HTML Preview Outline Research Paper page number 1.
1
How To: Outlining a Research Paper
Note for students: This document was prepared by Dr Amy Stuart for a class in which she requires a
research paper related to air quality. I am providing it here to offer you some guidance on preparing a
good outline. It is possible that some of the details will not apply to your paper – for instance, your
overall organizational structure might not include a “results”section as Dr Stuart suggests for her
students. The point here is to understand the overall ideas and methods suggested by Dr Stuart, not the
specific sections of the paper.
Outlining is an important step in organizing a paper. When done well, it clearly shows the relationships
between ideas in your paper and provides a plan for writing. It also helps you to think about your topic
and to reach the level of synthesis and evaluation in learning. Further, it can help you to determine
whether you have researched the topic thoroughly. Finally, it can help you to determine whether the
paper makes a convincing argument, before you spend time agonizing over grammar, sentence structure,
word choice, and transitional sentences (etc.).
Before continuing, I should mention what you should do before serious outlining. Some important
activities that are generally done prior to outlining include extensive reading, taking notes on important
ideas (with citations), brainstorming and listing ideas, grouping related ideas together, ordering groups
from general to specific (abstract to concrete). After you have done a lot of these activities, you are ready
to start outlining. (You may need to revisit these activities as you outline, whenever you need to come up
with new ideas and material for your writing).
Once you are ready to start outlining, follow the guide below. When you are first learning to outline, it is
best to start with a one level outline and increase the detail. Hence, this guide is written to facilitate that.
A One Level Outline
Start with a one level outline. A common basic one-level outline is shown below:
I Introduction
II Literature review
III Analysis
IV Results
V Discussion
VI Conclusions
Using the above outline as a guide, create a one level outline for your paper by making the topic headings
more detailed. For example, instead of “Literature review”, a more detailed heading could be “Literature
review on the impacts of community design on air quality.” After providing details, read your outline.
Does it flow clearly and provide a structure to build a complete paper around your chosen topic. If not,
refine it. When it does, move to a two level outline.
A Two Level Outline
A two level outline is made up of headings for sections and subsection of a paper. A heading is a short
phrase that describes the topic area of the section or subsection represented. A basic, two-level outline
with many of the common elements in a research paper is shown below: