research paper

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Title of Your Paper Here

Your Name

Liberty University

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Title of Your Paper Here

Begin your paper with an introduction that starts out by discussing the broad topic your paper falls into and then narrowing it to the specific topic you have selected for your paper. Try to have a solid statement (otherwise known as a thesis statement) toward the end of this section stating what the focus of the paper will be. This section can be anywhere from one-half to a full page long and does not need to have its own heading. If you use outside material, you should cite it in text and include the book, article, reputable website, etc. in your References page at the end of your paper. Please refer to the current APA manual for proper formatting of in-text citations and reference page formatting requirements.

Section One

The best way to write your paper is to organize it in to basic sections and use headers (see above) to distinguish the overall topic of the section. Each section should be a “big idea” related to the paper purpose statement from your introduction. All outside material used to support your statements in each section should be cited in-text throughout your paper as this is what makes it a research paper. Make sure you have at least the required number of resources cited throughout your paper and included in your reference list.

Subsection One

If you have sections within your main sections, the headings should be formatted this way. You do not need to have subsections, but if there is a lot of information about one topic within the “big topic” of the section you might consider breaking it up this way. Otherwise, organize your information within each section by paragraph and then move on to the next section of your paper.

Section Two

Continue to write sections of your paper until you have thoroughly covered the information needed for the purpose of your paper. Make sure you at least reach the minimum requirement of pages for the assignment, but do not write “filler” information just to meet this requirement.

Conclusion

Always include a conclusion section at the end of your paper to tie all of the main points of your paper back to the overall purpose. This only needs to be about one to two paragraphs long, depending on the detail you include. Do not include new information in this section.

References

American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000