documented essay example

Documented Essay Example, Topics, & How-To Guide 

What is a documented essay and what is the purpose of it? It is a type of academic writing where the author develops an opinion relying on secondary resources. A documented essay can be assigned in school or college. You should incorporate arguments and facts from outside sources into the text.

The components of a successful documented essay are as follows:

• A good topic;
• A well-developed outline;
• Thorough research of an issue;
• A flawless reference list.

For more information on the subject, consider the sections below prepared by our experts .

❓ What Is a Documented Essay?

📓 how to write a documented essay.

• 📚 Essay Topics
• 📝 Free Essay Example

🔗 References

A documented essay is a piece of academic writing that aims to consider a particular topic relying on a number of the most trusted secondary sources. This kind of essay is longer than a standard 5-paragraph essay. It highlights the spectrum of existing research in the field.

Of course, this work will be a bit more complicated than the papers you have written before. If you’ve seen documented essay examples, you understand that they differ from standard essays .

To write a documented essay, you have to do the following:

✅ Find Sources

Sources that you use when writing your documented essay are crucial for your success. You will have to work with primary and secondary sources, collect data from books and publications. Alternatively, you will come up with experiments and conduct surveys to get the necessary data.

• Investigate your issue as meticulously as possible. To make your paper strong and impressive, you have to consider plenty of sources and data. Prove the readers your excellence and professionalism.
• Use only academic articles and scholarly books. Select extremely carefully! All the supportive facts should be valid and directly correspond to your topic. When it comes to sources, pay attention to their credibility.
• Avoid using any info from random websites. Exclude Wikipedia and personal blogs from the list of possible sources. Official e-newspapers (New York Times, BBC), governmental pages (.gov), and educational websites (.edu) are considered to be trustworthy.

Finding credible sources can be a challenging task. So, try using online research tools to facilitate it.

✅ Outline and Write a Research-Based Documented Essay

The majority of students tend to underestimate the power of outlining. Don’t make this mistake! Consider the following tips on your essay structure:

• The sketch of your documented essay should include an introduction, a conclusion, and body paragraphs.
• The last sentence of an intro is supposed to be your thesis statement . It is a critical part of your research paper, so make it well-developed and concise.
• Each paragraph should have an introductory and concluding sentence. Such a frame will effectively structure your thoughts.
• While creating an outline, figure out your arguments’ order and choose the appropriate evidence for each point. Make sure your paper is structured coherently and logically.
• If you feel like something is wrong, take a note and consider rewriting it later, after the essay’s whole picture will be visible.

After completing the rough draft of the paper, start polishing it. Double-check all the citations. Make sure appropriate transitions connect the paragraphs. Trace the arguments and supporting evidence and check if they are logically structured.

Your documented essay should cover the research issue and state your position. Properly develop your ideas and support them by the valid evidence from outside resources. Every point has to be related to your thesis statement. Finally, the conclusion should open a space for further investigation of the issue.

✅ Document Sources

It is the gist of writing the documented essays. All sources should be cited and arranged into a Bibliography list . Make sure it is error-free and follows the essay format. Mind that you will have to learn the rules of MLA, APA, and some other citation styles. Every style has numerous formatting requirements, so students often get confused.

The primary tip is:

To ensure the flawlessness of your works cited list, carefully read the instructions of the essay format you are applying. Always follow the guidelines and double-check all the details. The creation of the reference list is quite a challenging task. Yet, if you are concentrated and careful enough, you will succeed!

We suggest you read articles about MLA and APA formats. They are the most popular citation styles, so you should find out more about their peculiarities.

In short, the bibliography lists will look as follows:

Check an example of a documented essay to see how an APA reference list looks like.

📚 Documented Essay Topics

Here are some examples of documented essay topics:

