Research Paper Outline

After you have chosen a topic and gathered enough sources to begin writing your research paper, the next step is to prepare a brief outline of what you plan to write in your paper.

Use Microsoft PowerPoint to type in your outline and to transform it into a PowerPoint presentation. Follow the set of steps provided by your professor.

Here's a simple format for your outline:

Topic of Paper (Title?)

Subtopic #1

• Sub-Subtopic

Subtopic #2

• Sub-Subtopic

Subtopic #3

• Sub-Subtopic

Choose your Subtopics and Sub-Subtopics based on the information you find in your sources. Each Sub-Subtopic should equal 1-2 paragraphs of writing in your final paper.

Save your PowerPoint presentation to show your professor and print out the outline version of it (be sure to select the Outline View from the Print page).

When you've completed your outline, look over the order you've put in it and see whether you can improve it. Is there a more logical order to use? Also, go through your sources and try to match them up with the Sub-Subtopics in your outline.