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Selecting a topic: Look through your textbook or talk to your professor to get ideas. Choose something you find exciting and that interests you personally.
Narrowing the topic: Don't try to research and write a report on a broad topic. For example instead of a report on "The French Revolution", choose one specific area, such as "Mob Violence During The French Revolution".
Research: A combination of library research and online research is a good idea. Relying on just one or the other will limit the type and scope of sources.
Research: Current sources are essential if your topic is time-sensitive. For example, a report on economics or medicine should use books and articles from the last year or two. A history or literature topic, however, might use older sources.
Good Sources: Scholarly journals: Reports and papers must use good scholarly sources, including journal articles from the professional literature. For example, Quarterly Review of Sociology is a good source, popular and news magazines are not.
Good Sources: Newspapers: In general, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and comparable respected newspapers are good sources.
Good Sources: Books: Books written by respected scholars in their fields are good sources, provided they are recent. "Popular" books are generally not good sources.
Good Sources: Encyclopedias: An encyclopedia can be a good place to get ideas for papers, and to do preliminary research on an unfamiliar topic. It is NOT a good source, however, to use in the body of your paper.
Good Sources: Other: Use your imagination when it comes to sources! For example, if you are doing a report on the Vietnam War and you have a friend or relative who served, you might want to interview them. Video tapes and other media may also be appropriate sources for some topics.
Organizing your thoughts: Jotting down a very brief outline of your ideas will help you organize your thoughts and give shape to your paper. List your major points and then indicate which sources will support those points.
Thesis Statement: Every good paper begins with a thesis statement. A thesis is simply the concept or idea or approach which your paper will prove through the use of solid research sources. Here is a good example: "The purpose of this paper is to discuss the ways in which Poe's childhood experiences shaped his approach to poetry".
Conclusions: A common mistake is to simply end your paper when you run out of sources and ideas. A good conclusion restates your thesis, and summarizes the main points and arguments you made to support it.
Format: The two most common formats for research papers are MLA and APA. Most other formats are simply adapatations of those two. Your library will have copies of the APA and MLA manuals, and you may also go to the MLA and APA websites for information.
Bibliography: The bibliography or reference or works cited page at the end or your report must list all the sources you used in your paper. It may also list research materials which you read but did not quote.
Quotes: If you are directly quoting any research source you MUST put it in quotation marks and use a footnote to correctly attribute it. Keep quotes to a minimum.
Paraphrases: If you are paraphrasing (that is rewording) an idea from a research source, do NOT put quotation marks around it, but DO use a footnote to indicate the source. Make sure you completely reword the original source.
Plagiarism: If you paraphrase a source you must be sure to give credit to that source, otherwise you have committed plagiarism. Make sure that when presenting other people's words and ideas you do not claim them as your own.
Drafts: When you write your paper for the first time, consider it your first draft. Go back and look it over very carefully, and make changes which may clarify the ideas and support your thesis.
Final Drafts: When you are satisfied with the changes you have made to your first draft(s) you are ready to prepare your Final Draft. Make sure you spell-check your work, and double-check your footnotes.
Title: Give your report a descriptive title. "Child Psychology" is not a good title for a paper. However, "The Effect of Divorce on Adolescent Academic Achievement" tells the reader exactly what you will cover in the report.
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