Writing Research Papers
A Quick Guide for Beginners
Overview
Choosing a topic, reading research articles, and writing a research paper
can seem daunting indeed when first starting out!
This guide will help you through each of the steps ahead.
Frist, an Overview of the basic steps in forming a Research Paper:
Summarize
After identifying your topic and finding scholarly articles, you will summarize what each article is saying. What it proves or helps to explain. Look at the introduction and conclusion of each article, summarizing the theories tested and the results found. You'll notice that you can construct more than one summary, depending on your point of view.
Evaluate Evaluating an article is different from simply reacting to a reading. When you evaluate for an academic purpose, it is important to be able to clearly articulate and support, with evidence, your own personal response. What in the text is leading you to respond a certain way? What's not in the text that might be contributing to your response?
Analyze Analyzing is the first step in constructing an
informed argument; you analyze the evidence offered in each of the articles. Compare the conclusions from each article and then think about how these relate to each other or to the whole. When you analyze, you break the whole (the current evidence) into parts so that you might see the whole differently. In the process of analysis, you find things that you might say.
Sythesize
When you synthesize, you look for connections between ideas. The time to consider whether these different research observations might be related, or synthesized into a new observation. This intellectual exercise requires that you create some larger argument under which several observations and perspectives might stand.
Get the best possible grade by meeting your Instructor's expectations.
Your Instructor's purpose for assigning a class paper is to teach you:
How to search for scholarly information on a topic
Specific library resources in this discipline
How to read and understand scholarly articles
How to analyze articles and to add your own insights
How to write/communicate your ideas in a scholarly manner
How to cite as a scholar does, and show your trail of evidence |
Your Assignment
However different your assignments may seem, most will share one characteristic: in each, you will almost certainly be asked to make a point. Most instructors will want you to use your understanding of the scholarly readings as a jumping-off point for an
analysis and an
argument.
Know what your instructor expects.
Look closely at the written assignment.
Pay close attention to certain words in the assignment such as: "Agree or disagree," "illustrate," "explain," "analyze," "evaluate," "compare and contrast," etc. You must follow this very basic approach laid out by your instructor. Even when you're asked to "show how" or "illustrate," you're still being asked to make an argument, make a point.
Words such as "show how" and "explain" and "illustrate" do not ask you to summarize a reading. They ask you to show how the reading is put together, how it works, what it means. What do you think about it?
What types of sources will the assignment require you to use? Recent journal articles (peer reviewed), books, newspaper accounts, government reports . . . ?
What style guide does the instructor expect you to follow when writing your paper? Are certain sections required? (for example: Introduction, Methods, Data, Discussion (Body), Conclusions, References). These sections only formalize the 'beginning', 'middle' and 'end' approach to writing clearly. If unsure, ask your instructor.
"Knowing your audience" is always important for effective writing and speaking. Unless otherwise instructed, your audience is a university professor, who wants evidence that you understood the readings and thought about them.
Searching for Articles
The articles you select must be well-focused to make a short paper successful. Sometimes you need to search for articles on the pros and cons of a topic, other times you must make sense of different research approaches (from different articles) to the same basic research question.
Keep Your Paper Focused!
A 4-6 page paper usually covers one or two main points.
Papers of 10-15 pages often include 3-5 main points or major aspects.
Have
at least two articles that address each of your main points.
Use the library's research guides to select the Best Databases to search in this discipline.
Reference Librarians can also quickly assist you in selecting the best database(s) and help with your paper's focus.
Basic Searching Steps:
In searching, your goal is to identify the terms actually used by the authors of scholarly articles to discuss your topic.
After opening a recommended database, try searching for your most important keyword or phrase in article titles. Look for additional search terms in the titles of these results (and abstracts), because these terms will help to further identify your topic and improve your search results. Play with using different search terms. Sometimes changing one search term alone can make a vast difference in the search results.
Next, read the titles of articles from the best search results from above, to see the range of 'sub-topics' being researched along with your 'main topic'. Notice which "sub-topics" appear most often. There might be interesting questions being researched and debated there.
Keep reading down this title-list, peek at the abstracts, until you find some sub-topic that interests you. This is now your second search concept and adding the search term(s) for this sub-topic will further focus your search results on a narrower area.
Don't use more than two title-keyword search terms
(a phrase inside quotations is one search term). Mix up the use of your secondary search terms to see what works best. In some cases, you may even wish to narrow your focus more by adding a third additional search concept. With each 'sub-topic' added you must find the terms scholars are using for that topic.
