How to Create a Research Paper Outline

The standard essay contains an introduction, the main part, and a conclusion. In the introduction and the main parts, you usually create a thesis and present your arguments, as well as explain your thoughts. In conclusion, you need to summarize your main ideas. For all parts of the essay to look good and blend perfectly with each other, you should write a sketch. It is not as simple as it seems, because it is all the work that depends on the sketch. In our article, we describe the valuable features of the outline and give examples.

If you have processed our article, but still not sure that you can write a beautiful outline or the article as a whole, you can count on our help. Just contact our research paper writing or essay writing specialists and order the service you need.

Research paper: what is it

Each student who must write a research paper for the first time does not fully understand the concept of this work at first. This type of work is very different from the essay and other projects that students write at school. To write a research paper, you need to come up with a thesis and justify it with the help of existing works and studies of famous authors. The student needs to work on a large number of sources and comment on some information to reinforce his point of view.

For example, if a lawyer needs to defend an award in court, he can ignite other cases that have a similar history. If you want to write an essay about some historical event, you can read about this event in several books. Thus, you will be able to form a strong thesis and it will be easy to justify it.

How to write an outline for a research paper?

Those steps will help you understand the idea of writing a research work:

Do not forget about the time

This type of work is not as easy as a simple essay is. Therefore, you should work on your paper every day to catch the time.

Think about the subject

When you order a topic for your research paper, think about the subject and people who will be listening to you, because you need them to be interested.

Only interesting ideas

You should better find some up-to-date files to learn more information about the topic. Then you need to choose the most interesting thoughts and thematic statement for your work.

Create an outline

We will discuss that item in our article. Therefore, pay attention to other points to make sure you are doing all right.

Write and carefully analyze your draft

Focus on the examples of our professional writers. By the way, it is always better to proofread the final version of your draft and change some controversial details.

Citations and references

You need to attach a bibliography with all the sources that you used. It is the best way to knock out the plagiarism.

However, do not forget that due to the lack of proper skills you can make some mistakes. We suggest you use the services of our editors over the Internet. You can also find examples of the work of our best writers.

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Let’s understand what an outline of your work is

Now we will tell you what an idea of research paper outline is and why it is needed when working on your paper. While you are writing your work, your thoughts are repeated, because you have been working on the same topic for a huge amount of time. In order not to get lost in their own text, students need to write an outline. It contains all the basic data and helps to smoothly move from one part of the article to the next. In your outline, you would better briefly describe all the points that you will discuss in your study.

Imagine you need to write a large piece of text. In this case, an outline can save you from a lack of interesting ideas. When you have already used your basic ideas, you will have to repeat them and it is bad to affect the content of the article. However, if you write a sketch before writing, it will help you keep track of interesting thoughts, and you can do the paper faster.

A research paper outline should consist of:

  • Title page with important details
  • Lemma
  • Contents of paper
  • Introduction
  • Techniques used and an outcome they led to
  • Consideration
  • Conclusion
  • Information about all the sources you used
  • Supplement

Believe that without a nice plan for your article you will not be able to write excellent work. The problem is that this type of work usually has a volume of more than 10 thousand words, so there is a big risk of repeating your ideas. If a student writes an essay with 4-5 paragraphs, he should place an outline at the very beginning. We also advise you to consult with your academic teacher about your ideas when you complete the draft.

The details of outline for MLA format

This format is basic for essay writing. It is used to write an essay on the field of history, literature and some other humanitarian subjects. How to come up with a nice thesis outline?

You should create the main headings. Usually, it is ‘introduction’ and ‘Method’ is the upper-case Roman numerals, I, ii, iii, etc. If you need to separate your sections, use the letters A, B to create the next level. You can also use numbers and lists to divide categories into subcategories.

A draft is the main sketching tool in this format. Note that it’s better to make an outline smaller, but more useful. Put in it all the necessary elements for easy writing of the article. A sketch can do you a favor when you start creating important sections. For example, one of these sections is a literature review. Is it going to be shown chronologically or in alphabetical sequence?