• The influence of different types of advertising on various age groups. 
• The influence of financial well-being on life quality. 
• The health risks of sugar overconsumption.
• Possible ways of dealing with corruption in developing countries. 
• Online banking : new opportunities or new threats?
• The installation of parents’ control on children’s smartphones : pros and cons. Is it worth doing?
• Ways to successful communication between managers and employees.
• Analyze the impact of organizational leadership philosophy on the company performance.
• Explore the specifics of real estate fund management.
• Describe the pros and cons of a diversified investment portfolio.
• Interconnection between global economy and business expansion.
• Discuss the advantages and risks of investing in the furniture business.
• Explain what made Asia Pacific multinational enterprises so successful.
• Analyze the crucial factors of the successful global entrepreneurship.
• Social media and its impact on teenagers lives .
• Examine the influence of culture on shaping human behavior and relationships.  
• Has culture really become a driver of urbanization?
• Describe the connection between the climate change and carbon dioxide emissions. 
• The influence of organizational politics on decision making.
• The role of Greenpeace in lowering the negative technological influence on the environment.
• Discuss the influence of family on eating disorders in children.  
• Explore the ways social changes can influence the environment.
• Analyze how air pollution influences the health of the New York City citizens.
• What are the core values of Chinese culture ?
• Impact of globalization on a country’s economy.
• Describe the advantages and shortcomings of random drug testing.
• Discuss the aspects of various theories of personal development .
• What can be done to prevent Netherlands from flooding? 
• Is it a good idea to decriminalize marijuana?
• Ethic al issues in ICT: disclosing personal information.
• Examine the influence of technologic innovations on business. 
• Analyze the impact of globalization processes on media industry.
• Is solar power a solution of environmental issues?  
• Describe the health hazards of having nightmares.  
• Discuss the pros and cons of international credit.
• Explore the influence of COVID-19 on the economy.
• Compare the differences in coffee culture in different countries.
• Connection between clean water shortage and the problem of poverty.
• Analyze the positive and negative aspects of a high nutrition diet.  
• Examine the effect of trans and saturated fats on human health.
• How the use of solar energy in China influences climate change.
• Is it possible to give up food additives completely?  
• Pros and cons of integrating bilingualism in early childhood education .
• Describe the peculiarities of native and non-native educators in language teaching.
• Can the design activism change society?  
• Discuss the role of social media marketing for business practices.
• Talent management impact on OCBC’s formation.
• Explore the advantages and drawbacks of social media .
• Do you believe that social media can be a tool to change the world?
• Analyze the pros and cons of genetically modified food.  

📝 Documented Essay Example

Are you looking for a research-based documented essay example? We have prepared one for you. Check it out:

The Obesity Epidemic and Its Complex Causes 

In recent decades, the obesity epidemic has become a serious problem for public health. According to the WHO (2016), there are just under 2 billion overweight adults in the world. More than 600 million of them are considered obese. These indicators testify to a severe epidemic caused by various reasons, including genetics, environment, and lifestyle.

Several genetic factors may predispose to the development of obesity. A cross-sectional observational study of 260 children showed that a family history of obesity is a critical risk factor for the severity of obesity in childhood (Corica et al., 2018). According to Tester et al. (2020), children gain excess weight due to the multiple genes they have, and these genes make them favor food and, thereby, have a higher caloric intake. Obesity-predisposing genes may as well persist into adulthood, causing some adults to struggle with weight management despite similar lifestyle choices compared to their peers.

Although genetics play an important role in obesity predisposition, extragenetic factors also contribute to its development. For example, long working hours can increase BMI due to reduced time for exercise and physical activity and shifting toward ready-processed meals and fast food (Courtemanche, 2009). Besides, the role of social networks and peer effects in increasing obesity prevalence cannot be ignored. Christakis (2007) emphasizes that an individual’s risk of weight gain increases by more than 50% if a friend becomes obese and by more than 30% if a partner is obese. As a result, many people suffer from obesity even though their family members or forefathers never had such a problem.

Obesity has become a big global concern in the 21st century. Now it is clearer than ever that the obesity epidemic is the result of a complex interaction between environmental influences, genetic vulnerability, and human activity. To solve this problem, public health professionals should develop effective interventions considering genetic and extragenetic factors contributing to obesity.

Thank you for reading, and good luck with your documented essay! Feel free to come back and check out our other academic articles, available on the blog. Share the article with those who might find it useful.

• The Documented Essay/Research Paper: Hunter College
• What is a Research Papeer: Online Writing Center, SUNY Empire State College
• 5 Steps to Create the Perfect Outline: Brandon Ramey, Herzing University
• Making an Outline, Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper: Research Guides at University of Southern California
• How Can I Find Good Sources for My Research Paper: University of Louisville Writing Center
• Share to Facebook
• Share to LinkedIn
• Share to email

What is a reflexive essay? If you have just received the assignment and think there is a typo, you’re in the right place. Long story short, no, there is no mistake. You actually need to write a reflexive essay, not a reflective one. The thing is that reflective and reflexive...

Fairies and evil spirits, noble kings and queens, beautiful princesses and brave princes, mysterious castles and abandoned huts somewhere in a thick a wood… This is all about fairy tales. Fairy tales are always associated with childhood. Fairy tales always remind us that love rules the world and the Good...