You can use this approach to keep narrowing a broad topic down to a narrower, more manageable, one.
If one database does not provide good coverage of your topic don't waste your time, try a different database immediately!
How to Read Articles
For most short papers, using peer-reviewed articles from the scholarly literature is expected. One of the goals of the assignment is to instruct you in the search for, and use of, scholarly information. Your writing assignment will teach you scholarly communication skills.
To meet this kind of assignment, the best advice is to read with your mind open to things that puzzle you, that make you wish you understood something better. What questions occurred to you while reading? Make notes of these, they may be the same questions raised by other readers, ones you may choose to discuss in the body of your paper. What questions did the authors raise?
Read the introduction and then the conclusions. Get an idea right away of what the article set out to do and what the research actually proved. Then read the body of the article to see how the plot unfolded.
Did the article answer the question it set out to or did it raise new questions? Some of these may be points worth writing about in your conclusions.
Keep an eye on the dates of the articles and read them in chronological order. This will help you summarize the progression of the research or the development of the idea or theory over some period of time.
Note differences of opinion among the authors of these scholarly articles and discuss these. Ask what significance, if any, is implied by each article.
Read Critically. Mentally challenge each article's conclusions by asking how, when, under what conditions, etc. (read as though you are a tough instructor, reading a student paper for a grade!!!).
Lastly, to write a good paper you must understand the readings!
Keep re-reading an article until you do understand it, or replace it with another article from the scholarly literature.
Writing the Paper
Perhaps the most common problem students have with their papers is that they write a summary of their readings, tack on a half-page conclusion and then turn-in the essay.
Give yourself time not only to write the summary, but to transform it into an argument. This is where you are also likely to transform your grade.
Remember, all good writing has a beginning, a middle and an end. As do all good stories. Sometimes these are formally divided into sections such as "Introduction" and "Conclusions".
The interesting thing is that each of these sections actually has their own mini-beginning statement(s), middle and mini-ending statement(s). Sort of a smaller story within the larger story.
If you've been working for a long stretch, take a break. Research shows that clearing your mind before analyzing the evidence helps you see the question more clearly and broadly. Then, take some time to think about the readings you just finished.
Look back at your notes of the main points from each article and compare this 'evidence' with your list of questions and developing idea(s) for a written essay.
Ask yourself what main point or direction of thought seems to be emerging from the evidence. This is where you need to spend the extra time thinking about how all the pieces of evidence fit together, and what we might learn from them. This is where your ideas about the evidence are most important. Quickly try arranging your thoughts into some logical order for a presentation.
You should now have a general idea of how to organize and present your paper. To create an informed argument, your writing should be analytical and supported by scholarly evidence, rather than personal. But, it is your personal assessment of the evidence that is the whole point of the paper.
You cannot begin writing until you know what the main point of your paper is going to be!!! Whatever it is, it will be based upon the questions and research results found in your readings.
More Help: How to compose a draft thesis statement
Introduction
The most important role of your introduction is to give a brief statement about the question or problem that you are analyzing, answering or solving.
You do this by suggesting something that is puzzling, not entirely understood, perhaps overlooked, not noticed, under-valued. The intention is to make your reader feel that you are attempting to answer a question that is worth asking (and reading about), that you have seen something that helps make sense out of the readings.
Should you state your main point at the beginning of the essay or wait to state it in the conclusions? For most scientific papers it is preferable to state the main point at the beginning. In general, stating your main point in the conclusions usually works better for papers in the humanities and some social sciences, with business being a major exception.
The Body
Based on the claims of your introduction, you must shape and focus a discussion or analysis so that it supports an idea (a claim or point) that you discovered or formulated during your readings -- one that all of your discussion and explanation helps to develop and support.
Explain in some detail what the main idea or point is that you are making and how your evidence helps prove that.
In other words, tell the story of what you found by piecing it all together into a story so that it follows logic and makes sense. Develop your story as you introduce the ideas or evidence from each of your readings.
You must have articles (evidence) supporting each of your points. No assumptions of 'common knowledge' or 'leaps of faith logic' are allowed. Also, avoid making overly-broad statements that your evidence can't support.
Don't avoid contradictory evidence; you must deal with all of the evidence. Point out the contradictions and why you favor one approach over another. Do avoid black and white stances on an issue or point. You want to bring out the complexity of the topic in this discussion.
Where there are doubts or questions you may have, mention them because it is central to showing you understand the still incomplete science that is being researched.
