Content

• Steps
• Advice

When you go to university and especially postgraduate, at some point your teacher or instructor will ask you to write a research paper or an article. An article can be seen as a vehicle to explore and identify scientific, technological and social problems. The first time writing this type of article will make you feel confused, it is difficult to think of what you will write, but as long as you organize your information well and concentrate, the completion of an article completely at your fingertips. There are four main stages to writing an article, including: choosing a topic, researching the topic, planning and writing. Most graduate students wish that their paper could be done spontaneously, but everyone understood it was impossible. To make the writing easier to breathe, you need to plan and prepare well. And remember not to commit "plagiarism".

Steps

Method 1 of 4: Choose a topic

1. 

   
   
   Make a list of important questions. Whether or not you are limited by the subject's framework or related guidelines, choosing a topic is the most important step. There are a few questions that you need to ask even if you can freely choose the topic or choose according to the given constraints, which are: Has this topic been widely explored? Is this a brand new topic on which I can freely give my opinion? Is this topic relevant to your subject or field?
2. 
   
   Choose a theme you like. For the best possible writing, choose a topic that you love and want to learn, so it will be easy for you to focus on it. And there's no denying that when we do something that we find interesting, the end product will often succeed.
3. Make your own mark. If the article you write is a subject requirement, think about how your classmates are writing on the same topic. How can your article be unique and engage readers even if everyone is writing the same topic?
4. 
   
   Please advise. If you are confused about which topic to choose "suitable", ask your teacher, instructor or colleagues directly and ask them for advice. Even if they do not come up with a perfect option for you, they are more likely to come up with great ideas from which you can develop your own new ideas.Students are often reserved when going to see professors for advice, but genuine teachers won't mind if they can give advice or do something to help you achieve success.
5. Don't be afraid to change the subject. You have chosen a topic, but when you embark on research you realize that for some reason this topic is not suitable for your goals, don't panic! You can switch to another topic even if you have started researching the selected topic, although that may take a while. advertisement

Method 2 of 4: Research

1. 

   Start your research. Once you've selected a topic, the next step is to research it. In today's open technology era, you can research topics from a variety of sources, for example through websites, academic articles, books, encyclopedias, interviews, even Personal articles (blogs) on the internet. However, you also need to verify the information and find reliable sources. Don't just rely on 1-2 articles but get information from at least five different sources so you can have a multidimensional perspective on the problem.
2. Find in-depth studies. If possible, look for in-depth academic studies that have been reviewed prior to publication. These could be scientific papers or books written by experts in your field, especially authors whose research is highly regarded by peers in the industry. Often such articles will be published in scientific journals or you can also find them online.
3. To the library. Going to a library to search for information sounds like an old approach, but the university library or regional library has a lot of books as well as newspapers and magazines. So, when needed, don't hesitate to go to the library and ask the librarians there to help find information, as they have been trained to do research and know where in the library what you need.
4. Search on Internet. Many people mistakenly think that using search engines and picking the first three results is the best way to get useful information, but this is not true. When you have information, you need to read and think about the article to ensure the authenticity of that source. Online newspapers, personal pages or virtual forums don't always give out accurate information, so it's important to check for yourself if it's "news".
   • Usually, web pages with the extension .edu, .gov, or.org are pages that contain censored safety information. Because these sites belong to the school, government or other organizations relevant to your topic.
   • You should also tailor your search to enrich your results. If the result returns 0, it may be because your search keyword does not match the title of articles in that field.
5. Using academic databases. There are special search engines and many scholarly archives that can help you search within thousands of articles that have been reviewed and published in major journals or published as books. While many of them generally require you to pay membership fees, college students can get free access if your school is registered.
   • Find a repository that covers your topic. For example, PsycINFO is an academic data warehouse containing the articles and researches of authors in the fields of psychology and sociology. Databases like these can help you find in-depth results that match the direction of your research.
   • Almost all academic databases allow you to search for specific information through multiple fields to search, as well as through archives containing a specific source (such as only search for articles in magazines or newspapers). Make the most of this ability and give the most specific keywords and information as possible when searching.
   • You can go to the school library and ask the librarian for a list of the databases to which your school is registered, you may also have a password to log into those archives.
6. Research creatively. If you find an article or book that perfectly fits your chosen topic, find more information from the citations list at the end of the book or at the end of the article. The citations can lead you to other books or articles on the very topic you are working on. advertisement

