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Creating Your Research Paper

Use this guide to help you create your research paper from start to finish

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Tricks that don't work

Your instructors are not fooled when you:

  • Spend more time on the cover page than the essay—graphics, cool binders, and cute titles are no replacement for a well-written paper.
  • Use huge fonts, wide margins, or extra spacing to pad the page length—these tricks are immediately obvious to the eye. Most instructors use the same word processor you do. They know what’s possible. Such tactics are especially damning when the instructor has a stack of 60 papers to grade and yours is the only one that low-flying airplane pilots could read.
  • Use a paper from another class that covered “sort of similar” material. Again, the instructor has a particular task for you to fulfill in the assignment that usually relates to course material and lectures. Your other paper may not cover this material, and turning in the same paper for more than once course may constitute an honor code violation. Ask the instructor—it can’t hurt.
  • Get all wacky and “creative” before you answer the question. Showing that you are able to think beyond the boundaries of a simple assignment can be good, but you must do what the assignment calls for first. Again, check with your instructor. A humorous tone can be refreshing for someone grading a stack of papers, but it will not get you a good grade if you have not fulfilled the task.

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Read and revise your paper

Revision Checklist

Assignment
  • Does the draft carry out the assignment?
  • If not, how might the writer better fulfill the assignment?

Introduction
  • Does the introduction orient the reader to the paper?
  • Does it whet the reader’s appetite?
  • Is the thesis clearly stated?
  • Does it provide a roadmap for the rest of the paper?  

Thesis/claim
  • Does the thesis have a topic with a claim made about it?
  • Is the topic or claim too broad or too narrow for the scope of the paper?
  • Can it stand up to the question, “So what?” 

Audience
  • Who is the audience?
  • How does the draft interest and appeal to its audience?
  • Is it written at the right level for the intended readers?

 

Main Points/Body Paragraphs
  • Does each main point have a topic sentence?
  • Does each point support the claim made in the thesis? Should any points be eliminated or de-emphasized?
  • Underline the evidence used to support the point. Do any points need to be developed (supported) more fully? What evidence, examples, details might help? 
  • Are sources integrated seamlessly into the paragraph, i.e. is there commentary from the writer about the evidence? Is the source cited?
  • Which paragraphs are clearest? Best developed?

Organization and flow
  • Is the writing easy to follow?
  • Are the ideas presented in an order that makes sense to readers?
  • Identify paragraphs/sentences that seem out of place or repetitive.

Transitions

  • Are there effective transitions within sentences, between paragraphs, and from one idea to the next?
  • Are keywords repeated to help readers follow a logical order? Would headings be appropriate?

Conclusion
  • Does it restate or connect back to thesis?
  • Does it introduce new ideas that belong better in body paragraphs?
  • Does it end in a memorable way, leaving the reader with something to think about, or does it seem to end abruptly or trail off into vagueness?

Content from this section originally by William H. Hannon Library's LibGuide "Writing" at Loyola Marymount University.

Formating your paper