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Research Essay

The main goal of a research paper is to investigate a particular issue and provide new perspectives or solutions. The writer uses their own original research and/or evaluation of others' research to present a unique, sound, and convincing argument.

Although the final version of a research paper should be well-organized, logical, and clear, the path to writing one is not a straight line. It involves research, critical thinking, source evaluation, organization, and writing. These stages are not linear; instead, the writer weaves back and forth, and the paper's focus and argument grows and changes throughout the process.

Click on the Timeline for a visual representation of the timeline. Click on the Checklist for a document containing the checklist items for a research essay.

Step 1: Getting Started

A: understand your assignment 1%.

Determine exactly what the assignment is asking you to do. Read the assignment carefully to determine the topic, purpose, audience, format, and length. For more information, see the Writing and Communication Centre's resource  Understanding your assignment .

B:  Conduct preliminary research 3%   

Do some general reading about your topic to figure out:

• what are the current issues in your subject area?
• is there enough information for you to proceed?

See the Library's resource  Conduct preliminary research (PDF) .

C:  Narrow your topic 3%

Use traditional journalistic questions (who, what, where, when, why) to focus on a specific aspect of your topic. It will make your paper more manageable, and you will be more likely to succeed in writing something with depth. Read more about  Developing and narrowing a research topic (PDF) .

D: Develop a research question 3%

A research question guides your research. It provides boundaries, so that when you gather resources you focus only on information that helps to answer your question. See the Writing and Communication Centre's resource  Develop a research question (PDF) .

Step 2: Research

A: design your research strategy 5%.

List the types of literature that may contain useful information for your topic, and isolate the main concepts. Use these concepts to build a list of relevant/useful search terms. For more information, see the Library's resource on Effective research strategies (PDF) .  

This Search statement worksheet (PDF) can help you organize your research strategy.

B: Find and evaluate sources 10%

Not all sources are equally useful. The content of sources you choose must be relevant and current, and you need to make sure you're using academically valid sources such as peer-reviewed journal articles and books. See the Library's resource on  Evaluating your search results critically  and the  RADAR Evaluation Method (PDF) .

C: Conduct research 20%

Gather your information and keep careful track of your sources as you go along. See the Library's resource  Conducting research and note taking (PDF) .

Step3: Organizing your essay

A: move from research to writing: how to think 8%  .

This critical step involves using the information you've gathered to form your own ideas. This resource can help you get the most out of what you're reading: Reading and listening critically . You've read a good deal of information and now you have to analyze and synthesize it into something new and worth writing about. See How to think: move from research to writing (PDF) for the kind of questions that can guide you through this process.

B: Develop a thesis statement 3%

A strong thesis statement is the cornerstone of a good research essay. Your thesis needs to be clean, concise, focused, and supportable. In most cases, it should also be debatable.

C: Outline the structure of your paper 4%

Organize your ideas and information into topics and subtopics. Outline the order in which you will write about the topics. For more information on how create a good outline, see  Two ways to create an outline: graphic and linear .

Step 4: Writing the first draft

Time to get writing! A first draft is a preliminary attempt to get ideas down on paper. It's okay if your ideas aren't completely formed yet. Let go of perfection and write quickly. You can revise later.

For additional help, check out the Writing and Communication Centre's resource on  Writing a first draft .

Step 5: Revising and proofreading

A: evaluate your first draft and conduct additional research as needed 10%.

Determine if there are any gaps in your draft. Do you have enough evidence to support your arguments? If you don't, you should conduct further research.

B: Revise your draft 5%

Print out your paper and work from a hard copy. Read it carefully and look for higher order problems first, such as organization, structure, and argument development. For more help with these higher order issues, check out the tips for revision . 

C: Evaluate your second draft and rewrite as needed 5%

Narrow your focus to paragraph-level issues such as evidence, analysis, flow, and transitions. To improve your flow and transitions, see the Writing and Communication Centre's resource on Transition words .

D: Proofread and put your paper into its final format 5%

Last step! Read carefully to catch all those small errors. Here are some tips on Proofreading strategies . Also take time to make sure your paper adheres to the conventions of the style guide you're using. Think about titles, margins, page numbers, reference lists, and citations.

The University of Waterloo's Writing and Communication Centre has a number of resources that can help you in revising and proofreading. 

Tips for writing: 

• Active and passive voice (PDF)
• Writing concisely (PDF)
• Writing checklist (PDF)

Style Guides:

• APA style guide (PDF)
• Chicago author-date style guide (PDF)
• IEEE style guide (PDF)
• MLA style guide

The Second Liquidator Court for Criminal Cases of Panama’s First Judicial Circuit acquitted Friday all defendants in the “ Panama Papers ” and “ Operation Car Wash ” cases. This landmark legal process involved 28 individuals in the “Panama Papers” case, stemming from the leaked documents of the now-defunct Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca & Co., and 31 people in the “Car Wash” case, which implicated various global figures in money laundering schemes. Due to similarities in the accused parties and the facts under investigation, the Brazilian “Car Wash” scandal was consolidated with the “Panama Papers” case in a single file by the Prosecutor’s Office.

