"Help! I've Just Been Assigned a 10-Page Open-Ended Research Paper!"

Tests or research papers: every college course is going to have one or the other. Sometimes both. And if your professor assigns a research paper in lieu of a final exam, you can count on three things: (1) it's going to be long (10+ pages), (2) you're going to put it off until the final weeks of the class (err, well, if you're like me), and (3) it's probably going to be a pick-your-own topic paper (as long as it has something to do with the class). At first, picking your own type of paper may seem like a treat. But after dwelling on it, you figure out that you have no idea what you should write. This article will help guide you through the steps of writing an open-ended paper-from picking a topic to proofreading the final product.

1. Picking a Topic

Ideally, you should write about your interests or use your expertise. If it's for a required course that you're not interested in, ask yourself if you can you tie it back to your major. Let's say you're an English major that loves 19th century British literature, and you're in an international politics class. Well, perhaps your topic can be British imperialism as illustrated by 19th century British lit. If you cannot think of a way to integrate your major or interests, try to remember if you read anything in your class that piqued your curiosity. After you think of a topic, you should always have your professor approve your idea.

2. Crafting a Thesis

Once you have a topic, the next step is refining it into a thesis. What kind of thesis you craft depends on your course level. With some classes, it's perfectly fine for your paper to be research for the sake of research. You may not even have to refine your topic all that much. For example, "examining the Christian theology present in the Chronicles of Narnia" could be a thesis.

However, for upper-level courses, professors generally want your thesis to contribute something new to your field or to pick a side on a contentious topic. To contribute to your field, your thesis could answer whether popular fantasy series encourage kids to read more books. To argue, you could write on whether you think the Chronicles of Narnia is a sexist series, or if it's actually progressive for its time.

3. Researching

In college, your research papers should rely mostly on peer-reviewed sources. Authors who are peer-reviewed have had their research approved by other experts in the field. Typically, journal articles (and some books) are peer-reviewed sources. To obtain journal articles, go through your college library's online databases. JSTOR is an excellent database for almost all topics (although they do not have the rights to publish recent articles from 3 to 5 years ago). If you're looking for more recent articles, try Academic Search Premier or Article First. They too have articles on almost everything. With these databases, be sure to check if the articles are peer-reviewed-sometimes they are not.

Books, of course, are another great resource. If your college has an inter-library loan program, take advantage of it; you're sure to find something relevant to your thesis. Of course, you don't have time to read entire books. Skim through the introduction and conclusion, and use the index to find relevant information.

4. Writing the Introduction

For introductions, you've probably been repeatedly told that you must hook the audience with an exciting, creative opening. Well, what if you're not in a creative mood? One technique I use is writing a brief story. For one paper, I wrote on the Piltdown Man hoax. Stumped on how I should begin, I created a little narrative illustrating the train ride where Dr. Joseph S. Weiner first thought that the Piltdown Man was a hoax. Make sure your story is factual, and you don't embellish anything. To find your story, are there any key events in your paper? Any interesting personages?

After hooking your audience, be sure to include a written map (the major areas you'll be covering in your paper) and-most important of all-your thesis.

5. Writing the Body

When you're assigned a 10-, 15-, or even 20-page research paper, you may wonder how on earth you're going to be able to write that much on a single topic. It can actually be quite easy. If you're coming up short, remember to explain everything. Keep explaining to your audience why your thesis is important and why your reasoning is correct. You can also add a few more supporting arguments to your thesis; remember it's okay to have more than three major points. For instance, returning to an earlier example-British imperialism as illustrated by 19th century British lit-you could add another novel or add another conflict to examine to solve space issues.

You can even argue with yourself. Find sources that disagree with you (you should actually do this even if you have enough material); explain how they reached their conclusions and then refute them. However, don't bloat your essay with wordy phrases and sentences (It is absolutely imperative that we researchers in computer science discern a technique in which we can perfect...blah, blah, blah).

6. Writing the Conclusion

You probably already know that a conclusion is essentially a rehashed introduction. To make it more than just a reworded introduction, remember that your audience now knows more about your topic having just read your paper. This is also the last opportunity for you to convince them that you're correct. Be sure to tie together your major points into one strong support for your thesis. If you chose to write a little story for your introduction, include it and try to make everything come full circle.

7. Writing the Bibliography and Works Cited

Check with your syllabus or professor to see (1) what citation style you should use, and (2) if you need a bibliography and a works cited. Typically, a bibliography is a listing of all the works you looked at, whereas a works cited is just the sources you actually used in your paper. Be sure they all conform to one style-usually you'll use either MLA, APA, or Chicago. Free Web sites such as http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/ and http://www.easybib.com/ exist to help you construct your citations. Also, you should take a look at your in-text citations. Make sure you're using the same style as in your works cited. Also, please remember that you must do in-text citations when you take direct quotes, paraphrase, or even just discuss another researcher's ideas-you cannot just cite it in your works cited.

8. Proofreading

But wait! You're not done yet. Yes, proofreading is essential. We all make stupid mistakes. Print out your paper (you tend to pick out more mistakes on paper than on the computer screen). Wait a couple of hours or even a few days (if you have that long), before you pick your research paper back up to read. Read your paper out loud or just mouth the words (I hate doing this too but it really does help). Mark mistakes in a vivid color ink (so you can see it). Make the changes, and read through your paper one last time-or more if you're feeling ambitious.

...And voila, you're done! Wasn't that fun?

Recommended Books:

For Research: Booth, Wayne C., Gregory G. Colomb, and Joseph M. Williams. The Craft of Research, 3^rd Edition. Chicago: University Of Chicago Press, 2008.

For Writing and Editing: Hale, Constance. Sin and Syntax: How to Craft Wickedly Effective Prose. New York: Broadway Books, 2001.

For Citations: Hacker, Diana. A Pocket Style Manuel. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2003.