This article is an excerpt from the Shortform book guide to "How to Become a Straight-A Student" by Cal Newport. Shortform has the world's best summaries and analyses of books you should be reading.
Like this article? Sign up for a free trial here.
What are the steps to writing a research paper? Why is writing a research paper a long process?
Unlike critical analysis essays that are only a few pages long, research papers take diligent time to write. According to Cal Newport in How to Become a Straight-A Student, there are eight steps to the process.
Let’s look at these eight steps in more detail.
How to Write a Research Paper
According to Newport, the first of eight steps to writing a research paper is to select an area of interest that you’d like to learn more about. Start looking for this as soon as you know about the paper by paying attention to small asides from your professor or in your texts that pique your curiosity. Once you have an idea, ask your professor about the topic; she should be able to suggest texts you can look at to learn more.
Second, find a thesis. Newport clarifies that this is not a full-fledged argument; rather, this is a smaller area of research that seems promising. To find a thesis, reference a relatively encyclopedic source, then comb through its bibliography to find more specific sources. For example, in a class on US presidents, say you want to write a paper on Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR). You skim a biography of him and learn that FDR gave regular radio addresses. In reviewing the bibliography, you might find a journal article that describes how FDR’s radio addresses impacted his popularity and decide to examine how various presidents have pioneered new technologies (like social media) in election campaigns.
Third, Newport recommends summarizing your thesis to your professor. Make sure that she thinks it’s promising, and ask if she has any sources you should look at or arguments you should consider.
Once you get your professor’s approval, it’s time for the fourth step: research. To do this, Newport first recommends that you create a list of topics, dividing them by whether they’re essential or merely useful (but not critical) to your paper. If we were to use our FDR example, “how FDR used the radio” is an essential topic; “how the radio became popular” might be helpful but isn’t critical.
Once you have this list, start looking for relevant sources, continues Newport. If you’re stuck, your library is full of resources—like librarians—who can help. Each time you find a good source, photocopy everything relevant from that source, including everything you’ll need to cite it and its bibliography. Then, skim through your photocopy. Each time you find something that seems useful—like an opinion or fact—write down where you found it and a brief summary of it. Finally, ask yourself: “Do I have enough?” If you have two sources for every essential topic and one source for most of the useful topics, the answer is yes.
Once you have enough, it’s time for Newport’s fifth step—creating an outline. To do so, first decide what you want to say: Spend several days thinking about and regularly reviewing your sources and notes to decide on this. Then, once you’ve decided what to say, write a principle-level outline: List, in order, each point you plan on discussing to make your case. With each point, include any quotes you’ll use from your source materials as evidence.
After you create your outline, Newport recommends that you review it with others—ideally, your professor and one or two classmates. Doing so will help you pinpoint any sections that are murky or need to be moved around. (Shortform note: If you’re intimidated by your professor or don’t have friends in the class, go to your university’s writing center, which can usually help you refine your outline.)
Once you’ve finalized the outline, it’s time to write your paper. For best results, Newport recommends that you do this someplace isolated and on a day that you’re not also outlining or editing your paper. Writing is a cognitively demanding task, so do it when you have as much energy as possible and can focus well.
The final step to writing a research paper, Newport states, is to edit your paper in three rounds. First, review the logic: Ensure that your paper makes logical sense and re-arrange any passages that seem out of place. Second, print your paper and read it aloud: Your ears will catch any strange phrasing or spelling mistakes your eyes skipped over. Third, do a final check the morning your paper is due; doing so helps you correct any last-minute mistakes and reassures you that you have a paper worthy of an A.
An Alternate Way to Research Your Paper
One blogger recommends a way to research that’s relatively similar but has some key differences. First, instead of creating a list of topics you’ll need for your paper, begin the research process by collecting three to five good sources—which may not be enough for a longer paper but is a good starting point so you don’t feel overwhelmed. If you can’t find a source at the library, try Google Scholar, which searches databases and journals worldwide.
Second, read the relevant pages of these carefully, taking detailed notes and highlighting them either in the text itself or on a separate piece of paper—then take a brief break to let the new information percolate. Third, re-read your annotations and summarize what you’ve written briefly. Include any necessary citation information; an online tool like Zotero can make this process easier. Stop when you feel like you have enough information—this should amount to about 30 minutes of research per page of your final paper.
———End of Preview———
Like what you just read? Read the rest of the world's best book summary and analysis of Cal Newport's "How to Become a Straight-A Student" at Shortform.
Here's what you'll find in our full How to Become a Straight-A Student summary:
- How to ace your college courses with just a few hours of studying each day
- How to combat procrastination and write better papers
- Study methods to prepare for different types of exams
