Research paper outline format
Same for MLA and APA research papers

Students regularly ask for help in preparing an outline for a research paper in either MLA paper format or APA paper format. They should be happy to learn that there is just one formal outline format regardless of which style guide they use.

This page will deal exclusively with the presentation outline, the one submitted along with the completed paper. I also note APA and MLA paper format elements that students need to observe in their presentation outlines.

Presentation outline distinctives

The presentation outline is different from a working outline used in preparing the research paper. The presentation outline:

• Uses formal outline procedures and symbols.

• Reflects the writer's final, post-research formulation of his/her thesis statement.

• Omits notes about the information sources.

• May be either a full-sentence or a topic outline (i.e., a sentence fragments outline).

The one characteristic both outlines have is that they outline the support for the thesis statement rather than indicating aspects of the topic.

Outline must be an outline

The research paper outline should indicate only the main points the paper discusses. The actual discussion should be reserved for the paper itself.

The typical research paper outline presented with the final paper has two levels of detail for most points: the Roman numeral points, corresponding to the writing skeleton™ points, and the A, B, C lettered points that summarize the evidence for the points.

There is rarely a need for a third level of detail. However, if a significant portion of a paper consists of analysis of a viewpoint and refutation of it, writers may wish to use a third level to indicate the controversy.

The opposing opinions should be summarized objectively, without indicating the writer's position, like this:

• Forgil opponents say user reports show forgilling fouls groundwater.

• Forgil adherents say no reliable studies support the assertion that forgilling fouls groundwater.

Build from the working outline

Students who built a working outline for their research paper from a writing skeleton™ and add their research findings to it in a computer file as I recommend have very little work to do to build their research paper outline for formal presentation.

They simply make a copy of their completed working outline (source data and all) as their presentation outline basis. Then they follow this procedure:

1. Revise the thesis statement to reflect the research.

If the writer starts out thinking that diagramming is the best way to learn English syntax and ends up thinking that diagramming is the best way only for students with extensive reading background, the thesis must be revised before the presentation outline work begins.

2. Revise the supporting points to reflect the revised thesis.

The supporting points will become the Roman numeral points of the presentation outline.

Writers revise the supporting points primarily as a check on whether the working outline points make sense with the revised thesis. Often writers start with a very forthright statement and decide after researching that a more nuanced statement is required.

Note: Students are advised to make a copy of the outline thus far in a separately named file. The file will all the information necessary for composition.

3. Identify 2-5 significant pieces of evidence for each supporting point.

Students should choose from their evidence summaries those that do not overlap. If several writers say the same thing, the writer has ONE piece of evidence from several authors.

The significant pieces of evidence become the Arabic lettered points for the outline.

4. Remove the source citation data.

The paper is going to include all all the source information in detailed and nuanced form. It is neither necessary or desirable to put it in the outline.

When the four steps are done, the result should be an informal outline that accurately indicates the content of the final paper.

5. Format the outline formally.

The informal outline can be made formal easily by prefacing the main points with a Roman numeral followed by a period and prefacing the supporting points by a capital letter followed by a period. The periods for each level should align vertically. Decimal tabs make that easy.

Or create outline from scratch

Creating the outline from a finished paper is not difficult providing the organization is clear. Here's how to do it:

1. Write the thesis statement in final form reflecting the research.

2. Summarize 2-5 supporting points for the thesis statement.

These are the Roman numeral points.

3. Identify 2-5 significant pieces of evidence for each Roman numeral point.

The evidence must not overlap. If several writers say the same thing, that constitutes ONE piece of evidence mentioned by several authors.

4. If necessary, summarize a significant point of conflict between proponents and opponents of a position as two points at a third level, which will be marked with Arabic numerals.

5. Format the outline, putting a period after each level symbol and lining up the periods for each level vertically. Decimal tabs make this process relatively painless.

Sentence outline or topic outline?

Students should follow the instructor's directions as to the type of outline.

I require my students to work with sentence outlines in the planning stages because the sentence displays relationships between ideas. By the time students ready an outline to include in the final paper, it is way too late for an outline to do them any good, so the issue is moot.

MLA and APA considerations

Although style guides like APA and MLA don't explain how to write a research paper outline, they do specify a format that must be maintained throughout the paper. The outline must follow the style guide with respect to:

• Margins

• Type face and type size used

• Placement of page numbers

• Page heading

• Page footer

Teachers who requirea research paper outline, whether in APA paper format or MLA paper format, should tell students where in the layout they wish the outline to appear and how the outline is to be numbered.