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How to write a research paper: A step-by-step guide

Published July 20, 2020. Updated May 19, 2022.

Research Paper Definition

A research paper is an essay that evaluates or argues a perception or a point.

Overview of research paper

Research papers are papers written as in-depth analyses of the academic literature on a selected topic. A research paper outline consists of planning out the main sections of the paper, including the points and evidence, so that the drafting and editing processes are much easier. The research paper should have an introduction paragraph, at least three body paragraphs, a conclusion paragraph, and a Works Cited page. Some important steps should be followed while writing a research paper. The steps include understanding the instructor’s expectations for how to write a research paper, brainstorming research paper ideas, conducting research, defining the thesis statement, making a research paper outline, writing, editing again if required, creating a title page, and writing an abstract.

Key takeaways

• A research paper is an essay that analyzes or argues a perspective or a point.
• A research paper outline involves planning out the main sections of your paper, including your points and evidence, so that the drafting and editing processes go a lot smoother.
• Before you write your research paper outline, consult your instructor, research potential topics, and define your thesis statement.
• Your research paper should include an introduction paragraph, at least three body paragraphs, a conclusion paragraph, and a Works Cited page.

What are the steps to writing a research paper?

Here are 7 steps on how to write a research paper, plus two optional steps on creating a title page and an abstract:

Step 1: Understand your instructor’s expectations for how to write a research paper

Step 2: brainstorm research paper ideas, step 3: conduct research, step 4: define your thesis statement, step 5: make a research paper outline, step 6: write, step 7: edit, edit, and edit again, step 8 (optional): create a title page, step 9 (optional): write an abstract.

• Additional tips

Worried about your writing? Submit your paper for a Chegg Writing essay check , or for an Expert Check proofreading . Both can help you find and fix potential writing issues.

First, read and reread the rubric for the assignment. Depending on your field of study, the guidelines will vary. For instance, psychology, education, and the sciences tend to use APA research paper format, while the humanities, language, and the fine arts tend to use MLA or Chicago style.

Once you know which research paper format to use, take heed of any specific expectations your instructor has for this assignment. For example:

• When is it due?
• What is the expected page count?
• Will your instructor expect to see a research paper outline before the draft?
• Is there a set topic list or can you choose your own?
• Is there someplace to look at sample research papers that got A’s?

If anything isn’t clear about how to write a research paper, don’t hesitate to ask your instructor.

Being aware of the assignment’s details is a good start! However, even after reading them, you may still be asking some of the following questions:

• How do you think of topics for research papers?
• How do you think of interesting research paper topics?
• How do I structure an outline?
• Where can you find examples of research papers?

We’ll answer all of these questions (and more) in the steps below.

Some instructors offer a set of research paper topics to choose from. That makes it easy for you—just pick the research paper idea that intrigues you the most! Since all the topics have been approved by your instructor, you shouldn’t have to worry about any of them being too “broad” or “narrow.” (But remember, there are no easy research paper topics!)

On the other hand, many instructors expect students to brainstorm their own topics for research papers. In this case, you will need to ensure your topic is relevant as well as not too broad or narrow.

An example of a research paper topic that is too broad is “The History of Modernist Literature.” An expert would be hard-pressed to write a book on this topic, much less a school essay.

An example of a research paper topic that is too narrow is “Why the First Line of Ulysses Exemplifies Modernist Literature.” It may take a page or two to outline the ways in which the first line of Ulysses exemplifies traits of modernist literature, but there’s only so much you can write about one line!

Good research paper topics fall somewhere in the middle . An example of this would be “Why Ulysses ’ Stephen Exemplifies Modernist Literature.” Analyzing a character in a novel is broader than analyzing a single line, but it is narrower than examining an entire literary movement.

Next, conduct research and use an adequate number of reputable sources to back up your argument or analysis. This means that you need to evaluate the credibility of all your sources and probably include a few peer-reviewed journal articles (tip: use a database).

A lot of good sources can be found online or at your school’s library (in-person and online). If you’re stuck finding sources or would like to see a sample research paper, ask your librarian for help. If you’re having trouble finding useful sources, it may be a warning sign that your idea is too broad or narrow. For a more comprehensive look at research, check this out .

Your thesis statement is the most important line of your research paper! It encompasses in one sentence what your paper is all about. Having a concrete thesis statement will help you organize your thoughts around a defined point, and it will help your readers understand what they’re reading about.

If you could boil your paper down into a single line, what would that line be?

Here is an example of a working thesis:

In George Orwell’s  1984 , the Party manipulates citizens into total submission to the Party’s ideals through Newspeak, propaganda, and altered history.

For more information, see this guide on thesis statements .

Even if you think you chose an easy research paper topic, a structured, outlined research paper format is still necessary to help you stay organized and on-track while you draft. The traditional research paper outline example looks something like this:

Introduction

• Main point #1
• Main point #2
• Main point #3

Works cited

Let’s examine each section in detail.

Wondering how to start a research paper that gets an A? One good step is to have a strong introduction. Your research paper introduction will include the following elements:

• state your thesis (the one or two-line gist of your paper)
• explain the question you will answer or argument you will make
• outline your research methodology

1. Open with a hook

Keep your readers reading—hook them! A handy tip for writing a hook is to think about what made you choose this topic. What about your topic captured your interest enough to research it and write a paper about it?

A hook might sound something like the following examples:

Did you know that babies have around a hundred more bones than adults?

A language dies every fourteen days.

Of course, by no means does your opening line have to be so shocking. It could be as simple as you’d like, as long as it pulls your readers in and gives them an idea of what your paper is going to be about.

2.  Introduce relevant background context

After you’ve hooked your readers, introduce them to the topic at hand. What is already known about it? What is still a mystery? Why should we care? Finally, what work have you done to advance knowledge on this topic?

You can include a relevant quotation or paraphrase here, but keep it short and sweet. Your introduction should not be bogged down with anything less than essential.

3.  End on your thesis statement

Finally, end your introduction paragraph with your thesis statement, which is a concise sentence (just one, two max) summarizing the crux of your research paper.

Research paper introduction example

As John Wilkes Booth fled the scene of his assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, he yelled, “ Sic semper tyrannis ! The South is avenged!” Booth was an ardent supporter of the Southern cause during the Civil War era, but what made him passionate enough to assassinate a sitting president? Although Booth’s ire can be traced mostly to his backing of the South, there is more to the story than just that. John Wilkes Booth had three primary motives for assassinating Abraham Lincoln.

The body of your paper is not limited to three points, as shown below, but three is typically considered the minimum. A good rule of thumb is to back up each main point with three arguments or pieces of evidence. To present a cogent argument or make your analysis more compelling , present your points and arguments in a “strong, stronger, strongest” research paper format.

• Main point #1 – A strong point 
• Strong supporting argument or evidence #1
• Stronger supporting argument or evidence #2
• Strongest supporting argument or evidence #3
• Main point #2 – A stronger point
• Main point #3 – Your strongest point

The conclusion is crucial for helping your readers reflect on your main arguments or analyses and understand why what they just read was worthwhile.

• restate your topic
• synthesize your most important points
• restate your thesis statement
• tie it all into the bigger picture

1.  Restate your topic

Before you wrap up your paper, it helps to remind your readers of the main idea at hand. This is different than restating your thesis. While your thesis states the specific argument or analysis at hand, the main idea of your research paper might be much broader. For instance, your thesis statement might be “John Wilkes Booth had three primary motives for assassinating Abraham Lincoln.” The main idea of the paper is Booth’s assassination of Lincoln. Even broader, the research paper is about American history.

2.  Synthesize your most important points

The key here is to synthesize , not summarize . Many students don’t see the point of conclusions because they look at them as mere repetition of points that already have been made. They’re right—that’s not what a conclusion paragraph should do! To summarize is to objectively restate what you’ve already said in your paper. What you want to do instead is offer a new viewpoint. Take the points you’ve made and develop a unique understanding or perspective.

