.

A research paper is the culmination and final product of an involved process of research, critical
thinking, source evaluation, organization, and composition.
Academic publishing is the subfield of publishing which distributes academic research and scholarship.
Most academic work is published in academic journal article, book orthesis form. The part of academic
written output that is not formally published but merely printed up or posted on the Internet is often called
"grey literature". Most scientific and scholarly journals, and many academic and scholarly books, though
not all, are based on some form of peer review or editorial refereeing to qualify texts for publication. Peer
review quality and selectivity standards vary greatly from journal to journal, publisher to publisher, and
field to field.

Two major types of research papers.

Argumentative research paper:
The argumentative research paper consists of an introduction in which the writer clearly introduces the
topic and informs his audience exactly which stance he intends to take; this stance is often identified as
the thesis statement. An important goal of the argumentative research paper is persuasion, which means
the topic chosen should be debatable or controversial. For example, it would be difficult for a student to
successfully argue in favor of the following stance.
Cigarette smoking poses medical dangers and may lead to cancer for both the smoker and those who
experience secondhand smoke.
Perhaps 25 years ago this topic would have been debatable; however, today, it is assumed that smoking
cigarettes is, indeed, harmful to one's health. A better thesis would be the following.
Although it has been proven that cigarette smoking may lead to sundry health problems in the smoker, the
social acceptance of smoking in public places demonstrates that many still do not consider secondhand
smoke as dangerous to one's health as firsthand smoke.
In this sentence, the writer is not challenging the current accepted stance that both firsthand and
secondhand cigarette smoke is dangerous; rather, she is positing that the social acceptance of the latter
over the former is indicative of a cultural double-standard of sorts. The student would support this thesis

throughout her paper by means of both primary and secondary sources, with the intent to persuade her
audience that her particular interpretation of the situation is viable.

Analytical research paper:

The analytical research paper often begins with the student asking a question (a.k.a. a research question)
on which he has taken no stance. Such a paper is often an exercise in exploration and evaluation. For
example, perhaps one is interested in the Old English poem Beowulf. He has read the poem intently and
desires to offer a fresh reading of the poem to the academic community.

Objective Writing Tips: Keeping Your Research Paper Free of Bias

Objective writing is essential for writing an effective and credible research paper. Bias weakens
your position and your paper. You can keep your research paper bias free by paying close
attention to your research, language and construction and looking at the following aspects of
your paper:

Source material

Opposing viewpoints

Chosen language

Pronoun usage

Expressed thoughts

Objective writing tip #1: Evaluate your sources for bias

For any research paper, you want reliable, credible sources. Every source should be evaluated
during the research process to maintain objective writing. Sticking with scholarly journal articles
and publications is one way to avoid bias. A second is to seek websites that have .edu, .gov
or .org domain extensions. Not every site, article or book presents information free of bias. In
addition, some sources have hidden agendas. Because of this, always evaluate your sources.

Objective writing tip #2: Balance your position with the opposing view(s)

A good research paper is balanced with every side or argument of a topic. Objective writing
means including arguments that take a different position and explaining those opposing
viewpoints thoroughly within the body of your paper. You can refute opposing views with
supporting evidence that logically shows why your unbiased argument is a stronger one. In
addition, include reliable details and evidence that is supportive of your assertions and thesis
statement.

Objective writing tip #3: Use objective language

Objective writing is about always presenting information fairly and credibly to allow someone to
draw conclusions. Avoid subjective language whenever possible to increase the credibility and
objectivity of your words. For example, avoid using any language that is construed as a value
judgment, such as wonderful, awesome or sarcastically. Similarly, avoid overly emotional
phrasing and any adjectives or adverbs that exaggerate. For example, avoid using very or
really to emphasize a point. Also reword any language that singles out a specific group of
people in a negative light.

Objective writing tip #4: Avoid first-person and second-person pronouns

While taking one side of an issue over another is clearly based on your opinion, you can make
objective writing a reality by avoiding first-person and second-person pronouns. The fact that the
paper is yours makes it clear that the ideas, thoughts and conclusions that are not cited are your
own. Unless you are conducting primary research and discussing it, write in the third person
using third-person pronouns when applicable. Otherwise, personal comments, such as I think
or my opinion is come across more as a biased opinion rather than a logical argument with
supporting evidence.

Objective writing tip #5: Express your thoughts explicitly

Objective writing is also achieved through expressing your thoughts explicitly. The more
specific you are with certain pieces of information, the stronger your argument and the stronger
the supporting evidence. For example, instead of writing most of the world, write 82 percent

of the worlds population. Specifics help keep your writing objective and your argument
credible.
Keeping your writing objective is essential to writing an effective, credible and well-presented
research paper. By following these tips to keep your writing bias free and working through the
research process and the writing process, you can achieve objective writing that keeps your
argument and supporting evidence as the main factors that help your readers draw conclusions.

Benefit of writing research paper

Values/Personal Interests - choosing your topic; i.e., asking, Whats

important to me?

Focus/Scope/Conciseness - narrowing the topic

Dependence on God - Yes, pray for the anointing to research and write well!
Why not?

Resourcefulness - finding appropriate sources; making use of the template

provided

Organization - putting your thoughts together in a way that can be clearly

presented

Honor - acknowledging those who have gone before, i.e., the academic efforts
of others

Integration - How does this class and this paper relate to life?

