The majority of papers you will be assigned in college are research papers. The research you collect for a research paper illuminates what scholars have to say concerning the argument or research question you are setting forth, and it serves as a springboard for your conclusion. In preparing a research paper, strike a balance between showcasing thorough research and presenting research that covers too much ground or goes too far afield of your topic. It's easy to get carried away with research as you discover more and more interesting aspects of your topic. You will certainly want to include all the research you can find that closely relates to your topic. You may, however, wish to limit your coverage to the most recent works. On the other hand, be sure to include the landmark works in the field, no matter how old they are. In some classes, professors will ask that you go beyond making a simple argument and discussing it based on what other scholars have contributed to the conversation on the subject. In social science, business, and natural science classes, for example, your instructor may ask that you conduct original research, such as a study or experiment. In those cases, you would likely structure your paper like this:
Note: If your professor does not require original research, the structure of your paper would focus on items 1, 2, and 6. With a research paper that focuses only the research others have done (rather than original research you've produced), the key is that whatever argument or thesis statement you've set forth, you should demonstrate that you have thoroughly researched and presented what all relevant sources have to say about the subject and sets the stage for you to add to the body of research with your own analysis and assertions. Among professors' pet peeves about research papers is little evidence of research. Inserting quotations, citing authors that bolster your thesis, and presenting a lengthy-but-pertinent bibliography will all help show your professor that you've researched your topic well, assuming that you have, in fact, gathered sufficient research material. But evidence of copious research will succeed only if you use the research you've uncovered in a way in a way that logically supports your thesis. Integrating that research into the paper is trickier. A former colleague who is a history professor offers this stringent guideline: “Every paragraph except the introduction and conclusion ought to have a reference to the primary or secondary material used for your paper. If there is not a reference to a source in the paragraph, you probably have not provided the necessary evidence to demonstrate your point.” While some professors might consider such a dictum extreme, you certainly can't go wrong if you follow the “a-source-in-every-paragraph” guideline. Also high on the list of professor peeves about student writing is their failure to support the stated thesis. College research papers must explore a question, problem, or issue. You must state a thesis at the outset, also known as a hypothesis, and the rest of your paper must build a case that supports your thesis, argument or main point. You are not merely summarizing information, as you might do with a high-school paper, but taking a position with the best evidence you can find in the literature. Here's how the same history professor colleague expresses this concept in the writing guidelines he distributes to his students: "All papers must have a thesis. Providing information is not enough. There must be a point to your work. The thesis of your paper should be a declarative sentence that makes an argument of some kind and shows why a topic or idea is significant."
Final Thoughts
Questions about some of the terminology used in this article? Get more information (definitions and links) on key academic terms by going to our College Success Glossary.
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