For example, assume the main points you made in your paper are the following:

John Wilkes Booth was loyal to the South and the Confederate States of America.

John Wilkes Booth strongly opposed the abolition of slavery.

John Wilkes Booth was vocal about his hatred of Abraham Lincoln.

Instead of simply restating those three points in your conclusion, you could synthesize the points:

John Wilkes Booth’s outspoken loyalty to the South and opposition to abolition motivated him to assassinate Lincoln, who was one of the most prominent proponents of the abolition of slavery and the Union side of the Civil War. If Lincoln’s cause succeeded, the economy and culture of the antebellum South that Booth advocated for would not survive. All of those reasons combined were why Booth saw it as imperative that Lincoln be killed.

3.  Restate your thesis statement

After you’ve synthesized the main points of your research paper, restate your thesis statement. This helps bring your paper full circle back to where you began.

4.  Tie it all into the bigger picture

Answer the “so what?” question of your argument or analysis in order to end your research paper by tying it into a bigger picture. What implications does your argument or analysis have on the research of others? Why does your discovery matter? If you’re not sure, ask a friend to ask you (or ask yourself) “so what?” until you’ve figured it out. Here’s how it might look:

Friend: What is your paper about?

You: John Wilkes Booth assassinated Abraham Lincoln for three main reasons.

Friend: So what?

You: It’s important to know why he killed Lincoln.

Friend: Why is it important?

You: So we know what kind of things motivate assassins to kill presidents so we can avoid it happening in the future.

Just like that, you have tied your paper into the bigger picture. Your paper is more likely to have a strong impact on your readers (and receive a better grade) if you end it with a strong “take-home” message.

Tips for writing a great conclusion to your paper

• Link your conclusion to your introduction.
• Don’t give away all the answers. Remember, you don’t have to have all the answers. You can conclude your research paper with some questions for your readers to ponder.
• Propose a call to action. After conducting all this research and formulating some great arguments or analyses, you might believe something needs to be done. For example, if you wrote the aforementioned research paper about Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, you might suggest a call to action that we all keep an eye out for potential presidential assassins like John Wilkes Booth.

Mistakes to avoid when concluding your research paper

• Being too wordy. Keep the conclusion concise.
• Failure to relate it back to your intro.
• Failure to reflect on the bigger picture. Provide a compelling synthesis of what was just written.

Research paper conclusion example

Presidential assassinations are particularly sad and defining points in American history. They shake the country and make the people ask, “How could this happen to the most powerful figure in our nation?” In this paper, we explored some of the reasons why assassinations happen. John Wilkes Booth’s outspoken loyalty to the South and opposition to abolition motivated him to assassinate Lincoln, who was one of the most prominent proponents of the abolition of slavery and the Union side of the Civil War. If Lincoln’s cause succeeded, the economy and culture of the antebellum South that Booth advocated for would not survive. Those three motives combined were why Booth saw it as imperative that Lincoln be killed. As history scholars, we should remember why and how this happened so that we can avoid it happening in the future.

A works cited or bibliography page (or pages) should be the final section of your paper. This section includes a list of the resources you consulted, quoted, or cited within the body of your work, as well as those which influenced your ideas on the topic.

This is only a basic research paper outline template, which can be altered depending on the length and purpose of your paper. Argumentative papers aim to prove a point through well-researched, persuasive argument, while analytical papers posit a question and explore possible answers throughout the paper. Either way, your goal as a writer is to find and share the truth, whether you do so before you start writing a research paper or while you’re writing it.

Once you have an outline in the above research paper format, it’s a good idea to consult with your teacher or a writing tutor to find ways to strengthen it. They’ll also be able to give you good writing advice, from how to start a research paper to how to find research paper ideas conducive to strong arguments. As you write, you might find yourself tweaking (or overhauling) your outline. That’s okay!

You already have a rock-solid topic, credible sources, and intuitive outline. Now, you just have to flesh it out into pages of flowing, articulate prose. (Okay, it won’t exactly be easy.)

Before you begin writing, you might find it helpful to look at sample research papers in your school’s library or writing center (many research paper examples can also be found online). This will give you an idea of how to do a research paper outline, build a research paper outline template, as well as give you several research paper introduction examples. Here is one example research paper .

Examples of research papers you’ll see will look crazy long. But remember, those weren’t completed in one sitting! So, don’t wait until the last minute to get started. You’ll need to factor in time for breaks, writing tutor consultations, and the dreaded writer’s block.

You will probably write multiple drafts. Don’t expect your first draft to be perfect. You may even need to change your main argument halfway through your draft. That’s okay! Be ready to re-brainstorm, re-outline, and rewrite.

This might just be the most important step. Even if you brainstorm the perfect topic, create a brilliant research paper outline, and write a strong first draft. None of that brilliance will shine through if your paper is full of typos, grammar errors, and rambling tangents.

You’ll want to complete these kinds of editing, in this order:

• line editing
• spell-checking
• proofreading

Revision deals with broad issues, such as an argument that doesn’t make sense or a source that doesn’t support your thesis. Line editing, spell-checking, and proofreading are more to do with your writing itself—the flow of your sentences and the presence of any spelling or grammatical errors.

Paper formatting

The format of your paper will depend largely on what paper or citation style your instructor has told you to use (e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, etc.). In general though, here are some good paper formatting guidelines to follow:

• Use 1-inch margins around your paper.
• Use a standard font like Times New Roman, Arial, etc.
• Use a standard font size between 10-12 points.
• Make sure that the title of your paper, date you turn it in, course name, and your name appear somewhere on the first page. If this is for APA, you’ll create a title page. If for MLA, you’ll create a header.

After you finish, it also doesn’t hurt to check your paper for plagiarism .

Before you turn in that paper, don’t forget to cite your sources in APA format , MLA format , or a style of your choice.

A title page is not always needed but is sometimes requested by an instructor or required by a paper format (example: APA style). It is always the first page of a paper and is the cover that communicates what’s in store for a reader. Let’s discuss what a title page is, why it’s important, how to create one, and tips on writing a good title.

What is a title page?

A title page is the first page of the paper that displays the title, the author’s name, and other required information such as thhe course number, the instructor’s name, or the date .

Why have a title page?

The main purpose of title page is like the purpose of a book cover or a news article headline. Its purpose is to allow the reader to easily understand what the paper is about .

This makes it especially important for you to have an effective and well-written title for your essay. You want to capture the reader’s attention, so they feel that your work is worth reading.

A title page can also indicate that the paper is academic in nature. The structured nature of a title page is an indicator that a paper has been created using certain academic guidelines or standards.

What is included on the title page besides the title?

There are two title page formats that you may be asked to use for academic papers. One is called American Psychological Association, which is commonly known as APA, and the second is called Modern Language Association, generally referred to as MLA. APA is typically used for research involving technical and scientific topics while MLA is more likely to be used for humanities or literature topics. Even though they are similar, each has a different set of requirements for the title page.

APA requirements:

• Research Paper Title
• Author’s full name (first name, middle initial, last name)
• Department and university name/Affiliation
• Course number and name
• Instructor’s/Professor’s name
• Assignment due date
• Page number
• All information is to be double spaced and centered
• Use Times New Roman font with 12 point size

MLA requirements:

It is important to note that usually a cover page is not required when using the MLA format. Instead, all the same points are found at the top of the first page of the research paper. However, if a title page is requested, it must meet the following requirements:

• Name of the school or university
• Title of the paper
• Subtitle of the paper (if necessary)
• Author’s/Student’s name
• Appropriate course number and name
• Use Times New Roman font with 12 as the font size
• Except for small words such as a, the, or, etc.
• The first letter of the first word should always be capitalized
• For BOTH formats, the first line should be spaced down three or four lines from the top margin.

