Experts Tips on How to Write A Research Paper Outline

Most of the students still don’t know how to write a research paper outline. The outline is one of the crucial aspects of all types of research papers. It is the way to organise your thoughts and work before you get started writing a research paper. An outline works as a reminder that helps you to include all the necessary subtopics within your research paper. 

Writing a research paper is as important as presenting it with proper outlines and structure. At first, yes, it may appear as a daunting task but as you reach the end of this article you will see how easy it is to provide a proper outline for a research paper.

Outline is considered as the most important part of a research paper. It also provides tips on how to write the outline for a research paper. A formal outline can help one to keep a note of large amounts of information. Creating outlines for research papers can simplify the entire writing process.

Because they are not able to write the outline of the research paper. Before we get started on how to write a research paper outline. Let’s have a look at what is the research paper outline:-

What is the research paper outline?

It is not more than the logical organization of the text. The text can contain small parts, paragraphs, and sub paragraphs. The research paper outline is known as the skeleton of the research paper. In this, all you need to write down your main idea with the thesis that you want to present.

Most of the time, the subtopic of your main idea changes as you progress. But you shouldn’t try to be too specific in the early stages of writing your outline. All you need to do is just organized your ideas in the outline of the research paper. Make sure that all your section should reflect your research. 

Let’s have a look at the crucial phase before writing the research paper. You should not miss this phase because this phase helps you to compose the best quality outline. Thus you can produce excellent academic work. 

What is the concept of outline for a research paper?

An outline for a research paper is an organizing tool. It means writing ideas regarding a topic or thesis and then presenting it in a logical order. Outlines arrange for major topics, sub topics or sections along with other collaborating details. Outlines for papers and articles can either be generalized or very detailed. The outline can make a huge difference on how other people perceive your work. It has the capacity to predict the overall structure.

Why should you use an outline for a research paper?

Outlines serve as visual aids that help authors to organize their essays and clear ideas. Usually, most outlines consist of key points of each paragraph, the thesis, topic sentences, and supporting details, quotes or citations. It gives a certain flow to the research paper.

As a result of this, writer’s block can be avoided to a certain extent. An outline will highlight what exactly is your position and guides you to get there. Use the outline to design goals and accomplish them. This can be done by completing each section in your research paper.

Writers use outlines in order to know which topic to cover in what order. They use it to see how it fits in together. The following reasons give us an idea as to why should we use outline for research paper:

• Helps in the writing process
• Helps you organize your ideas
• Presents the written material in a logical manner
• Shows the relationships between ideas in the paper
• Builds a systematic preview of your writing
• Explains the work of boundaries and groups
• Gives you clarity of your work

Creating an outline is not considered an effective way to not only identify the paper’s strength but also its weaknesses.

Tips on how to write the outline for research paper

The research paper outline is vital in the mere case of any article or evaluative paper. The first step of all involves identifying the topic. Decide on what type of a research paper you are aiming to write. Some common formats are – descriptive essays, argumentative essays and comparative essays.

Below are a number of steps that will guide you in writing an outline for a research paper:

• Understand the type of paper you are writing. Research essays of school and college levels are generally five paragraphs long.
• Know your topic. Many times, professors give topics to students. The best topics are those that easily catch the eye of your readers and also which are arguable.
• One must be able to curate notes, gather resources and references from different sources.
• Complete all the necessary research or investigations required to support the results, overall discussion and the conclusion.
• The use of parallel structure should be considered. Each unit of the outline must begin with the same type of word, for instance, nouns or verbs. Make sure to use the same tense while using verbs.
• Give thought to the five-paragraph essay, even if the paper is longer. Important sub sections consist of an introduction, body paragraphs that directly give directions to the main thesis and a conclusion.
• Next step is to develop an introductory sentence. This is the most important sentence. Its main aim is to generate interest amongst all its readers. A reader should get to know the main purpose of the paper just by reading the introduction.
• Next is to add ideas or even full sentences. This step is taken to include idea for at least three to four supporting sentences, quotations, or citations.
• Establish an arguable thesis. This will typically mark the final sentence in the introduction and shall comprise of at least three to four points.
• The concluding or the final paragraph should begin by rephrasing the research paper’s main point of focus. End the conclusion with a fact or by suggesting its viewers to conduct future research.
• Consistency is a crucial criteria for ensuring a similar tone while writing all sub sections. Either a short sentence for each section or a topic should be stated. This tends to maintain consistency of the paper. However, one must avoid doing both.
• Next that some in line is the organization of vast information. The introduction and conclusion parts fall under the generalized level of knowledge.·   Each idea must be able to build to or more than two supporting topics. However, if you are not able to find enough information to support the main idea you are writing in your research paper, it is highly suggested that you either conduct an additional research base or revise the outline.

Before writing a research paper outline

Select an appropriate topic 

Selecting a topic is key to your research paper. Because most of the students choose the random topic then end up with the low-quality research paper. You should always try to choose those topics in which you are best.

