Research Outline Instructions



Research Paper Tips/Mrs. Breaux

Complete these steps before you begin your outline for your research paper, or it’s very possible that you end up with a disorganized mess on your hands that you have to take more time and effort to go back and fix.

Use this as a checklist:

______ I did the pre-research necessary to narrow down my topic.

_____ I have selected research that is academically reliable

______ I have selected sources that contain all the information necessary to do my Works Cited page.

____ I have read and highlighted all important information in three of my sources.

____ I have made annotations (notes in the margins) to classify my information. This will help me to avoid plagiarism because I am paraphrasing the facts I am using. This will also help me to determine the main topics of my research paper and help me organize the facts I have gathered into paragraphs.

____ If I discovered that I only have one source that covers the information that I want to write about in my paper, I have gone back into a search engine or online database and looked for additional information on that particular topic.

____ If I found additional information, I have revised my work cited page to reflect my new sources, placing all sources in alphabetical order

_______ I have used a parenthetical citation whenever necessary – remembering that I need a citation after EVERY SENTENCE AND FACT that is SPECIFIC and NOT GENERAL KNOWLEDGE.

________ I have used 2-3 DIFFERENT SOURCES in each paragraph.

________I have done MLA citation properly. If the source I am citing is a website, I have cited the author’s last name and paragraph number. EXAMPLE: Blahblahblah blah blah blahblah (Brown 4) OR if it’s an online database, book or magazine, I have cited the author’s last name and page number. EXAMPLE: Blah Blah blahblabhlah blah blah (Smith 28).

_______ I have grammatically strong writing free of punctuation errors.

_______ I have googled Owl at Perdue for help with research papers if I need help when I am at home.

_______ I have a works cited page properly formatted from Mrs. B’s sample page.

The rest of the information can be in phrases, but not a word or two. You need to include the main information that is going in this sentence. You also need to include the source each fact comes from. Remember, you need to have a minimum of 2-3 different sources for each paragraph.

SAMPLE OUTLINE – Optional to help you organize

I. Intro – Made up of 3-4 well-developed sentences. This is where you will write out your thesis statement. The thesis statement is a complete response to your research question and covers the main ideas of your paper.

II. Topic Sentence #1 – Write out.

A. BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH (Source #3)

B. BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH (Source #1)

C. BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH (Source #1)

D.BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH (Source #3)

E.BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH (Source #2)

F.BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH (source #3)

III. Topic Sentence #2 – Write out

A.

B.

C.

D.

E.

F.

IV. Topic Sentence #3 – Write out

A.

B.

C.

D.

E.

F.

V. Concluding paragraph

A.

B.

C.

D.

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