Writing a Review of Literature. U niversity of W isconsin —Madison. Discovering, Narrowing, and Focusing a Researchable Topic Try to find a topic that truly interests you Try writing your way to a topic Talk with your course instructor and classmates about your topic Pose your topic as a question to be answered or a problem to be solved Finding, Selecting, and Reading Sources You will need to look at the following types of sources: library catalog, periodical indexes, bibliographies, suggestions from your instructor primary vs.
Why is it significant? What background material is relevant? What is my thesis or purpose statement? Keep track of your reference materials so you can cite them and build your bibliography later. Grammarly Premium identifies things that need to be cited and helps you cite them. Your research spawned tons of ideas.
The thesis statement is a sentence that summarizes the main point of your essay and previews your supporting points. The thesis statement is important because it guides your readers from the beginning of your essay by telling them the main idea and supporting points of your essay.
Most research papers begin with a thesis statement at the end of an introductory paragraph. Most research papers fall into one of three categories: analytical, expository, or argumentative. Without a well-thought-out thesis statement, your paper is likely to end up jumbled and with an unclear purpose. An outline will help you organize your thoughts before you dig into the writing process. Those main points are your sub-headings. Now, organize your thoughts and information under each sub-heading.
Many students skip this step, and then wonder why they receive a low grade on a paper they worked hard on or were excited about. Spend time going over the assignment. Look at everything your instructor has provided you with. It might even be helpful to highlight and take notes on the assignment. Take time to understand exactly what you are being asked to write and how you will be graded on it. Ask your teacher for clarification before you even pick a topic.
That way, you will be sure you are on the right track. In many cases, a controversial topic can be ideal, so that you can exercise your ability to objectively explain differing positions, and even defend one if the assignment calls for that. Use the guidelines given by your instructor to help pick your paper topic. It will be easier on you in the long run to write about a topic that fits the assignment.
This step is pretty flexible; different people will research for a paper in different ways. After all, you still have to write your research paper. First off, skimming. Get comfortable reading through things quickly. Learn how to identify key points and arguments without getting bogged down and reading every word. Next, find reliable resources. But, you cannot use that as a final source.
You can use general sources like Wikipedia to get familiar with a topic, find keywords that can further drive your research, and quickly understand large amounts of information. But, for the information you use in your paper, you have to find reliable resources. Take what you have learned from a Google search or Wikipedia article and dig deeper.
Check out the sources on the article, use keywords from your internet search to search an academic database, or ask an expert whether or not what you learned is valid and if it is, where you can find a reliable source stating the same thing. So, just to be clear: you can use Wikipedia as a starting point in your research, but you should not cite Wikipedia as one of the primary sources for your research paper.
You can find an article that says anything you want it to say. Are the spires on the Cinderella Castle at Disney World removable in case of a hurricane? Did a cook attempt to assassinate George Washington by feeding him poisoned tomatoes?
Just because you find one article stating that something is true, that does not necessarily mean it is a proven fact that you can use in your research. Work to understand all of the different viewpoints and schools of thought on your topic. This can be done by reading a variety of articles, reading a book or article that gives an overview of the topic and incorporates different points of view, or talking to an expert who can explain the topic in depth.
So you have all of this information, now what to do with it? Step four is all about getting organized. Like research, different people have different preferences here. It can also depend on your assignment.
If your teacher requires you to turn in a bibliography with your research paper think back to step 1; you ought to already know exactly what the assignment is by now! If you are just making one just for yourself, think about how you would like to organize your research. It might make sense to bookmark resources on your web browser or make a digital bibliography that allows you to link the resources you found.
You might prefer a printed list of your resources or you might want to write down all you have learned that is relevant to your project on notecards or sticky notes and organize your research paper on a table or the floor. A starting point when writing a thesis might be to write a one-sentence answer to the question: what is your paper about?
The answer might be something like the following examples:. But, what is important to remember, is that this is just a starting point.
A thesis needs to be definitive, and should not be about you. Prepare a working thesis before you actually organize your research because it will guide your investigation and will help you stay focused on your subject.
Your thesis statement should be concise and reflect the type of paper you are writing. All research papers can be divided into 3 categories:. You have to devote enough of your precious time to creating a good strong thesis statement so that your project has a clear purpose.
Your thesis should be debatable and narrow because your claims should be supported by evidence. If your claim is broad, you will need more evidence to convince your readers that you are right. Here is an example of a debatable thesis statement:. You should find enough secondary and primary credible sources on the subject of your paper, carefully read all of them, and find relevant evidence to support your thesis.
At this stage, you should evaluate your sources, take notes, and start documenting your sources according to a citation style specified by your instructor APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, etc. Make sure you use the latest edition of a specific style guide. You will use your notes about references later when writing your paper and building your bibliography. Your research has given you tons of great ideas. Now you have to organize them for your impressive presentation.
You have to finalize your thesis and create a working outline that you plan to cover and that will serve you as a roadmap and keep you focused.
You can use them as subheadings for the body of your paper. Look through your notes and organize the information under each sub-heading.
Make sure you include only relevant information that fits under your sub-headings and directly supports your thesis. When writing an outline, you should keep in mind a typical research paper structure that commonly includes:. But if your research paper is not long, its format may include an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. In any case, you should follow specific guidelines provided by your instructor.
This is the middle of the process. It forms their view on what exactly they should expect in your paper. You should list the keywords that present the topic of your paper, methods you used, and results that you achieved. Now create a sentence that includes all the keywords that you have listed and delete the unnecessary words. After that, you need to link the remaining ones. Finally, you have to delete non-essential info and organize the remaining words in the logical order.
You can also include the subtitle. Make sure that your title is concise. Afterwards, you need to write an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. These are the main parts of your paper so let us provide you with some details on how to do it right. Start writing an intro.
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