How to successfully write a research essay

Constanza Olguin Vargas

University of British Columbia Okanagan Campus

EAP 104 Section 2

Process of Writing a Research Paper

A research essay consists of an essay in which a topic is evaluated and interpreted

and is backed up by other’s ideas and information. Throughout university students will be

required to write a vast amount of research essay on a range of topics, because of this it is

essential for students to know how to write a research essay appropriately. The process by

which students can write an appropriate research essay consists of just a few steps. These

steps include selecting a topic and stating a thesis, preparing a preliminary bibliography and

preparing an outline, doing note-taking and writing the first draft, and editing your paper

and writing the final draft.

The first significant step towards writing an appropriate research essay is selecting a

topic and stating a thesis. To choose a topic for your paper you need to choose a subject

that has a reasonable amount of information that you can choose from and is a subject that

interests you so that you can form an opinion from. When you have selected your topic, you

need to compose a thesis statement. According to the American University (2009) a thesis

statement [needs to describe] the viewpoint you are going to express and support … [and

needs to provide] a controlling idea that will help you choose the resource materials you

will use.

Next, you need to prepare a preliminary bibliography and prepare an outline. It is

essential that you skim a vast amount of sources that relate to your topic and evaluate the

sources to find subtopics that may interest you. After that, it is vital to prepare an outline to

arrange your information, and it will give you order for your note-taking. The American

University (2009) points out that in your outline you should begin by listing the topics you

want to discuss in your paper and then divide the items on the list into major topics and

subtopics.

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Process of Writing a Research Paper

Once you are done with your outline, you need to start taking notes and start your

first draft. From all the material gathered in your preliminary bibliography, you need to

start reading the content and make notes about the information related to the topics listed in

your outline. Once the notes are written, you need to decide the format of your essay and

decide the final information that would go on your paper. After that, you need to start

writing your first draft concentrating mostly on the content and not your spelling or

punctuation.

Finally, its time to start editing your paper and writing the final draft. When revising

your paper pay attention to the spelling and punctuation as well as the content to catch most

of the errors present in your first draft. When you have identified most of your mistakes,

write your final draft taking into account all the errors and the guidelines given by your

instructor.

To sum up, students can write an appropriate research paper by a simple process:

selecting a subject of interest and stating a thesis, preparing a preliminary bibliography and

preparing an outline, doing note-taking and writing the first draft, and proofreading your

work and writing the final draft. This simple process is essential to write an excellent essay

for many college and high school students, so they can successfully express their opinions

and successfully back it up with specific sources.

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Process of Writing a Research Paper

References

American University. (2009) Steps for Writing Research Papers. Retrieved from

http://www.american.edu/ocl/asac/upload/ten-steps-for-writing-research-papers.pdf