This guide will briefly outline the various steps in creating a research paper, beginning with selecting a topic and ending with the final draft. Few books agree on absolute steps, but listed will be the most commonly used steps.
Choosing a topic is the first and most important step in writing a paper. Without a topic, there is no paper. There are many ways to go about this, but often, the best suggestion is to start with something that interests you. It is not good to have a very broad topic, because then the amount of research and the length of the paper can quickly become overwhelming. Likewise, it is not good to have a very narrow topic because then it will be difficult to find enough information to use.
In a class, your instructor might ask students to write a paper on a controversial topic. That's not a topic though--that's just a guideline for where to start. Maybe you are interested in Criminal Justice and technology or Criminal Justice and Child Development. Those two interests would be too broad to write a paper on. So, after doing some research about current issues in Criminal Justice combined with technology or children, you might discover an interesting article about cyberbullying and decide on that for your topic. This is a much more narrow topic and may yield information in books, articles, and websites without being too overwhelming.
When picking out a topic or narrowing it, there are several places to look for help.
Research is conducted in a few different ways. The first is to visit a library and see what books are available. Books are a great resource! The second is to use online databases supplied by GNTC to find articles on your topic. The third is to search via a search engine for relevant websites. More will be covered on this in the guide on Conducting Research. The following is a very brief overview.
When looking for books on cyberbullying, the first stop might be to visit the library (or the online catalog) to look for books under that topic. Doing show would reveal that the library owns a book titled Cyberbullying. That would be a great place to start! Then, go to GALILEO and find that there's an article titled "Cyber-bullying and Harassment of Teenagers: The Legal Response" by Alisdair A Gillespie. Finally, visit Google and find the Cyberbullying Research Center's website.
For more in-depth information, check out the How To guide on Conducting research!
After compiling research and defining a topic, the next step is to develop a thesis statement and start creating an outline. The thesis statement and outline will determine the layout of your paper and help keep the paper on target.
A thesis is the statement which summarizes how the paper will address your stance on your topic. In a paper on cyberbullying, your thesis would not only tell your readers that cyberbullying is the topic, but it would tell them that it will be focusing on the lack of legal response. The thesis is a sentence or a couple of sentences and is created only after researching. The thesis is frequently the last sentence in the first paragraph of a paper.
Cyberbullying can have fatal consequences, and currently laws regarding this new type of bullying are either non-existent or woefully lacking even though students of all ages are gaining access to the internet and social networking sites through smart phones, tablets, laptops and other devices; ultimately, this means that states need to take a stand on cyberbullying by working with schools and courts to establish laws that make the bullies responsible for their actions.
For more help in developing a thesis, look at the following resources:
Outlines are a good way to start your paper. An outline creates a backbone for the entire paper. It should follow the pattern laid out in your introduction and thesis statement and will help with arranging your notes and thoughts into a coherent order.
Cyberbullying can have fatal consequences, and currently laws regarding this new type of bullying are either non-existent or woefully lacking even though students of all ages are gaining access to the internet and social networking sites through smart phones, tablets, laptops and other devices; ultimately, this means that states need to take a stand on cyberbullying by working with schools and courts to establish laws that make the bullies responsible for their actions.
For more help in developing an outline, look at the following resources:
Armed with an outline and thesis statement, it's time to make use of it in the first draft of your paper. This is also known as the rough draft. It's the first opportunity to put all of the ideas down on paper. Don't expect it to be perfect. This is time to get your thoughts out, get them organized into paragraphs and then play around with the organization if necessary. Also, take this as an opportunity to add in your viewpoints. Don't just include information strictly from other sources.
For more help in developing a first draft, look at the following resources:
After a good night's sleep, or some time having fun, you will be fresh and ready to look at your paper again. It can be surprising to see how many mistakes can be caught after a break. The revision is the time to polish your paper.
Creating a References or Works Cited page means the paper is nearly done. After doing your revision, it's time to make sure that everyone can find out where the information was taken.
For more help in citing sources, look at the following resources:
After citing the sources, it's time to complete the final draft. This will be the paper that gets turned it. It is important that the paper is proof-read for any typos, spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors. Make sure that the paper flows well, and that all assertions from your thesis and outline have been backed up with personal comments and with information from outside sources.
After looking through the paper, if it has met all of the requirements and everything appears to be good--than congratulations! The paper is finished!
For more help in polishing a final draft, look at the following resources:
