Writing a research paper involves investigations on a selected topic. You need to gather facts and ideas from variety of sources and then you have to skillfully interweave your own thoughts and ideas to produce a research paper. Ideas are collected, analyzed, interpreted and documented to arrive at a particular conclusion. Here are some of the steps to writing a research paper for your consideration.

There are various approaches you can think of when it comes to conducting a research and documenting it. You have to carefully select the proper and accurate format of the research paper and you have to strictly adhere to it.

Above all, you have to be specific about choosing your topic. Once you choose the topic, there are a few steps you can follow to write a research paper.

1. The basic step is to select a topic that interests you. Please make sure that there is sufficient information for the subject you are choosing.

2. The second step is to gather necessary information from various sources just like books, magazines, encyclopedias etc related to the subject or topic. You can also consider the internet as a powerful source of information.

3. Once you have collected the required information, the next step is to prepare bibliography cards so that you can document the source of information. Moreover, you can prepare an outline for your paper arranging it into topic, subtopics, details and sub-details. This rough draft will help you do your task easily.

4. Once you prepare a rough draft, you can easily make some necessary changes for presenting your ideas and concepts more clearly, accurately and persuasively.

5. After preparing the bibliography, you can think of preparing a title page and table of contents. The title of your paper, your name and the date on which your paper is due are some of the things which should be there on the first page. The table of content should include the main topics, sub topics and the page on which each is presented in your paper.

Since there is a strict format for research paper, you need to adhere to the format. There five steps to writing a research paper will surely be a helping guide to you when you write it. So, choose your topic, gather information from the reliable sources, document your information properly, follow the paper format and write your research paper in an effective manner.

Rakesh Patel is an aspiring poet, freelance writer, self-published author and teacher. Visit his blogs to learn about various types of poetry and English literature http://englishliterature99.wordpress.com/.