As a researcher, scholar or student being able to craft a good and concrete research paper is not only important for your career development but also in having a sense of achievement. The highest level of achievement in the university experience is learning how to write a research paper. A research paper is basically a document that organizes and analyses data you have collected to answer a research question. Writing a research paper requires you to demonstrate strong knowledge of the preferred topic, use multiple sources of information for research and make a contribution.
Here, we will outline a step by step procedure that will guide you, a researcher, to craft a research paper that you can publish in journal hosting like CARI Journals. This procedure can also be beneficial to a new scholar who is starting out in the research world.
Step one is to determine the purpose of your paper. This means understanding the assignment by understanding the goals and objectives, the format to be used and submission of the paper.
Choose a topic for your research paper. This is where you refine your research question and find out what is it that you want to know that you are going to answer. Your research question is what will guide your research paper.
Conduct a preliminary research. There are a vast of information sources available for you to research your work on. You can look into books, journals, websites and research engines to collect your data. You can also review literature and previous studies done that may be relevant to your research question.
The next step is developing a thesis statement. A thesis statement will help you establish the purpose and position of your paper. It should provide an answer to your research question. The thesis statement should be concise, contentious, and coherent- briefly summarize your argument in a sentence or two.
Develop a research paper outline. It involves dividing your work into sections with headings so that you know roughly what the paper will present before starting. This outline includes the abstract, introduction, literature review, the method of the study, findings from the research and lastly the conclusion and recommendations section.
After having a clear outline, next thing to do is craft the first draft of the research paper. This is not a perfect paper, it is one that you will polish as you go, as you continue with the research before presenting a final copy. It is important to be attentive to the logic order of the ideas, sentences and paragraphs so that it is easier to come up with the final copy.
As the last section of your paper, it is important to keep track of your citations. Every time you use a source, ensure you indicate where the information came from. This will ensure you have zero cases of plagiarism.
Once you have mastered the procedure and ready to craft your research paper, here are a few points to keep in mind:
Firstly, when writing your introduction make sure it answers the questions what, why and how. Be specific about the topic, introduce the background and define key concepts that will be found in your paper. Let the reader know what to expect from the whole research.
Secondly, have a compelling body text. It is important to be able to organize your data. One way to ensure you stay on track is to use the thesis statement as a guide. Be attentive to your paragraph structure. Paragraphs are building blocks of research papers. Each one should focus on a single idea that establish the overall purpose of the paper. Be aware of paragraphs that seem to cover the same things. If two paragraphs discuss something similar, they must approach that topic in different ways. Aim to create smooth transitions between sentences, paragraphs, and sections.
Lastly, ensure you write a conclusion that will give your readers a sense of finality. Support your entire argument to prove your thesis statement. You can also add the general consequence of the argument, outline what the paper will offer to other scholars and suggest furthers areas of research that your paper might have not looked at.
After following keenly the above stated steps, you will finally have a clean draft that you can submit for publication. CARI Journals is an accredited, affordable and scholar friendly journal hosting that serves scholars across the globe in publishing their research papers. An added advantage to submitting your paper to CARI Journals is that your paper will go through a peer review process. This peer review process involves a team of experts in a particular field scrutinizing your paper and provide you with feedback that will help you improve your paper.
You can then resubmit your paper for publication at an affordable price under CARI Journals USA LLC. Here your work is guaranteed to get attention from a wide range of audience and cited in other works within the same scope. This is a great opportunity for you as a researcher to advance your career amongst other advantages.
