We all dream about going to US or any abroad nation for our masters for specialization. A masters degree is a research focussed course. Hence, to get an admit into a good university, you need a couple of research papers, whether only presented or published. If you don't have enough time (or the skill) to write a real research paper, then you head for reviews, which to be honest is way easier to write. You just need the right track to go about with your topic. Follow these steps:
- Choose a good topic of your interest: This is the most crucial part of writing a paper. The topic should be chosen very wisely. Make it a point that the topic is such that you get a lot of content on the internet and journals. Don't worry about not being able to access certain papers. Just make sure that there is content available. Also, you should have a bit of interest in it. It can be from a subject that you're good at. If you're participating in a symposium or a competition, then the topics will be provided to you.
- Content Research: search for as many papers, journals, articles, notes etc that you can find on the internet and bookmark all of them. If you're not comfortable with desktop, then print those articles for easy reading.
- Highlight important points, remarks, major subtopics, conclusion of each article and paper that you've gone through. This is the most important part. Spend a lot of time on it.
- As you go through the content, you can come across your own views, understanding of the topic or some modifications. List them out.
- Make a rough sketch of what all subtopics your paper will consist after going through your content. You will be able to figure out by now the structure of your paper. Every paper consists of introduction, middle subtopics and a conclusion.
- Start adding content to those subtopics. Do not think of a format of the paper I.e. the text size, font etc. You can do the editing later. While adding content from your researched content, make sure the sentences are not same. You can either change the form of the sentence or else Add your own views and opinions that you listed out.
- Keep reading you paper from start to end again and again till it makes perfect sense. Keep reading additional content. Make sure your facts and calculations are correct.
- When you are happy with the content, add pictures, graphs that you plotted, comparisons you've made etc.
- Start editing the document according to the prescribed format of the paper.
For more, read furthur posts on selection of a topic, tips and tricks on my blog!