Method 3 of 4: Make an outline

1. Comment in the process of researching the topic. Once you have collected enough research papers, print them out and use sticky notes or any other object that can help you mark up your reference material if you can. Reading the entire reference section and making notes on the points and parts that you find important, underlining or highlighting with keyword crayons as well as attention phrases, this is a very important step. You can write directly onto the document (if allowed), or place small pieces of paper between the important pages to highlight.
   • Comment carefully because this way will help reduce the burden when you need to find a citation to outline and write the article. Make a note of all the points you think are important, or what you think could be used in your post.
   • When highlighting key points in your reference material, you should include your own comments and annotate the part of the article to which you can cite the material.
2. Organize notes. You need to take the time to annotate your references, but also need to arrange your notes so that you can easily outline your article. Organize notes by categorizing words / phrases and ideas into groups with the same content. For example, if the topic you are pursuing is writing an analysis of a famous literary work, you can organize the document into sections such as a note list of the character, a list of key points to discuss. commentary, list of symbols / symbols that the author describes, etc.
   • Separate citations or key points while taking notes. You can write each quote or point of attention on a separate piece of paper. In this way, the classification will be easier and simpler.
   • Create your own color code. For each group of documents you can use a unique color. For example, write all the information you get from a book / newspaper on a piece of paper, and then depending on the type of information you can use a marker of colors to mark up, such as information. related to the character marked in blue, information related to the text marked in orange, etc.
3. Create a preliminary reference page. When looking up notes, make note of the author's name, title, page number, and publication information for each news feed. This preliminary overview will help you write your overview as well as when you work with citing and numbering references.

4. 

   Determine the goal of the article. Usually an article can be divided into two categories: review articles and analytical articles. Each format is different in style and goal, so you need to determine the type of article before drafting.
   • In review articles, writers often make arguments on a controversial point and often stand on a certain point of view. In this form of essay you need to present logical critical arguments.
   • Analytical articles, on the other hand, will bring a new perspective on an important issue. The subject matter of your post may not be controversial, but you need to convince the reader that your points are valid. This means you don't have to just rewrite the ideas you've gathered through references, you have to give your own opinion about those ideas.
5. Identify your audience. Who will read this article? Will the article be published, published or not? You need to determine where you should focus and how to write your writing so that the readers of your writing can understand, whether it's your coworkers or anyone else.If you're writing articles for people in the industry to read, the information you give should be consistent with what you already know; In this case you do not need to explain the underlying principles or the available theories. On the other hand, if your audience is someone who has no basic knowledge of the topic you choose, you need to explain and give examples that describe the principles or theories relevant to your research. friend.

6. 

   Thesis development. The thesis statement is usually encapsulated in 1-2 sentences at the beginning of the article and serves to introduce the purpose of the article. You can refine the wording of this section after you have finished the draft, but first you need to identify the main objective of the article. The latter part of the article as well as the information you give should revolve around that issue, so write this as clearly as possible.
   • Questioning the core problem of the article, then going into analysis, answering that question is a simple way and makes it easy for readers to grasp your goals. In the article, what big question or hypothesis will you go into answering? For example, your main topic might be "How does social recognition affect success in treating mental illness?" This question is a way to determine what your topic / topic is, and what you write to answer that question is your thesis on that topic.
   • The thesis statement should give the main idea of ​​the article briefly without listing the reason or giving the outline of the whole article. It's best to write a simple narrative and leave the information supporting and explaining later in the article.
7. Identify the main points of the article. The body of the article will analyze and interpret the ideas that you think are most important. You can identify key points by rereading the reference summaries you have written or the comments listed. So what ideas can you choose to write a whole paragraph about it? What ideas have been supported by research and obvious, sure facts? Bullet points and arrange relevant information below each point.
   • When you come up with your main ideas, it's important to keep them in order. You should place the most important points at the beginning and the end of the article, the middle part is often for secondary ideas, arguments.
   • It is not necessary to write about an idea in a paragraph, especially for long articles. The main points can be outlined in multiple paragraphs if needed.
8. Attention to instructions on how to present. There is no single standardized guide to all articles; Depending on the characteristics of the magazine or the teacher's guide, you need to present your article or essay according to a certain guide. For example, if you write in APA format, the large headline of the article should include the introduction, methods, results and discussion. For each type, every guide, you need to build your outline and "brainchild" in one way or another.
9. Complete outlines. After you have considered the tips above, rearrange the full outline of the article. You can bullets the main idea and align it to the left, and then with the sub-idea and notes, indent the main idea a distance from the main idea. The main outline is a minimized overview of the entire text frame using bullet points. Please quote while creating your outline to avoid going through all of your research while writing your essay. advertisement