Subjective or objective essay writing is a common task students have to deal with. On the initial stage of completing the assignment, you should learn how to differentiate these two types of papers. Their goals, methods, as well as language, tone, and voice, are different. A subjective essay focuses on...

Writing All About Me paragraph is probably one of the most usual assignments. For example, students might write it when entering an academic institution. Such work gives an opportunity to introduce yourself, your skills, and goals. However, it is not the only possible situation.

Coral reefs can be called one of the most amazing things created by nature. These structures can be found in tropical and temperate waters. Like many other unique natural phenomena, coral reefs are influenced by human activity these days. This negative impact is one of the significant issues to consider when...

An ambition essay focuses on one’s strong desire to achieve success in one or several areas. It might be one’s career, finance, family, art, health, or all at once. Writing an ambition essay, you might want to consider your own life or examples from the world literature. You can describe...

The age of primary school students ranges from 5 to 11 years. At this stage of education, children start developing their writing skills. They make their first steps to analyzing and proving their points of view. Besides, they study how to write an essay for elementary school. Correctly preparing all...

Canadian identity is something that has become really important for many Canadians in the past fifty years. Canada is a big, multinational country with its own traditions, culture, and history. However, because of quite a large number of foreigners and even Americans, its culture and people are associated with the...

Let’s say you received a task to write an essay about cars. The topic might be interesting for you, but you may still have no idea how to organize your paper. Well, this article is for you.

Smoking can be viewed as one of the trendy habits. Numerous teenagers try it since they think that it is cool or can help them socialize. Often students start smoking due to stress or mental illnesses. But is it okay? Educators tend to give different written assignments, which may disclose...

Children have always been apprentices and servants all over human history. However, the Industrial Revolution increased the use of child labor in the world. It became a global problem that is relevant even today when such employment is illegal.

Nowadays, knowing several foreign languages is no longer surprising. For example, learning French is common for English-speaking countries. So, getting an assignment on this subject won’t be a surprise for a student.

This is a great blog! There are a lot of really helpful ideas. I am going to start writing my documented essay, and this post will help me. So thanks!

I’d like to share this post on writing a documented essay with my friends in college. Soon we have to write our documented essays, and your guide will definitely help us!

Sample Essays: Writing with MLA Style

Congratulations to the students whose essays were selected for the 2024 edition of Writing with MLA Style! Essays were selected as examples of excellent student writing that use MLA style for citing sources. Essays have been lightly edited. 

If your institution subscribes to MLA Handbook Plus , you can access annotated versions of the essays published from 2022 to 2024. 

Writing with MLA Style: 2024 Edition

The following essays were selected for the 2024 edition of Writing with MLA Style. The selection committee for high school submissions was composed of Lisa Karakaya, Hunter College High School; and Heather Smith, Dedham Public Schools. The selection committee for postsecondary submissions was composed of Rachel Ihara, Kingsborough Community College, City University of New York; Tarshia L. Stanley, Wagner College; and Joyce MacDonald, University of Kentucky.

High School Essays

Miguel Kumar (Ransom Everglades School)

“McCarthyism at the Movies: The Effects of Hollywood McCarthyism on the American Public”

Catherine Mao (Hunter College High School)

“ Beauty Is in the Eye of the Beholder, and the Beholder Is a White Man: The 1875 Page Act, Eugenics, and Beauty Standards for Chinese Women versus American Women ”

Undergraduate Essays

Rachelle Dumayas  (California State University, Sacramento)

“Should Deaf Children Get Cochlear Implants?”

Holly Nelson (Johns Hopkins University)

“Creating Space? Representations of Black Characters in Regency Romance”

Chloe Wiitala (University of Minnesota, Duluth)

“ Reanimating Queer Perspectives through Camp: A Study of Frankenstein and Its Parodic Film Adaptations ”

Writing with MLA Style: 2023 Edition

The following essays were selected for the 2023 edition of Writing with MLA Style. The 2023 selection committee was composed of Ellen C. Carillo, University of Connecticut (chair); Rachel Ihara, Kingsborough Community College, City University of New York; and Tarshia L. Stanley, Wagner College.

