Research Paper Outline: A Good Start for an Excellent Result

A good outline is necessary if you want your final paper to be well organized, but many students cannot resist the temptation of skipping this step in an attempt to save time. What they do not know is that by ignoring a research paper outline, a writer actually increases the time that will be spent on revisions and editing. In fact, writing papers without outlines students jeopardize their grades.

When working on research papers, students have to spend more time on planning than they would normally do when preparing to write an essay or report because in research papers, they have to show that their skills and aptitude are sufficient for solving academic problems with the help of scientific methods and techniques. An outline is necessary for all types of research papers because it serves as a roadmap during the writing process and reminds of all parts that have to be included in the paper. Having made a plan of all the constituents of the paper, you will make it more organized and coherent. In other words, it is a skeleton of your paper and without it; the written piece just will not stick together.

Another advantage of having outlines is that you will be working on each part of the assignment separately, so the amount of work you have to do will not look enormous. Besides, you can work on each part on different days, thus creating a flexible schedule. Therefore, an outline also makes the writing process less stressful. 

One of the reasons students might choose to ignore this initial writing stage is because they simply do not know how to make an outline. If you are not sure about the answer to the question, ‘What is an outline?’ - This article is for you. We will go through the basic components of a typical outline format and you will understand that research paper outline makes the writing process easier and more effective. 

Tips on Research Paper Outline Structure

If you compare an outline example of a research paper on a new healthcare policy to that of a paper on literature, you will notice that they are almost the same. They are also the same regardless of the level of writing: high school, college, university, or PhD. The reason for this is that an outline reflects the structure of a future research paper, and it is the same for every paper (there might be some minor differences depending on the task). In particular, the main components of an outline will include:

• Introduction
• Body paragraphs (divided into sections)
• Conclusion

Analyzed that way, an outline does not seem so difficult to create. Moreover, all these parts will appear in your paper, so once an outline is created, roughly 30% of the paper are ready.  

Now, let us see what each of these parts has to discuss.

Introduction
Although it is not the most informative in terms of the research you have done, the introductory paragraph is an extremely important component of the paper. The main function of this paragraph is to explain the topic of the research and grab the reader’s attention by this explanation. In the outline, include the most basic components, such as the context of the topic with some background information and the thesis statement. You might also want to provide the definitions of the most essential terms.

Body Paragraphs
This is going to be the bulk of the paper. Because it the most voluminous one, it is recommended to divide it into several subsections. The body paragraphs should support your thesis statement. Right after the introduction, include a section ‘Methodology’ in which you will explain the procedure you followed when conducting the research. Mention the type of the research, variables and explain how you gathered the information and how it was analyzed. 

The following section is usually ‘Literature review’. Here, you should describe the literature you used in the process of research to support your hypothesis. However, avoid an annotated bibliography format, when every source is described one by one. Instead, synthesize the material by comparing and contrasting different sources. Your aim is to show how your work uses the existing research to find the gaps in the knowledge and help fill them in. The success of this section depends on the quality of the literature you used. All readings should be related to the theme of the research. Avoid unreliable sources, such as Wikipedia, blogs, articles that have no author, etc. Use only scholarly sources found in trustworthy databases. In this section, demonstrate your ability to operate the terminology as well as your understanding of the existing theories and concepts. 

Another section typically found in research papers is data analysis. The title of the section is self-explanatory. Here, you have to discuss the results you received in the process of study. The way this data is presented allows some degree of creativity, so you can use tables, charts, and diagrams to organize the findings more effectively. In addition, interpret the results. What you have to mention in this section is whether your results bring anything to the understanding of the problem on a more global scope. In other words, explain whether your research has made a difference. However, remember that even if your hypothesis was not supported and the results were not what you were expecting, the research is still valuable because it can help other researchers find the right direction. Finally, analyze the limitations of the research and explain them to the reader. 

Conclusion
This is the final part and it is the easiest to write. The conclusion has to summarize the main findings and discuss their implications. A useful rule of the thumb is to restate the thesis statements. Do not discuss any new information in this section. However, propose some ideas for future research. 

Some useful tips before you go…
There is a variety of good research topics to choose. The list of topics mostly depends on a discipline and your college. In short, your outline has to remind a bullet list of the main things you will be discussing. You can cross out each element that has been completed.

Here is an example of a research paper outline:

Introduction

1. Brief background
2. Thesis statement: The Internet has a negative impact on the children’s socialization skills.

Body

1. Methodology
2. Literature Review
3. The stages of the Internet development
4. The issues caused by the Internet
5. What a child needs for effective socialization
6. The skills obtained online vs. real-life skills
7. Data Analysis
8. Discussion of the Results

Conclusion

Restate the thesis statement and discuss the recommendations for further research.