Research Skills: Write an essay

Write an essay

The written essay or report is an important element of the research process as this will probably be one of the main ways in which your research is presented and assessed.  

Make the most of all the great information resources you have collected and all your knowledge, to write a really interesting and top-class paper.

When writing up your research, you will need to produce a report or an essay to explain your findings.

Before you start writing spend time creating a detailed plan of what you are going to cover.  This may take quite a bit of time but it will be time well-spent.  Your plan will help you to create a well-structured paper.

Your paper should normally include:

• An opening paragraph - capture your reader's interest, explain the argument that you intend to make in the paper.
• The body of the paper - this makes up the bulk of your work broken into paragraphs.  Each paragraph should cover one key idea that is introduced in the first sentence.  Remember Point, Evidence, Explain, Link

• Graphical elements - if appropriate
• A summary - summarise your paper, end on a high, make it exciting!  

Make sure you are aware of the particular specifications for your piece of work, including the required format and the maximum word limit.  If you are doing the IB Extended Essay or the AQA EPQ you may find it useful to check these books:

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