Caroline Anderson (Pepperdine University)

“ L’Appel du Vide : Making Spaces for Sinful Exploration in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde ”

Hunter Daniels (University of South Carolina, Aiken)

“Biblical Legalism and Cultural Misogyny in The Tragedy of Mariam ”

Aspen English (Southern Utah University)

“Putting the ‘Comm’ in Comics: A Communication-Theory-Informed Reading of Graphic Narratives”

Raul Martin (Lamar University)

“The Book-Object Binary: Access and Sustainability in the Academic Library”

Grace Quasebarth (Salve Regina University)

“Finding a Voice: The Loss of Machismo Criticisms through Translation in Isabel Allende’s The House of the Spirits ”

Writing with MLA Style: 2022 Edition

The following essays were selected for the 2022 edition of Writing with MLA Style. The 2022 selection committee was composed of Ellen C. Carillo, University of Connecticut; Jessica Edwards, University of Delaware (chair); and Deborah H. Holdstein, Columbia College Chicago.

Kaile Chu (New York University, Shanghai)

“Miles Apart: An Investigation into Dedicated Online Communities’ Impact on Cultural Bias”

Sietse Hagen (University of Groningen)

“The Significance of Fiction in the Debate on Dehumanizing Media Portrayals of Refugees”

Klara Ismail (University of Exeter)

“Queering the Duchess: Exploring the Body of the Female Homosexual in John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi ”

Yasmin Mendoza (Whittier College)

“Banning without Bans”

Niki Nassiri (Stony Brook University)

“Modern-Day US Institutions and Slavery in the Twenty-First Century”

Samantha Wilber (Palm Beach Atlantic University)

“‘Pero, tu no eres facil’: The Poet X as Multicultural Bildungsroman”

Writing with MLA Style: 2019 Edition

The following essays were selected for the 2019 edition of Writing with MLA Style. The 2019 selection committee was composed of Jessica Edwards, University of Delaware; Deborah H. Holdstein, Columbia College Chicago (chair); and Liana Silva, César E. Chavez High School, Houston, Texas.

Catherine Charlton (University of King’s College, Nova Scotia)

“‘Coal Is in My Blood’: Public and Private Representations of Community Identity in Springhill, Nova Scotia”

Alyiah Gonzales (California Polytechnic State University)

“Disrupting White Normativity in Langston Hughes’s ‘I, Too’ and Toni Morrison’s ‘Recitatif’”

Meg Matthias (Miami University, Ohio)

“Prescriptions of (Living) Historical Happiness: Gendered Performance and Racial Comfort in Reenactment”

Jennifer Nguyen  (Chaminade University of Honolulu)

“The Vietnam War, the American War: Literature, Film, and Popular Memory”

Emily Schlepp (Northwest University)

“A Force of Love: A Deconstructionist Reading of Characters in Dickens’s  Great Expectations ”

How to Write a Documented Essay

Documented Essay Writing - what to consider

First of all, it should be mentioned that a documented essay deals with a definite problem by using original documents (articles, books, interviews, memoirs, etc.). Besides, it allows for pluralistic analysis which takes into consideration different points of view; at the same time, it aspires towards defending only one thesis based upon the documents available.

A documented essay deals with a definite problem by using original documents (articles, books, interviews, memoirs, etc.). Tweet This

Main features of a documented essay

You should know the following things about the documented essay before starting to write your essay: 

• Documented essay is not a mere report, so it does not simply reflect facts and theories, but interprets them.
• Documented essay turns around reliable sources and well-conducted analysis of the available views on a subject.
• Documented essay requires a lot of knowledge in the field.
• Documented essay avoids emotions and feelings. It is not important how you perceive the topic or what experience you have, but what matters are the facts according to the selected documents.

How to write a documented essay – 5 basic stages

Stage 1: discuss with your instructor.

Writing a documented essay requires good communication between you and your instructor. Speak with him/her about the main goal of your documented essay, about the sources you should use, about an interpretation you would like to do, etc. Be open to the instructor’s suggestions and requirements. On the other hand, do not totally rely on their assistance since the assignment should develop a given set of abilities in you.

Stage 2: define the documented essay topic and gather information

A well-defined topic for your documented essay is already half of the job. By having a good topic, you will be able to search for information easily. Select the topic which you are familiar with and which also allows for referring to a plenty of evidences and facts. For example, documented essay topics can be related to education, volunteering, family issues, social and economical problems, and so forth.

Afterwards, start gathering information. Search in libraries, on forums, online social networks, etc.

Remember : it is better to use printed sources rather than web pages (this does not mean that you cannot refer to printed sources also available online). Write down facts, statistics, definitions, theories, names, etc. Then select only a small part of them; you need no more than 5-6 quotes which should take about one-sixth or one-seventh of the essay.

