How to Start a Research Paper: 7 Steps to Get Moving

What Does It Mean to "Start" a Research Paper?

Starting a research paper means completing the pre-writing stage, topic selection, preliminary research, and planning before drafting begins. It does NOT mean writing your introduction first. It means doing everything that happens before the first sentence goes down.

That distinction matters more than most students realize. Students who skip the pre-writing stage end up rewriting large chunks of their paper later and sometimes the whole thing, because they didn't know where they were going. The steps below eliminate that problem. If you nail steps 1 through 6, the actual writing becomes a matter of execution, not discovery.

For everything that comes after the pre-writing stage, the full writing process, structure, and revision check out our guide on how to write a research paper.

7 Steps to Start a Research Paper

Step 1: Choose a Focused Topic

Pick something you're genuinely curious about. You're going to spend a lot of time with this topic, so caring about it even a little makes a real difference. If your professor gave you complete freedom, that's both a gift and a trap as too many options leads to paralysis.

The key rule: not too broad, not too narrow. "Climate change" is too broad , you can't do it justice in 10 pages. "The effect of permafrost thaw on methane emissions in Siberia between 2010 and 2020" is a focused topic. A quick test: can you realistically write 5–10 pages on this? If yes, the scope is probably right.

If you're stuck narrowing down a broad area, try asking yourself: what specific aspect of this topic do I actually want to understand better? That question usually points you toward a workable angle. You can also work backwards from a controversy or debate within your subject, papers that take a position on a real academic disagreement tend to be stronger than purely descriptive ones.

Need help picking? Browse our list of research paper topics to get ideas and see how different topics can be narrowed down.

Step 2: Do a Preliminary Literature Search

Before you commit to a topic, spend 20–30 minutes scanning what's already out there. You're not doing deep research yet, you're checking two things: is there enough material, and what angles have already been covered?

Start with Google Scholar, JSTOR, PubMed, or your university library database. Search your topic, skim titles and abstracts, and take quick notes. If you can find 10–15 credible sources in 30 minutes, you're in good shape. If you find almost nothing, you'll need to either broaden your topic or change it entirely.

Pay attention to what the existing literature focuses on. If most papers approach your topic from one angle and you want to argue something different, you're finding your contribution. That gap between what's been studied and what hasn't is often where the strongest research questions live.

This step saves hours of frustration later. For a deeper look at locating strong sources, see our guide on how to find sources for a research paper.

Step 3: Form Your Research Question

A research question turns your topic into a direction. Without one, your paper has no spine. Your topic is the subject; your research question is what you're actually trying to answer.

A good research question is specific, researchable, and not answerable with a simple yes or no. Here's the difference:

• Topic: Social media and teenagers
  
• Research question: How does daily social media use affect self-reported anxiety levels in high school students?
  

The second version tells you exactly what to look for. Once you've got your research question locked in, you can learn how to write a research question that's tight enough to guide your whole paper. You may also need a research paper hypothesis if you're writing an empirical study.

Step 4: Define Your Thesis or Hypothesis

Once you have a research question, you need a central argument or prediction that your paper will build around. A thesis is the core claim of an argumentative paper, the position you'll defend. A hypothesis is a testable prediction used in empirical research.

You don't need a perfect thesis at this stage. A working thesis is fine. The goal is to have a compass that keeps your research focused. For a full breakdown, see our guides on your research paper thesis statement and hypothesis.

Step 5: Build Your Outline

An outline is the skeleton of your paper. You wouldn't build a house without blueprints, and you shouldn't write a research paper without a structure.

A typical research paper includes: an introduction, literature review, methods (if applicable), results/findings, discussion, and conclusion. Map out those sections, then jot down the key points you want to hit under each one. Gaps will show up immediately and that's the whole point. Spotting them now, before you write, saves serious time.

Don't overthink the outline. It doesn't need to be perfect, and it will change as you write. Think of it as a working map, not a final plan. Even a rough outline, five bullet points per section is enough to keep you from going off track mid-paper. Get the full breakdown in our research paper outline guide.

