Science fairs are very exciting events in which students can display their early scientific skills. They are commonly held in high school and junior high school.
The results of a project for a science fair are usually presented on a display board. However, this poster display is often accompanied by the submission of a background research paper of the project.
For many students, writing a research paper is a daunting task. They are often overwhelmed and feel the need to cry out loud “Someone, please help write my research paper for me!” In theory, it should not be so difficult to write an academic paper about a project that you did.
In practice, you need some writing skills, like experts from WriteMyPaperHub, to put your ideas correctly down in writing.
In principle, you have to organize your ideas and describe your project in a logical way. Once you have the first draft of your paper, you just need to polish it.
Before you write anything though, make sure you know exactly what your teacher requires. Sometimes, you have to submit a summary of your research findings. The typical length, in this case, is one to two pages.
However, in other cases, your teacher may ask to write a long research paper (around ten pages). You are required to include a list of references (bibliography) as well as a complete description of the technical background of your project. Whatever the case, this article aims at providing you with some tips to write your paper more easily.
Tips to Write a Research Paper for Your School Science Fair
In most cases, you can write your research paper by applying the following steps:
- First of all, you must gather all the technical information related to your project. This information can come from books, technical journals, specialized websites, white papers, etc. Highlight the passages that you deem most important, which you will refer to in your paper;
- Any statement you make in your paper must be properly backed. Thus, organize your references and determine where in your paper you will cite them;
- Organize all your information and group related topics together. This way you start sorting the information more logically;
- Determine for whom the research paper must be written. Should it be addressed to your teachers and judges only? Should you include your classmates as potential readers? Once you determine your audience, address them, and tell them what you are going to say in your paper. Then, you will say it. But you will write your paper for the intended audience to have a greater impact;
- Create an outline of your research paper. You can write down the titles of the sections and subsections of your paper. Like this, it will be much easier to visualize how to present the results of your research project.
Now, you are ready to start writing your academic paper. Write as if you were explaining the project to your intended audience. Refrain from verbatim copying passages from other sources. This is plagiarism. Thus, you must express everything with your own words. At this stage, you should not worry that much about the format of your paper. You will fix that at the end. Now, move on:
- Organize all your sources and create a list of references (bibliography). Write every reference using the required format. If you do not know how to cite a source, you can use Google Scholar;
- Now, you have the first draft of your paper. It is time to format it according to your teacher’s requirements. Use the right font, spacing, margins, etc. Arrange the images and tables so that they appear after they are mentioned in the text;
- Revise and edit the paper. Read the entire draft and identify typos, grammar errors, misspellings, and unclear sentences. You can use a software tool to assist you with the revision. Remove any sentence or passage that does not add anything valuable to the discussion of your results. Good research papers are clear and concise. Repeat this process until you have a draft that you are satisfied with;
- Finally, ask a fellow student or your parents to read the paper and provide constructive criticism. If you agree with their suggestions, include them in your paper to improve the final draft;
Create the final copy of the paper and submit it.
Even though this process seems quite complicated, it takes just a bit of practice to master it. Some online companies offer help to students with their assignments, including research papers. These are good alternatives to get a sample paper that you can use as a model to write yours. It is always easier to write when you have some guidelines than writing from scratch.
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