Stage 3: plan your work

Planning mainly depends on time at your disposal. Once you have gathered your material, it is easy to plan the draft . Plan the structure and order of the arguments and quotes. One of the methods employed during writing an essay may be to put quotes first, and then to interpret them (distribute the material on all pages and then write your analysis). Another method is to write the essay from the first page onwards. Also, don’t forget to plan an academic style of reference: you will need it in all cases.

Stage 4: write the draft

Now you can simply follow the initial plan. Introduce the topic and context. Then present different opinions and views on the subject. Your thesis can be stated before or after other theories have been analyzed. The thesis statement should be 2-3 sentences long and cannot be changed during the writing process. Be careful especially when referring to documents: they should be relevant, reliable and cited in an absolutely correct way (you cannot change any word).

Stage 5: revise your documented essay

In this last stage you have to look for consistency and logical order. Also check for grammar and spelling mistakes. You may want to delete some phrases and replace them with others. We recommend you to do it if the phrase in question changes your thesis or is not relevant to your work.

Experience is the key to knowledge about how to write a documented essay. By attempting as many times as you can, you will improve your writing skills, and also your logical capacities. 

Do you need help with writing a documented essay? 

Order Paper

Our guarantees, customer feedback.

© 2024 SolidEssay. All Rights Reserved.

Powered by Data Researchers Network

Sample Papers

This page contains sample papers formatted in seventh edition APA Style. The sample papers show the format that authors should use to submit a manuscript for publication in a professional journal and that students should use to submit a paper to an instructor for a course assignment. You can download the Word files to use as templates and edit them as needed for the purposes of your own papers.

Most guidelines in the Publication Manual apply to both professional manuscripts and student papers. However, there are specific guidelines for professional papers versus student papers, including professional and student title page formats. All authors should check with the person or entity to whom they are submitting their paper (e.g., publisher or instructor) for guidelines that are different from or in addition to those specified by APA Style.

Sample papers from the Publication Manual

The following two sample papers were published in annotated form in the Publication Manual and are reproduced here as PDFs for your ease of use. The annotations draw attention to content and formatting and provide the relevant sections of the Publication Manual (7th ed.) to consult for more information.

• Student sample paper with annotations (PDF, 5MB)
• Professional sample paper with annotations (PDF, 2.7MB)

We also offer these sample papers in Microsoft Word (.docx) format with the annotations as comments to the text.

• Student sample paper with annotations as comments (DOCX, 42KB)
• Professional sample paper with annotations as comments (DOCX, 103KB)

Finally, we offer these sample papers in Microsoft Word (.docx) format without the annotations.

• Student sample paper without annotations (DOCX, 36KB)
• Professional sample paper without annotations (DOCX, 96KB)

Sample professional paper templates by paper type

These sample papers demonstrate APA Style formatting standards for different professional paper types. Professional papers can contain many different elements depending on the nature of the work. Authors seeking publication should refer to the journal’s instructions for authors or manuscript submission guidelines for specific requirements and/or sections to include.

• Literature review professional paper template (DOCX, 47KB)
• Mixed methods professional paper template (DOCX, 68KB)
• Qualitative professional paper template (DOCX, 72KB)
• Quantitative professional paper template (DOCX, 77KB)
• Review professional paper template (DOCX, 112KB)

Sample papers are covered in the seventh edition APA Style manuals in the Publication Manual Chapter 2 and the Concise Guide Chapter 1

Related handouts

• Heading Levels Template: Student Paper (PDF, 257KB)
• Heading Levels Template: Professional Paper (PDF, 213KB)

Other instructional aids

• Journal Article Reporting Standards (JARS)
• APA Style Tutorials and Webinars
• Handouts and Guides
• Paper Format

View all instructional aids

Sample student paper templates by paper type

These sample papers demonstrate APA Style formatting standards for different student paper types. Students may write the same types of papers as professional authors (e.g., quantitative studies, literature reviews) or other types of papers for course assignments (e.g., reaction or response papers, discussion posts), dissertations, and theses.

APA does not set formal requirements for the nature or contents of an APA Style student paper. Students should follow the guidelines and requirements of their instructor, department, and/or institution when writing papers. For instance, an abstract and keywords are not required for APA Style student papers, although an instructor may request them in student papers that are longer or more complex. Specific questions about a paper being written for a course assignment should be directed to the instructor or institution assigning the paper.