Conclusions
It is important to make sure your introduction coheres with your conclusions, but for the most part, the conclusions will be the richest, most complex part of your paper, because that is where you are prepared to do your richest and most complex thinking.
Here, you will piece together the proven evidence from all the readings into a unified point of view (yours), noting the still loose ends needing more research to resolve.
In addition to stating--or restating--the main point, usually as the first or second sentence of the conclusion, most writers want to go beyond this. You can do that in three ways:
- You can suggest the significance of your conclusion. You do that by suggesting the consequences of answering the question you asked, or of solving the problem you posed. In effect, you answer the question: "So what?"
- Another way of thinking about your conclusion is to try to say what further questions your paper raises--what would you like to know more about, what puzzle remains -- better yet, what bigger puzzle do you now have?
- [Optional] The last thing you might add to your conclusion is a quotation from the text that brings your paper to a graceful close. The quotation should be striking, or a quotation that is especially graceful or figurative.
References
References are arranged in a bibliography at the end of most papers. Many styles exist that define the rules for citing works and referring, in your paper's text, to specific articles in your bibliography.
This is detailed work, just do it right and be done with it.
The bibliography shows readers the evidence upon which you based the arguments and conclusions found in your paper.
Ask your instructor what style to use!
Once you know the style, use the web links at the end of this guide to find quick online examples of how to apply that style to different types of information sources.
WEB SEARCH:
Check the library's guides for links to online style guides & help.
IF there is no link provided to your style guide,
perform the following web search:
[style name] + [citing articles] + style + guide + site:edu
Search-terms above in [brackets] are ones you may change the word or phrase within. Don't type the brackets when searching! Don't type 'quote' marks either!
Style names can be 'APA' or 'Chicago' or 'AIChE' or some other identifier.
You can replace 'citing articles' with 'citing books' or 'citing web sources' or whatever specific information you need.
Your results will include many university and library online guides showing numerous examples you can follow.
Revision . . . the Crucial part of writing!
When you have finished your first draft, you should have enough time left for a few hours of revision. Ideally, you should leave enough time to put the draft aside so that you can forget at least some of what you were thinking when you drafted it. The very worst time to revise a draft is right after you have finished it.
The goal of revision is to read your paper with the fresh eyes of someone reading it for the first time. Does your story or explanation flow smoothly for a reader from beginning to end?
First, check to see that your ideas are presented in logical order. Look at your paragraphs now as idea-holders and see that each idea comes in the correct order. Be sure no ideas are absent in developing your story from beginning to end and reaching the conclusion you intended.
Avoid over-explaining or under-explaining any of your ideas. If you are missing evidence, go back to the literature again.
Next, look for rough spots in the flow of your presentation. Also, look at each paragraph to see if its sentences may be rearranged to have better flow. Some sentences may need rewriting to be stated more clearly.
Notice how well you bring in new ideas or begin discussing a new article. These are 'transition points' in your presentation.
Edit out flowery or redundant language so that you
model your tone after that of the articles you read.
Congratulations!!!
By now you've got a really good paper !!!
Revision Checklist:
Be prepared to rearrange the order of some sentences to create a better flow of ideas, add bits of further explanation where needed, pair down overly long explanations, be sure your main points are supported by the evidence you present.
1. Find the beginning and the end.
Draw a line after the end of your introduction and just before the beginning of your conclusion.
2. Find candidates for your point.
Underline one sentence in both your introduction and conclusion that comes closest to expressing your main point, your claim, the thesis of your paper. In your introduction, that sentence is most likely to be the last one; in your conclusion, it might be anywhere.
3. Find the best candidate.
Read the introduction and conclusion together, particularly comparing those two most important sentences. They should at least not contradict one another.
4. Revise your introduction to match the best point.
If you find that the sentence from your conclusion is more insightful than the one from your introduction, then you have to revise your introduction. Insert at the end of your introduction some version of that sentence in your conclusion that comes closest to expressing your main point.
5. Check to see that your ideas are presented in logical order.
Look at your paragraphs as idea holders and see that each idea comes in the correct order. Be sure no ideas are absent in developing your story and reaching the conclusion you intended. Avoid over-explaining or under-explaining any of your ideas. If you are missing evidence, go back to the literature again.
6. Sections ???
If you are working with a longer (10-15 or more pages) then you may have different sections. Expect for specialized sections such as “Methods” or “References”, textual sections should follow the same basic approach as above, telling the ‘story’ of each section with a mini-beginning, a middle and a mini-end. Save the weaving of all sections for the final conclusions.
