While in college your professors may ask you to write a research paper. Before you begin the writing process, ask yourself what are research papers?’Also, ask ‘what does a research paper look like?’This will help you know and understand what it is and what it incorporates. A research paper is a paper you write with your thoughts based on a thorough analysis of what you know and what you have been able to research on about your topic. When writing a research paper, you need to have a unique approach. This is because there are different types of research papers hence they all need to be approached differently in the view of many experts and be correspondingly.

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Once you know what a research paper is and how it looks like, you need to know how it is written. The first step in writing a research paper is to learn how to start a research paper. You cannot begin writing immediately. You need to have a topic to research on. Gather all the information you need and base your analysis on your thoughts. You can then begin the writing process. But, you need to learn how to type a research paper. This will help you knowhow you should present your arguments and points in a clear and concise manner. Conversely, as stated earlier there are different types of research papers. You need to develop a unique approach in each of them. In this article, we are going to discuss the different kinds of research papers and which of the following would always require a citation in a research paper?

Analytical research paper

An analytical research paper as the name suggests is a type of paper where you provide an analysis of your research. Pose a question. Discuss and explain the multiple opinions or points of view. Analyze them. Draw a conclusion. When you pose a question, you need to know and understand the thinking encompassed in answering the question. You need to describe the question in order to find an element to analyze the work. When writing an analytical research paper example, you need to be neutral. Do not show your positive or negative take of the issue. In case you want to define or explain something as good or bad based on your topic, it is better you work on a persuasive research paper.

Argumentative research paper

An argumentative or persuasive research paper is a paper where you intend to get the audience to consent to your opinions. It is different from an analytical research paper as some emotions are involved. However, you need to support your assertions with logical facts. When writing an argumentative research paper, you can give preference to a particular point of view. But, you need to have a topic of discussion first. “Are essay writing services worth it?” and “Junk foods should be taxed” are examples of argumentative research paper topics.

Compare and contrast research paper

This is a research paper which is used to draw a comparison between two different subjects and their relationship to one another in both their similarities and differences. They are mostly used in literature courses to compare two or more different stories of the same genre. The Purpose of such a paper is to enlighten the reader(s) towards the philosophical differences between fluctuating opinions of related stories.

Report research paper

As the name suggests, this is a research paper which contains and organized and comprehensive list of actualities about a topic. You need to select a subject, conduct research on it and convey your message to the audience using interviews, quotes, experiments,and graphs. The purpose of a report research paper is to give the audience much detail about the subject.

Survey research paper

This is a research paper where you need to conduct a survey, analyze your findings and draw conclusions. It is often used in marketing, sociology, public health, business, advertising,and psychology. When conducting a survey, you need to ask questions to the respondents. You will then collect all the information, analyze it and come up with your conclusions.

Experimental research paper

An experimental research paper is where you conduct research on an experiment, state and share useful experiences and provide a summary of the research. It is frequently used in sciences, psychology,and sociology. The purpose of the experimental research paper is to describe a phenomenon with specific actions. Hence, you need to support your findings with statistics and scrutiny of the experiment.

Interpretive research paper

Interpretive research papers are articles which you need to use the theoretical knowledge you gain from a course study to a certain case study. Interpretive research papers are commonly used by tutors in humanities, literature and social sciences. Their purpose is to show that you have written the paper with evidence on the basis of an established theoretical context. Thus, you need to provide information to support your thesis statement and your findings.

Cause and effect research paper

This is a paper which hints or suggests the expected outcome from a certain action. When writing it, you need to describe the situation, present the causes and effects and come up with a conclusion. These papers are mainly assigned to freshmen to teach them how to write research papers.

In conclusion, all the above research papers need to have a citation. This is because you need to provide evidence to support your claims, findings, thesis statements and assertions. But, to do so, you need to learn how to cite a research paper. Additionally, writing a research paper is not difficult. You simply need to know what it is and what it entails. You also need to know the different types of research papers and the purpose they intend to serve.