How to Write a Research Paper

How to Write a Good Research Paper

Studies at a college or university require a different extent of academic rigor and research depth. Essays are small assignments that typically need a couple of hours of your time and instruct you to find three to five sources to inform your writing. Things get a bit different and more complex with research paper writing, as this academic assignment is longer than a regular essay or review.

Besides, it needs more structuring and research skills from students, urging them to focus on a specific problem and then conduct a rigorous, in-depth search for academic sources supporting their inquiry.

With these details of the research paper writing process in mind, you might naturally be scared and intimidated to start this assignment. Obviously, it’s not as demanding as a thesis or dissertation, but it may still take a couple of weeks of your precious time, consuming much of your energy needed for other routines.

To help you out, we have designed this handy guide on research papers. Here we teach you how to write a research paper fast and explain the critical elements of this academic paper to help you with all research process steps.

What Is a Research Paper

As we’ve already explained above, a research paper is a distinct academic assignment that requires investigating some research problem at length. You first need to study a specific academic area to find really pressing problems or gaps in the academic community’s knowledge.

After that, you should formulate a workable research problem and set a couple of manageable, attainable research objectives. It may also help to develop a methodological approach to researching the chosen problem, as, without it, you may be left wandering among masses of unclear academic literature for months.

How to Structure a Research Paper

As a rule, research papers follow a standard structure, some parts of which may be omitted if the length of the assignment doesn’t allow to include everything or your supervisor doesn’t need specific sections. Here is the structure you may follow:

• Introduction
• Area of your academic interest (problem statement)
• Objectives
• Methodology and search strategy
• Results of your research
• Conclusions

How to End a Research Paper

The final section of your research paper should contain detailed conclusions from the research study you conducted. Now that you’ve covered all the findings and have discussed what they mean, you can briefly recap those major points to show that you’ve achieved the study aim. It’s imperative not to use any new material in this part, as introducing new facts in the final section may confuse the readers.

Research Paper Outline

Now let’s consider a universal research paper outline that will fit any task you’re doing and any academic topic of your research interest. Every assignment should contain three general parts:

INTRODUCTION

• What is the broad context of your topic?
• What is a narrow topic/problem statement you plan to address?
• What is the rationale for writing this paper?
• What major points and arguments do you plan to cover in this text?
• What is your thesis statement?

BODY

• What primary arguments can support your thesis statement?
• Did you include three supporting arguments for every position you’ve taken on the topic of interest?
• Did you order the arguments from the weakest to the strongest one to produce a good impression on the reader?

CONCLUSION

• Did you restate the central thesis in other words?
• Did you summarize all arguments concisely?
• Did you give readers clear guidance on how you have come to your conclusions and inferences?

Research Paper Introduction

As soon as you proceed to write the introductory section, it’s necessary to provide the general background of the topic first. You need to clarify all specific terms to your readers, as many of them can be laypersons in this issue, failing to understand your terminology and line of argument.

If your paper is extensive enough, you can also add 2-3 paragraphs discussing previous research in this area. This preliminary review will be a good basis for your problem statement’s formulation, showing the existing gaps in the researchers’ understanding of the current situation or some aspects perplexing the research community.

After that, it’s time to formulate your problem statement concisely, showing what you will address, and from which angle you will approach this subject. It’s also relevant to indicate the anticipated outcomes and your guiding assumptions.

Example:

Women have traditionally been in an inferior position in Islamic states, both culturally and economically. Thus, they were urged to seek marriage or stay with their families to survive without an opportunity for formal employment. Now things have started to change, and even one of the least democratic states in terms of gender equality, Saudi Arabia, has allowed women to seek employment within a narrow range of specializations. Such reforms have enabled women to become more independent and enjoy greater well-being in different domains. This paper seeks to examine the relationship between women’s quality of employment and their psychological well-being in Saudi Arabia.

Research Paper Body

The body of your research paper should contain the relevant literature and your experimental (primary) or academic (secondary) research results. Any of these approaches will do, depending on what your professor instructed you to use.

Here, you need to describe results in detail, giving figures and facts supporting your conclusions. It’s also beneficial to include some figures and charts to enhance readers’ comprehension and make your claims more convincing.

Example:

The relationship between job stability and well-being is well-known. People who have well-paid jobs and transparent chances for promotion tend to be happier and more emotionally stable. They create a family and decide to have children with ease as they understand that their financial position is stable and sustainable. However, an absence of a stable job or a complete absence of employment possibilities creates an entirely different situation. People feel insecure and vulnerable, dependent on their employed and well-to-do partners, thus getting into a socially unequal relationship.

For many centuries, Saudi women had to agree to undesired marriages and sustain their husbands’ disrespectful behavior because of their inability to provide for their living independently. Even after being allowed to study, they were often limited in their employment options and opportunities, agreeing to low-paid jobs and employment instability. For this reason, employment has become a vital aspect of gender rights reform for women in Saudi Arabia.

Now things are changing, and Saudi women have a much broader range of possibilities in the employment domain. The study of Davidson (2020) revealed that 78% of all employed women in Saudi Arabia reported psychological empowerment and happiness about their ability to work and provide for themselves and their children. Besides, Poff’s (2021) survey revealed a strong relationship between psychological health and stable employment among women, thus proving that a stable job produces numerous positive effects.

Research Paper Conclusion

Once your research paper is approaching its finale, it’s time to revisit what you started with and wrap up everything you’ve found in the process of research. Avoid using any new information in the process of writing the concluding section; it’s the place for summing up what was discussed in earlier parts.

Example:

As the presented evidence suggests, women in Saudi Arabia have received a powerful tool of psychological empowerment and improvement of their psychological health with the lifted barriers on female employment. Now they are better positioned to provide for their living and don’t need to enter unwanted marriages or sustain their husbands’ derogatory attitude just for the sake of survival. Instability in employment makes people vulnerable and dependent, afraid to build strong relationships and create a family. Having a stable, well-paid job is seen as a major determinant of human health and well-being, which has proven exceptionally relevant for women who used to experience many centuries of gender discrimination and limitations.

Can’t Understand Research Paper Requirements?

Now you have all the research paper guidelines needed to compose this assignment like a pro. Please don’t be nervous about the large size of this paper or the time it will steal from your semester schedule. If you treat the task with interest and academic curiosity, you’re sure to cover it within a much shorter period than you initially planned. Research paper writing is a distinct academic skill you should train and master, but it pays off once you cover all the essentials and get better at writing.

But even if you still feel unable to complete this pending task and fall in despair upon hearing about a new research paper assignment, it’s probably not the time to overstretch yourself and manage all writing on your own. You can always come to our expert paper writers and ask for help with any aspect of this assignment – from topic selection to draft review to write from scratch.

There is no need to face all academic troubles on your own; you have us, your trusted and reliable companion in all academic challenges, so you can study better without pulling all-nighters and breaking your beck.

Inesse Goulding

About post author

As a former student myself, I appreciate the opportunity to help and guide young learners. I am your fearless partner in any academic emergency. My major is journalism, but I am always willing to help you with other pressing matters. Likes traveling, books, self-education, blogging, and academic writing. A diligent and hard-working writer, Inesse Goulding is an ever-positive personal who is always pleasant to talk to. Inesse is a profound editor and proofreader with a keen eye for impeccable grammar and engaging style. Also, Mrs. Goulding boasts a perfect English language, which makes her one of our most prolific and well-demanded writers. Let’s create something great together!