Step 6: Gather Your Sources

Now that you know what you're arguing and how your paper is structured, go deep on research. Use academic databases, books, and credible websites. Take notes as you go, and  this is critical as you record your citation information the moment you find a source.

Trying to track down page numbers and publication dates after the fact is painful and completely avoidable. Set up a simple document or use a free citation manager like Zotero or Mendeley from the start. When you find a source worth keeping, paste in the full citation before you close the tab.

As you gather sources, group them by which section of your outline they'll support. This keeps your notes organized and makes the actual writing phase much smoother. By the time you sit down to write, you should have 8–15 sources ready, with notes on the key points from each. For help with formatting, see our guide on how to cite a research paper.

Step 7: Write Your First Sentence

This is where pre-writing ends and writing begins. And here's the thing most students get wrong: you don't have to start with the introduction.

Many experienced writers draft the body first and come back to the introduction at the end. Your intro needs to accurately frame the paper you actually wrote, and you can't know that until you've written it. So pick whichever section feels most approachable and start there. Most of the time, that's your strongest argument or the section you understand best.

When you're ready to write that opening sentence, go for impact. A bold claim, a specific statistic, or a pointed question all work well. Skip the vague warm-up sentences like "Throughout history, people have debated..." and get straight to the point. Reviewers and professors have seen thousands of those openings so they'll notice if you don't.

The real goal of step 7 is simple: get words down. Imperfect words you can edit are better than perfect words that don't exist yet. For a full walkthrough of structuring your introduction, check out our guide on how to write your research paper introduction.

Tips for Starting a Research Paper Without Burning Out

Starting is the hardest part, but these habits make it a lot more manageable.

• Read broadly before you commit: 

Before locking in a topic, spend time reading around the subject. You'll find angles you didn't know existed, and your research question will be sharper for it. Even 30 minutes of exploratory reading can redirect you toward a much stronger paper than you would have written otherwise.

• Set a goal for each session:

"I'll work on my research paper tonight" is not a plan. "I'll finish my outline by 9pm" is. Breaking the paper into small, specific tasks makes the whole thing feel less overwhelming, and it gives you a real sense of progress when you hit each one.

• Start before you're ready:

Perfectionism kills more research papers than procrastination does. You don't need the perfect topic, perfect sources, or the perfect thesis before you begin. A working draft beats no draft every time. Commit to starting imperfectly, you can fix a draft, but you can't fix a blank page.

• Manage your time like you mean it:

Research papers take longer than students expect. Work backwards from your deadline and assign personal deadlines to each step in this guide. If your paper is due in two weeks, your outline should be done by end of day three, not day eleven.

• Take breaks on purpose:

Grinding for five hours straight without stepping away produces diminishing returns. A 10-minute break every 90 minutes actually speeds up your output. Your brain consolidates information during rest, this isn't laziness, it's how learning works.

• Talk about your topic:

Explain your research question out loud to someone who doesn't know your subject. If you can't explain it clearly in two minutes, your question may still be too vague. Their questions will often reveal gaps you hadn't noticed, and explaining your argument to someone else sharpens it considerably.

• Seek feedback early: 

Show your outline to your professor, TA, or a writing center tutor before you start writing. Catching structural problems at the outline stage costs minutes. Catching them after you've written eight pages costs hours.

• Use a checklist:

If you're managing multiple assignments, a structured research paper checklist keeps you from skipping steps when you're tired or pressed for time.

Conclusion

Starting a research paper doesn't have to mean staring at a blank page for hours. When you break it down into these 7 steps, picking a focused topic, doing preliminary research, forming your research question, nailing your thesis, building your outline, gathering sources, and writing that first sentence, the whole thing becomes a lot less intimidating.

The students who struggle most with research papers aren't the ones who lack ability. They're the ones who skip the pre-writing stage and try to figure everything out as they go. Don't be that student. Spend the time upfront, and the writing almost takes care of itself.

You've got the roadmap. Now it's time to use it.

And if you'd rather hand it off to someone who's done this thousands of times, our service has 100% human writers ready to take it from step one to final submission, starting at just $11/page.