Now, look at examples of both APA and MLA college research paper title page formats.

College research paper title page examples

Effects of Depression Symptoms on Quality of Sleep  

Jane A. Doe and John Z. Smith

Michigan State University

Jack Peterson, Instructor

March 11, 2021

Effects of Depression Symptoms on Quality of Sleep

Jane A. Doe and Joe Z. Smith

Professor Jack Peterson

Tips on writing a great title

There are few things to consider when creating the title of your research paper:

• Succinctly communicate what the topic of the paper is.
• Be concise.
• Give your reader a preview of your approach to the subject.
• Gain the reader’s interest in learning about your subject.

Below are two examples of titles. Think about which title is more effective and why.

• Student Loan Debt
• The Vanishing American Middle Class: How Student Loan Debt is Destroying the Next Generation and What Can Be Done About It

Hopefully, you noticed that while Title 1 is concise, it is not informative. It does not  give information on the writer’s approach to research on the topic. Title 2 is more interesting and precise than Title 1, and it communicates what problem the writer has researched. It is, however, very long.  An ideal title would be something in the middle like this:

Student Loan Debt and Its Impact on the Vanishing American Middle Class

Here are a few examples of bad titles:

• Television is Influential

(the title is very vague and doesn’t make the reader want to learn more)

• The Most Poisonous Snakes

(This title is too broad.)

• Outsourcing in the 21st Century

While this title is not terrible, it should include more detail. For example, what is being outsourced exactly?

A good paper title should convey your specific topic or argument and can hint at the conclusions. Here are some general guidelines to follow:

• Your title should be grammatically correct and in Title Case
• It should be formatted correctly
• It should not be a quote by someone else
• The title is not your thesis statement
• The title is not just rephrasing the topic or assignment
• Always follow your professor’s preferences
• Do not put your title in All CAPS or Italics

An abstract is a concise overview or summary of your research paper. The abstract is a paragraph that states the central question behind the research, describes the research methods, and summarizes the findings. After reading your abstract, readers should understand exactly what your paper is all about.

Abstracts are used in papers meant for publication in journals and are not typically required for student papers.

What’s the difference between an abstract and an introduction?

Many students have trouble understanding the difference between an abstract and an introduction. While it’s true that both may seem quite similar at first glance, an abstract is distinct from an introduction in several ways.

An abstract is a concise summary, whereas an introduction is much more detailed. When writing an introduction, you will provide an overview of the “why, what, when and how” of your study. On the other hand, an abstract provides readers with a quick overview of your paper without them having to read the entire paper. It will also provide a preview so they can better understand the paper when reading it or deciding whether or not they want to read it.

Why are abstracts necessary for research papers?

Abstracts help researchers to quickly identify studies relevant to subjects they need information on. If abstracts didn’t exist, people would have to sift through pages and pages of each study just to find this important information. In the modern era, abstracts are even more important because they contain keywords that make papers easier to find on the web. In addition, abstracts allow researchers to absorb key information without paying any money if the paper is not an open-source document.

Planning your abstract

Write the abstract after you have finished writing your paper.  You can’t summarize until you have written the paper.  The organization of an abstract is determined by the type of research paper.

Scientific abstracts include a concise summary of the following:

• OBJECTIVE: Clearly define the purpose of your research and the central question you aimed to answer.
• METHODS: Briefly explain research methods you used to answer your central question.
• RESULTS: Summarize the most important and relevant results of your study. Don’t include all of your results if there are too many to realistically fit.
• FINDINGS: Explain how your research answered your central problem or question. What the significance of your research? What kind of argument are you making in light of your results?  

Abstracts for research in humanities and the social sciences contain the following:

• The background and overview of your general topic
• A concise summary of your central argument and claims
• The rationale and purpose for your research in this specific area
• Your method and strategy for researching this topic and primary sources used to support your claims

There are different types of abstracts you may be asked to write, depending on the assignment. Common types of abstracts for the social sciences include the following:

• Critical Abstract: This type of abstract provides a judgment or comment on how reliable the study is. These types of abstracts are quite rare.
• Descriptive Abstract: A descriptive abstract simply summarizes the information found in a paper. There is no judgment involved, and these abstracts can be as short as 100 words.
• Informative Abstract: This is the most common type of abstract. It includes the main arguments,  the evidence presented and the most important findings. In most cases, this is the type of abstract you will be writing.
• Highlight Abstract: The purpose of a highlight abstract is to grab the reader’s attention. These are often incomplete, biased, and full of leading remarks intended only to attract readers. These are not used in academic writing.

Writing your abstract

Abstracts are usually between 150 and 300 words. An abstract for a research paper in the humanities or social sciences should be formatted as a single paragraph. For the sciences, you will need to clearly outline each section (Objective, Methods, Results, Conclusion). The abstract follows the title page.

When it comes to actually writing your abstract, you can simply copy and paste key sentences from your paper and place them in a sequence. This is a good way to organize and outline your ideas before writing the abstract. You may prefer to write it another way – just be sure to include your main objective, method, and overall conclusion.  Regardless, be sure to make your abstract a clear and concise explanation of your rationale for the essay and primary findings.

Below is a sample APA abstract that a freshman college student taking psychology and studying addictive disorders might provide for her research.

Sample Psychology Abstract

The purpose of this essay is to analyze the overall efficacy of Medicated Assisted Treatment (MAT) in individuals with opioid use disorder compared with those individuals who only receive treatment in the form of 12-step recovery style meetings and counseling. From 2017-present, most people who seek assistance for opiate addiction in the United States receive treatment in the form of MAT or 12-step (and related) forms of treatment. Some are provided with both. Using recent data from recognized and credible scientific and medical literature and peer-reviewed journals, I provide an analysis of current trends in how opioid-dependent individuals are likely to be treated and make an argument that MAT combined with counseling/therapy of any recovery model (not only 12-step type, e. g., Narcotics Anonymous or NA) is much more effective than recovery programs using 12-step meetings and fellowship as the primary method of treatment. Furthermore, I demonstrate that individuals with private insurance and access to private treatment (inpatient rehabilitation with medical detoxification and post-acute support) are more likely to receive MAT combined with therapy and, therefore, achieve long term success/ sobriety. Success is measured in the percentage of subjects who show long-term abstinence from opioids after 5 years compared to those who do not survive — or return to their opioid use disorder. The rationale for this research project is to find out how most Americans are treated for this debilitating health issue during the current “opioid epidemic” that resulted in 50,000 overdose-related deaths in 2019 alone. My hope is that my argument might increase awareness of the higher success rates of MAT compared to that of predominately 12-step only recovery as well as prompt discussion of making MAT more accessible to those without private medical insurance and the financial means to pay for it.

Sample Scientific Abstract

“The relationship between habitat use by voles (Rodentia: Microtus) and the density of vegetative cover was studied to determine if voles select forage areas at the microhabitat level.  Using live traps, I trapped, powdered, and released voles at 10 sites.  At each trap site I analyzed the type and height of the vegetation in the immediate area. Using a black light, I followed the trails left by powdered voles through the vegetation.  I mapped the trails using a compass to ascertain the tortuosity, or amount the trail twisted and turned, and visually checked the trails to determine obstruction of the movement path by vegetation.  I also checked vegetative obstruction on 4 random paths near the actual trail, to compare the cover on the trail with other nearby alternative pathways.  There was not a statistically significant difference between the amount of cover on a vole trail and the cover off to the sides of the trail when completely covered; there was a significant difference between on and off the trail when the path was completely open.  These results indicate that voles are selectively avoiding bare areas, while not choosing among dense patches at a fine microhabitat scale.”

