Writing a Research Paper

Writing a research paper is not much different from writing an essay. You will take what you have already learned about writing an essay and apply the same principles to your research paper. You will still have an introduction, body, and conclusion. You will still have a thesis in your paper that you will prove in the body of your paper. You will still give credit to outside sources you use to support your opinions.

So what is the difference between writing an essay and writing a research paper? For one, you can explore your topic in much greater depth than you can in a traditional essay. You can become an expert in one specific topic and share your findings and enlighten your readers.

You may find that you retain more information from a research project than you do from other assessment methods, and that the project helped you understand a subject in much greater depth. The knowledge becomes yours because you synthesize the information from your sources and integrate that information into your paper. Your brain cannot be on "autopilot" when you are doing research. There are many positives about doing a research paper.

Click here to go to the section on Research and Documentation

© 2003 by Prentice-Hall, Inc.
A Pearson Company
Legal Notice