8 IMPORTANT STEPS FOR WRITING A RESEARCH PAPER

Research paper writing involves excessive technical language usage; concise writing for a scientific audience and
follows a standard form and structure of the targeted Journal/Publication/Style Guide. It follows a structure that
remains the same even if there is a change in the paper form (Structure of a research paper comprises three core
parts: introduction, body, and discussion)
A research paper gives a perspective or makes an argument that is important to the chosen area of research, and
summarizes the answers to your research questions.
1. Choose a topic
A Good Research Topic fulfills the FINER criteria:
Feasible (answerable with a robust method)
Interesting
Novel
Ethical
Relevant
2. Find information
Look for information online as well as printed materials to make articles more evidence-based. Critically read
and evaluate, and save the source and the content of any relevant information. Remember that an article
without bibliographical information is useless because you cannot cite its source. For those who need help,
there are
research paper editing companies that edit your paper as per the requirements of your style guide
(such as AMA, APA and ACS).
3. State your hypothesis
Try and write your thesis statement down in one sentence because the main portion of your essay will include
arguments to support and defend this belief.
4. Make a temporary outline
An outline will help you to consider your whole topic carefully and to organize it logically before you start
writing.
5. Organize your thoughts
Effective communication of your thoughts, ideas, insights, and research finding to others requires you to
organize, analyze, synthesize, and digest the gathered information. Organize your ideas in a linear,
understandable format and include only relevant information. Use your own words and document all ideas
borrowed or quoted to avoid plagiarism.
6. Write down your first draft
Read several research papers, note down the papers to refer, jot down your ideas and prepare a rough
sketch.
7. Revise your draft
Keep a checklist in place, you can use the checklist mentioned below:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Did I begin each paragraph with a proper topic sentence?

Have I supported my arguments with documented proof or examples?
Any run-on or unfinished sentences?
Any unnecessary or repetitious words?
Varying lengths of sentences?
Does one paragraph or idea flow smoothly into the next?
Any spelling or grammatical errors?

8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.

Quotes accurate in source, spelling, and punctuation?

Are all my citations accurate and in the correct format?
Did I avoid using contractions? Use "cannot" instead of "can't", "do not" instead of "don't"?
Did I use third person as much as possible? Avoid using phrases such as "I think", "I guess", "I suppose
Have I made my points clear and interesting but remained objective?
Did I leave a sense of completion for my reader(s) at the end of the paper?

8. Type your final draft

Manuscripts that are successfully submitted to a journal for publication have three main components -A fresh robust
idea, Efficient execution of the work, and Systematic presentation of the work.
It is important to present your work in a research paper format. Non- Native speakers can seek help from
research
paper editing
companies
for formatting their manuscript as per target journal.