Tips And Tricks To Write A Compelling Research Paper
Did you recently receive a research paper assignment? Are you wondering how to crack this paper and score a decent grade? Do you lack knowledge of research paper writing? Well, the following tips and tricks can help you solve the said paper.
Academic papers can be tiresome, and dealing with them is not as easy as it sounds. So you need to have some hacks up your sleeves to conduct research projects. Read more to expand your knowledge about conducting the said paper.
1. Pick a topic
The first step to developing a research paper is choosing a topic, and this is where the success lies. If you are able to cross this challenge fruitfully, your road to victory is definite. The hacks below can help you optimise time and ease the process of finding research paper topics.
Set a timer
When choosing a topic for your research paper, you will need to spend some time brainstorming to figure out the topic that interests you the most.
Now it is important to set a timer or allocate time for carrying out every stage. If you spend too much time picking a topic, there won’t be much time to finish the other stages, so get it done within a stipulated time.
Search for a gap
Read the literature thoroughly and discover the gap that other researchers have yet to touch. You need to skim through various resources and go through various points of view to understand which area is still not discussed.
Conduct some background work on the already existing views. This will help you determine and narrow down the topic you can pick for your study.
2. Copy sources
The next step is to cite the sources, which often becomes a challenge because while researching for information, it slips your mind to copy the sources from where you are taking the information.
However, this creates a problem later on when you try to avoid plagiarism. Here is what you can do to avoid such a sticky situation.
Find a citation generator
There are several online citation generators that you can use if you forget to take note of citations. The process to get the citation is easy; you just need to enter the details in the form, and it will provide you with the citation.
Use templates
The next option is using templates that are easily available online. The templates can help you avoid extensive work, and you only have to put the details correctly.
3. Take notes early
Whether you are writing a research paper or a thesis paper, you need to take down some notes while researching.
If you procrastinate, you will miss out on valuable information that can add weight to your paper. You can come across facts, pieces of evidence, and quotes that reflect on the topic and make the paper presentable.
In this process, you may come across a brilliant idea that can uplift your paper, note that down and use it in the right place. You can down notes electronically as well as by hand.
- Taking notes by hand
- Add a keyword on the top of the paper
- Use index cards for all the sources
- Use charts and diagrams to simplify the content
- Note-taking electronically
- Arrange them as per the instructions
- Develop separate files for the sources
- Include keywords to recognise the main idea
4. Make an outline
Without a backbone, there is no way one can understand what the writer wants to highlight. An outline is crucial to maintain a sequential and logical flow of the writing. Here is a structure for a research paper that you can follow
- Abstract
- Introduction
- Literature review
- Methodology
- Findings
- Discussion
- Limitations
- Conclusion
- Recommendations
5. Introduce your research topic
The next step in composing a research paper is to introduce the topic in the introduction. Like any other academic paper, the introduction plays a crucial role as it is what the readers go through and makes an impression.
So it is essential to crafting an attention-grabbing and thought-provoking introduction that can pique the reader’s interest. Here is what you can do to achieve this:
- A research question
Include a research question that you will answer in the research study. The idea is to highlight a question in simple words, and the purpose of the paper is to solve it.
- A thesis statement
It is a crucial part of any academic paper and states the main idea. It is further explained using examples.
6. Discuss in detail
Once you have completed all the stages, you need to move to the main section, where you will discuss the points in detail.
You can evaluate the results through a demonstration of the link between the literature review. There are many ways to approach this section.
But the main idea remains the same: presenting the results and scope for that further scientific research possible. Here are the things that you need to include:
- An analysis of the outcome
- Mentioning previous research work
- Deduction
- Hypothesis
If you are struggling to develop any area of research, you can get expert help from a research paper writing service to avoid getting poor grades because it requires weeks and months of effort to put together a research paper.
Wrapping it up,
There are various types of academic papers that you will have to deal with when you are in college and university, and it will not be a piece of cake.
It is impossible to know all the techniques to decipher every paper, be it an essay, case study, or research. So the above-mentioned points can help in conducting effective research writing, which can ultimately yield good grades.
Research papers are thought-provoking, and they require a bit more attention than others, so be careful while writing this type of paper.
Author bio
Harper Diaz is a full-time writer at Myassignmenthelp.io, which is an assignment writing service. She works as a freelance photographer too.