How to Write a Political Science Research Paper

A good Political science research paper is one that conveys the findings of the research in a way that can conveniently and very easily be understood by the reader or the targeted audience. Many things go into writing a good research paper and one such important issue is organization. Without organization, a reader is likely to get confused about the contents of the paper, and this means that it will be next to impossible to write a good research paper if organization of the research paper is not taken seriously. If one does not document the results of the research in an organized way, it also means that the findings of the research will be as good as lost to everyone except the individual that carried out the research.

A typical political research paper should be organized right from the abstract and introduction paragraphs to the conclusion and bibliography pages, respectively. The introduction of the essay should be organized in a way to enable a reader to quickly take note of the purpose of the research and the main issues being explored in the research paper. The body of the paper should be organized in a way to provide a good background, some of the main facts being discussed, a literature review section, a methodology section, a results section, and a discussion of the results section.

The conclusion of the research paper should also be organized so it describes the issues determined in the essay and this is why recapping the main issues explored in the research paper is important. Apart from organization, the other thing very important to essay writing is the style of writing. In most cases, the instructor or examiner of the research paper makes a point of letting the writer know the style to be used in writing the paper. However, if no style is indicated, it is always recommended that one uses the American Psychological Association (APA) style. As one writes the research paper using this style, one should always strive to write a well-organized paper that clearly presents the facts, theories discussed, and the analysis of the findings. Also, the sentences should be clear and contain words that can very easily be understood. This does not mean that one should completely avoid the use of certain vocabularies; rather; one should limit the use of vocabularies and only make use of the necessary terminologies. If one uses too many vocabularies, the reader may not easily understand the contents of the political science research paper and this will defeat the paper’s main purpose.