Students at every level are usually involved in academic writing in their course work. This includes essays, term papers, reports, proposals, thesis and dissertations based on any particular subject/topic. Developing academic research papers entails two significant steps. First and foremost getting the information, facts and statistics about the subject matter commonly referred to as researching. The next step is writing which is organizing all the gathered materials systematically to suit the topic. This essay focuses on how researching and writing of academic research papers is done.

Relative to research, research begins with narrowing down to the subject/topic. This entails selecting the topic that is manageable and interesting. That is, a topic that can be covered adequately depending on the word count required. This is not necessary in the instances where a topic is already provided. However, it is good to seek opinion/instructions about the topic. Brainstorming on the topic then follows to come up with various ideas thought about the topic. It is recommended that one thinks of many ideas as possible. After brainstorming, the next move is choosing and selecting from the listed ideas the ones that best fit the topic.

The key ideas chosen forms the basis of the research on the topic. These key words help in locating information from various sources available such as books, journals, newspapers, periodicals and internet among many others. To get the sources with relevant facts and information, effective search techniques should be employed. Critical evaluation of the sources is also necessary to determine reliability of the information and its usefulness to the research paper. Thereafter, the useful information from various valid sources should be collected and noted down. Cards are mostly used in note taking of any useful information, facts and statistics encountered. Here, a single card or group of cards is devoted to each of the research topic’s main points. This includes the collection of quotes and paraphrases. In addition, in-text citation and references should be included to back up information from outside sources' failure to which it is plagiarism. Like in brainstorming, sorting of the collected points is significant in gathering together all the specific points related to the topic. After gathering all the main points together, writing of the academic research paper takes effect.

In regards to writing, the outline of the paper should be formulated to define its structure and purpose. Additionally, the paper outlines helps in the organization of the collected thoughts as well as laying the groundwork of the paper. All the thoughts should be arranged in a simple consistent manner starting with an introduction, followed by the body and then a conclusion. In both research and writing of academic papers, more weight falls into the paper’s body. This is because the body contains elaborating details and supporting evidence in various headings. Therefore, the ideas should be categorized into the appropriate paper structure with various headings and order. For instance, an argumentative paper focuses on a contentious issue using one viewpoint. On such a paper, ideas should be arranged in a debatable manner following a sound counter argument.

Initially, the main points are organized and complied in a draft paper from which the final paper is derived. This is done by revising and proofreading the draft paper to make the necessary changes. Generally, reading the paper loudly is one of the proofreading methods and is aimed at checking the flow of the paper. Checking of grammar and spelling errors is very essential. Furthermore, the paper’s structure and format should be reviewed to follow the required standards.