Write the body of your research paper first. In effect, that’s what you’re doing on paper for your reader. This is what an informed and thoughtful person does – evaluates the various arguments and information and arrives at an informed conclusion. It’s not until you’ve discussed all of the relevant opinions and research that you should come to a conclusion. It keeps you objective so that you may say to yourself (or write in your paper), “these authors take xxxx perspective on this topic because….” Then you can evaluate the merits of that point of view in your paper. This is where your research question will really help you. You want to enter the process with an open mind of exploration. You don’t want to enter the research process thinking you already know what you want to say with an already determined point of view. The reason for this is the purpose of a research paper, which is academic inquiry. However, the stated thesis most likely won’t occur until the beginning of your conclusion. You will hint at it through your topic sentences and the way you discuss the information. The thesis for a research paper may only be implied until the conclusion of your paper. Note how Miguel progresses from the opening sentences to background information to his thesis: Read the first draft of his introduction. Miguel decided to begin his research paper by connecting his topic to readers’ daily experiences. Either of these will let your readers know what direction the paper is headed. From there, the writer builds toward the research question or a thesis, which is traditionally placed at the end of the introduction. The next few sentences place the opening in context by presenting background information.

A connection between your topic and your readers’ experiencesįor more information, see the 'Introductions and Conclusions' sections in Chapter 4.

A brief anecdote that illustrates a larger concept.

Many writers like to begin with one of the following catchy openers: Figure: by Daria Nepriakhina on Unsplash. The introduction should get readers’ attention, provide background information, and present the writer’s main research question or, perhaps, the thesis. There are several approaches to writing an introduction, each of which fulfills the same goals. Remember, they don’t know what you are going to write about, so orient them to your topic by beginning broadly. Think of your research paper as an educational piece of writing that you are creating for another student, but keep the tone and language formal. Keep your reader in mind – another student in another class.

Don’t make the mistake of beginning too narrowly. Introductions may provide some historical background, may discuss the history of a controversy, may introduce the various factors that impact the topic, and probably introduce and define some of the key vocabulary that your reader may not know. At the end of the introduction, you may want to state your exact research question rather than a thesis. As in any paper, you want to move from general information that orients your reader to your topic, to more specific information that focuses more directly on what you are studying.

Because you are writing more, you probably need to provide more background information. Research paper introduction may last two or more paragraphs. Keep your audience in mind and what they are likely to know about your topic before reading your paper. If you must write it first to get yourself going, be sure to rewrite after you have completed your conclusion. Write the introduction of your research paper last. Do not describe your research process of researching and writing in a literature review research paper (scientific research papers have a methodology section where the researcher does describe their research, but that’s not what you generally do in a first year composition course). The structure of a research paper is very much like that of a regular essay except that your main idea may not be as clear early on (check with your instructor about this), the introduction may be longer than usual, the body of the essay is much longer, and you use many more sources. You still bring in your own ideas, however, make the connections between everything, and come up with new ideas based on how you put together the ideas of other writers. However, even a literature review depends more on the research that other people have done than does a regular essay. We will focus on the literature review style of research paper, which is really like an extended essay. There are really two types of formal research papers: A scientific style research paper and a literature review style research paper. General Structure Guidelines for Research Papers

Rough draft outline example