Write an Academic Paper Overview

Listed in the table below are the steps involved with writing an academic paper.

The steps don't have to be done in the order shown; in fact, they are usually repeated many times during the writing process, especially during the research, reading, and first draft stage of writing.

Writing and learning is a fluid process, so your thesis statement or your viewpoints in the paper might change as you do your research. In some cases, an outline might be more easily written after completing the first draft rather than before. In fact, it is not unusual to go back to do further research or to revise a thesis statement when editing the rough draft.

Follow each link to find out more. You can work through the materials sequentially by using links at the bottom of each page, or you can view each page by using your browser "back" button to return to this table.