Once you have made your way to college you will discover that in some of your classes your overall grade hinges a great deal on how well you can put together a research paper. In previous academic ventures, your research papers may have only been two or three pages, in college your professors will demand far more from you. Once you have the instructions for your research paper in your hands you may find the overall task to be a daunting one.
The reality is, writing college research papers can be challenging for many people, but they are never impossible. How to write a college research paper? The best way to tackle the stresses and write well is to determine what is required from you and break the paper up into a series of steps. Breaking it up will take away some of the stress that comes with the assignment. Here are a few steps to help you successfully complete your college research paper.
Clarify What the Professor Expects From You
Before you begin on your assignment, you want to make sure that you completely understand what your professor wants from you. If you have any questions regarding length, topic, formatting and the like, have these answers clarified by the professor. Key words to pay attention at for better understanding of instructions include describe, define, compare, classify, analyze, and evaluate. Keeping these words in mind will help you write the type of paper your professor wants.
Start Planning College Research Paper Promptly
Once you have clarified what is expected of you it is time to start the process. The first thing you need to do is determine the topic of your research paper. Knowing the topic and the direction you want to take your paper will help you with your research. If you have a broad topic in mind, doing a bit of preliminary research can help you narrow down the subject matter.
Begin the Research Process
Now that you have chosen your topic, comes the hard part requiring plenty of time to get your research done. One of the most important aspects to remember about research papers is that you do not want to delay the research part. Especially if you are in multiple classes, doing the research as soon as you can is essential to producing a well-crafted college research paper. Take plenty of notes and make sure that you get evidence to support the different points in your topic. This will assist in putting together a solid paper. Another thing to remember when doing your notes is to keep them organized. If your notes are a jumbled mess, it can make the writing process more difficult.
Do Not Procrastinate On Your Writing
If you have made it to the writing process, congratulate yourself. With the research under your belt you have some of the hard work done. Just remember, simply because you have completed the research does not mean you can procrastinate when it comes to the writing.
The writing process will include writing your outline, and potentially the reorganization of your notes. With your outline completed, it is time to craft your opening paragraph and your thesis statement. Do not veer far off topic, this could result in deductions in your grade. The writing process will take a bit of time so it is best to take it in stages and stick to deadlines. This way you’ll keep yourself from being overwhelmed.
Avoid Plagiarism
An important aspect to any academic paper is that you need to write everything in your own words. If you are not using your own words then you have to ensure that you have the proper credits for any words or phrases used. This includes giving the proper citations according to the style required, such as MLA or APA. Plagiarism is unacceptable.
Read, Then Do Revisions On Your First Draft
You are almost there! Once you have completed the writing process on your first draft now is the time to go back, read the paper with a fresh eye, and do any necessary revisions. Try to allow yourself a day or two between writing and reading the paper so that you can check for errors more accurately. If possible, ask a friend to read the first draft as well to look for any mistakes that need corrections. Ensure all of your points are clear, your transitions are smooth, and the order of the paragraphs makes sense to the reader.
Proofread One Last Time
The last step in the research paper writing is to proofread your paper one last time to ensure you have no errors in formatting, spelling, grammar, or the overall direction of your paper. Once you are confident in the quality of your research paper, turn it in and be sure you did your best.
Writing a college research paper can be difficult and stressful but it is something that can be done well if you are good at time management, stay organized and focused.