research paper outline

Ever get a research assignment and not know how to do the research portion?  Well here are some tips for your problem from someone whose written countless papers.

First and foremost I recommend for any paper is get your hands on a good grammer handbook.  The one I used was the Longman Handbook, it was required for some courses.  Any paper is only as good as the grammer within.  You could write an outstanding paper, but if your grammar is poor, the your paper will reflect that.  Also get your hands on a handbook for both formats MLA and APA it will be useful when citing your information.

Second thing you should do is to find out everything ou need to know about the assignment.  Such as what's needed, allowed, and not allowed.  Some professors will allow charts, graphs, and even pictures.  I had a professor who loved that I added pictures of the novels I wrote about.

Next thing I suggest is DO NOT WAIT until the last moment to do the research.  You will only cause yourself to go insane.  It will cause so many problems, the books you may need may not be available, because everyone else is writing the same paper and need the same resources.  Also magazines in your field that have useful information may be tossed out because of age.

Make use of all the resources in the library, that includes talking to the librarians.  Librarians know alot more than  you think.  They could lead you to useful books and articles for your topic.  Do not rely solely on internet resources.  One you never know if the information is accurate, and 2 if all your information is from the internet you come off as lazy to the point that the internet looked for information, not yourself.  Make  use of journals relating to your field, you may have to do some reading, but they contain useful articles.

Narrow your search topic until you have a more concrete subject.  If the assignment is say trends in tourism, ask yourself  what kid of trends?  Trends in transportation, lodging, restaurants, activities and even locations could be some sub-topics for the paper which narrows your search based on the sub-topics.  Any topic could be divided into two or more subjects.  You also have a sort of organization for the paper.

When doing research use notecards.  Mark each one with a number.  The first note card is the book infor like author, publisher,  copyright date etc.  Anything found in the book would be 1.1, 1.2 and so one until you move to the second book. When writing the book notecards write the information according to citing them on the referance page, that way you can just copy the notecard. Hold on to all book notecards for future papers, it would be easy reference.  I would also write a few notes about what is in the book.

Lastly I would suggest keep talking to your professor about the paper.  They could easily give you advice and help direct you to useful books and articles that would would help yor search.  They could also give you ideas on how to proceed with the paper and if you're on the right track or not.

Following these tips could help make researching a paper all the more easier and less stressful.  You could improve your skills and wow your professors.




Reference research: business research and law research and sport research and my bookmark page




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