Step-By-StepOrganization of a Research Paper

by Julius Zuke

These steps assume that students have located resources, taken notes, and are

ready to synthesize their findings.

First Paragraph—The Thesis

• “The Hook”—some controversial statement sure to get the audience emotionally invested (first sentence)

• After doing all the research, what is the one BIG CONCLUSION or truth (thesis)that you discovered? (second sentence)

• What are the three main pieces of evidence that made you come to this conclusion? (one sentence for each piece of evidence)

• End the paragraph. Start a new paragraph.

Second Paragraph• Restate your first piece of evidence from the first paragraph.(first

sentence)• Type one detail related to this evidence. (second sentence)• STOP! Where did you get this single piece of evidence? Which

specific book, article, or web address? Go to www.bibme.org and follow the directions for making an MLA citation which tells where this single piece of evidence came from. Copy the completed citation onto the computer’s clipboard.

• Press control-alt-F on the keyboard, all at the same time, with the cursor at the end of the sentence where this single piece of evidence is mentioned.

• Copy and paste the MLA citation after the number.

Second Paragraph (Continued)• Type a second detail related to this evidence. (third sentence)• STOP! Where did you get this single piece of evidence? Which

specific book, article, or web address? Go to www.bibme.org and follow the directions for making an MLA citation which tells where this single piece of evidence came from. Copy the completed citation onto the computer’s clipboard.

• Press control-alt-F on the keyboard, all at the same time, with the cursor at the end of the sentence where this single piece of evidence is mentioned.

• Copy and paste the MLA citation after the number.• If the citation is exactly like the one just before it, delete the

previous footnote in the text of your paper.

Second Paragraph (Continued)• Type a third detail related to this evidence. (fourth sentence)• STOP! Where did you get this single piece of evidence? Which

specific book, article, or web address? Go to www.bibme.org and follow the directions for making an MLA citation which tells where this single piece of evidence came from. Copy the completed citation onto the computer’s clipboard.

• Press control-alt-F on the keyboard, all at the same time, with the cursor at the end of the sentence where this single piece of evidence is mentioned.

• Copy and paste the MLA citation after the number.• If the citation is exactly like the one just before it, delete the

previous footnote in the text of your paper.

Third Paragraph• Restate your second piece of evidence from the first paragraph.

(first sentence)• Type one detail related to this evidence. (second sentence)• STOP! Where did you get this single piece of evidence? Which

specific book, article, or web address? Go to www.bibme.org and follow the directions for making an MLA citation which tells where this single piece of evidence came from. Copy the completed citation onto the computer’s clipboard.

• Press control-alt-F on the keyboard, all at the same time, with the cursor at the end of the sentence where this single piece of evidence is mentioned.

• Copy and paste the MLA citation after the number.

Third Paragraph (Continued)• Type a second detail related to this evidence. (third sentence)• STOP! Where did you get this single piece of evidence? Which

specific book, article, or web address? Go to www.bibme.org and follow the directions for making an MLA citation which tells where this single piece of evidence came from. Copy the completed citation onto the computer’s clipboard.

• Press control-alt-F on the keyboard, all at the same time, with the cursor at the end of the sentence where this single piece of evidence is mentioned.

• Copy and paste the MLA citation after the number.• If the citation is exactly like the one just before it, delete the

previous footnote in the text of your paper.

Third Paragraph (Continued)• Type a third detail related to this evidence. (fourth sentence)• STOP! Where did you get this single piece of evidence? Which

specific book, article, or web address? Go to www.bibme.org and follow the directions for making an MLA citation which tells where this single piece of evidence came from. Copy the completed citation onto the computer’s clipboard.

• Press control-alt-F on the keyboard, all at the same time, with the cursor at the end of the sentence where this single piece of evidence is mentioned.

• Copy and paste the MLA citation after the number.• If the citation is exactly like the one just before it, delete the

previous footnote in the text of your paper.

Fourth Paragraph• Restate your third piece of evidence from the first paragraph.

(first sentence)• Type one detail related to this evidence. (second sentence)• STOP! Where did you get this single piece of evidence? Which

specific book, article, or web address? Go to www.bibme.org and follow the directions for making an MLA citation which tells where this single piece of evidence came from. Copy the completed citation onto the computer’s clipboard.

• Press control-alt-F on the keyboard, all at the same time, with the cursor at the end of the sentence where this single piece of evidence is mentioned.

• Copy and paste the MLA citation after the number.

Fourth Paragraph (Continued)• Type a second detail related to this evidence. (third sentence)• STOP! Where did you get this single piece of evidence? Which

specific book, article, or web address? Go to www.bibme.org and follow the directions for making an MLA citation which tells where this single piece of evidence came from. Copy the completed citation onto the computer’s clipboard.

• Press control-alt-F on the keyboard, all at the same time, with the cursor at the end of the sentence where this single piece of evidence is mentioned.

• Copy and paste the MLA citation after the number.• If the citation is exactly like the one just before it, delete the

previous footnote in the text of your paper.

Fourth Paragraph (Continued)• Type a third detail related to this evidence. (fourth sentence)• STOP! Where did you get this single piece of evidence? Which

specific book, article, or web address? Go to www.bibme.org and follow the directions for making an MLA citation which tells where this single piece of evidence came from. Copy the completed citation onto the computer’s clipboard.

• Press control-alt-F on the keyboard, all at the same time, with the cursor at the end of the sentence where this single piece of evidence is mentioned.

• Copy and paste the MLA citation after the number.• If the citation is exactly like the one just before it, delete the

previous footnote in the text of your paper.

Fifth Paragraph—The Conclusion

• Restate the BIG CONCLUSION or truth from your first paragraph. (first sentence)

• Restate the three main pieces of evidence that made you come to this conclusion in the first paragraph (one sentence for each piece of evidence).

• End the paragraph with a “call to action.”

The Bibliography

• On a separate page, arrange all of your citations in alphabetical order.

The Title Page

• Put the title page before the first page of your paper.

• Your teacher will explain how to format this page.