How to Write a History Research Paper

How to Write a Good History Research Paper?

Do you get jitters whenever you have a history research paper assignment? No worries if you are in this situation because you can always grow and develop your writing competencies.

The good news is that you can polish your history skills and garner excellent grades by following pro tips. Our post shares practical history research paper guidelines that guarantee you good grades. Keep reading to discover a practical and easy way of accelerating your writing game to its peak.

What Is a History Research Paper?

Let’s define a history research paper before delving into more details. A history research paper is an academic assignment that offers an in-depth evaluation, analysis, or interpretation of a historical topic based on empirical evidence. This paper resembles an analytical essay but differs in a stronger emphasis on the use of preexisting research, statistical information, and originality of findings.

How to Start a History Research Paper?

They say that the first impression people get of anything becomes the most lasting impression. This statement truly applies to how you start your history paper. This section shows you how to start this paper and progress successfully.

1. Understand the prompt. Being fully aware of the prompt’s details is the first step to composing a great paper. All other efforts, no matter how good they might be, are useless if you digress from what you must Your prompt also contains guidelines on how your tutor expects you to handle the article.
2. Brainstorm and choose a topic. You also need to research possible topics to write about. Researching the existing studies on related subjects is a good starting point to let you see what other authors have written about them.
3. Research the topic. You must select the most appropriate topic and narrow it down to allow its exhaustive discussion within your paper’s scope. Go ahead and research your narrowed topic to get enough materials to write about.
4. Develop a thesis. You have to formulate a thesis after gathering and evaluating research materials. Your thesis statement will give you a strategic direction as you discuss your thoughts and findings.
5. Outline your work. This framework is the best way to hold your thoughts together. It ensures you know what must fit where, and you don’t forget to include anything relevant to the study.
6. Start drafting. Now, you can start writing your assignment. At this stage, don’t worry about perfection, but just write down your materials and findings, as you’ll have a chance to edit and polish the content afterward.
7. Polish your work. Lastly, perfect your work by editing and proofreading it.

How to Structure a History Research Paper?

A correctly structured history paper will attract good grades. You should structure it to flow logically so that readers can navigate it without a problem. It should also follow correct formatting to let readers understand your logical flow of thoughts. Remember, your professor won’t award good grades to a jumbled piece of writing.

Your paper’s structure will include an introduction that features your thesis statement. This introductory section establishes the issue your paper addresses. It shows readers the limits of your inquiry. Therefore, use it to set your paper’s tone, voice, and style. It must also catch and retain the reader’s attention.

The assignment will also have a main body part where you will discuss your findings and analyze them. This section should contain the evidence you gathered to support your thesis.

The paper’s last part or conclusion is your parting shot. It shows readers how your research has contributed to the academic area of historical studies. This section may also cover limitations to your work and point to gaps in the research materials you’ve analyzed. In such cases, you may use it to suggest future studies to address those missing links.

How to End a History Research Paper?

Ending your research task is as important as starting and discussing it. In fact, failing here can erode all the gains you made in the reader’s mind. This section restates your main argument or thesis. It also reminds readers of your arguments’ strengths and restates the most important evidence that supports your findings.

However, don’t make it an empty repetition because it might make your work sound redundant. We recommend the following to help you draft a great conclusion:

• Write your conclusion in clear, simple language.
• Use this section to show opportunities for further research if you didn’t do it in your paper’s discussion section.
• If your paper’s argument or point is complex, summarize it for your readers to improve understanding.
• If you haven’t explained your findings’ significance or are proceeding inductively, use this section as the best opportunity to do so.
• Move from a detailed to a general consideration level that ties back to the topic to the context the intro provided or within a new context that arises from the data.

History Research Paper Outline

Gathering good materials to compose a paper isn’t enough. How will you know what you should do and which materials should fit where and in what quantity? An outline is your framework that organizes your ideas to let you cover all the vital ideas in the topic you want to address. This “masterplan” ensures you don’t forget to include anything your readers need to learn from your research paper. Moreover, it helps you make coherent, logical connections between your main ideas across the paper.

This plan enables you to stay within a given discussion pathway without digressing into discussing anything you didn’t plan. An outline’s other advantage is that it lets you correct structural challenges more easily than if you try to fix them after writing.

Irrespective of the number of paragraphs your research paper will have, a good outline will generally take the following shape.