Source: http://www.umt.edu/ugresearch/umcur/sample_abstracts.php

Additional tips for writing a research paper abstract

• Imagine you are another researcher looking at your abstract for the first time. Does it adequately summarize your research, or is essential information missing?
• Avoid redundancy.
• Do not use acronyms or abbreviations.
• Do not reference other literature.
• Do not use confusing terminology that new readers will not understand.
• Do not use images, graphs, or tables.
• Only describe the paper – do not defend your research in the abstract.
• No need to cite sources.
• Write in past tense, as the research is already complete.
• Use active tense when possible.

Example research paper on student stress

Why it’s worth learning how to write a research paper.

Learning how to write a research paper will allow you to strengthen your time management, communication, and analytical skills. What is a research paper for, after all, if not to help you grow as a student and a writer? Believe it or not, with enough practice, you’ll become a pro at finding interesting research paper topics, creating an organized research paper outline, and writing a clean draft that flows from introduction to conclusion.

Research paper template and example

• Research paper template
• Research paper example
• How to write a research paper
• Research paper topics
• Research paper outline

By Jolee McManus. Jolee earned a BA in English from the University of Georgia. She has several years of experience as a writing tutor and freelance copywriter and editor

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Home » Research Paper – Structure, Examples and Writing Guide

Research Paper – Structure, Examples and Writing Guide

Table of Contents

Research Paper

Definition:

Research Paper is a written document that presents the author’s original research, analysis, and interpretation of a specific topic or issue.

It is typically based on Empirical Evidence, and may involve qualitative or quantitative research methods, or a combination of both. The purpose of a research paper is to contribute new knowledge or insights to a particular field of study, and to demonstrate the author’s understanding of the existing literature and theories related to the topic.

Structure of Research Paper

The structure of a research paper typically follows a standard format, consisting of several sections that convey specific information about the research study. The following is a detailed explanation of the structure of a research paper:

The title page contains the title of the paper, the name(s) of the author(s), and the affiliation(s) of the author(s). It also includes the date of submission and possibly, the name of the journal or conference where the paper is to be published.

The abstract is a brief summary of the research paper, typically ranging from 100 to 250 words. It should include the research question, the methods used, the key findings, and the implications of the results. The abstract should be written in a concise and clear manner to allow readers to quickly grasp the essence of the research.

Introduction

The introduction section of a research paper provides background information about the research problem, the research question, and the research objectives. It also outlines the significance of the research, the research gap that it aims to fill, and the approach taken to address the research question. Finally, the introduction section ends with a clear statement of the research hypothesis or research question.

Literature Review

The literature review section of a research paper provides an overview of the existing literature on the topic of study. It includes a critical analysis and synthesis of the literature, highlighting the key concepts, themes, and debates. The literature review should also demonstrate the research gap and how the current study seeks to address it.

The methods section of a research paper describes the research design, the sample selection, the data collection and analysis procedures, and the statistical methods used to analyze the data. This section should provide sufficient detail for other researchers to replicate the study.

The results section presents the findings of the research, using tables, graphs, and figures to illustrate the data. The findings should be presented in a clear and concise manner, with reference to the research question and hypothesis.

The discussion section of a research paper interprets the findings and discusses their implications for the research question, the literature review, and the field of study. It should also address the limitations of the study and suggest future research directions.

The conclusion section summarizes the main findings of the study, restates the research question and hypothesis, and provides a final reflection on the significance of the research.

The references section provides a list of all the sources cited in the paper, following a specific citation style such as APA, MLA or Chicago.

How to Write Research Paper

You can write Research Paper by the following guide:

• Choose a Topic: The first step is to select a topic that interests you and is relevant to your field of study. Brainstorm ideas and narrow down to a research question that is specific and researchable.
• Conduct a Literature Review: The literature review helps you identify the gap in the existing research and provides a basis for your research question. It also helps you to develop a theoretical framework and research hypothesis.
• Develop a Thesis Statement : The thesis statement is the main argument of your research paper. It should be clear, concise and specific to your research question.
• Plan your Research: Develop a research plan that outlines the methods, data sources, and data analysis procedures. This will help you to collect and analyze data effectively.
• Collect and Analyze Data: Collect data using various methods such as surveys, interviews, observations, or experiments. Analyze data using statistical tools or other qualitative methods.
• Organize your Paper : Organize your paper into sections such as Introduction, Literature Review, Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusion. Ensure that each section is coherent and follows a logical flow.
• Write your Paper : Start by writing the introduction, followed by the literature review, methods, results, discussion, and conclusion. Ensure that your writing is clear, concise, and follows the required formatting and citation styles.
• Edit and Proofread your Paper: Review your paper for grammar and spelling errors, and ensure that it is well-structured and easy to read. Ask someone else to review your paper to get feedback and suggestions for improvement.
• Cite your Sources: Ensure that you properly cite all sources used in your research paper. This is essential for giving credit to the original authors and avoiding plagiarism.

Research Paper Example

Note : The below example research paper is for illustrative purposes only and is not an actual research paper. Actual research papers may have different structures, contents, and formats depending on the field of study, research question, data collection and analysis methods, and other factors. Students should always consult with their professors or supervisors for specific guidelines and expectations for their research papers.

Research Paper Example sample for Students:

Title: The Impact of Social Media on Mental Health among Young Adults

Abstract: This study aims to investigate the impact of social media use on the mental health of young adults. A literature review was conducted to examine the existing research on the topic. A survey was then administered to 200 university students to collect data on their social media use, mental health status, and perceived impact of social media on their mental health. The results showed that social media use is positively associated with depression, anxiety, and stress. The study also found that social comparison, cyberbullying, and FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) are significant predictors of mental health problems among young adults.

Introduction: Social media has become an integral part of modern life, particularly among young adults. While social media has many benefits, including increased communication and social connectivity, it has also been associated with negative outcomes, such as addiction, cyberbullying, and mental health problems. This study aims to investigate the impact of social media use on the mental health of young adults.

Literature Review: The literature review highlights the existing research on the impact of social media use on mental health. The review shows that social media use is associated with depression, anxiety, stress, and other mental health problems. The review also identifies the factors that contribute to the negative impact of social media, including social comparison, cyberbullying, and FOMO.

Methods : A survey was administered to 200 university students to collect data on their social media use, mental health status, and perceived impact of social media on their mental health. The survey included questions on social media use, mental health status (measured using the DASS-21), and perceived impact of social media on their mental health. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and regression analysis.

Results : The results showed that social media use is positively associated with depression, anxiety, and stress. The study also found that social comparison, cyberbullying, and FOMO are significant predictors of mental health problems among young adults.

Discussion : The study’s findings suggest that social media use has a negative impact on the mental health of young adults. The study highlights the need for interventions that address the factors contributing to the negative impact of social media, such as social comparison, cyberbullying, and FOMO.

Conclusion : In conclusion, social media use has a significant impact on the mental health of young adults. The study’s findings underscore the need for interventions that promote healthy social media use and address the negative outcomes associated with social media use. Future research can explore the effectiveness of interventions aimed at reducing the negative impact of social media on mental health. Additionally, longitudinal studies can investigate the long-term effects of social media use on mental health.

Limitations : The study has some limitations, including the use of self-report measures and a cross-sectional design. The use of self-report measures may result in biased responses, and a cross-sectional design limits the ability to establish causality.

Implications: The study’s findings have implications for mental health professionals, educators, and policymakers. Mental health professionals can use the findings to develop interventions that address the negative impact of social media use on mental health. Educators can incorporate social media literacy into their curriculum to promote healthy social media use among young adults. Policymakers can use the findings to develop policies that protect young adults from the negative outcomes associated with social media use.

References :

• Twenge, J. M., & Campbell, W. K. (2019). Associations between screen time and lower psychological well-being among children and adolescents: Evidence from a population-based study. Preventive medicine reports, 15, 100918.
• Primack, B. A., Shensa, A., Escobar-Viera, C. G., Barrett, E. L., Sidani, J. E., Colditz, J. B., … & James, A. E. (2017). Use of multiple social media platforms and symptoms of depression and anxiety: A nationally-representative study among US young adults. Computers in Human Behavior, 69, 1-9.
• Van der Meer, T. G., & Verhoeven, J. W. (2017). Social media and its impact on academic performance of students. Journal of Information Technology Education: Research, 16, 383-398.

