Speaker 1: Hello everyone and welcome or welcome back to my channel. If you're new here my name is Kaylyn, I'm a master's student at the University of Oxford studying history and in the fall I will begin my PhD at Yale University in history and African-American studies. I've spent many years learning how to craft the ideal research paper and although it is constantly a work in progress and your writing can always improve, I wanted to provide you guys with my helpful tips for writing a research paper so that way you can improve your own writing or even get started in the field of writing original research. I received a DM from a follower in India who said that his coursework does not require a whole lot of writing, especially research, and that his degree is not research-based in the same way that the humanities degrees are in the U.S. So for example in my undergraduate studies I had multiple research papers throughout my coursework but I also had my honors thesis which was not necessarily required but I know that some schools do require a thesis. So the coursework is just slightly different in different countries and in different universities so I wanted to be able to address that and provide you guys with a helpful beginner's guide on how you can write a research paper. This video is going to be really in-depth, I've done a bunch of work to try to make sure that this video has all of the juicy helpful information that will be useful to you guys and if you guys enjoy this video and you find it useful please leave me a comment down below. Getting your feedback is incredibly important to me and in addition to that every time that you subscribe, like, and comment it really helps my videos reach more people so it would really help me and I would really appreciate if you guys would go ahead and do that. And before I get into the video I wanted to share a quick sneak peek of my upcoming podcast. It will go live on June 2nd and I have released a trailer on to Anchor and Spotify so you can check out the links down below but I'm going to give you guys a quick little soundbite here. Hello everyone and welcome to the Lift as We Climb podcast with me, Kaelin Grace Apple. So I hope you guys enjoy that quick little sneak peek but we're going to go ahead and get right on into this video so stick around if you guys want to learn more about how to write a research paper. As a graduate student, research is central to my degree and ongoing aspirations. As an aspiring legal history scholar, studying the past allows me to track trends, highlight the stories of those who have been lost to the historical record, and draw connections to my own life. This video is all about highlighting the methods I utilize in order to write quality essays which I hope will help you do the same. So grab a cup of coffee and let's get started. The first step after being assigned an essay or research paper is to assess the prompt or select a topic. All good research begins with a research question and some preconceived notions. Use what initially comes to mind as your roadmap and begin with writing out your ideas. What helps me is to open up a document and draw out a mind map. This is where I will write out all the subjects, questions, sources, and literature that comes to mind and where I can visualize how the paper may be organized later on. You can refer back to your mind map throughout the writing process to see where your ideas have developed and also use this to come up with keywords which leads us to step two. After setting up your mind map, some keywords, terms, and phrases should come to mind which will drive your preliminary literature search and analysis. Write these terms and phrases down so you can check them off as you begin mining through the various search engines. One of my most helpful tips is to check multiple universities' library online resources. Digital archives and records store a wealth of knowledge and should be used to the best of your ability. Also remember to check Google, ArchiveGrid, WorldCat, and JSTOR for additional publications. And lastly, make sure that you download any article that you come across that may come in handy so you don't lose it for later. Now for step three. After finding some initial research material from your literature review, it is time to get reading and mining the footnotes. This stage is where you'll begin to read and check the author's bibliography for sources to see if there's any additional sources or information which may be useful for your project. Checking the footnotes is truly what separates a student from a scholar. Take your time and don't miss anything. There are hidden nuggets of information everywhere, you just need to know where to find it. Who knows, it may even lead to a future paper or even doctoral dissertation. Step four is all about organization. While digging through the literature, begin keeping some notes and writing down questions or themes that pop up and seem significant. One tip is to use a citation software or, at the very least, write down the citations in proper format so you don't have to go back later on. I recommend Mendeley, but I'll do a video comparing the different citation softwares at a later date. Your notes should contain quotes, main arguments, supporting arguments, questions, and most importantly, page numbers so you can refer back to them while writing your paper. This stage is crucial because without it you may not be able to recall what you've read, so be diligent and take your time. After reading through the literature, you should have discovered some key primary sources and tracked some central themes. Now it is time to set up your outline. I began with a rough outline before going in and adding quotes and other supporting evidence. Your outline doesn't have to be perfect, but should allow you to structure your essay before you dive right into the writing stage. Now that you have a solid outline and an idea of how the essay may flow, it is time to write your introduction. I usually begin my essays with an anecdote to set the tone for the essay and center the experiences of a historical figure, but you can choose to begin your essay however you would like. For me, the introduction is the most difficult part of writing an essay because I'm such a perfectionist. If you get stuck, like I often do, I recommend going back into the literature to see which introductions are the most appealing to you. Some of the best writing comes from the best reading. This is in no way a suggestion to copy, but simply to gain inspiration from your favorite scholars. After establishing your hook, it is time to set up the central arguments and lay the groundwork for the rest of your essay. Now that you've completed the most difficult part, it is time to work on your body paragraphs. Keep in mind your central argument and thesis statement from the introduction so that each paragraph maintains the same theme and underlying message. Use evidence to support your claims and make sure that everything flows. You want your writing to be clear and concise. Don't waste your time with convoluted prose and sputtering academic gibberish. Your readers would prefer that you get to the point. And again, if you get stuck, go back to reading. Step eight is to write your conclusion. Begin with discussing what the essay has covered and finish by restating your central argument. State how you supported your claims in the body of your essay and what your concluding statement and contribution is. Revision is perhaps one of the most daunting stages. I recommend leaving your work for a day and coming back to read it or sending it off to a friend or mentor. This step is to catch small mistakes, check that your arguments were thoroughly supported, and see that the essay flows nicely. After revision, your job is complete. You have now reached the final stage, which is to submit. Congratulations, you've made it to the end of your essay and the end of this video. I hope you all enjoyed this one. And if you did, please make sure to like and subscribe. I will see you in the next video. Bye, everyone.