• Draft your introductory sentence. This sentence is one of the most important sentences of your paper and generates reader interest while introducing your topic.
• Add the ideas. You will include ideas in your outline or complete sentences. These ideas can be at least three supporting sentences or citations from external sources.
• Create a debatable thesis. This primary statement/argument is your introduction’s final sentence with one to three points that act as your paper’s strategic guidepost. It shows your readers where you intend to take them and what your arguments and evidence will focus on.
• Outline a paragraph to support each point in the thesis. You will outline paragraphs to support your thesis statement. Start every paragraph with a topic sentence that progressively addresses points in the thesis. Each paragraph should contain one main idea or claim you must prove and then analyze its evidence before proceeding to the next paragraph.
• Begin the concluding paragraph by restating the paper’s thesis. You will start your closing section by restating your paper’s thesis. You will also need to end the conclusion with a declarative statement that shows your final take on the subject or by suggesting future research to address any gaps you noticed in previous studies.

History Research Paper Introduction

Your paper’s introduction sets the stage for the reader to get on board. A great intro serves the following purposes:

• Helps readers understand your topic’s background so they can get a clear idea without reading the entire piece.
• Explains why your history research paper is worth their time.
• Offers a guide for navigating the body of the paper through the thesis statement that appears at the end.
• Arrests the reader’s interest with a captivating hook to make them want to read the paper.

If your introduction doesn’t meet these criteria, your readers will have a difficult time and feel confused when reading the assignment. In fact, they might even give up at the very start.

So, include the following ingredients in your introduction to make it spicy:

• Your topic’s overview. Start with a general topic overview and narrow it down until you address your paper’s specific subject.
• Previous research. This part should review other scholars’ conclusions regarding your topic, and you may include old and recent studies to prove you know prior research.
• Your paper’s rationale. This section explains why your history topic requires current attention and how it connects to current issues. You may also show any problems with previous theories or reveal gaps in current historical research.
• Describe the methodology you used. It recounts your methodologies to make your paper more credible. This section reveals how you conducted research, describes how you measured results, and explains why you made critical decisions.
• A thesis statement. It contains a thesis statement at the end to summarize the ideas that will run throughout your paper.

History Research Paper Body

Your introduction created expectations in readers’ minds and sharpened their appetite to consume the information you promised to discuss. The next section allows you to discuss these matters in detail and defend your thesis accordingly. The paper’s body contains the evidence and analysis you present to create a narrative supporting your thesis. Remember, a history paper focuses on why and how past events happened to build an understanding of the motives and actions of the people behind them.

Your assignment needs body paragraphs, the number of which varies depending on your paper’s scope. In any case, a well-written research paper has paragraphs that include the following three elements:

1. A topic sentence. This opening sentence makes a claim or states the main idea that develops in the rest of the paragraph. The sentence signals to readers how the paragraph connects to your paper’s larger argument. It shows readers the paragraph’s most important idea.
2. Evidence. You must also help your readers see how you arrived at the claim formulated in the topic sentence. This proof could be a quotation or paraphrased material from a scholarly source, data, or your primary results.
3. Analysis. Besides supporting your claim, tell your readers what you wish them to understand about the proof. Thus, you must analyze data to show how it supports your claim.

History Research Paper Conclusion

Drafting a great conclusion is one of the guidelines that requires special attention. This closing section must summarize what your paper proved without unnecessary repetition. It must also demonstrate the connection you made across the research you conducted. In short, the reader must be able to understand why this study matters or what significance and impact that object had in its relevant historical period.

You should also ensure your conclusion ties up with the introduction. Before polishing it, determine if you need to tweak the introduction to align it with your conclusion to make your paper coherent.

Your history research assignment may also ask further questions if you notice gaps in the materials you researched. Go on and make connections between your research paper and how its issues apply to the modern world. Don’t fear to use your conclusion to focus on what you have learned and what gaps you have spotted on the topic.

APA Format for History Research Papers

This section shares details on how to write a history research paper in APA format. Read on.

1. Title Page

• It contains the assignment’s title, the author’s name, and the institutional affiliation.
• Write your title in upper and lowercase letters centered on the page’s upper half.
• Type the author’s name below the title: first name, middle initial(s), and last name.
• Type the institutional affiliation below the author’s name to show where the author(s) conducted the research.

2. Abstract

• It is a one-paragraph summary of your paper’s key points.
• It should not be indented on the page.
• The abstract’s length in the APA format is 120-150 words.

3. Other formatting nuances

• Use double spacing throughout the paper.
• Use Times New Roman 12pt.
• Apply the author-date citation style for in-text citations.
• Left-align the body text.
• Place 1-inch margins on all sides of the paper.

Closing Remarks

Now, you know that anyone can excel in history research papers without being a writing genius. You only have to follow the tips and insights we provided to get to the peak of the academic writing game. The ball is in your court to utilize these practical hacks to garner high grades and remain on par with your classmates.