Research Question—Base your argument on a “researchable” question (one that requires scholarly research to answer).
Title Page—Create an interesting title that relates to your research question.
Abstract—Include an APA style abstract of your research paper.
Introduction—The introduction should get the reader’s attention before beginning your argument or background.
Thesis—Present a thesis or claim that states your answer to your research question.
Background (also called Literature Review)—Briefly summarize the topic and the key research that’s been done on the topic. Any sources referenced should be added to the References page.
Reasoning—Supply several persuasive reasons for your argument.
Evidence—Support your reasons with quoted or paraphrased evidence from your sources. Explain what the evidence means and how it relates to your argument. Follow the “Assertion, Evidence, Evaluation” method.
Paragraph Development—Provide a topic sentence for each paragraph, support with reasoning and evidence, and conclude the paragraph by explaining how it relates to your argument.
Coherence—Connect each sentence to the one before and after, transitioning logically from one to the next. The goal is to make clear the relationship between each thought.
Refutation—List the opposing argument(s) and explain why they don’t satisfy you. Any sources referenced should be added to the References page.
Conclusion—Conclude your argument by summing up your evidence, and connecting to your introduction.
Scholarly Sources—Use articles from scholarly, peer reviewed journals or books that you locate through the library databases. You may supplement with non-peer reviewed sources, but at least three must be scholarly.
Citation and Documentation—Use APA documentation for both in-text citations and References page documentation. Use a mix of quotations and paraphrases. Avoid “patch work” writing that merely strings together summaries of sources paragraph after paragraph. Write your own thoughts, and cite evidence to support them, not to replace them.
Spelling, Grammar, Punctuation, Mechanics—Proofread carefully.