Creativity - making the most of the opportunity to express yourself

Resolve - figuring out what you believe on the issue, why, and being bold
enough to express it

Responsibility and Time Management - meeting process deadlines, making

your Write Place appointment

Clarity and Coherence - learning to write well

Accountability - avoiding plagiarism

Thoroughness - making sure youve covered the main elements of the topic

Format requirements (i.e., Turabian vs. APA) - may make it easier next time

Attention to detail - meeting the requirements of those you are responsible to

Computer Skills - ah, those footnotes!

Fruit of the Spirit - patience in particular; also peacefulness, faithfulness,

etc.!

Community part A - realizing the benefit of a good editor and learning the
librarians name!

Punctuality - making the due date

Achievement - sense of a job well done

Improvement - taking professor comments on the paper and learning from

them

Insight - you become more of an expert on the topic than you were before!

Disadvantages of term paper custom writing companies

No matter where a student goes to high school or college there are going to be research papers
due as a part of the requirements of many classes. Some will inevitably turn to term paper
custom writing companies to get all of the papers done. Before they follow this course of action
there are five disadvantages that each person needs to think about before they hire someone to
work on their term paper.

Subject wont be Learned- As a student one of the reasons that assignments are give is to
teach about the topic at hand and term papers are a learning experience. By hiring companies to
custom write your paper it will deny you the ability to lean about the key facts surrounding the
subject that your paper is about.
1. Not Learn Writing Process- Another problem with getting your term paper professionally
written is that a person is going to miss out on learning the term paper research process. This
is vital because it can be applied to anything. Learning this process should be a high priority
for students.
2. Too Perfect Might is Suspicious- Often times the custom writing companies do such a good
job that the writing may be better than anything you have ever done. A teacher might get

suspicious but there isnt anything they can do to prove it because all papers are going to be
original and not plagiarized at all.
3. Ethical Challenge-Having someone else do your work is going to provide an ethical
challenge for many people. To hire someone to do all of your work for you is going to be
considered unethical and wrong. It is ethically wrong to pass in someone elses work as your
own but that is only as much of a problem as you make it.
4. Lack Control- For many students and people in general, control is a big issue and how
something is stated or stressed about something needs to be a certain way. However a good
writer from a top notch agency will take in consideration all of the ideas and requirements of
the client and complete the term paper to the exact specifications of the client.
In the end it is going to be up to the student just how important all of these factors are going to be
in the big picture. An education is one of the most important possessions a person collects in life
and how it is earned is vital as well.

Components of a Research Paper

In this segment, the key components of a quality research paper will be identified and discussed.

Learning Objectives

Identify the components of a research paper.

Analyze the components of a research paper.

Understanding Scholarly Journal Articles

Once a researcher goes through the process of conducting a research project, it is critical that he
or she shares their findings with others through submission of the work to a scholarly journal.
The following video, "Understanding Scholarly Journal Articles", provides an introduction to the
process of writing a journal article for submission. The video discusses the purpose of
publication, how scholarly journals differ from other publications, the steps in the publication
process, the parts of basic journal article, and tips on writing.

Structure of a Research Paper

While academic disciplines vary on the exact format and style of journal articles in their field,
most articles contain similar content and are divided in parts that typically follow the same
logical flow. Following is a list of the parts commonly found in research articles.

Title

Abstract

Introduction

Literature Review

Methods

Results

Discussion/Conclusion

References/Bibliography

Research papers are organized so that the information flow resembles an hourglass in that it goes
from general to specific and then back to general again. The introduction and literature review
sections will introduce the problem and provide general information. The methods and results
will

provide

specific,

detailed

information

about

this

research

project

and

the

discussion/conclusion will discuss the findings in a larger context. The following section will
describe each of these parts in more detail. Additional information can be found in the
Resources section of this module and in the Suggested Readings.

Title
The title should be specific and indicate the problem the research project addresses using
keywords that will be helpful in literature reviews in the future.

Abstract
The abstract is used by readers to quickly review the overall content of the paper. Journals
typically place strict word limits on abstracts, such as 200 words, making them a challenge to
write. The abstract should provide a complete synopsis of the research paper and should
introduce the topic and the specific research question, provide a statement regarding
methodology and should provide a general statement about the results and the findings. Because
it is really a summary of the entire research paper, it is often written last.

Introduction
The introduction begins by introducing the broad overall topic and providing basic background
information. It then narrows down to the specific research question relating to this topic. It
provides the purpose and focus for the rest of the paper and sets up the justification for the
research.

Literature Review
The purpose of the literature review is to describe past important research and it relate it
specifically to the research problem. It should be a synthesis of the previous literature and the
new idea being researched. The review should examine the major theories related to the topic to
date and their contributors. It should include all relevant findings from credible sources, such as
academic books and peer-reviewed journal articles.

Methods
The methods section will describe the research design and methodology used to complete to the
study. The general rule of thumb is that readers should be provided with enough detail to
replicate the study.

Results
In this section, the results of the analysis are presented. How the results are presented will
depend upon whether the research study was quantitative or qualitative in nature. This section
should focus only on results that are directly related to the research or the problem. Graphs and
tables should only be used when there is too much data to efficiently include it within the text.
This section should present the results, but not discuss their significance.

Discussion/Conclusion
This section should be a discussion of the results and the implications on the field, as well as
other fields. The hypothesis should be answered and validated by the interpretation of the
results. This section should also discuss how the results relate to previous research mentioned in
the literature review, any cautions about the findings, and potential for future research.

References/Bibliography
The research paper is not complete without the list of references. This section should be an
alphabetized list of all the academic sources of information utilized in the paper. The format of
the references will match the format and style used in the paper. Common formats include APA,
MLA, Harvard and so forth.