Planning Your Paper
What format or style are you supposed to use?
How will you handle your references and other source material?
Word or page limit Paper lengths can vary greatly. Knowing your page limit is vital to the planning process because it givers you some indication of the amount of time you will spend researching, the degree of detail that is required and how much time you will spend writing. Step 1: Start with a list of themes and ideas you want to cover in your paper. Step 2: Group the themes into sections. This will give you an idea about how your paper will take shape and it may help you see more clearly what you definitely do and don’t want to cover when you start writing. Step 3: Estimate an approximate word or paragraph count for each theme to make sure that you meet the minimum word or page requirement. These numbers will probably change as you go along but it will give you a rough idea about the length of your paper. As your reading, research and note-taking progresses, your themes will develop in your notes and you’ll see each section of your paper more clearly. Due Date Keep your paper’s due date in mind. Find out if you will have to turn an outline or a first draft sooner than the paper’s due date. Think about each stage of the writing process (this is not an exhaustive list) and estimate how long each stage will last:
Paper Format Make sure you know what style (AMA, APA, MLA, Chicago/Turabian or Harvard) you are supposed to use. Using MLA Format by Purdue’s OWL
MLA Citation Generator Using APA Format by Purdue’s OWL APA Citation Generator Low-tech Systems for handling references and other source material
![]() ![]() Tips For Better Time Management & Organization Break your research paper into steps (see image below) and plan enough time to complete each one. This Assignment Calculator might help. ![]() Image by Norquest College Library. space Tips for Making Research a Little Less Painful Time Management for Writing Research Papers 10 Best Time Management Tips for Students Using Time Management to Improve Study Skills 11 Time Management Tips That Work Time Management Tips for Busy College Students |