An initial outline can help the writer organize his or her thoughts before delving into the actual writing. Next, the rough draft, as the name suggests, does not need to be polished and can include grammatical errors. Good first drafts are not necessarily well-written but they are complete: they include the writer's main argument as well as all the material to back it up. The rough draft is also free of plagiarism; any paraphrases are properly cited. The fourth step in the process of writing a research paper takes care of any grammatical or structural mistakes made in step three. Revising the draft so that it is ready for presentation involves consulting dictionaries, grammar and usage reference books such as the Chicago Manual of Style and any writing resources available on the Internet. At this stage in the process, the writer might choose to cut out entire sections of the paper that are redundant, write new ones, or simply correct spelling mistakes. At this point, the writer also makes sure that no plagiarism has taken place, and that material is properly referenced. The idea here is to complete the paper so that it is ready to be read by its intended audience.

However, before the paper is complete the writer must format it properly, the fifth and final stage of writing a research paper. Many different formatting styles exist: the most common are those from the Modern Language Association (MLA), the American Psychological Association (APA) and the Chicago Manual of Style formats. College professors usually have a preference for a certain style, according to their discipline and may...

Formatting includes in-text reference citations, bibliographic reference notations that are usually included in a separate "
Works Cited or "Bibliography" page, footnotes or endnotes if required, page numbering, margin sizes, cover pages, font, and line spacing. Formatting creates a uniform appearance for the final copy of the research paper, which is now ready for submission to its intended audience.

Writing a research paper is not easy but when these five simple steps are followed the process can be straightforward. First, narrow the topic enough that a clear and compelling thesis statement can be drawn and a solid argument can be established. Second, all research must be conducted. The third step is writing a rough draft, and the fourth is revising and polishing that draft. Finally, the research paper must be formatted properly according to clear guidelines. Above all, research papers should be original and free from plagiarized material; all sources must be properly referenced.

Works Cited

Darling, Charles. "A Guide for Writing Research Papers Based on Modern Language Association (MLA) Guidelines." Capital Community College Library. Online at http://webster.comment.edu/mla/index.shtml.

Delaney, Robert. "Citation Style for Research Papers." Long Island University. < Online at http://www.liu.edu/cwis/cwp/library/workshop/citation.htm.

Hamid, Sarah. "Writing a Research Paper." OWL: Purdue University. 2004. Online at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/workshops/hypertext/ResearchW/.