Tips for Writing a Research Paper Outline + FREE Examples

A research paper outline is simply a summary of key points and arguments in a research paper. Every writer or researcher has to use a research paper outline template at some point. A proper research paper outline typically includes an introduction, a literature review, methods, data analysis, and a conclusion section. This article includes some useful research paper outline examples for you. Moreover, some basic tips for writing an outline of a research paper are also given here on this page.

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Importance of an Outline

Basically, an outline is used by writers and researchers to organize their thoughts and ideas and to write them in a logical way. Moreover, with the help of an outline, an author is always able to edit and revise the final document. An outline is quite an important tool for a number of reasons. Some of these reasons are:

• An outline helps the writer or the researcher to identify gaps in their research.
• It ensures a well-structured and logical flow of the research paper.
• An outline also helps the author to stay on topic and to avoid including any unnecessary details or information in the final document.
• With the help of an outline, the writer typically divides a long topic into further sub-categories thus making the writing process more efficient.
• As the final document or research paper can easily be modified later with its help, an outline of a research paper can be presented to others to anticipate and address any questions or issues that may arise.

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Basic Tips for Writing a Research Paper Outline:

If you want to know how to write a perfect research paper outline, the following are some basic tips for writing it:

• Topic: Select a topic of your interest or field of study.
• Research: Conduct detailed research on the topic of your choice by gathering the data and knowledge related to it. The relevant information can be collected via magazines, journals, the internet, books, etc. Take proper notes of all the collected information.
• Organization: After taking notes of the available information, organize this information into categories.
• Thesis Statement: This is the main argument or point of your research paper. Make sure to create a clear and precise thesis statement.
• Outline: Create an outline of the research paper using the available information. This outline typically includes an introduction, body, and conclusion. The body of the outline further includes properly divided and subdivided arguments to support your thesis statement.
• Order: Always make sure to arrange all the main points and subpoints in proper logical order. Specify the hierarchical structure of the outline using Roman numerals, Arabic numerals, uppercase letters, and lowercase letters.
• Review: Don’t forget to review or revise your research paper outline for any errors, mistakes, clarity, conciseness, and logical order.
• In-Text Citations: You can also use in-text citations to mention and give credit to the sources you used in writing the research paper outline
• Conclusion: The last section of your research paper outline is the ‘conclusion’ section. In the end, sum up your main point to conclude your research paper.