Research Paper How-Tos: A Useless Form of Providing Help

Seeking help with writing assignments, students might find various sources of information, which is usually found online. There is a single category of information that can be distinguished among the help provided online, which is how-to articles.

How-to articles usually follow a fixed format that can be applied to different topics, not just academic writing. Research paper how-tos, in that regard, are articles which provide help on writing research papers.

With such articles being popular over the internet, this article argues that such form of help is not useful in the case of research paper how-tos. Thus, this article will attempt to explain the aforementioned statement through analyzing common research paper how-tos found on the internet.

The Common Structure of Research Paper How-Tos

Research paper how-tos mostly take an instructional form, in which the process of writing is represented through numbered steps. Research paper how-tos might take a general approach, covering all the steps of writing a research paper, or a more specific approach, outlining a specific topic, e.g. research paper introductions, research paper structure, etc.

One of the main characteristics of research paper how-tos is its short length, in which the information is focused and does not contain redundant wording. The latter is mostly achieved through the usage of bullet points and/or numbered steps.

Disadvantages of Research Paper How-Tos

The main disadvantages of research paper how-tos are expressed through the main characteristics of such type of help, i.e. being brief and numbered. For such a complex process as writing a research paper, using such approach will result in that the provided information will be shallow and superficial.

University guides on writing research papers are usually large in volume, which makes it difficult to summarize the process of writing a research paper in a single webpage article.