Managing Your “Paper Time”
We’ve already discussed the “term paper all-nighter” for those of you who tend to put things off however most, if not all, term papers and research papers should be approached in a manner that reduces such pressure and increases the odds of creating a brilliant paper and receiving an excellent grade. For the more-punctual student (or the term paper procrastinator, for that matter), Rozakis recommends a 4-week/20 day writing plan [see Schaum’s Quick Guide to Writing Great Research Papers].
The following is an outline of the plan (Rozakis, p. 7):
Task and Timeframe – 4 week Plan (20 days)
1. Select paper topic - ½ day
2. Narrow your topic - ½ day
3. Develop thesis statement - ½
4. Conduct preliminary research - 2 days
5. Take notes - 2 days
6. Develop outline - ½ day
7. Begin first draft - 3 days
8. Conduct further research - 2 days
9. Select and integrate sources found- 1 day
10. Check for appropriate citation and referencing - ½ day
11. Create references or works cited page - ½ day
12. Compose introduction and conclusion - 1 day
13. Proof, edit and revise first draft - 3 days
14. Type final research paper in word processor of choice - 1 day
15. Room to breathe (”wiggle room”) - 2 days
This plan calls for working on your term paper or research paper 5 days out of each of the 4 weeks, which allows you to have your weekends free! And it even buys you 2 extra days of what Rozakis calls “wiggle room” in case of an emergency or a special event. Follow this plan and you won’t need to use excuses like “the dog ate my term paper” or “my hard drive crashed” ever again!