For one reason or the other, every student has been faced with the difficult task of writing a research paper within a short deadline. For some, they procrastinated writing the paper until the last minute. For some, they had the desire to start early, but they didn’t know how to go about writing the paper. Whatever your reason for waiting until the deadline is close before writing, the good news is you can still meet up.
You can write your research paper fast – even in a day with good research paper tips. That’s what this article is about; it will give you practical tips on how to write a paper fast.
Proven tips on the best way to start a research paper?
The secret to not getting stuck midway into writing your research paper is starting it well. There are no rules when starting a research paper, but there are helpful guidelines to make things easier. Furthermore, when you start your research paper right, you will finish it fast. That said, below are tips on the best way to start a research paper:
- First, read and understand the instructions before you start writing to give your research a focused direction.
- Once you’ve read and understood the instructions, choose your topic – that is, if your instructor didn’t give you any. Choose a topic that interests you and has sufficient information from which you can gather facts to support your thesis. You can get topic ideas from colleagues, previously written journals, or even from your professor.
- Research well on the topic and jot down significant points you can buttress later as you write. Don’t worry about arranging the points; just write them down as they come – you’ll arrange them later.
- Create an outline of the points you’ve gathered, classifying them into the various sections (i.e., introduction, body, and conclusion). Your thesis will be under the introduction, the main points under the body, and concluding notes under the conclusion.
- Expand the outline as you create the first draft of your paper, buttressing the main points and eliminating irrelevant points.
Helpful tips on how to write the body of a research paper
The body of a research paper is the largest and most important part of the paper, although others are also important. An excellent way to write a paper quickly and efficiently is by outlining your major points; then buttressing the points. Below are tips you can follow to write the body of your research paper:
- Take advantage of your outline and prospectus, but be flexible enough to make changes where necessary.
- Your essay should center on the points you want to make, not on your sources. Many students make the mistake of letting their sources organize their papers; you don’t want to do that.
- Feature your sources into your discussion to avoid plagiarism; your institution should have its preferred referencing style.
- Avoid merely reporting the published sources you used; summarize, analyze, explain, and evaluate them in your own words.
- Mix generalization with rich detailing; that is, move from generalization to different levels of detail and back to generalization.
What are practical tips on how to finish a research paper fast?
All the tips we’ve given so far can help you write your research paper fast. However, you’ll be putting in some extra effort when it comes to finishing a paper in a day. Below are additional practical tips on how to write a research paper in a day:
- When you brainstorm, do it quickly; you can do that by using prompts, outlining possible options, and performing a simple Google search. From your search, choose your topic and create an outline of points relevant to your thesis from your research.
- Next, research articles similar to your work to support each point you’ve outlined.
- Write your thoughts as soon as they come to mind; put your points quickly on paper as you think them.
- When you’re done, patiently read through the paper to edit, condense, and rewrite it. Proofreading and editing your paper are vital, even with a tight deadline.
Conclusion
You can write a research paper fast and still get a good grade; that’s a fact. It all depends on how you go about it and what help you had. However, we recommend you don’t wait until the last minute to start writing your research paper so you can do a thorough job.
