In many of your courses, you’ll be asked to write a traditional, thesis-based research essay. In this structure, you provide a thesis, usually at the end of your introduction, body paragraphs that support your thesis with research, and a conclusion to emphasize the key points of your research paper. You’ll likely encounter this type of assignment in classes in the humanities, but you may also be asked to write a traditional research paper in business classes and some introductory courses in the sciences and social sciences.
In the sample on this page, you’ll see a basic structure that can be modified to fit the length of your assignment. It’s important to note, in shorter research essays, each point of your outline might correspond to a single paragraph, but in longer research papers, you might develop each supporting point over several paragraphs.
Traditional Outline
- Introduction
- background, context for topic
- transition to thesis
- thesis statement
- Supporting Point 1
- supporting detail
- example 1
- example 2
- supporting detail
- example 1
- example 2
- supporting detail
- example 1
- example 2
- supporting detail
- Supporting Point 2
- Supporting Point 3
- Supporting Point 4
- Conclusion
- review central ideas presented in body and make connection to thesis
- transition to closing thoughts
- closing thoughts