Paper structuresSchool
Middle School Research Report
The first real research paper most students write: a question, several sources, an answer in your own words, and a list of where it came from. Here are its parts and what a teacher looks for.
What it is
A short paper that answers a question using several sources. You find information, put it in your own words, organize it into an answer, and list your sources at the end.
It’s the first rung of the ladder. Nobody expects you to discover something new. The skills being learned are finding sources, telling good ones from bad ones, taking notes without copying, and showing where every fact came from. Every later paper, up to a PhD dissertation, uses the same skills.
In US schools that follow the Common Core standards, this is what seventh-grade writing standard W.7.7 describes: short research projects that answer a question using several sources, and that lead to new questions.
Who reads it
Your teacher, who knows the topic better than you and is checking how you did the research, not just what you found. They want to see that you used more than one source, that you understood what you read, that the words are yours, and that every fact can be traced back to where you found it.
Write as if for a classmate who hasn’t read your sources. If they could follow your report and learn something, it works.
The parts
1Title
Name the topic, and if you can, the question: “Why Do Bees Dance?” says more than “Bees”. Your teacher may want a title page with your name, class and date, or just a heading on the first page. Check the assignment sheet.
2Introduction
One paragraph. Say what the topic is, why it’s interesting, and what question the report answers. End with your main point, a sentence or two that sums up your answer. That sentence is your thesis.
3Body paragraphs
The main part: usually three or more paragraphs, each about one piece of the answer. Start each paragraph with a sentence that says what it’s about, then give facts, examples or quotes from your sources, and explain what they show. Every fact you found somewhere gets a citation, usually the author’s name in parentheses.
Order the paragraphs so they build: background first, then the main points, with the strongest or most surprising one last.
4Conclusion
One paragraph. Answer the question again, in fresh words, and say what it means or why it matters. Many good conclusions end with a question your research raised but couldn’t answer. That’s not a weakness; it’s what the standard asks for.
5Works Cited or Bibliography
A list of every source you used, on its own page at the end. Most middle schools use MLA style: entries in alphabetical order by the author’s last name, each with a hanging indent. Your teacher may give you a different style, or ask for a list of sources you read but didn’t cite.
What this level expects
Several sources, of more than one kind: a book, a website, an encyclopedia article, an interview. Usually three or more; the assignment sheet will say.
Sources you can trust: you’re expected to ask who made each source and whether they know what they’re talking about.
Your own words. Quoting a short line is fine if you put it in quotation marks and cite it. Copying a sentence without quotation marks is plagiarism, even by accident.
A citation for every fact you looked up, plus the Works Cited list at the end.
An answer, not a pile of facts. The report should say something, not just collect things you found.
Process work: many teachers grade notes, an outline or a draft along with the final report.
Common mistakes
Copying and changing a few words. That’s still copying. Read the passage, close the tab, write what you remember, then check it against the source.
Using one source for everything. If the whole report comes from one website, it’s a summary of that website, not research.
A topic that’s too big. “World War II” can’t fit in a few pages. “How did the Navajo Code Talkers help the US in the Pacific?” can.
Forgetting where a fact came from. Write the source next to every note as you take it. Finding it again later takes far longer.
A conclusion that only repeats the introduction. Say what the answer means, not just what it was.
What varies
The details change from teacher to teacher: how long it should be, how many sources, whether you need a title page, MLA or APA, whether you can use Wikipedia (often fine for getting your bearings, rarely accepted as a cited source). The assignment sheet and rubric beat anything on this page. If they don’t say, ask.
Sources & further reading
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