Appendix : The survey used in this study is provided below.

Social Media and Mental Health Survey

• How often do you use social media per day?
• Less than 30 minutes
• 30 minutes to 1 hour
• 1 to 2 hours
• 2 to 4 hours
• More than 4 hours
• Which social media platforms do you use?
• Others (Please specify)
• How often do you experience the following on social media?
• Social comparison (comparing yourself to others)
• Cyberbullying
• Fear of Missing Out (FOMO)
• Have you ever experienced any of the following mental health problems in the past month?
• Do you think social media use has a positive or negative impact on your mental health?
• Very positive
• Somewhat positive
• Somewhat negative
• Very negative
• In your opinion, which factors contribute to the negative impact of social media on mental health?
• Social comparison
• In your opinion, what interventions could be effective in reducing the negative impact of social media on mental health?
• Education on healthy social media use
• Counseling for mental health problems caused by social media
• Social media detox programs
• Regulation of social media use

Thank you for your participation!

Applications of Research Paper

Research papers have several applications in various fields, including:

• Advancing knowledge: Research papers contribute to the advancement of knowledge by generating new insights, theories, and findings that can inform future research and practice. They help to answer important questions, clarify existing knowledge, and identify areas that require further investigation.
• Informing policy: Research papers can inform policy decisions by providing evidence-based recommendations for policymakers. They can help to identify gaps in current policies, evaluate the effectiveness of interventions, and inform the development of new policies and regulations.
• Improving practice: Research papers can improve practice by providing evidence-based guidance for professionals in various fields, including medicine, education, business, and psychology. They can inform the development of best practices, guidelines, and standards of care that can improve outcomes for individuals and organizations.
• Educating students : Research papers are often used as teaching tools in universities and colleges to educate students about research methods, data analysis, and academic writing. They help students to develop critical thinking skills, research skills, and communication skills that are essential for success in many careers.
• Fostering collaboration: Research papers can foster collaboration among researchers, practitioners, and policymakers by providing a platform for sharing knowledge and ideas. They can facilitate interdisciplinary collaborations and partnerships that can lead to innovative solutions to complex problems.

When to Write Research Paper

Research papers are typically written when a person has completed a research project or when they have conducted a study and have obtained data or findings that they want to share with the academic or professional community. Research papers are usually written in academic settings, such as universities, but they can also be written in professional settings, such as research organizations, government agencies, or private companies.

Here are some common situations where a person might need to write a research paper:

• For academic purposes: Students in universities and colleges are often required to write research papers as part of their coursework, particularly in the social sciences, natural sciences, and humanities. Writing research papers helps students to develop research skills, critical thinking skills, and academic writing skills.
• For publication: Researchers often write research papers to publish their findings in academic journals or to present their work at academic conferences. Publishing research papers is an important way to disseminate research findings to the academic community and to establish oneself as an expert in a particular field.
• To inform policy or practice : Researchers may write research papers to inform policy decisions or to improve practice in various fields. Research findings can be used to inform the development of policies, guidelines, and best practices that can improve outcomes for individuals and organizations.
• To share new insights or ideas: Researchers may write research papers to share new insights or ideas with the academic or professional community. They may present new theories, propose new research methods, or challenge existing paradigms in their field.

Purpose of Research Paper

The purpose of a research paper is to present the results of a study or investigation in a clear, concise, and structured manner. Research papers are written to communicate new knowledge, ideas, or findings to a specific audience, such as researchers, scholars, practitioners, or policymakers. The primary purposes of a research paper are:

• To contribute to the body of knowledge : Research papers aim to add new knowledge or insights to a particular field or discipline. They do this by reporting the results of empirical studies, reviewing and synthesizing existing literature, proposing new theories, or providing new perspectives on a topic.
• To inform or persuade: Research papers are written to inform or persuade the reader about a particular issue, topic, or phenomenon. They present evidence and arguments to support their claims and seek to persuade the reader of the validity of their findings or recommendations.
• To advance the field: Research papers seek to advance the field or discipline by identifying gaps in knowledge, proposing new research questions or approaches, or challenging existing assumptions or paradigms. They aim to contribute to ongoing debates and discussions within a field and to stimulate further research and inquiry.
• To demonstrate research skills: Research papers demonstrate the author’s research skills, including their ability to design and conduct a study, collect and analyze data, and interpret and communicate findings. They also demonstrate the author’s ability to critically evaluate existing literature, synthesize information from multiple sources, and write in a clear and structured manner.

Characteristics of Research Paper

Research papers have several characteristics that distinguish them from other forms of academic or professional writing. Here are some common characteristics of research papers:

• Evidence-based: Research papers are based on empirical evidence, which is collected through rigorous research methods such as experiments, surveys, observations, or interviews. They rely on objective data and facts to support their claims and conclusions.
• Structured and organized: Research papers have a clear and logical structure, with sections such as introduction, literature review, methods, results, discussion, and conclusion. They are organized in a way that helps the reader to follow the argument and understand the findings.
• Formal and objective: Research papers are written in a formal and objective tone, with an emphasis on clarity, precision, and accuracy. They avoid subjective language or personal opinions and instead rely on objective data and analysis to support their arguments.
• Citations and references: Research papers include citations and references to acknowledge the sources of information and ideas used in the paper. They use a specific citation style, such as APA, MLA, or Chicago, to ensure consistency and accuracy.
• Peer-reviewed: Research papers are often peer-reviewed, which means they are evaluated by other experts in the field before they are published. Peer-review ensures that the research is of high quality, meets ethical standards, and contributes to the advancement of knowledge in the field.
• Objective and unbiased: Research papers strive to be objective and unbiased in their presentation of the findings. They avoid personal biases or preconceptions and instead rely on the data and analysis to draw conclusions.

Advantages of Research Paper

Research papers have many advantages, both for the individual researcher and for the broader academic and professional community. Here are some advantages of research papers:

• Contribution to knowledge: Research papers contribute to the body of knowledge in a particular field or discipline. They add new information, insights, and perspectives to existing literature and help advance the understanding of a particular phenomenon or issue.
• Opportunity for intellectual growth: Research papers provide an opportunity for intellectual growth for the researcher. They require critical thinking, problem-solving, and creativity, which can help develop the researcher’s skills and knowledge.
• Career advancement: Research papers can help advance the researcher’s career by demonstrating their expertise and contributions to the field. They can also lead to new research opportunities, collaborations, and funding.
• Academic recognition: Research papers can lead to academic recognition in the form of awards, grants, or invitations to speak at conferences or events. They can also contribute to the researcher’s reputation and standing in the field.
• Impact on policy and practice: Research papers can have a significant impact on policy and practice. They can inform policy decisions, guide practice, and lead to changes in laws, regulations, or procedures.
• Advancement of society: Research papers can contribute to the advancement of society by addressing important issues, identifying solutions to problems, and promoting social justice and equality.

Limitations of Research Paper

Research papers also have some limitations that should be considered when interpreting their findings or implications. Here are some common limitations of research papers:

• Limited generalizability: Research findings may not be generalizable to other populations, settings, or contexts. Studies often use specific samples or conditions that may not reflect the broader population or real-world situations.
• Potential for bias : Research papers may be biased due to factors such as sample selection, measurement errors, or researcher biases. It is important to evaluate the quality of the research design and methods used to ensure that the findings are valid and reliable.
• Ethical concerns: Research papers may raise ethical concerns, such as the use of vulnerable populations or invasive procedures. Researchers must adhere to ethical guidelines and obtain informed consent from participants to ensure that the research is conducted in a responsible and respectful manner.
• Limitations of methodology: Research papers may be limited by the methodology used to collect and analyze data. For example, certain research methods may not capture the complexity or nuance of a particular phenomenon, or may not be appropriate for certain research questions.
• Publication bias: Research papers may be subject to publication bias, where positive or significant findings are more likely to be published than negative or non-significant findings. This can skew the overall findings of a particular area of research.
• Time and resource constraints: Research papers may be limited by time and resource constraints, which can affect the quality and scope of the research. Researchers may not have access to certain data or resources, or may be unable to conduct long-term studies due to practical limitations.

