When it comes to writing an essay, solid research forms the bedrock. To be honest, if you are not engaging in qualitative and quantitative research, you are not exactly setting the right foundations for your essay. Doing research when writing an essay is a habit that leading educationists and academicians recommend.
Everyone including your teachers expects you to carry out thorough research during the investigation stages. This is because no matter how well-read you are, or how knowledgeable you claim to be, no one is gifted enough to know about everything in the entire world! This is where research helps. It allows you to gain a working idea about the topic at hand.
In this resource article on writing an essay, we are going to look at seven major tips you can use to help you carry out the best research. If you are a school student or a college freshman looking to make a mark on your next essay writing assignment, you should follow what we have to say till the very end.
List of 7 Tips to do Research Before Writing an Essay
1. Allocate time for the research phase of your essay writing-
One of the many mistakes students make is leaving things to the last minute. They start writing the essay right away as they do not have time to invest in the research. This is something that should be avoided.
You need to allocate a few days that can help you get the materials ready for the research. This will make it easier for you when you get to the writing stage of things. The time you need to give to research will vary depending on the level of essay you are writing.
2. Get the best idea and understanding of the essay topic and question-
If you want to create an essay that is relevant to what the examiner has posed, you need to get the best understanding of the topic. This will help you in terms of taking a specific direction regarding your essay.
Ask yourself questions like- ‘what is the examiner really trying to say?’, or, ‘can this topic be interpreted in a specific manner?’. Once you have an idea about the topic at hand, you will be able to follow it up with the right research and writing skills.
3. Focus on creating a structure and brainstorming ideas for the essay-
After you are done with the research and understanding phases, you need to prepare a structure for the essay. This means noting down the information and details you would want to make part of the introduction, body, and conclusion sections.
This might look easy, but if you have a ton of information, you have to look at arranging the same in a manner that is coherent, logical, and systematic. Brainstorming at this stage helps in structuring the content for the essay better.
4. Getting down to work if you have been given a reading list for the essay-
Some examiners and teachers will give you a specific reading list for the essay topic. In other words, they would want you to read the material given and integrate it in the best possible manner in the essay.
If you have been given a reading list, you need to make sure that the contents are part of the essay. If you don’t do that, you might be marked negatively for the omission. You can make this a part of the research phase. Referencing is also crucial.
5. Decide on the formatting options and citation study for the essay-
There are two approaches that most teachers take. They either ask you to follow a pre-determined format like APA, MLA, or Chicago Style of Referencing, or they leave it up to you.
Formatting your essay is important as it helps with a proper structure of what you are writing. There are plenty of online resources in MS Word that can help you with formatting options. In most styles of evaluations, formatting options carry a lot of weight in marking.
6. Take help from the librarian and teaching assistants to help you write better-
A lot of students are wary of taking help from seniors when writing an essay. To be honest, there is no harm in reaching out to your institution’s librarian to help you with the references. You can also depend on your TA for the course for guidance.
If you have good relationships, you can do this without any worries. They are in the best position to guarantee your success in terms of the essay. This will help you get better grades as well as improve your reputation.
7. Depend on experts that offer essay writing services for best results-
There might be tons of problems, both personal and professional that leave you with no time to write an essay. With the pandemic, some of the other of our family members are affected. Hospital runs are likely to leave you with no time to submit your essays for evaluation.
This is where you can depend on experts that offer specialized essay writing services. They are professionals that do everything from research to formatting and writing your essay.
8. Bonus Tip: Take notes and research every side of the argument for the essay-
Students need to get into the habit of taking and making notes as part of their educational curriculums. This will help you explore the various sides of the argument that a topic is presenting itself with.
It will showcase how far you are willing to go in terms of researching and presenting every facet of the given topic. Giving context shows your academic credentials and is sure to help you win brownie points with the examiner that is evaluating your work.
The Final Word
Writing a great essay takes time, effort, and discipline. You cannot simply start writing when you are presented with a topic. Make sure that you follow and integrate all the above-mentioned eight tips in the article to make sure that you get a great grade on the essay. If you have any other questions on the topic that you would like us to address, please reach out to us in the comments section.
