Writing a research paper, one that presents your interpretation, evaluation, or argument on a specific topic, can feel overwhelming. That’s why everyone, including newbies and expert researchers, frequently asks, “How to Write a Research Paper Effectively?”
Writing a research paper involves conducting thorough research and preparing a methodical analysis of your content source to eloquently present a compelling argument or new insight.
In this blog post, we will provide a step-by-step guide on how to write a research paper effectively. We will also cover areas like what are the differences between a research paper and a normal paper, and the best AI tools that you must try to write a research paper.
What Is a Research Paper?
A research paper is a piece of formal academic writing that presents an in-depth analysis, evaluation, or interpretation of a specific topic. All these parameters are based on empirical evidence.
Research papers are similar to analytical essays, but they emphasize the use of statistical data and preexisting research with proper citations. This type of academic writing favors formal, even bland language, where researchers present their findings and corresponding evidence plainly.
The key elements of a research paper include a concise title, an abstract, introduction, literature review, methodology, results/findings, discussion, conclusion, and bibliography. Stating each of these elements in a user-friendly manner increases the quality of your research paper.
Difference Between a Research Paper and a Normal Paper
While both a research paper and a normal (regular essay) involve writing and analysis but they differ in purpose, depth, structure, and research requirements.
A research paper is a type of academic writing that is based on original research that may vary depending on your field or the topic. On the other hand, a normal paper or regular essay is a piece of academic writing where the writer’s opinion is presented with evidence to support these thoughts. Normal essays are less complex and can be up to five paragraphs long.
Below is a detailed comparison:
| Aspects | Research Paper | Normal Paper/Regular Essay |
| Purpose | Presents original research, analysis, or a new argument supported with evidence | Expresses the writer’s opinion, summarizes information, or explains a topic without original research |
| Structure | It includes an Abstract, Introduction, Literature Review, Methodology, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, and References | It is more flexible. Just includes an Introduction, Body, and Conclusion |
| Research Requirements | Requires in-depth research, data collection, and analysis of multiple sources | No original data required, relies on only a few sources of general knowledge |
| Citations | Mandatory in APA, MLA, and Chicago formats to avoid plagiarism | No citations required unless the essay is on a specific topic |
How to Write a Research Paper? A Step-by-Step Guide
Writing a research paper can be a challenging task for students and beginners. To help them write a compelling research paper, below is a step-by-step guide that they can follow. This is a general guideline to keep you on track.
Understand Your Assignment
Stats confirm that many students start writing a research paper without even reading the assignment guidelines, which is a big mistake. To start your paper, first of all, understand the scope of the assignment, revisit your course material, pay attention to word count, understand the required format, read the writing prompt, and be mindful of deadlines to manage your time.
Select a Research Topic
Students must choose the research topic of their interest by following the requirements in case of open-ended assignments. Choosing a research topic may seem simple, but it is the most important decision as it determines everything that follows.
Choose a topic that is relevant to your field of study and check whether it will provide enough content to write an entire research paper. Try to avoid picking general topics, and don’t be robotic in choosing your topic.
Conduct a Preliminary/Background Research
After selecting your research topic, the next step involves conducting preliminary research to dispel any misconceptions you have about the topic. This initial research helps you understand your topic, forms a solid foundation for your paper, and guides your argument of the thesis. It also allows you to discover various aspects and theories related to your topic.
You can conduct this research by exploring online databases, academic journals, published articles, and related books from your university library.
Write a Thesis Statement
Writing a thesis statement is the main step while writing a research paper, as it presents the central argument or purpose of your paper. Therefore, write a clear, concise, and specific statement to summarize your topic.
A good thesis statement contains all the important parts of the discussion and makes it easier for researcher to assess the usefulness of their research. To craft a strong thesis statement, condense your main argument or observation into one or two sentences.
Create a Research Paper Outline
After creating a thesis statement, the next step is creating an outline that includes all the important categories and subtopics you need to cover. An outline helps you organize your thoughts and develop a first draft easily.
Create an outline by writing the important points for the introduction, body paragraphs, literature review, and conclusion. A good outline reflects the logical flow of your argument.
Write the First Draft
Once you are done creating an outline, start writing the first draft of your research paper. It could be difficult to start, but open with your thesis statement and go paragraph by paragraph.
Connecting paragraphs will be a problem that you can solve by using transition words and improving your flow.
Write Introduction
The introduction is the attention-grabbing part of your paper. It also sets the tone for your paper and tells the reader what to expect.
To grab the attention of the readers, start with a hook, a fact, a question, or a statement that piques curiosity and introduces your topic.
Conduct In-Depth Research
After writing your introduction, carry out in-depth research by gathering information from multiple sources to support your statement. You can read academic papers, journals, books, and reputable websites, conduct data collection, or lab work to extract the relevant information.
Write the Body Paragraphs and Conclusion
Write the body paragraphs of your research paper by organizing different paragraphs and connecting them with transition words. Then write a compelling conclusion to leave the readers with a clear understanding of your paper’s importance and a lasting impression of your work.
The conclusion should summarize the main points of your paper and restate the thesis statement.
Cite and Reference Your Sources Correctly
Citations are what set the research paper apart from regular essays. Therefore, to make your research paper properly formatted, cite the sources correctly before submitting it. Accurate citations not only help avoid plagiarism but also acknowledge the work of others.