Method 4 of 4: Writing articles

1. Write body post. Writing the first body part is easier than starting with the introduction, although this may sound a bit paradoxical. However, writing from the main ideas (focusing on explaining, analyzing the problem) will help you to change and add your own ideas and judgment.
   • For each comment, please give specific examples and evidence. Since this is a research paper, you can't just state a single comment without accompanying evidence to back it up.
   • Example explanation. Contrary to raising a problem without evidence is to give evidence but not to comment on that evidence. Although everyone wants to include lots of evidence in the article, whenever possible, please state your own comments so that the article is truly yours.
   • Avoid direct quotes, long quotes. Even though your article is based purely on literature review, you still need to come up with your own ideas. If direct citation isn't absolutely necessary, try to transform the text, analyze and understand the quote, and rewrite it to your liking.
   • Clearly shift your mind. Try to minimize stopping suddenly at one idea, one paragraph and then immediately switch to another idea. Creating a link between ideas while still maintaining a coherence when changing paragraphs will help the essay be easier to understand and smooth.

2. 

   Write your conclusion. Once you've completed the body part, write your conclusion. In the conclusion, summarize the results and let the reader know that you have reached the conclusion. With this section, you can start by reiterating the main goal of the article, then listing the main points and sub-points that you mentioned in the body. You can then state the impact of these results on the general issues related to the topic you worked on.
   • The goal of the conclusion is to answer the question "So what?" Therefore, write in such a way that your readers feel that your article has left an impression on them
   • You should write your conclusion before your introduction or introduction for a variety of reasons. The first is because the conclusion is easier to write when you have captured the content of the article in your mind. Moreover, you should focus on writing the conclusion well, then transform the sentences and ideas into a more general direction when writing the introduction, not the opposite; This way the reader will have a deeper impression of your article.

3. 

   Write an introduction. The introduction is also the conclusion, but written in the opposite direction: first you introduce a general problem in your field of study, then gradually narrow the scope and finally raise the good problem. state your research topic. Care should be taken to avoid repeating the sentences used in the conclusion.

4. 

   Complete the layout of the article. All articles or essays need to be written in a certain way to avoid plagiarism. Depending on the industry or the field, you can build layouts in different formats. The three most common formats are MLA, APA and Chicago, which differ in the way you cite and in the order in which the information is arranged in your articles.
   • The MLA format is often used with reviews and has a 'quote page' at the end. This format requires quoting in the article.
   • The APA format is used in articles in the social sciences and also requires citation in the article. The final section of this format is the "references" section and can be broken up into subheadings with headers between body sections.
   • The Chicago format is often used for historical papers, which often use footer citation rather than in-article citation and listing references at the end of the article.

5. 

   Draft editing. Many people think that just rereading the draft, using spelling checking tools is enough, but to get a good article, you should edit carefully and in depth. Ask someone or two to read your article, have them correct your spelling as well as comment on whether your writing is convincing, the tone is smooth, the layout is clear and accurate yet. .
   • If you do it yourself, wait at least three days after completing the test. Studies have shown that articles are still "hot" within 2-3 days after completion, meaning you will tend to check very quickly leading to omitting fundamental errors.
   • Don't ignore other people's comments just because you don't want to make further changes.If someone thinks you should rewrite something, they must have a reason for doing so. So, take the time to correct it thoroughly.
6. Complete the final version. After you've edited your post a few times, review if the post format is correct and add the key points, then write your final draft. Read the article from the beginning, correct the spelling and grammar errors, or rearrange the information if necessary. You should also pay attention to edit the text format, font size, line spacing, as well as the following margins to comply with article formatting guidelines. If necessary, create a general introduction page at the top of the article and a reference summary page at the end. Just complete these steps again! Remember to save paper (if you can) and print the full version of the article when you're done. advertisement

Advice

• Remember to submit your assignments on time.
• Don't wait until the last minute to start working.
• When studying material, look for key topics, questions, and issues. Try to find a clear, certain idea, not chasing too many ideas at the same time in an article.
• It is important to ensure that the information and evidence given is correct and relevant to the topic you aim at.