A research paper template is a document that contains research questions, variable interpolation, thesis, methodology, and results evaluation. To create an effective research paper, make sure that everything you present comes from reliable sources.
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Research Paper Templates
What is a research paper?
In most cases, a research paper template is a piece of academic writing that contains analysis, argument, and interpretation based on independent comprehensive research. A research MLA format template is a lot like academic essays except that these are typically longer and have more details.
These assess your academic writing skills along with your scholarly research skills. To write this document, you need:
- To show a strong knowledge of the topic.
- The ability to use various resources.
- To make an original contribution through your writing.
Career Research Papers
What are the 5 parts of research paper?
One thing worth remembering about a student or career research paper is that you should base it on an hourglass structure. To do this, you need to include the important parts of this document:
- Introduction
This is the first part where you set the direction of your paper by making an exact outline of what you want to achieve. Although for many, this is the initial step, others save writing the introduction for last because it serves as a quick summary of their document.
Either approach is fine and is usually a matter of preference. As long as you plan a logical structure for the parts of the research paper, you can use either method. - Method
Many consider this as the easiest part of the document to write because it is simply a rundown of the methodology and design used to conduct your research. The exact methodology may vary depending on the exact kind of experiment or field of research. - Results
Depending on the results and objectives of your experiment, this is the most variable section of your paper. For quantitative research, you would present numerical data and results. For qualitative research, it involves a broader discussion without giving too many unnecessary details. - Discussion
All information in your discussions should be directly related to your thesis statement. Otherwise, you will risk creating cluttered findings. Just stick with the hourglass principle where you expand on your topic in the next section. - Conclusion
In this section, you build your discussion by trying to relate your findings to other studies and research or to the real world. In a shorter research paper, you may only have a conclusion of just 1 to 2 paragraphs or even just a couple of lines.
In addition, a complete research paper template should always have a reference list where you document all of the sources you used. Format this according to MLA, APA or some other academic format.
College Research Papers
How do you write a research paper?
You can use these steps as a guide when writing a college research paper or a scientific research paper template:
- Familiarize yourself with the assignment
Allot ample time to go over your assignment. Consider every bit of information that your instructor has given. Carefully go through the assignment, grading rubric, prompts, and other related materials. To keep track of all the important notes in each of the sources, highlight them or take notes. - Choose a topic
After understanding what you have to write about in your research paper template, the next step is to decide the topic. This could be a challenging undertaking but it shouldn’t discourage you. Choose a topic you’re passionate about or interested in without having to worry about finding the “perfect topic.” - Research
You should always base your research on reliable resources. That way, you won’t run into any issues after you have submitted your completed research paper template for review. - Organize your research
What comes next once you have gathered all the information needed to write your paper? The next step is about getting things organized. Like any other research, various people have various preferences. It may also depend on your assignment. For instance, having some sort of bibliography can be very helpful when it comes to organizing your research. - Form your thesis
This is simply a short statement that you, as the researcher, would put forward for the readers of your paper as to what you’re trying to prove or explain. - Come up with an outline
As in a bibliography, how you will create an outline depending on your assignment. Even if an outline isn’t required, it can still be a very useful tool. - Write the content
After completing all of the previous steps, you are now ready to write your research paper. Some think that they should have begun to write the paper sooner and that all the preliminaries are not that necessary.
This is a wrong assumption. Everything you have accomplished up to this point is essential as the preparations will help you come up with a clear, interesting, and strong research paper. - Edit the content
This means examining your paper’s organization, structure, length, and wording. If your paper is either too short or too long, you need to revise it by either building it up or cutting it down to a more acceptable length. Just be very careful when making these edits.
If there is a need to add more content, don’t just add words randomly or repeat the information you have stated already. Identify areas where you can expand or what you can include that still fits in with the rest of the content. You can also choose to further the ideas you have presented or add valuable information to concepts you have explained. - Check the grammar
Another important part of the process is to check your grammar. This may seem difficult but there are resources and tools that you can use to perform this task. These tools offer editing for substance, editing for grammar, and so on.
If you think you need to take a break before checking, take a break. This could refresh your mind and you might even come back feeling more focused. This is important so that you can catch and fix errors in your document. - Proofread before submitting
After checking your research paper, you can re-read it again just to make sure that your paper delivers everything your assignment asks for. When you have polished and improved it enough, it’s for you to submit.
