Covering the Basics When Writing College Research Papers

You will be asked to write many research papers in college. When you’re in college, the basics are very important to learn, here are some basic tips to help you.

The first tip is how to choose a topic for your research paper. "Be careful not to select a topic too narrow or too difficult to research" according to Mayland Community College link How to Write a College Research Paper. The topic needs to cover your subject well and grab the readers’ attention. A great topic will relate to your audience, a poor topic will not reflect any interests for your audience. An example of a poor topic would be a paper over Voodoo at a Catholic Institution. You should always ask your teacher if your topic is appropriate.

The second tip is to make sure you have enough informational sources. The sources you choose for your paper should be checked by using the CRAP test. The CRAP test is found online at http://loex2008collaborate.pbworks.com/w/page/18686679/Table%201. The CRAP test helps you evaluate a source by checking its currency, reliability, authority and the sources purpose or point of view. Anyone can put their opinion on the web but you can’t rely on random peoples’ opinions when writing a good research paper. You should utilize sources from websites that end in .edu or .gov, these websites are highly credible. 

The third tip is to create a good thesis statement. Your thesis statement should outline what you hope to accomplish in your paper. A good thesis statement should be argumentative and have clear distinctions between facts, evidence and opinions. For example, make sure you can back up your accusations later on in the main body of your paper.

The fourth tip is to follow the guidelines for APA or MLA style papers. The instructor will give you a rubric on what your paper should cover. Some of the more commonly used rules include using size 12 font, using “normal” fonts such as Times New Roman or Arial, and using a word processor such as Microsoft Word. After you have completed that it is time to move onto the main body of your paper. The main body needs to answer your thesis statement as well as provide information and facts about your topic to prove your argument. Most of your grammatical errors will occur in the main body of your paper. A great tip on how to avoid making errors is by proofreading your paper. According to Mayland Community College link on How to Write a College Research Paper you should “have another person, preferably someone skilled in proofreading, read it as well”. After the main body of your paper has been written it is time to make your conclusion paragraph. The conclusion of your paper is a summary of what you have already written. It needs to bring your paper to a definite end. 

The final and most important tip is from Shorter University link for Requirements for Research Papers is to “list sources used in writing the paper in a bibliography on a sheet at the end of the essay”. The bibliography is used to give credit to those whose ideas and research you have used and avoid taking credit for yourself. There are many tools on the internet to help you write a bibliography or a works cited page, such as easybib.com and ehow.com.
We hope you have learned something valuable from our blog post. The members of our team wish you the best of luck on your college endeavors. 

Nick Koniecszki - Graphic Novel Enthusiast

Meghan Lamar - Majoring in Elementary Education

Amanda Ringis - Majoring in Criminal Justice

Emily Haga - Majoring in Sociology and Fine Arts

Aaron Camp - Majoring in Accounting (He approves this blog post.)