Techniques for Effective Research Paper Writing

“Good writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts.”

- William Strunk

For the majority of students the most perplexing part of writing research papers is not formulating good ideas, but finding words and phrases to express them. The following list of techniques for effective academic writing will help you get that A+ grade you want.

Use a formal style and voice for your research paper. Do not attempt to be conversational and informal. Avoid using slang words and colloquialisms in your paper; otherwise, your paper will be a doomed undertaking, and you will get a lousy grade.

• Use your own words as much as possible, and apply direct quotations only in case when the wording in the quotation is exactly as you want.
• Choose a critical tone for your paper, but not emotional and inflammatory. Do not overstate your position using harsh language.
• Avoid abbreviations and fragments in your writing. Work hard to achieve a formal style in your research paper.
• Present your personal perspective on the topic. Although you will extensively rely on the information presented in journals, newspapers, and books, try to generate your own thoughts and ideas.
• Do not call too much attention to yourself. Beware of using the first personal singular too often in your paper and omit phrases like “I think”, “I agree that...”
• Vary sentence length to create a rhetorical emphasize. Be sure that abrupt and short sentences are followed by longer ones.