by George Brosi

As you write your research paper, you will want to do a reality check several times to be sure you are on the right track. Here are some important ways to double-check your paper:

1. Does it have a clear thesis? Remember, your paper is not a university level research paper if it merely presents an overview of a topic. It has to be an argument paper, arguing one central point. Only if a reasonable person could disagree with your thesis is it meaningful enough to be acceptable.

2. Is your paper thesis-centered? Not only must it have a thesis, the paper must be devoted completely to proving that thesis. Sure, a little background material can be worked in, but the main thrust of the paper should be to prove your thesis.

3. Have you organized your "case" in the way a good trial lawyer would? A good trial lawyer depends upon convincing opening and closing statements which establish the lawyer's competence without resorting to quotations. Between these two paragraphs the good trial lawyer organizes a series of points which, taken altogether, prove the main thesis.

4. Do you begin and end each paragraph in your own words? Just like a good trial lawyer, the author of a research paper personally introduces each point in a way that is most convincing to the reader/jury. Just as in a trial no witness appears randomly, in a research paper the sources should appear only after the writer has focused the reader's attention on the point that the source helps establish. The writer then finishes off the point personally, not with a quote, paraphrase or summary.

5. Have you properly introduced every source you have used? The good trial lawyer searches far and wide for the best witnesses, just as the good research paper author should. Once the writer is familiar with the topic, the best source can be found to make the point, and can be introduced in the body of the paper in a way that reinforces this "witness's" credibility.

6. Have you presented your case logically? To check this, take a separate piece of paper, write down the sub-titles in order leaving plenty of space between them. Then go back over your paragraphs and state the main point of each one in a word or two. If you cannot do this, re-do the paragraph. When each paragraph clearly makes a single point and uses at least one good example, copy these key words from the margin of the draft of the paper onto a separate piece of paper. Placed in order on a separate sheet of paper, these key words from each paragraph and the key words in each sub-title should make a good logical outline for your paper.