Drafting an outline of your paper is a good way to make certain you are organizing the research you've gathered to support your thesis.

The purpose of an outline is to help you think through your topic carefully and organize it logically before you start writing. A well contructed outline is the most important step in writing a strong paper. Check your outline to make sure that the points covered flow logically from one to the other. You might want to base your outline on the standard sections of a research paper:

• Introduction.
  Introduce the line of reasoning you take in the essay, present the categories of evidence you will use, and provide readers with a clear statement of your thesis.

• Literature Review.
  Tell your readers about related materials and explain how other writers -- experts, presumably, have answered your research questions. If you are presenting information from a writer whose findings you disagree with, be careful to be fair (don't simplify the view for the sake of making your perspective seem more reasonable).

• Discussion.
  Demonstrate that your thesis is based on valid reasoning and supported by your evidence and/or examples.

  If you are presenting the results of an experiment or study, you should precede your discussion section with information on:

  • Method
  • Any equipment or apparatus used to measure and / or quantify results.
  • Participants

  • Conclusion.
    Summarize your points, restate your thesis, and suggest areas where further research might be appropriate or questions raised by your research that you have not addressed.

  Type your outline in a document - and make sure you save it. If you are writing a paper in APA Style, you'll want to use your outline to create Section Headings.

  Decide which quotations and facts to include under each section
  Browse through the quotations and comments you printed out. Note on your outline which quotations and facts will best support each section of your essay.

  Web sites with useful advice and tips on writing a good outline:

  • Writing a Research Paper Outline
  • Writing an Outline
  • Research Paper Outline: write an outline that will write your paper.

  
  Once you have settled on the outline, you are ready to start writing.

  Create a blank document formatted in APA or MLA style.
  The first step is to create a blank document that is set up (with the proper margins, spacing, etc.) according to the guidelines of the style manual (APA or MLA) your instructor requires.

  Generally, in order to do this, just click Start, All Programs, DrPaper Version 6, and select either the option to Create an APA Document or Create an MLA Document. Below are links to the help topics for creating papers with Dr Paper:

  • Creating a document for an APA student paper.
  • Creating a document for an MLA Style paper.
  • Save and name your document.
  • Formatting quotations.
  Once you have the document set up with the proper format, you are ready to begin actually writing the paper.

  Write the paper following your outline, being sure that you indicate its purpose in the first part of the paper. Follow the old formula:

  • Tell the reader what you are going to say (statement of purpose)
  • Say it (main body of the paper)
  • Tell the reader what you've said (statement of summary and conclusion)

  Cite sources as you are writing the draft.
  As you are writing, use CiteWrite to insert quotations and in-text cites into your document.

  1. Place your cursor where you want the in text citation to be inserted.
  2. Open your CiteWrite datafile for this paper.
  3. Find the entry on the work you want to cite (you can do this by clicking Edit, Find Text, or by clicking View, Short List), and click Format, in-text cite. A formatted in-text cite will display in the Preview box.
  4. Click the Insert tab on the
  Below are links to the help topics for including citations in the body of your paper, and
  • Formatting APA Style in text (Author-Date) citations.
  • Formatting MLA Style in text (Author-Page) citations, or Footnotes/Endnotes.