How to create a helpful research paper outline

A research paper outline is a structured plan you write before your first draft. It lists your main topics and subtopics in logical order, so the sections of your paper flow and readers can follow your reasoning and supporting data.

To create one: determine your topic, gather your evidence, choose the essay type, lay out your basic sections (introduction, body, conclusion), then slot your arguments and supporting data under each heading.

Once you’ve conducted your research and compiled your data, an outline makes it far easier to write a research paper that supports your findings—and to work out which details to include and which to leave out.

What is a research paper outline?

Write your research paper outline before starting your first draft. The outline maps how you’ll structure your ideas throughout the paper, so you can order the sections of your thesis up front rather than making structural changes after finishing an entire draft.

An outline consists of the main topics and subtopics of your paper, listed in logical order. The main topics become the sections of your research paper, and the subtopics capture the content you want to discuss under each one.

Under each subtopic, you can also jot down items you don’t want to forget, such as:

• Statistics
• Topic ideas
• Paragraph ideas
• Direct quotes
• Data
• Graphs
• Pictures
• Tables
• Facts

Once you start listing these under your main topics, you can focus your thoughts as you plan and write the paper using the evidence you collected.

Why use an outline?

If your research paper doesn’t have a clear, logical order, readers may not understand the ideas you’re sharing—or they may lose interest and stop reading. An outline structures your paper so readers can easily connect the content, ideas, and theories you’re trying to prove.

Are there different kinds of research paper outlines?

Different kinds of research paper outlines look similar but serve different purposes. Some give you a clear road map that thoroughly explores each point. Others help you structure content logically, with a flow and progression of ideas that align closely with your research theme.

The 3 types of outlines

The three outline formats available to research paper writers are:

• Alphanumeric or topic outlines
• Sentence or full-sentence outlines
• Decimal outlines

Each type suits different research, so here’s how they differ.

Alphanumeric or topic outlines

This type segments main headings and subheadings with an alphanumeric arrangement.

Roman numerals, capital letters, numbers, and lowercase letters define the hierarchy of main topic headings, subtopic headings, and third- and fourth-tier subtopic headings (e.g., I, A, 1, a).

This method uses minimal words for each heading. Use it to focus on the organization of the content while checking for unrelated or irrelevant information.

Full-sentence outlines

This type of research paper outline uses the same alphanumeric characters as a topic outline, but each main and subtopic heading is a complete sentence rather than a few words.

Writing full sentences lets you check each point for inaccuracies and inconsistencies before starting the first draft.

Decimal outlines

Instead of alphanumeric characters, the decimal outline uses a decimal numbering system to define headings at every level.

The system shows the logical progression of the content: 1.0 for the main section heading (then 2.0, 3.0, and so on), 1.1 for a subheading, 1.1.1 for a third-tier subheading, and 1.1.1.1 for a fourth tier.

Headings stay short, as in the alphanumeric outline. Decimal outlines help you focus on the content’s overall coherence, which speeds up the writing.

How to write a research paper outline

Before you begin your outline, you need to determine your topic and gather your information. Here are those steps, followed by how to build the outline itself.

1. Determine your topic

You’ll need to establish a topic—the main point you intend to write about.

For example, you may want to research whether influencers are the most beneficial way to promote products in your industry. That topic becomes the main point your essay revolves around.

2. Gather information

You’ll need evidence, data, statistics, and facts to prove or disprove your topic—in this example, that influencers are the best way to promote products in your industry.

Whatever you collect to substantiate your findings goes into the outline to support your topic.

3. Determine the type of essay you’ll be writing

There are many types of essays or research papers, including:

• Argumentative: builds logic and support for an argument
• Cause and effect: explains relationships between specific conditions and their results
• Analytical: presents a claim about what’s being analyzed
• Interpretive: informative and persuasive explanations of how something is perceived
• Experimental: reports on experimental results and the reasoning behind them
• Review: offers an understanding and analysis of primary sources on a given topic
• Definition: defines what a term or concept means
• Persuasive: uses logic and reason to show one idea is more justified than another
• Narrative: tells a story of personal experience from the author’s point of view
• Expository: shows an objective view of a subject by exploring various angles
• Descriptive: describes objects, people, places, experiences, emotions, or situations

Once you know the essay format you’re writing, you’ll know how to structure your outline.

4. Include basic sections

Start structuring your outline with basic sections. Your main topic headings will typically include an introduction, multiple body sections, and a conclusion.

Once you establish the sections, insert the subtopics under each main topic heading.

5. Organize your outline

Say you’re writing an argumentative essay arguing that brand influencers (e.g., social media stars on Instagram or TikTok) are the best way to promote products in your industry.

You’d organize the outline with a main topic section supporting that position. The subtopics hold the reasoning behind your arguments, and the third-tier subtopics hold the supporting evidence and data from your research.

Add another main topic section to counter and respond to opposing arguments. With all the information organized this way, you have the structure to start your argumentative essay draft.

6. Consider compare-and-contrast essays

A compare-and-contrast essay analyzes the differences between two opposing theories or subjects. If your subjects are the same or different in just one aspect, write a point-by-point outline: the main topic headings list that one characteristic, and the subtopic headings list the subjects being compared against it.

If you have multiple items to compare across many characteristics, use a block method outline instead. The main topic headings contain the items to compare, and the subtopic headings contain the aspects in which they’re similar or different.

7. Consider advanced organizers for longer essays

An advanced organizer is a sentence that introduces new topics by connecting already-known information to new information. It can also prepare the reader for what to expect from the essay, a section, or a paragraph.

Advanced organizers make it easier for the reader to process and understand your information. Depending on how often you want to use them, add them to your outline at the end of the introduction, the beginning of a section, or the beginning of each paragraph.

Do outlines need periods (full stops)?

Alphanumeric and decimal topic outlines don’t need periods because the entries usually aren’t complete sentences. Full-sentence outlines, however, should be punctuated like any sentence—periods included.

An example research paper outline

Here’s an alphanumeric outline arguing that brand influencers are the best method of promoting products in a particular industry:

I. Introduction

A. Background information about the issue and the position being argued.

B. Thesis statement: Influencers are the best way to promote products in this industry.

II. Reasons that support the thesis statement

A. Reason or argument #1

1. Supporting evidence

2. Supporting evidence

B. Reason or argument #2

1. Supporting evidence

2. Supporting evidence

C. Reason or argument #3

1. Supporting evidence

2. Supporting evidence

III. Counterarguments and responses

A. Arguments from the other point of view

B. Rebuttals against those arguments

IV. Conclusion

How long is a thesis outline?

There’s no set length for a research paper or thesis outline. It can be as long as it needs to be to organize your thoughts constructively.

You can start with a short outline containing an introduction, background, methodology, data and analysis, and conclusion. Or break these sections into more specific segments according to the content you want to share.

In summary

Knowing the elements of an outline—and how to fit them into a cohesive structure—makes your final paper understandable and interesting to the reader.

It also makes the writing process more efficient and less time-consuming. That’s reason enough to outline before you draft.