• Discussion post student paper template (DOCX, 31KB)
• Literature review student paper template (DOCX, 37KB)
• Quantitative study student paper template (DOCX, 53KB)

Sample papers in real life

Although published articles differ in format from manuscripts submitted for publication or student papers (e.g., different line spacing, font, margins, and column format), articles published in APA journals provide excellent demonstrations of APA Style in action.

APA journals began publishing papers in seventh edition APA Style in 2020. Professional authors should check the author submission guidelines for the journal to which they want to submit their paper for any journal-specific style requirements.

Credits for sample professional paper templates

Quantitative professional paper template: Adapted from “Fake News, Fast and Slow: Deliberation Reduces Belief in False (but Not True) News Headlines,” by B. Bago, D. G. Rand, and G. Pennycook, 2020, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General , 149 (8), pp. 1608–1613 ( https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000729 ). Copyright 2020 by the American Psychological Association.

Qualitative professional paper template: Adapted from “‘My Smartphone Is an Extension of Myself’: A Holistic Qualitative Exploration of the Impact of Using a Smartphone,” by L. J. Harkin and D. Kuss, 2020, Psychology of Popular Media , 10 (1), pp. 28–38 ( https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000278 ). Copyright 2020 by the American Psychological Association.

Mixed methods professional paper template: Adapted from “‘I Am a Change Agent’: A Mixed Methods Analysis of Students’ Social Justice Value Orientation in an Undergraduate Community Psychology Course,” by D. X. Henderson, A. T. Majors, and M. Wright, 2019,  Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology , 7 (1), 68–80. ( https://doi.org/10.1037/stl0000171 ). Copyright 2019 by the American Psychological Association.

Literature review professional paper template: Adapted from “Rethinking Emotions in the Context of Infants’ Prosocial Behavior: The Role of Interest and Positive Emotions,” by S. I. Hammond and J. K. Drummond, 2019, Developmental Psychology , 55 (9), pp. 1882–1888 ( https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000685 ). Copyright 2019 by the American Psychological Association.

Review professional paper template: Adapted from “Joining the Conversation: Teaching Students to Think and Communicate Like Scholars,” by E. L. Parks, 2022, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology , 8 (1), pp. 70–78 ( https://doi.org/10.1037/stl0000193 ). Copyright 2020 by the American Psychological Association.

Credits for sample student paper templates

These papers came from real students who gave their permission to have them edited and posted by APA.

Have a language expert improve your writing

Run a free plagiarism check in 10 minutes, generate accurate citations for free.

• Knowledge Base
• Academic writing
• A step-by-step guide to the writing process

The Writing Process | 5 Steps with Examples & Tips

Published on April 24, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on December 8, 2023.

Good academic writing requires effective planning, drafting, and revision.

The writing process looks different for everyone, but there are five basic steps that will help you structure your time when writing any kind of text.

Receive feedback on language, structure, and formatting

Professional editors proofread and edit your paper by focusing on:

• Academic style
• Vague sentences
• Style consistency

See an example

Table of contents

Step 1: prewriting, step 2: planning and outlining, step 3: writing a first draft, step 4: redrafting and revising, step 5: editing and proofreading, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about the writing process.

Before you start writing, you need to decide exactly what you’ll write about and do the necessary research.

Coming up with a topic

If you have to come up with your own topic for an assignment, think of what you’ve covered in class— is there a particular area that intrigued, interested, or even confused you? Topics that left you with additional questions are perfect, as these are questions you can explore in your writing.

The scope depends on what type of text you’re writing—for example, an essay or a research paper will be less in-depth than a dissertation topic . Don’t pick anything too ambitious to cover within the word count, or too limited for you to find much to say.

Narrow down your idea to a specific argument or question. For example, an appropriate topic for an essay might be narrowed down like this:

Doing the research

Once you know your topic, it’s time to search for relevant sources and gather the information you need. This process varies according to your field of study and the scope of the assignment. It might involve:

• Searching for primary and secondary sources .
• Reading the relevant texts closely (e.g. for literary analysis ).
• Collecting data using relevant research methods (e.g. experiments , interviews or surveys )

From a writing perspective, the important thing is to take plenty of notes while you do the research. Keep track of the titles, authors, publication dates, and relevant quotations from your sources; the data you gathered; and your initial analysis or interpretation of the questions you’re addressing.

Especially in academic writing , it’s important to use a logical structure to convey information effectively. It’s far better to plan this out in advance than to try to work out your structure once you’ve already begun writing.

Creating an essay outline is a useful way to plan out your structure before you start writing. This should help you work out the main ideas you want to focus on and how you’ll organize them. The outline doesn’t have to be final—it’s okay if your structure changes throughout the writing process.

