Outline

Why create an outline? The outline is a general plan of your research paper, written BEFORE the rough draft. “Blueprint” for your paper Organize your thoughts and arguments Structure and flow of your paper An outline is a formal system used to develop a framework for thinking about what should be the organization and eventual contents of your paper. An outline helps you predict the overall structure and flow of a paper.

Organization of your research paper Introduction Theoretical Framework/Literature Review Case Study (or Case Studies) Conclusion References Introduction Methodology Findings (also called Results) Discussion Conclusion References (style according to your field)

Commonly used outline format- social sciences Introduction State the core research question Tell the reader the significance of the question Provide a brief version of your answer to the question Provide an overview of the rest of the paper Theoretical Framework/Literature review Provide an overview of the possible explanations for your question Include consideration of the broader literature that addresses your subject Address your method for approaching the question Case Study (or Case Studies) Apply the theoretical framework to one ore more cases May include multiple separate major sections of your paper Conclusion Return to the core question Summarize your core argument and findings Discuss the broader implications or prospects for future research Title

Commonly used outline format- STEM Introduction Why is your research important? What is known about the topic? What are your hypotheses? What are your objectives? Materials and Methods What materials did you use? Who were the subjects of your study? What was the design of your research? What procedure did you follow? Results What are your most significant results? What are your supporting results? Discussion And Conclusion What are the studies major findings? What is the significance/implication of the results? Title