Research papers are a good way to test the student’s ability to analyze and synthesize information as well as present their findings in a logical and concise manner. Research papers differ from essays in that they have a more rigid structure and style and have a different aim. When it comes to essays, students are most often asked to present their personal opinions about different matters, an example you'll find on anonymous-essay.com. Although they do have to use scholarly research for some essays, the focus is on their own thoughts and ideas which serve to expose a subject or persuade the reader. Alternatively, with research papers, students are allowed less freedom with a random expression of thoughts and instead are asked to apply a more ‘serious’, that is, scholarly or scientific approach when writing a paper. Despite the clear difference between these two types of writing, students often struggle to understand how to write a research paper according to all of the corresponding requirements of this style of writing.

Research paper is a common type of writing in such areas of study as psychology, sociology, and history. Many of the aspects within each of these disciplines have not been covered, which provides students with a variety of topics to choose from. Apart from that, research papers can be both informative and innovative. An especially thoroughly conducted research can provide explanations for previously unexplained concepts as well as connections between different concepts. In other words, research papers shed light on gaps in existing research and help to fill them.

It goes without saying that the quality of the research paper depends heavily on the choice of the research topic.  A good topic for a research paper is one that is, first of all, interesting and, secondly, topical. The topic should not be too general, otherwise, there is little research that can be done. The topic of the research paper determines the quality of the contents of the research paper. The topic should be narrow and specific. In that case, the author is focusing on a particular area of research and can expect to gain some definitive answers in the course of his or her research. An example of a bad research topic would be “Space Colonization”. In this case, the topic is too broad and unspecified, therefore, the research paper is unlikely to bring any new insight into the suggested area of studies. However, if further specified, a better-formulated topic for a research paper on space colonization would sound along the lines of “The Impact of Space Colonization on the Human Community in the 21st century”. Another example is an often suggested topic for research papers on history, which goes: “The role of women”. Just like the previous example, this topic is overly general and does not presuppose any innovative findings. If we were to improve the topic so that it can gain some definitive answers for the research, it would sound along the lines of “The cultural and political impact of women in the U.S. in the 1960s”. Like this, the topic states the full context of the research on women’s role, specifying both the geographical area and the time period.

The structure of a research paper varies according to the area of studies, the subject of research, as well as the requirements of a particular institution or course instructor. However, a commonly accepted structure includes an introduction, main body of the research, as well as conclusions. The research paper can include theoretical and practical elements. The theoretical part is written in the form of a literature review where all of the preliminary data for the research is gathered and summarized. Literature review serves as a context and a background for the research to be conducted in the paper. When it comes to the application section of the research paper, the student is expected to present original research including participants, methods, data collection, and hypotheses. However, this structure is often considered to be too formal and is predominantly used in disciplines such as psychology, sociology, and different health care sciences that require precise research with figures. Naturally, there can’t be a good research paper without a clear thesis statement. In fact, just as in any other type of writing, a thesis statement is a crucial element within the structure of the paper. The thesis statement should be formulated within the last sentences of the introduction and present a clear formulation of what the research paper is about, what it aims to reveal to the reader, as well as the key concepts discussed within the paper.

Research papers are often considered to be overly formal and uninteresting to both read and write. The reason is most commonly the rigid requirements set by professors and institutions which do not allow students to focus on the content and instead keep them preoccupied with the form. First of all, a good research paper requires its author to have a profound understanding of what they are writing about as well as to be interested in the topic. Adequate preliminary knowledge and genuine interest are the elements which can definitely result in a good research paper with a clear thesis and interesting information. So that a research paper is structured logically and easy to read, the author is recommended to write an outline where he or she will mention the key points and ideas in the paper. Some students think that writing an outline is a boring and useless task and that it is better to just write the research paper as it is. However, writing the outline helps the author to structure their ideas as well as to differentiate important ideas from redundant ones.

When writing a research paper, it is also important to adhere to the formal style of writing. Students should remember that a research paper is not similar to an essay where they express their opinions. Instead, it is the type of writing that requires the student to think and write academically and scientifically. Before writing the research paper, the student should ask him or herself about the aim of his or her research, the questions that he or she is planning to answer in the research paper, the novelty or the justification for choosing a particular research topic, as well as the possible hypotheses that the student can either prove or reject. Finally, for research papers, there should be a minimum of the author’s personal opinion. A research paper is valued for the ability of the author to work with information and present it in a scholarly manner. Every statement needs to be proven with evidence from various reliable sources, otherwise, these statements can be construed as simply the author’s speculations.

To conclude, many students fail to understand how to write a research paper in a proper way. A research paper is not the most preferred type of writing among the students because of its formal nature, both in language and structure.  However, it does not mean that a research paper cannot be interesting or devoid of value. The most important things for a student to remember when writing a research paper are that the topic should be interesting to the writer him or herself and that it should provide some new insight into the area of studies. In that way, one can ensure that writing a research paper is not a dull task, but rather an important as well as an interesting gain of new knowledge.