According to a statement from Panama’s judicial body, Judge Baloísa Marquínez of the Second Liquidator Court for Criminal Cases found significant flaws in the evidence presented for the “Panama Papers” case. The electronic evidence from Mossack Fonseca’s servers, submitted in paper format, failed to meet the required chain of custody standards. Moreover, the court determined that this evidence did not comply with digital evidence principles, particularly noting the absence of crucial “hash” values necessary for verifying the authenticity and integrity of digital data. Consequently, Judge Marquínez concluded that the remaining evidence was insufficient and inconclusive to establish criminal liability for the accused parties. Regarding the “Car Wash” case, the statement indicated that investigators could not definitively prove the entry of illicit funds from Brazil into the Panamanian financial system was to conceal or evade legal consequences of preceding crimes.

The “Panama Papers” scandal, which erupted in April 2016, stemmed from an unprecedented leak of 11.5 million digital files from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca & Co. Initially obtained by the German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung and shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), the documents received worldwide media coverage. The leaked files revealed how a global elite, including politicians, heads of state, billionaires, and sports figures, utilized offshore companies to conceal properties, businesses, assets, and profits, potentially for tax evasion or money laundering.

This exposure prompted international discussions on financial transparency and offshore banking regulations, highlighting the role of tax havens such as Panama and the British Virgin Islands. The scandal’s impact extended beyond individual cases, raising broader questions about global financial practices and the need for enhanced oversight in international finance.

On the other hand, the “Car Wash” investigation, originally known as “Operação Lava Jato” in Brazil, began innocuously with a probe into suspected money laundering at a Brasilia car wash. However, it quickly evolved into one of the largest corruption scandals in Latin American history. Through meticulous investigation and strategic use of plea bargains, prosecutors unraveled an intricate web of corruption centered around Petrobras, Brazil’s state-owned oil giant.

At the heart of the scandal lay a sophisticated bribery scheme involving inflated contracts between Petrobras and numerous construction firms. The excess funds from these contracts were systematically funneled to a diverse array of beneficiaries, including politicians across party lines, corporate executives, and various intermediaries. As the investigation deepened, it became clear that the corruption extended far beyond Brazil’s borders. The scandal’s tentacles reached across Latin America as evidence emerged that implicated construction companies had secured lucrative contracts with multiple governments through extensive bribery. Odebrecht, a Brazilian construction conglomerate, stood out as a particularly egregious offender, allegedly dispersing an estimated $800 million in bribes across several countries.

Twenty-sixth Amendment made US voting age 18

On June 30, 1971, the 26th Amendment to the US Constitution was ratified, making the legal voting age 18. Learn more about the history surrounding the passage of the 26th Amendment.

DRC gains independence, Congo crisis begins shortly thereafter

On June 30, 1960, the Congo gained independence from Belgium. Soon afterwards, the Congolese military mutinied, touching off the Congo Crisis that would compel UN and Belgian intervention and concluded with the installation of Mobutu Sese Seko as dictator of the country, which was renamed Zaire. Learn more about the Congo Crisis from the Internet Archive.

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Guest Essay

How to Help Americans Eat Less Junk Food

By Kat Morgan and Mark Bittman

Ms. Morgan is a food systems consultant. Mr. Bittman is a former Opinion columnist and a special adviser on food at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health.

Whether you shop for food in a traditional grocery store, a big-box store, a bodega or a gas station, you’ll have to contend with the reality that many if not most of your options are junk — highly processed foods often loaded with sugar, salt and chemical additives.

You’ll also have to contend with a haze of aggressive marketing — words like “low fat,” “gluten-free,” “paleo,” “keto-friendly” and “a good source of fiber” — that doesn’t answer the fundamental question: Is this food good for me? An orange is a simple enough choice, but a frozen dinner? There is little reliable guidance available for people who don’t have the time, patience or skill to analyze the dense nutrition labels on food packaging.

What could help is a system giving consumers important nutrition information at a glance on the front of a package: a warning sign that a high-sugar soda or breakfast cereal product, for example, is an unhealthy choice. The bold move here would be to steer people away from food that’s bad for them.

These kinds of labels, of course, are the last thing most large food manufacturers want on their products. But a few countries mostly in Latin America have begun to require or encourage such labeling, and there’s some early evidence that it’s already having a positive effect on the way people eat.

Some countries in the European Union use a system called Nutri-Score that grades food products on a scale from A (most healthy) to E (least healthy).

These chips sold in France received a C grade because of their salt and fat content.

Several other countries use a traffic light system to inform consumers about high (red), medium (orange) and low (green) levels of sugar, sodium, calories and fat.

That label takes up much of the space on this to-go packet of Nutella sold in Ecuador.

Chile and six other countries use black octagons to warn about high amounts of sugar, sodium, fat and calories.

Research suggests that this type of labeling has been more successful than the traffic light and Nutri-Score systems.

With some 60 percent of the American diet coming from processed foods — foods that have been linked to an increased risk for diabetes, heart disease and some cancers in the United States — it’s time for our government to update our labels with warnings, too.

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