The Research

• 1). Choose your topic for your research paper. Ideally it will be something that interests you. The teacher may ask that the paper reflect material covered in class or material that will soon be covered. This has to be a topic that you will be willing to live, breathe and read for extended periods of time.
  
  
• 2). List the keywords in your research topic. A paper on the growth of weeds versus plants would include keywords such as fertilizer and growth rate. Use these keywords to brainstorm for a good area in which to begin your paper. Ask why, how, who, what, when and where questions. Using this topic, a good research paper may pose the question, "Why do weeds grow so much easier than plants?"
  
  
• 3). Gather all the information you will need. Whereas it was once necessary to go to the library, now all that information is at your fingertips with the Internet. When you write your research paper, you want to have more information and sources than you need. A good concept to use is to "write out of the overflow." In other words, go beyond the easily obtainable material and find something that fascinates you.
  
  
• 4). Cut and paste relevant information into a separate word processing document and make sure to cite the source for the information below it for your bibliography page. Organize this information into usable form by searching through and eliminating information, questions and quotes that are irrelevant to your specific research question. If you are doing this without a computer, write this information on note cards with the source written on back. Gather these cards and type the rough draft using this information.
  
  

The Form

• 1). Consult your paper guide given by your teacher. The form of the research paper is more to do with how the information is presented on paper than it does the actual information. Your teacher may prefer the Modern Language Association (MLA) guidelines to the American Psychological Association (APA).
  
  
• 2). Set your computer up according to the guidelines, making sure to pay attention to the page margins, fonts and spacing. Double spacing is preferred between lines, with a paragraph indention.
  
  
• 3). Add page numbers if required at the top right margin. With the MLA guidelines, your last name precedes the page number. You may also want to check to see if your teacher requires a title page that includes your name, the teacher's name, the class and date. Blank pages are usually inserted after the title page before the research paper starts.
  
  

The Final Paper

• 1). Make sure your adjustments to the appropriate style for your report are saved and begin typing the outline to your paper. A good outline will help you organize the presentation of the paper and help in creating a quality research paper.
  
  
• 2). Write a rough draft of the paper. Do not worry about grammar, spelling or other details yet. You want to organize the flow of thought with a progression that is logical, thoughtful and comes to a satisfactory conclusion. Read through it once or twice and set it aside for two days. Try not to think about it during those days and when you come back to it, you should be able to look at it through fresh eyes.
  
  
• 3). Rewrite the paper using the rough draft as a guide. You may find after your break that you have a different angle to pursue to the paper's conclusion. Going back and simply correcting the errors in the rough draft is a short cut that could potentially rob you of a key idea as you are rewriting. You should be familiar enough with your topic that even a question that is not addressed in the paper will be one you can answer.