Table of Contents
Writing is always a challenging process. It requires a lot of skills: analytical, critical, and creative. Since a research paper is a serious scope of work, it can not be written for 2 hours. And as it has multiple structural parts and requirements to stick to, you must know how to write a research paper outline. It helps to organize your thoughts and build a coherent structure for your paper.
Are you interested in learning how to make a research paper outline? Follow on, and you will become an expert in research paper outline creation.
At first glance, it might seem that outlining is additional scope of work. However, by dedicating 30 minutes to research paper outline creation, you can reduce stress and mess in your other writing process.
Here are the reasons to learn how to make a research paper outline.
And now, when you are quite interested in learning how to make a research paper outline, we will present you the tips on creating a design for a research paper. Please read them carefully and implement them into your writing process.
The topic is always the first thing you must focus on before writing a research paper outline. By determining the theme of your research, you identify the whole further process.
A research paper outline depends on the style you are writing your research paper in. Be it argumentative research or an empirical one, and the outline creation will significantly differ.
As you have to know what to write about in your research paper, you must go to the resources. First, gather some notes and literature to make a clear understanding of your topic.
When creating a research paper outline, it is essential to identify your audience. The outline will differ whether it has to be presented at an official conference or just in front of your college colleagues.
As soon as you gather the relevant information to your topic, you are ready to produce the ideas you will discuss or investigate in your research paper. That is the time to write them out. It is not necessary to follow any structure. Just write what comes into your mind.
When you have a list of your ideas, it is time to divide them into groups and sub-groups. This is how your research paper outline will start to form. And basically, it is the most important part of the outline creation.
You will have ideas representing different points: minor and major. And your task is to build a hierarchy. That is to say; you have to put major ideas first and then describe those that represent minor points.
You are ready to write the headings as you realize what should come first and next. In the research paper outline, it is crucial to stick to a parallel structure. In other words, your headings and subheadings should have the same format: start with the same word (verb, noun) and have a similar word order.
Every research paper has a typical structure: introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. Since these parts are different, you should also mind them when organizing your headings and subheadings.
Indeed, headings in the research paper outline give you hints on what to write about. However, they should not exceed several sentences. Try to make them concise and clear, so the readers understand you correctly.
When you compose the headings and subheadings for the research paper outline, you are ready to format them according to special formatting rules. Of course, the choice of proper formatting will depend on the type of your research paper. And you will have to choose among the alphanumeric, full-sentence, and decimal formatting types. So let’s take a closer look at every formatting type.
It is a commonly used formatting type. In alphanumeric formatting, you can use Roman numerals, Arabic numerals, and capitalized and lowercase letters. However, you will have to write short sentences instead of long ones here.
The difference between the outlines of the alphanumeric and full-sentence research paper is that the second one allows using full sentences. Also, you are free to use Roman and Arabic numerals and capitalized and lowercase letters.
When formatting according to the decimal research paper outline, you will have to write numbers for subheadings in the following way: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, etc. Again, you must use short sentences in the outline of the decimal research paper.
Your research paper outline can look different depending on the type of your research and the topic. However, a typical IMRAD format relates to the introduction, methods, results, and discussion sections. Let’s see what a standard research paper outline will look like.
A research paper outline is a crucial part of the writing process. It helps to organize the thoughts and structure the paper logically and comprehensively. Research paper outline creation can be simple if you follow our tips and practice a lot!
To create the proper research paper outline, you should first come up with a few ideas. Then, arrange a brainstorming for yourself that will help you with ideas for your research paper outline. After you come up with a few ideas, it is the perfect time to start shaping your future research paper outline. Do not worry if you do not receive the desired result immediately; most likely, you will have to come up with a few drafts.
If you do not know why the research paper outline is an important component of your paper, here are some significant reasons. First, it organizes your thoughts and helps create a structure. With the research paper outline, you will not miss any important points and decrease the number of possible mistakes.
There are different kinds of research paper outlines. However, in a research paper outline, you will usually use the three most common formats: alphanumeric, full-sentence, and decimal. Every format is suitable for a research paper outline. However, you should choose the format according to your assignment and subject.