Melda Researchers Advice on Writing a Research Paper

A research paper is defined as arrangement of facts about a given subject, that are based on a collection of sources or texts, which are presented according to the accepted format and which should be original in their selection, expression, assessment and conclusion.

Writing a good research paper is a skill that can be learnt, it starts with reading the topic, the number of words required, the writing style to be used and coming up with good ideas about the topic in question, at first an individual might not have an obvious idea about what the topic is all about but once you gather information a clear picture starts forming. The first step is to affirm your thesis; a thesis statement is a declaration that tells the reader what you want to discuss or demonstrate in the paper it should be able to catch the reader's attention. The research paper will revolve around this statement; the main arguments will be either defending or supporting it.

When gathering information it is important that one does not get confused by the piles of data that you come across, one comes up with an outline that will enable you to organize your information. An outline will enable you come up with a clear pattern, this is achieved by categorizing your information into what is most important coming down to the less important issues. An outline consists of an abstract, an introduction, the body of the paper, the analysis and finally the conclusion.

After coming up with a good outline, one needs to organize all the data collected from the different sources. Make a good analysis of the collected data, analysis involves differentiating factual information from false information, verifying the accuracy of information and sorting out the data. Analysis is one of the most fundamental stages of writing a research paper because it is through analysis that one is able to digest and synthesize the data you have collected. It means that if you do a proper analysis you can be able to share your findings and ideas clearly.

The next step is to write a first draft of your research paper from the information gathered, this entails going through all the information summarizing and paraphrasing it so that it can make sense. It is possible for one to write a number of drafts before coming up with a good document because it is after writing each draft that one realizes that your ideas are starting to shape up.

Finally, it is very important to go through your work. Revise all the contents in the paper check for grammatical errors, spellings and references, check that your research is up to the required standards and whether it conforms with a given format( if requested). This is the stage where you can rearrange your ideas where they seem not to make any sense keeping in mind the topic of the paper and the audience you are writing for. It is also very important to state where you source your information, this ensures that the reader can check from those sources and exonerate you from any claims of plagiarism.

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Research Paper Writing Guide

The research paper is an important and essential part of your education. Researching something involves the experience of finding and processing new information you get your hands on, the research process has become very complex as years have gone by, and the availability of electronic sources has opened up many new avenues of advanced research in a lot of fields. The basic purpose of research doesn't only include presenting quotations, which in other words shows how you report what other people say, instead the main purpose is to closely analyze, process, and evaluation of the issues you are researching. You should also be ready to take the ownership of the knowledge you have discovered, information that supports what your opinion is. Since extra energy and time is required to write a research paper, one should plan very carefully and accordingly.

The process of research starts with the selection of a topic which is suitable for your course or purpose. The selected topic should let you formulate theories or answer questions through the generation of new ideas. The research paper also needs to have to have a clear thesis statement, purpose and a defined audience. As is the norm, you will start the writing process with your first draft; this draft is likely to be revised more than once so the writer shouldn't panic if he/she finds errors in it the first time it is read again.

After that you proofread the paper, edit it, and then prepare the research paper's final copy. It is very important for the research paper to be correctly documented, and the readers should know the sources used in writing the paper. A problem with research papers is that it is very easy to have an incoherent peace of writing due to abundance of information available from several different sources; therefore, it is essential that you revise the paper carefully and check for unity and coherence in the structure of the essay. If any part or sentences strays away from the purpose of your research, then it should be eliminated from the final copy

After you have chosen your topic, you need to decide the resources that will be needed to provide you with the information you are looking for. Most of the research papers written in colleges depend on secondary data and topics on which research has already been done; however some may be based on your experiences, responses, and impressions. Writing advanced research papers will probably need you to accumulate, analyze, and take help from the work of other people. It is also very important to give credit for the ideas that you have taken from someone's research, and to cite these sources a documentation style should be chosen which is according to your requirements. It doesn't matter whatever documentation style you select, what is important is that you completely understand the format, and then use it consistently in the research paper.

Since there is an abundance of information available from various sources to aid in the research paper writing process, we should however be careful that all the sources are not equally reliable, accurate, and verifiable. This is a problem faced quite often by writers who use sources from the internet. Consequently, it is the responsibility of the writer to make sure that the sources are authentic and of high quality, and if they serve the purpose of your research. The primary sources you use are basically your imagination, knowledge and experiences you have had over your entire life, even though they might have been influenced by perceptions of the people who came before us, still it is a valuable resource in the process of writing a research paper. However, if you use the sources which are created by others, then you need to give proper references and credit to the source from where you got the information. The very last page of the research paper is called the bibliography, and it lists the sources used in the paper for research purposes.

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A Plus Research Paper

The following points should be considered while writing a research paper; when properly followed they will make sure that you get an A plus grade in your research paper.

SELECTING A TOPIC: you should select a topic in which you have interest in, and which challenges you as well. The effort put into the research and the amount of enthusiasm you show while doing it depends on what your attitude is towards the selected topic. One should also look to get the teacher's approval of the topic before going ahead with a full scale research. Topics which are too specialized or technical, or if they have don't have enough source materials available, should be avoided.

LOOKING FOR INFORMATION: look for information on the net, you can also search for useful URL's for general information. Besides that, one can use online encyclopedias like Encarta, use search engine, browse the local library for atlases, encyclopedias, magazines, newspapers, journals, government publications, etc. As a person gets more and more resources, he/she should write down the complete bibliographical information like authors name, title, date of publication, page numbers used, date of access, etc so that they can be properly referenced once the final paper is submitted.
THESIS STATEMENT: the thesis statement you choose will be a declaration of what you believe in, it is usually one sentence long and is finalized after a lot of critical. The major part of the research paper you write, will have arguments that will defend and support your thesis statement.

TENTATIVE OUTLINE: so that your research paper is organized in a logical way, and so that you have thought about your topic carefully, an outline should be created as the starting point of your written material. Outlines should be checked to make sure that the points which you have covered have a logical flow. The first tentative outline should have an introduction, a body, and conclusion.
ORGANIZATION OF NOTES: the organization of all the information you have collected should be based on the outline created by you. The research data collected should be critically analyzed, it should also be checked for its accuracy and the information should be verified whether it is obsolete or up-to-date. Organization of notes is perhaps the most important part of writing a research paper, in this phase you analyze and digest the information accumulated by you, and also to achieve what one of the main purposes of writing a research paper is, i.e. to learn something about the topic you have selected. Information that is irrelevant and which is not understood by you should not be included at any cost. To avoid the problem of plagiarism, one should use quotes and references very accurately and also try to write as many things in your own words as possible.

FIRST DRAFT: you should start with the very first topic you wrote down in the outline; one should also go through all the notes and information that has been gathered till that point. There are three options which can be used while writing this draft, you can summarize, give direct quotations, or paraphrase for the information you intend to use in the essay.
REVISION: in this part of research paper writing, you should read your paper and check for any errors. Rectify all the errors you can pinpoint and also try to get someone else to read the paper you have written.

FINAL PAPER: research papers should be properly typewritten and printed with a reasonably good quality. You should be aware of what the requirement of your essay is, and on what aspects your teacher is going to grade it on. Proofreading is also an important part of finalizing your paper, and finally aim to hand over the final paper a few days before the deadline, so that you have ample time for revision.

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