Department Approved Style Guides
For Theses & Dissertations
[Hide Depts List] - Condensed List -
This list shows selected Approved Styles for Theses and Dissertations for listed campus departments.
See the Full List: https://gradschool.utah.edu/thesis/styleguides.php
If you are writing a Thesis or Dissertation see:
University of Utah Handbook for Theses and Dissertations
Check with your instructor for the style chosen for your assignment.
| ACCOUNTING | - APA, Turabian |
| ANTHROPOLOGY | - CBE |
| ARCHITECTURE | - Turabian |
| ART & ART HISTORY | - MLA, Turabian |
| ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES | - AMS |
| BALLET | - Turabian |
| BIOCHEMISTRY | - APA, ACS, CBE |
| BIOLOGY | - CBE, Turabian |
| BUSINESS | - APA, Turabian |
| CHEMICAL ENGINEERING | - ACS, Turabian |
| CHEMICAL PHYSICS | - ACS, AIP |
| CHEMISTRY | - ACS, AIP |
| CIVIL & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING | - ACS, ASCE |
| COMMUNICATION | - APA, ALWD, MLA, Turabian |
| COMMUNICATION SCIENCE & DISORDERS | - APA |
| COMPUTING, SCHOOL OF | - MLA, Turabian |
| ECONOMICS | - APA, Turabian |
| EDUCATION, CULTURE & SOCIETY | - APA, Chicago, MLA |
| EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP & POLICY | - APA, Turabian |
| EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY | - APA, Turabian |
| ELECTRICAL & COMPUTER ENGINEERING | - AIP, Turabian |
| ENGLISH | - MLA, Turabian |
| EXERCISE & SPORT SCIENCE | - APA |
| FAMILY & CONSUMER STUDIES | - APA |
| FAMILY & REVENTIVE MEDICINE | - APA, CBE, Turabian |
| FINANCE | - APA, Turabian |
| FOODS & NUTRITION | - APA |
| GEOGRAPHY | - APA, CBE, Geowriting, Turabian |
| GEOLOGY & GEOPHYSICS | - AAPG, ACS |
| HEALTH PROMOTION & EDUCATION | - APA |
| HISTORY | - Chicago, MLA, Turabian |
| HUMAN GENETICS | - ACS, Turabian |
| LANGUAGES & LITERATURE | - MLA, Turabian |
| LAW, COLLEGE OF | - The Bluebook |
| LINGUISTICS | - LSA Style Sheet |
| MANAGEMENT | - APA, Turabian |
| MARKETING | - APA, Turabian |
| MATERIALS SCIENCE & ENGINEERING | - ACS, Turabian, ASM Publications |
| MATHEMATICS | - MLA, Turabian
|
| MECHANICAL ENGINEERING | - ACS, AIP, AMS, Turabian |
| MEDICAL LABORATORY SCIENCE | - APA, ACS, MLA |
| MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY | - ACS |
| METALLURGICAL ENGINEERING | - ACS, Harvard, MLA, Turabian |
| MIDDLE EAST STUDIES | - Turabian |
| MINING ENGINEERING | - SME |
| MODERN DANCE | - APA, MLA, Turabian |
| MUSIC | - APA, Chicago, Turabian |
| MUSIC, SCHOOL OF | - Chicago |
| NEUROBIOLOGY & ANATOMY | - APA, CBE |
| NEUROSCIENCE (INTERDEPARTMENTAL) | - ACS, APA, Turabian |
| NURSING | - APA, Turabian |
| ONCOLOGICAL SCIENCES | - CBE, Turabian |
| PARKS, RECREATION, & TOURISM | - APA |
| PATHOLOGY | - CBE |
| PHARMACOTHERAPY | - Turabian |
| PHILOSOPHY | - APA, MLA, Turabian |
| PHYSICS | - ACS, AIP, Turabian |
| PHYSIOLOGY | - CBE |
| POLITICAL SCIENCE | - APA, Turabian |
| PSYCHOLOGY | - APA |
| SOCIAL WORK | - APA |
| SOCIOLOGY | - APA
|
| SPECIAL EDUCATION | - APA |
| TEACHING & LEARNING | - APA, MLA |
| THEATRE | - APA, MLA, Turabian
|
[Hide Depts List]
Style Guide
Examples & Help
These are links to style-examples from the most commonly used Style Guides.
The "Depts" column shows the number of campus departments, at this university, approving that style
for use in Theses and Dissertations.
List of Departmentally Approved Styles.
Check with your instructor for the style to use in
your writing assignment.
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