College Research Paper Writing Tips

The way you write papers in college is not the same way you write them in high school and professors want to see effort and maturity in your research papers. You should take good notes while in class if the professor wants you to write your paper on the topic. Also talk with some classmates who are skilled in paper writing and you can also get tutoring at the university writing lab. Check out some books on research paper writing and some grammar instruction books.

No Generic Internet Research

Don't take the easy way out and gather your research from any website. Instead you should choose research websites that end in edu, gov and org and these are the domains that are used for universities, government agencies and research organizations. Visit your campus library's website and look up and print out scholarly articles that pertain to your topic. Purchase books that deal with your topic.

Credible Research Must Back Your Argument

It is not enough to use personal experience or opinions to back the arguments you stated as part of your thesis statement. You must only use valid research and examples that best prove your points. For example, if you claim that the solution to poverty in Africa is less foreign aid and instead efforts to create jobs within the continent, you can't say that it's a good idea because you feel that colonialism has done economic damage to the continent. Not all people feel this way and you will need to come up with more valid points.

Your Ideas Need To Flow Throughout Paper

Start the research paper with background information on the topic and after you do this you would write the thesis statement upon which you would add your research and other credible points. In the body of the paper you should state your proof for your argument by writing your most important argument then working your way to the weakest argument. You're writing the paper as you would a persuasive speech.

When you are writing a good research paper, you want to be specific with the proof of your argument and you need to make sure you stick to the topic at hand. Avoid repetitive points and words because these fillers take away from the research paper. Finally, you want to proofread your paper carefully before giving it to the professor.