About the author

Muhammad Hassan

Researcher, Academic Writer, Web developer

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Course Hero: Study Aid or Cheating?

It’s hard to know what to think of  Course Hero , a site that declares itself as a “social learning network” where you can “give and get” information.

Conceived by students at Cornell, Course Hero provides access to old tests, homework problems, textbook answers and class notes. It also offers the ability to form study groups where you can share files and exchange ideas. It’s basically a forum where you can put up old schoolwork you’ve done and see the old schoolwork of your peers from your own school and around the nation.

Course Hero isn’t really free. While you can create an account for no cost, you can’t view anything until you pay in one of two ways:

• By posting materials (40 documents = 1 month free)
• By paying a monthly, 6 month, or yearly fee

If you don’t pay, you can still create an account, but you’re only able to see what kind of information you could access to if you did pay. You can’t actually view any of them.

By putting coursework online, Course Hero is hoping to allow students (and faculty) everywhere to become involved in spreading learning and information.

And that’s not all… If Course Hero is news to you, you probably aren’t aware of the many sites similar to Course Hero, including studyblue.com, cramster.com, koofers.com, and gradeguru.com. It’s important to note that Course Hero, though innovative, is not the first of its kind.

And from the looks of it, it definitely won’t be the last.

Student groups, clubs, fraternities, and sororities have collected test files for decades, giving members of those groups a distinct advantage over others. Course Hero and similar websites put everything on the table for everyone, leveling the playing field.

By providing class notes, old exams and more, Course Hero gives students an additional chance to learn material that they didn’t understand the first time a professor taught it. If they didn’t understand a concept in class, had problems on a homework assignment, or missed a lecture, these websites are a chance for redemption and learning.

For faculty, Course Hero gives you the chance to see how students are sharing the information you teach them, and to look at the different ways other professors are teaching similar subjects. You can get ideas, know which tests and homework problems were most difficult and gather tools to better teach your classes.

These websites also promote social development. You can join a study group and meet students in your class you otherwise might not have worked with. You can choose to study through the internet, or meet at a physical table and chairs on campus. In this way, Course Hero allows you to make connections with others who you can help, and who can help you.

The more people Course Hero and similar websites connect, the more students and faculty there could be learning, growing and sharing.

Despite the good things Course Hero claims to offer, the most glaring question is this: Is using Course Hero cheating?

Each of the websites offering these services overtly addresses this question. The answer they all come up with is, of course, No.

Most of the websites have safeguards against what they consider cheating. There are courses of action professor can take if they find their copyrighted information online.  These websites leave it up to professors and universities to define in their honor code what cheating is, and to give that information to the student.

CU’s honor code  states “On my honor as a University of Colorado at Boulder student, I have neither given nor received unauthorized assistance on this work.”

The key word is “unauthorized.” How do you define it?

Many teachers define it in their syllabi and it is common knowledge that copying answers and plagiarizing are violations of the Honor Code and considered “unauthorized” assistance. But where is the line? Working in groups often facilitates learning in students, and contributes to the cohesiveness of a class. When working in groups, students often share answers, methods, notes and their understanding—all things that would be shared on Course Hero.

One of the big problems with Course Hero is that if a student wants to cheat, the website offers all the tools they need to do so. It provides a temptation to students who are looking for exam answers and want to cheat in class.

You also can’t track who is using Course Hero. Often, notes are posted anonymously, so the individual who posted them cannot be tracked down. This means that it’s harder to punish those who are blatantly cheating or difficult to tell if the resources available can really be trusted.

Like it or not, Course Hero and similar websites are probably here to stay. They’ve introduced an innovative product that will not stop here, but grow in the future.

The thing to worry about now, is how to address these websites.

Instructors need to be sure to tell their students what will be considered cheating and what won’t. Request that students tell you if they find your information online. Share with students that posting information online may result in harder tests, at the detriment of an instructor’s time and a student’s grade.

If the goal is to have students learn the subject, and looking at Course Hero helps, maybe it’s not such a bad thing after all? Maybe it is useful to try to teach students to use these new resources responsibly instead of banning it from the classroom.

Some other things instructors can do to fight against cheating:

• Keep tests after you hand them back, so students don’t have the chance to upload them to any website.
• Post only answers, and not questions, on CULearn for homework and tests—that way the answers won’t mean as much.
• Give students old tests to study from, so that there is no reason for them to search online. This could help to level the playing field for those who would have cheated and those who never would.
• Give people the opportunity to report cheating anonymously—no one likes to be the ‘tattle-tale’
• Try to give students a reason not to cheat by providing everything they need to perform successfully

The line between getting assistance to study and cheating is sometimes hard to see. Course Hero makes it even more difficult.  While new technologies can provide more opportunities for dishonesty, try using them as a resource or as a reason to teach your students about ethics in education.

Written By: Kate Vander Wiede, CU ’09, ASSETT Staff

• Tech & Innovation
• Teaching & Learning

Course Hero Woos Professors

By  Doug Lederman

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CEO Andrew Grauer at last year's Course Hero Educator Summit

Course Hero

Welcome to this week's edition of "Transforming Teaching and Learning," a column that explores how colleges and professors are reimagining how they teach and how students learn. Please share your ideas here for issues to examine, hard questions to ask and experiments -- successes and failures -- to highlight. If you'd like to receive the free "Transforming Teaching and Learning" newsletter, please sign up here . And please follow us on Twitter @ ihelearning .

Gaye Theresa Johnson's initial experience with Course Hero nearly a decade ago was not a positive one. As an early-career faculty member at the University of California, Los Angeles, she discovered that some of her students were uploading her study guides and tests to the sharing website, without permission, and that other students were using those materials.

"We were already in the digital age, but it still felt like cheating to me," says Johnson. As a then-junior professor in African American studies, Johnson hadn't copyrighted the material, so she didn't share the concerns many instructors have historically had about sites like Chegg, Quizlet and Course Hero. But as someone who, now at 47 years of age, describes herself as "old school," "I still viewed it pretty antagonistically."

As time passed, though, Johnson's view shifted. Today's students, she says, aren't like she was -- someone who got an opportunity to be educated in "the most traditional ways" (in-person, often in small classes), and had "great experiences … that were one of the major things that shaped me."

"But I am open enough to see that the students are not in that place anymore -- that’s not who they are. The world has changed," she says. "Just as I realized it wasn't realistic for me to say, 'No laptops in class anymore,' it's clear that students don't use the encyclopedia anymore. They use YouTube; they learn through sharing."

She adds, "The tools have changed; the scene has changed. If I don’t embrace this new way that students are learning, I’m doing them a disservice. We educators have to change, too."

Johnson says Course Hero has helped her embrace that change. She is not only one of the 30,000 faculty participants in Course Hero's instructor portal (the " faculty club "), but she also enthusiastically attends the company's annual educator conference and has had her teaching profiled on the company’s website .

A decade ago, Inside Higher Ed and other publications were filled with headlines on faculty concerns about students' use of sites like Course Hero for sharing course materials. (One 2009 article in Inside Higher Ed , entitled "Course Hero or Course Villain," featured numerous professors bemoaning the appearance of their copyrighted course materials on such quiz- and homework-sharing sites and others describing the portals as "really fertile ground for plagiarism and dishonesty.")

