How to Write a Research Paper: 3 Essential Steps Most Guides Do NOT Highlight

Innovations, creativity, and truth mesmerize the world. Educational institutions desire to get students who can discover something new. Essays, dissertations, reports, and other homework reveal students’ potential and let the committee decide whether to let them get a scientific degree or not. If you are going to write a research paper, you will have to be ready to pay attention to many important details.

First of all, you are to know how to write a research proposal and then how to write the paper. It is a long procedure that requires patience and time. This is a detailed guideline for you to get good grades and strike the target audience. We will start with a research proposal because it is your ticket to success. Only a qualitative one will convince the college committee to accept your offer and let you finish it. Experienced customer writing services always support students with a quick and high-quality performance before the deadline. They are ready to bail you out anytime in case of force majeure.

How to Write a Paper Proposal: Hints to Consider First. Step I

It is very important to learn the requirements of colleges for which you are writing a paper. That is why you should create an outline allowing you to plan things and manage everything on time. We will give you a sample to let you understand how it should look like. This will be your perfect draft for you to concentrate and get ready for the next step.

Key Element Time
Step I. Getting ready Up to 3 months
Study the requirements of a college Up to 7 days
Prepare a preliminary statement 14 days
Let colleagues evaluate it 7 days
Research resources to learn historical background fitting the objective context 7 days
Jot the most essential questions down (they must relate to the topic making it worthy) Approximately 21 days
Find and interview professionals to learn more about the peculiarities of the paper 7-14 days
Increase the quality of questions 7 days
Step II. Identifying needs 1-2 months
Collect materials (some can be in the archives, so you should order them first) 14 days
Mind the budget because you might need to test, experiment and buy the staff 14 days
Find investors 1-2 weeks
Step III. Management 2 months
Create a file (4-5 pages) with a striking thesis statement, design, and logical structure 7-14 days
Fill in the knowledge gap or add data to poorly explored areas 14 days
Review the list of things you might need and find them to complete it 4 days
Study the feedback of friends, experts, and colleagues 7-14 days
Revise the scratch 7-14 days
Step IV. Final Stage 2 months
Study the requirements for a proposal once again 2-4 days
Get the recommendation letter 7 days
Finish writing the proposal 2 weeks
Print and submit it 3 days

When the outline is ready, you should start following it and thinking of a captivating title.
Have you seen advertisements on TV, websites, and social networks? Their purpose is to attract the audience and propose their product to them. The main thing is to pick up words that will make the committee not only to read the proposal but also desire to get the whole research. A good title is short and includes approximately 60 characters. These are examples of great titles:

  • 5 Unusual Ways to Get Solar and Wind Energy
  • Experimental Project: Antiviral and Antibacterial Drugs
  • The Horrible Secret of Stephen King’s Origin of Stories
  • Fundamental Truth of World War I and World War II
  • How to Cope with Child’s Fears: Innovations in Psychology

The next step is to compose a title page and reflect the core idea of the paper in the abstract (150-200 words). Then move to the keywords section, table of context, literature review, and the text itself. Proofread and send the ready paper to the college and wait for the reply. When everything is confirmed, proceed to research paper writing.

How to Do a Research Proposal and Paper: Step II

Some students see no difference between a research proposal and a research paper.
A proposal aims at persuading a committee that the topic choice, methods, and results are worthy.
An academic paper is a demonstration of student’s knowledge, researching, and writing skills.

Consequently, the first one is a pre-story to the second one. That is why its importance is indisputable. If your proposal is well-planned, it will be easier to compose a dissertation or any other work to acquire a PhD or master’s degree. You will already have ready objectives, a logical structure, resources, methodology, and even financial support to begin writing the research paper.
Professional writers suggest considering 5 basic things about research papers.

Format
The presentation is vital. An eye evaluates the look of the paper that deals with the formatting. There are three main styles:

  • APA
  • Chicago
  • MLA

They differ in spacing between lines, sizes of margins, sizes of the font and its type, citation peculiarities, spaces for paragraphs, paginating, heading, organization of visual context, and even structuring. That is why pay attention to college requirements and study them to provide the necessary formatting.

Structure
A title page, an introduction, a body, a conclusion, and a bibliography make the whole structure of the research paper. Some papers need an abstract, appendix page, recommendation letters, and evaluation papers. Each section must present the rationale related to the main problem of the paper.
You should also know whether the committee demands PDF, Excel, or Word files for main and additional materials. Do not forget to present diagrams and tables to support the data with visual analysis. The appendix page can also contain materials like audio records (MP3, WAV), pictures (IPEG, GIF, PSD, etc.), videos (MP4, FLV, AVI, HD, etc.). Tutors usually ask to give such information on USB or mail it. The main thing is to convert them regarding the right format.

Volume
The number of pages depends on the college demands. The minimum number usually starts with 25 pages. Only essays might have less than 10 pages. Some educational institutes set the word limit (2000 words and more).

Type
As a rule, there are 3 basic types of research writing.
Argumentative writing convinces the reader in the chosen opinion.
The expository aims to explain issues.
The analytical type presents the analysis of data.

Literature
It is very important to rely on trustworthy resources. Reliable literature helps to develop an excellent idea, manifest a capstone, and conclude the work with impressive facts and statistics. No matter whether you are dealing with a lab, project, or some academic writing in English, the source is to be reputable. These are some examples of resources for researchers.

  1. Magazines and newspapers (The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post)
  2. Websites (Google Scholar, JStor, PBS, Science.gov)
  3. Encyclopedias (Wikipedia, the Oxford Encyclopedia of the History of American Science, Medicine, and Technology)
  4. Periodicals and almanacs (Infoplease)
  5. Reports and guides of credible organizations

How to Start a Research Proposal: Step III to Avoid Plagiarism

Students master narrative style, present description, analyze things, and argument their viewpoint in research papers. They should support their ideas with facts, statistics, quotations, and references. How to do that and avoid plagiarizing? First, you should enlist all the used sources in the bibliography section. Next, you should mention what novelty you have presented and separate it from the historical background in your work. Finally, try to paraphrase and present your suggestions concerning the information you provide.

Plagiarism will never let you apply for a scholarship. Professors and tutors expect to read a qualitative and quantitative analysis in the paper before they decide to grant a fellowship to a student. If a person presents a stolen paper, it will be hard to find some justification to increase the rating and bring back the trust of the committee. It is better to have a great example to delete a risk of expulsion.

‘3 years ago, children did not have a specific medication to cope with Batten disease. They were expected to live no longer than 15 years. Due to personal medical examination and treatment, scientists managed to discover effective drugs that allow them to improve a sick child’s condition and prevent death.’ (LiveScience)
This sample gives facts and statistics but does not copy the source. We have mentioned it in the brackets not to be accused of plagiarism. You can read the article to study the difference. You can also use online plagiarism checkers that will show the uniqueness of the data you have manifested in your paper.

Check-plagiarism.com
Duplichecker.com
Grammarly.com/plagiarism-checker
Plagiarismcheckerfree.com
Plagscan.com
Copyscape.com

Some of the above-mentioned tools also show SEO analysis of the text, including the number of words and keywords. Most of them are free, but some options require payment.
If you have no time to write academic homework or research papers trying to get some scientific degree, you might find an online writing service that will help you achieve your goals.