Pinpoint several angles from which to approach the subject. Brainstorm on paper by jotting down your ideas until you arrive at an angle that appeals to you. This will help you to decide the type of information you need and where to focus your research. Make sure that your angle is broad enough that you will be able to find enough information.
Find a variety of sources to support your angle. Record each fact or idea you want to use and keep track of the sources by writing down the titles, authors, publishers, places of publication and dates published. If you are writing down an exact quote, be sure to use quotation marks to avoid plagiarism. Organize your findings in the order you plan to present them before you start writing.
Write an outline for your paper. Begin with the introduction and ensure that it speaks to your approach. Put in order the points that support your main ideas. Give specific references and examples where necessary. Draw your conclusion.
Begin a rough draft where you will fill in the details of the introduction and flesh out the body with your main points. The conclusion then summarizes your paper and restates the angle. Each paragraph should contain one main idea. Use transition words to help the paragraphs flow.
Polish your draft. Look for ideas that need revision, correct grammatical errors, reword sentences and reorganize thoughts. Give more details or trim parts as needed. Read the paper out loud or have someone read it to you. This makes it easier to hear the parts that need changing. Make the revisions for your final draft.
While writing your paper, be sure to cite the sources with footnotes or endnotes. A footnote appears at the bottom of each page. Endnotes appear together at the end of the paper before the bibliography. Your instructor may specify whether to use footnotes or endnotes.
List your sources at the end of your paper on the last page or pages as your bibliography. Include the full titles, authors, publishers, places and dates of publication. List sources that have authors by last name in alphabetical order. For sources that don't have authors, alphabetize them by title.