But that very same article also quoted a longtime adjunct instructor acknowledging the potential power of a learning-based social networking site. "Imagine business students at Stanford, Marist, University of Beijing and University of Paris connecting up outside of their courses to study together and maybe even work on team projects," the instructor said back then. "This may become the ‘study group’ of the 21st century."

The copyright and cheating concerns have not disappeared, and less than a year ago faculty members at Purdue University objected to a partnership between the institution's well-regarded Online Writing Lab and Chegg, citing cheating concerns .

But the supportive views like those expressed by UCLA's Johnson seem to comfortably coexist alongside the lingering concerns. The shift has not been entirely coincidental, at least in Course Hero's case. The company, says CEO and co-founder Andrew Grauer, has invested “meaningfully” in building faculty support, funding fellowships with the Woodrow Wilson Foundation for Teaching and incentivizing faculty members to participate in the content-sharing network alongside their students. (He declines to share a specific dollar amount.)

Course Hero made news in business and technology publications last week by becoming the latest education technology company to see its value soar past $1 billion. This column explores an issue altogether different from Course Hero's valuation : Has the company become a valued player in the learning ecosystem in the eyes of faculty members? Have concerns about copyright and cheating dissipated?

Course Hero was founded in 2006, one of a slew of websites that enabled students to post and download syllabi, worksheets, essays, previous exams and other course materials. Among its differentiators was that the materials were all tied to specific courses. Students pay either a monthly or an annual fee to download material -- the fee can be limited or waived if they themselves upload content to the marketplace. It is also one of many places on the internet where students can pay for tutoring help.

The company generated a good bit of early criticism -- arguably a sign of its impact. Aggrieved faculty members complained that students were sharing instructors' intellectual property without their permission and enabling the sort of questionable sharing of academic work that previously was available only in a fraternity-house basement or a quiet meeting amid the campus library stacks.

Course Hero officials at the time said that they responded aggressively to complaints brought under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, but that “as a user-generated content site, we don’t review the content … Unfortunately, at times we recognize that users may submit materials that they don’t have rights to.”

The company has also taken numerous steps to try to combat cheating (which we’ll describe later in the article).

None of those complaints seemed to impede Course Hero's growth among students. It now receives about 400 million visits a year; Grauer tells business publications that the company exceeds $100 million in revenue, mostly from about one million subscribers paying $40 a month or $120 a year. Most of the visits involve students exploring and using the site’s roughly 30 million educational resources that their peers (and instructors) have shared. Visitors also can tap into Course Hero’s tutoring network to get “24/7 homework help.”

“Everything we do is designed to help students practice, learn and get unstuck,” says Grauer, who co-founded the company as a student at Cornell University.

A Focus on the Faculty

Building out the website’s resource-sharing platform remains Course Hero’s top priority. But its other two “big bets,” Grauer says, are (1) using the vast data at its disposal (in terms of the sorts of content and help students are looking for) to create its own content and (2) building out its portal for educators.

“There are so many great teaching faculty who are dedicated to active learning and to their teaching, and we’re focused on bringing them into the ecosystem to make it richer and much more powerful for our users,” Grauer says.

While the site is still geared primarily to students, Course Hero is amassing significant content about, for and from college faculty members. About 30,000 professors from colleges and universities in the U.S. have a presence on the platform -- many have profiles, while others have been subjects of highly produced videos of instructors Course Hero deems "master educators."

The company also two years ago started a fellowship program through the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, which in 2019 awarded grants of $30,000 to four tenure-track instructors and grants of $20,000 to four adjuncts or instructors off the tenure track.

"So many awards and fellowships don't really recognize and applaud excellent postsecondary teaching," says Patrick Riccards, a spokesman for the Woodrow Wilson Foundation. "We believed we could work with Course Hero to put forward a good product, put together something that would positively impact the academy."

Grauer said the focus on adjuncts was not accidental.

"About 70-75 percent of the [roughly] 1.5 million U.S. college instructors are adjuncts often teaching courses at multiple institutions or working another job trying to make ends meet," he says via email. "These educators have a need to find and create teaching and assessment materials better and faster. We think it is mission critical to support, amplify and celebrate these educators and their contributions. We are doing this by building a community of practice that facilitates the sharing of those resources and their use -- for the benefit of students."

Course Hero's focus on making heroes out of the faculty is rather uncommon among technology companies, and its rationale for investing in professors sounds reasonable.

But a skeptic (say, a reporter) might wonder if Course Hero is also making its big investment -- which clearly seems to be in the multiple millions of dollars a year -- to blunt the historical criticisms and win hearts and minds. "Does all this investment," I asked Grauer in an interview, "build faculty support for what you do?"

"I certainly hope so," he replies. "But Course Hero didn't -- doesn't -- need to make this investment in educators. Others haven't, or haven't yet. But we think the outcome of doing so will be to make a really powerful platform of quickly accessible and affordable resources from as many different people and places as possible. And we find that what educators seem to appreciate the most is simply having conversations with them and listening to them as they talk about their teaching. That's been at the heart of what we do."

Course Hero officials certainly believe they've moved the needle on faculty opinion. The company tracks educator opinion through regular surveys, and its year-end poll of 800 educators found that 43 percent were aware of Course Hero, and of those, between three-quarters and four-fifths were either positive or neutral in their views of the company, whether it helps students learn and whether they trusted it.

She also believes that when a Course Hero-hired writer profiles one of her course strategies, they will convey an understanding of her that few people beyond her classroom might see.

"They asked me to explain why I teach this way, why I believe in democratization in education," Johnson says. "If someone were to follow me on Course Hero, they will see why I think what I do is important."

Barbara Oakley had slightly different reasons for embracing the Course Hero approach. Long before she was a professor of engineering at Oakland University and the creator of one of the world's most-attended massive open online courses ( boasting 1.9 million enrollees ), Oakley was an army captain who had studied Russian but hated math.

When she returned to college at age 26 to study engineering, she felt like an outsider. Oakley failed an early test in a course on circuits, she says, because she didn't understand a concept the professor had never introduced in class. Other students didn't fail -- and when she pressed, she learned that most of them had had an old exam of his that revealed the trick.

"I never knew that was a thing to do," Oakley says. "You had to get into a clique."

A platform like Course Hero "helps level the playing field," Oakley says, letting students "who were like me or had more disadvantages get some of that insider knowledge. It gives students access to extra practice problems to work with.

"And it makes my life easier," she continues. "If you've been teaching a course for 15 to 20 years, it's hard to come up with anything new, so you might start to recycle old tests from five or 10 years before. From my perspective, if a student wants to look at five to 10 years of my old tests and happens to find something I’m putting on [an exam] again, that means they’re working really hard, doing lots of problems."

And the Course Hero education summit? "It's a really nice way of interacting with all of these wonderful, upbeat professors who are really open with their materials and want to help their colleagues become better," Oakley says. "There's nothing better for my teaching adrenaline than that."

David Rettinger appreciates that change is afoot in higher education, as professors like Gaye Johnson and Barbara Oakley suggest, and that faculty members may not be adjusting sufficiently to it. It's a "totally legitimate point that sharing documents can be beneficial in some particular cases and that tutoring can be legitimate in many cases," says Rettinger, professor of psychological sciences and director of academic programs at the University of Mary Washington, in Virginia.

Higher education is evolving "to be more collaborative and dynamic and less lecture/exam/research paper-based," Rettinger adds. And when that happens, he says, "technology and pedagogy will come together in ways that really benefit students."

Right now, though, "there's a very serious gap between those things, and in my experience, faculty in the U.S. are largely naïve and unaware of the tremendous problem that technology is creating for contract cheating and file sharing."

Rettinger's other relevant role: president of the International Center for Academic Integrity .

He goes out of his way to say that he isn't anti-technology, and he says he believes "there's certainly a lot of legitimate learning that goes on on Course Hero" and other sites. (He acknowledges that his daughter, an elementary school student, "uses Quizlet all the time" to find extra problems to drill on.)

