While this step in the process may seem obvious, it gives many students fits. As the Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL) notes, two likely scenarios generally occur when a student receives a research paper assignment. One involves choosing a topic from a list devised by the instructor. This can make the process easier, as most instructors provide a set of topics with enough accessible information to write a complete paper. The second scenario leaves topic selection up to the student. Purdue's OWL suggests you start thinking about topic ideas early in a course. Use brainstorming techniques to come up with ideas. Jot down all ideas that come to mind. Assess your list, paring it down to a topic or two that will allow for breadth and depth in your finished work.
Georgetown University professor Charles King points out that students must do more than scratch the surface when researching their topic. King advises using primary over secondary sources. Primary sources involve getting as close to an original source as possible. For example, if you plan to write a research paper on a local law an interview you conduct with your city's mayor would constitute a primary source. A newspaper article on the issue, on the other hand, would be a secondary source.
According to Rice University Experimental Biosciences course guidelines, a research paper should include a title page that includes your name, date submitted and an informative title. An abstract, often written last, is a 100 to 200-word summary of your paper. Include a paraphrased sentence or two from each of the following sections of the research paper's body: introduction, methods section, results and discussion. The introduction sets up your topic and provides context. In this section, you review the literature on your topic, starting out broadly and then focusing on your particular area of interest. The methods section outlines exactly how you went about conducting the research. Results simply report your findings in straightforward fashion. In the discussion section, you can speak about the real-world and scientific impact of your results.
Purdue's OWL notes that you must organize the information you have gathered on your topic. Create an outline, for example, from which you then put together a rough draft that acts as a guide for how you will write future, closer-to-final iterations.
Purdue's OWL points out that revising a paper makes for a major undertaking. This can involve wholesale changes to previous drafts. Revision differs from editing and proofreading---both necessary components of writing a research paper. When editing, you focus on the "general appearance of the text," notes Purude's OWL. At this stage, render your paper consistent and free of typos throughout. Commission several others to proofread your paper before you turn it in.
You must always document the sources from which you borrow information when you write a research paper. Your instructor might mandate that you use a particular style when citing sources. He may require you to do this in the text of the paper as well as on a works cited page. Popular citation styles include the American Psychological Association (APA) and Modern Language Association (MLA) formats.