Use bullet points or numbering to make your structure clear at a glance. Even for a short text that won’t use headings, it’s useful to summarize what you’ll discuss in each paragraph.

An outline for a literary analysis essay might look something like this:

• Describe the theatricality of Austen’s works
• Outline the role theater plays in Mansfield Park
• Introduce the research question: How does Austen use theater to express the characters’ morality in Mansfield Park ?
• Discuss Austen’s depiction of the performance at the end of the first volume
• Discuss how Sir Bertram reacts to the acting scheme
• Introduce Austen’s use of stage direction–like details during dialogue
• Explore how these are deployed to show the characters’ self-absorption
• Discuss Austen’s description of Maria and Julia’s relationship as polite but affectionless
• Compare Mrs. Norris’s self-conceit as charitable despite her idleness
• Summarize the three themes: The acting scheme, stage directions, and the performance of morals
• Answer the research question
• Indicate areas for further study

Once you have a clear idea of your structure, it’s time to produce a full first draft.

This process can be quite non-linear. For example, it’s reasonable to begin writing with the main body of the text, saving the introduction for later once you have a clearer idea of the text you’re introducing.

To give structure to your writing, use your outline as a framework. Make sure that each paragraph has a clear central focus that relates to your overall argument.

Hover over the parts of the example, from a literary analysis essay on Mansfield Park , to see how a paragraph is constructed.

The character of Mrs. Norris provides another example of the performance of morals in Mansfield Park . Early in the novel, she is described in scathing terms as one who knows “how to dictate liberality to others: but her love of money was equal to her love of directing” (p. 7). This hypocrisy does not interfere with her self-conceit as “the most liberal-minded sister and aunt in the world” (p. 7). Mrs. Norris is strongly concerned with appearing charitable, but unwilling to make any personal sacrifices to accomplish this. Instead, she stage-manages the charitable actions of others, never acknowledging that her schemes do not put her own time or money on the line. In this way, Austen again shows us a character whose morally upright behavior is fundamentally a performance—for whom the goal of doing good is less important than the goal of seeming good.

When you move onto a different topic, start a new paragraph. Use appropriate transition words and phrases to show the connections between your ideas.

The goal at this stage is to get a draft completed, not to make everything perfect as you go along. Once you have a full draft in front of you, you’ll have a clearer idea of where improvement is needed.

Give yourself a first draft deadline that leaves you a reasonable length of time to revise, edit, and proofread before the final deadline. For a longer text like a dissertation, you and your supervisor might agree on deadlines for individual chapters.

Now it’s time to look critically at your first draft and find potential areas for improvement. Redrafting means substantially adding or removing content, while revising involves making changes to structure and reformulating arguments.

Evaluating the first draft

It can be difficult to look objectively at your own writing. Your perspective might be positively or negatively biased—especially if you try to assess your work shortly after finishing it.

It’s best to leave your work alone for at least a day or two after completing the first draft. Come back after a break to evaluate it with fresh eyes; you’ll spot things you wouldn’t have otherwise.

When evaluating your writing at this stage, you’re mainly looking for larger issues such as changes to your arguments or structure. Starting with bigger concerns saves you time—there’s no point perfecting the grammar of something you end up cutting out anyway.

Right now, you’re looking for:

• Arguments that are unclear or illogical.
• Areas where information would be better presented in a different order.
• Passages where additional information or explanation is needed.
• Passages that are irrelevant to your overall argument.

For example, in our paper on Mansfield Park , we might realize the argument would be stronger with more direct consideration of the protagonist Fanny Price, and decide to try to find space for this in paragraph IV.

For some assignments, you’ll receive feedback on your first draft from a supervisor or peer. Be sure to pay close attention to what they tell you, as their advice will usually give you a clearer sense of which aspects of your text need improvement.

Redrafting and revising

Once you’ve decided where changes are needed, make the big changes first, as these are likely to have knock-on effects on the rest. Depending on what your text needs, this step might involve:

• Making changes to your overall argument.
• Reordering the text.
• Cutting parts of the text.
• Adding new text.

You can go back and forth between writing, redrafting and revising several times until you have a final draft that you’re happy with.

Think about what changes you can realistically accomplish in the time you have. If you are running low on time, you don’t want to leave your text in a messy state halfway through redrafting, so make sure to prioritize the most important changes.

Editing focuses on local concerns like clarity and sentence structure. Proofreading involves reading the text closely to remove typos and ensure stylistic consistency. You can check all your drafts and texts in minutes with an AI proofreader .