The philosophical premise behind sharing websites like Course Hero -- and behind getting a higher education, for that matter -- is that "there’s some pedagogical learning value that comes out" of exploring the educational materials you might find on such sites, Rettinger says.

But another major shift that's unfolding, he says, is that more and more students are entering college -- and, one would presume, using platforms like Course Hero -- not to drive their learning but to pursue a credential. They may be less interested in learning, and more in getting the answers they need to finish a homework assignment.

While on the phone with this reporter, Rettinger goes to Course Hero's 24-7 tutoring page and identifies a set of student queries that seem designed to solicit answers to homework rather than to help a student build his or her understanding of the subject matter.

In his own field, cognitive psychology, he finds numerous study guides that students have created. "Could it be the case that someone's study guide could be helpful to their peers? Sure," he says. "But I always tell my students to make their own study guide -- that's the best way to learn the material. So here is a shortcut that is actively unhelpful to their peers."

It gets worse, Rettinger continues. "I see a lot of papers on there -- completed work in response to prompts. That to me is a recipe to encouraging people to cheat.

"It's a marketplace. If Napster was shut down for being a piracy site, I don’t see how this is different.... They may say, 'It's not our fault if students use our tool for ill -- we ask them not to.' But I think we can generally agree that when you lower the bar for doing something dishonest, you're contributing to that dishonest behavior."

"Even if you tell me only a third is file [of the activity on Course Hero] is sharing for cheating purposes, they've got millions of users."

Rettinger ultimately believes that transparency is at the core of this problem. "If students knew where faculty were getting the resources we were using, and students were transparent about where they were getting their answers, this wouldn't really be an issue," he says.

"If you're my student and you want to use Course Hero tutoring, have at it," he says. "Send me the transcript so I can see what you were struggling with and how they helped. If you're unwilling to share that, I'd have to ask, 'What are you hiding?'"

Grauer, the Course Hero CEO and co-founder, says the company combats potential academic misconduct in every way it can. Any time it identifies cases of abuse, "or where it becomes exceedingly clear that there is abuse," site monitors "remove that content."

"And if we start to identify different keyword phrases that seem to violate standards of academic integrity, we don't allow those questions" to go through to tutors.

Beyond individual reports or cases, Course Hero "makes the content in our library as indexable by search engines as possible," Grauer says. "If they're going to use content from our site and turn it in as their own, we've made it as easy as possible for that to be detected" by instructors.

"Through moderation, we commit to doing our best to protect and uphold academic integrity," he says. "That said, in an open platform like this, the issues you talked about are going to come up, and we need to respond to them promptly and thoughtfully."

Rat Pandemonium

Scott McLemee reviews Rat City , a tale of John B.

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I need support with this Political Science question so I can learn better.

American Politics Research Paper

Objective: All students are required to write a paper on one of the topics listed below or on a topic of your choice. The essay requires that you research and analyze a question of importance to contemporary American Politics. Your paper should be balanced reviewing both sides of the question and considering the arguments and evidence raised by supporters of both sides. Evaluate the arguments and evidence; then, form you own conclusions and defend them with logical arguments and evidence.

The paper must be at least six (6) pages in length but not greater than ten (10) pages. It must be typed, double spaced and 12 size font.

Papers will be evaluated both on the quality of ideas, arguments, evidence presented, and organization of the paper.

Students have the option of writing a draft of the paper, receiving feedback and then rewriting the paper.

The format of the paper will be in MLA format. A grading rubric is available to view under the “Files” tab on Canvas. The research paper handout is available to view there as well.

Papers must be your own work. Anyone caught plagiarizing or cheating in any way will receive an F for the paper, and possibly for the course. (Hint: don’t cheat!)

APPROVED TOPICS TO WRITE ABOUT:

1. Should the Constitution be amended to abolish the Electoral College and provide for the direct election of the President? Discuss the arguments made for and against the Electoral College. Where do you come down in this debate?

2. Some people argue that “there is a religious war going on in the United States, a cultural war . . . for the soul of America.” The ‘culture war’ presumably centers on issues such as abortion, school prayer, and gay rights. Other disagree and argue that most Americans are pretty much middle-of-the-road on most issues with only small differences between Democrats and Republicans. What do you think? How polarized is the American public today on hot-button moral, religious and cultural issues? Write an essay in which you review and evaluate the evidence on American public opinion today.

3. Immigration policy has become a hot button issue in the US in recent years. Debate focuses on who should be admitted to the US, how many, and what to do with the millions of immigrants who are here without proper documents, some of whom have children who were born here and thus are US citizens. Write a BALANCED paper in which you summarize the major issues in this debate and review the arguments and evidence on both sides. Where do you come down in this debate? If you were President, what would your immigration policy be?

4. Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders have changed the American political structure for either the better or the worse. Each candidate has appealed to a new generation of voters that would otherwise not be involved in American politics. Please focus on ONE of the candidates and see how they have changed the American political discussion (new voters, discussion of issues, changes in media coverage, etc.) Has the candidate your chose improve or made worse the political discussion in America?

5. The high levels of partisanship in Congress in recent years have all but paralyzed the institution making it almost impossible to pass even the most routine legislation. Thirty years ago, Congress was much less partisan, and it was common for Democrats and Republicans to compromise to pass legislation on a bipartisan basis. What are the main factors that explain the increasing partisanship in Congress over the past 30 years? Identify the major explanations offered by political scientists and journalists and evaluate the arguments and evidence is support of each. What do you think? Which explanations are most persuasive to you? Why?

If none of these paper topics is of interest to you, you are welcome to suggest a different one. Please let me know what question you would like to explore and we can discuss further the possibilities. Here is a suggestive list of topics in American politics you may want to explore writing about.

Abortion – focusing on the debate between pro life vs. pro choice

Affirmative Action – focusing on the policy initiatives on this program

Budget and Taxes – either budget reform or the impact of tax policy on social programs

Campaign and Political Reform – campaign finance reform and policy

Crime, Death Penalty, and Drugs – the pros and cons of the death penalty.

Education – education reform

Environment – impact of climate change and/or global warming

Euthanasia (“Right to Die”) – exploring both sides of the sensitive issue of euthanasia.

Foreign Policy – focusing on the implementation of U.S. foreign policy objectives. Please see me about this issue so we can narrow down which issue of U.S. foreign policy you should focus on.

Gay Rights – whether or not same sex marriage and/or same sex adoption should be legal.

Gun Control and the 2nd Amendment – exploring both sides on the gun control debate

Marijuana Legalization and Decriminalization – whether or not legalization/decriminalization of marijuana is a good idea for reform in the war on drugs.

Women’s Rights – the feminist movement, the issue of the wage gap, or access to birth control medicine.

References: Please, refer to me if you have any questions about any references that you may consider while you research your topic question.

Also, consider using this site: www.procon.org. The purpose of this site is to provide resources for critical thinking and to educate on controversial issues without bias. ProCon.org research issues that are controversial and important, and they present them in a balanced, comprehensive, straightforward, transparent, and primarily pro-con format.

You are not allowed to use Wikipedia at all. Wikipedia is not a professional research source and can be easily manipulated by editors seeking to push a political or social agenda.

You may also talk to me or contact me about any questions or concerns that you may have while doing your research and writing your paper.

Bibliography and Citations: Any information that you use that is not original and comes from a research resource; you must cite using either footnotes or endnotes. If you need help citing your sources, please come see me during my office hours or send me an e-mail I will be more than happy to help you. A website that can help you with citations and building together your bibliography is the following website: www.bibme.org. BibMe is a website that is dedicated to helping students and professionals put together professional bibliographies and citations. This is a wonderful website that takes out just about all of the tedious work of building a bibliography and citations. Believe me, I used this site many times during graduate school.

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