Writing 201 - 6 Tips on How to Survive a High School or College Research Paper

Do you feel overwhelmed by your latest research paper assignment? Here are 6 easy tips that will ensure that you ace all of those pesky research assignments in both college and high school.

1. Discuss your thesis sentence (hypothesis) and your research ideas with your professor or teacher.

Once you have decided on the thesis statement (hypothesis) that you intend to support using research, talk to your instructor. By discussing your hypothesis, as well as research ideas, with your professor, you can get a better feel for what he or she is looking for in the project. If you will be too overwhelmed trying to support a thesis statement that is too broad, he or she will be the first to let you know. By getting the initial approval of your instructor, you will ensure that you are off to a good start.

2. Do your research first.

After getting the initial approval from your teacher or professor, you are ready to dive into the research. There is almost too much information out there these days. When completing the research, be sure that you are using valid, preferably peer-reviewed sources. There is a lot of unreliable information on-line, although that certainly doesn't mean that you can't use on-line resources.

3. Ensure that your research supports your thesis sentence (hypothesis).

Once you have completed your research, ensuring that you have at least two or three additional resources above and beyond the requirements of your instructor, go through your organized research notes (preferably on index cards labeled with detailed citation information). At this point, you need to ensure that all of your research supports your thesis. If you don't have enough research that ultimately supports your position, you need to go back and ensure that you will be able to support your thesis statement.

4. Select the research material that you will use in your paper.

After reviewing your research material, you should now have an idea as to which research material you'd like to include in your research paper. It is now that you should organize your research in such away as to support each aspect of your thesis statement. By organizing your research into tenants of your thesis, your research paper has practically written itself.

5. Create your bibliography, works cited page to your instructors specifications.

Now is the time to put together your bibliography or works cited page according to the method preferred by your instructor. He or she should provide you with at least the name of the system you are supposed to use in order to cite your research properly. Stills such as Chicago style and MLA are most popular. If your instructor doesn't give you more information regarding the appropriate method to use, there is plenty of accurate information on-line and at the library.

6. Double-check your research for accuracy.

Once your paper is written, checked, rechecked, and ready to go, it is always wise to double-check your research for accuracy. In that way, you will be able to ensure that you are properly supporting your thesis statement with the best research possible.

Using a little organization and good sense, you will ace all of your research assignments. A little preparation really does go a long way.