These topics should reflect your strengths and expertise. You should be sure that the topic must be interesting to you because you can force your readers to read the uninteresting topic. You should also be sure that the topic is valuable for the readers. 

State your argument

Selecting the topic is not enough; you should also take plenty of time to figure out what kind of argument you need to support within your topic. Because the readers always want to grab the knowledge from the research paper. If the research paper is not important to their understanding, then they will not read it.

You should ask yourself some questions you before deciding the argument of your research paper. These questions are:-. what the aim of my thesis statement is? Can it provoke a meaningful discussion that might change the thoughts of the readers? How can I build a research paper on my selected argument? While getting the appropriate answer to all these questions. You will get ready to write the most effective research paper outline. 

Define the audience

The research paper can be read by anyone. It means that anyone can be your audience who are interested in the subject of your research paper topic. But most of the time, the research paper is read by the professor. You should be careful that your professor will support your argument, or he may have different opinions about the main idea of your topic.

You need to make sure that what kind of language is better for your audience from my experience with writing the research paper. Apart from that you should avoid the use of Jargon and should use formal language. You can set the tone and the style of your research paper based on the audience that you are targeting. 

Conduct a research

After getting to know about your target audience. It is time to research your research paper. Research can’t be done without the resources. You need to find the proper resources for your research and find the most compelling evidence that can support your argument.

You can need to find general information and then go deeper to find more information to support your argument. Apart from that you can make sure to tackle the argument which can be against your argument. It will help you to master your thesis statement. 

Organize references

Any research paper can be incomplete without reference. Thus you need to make sure about the reference. All you need to do is give the proper reference to each of the arguments of the research you have conducted. 

How to write a research paper outline

Now, this is the time to make the research paper outline. The outline is the baseline of your research paper. On which all your research paper will be built. Almost every outline consists of the three major parts i.e., the Introduction, the Body, and the Conclusion. Now let’s get started on how to write a research paper outline:-

Introduction

The introduction is the first impression of the research paper. The better is your introduction is, the better is your research paper impression is on the mind of the reader. The introduction decides that the readers will like to read the entire paper or just left it from the beginning.

That’s the reason you have to make sure that your introduction should be engaging, informative, and interesting for the reader. You also make sure that you just put enough information in the research paper, and avoid too much information. You should keep these points in mind while writing the introduction of the research paper. 

Hook 

The hook is the key to the introduction of the research paper. Because it is the thing that can guide your audience to the other section of your research paper. There is not any specific limit of the research paper, but it can vary from 1 to 5 sentences.

You need to make sure that your hook is exciting and provoking to the readers. And it should add value in the introduction rather than just putting the irrelevant information. 

Define the audience 

You should also define your audience that why should they are part of your targeted audience. It will add value to your research paper and motivate the readers to read your research paper. Personalization is the key to your introduction. 

Thesis statement

The thesis plays a supporting role in your research paper. You need to make sure that you can clear your point about what you are going to discuss and why it is important. Your thesis should be clear and simple to your audience. But don’t make it too simple that is near to dull. 

Body

Now, this is the time to outline the body part of the research paper. The body part is the crucial part of your research paper outline. There is not any specific limitation of the research paper. The number of paragraphs in the body of the research paper depends on the volume of the research paper.

The more arguments you have, the more paragraphs you can have in your body section. In the body of your research paper, you can mention the counterarguments to your ideas. You also need to set the tone and style of your research paper in this section. 

Don’t ever try to get out of your main idea, and you should be consistent from the beginning to the very end. You also need to make sure that your research paper remains interesting throughout the body section. 

Conclusion

The conclusion also plays a crucial part in the research paper. In this section, you can summarize all the arguments which you have used in your research paper. It would also help your readers to digest the main idea of your research paper and remember it as long as possible.

You need to make sure that your conclusion should be concise enough and not too long. It should also contain all the important parts of your research paper. Here are some points that should be part of your conclusion:-

Summary of arguments

First, you need to summarize the most persuasive argument of your research paper. You need not explain the whole argument. All you need to do is give a general idea of your arguments. So that your readers can understand what you have tried to explain in the body section. 

Call to action

Call to action can play a significant role in the conclusion of your research paper. In this call to action, you can either send the final message to your readers. Or you can guide them to take some action after reading your research paper.

Conclusion

According to the above discussion, it is right to say that we have learnt how to write the outline for research paper. All the steps mentioned above in the article must be followed. The outline is the skeleton of the paper. It assists one to predict the flow of the research paper as well as its structure.

The first step of the research paper outline is to identify your main topic and then follow the necessary steps. The language used must be simple and easy to understand for the readers. Consistency and organization are two very essential bases of writing the outline for a research paper.

It is not a tough task for the students to write the research paper help outline. But they need to make sure that they are writing the outline more effectively. Because an Outline is the crucial factor of your research paper. Get the best research paper writing services in USA from our experts at nominal charges.