Drafting A Research Paper - How To Do It Right?
So you are planning to draft a research paper. You have a much greater chance of getting it right if you look upon the task as a dress rehearsal. The actual performance is the research paper you will hand to your teacher or professor. The draft is when you write aspects of the research paper in preparation for the real thing. When you have a clear understanding of the distinction between the dress rehearsal and the actual performance, between the finished research paper and its draft, you'll be in a much better position to do a really good draft of your research paper.
What does a draft of a research paper contain?
There are a number of components which need to be found in your draft paper. These are really not negotiable. Academics agree that the following items are necessary when drafting a research paper.
- You need to make a statement of the question to be answered.
- You need to list the evidence you will supply to support your assertion.
- Your initial thinking and any changes which might have occurred.
- The value your research paper could make to the topic.
The thesis statement or question to be answered in a research paper is the key to your writing. In other words, what you are on about. Your draft will make a clear statement as to the principle you will explore. This is a fundamental part of your draft. Take your time and get it right because everything that follows will emanate from this thesis statement or question to be answered.
You will undertake research in creating the draft of your research paper. Where have you found this research material? What is the importance of this research material? How much of it have you relied upon to create the answers you provide?
This next section is something that you may not necessarily find in the actual research paper itself. Here you explain your understanding and approach to the topic before you started to research it. Then, after you've done some research, you then re-examine your initial beliefs. Have they changed? If so, how have they changed? This is an important part of your draft because it gives the examiner will read your paper the opportunity to get inside your head. A research paper is obviously a serious document and its findings can be equally important. But it's a benefit to be able to know how a student was affected by their study of this topic.
It is important that you know what others have discovered in researching your topic or something similar. Not only should you be able to refer to these other writers in your research paper and of course in the draft thereof, your draft will also include your belief on how your intended research paper will contribute to the topic. What place will your research paper have when contributing to an understanding of the topic in question?
There is a draft of a draft
As silly as it sounds, you write a draft as you would a research paper. You actually prepare a draft of a draft. When you know the role of a draft and the contents of such a document, you can start planning.
How well you prepare the writing of your draft will determine its success. The quality of your draft will largely impact upon the quality of your research paper. You get to behave the same way over and over. And each time you follow correct procedure, you produce a quality product immediately and an equally good one later down the track. Visit HomeworkHelpDesk to save your time and effort.