Editing for grammar and clarity

When editing, you want to ensure your text is clear, concise, and grammatically correct. You’re looking out for:

• Grammatical errors.
• Ambiguous phrasings.
• Redundancy and repetition .

In your initial draft, it’s common to end up with a lot of sentences that are poorly formulated. Look critically at where your meaning could be conveyed in a more effective way or in fewer words, and watch out for common sentence structure mistakes like run-on sentences and sentence fragments:

• Austen’s style is frequently humorous, her characters are often described as “witty.” Although this is less true of Mansfield Park .
• Austen’s style is frequently humorous. Her characters are often described as “witty,” although this is less true of Mansfield Park .

To make your sentences run smoothly, you can always use a paraphrasing tool to rewrite them in a clearer way.

Proofreading for small mistakes and typos

When proofreading, first look out for typos in your text:

• Spelling errors.
• Missing words.
• Confused word choices .
• Punctuation errors .
• Missing or excess spaces.

Use a grammar checker , but be sure to do another manual check after. Read through your text line by line, watching out for problem areas highlighted by the software but also for any other issues it might have missed.

For example, in the following phrase we notice several errors:

• Mary Crawfords character is a complicate one and her relationships with Fanny and Edmund undergoes several transformations through out the novel.
• Mary Crawford’s character is a complicated one, and her relationships with both Fanny and Edmund undergo several transformations throughout the novel.

Proofreading for stylistic consistency

There are several issues in academic writing where you can choose between multiple different standards. For example:

• Whether you use the serial comma .
• Whether you use American or British spellings and punctuation (you can use a punctuation checker for this).
• Where you use numerals vs. words for numbers.
• How you capitalize your titles and headings.

Unless you’re given specific guidance on these issues, it’s your choice which standards you follow. The important thing is to consistently follow one standard for each issue. For example, don’t use a mixture of American and British spellings in your paper.

Additionally, you will probably be provided with specific guidelines for issues related to format (how your text is presented on the page) and citations (how you acknowledge your sources). Always follow these instructions carefully.

If you want to know more about AI for academic writing, AI tools, or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

• Ad hominem fallacy
• Post hoc fallacy
• Appeal to authority fallacy
• False cause fallacy
• Sunk cost fallacy
• Deep learning
• Generative AI
• Machine learning
• Reinforcement learning
• Supervised vs. unsupervised learning

 (AI) Tools

• Grammar Checker
• Paraphrasing Tool
• Text Summarizer
• AI Detector
• Plagiarism Checker
• Citation Generator

Revising, proofreading, and editing are different stages of the writing process .

• Revising is making structural and logical changes to your text—reformulating arguments and reordering information.
• Editing refers to making more local changes to things like sentence structure and phrasing to make sure your meaning is conveyed clearly and concisely.
• Proofreading involves looking at the text closely, line by line, to spot any typos and issues with consistency and correct them.

Whether you’re publishing a blog, submitting a research paper , or even just writing an important email, there are a few techniques you can use to make sure it’s error-free:

• Take a break : Set your work aside for at least a few hours so that you can look at it with fresh eyes.
• Proofread a printout : Staring at a screen for too long can cause fatigue – sit down with a pen and paper to check the final version.
• Use digital shortcuts : Take note of any recurring mistakes (for example, misspelling a particular word, switching between US and UK English , or inconsistently capitalizing a term), and use Find and Replace to fix it throughout the document.

If you want to be confident that an important text is error-free, it might be worth choosing a professional proofreading service instead.

If you’ve gone over the word limit set for your assignment, shorten your sentences and cut repetition and redundancy during the editing process. If you use a lot of long quotes , consider shortening them to just the essentials.

If you need to remove a lot of words, you may have to cut certain passages. Remember that everything in the text should be there to support your argument; look for any information that’s not essential to your point and remove it.

To make this process easier and faster, you can use a paraphrasing tool . With this tool, you can rewrite your text to make it simpler and shorter. If that’s not enough, you can copy-paste your paraphrased text into the summarizer . This tool will distill your text to its core message.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Caulfield, J. (2023, December 08). The Writing Process | 5 Steps with Examples & Tips. Scribbr. Retrieved September 9, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/academic-writing/writing-process/

Is this article helpful?

Jack Caulfield

Other students also liked, how to create a structured research paper outline | example, quick guide to proofreading | what, why and how to proofread, academic paragraph structure | step-by-step guide & examples, what is your plagiarism score.