Choose a citation style that the university follows. Proper citation styles include APA, MLA, AMA, Chicago, and IEEE.
Edit and Proofread
Last but not least, proofread your thesis to correct all the mistakes. Editing and proofreading your thesis helps you refine your work by correcting grammatical, structural, contextual, and spelling mistakes.
Going through your research paper carefully helps you present your paper more effectively.
Top AI Tools for Writing a Research Paper
Though writing research manually is a comprehensive approach, it requires a lot of time and effort. With the advancement of AI technology, there are excellent tools that can write a research paper quickly, thus saving you time and effort. Below are some top-notch AI tools that you must try to write your research paper.
Oreate AI
Let’s kick things off with Oreate AI, the best AI-powered tools for long-form writing and rewriting. The tool can write AI-driven essays, manage citations, and detect plagiarism in your papers. It is the best AI assistant that can research, write, and humanize your content in proper formatting.
Oreate AI works with a single text prompt. Thus, give it a single prompt, specify your language, word count, and referencing format. Then click the “Next Step” button. Its engine will carefully understand your prompt and will create the most relevant outline for you. You can edit and customize the outline if any point does not match your thesis statement.
After customizing the outline, click the “Next Step” button and get the first draft for your research paper in seconds.
Key Features:
- Time Saving: Oreate AI is a simple and fast tool that takes only a minute or two to write your research paper. Thus, it saves you time and effort with accurate results.
- High-Quality Content Creation: When you give Oreate AI a text prompt, it collects and analyzes data from all sources to create high-quality content for your paper.
- Proper Formatting: Formatting is a crucial element for referencing and citations in your research paper to make it credible. Oreate AI references the source in APA style, the most used referencing style.
- Plagiarism-Detection: Oreate AI is also empowered with a plagiarism-detection tool. You can pass your paper through it. It detects similar sources and allows you to rewrite those paragraphs to make your paper unique.
- Rich Templates: Oreate AI also features a rich template library for essays, research proposals, and post-class journals. Thus, choose your desired template and start creating your research paper.
- Best for Multiple User Groups: Multiple user groups, including researchers, teachers, students, professionals, marketers, authors, and journalists, can use this tool for multiple purposes.
FocusWriter
Writing long research papers is a tiring and time-consuming task. If you want to avoid distractions and focus on your goals, FocusWriter might be your best companion. FocusWriter is a minimalistic word processor that sticks to your prompt by removing all the distracting icons.
The tool offers many features, when you can choose your own customized background, timed alarms, daily goals, and optional typewriter sound effects.
Key Features:
- Clean, minimal interface
- Multiple text formats
- Timers and alarms
- Spell-check feature
How to Use AI to Write a Research Paper in APA Format?
The evolution of AI has proven to be a great convenience for all fields of life, especially for researchers, writers, and authors. There are tools powered by AI to write research papers in different styles and formats.
Among those formats, APA is the most commonly used format in the sciences to write research papers. It requires proper formatting, such as:
- Font selection, like 12-point Times New Roman or 11-point Arial
- Page margins to 1 inch on all slides
- Double line spacing
- Starting each paragraph with a ½ inch indent
- Separate pages for title, abstract, references, tables, and figures.
Most of the tools like Oreate AI use the APA format to write your articles, research papers, blog posts, and research proposals.
Let’s see how Oreate AI uses APA style to write your research paper.
Enter Your Prompt and Specify the Number of Words
When you visit their website, you are asked to enter a prompt, specify the number of words, select a language, and mention the format. Usually, Oreate AI uses APA style to generate the outline and write the research paper.
Generate Outline
Once you enter the prompt with the mentioned format, hit the “Next Step” option below to generate the outline for your paper.
Generate an Essay or Research Paper
After reviewing and customizing the outline, hit the “Next Step” button at the bottom right to generate the first draft of your research paper. If you haven’t created your account yet, the tool will ask you to sign up or create your account with the required credentials. You can also continue with your Google account.
After creating your account, you will get the first draft of your research paper.
That’s how Oreate AI uses APA format to write your research paper.
Research Paper FAQs
How to start a research paper?
Start a research paper by selecting a topic of your interest, conducting initial research, creating an outline, and writing an engaging introduction.
What should be the length of a research paper?
The length of a research paper depends on your instructor’s guidelines or the academic journal you are submitting to. Generally, a research paper has 6-20 pages without a bibliography.
How to select the topic of your research paper?
If the research topic is not assigned to you, select a topic based on your choice. Try to select a general topic with ample evidence. But it should be specific enough to allow you to cover all the basics.
Where to do research for my paper?
These days, most of the research is conducted either online or in libraries. You can also benefit from newspapers, magazines, and old books.
What is the format of a research paper?
The standard format for a research paper includes an abstract, introduction, a literature review, the research methodology, the results, discussion, and conclusion.
Conclusion
Still wondering how to write a research paper?
Write a compelling research paper by understanding its purposes, selecting a specific topic, conducting initial research, generating a thesis statement, creating an outline, writing the introduction and its body, and ending with a conclusion. After that, proofread and edit it, remove mistakes and refine the structure.
You can also save time and effort by using the best AI tools like Oreate AI to write a compelling research paper in minutes.