A piece of advice when working with MLA

  1. To make it easier for you to create a table of contents after the text, you need to be very careful. You should check if the headers in the software match the other levels of the circuit for working in the MLA format.
  2. You may find yourself in a situation where the draft does not fit the criteria or you just lost it. To escape from it, you should save your draft, and then be sure you always have it.
  3. Be sure you have used the right format. Remember that it is better to ask your teacher again that you would not have to redo the entire work. It is also recommended to read the rules of writing paper in MLA style to be sure you are doing everything right.

Creating a thorough outline for your project

We are going to discuss some examples of the outline.

When creating a title page

One of the main elements of your article is the front page. Place some of the basic data and the caption. Please note that the title must be strong and expressive but not exceed 60 characters in volume. If you can’t come up with an interesting name right away, try to do it after completing the work. However, do not be afraid to use other resources, because working them you can be inspired and gain experience to come up with your best title.

After you came up with a title, you have to write that information under the element:

  • Your name
  • Your chief’s name
  • People who have contributed to your work
  • Date

Writing an abstract

Indicate the summary of your article and the results of the study. Your goal is to interest a person who read an article so that they read the entire paper. An abstract is recommended to be written in a volume of fewer than 200 words. If your paper contains too much research and development, you can attach a link to the table of contents.

Come up with a great introduction

When you write an introduction, it is best to introduce yourself as a reader. You need to attract attention to some interesting information. For starters, you can explain why you chose this topic or what prompted you to do a similar study. You need to make the reader trust you, and then everything else will go smoothly. The opening paragraph must contain:

  • A sentence which grabs the attention
  • Your main goals and ideas throughout the paper
  • A thesis – the most important item

The techniques of your project

In this part, you should describe the tools and techniques that were used in the study. Thus, other people may want to conduct a similar study, and they will not need to spend time to find out which methods were used. Also, do not forget to add a link to all the references in your appendix.

Results and discussion

These two categories can be folded into one, as many experts do. You need to state and describe all the results of the study. However, in the Results, you should write only a brief description of the basic facts and statistics. If your information is not processed, it is better to place it in the application. Do not forget to leave links to the elements used.

Remember that in this section you need to explain possible research errors that may not be up to you. If you conducted a study to prove your assumption, share your feelings about the results. It doesn’t matter how well you completed the task – you can explain what the mistake was and whether it was easy for you to conduct the research. Thus, your supervisor will be sure that you have honestly worked on the task and will appreciate you properly.

Writing a conclusion for your work

The conclusion always attracts a lot of attention from readers, so the student needs to make it very bright and expressive. You must reformulate the main idea and summarize the results of the study. It will be great if you add some information, definition of nurture for thought or ask the reader a question.

Add a list of references

In this section, you need to specify links to the resources used. Please note that each style (APA, MLA) requires a different format for attaching links. Do not write too much, but do not forget to draw quotes correctly to avoid plagiarism.

The most important items when writing a research paper outline

In order to save your time managing an article, you can divide the main part of the article into different parts. Be sure to follow the hint, as it contains requirements for the volume and content of the paper.

Look carefully at the concept of work. It is to help you figure out how to write a proper outline.

To understand typical details, get back to categories that are mentioned above.

Nevertheless, the outline is different for each format. Let’s learn about using it for MLA and APA format.

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An outline in APA format

In order to save your time, we will explain the idea of outline for APA format.

  1. In the beginning and abstract, you should put a hook sentence, some details of research and a thesis which you will be trying to prove.
  2. The main part of your essay should contain the techniques, results and discussion parts.
  3. After that, you should write a conclusion and add a list of links. Also, attach an application.

An example of an outline for your project

Let’s take an example of writing a winning introductory essay in accordance with college rules.

  • Decide to target colleges

You should look for interesting courses, evaluate campuses, and also add statistics.

  • Come up with a description

Find an interesting topic to discuss. It is a good idea to write about the role of your next of kin or teachers on your choice at a particular stage.

  • Talk about important things like applying for a job

You can discuss how to write a resume so that it draws attention and stands out. Also, don’t forget to mention the importance of work experience or volunteering, as this data gives you an edge.

Get help if you have problems with an outline

Agree, it is much easier to work on some data when you have a professional outline example in front of you. Then do not waste time and buy a full paper of templates at the best cost.

We suggest that you gain valuable experience working on an outline using the services of our professionals. Believe that with the help of these materials you will no longer bump into problems with research work.

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