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Research Skills: What They Are and How They Benefit You

• Published May 23, 2024

Table of Contents

Research skills give you the ability to gather relevant information from different sources and analyse it critically in order to develop a comprehensive understanding of a subject. Thus, research skills are fundamental to academic success.

Developing these skills will improve your studies, helping you understand subjects better and positioning you for academic success.

That said, how can you develop important research skills? This will explore what research skills are, identify the core ones, and explain how you can develop them.

What Are Research Skills?

Research skills are a set of abilities that allow individuals to find and gather reliable information and then evaluate the information to find answers to questions.

Good research skills are important in academic settings, as finding and critically evaluating relevant information can help you gain a deeper understanding of a subject.

These skills are also important in professional and personal settings. When you graduate and are working in a professional capacity, you’ll often need to analyse sets of data to identify issues and determine how to solve them.

In personal contexts, you’ll always need to assess relevant information to make an informed decision. Whether you’re deciding on a major purchase, choosing a healthcare provider, or planning to make an investment, you’ll need to evaluate options to ensure better decision outcomes.

Different Types of Research Skills

Research skills are categorised into different sub-skills. The most common types are:

Quantitative Skills

Quantitative skills refer to the ability to work with numerical data and perform mathematical and statistical analyses to extract meaningful insights and draw conclusions. 

When you have quantitative skills, you’ll be able to apply mathematical concepts and operations in research design and data analysis. 

You’ll also be proficient in using statistical methods to analyse data and interpreting numerical data to draw meaningful conclusions. 

Analytical Skills

Analytical skills refer to the ability to gather data, evaluate it, and draw sound conclusions. When you have analytical skills, you’ll be able to systematically analyse information to reach a reasonable conclusion. 

Analytical skills are important in problem-solving. They help you to break down complex problems into more manageable components, think critically about the information at hand, analyse root causes, and develop effective solutions.

Qualitative Skills

Qualitative skills refer to the ability to collect, analyse, and interpret non-numerical data. When you have qualitative skills, you’ll be proficient in observation, interviewing, and other methods for collecting qualitative research data. 

You’ll also be able to analyse non-numerical data, such as documents and images, to identify themes, patterns, and meanings.

Research Skills Examples

The core research skills you need for success in academic, professional, and personal contexts include:

Data Collection

Data is at the centre of every research, as data is what you assess to find the answers you seek. Thus, research starts with collecting relevant data.

Depending on the research, there are two broad categories of data you can collect: primary and secondary.

Primary data is generated by the researcher, like data from interviews, observations, or experiments. Secondary data is pre-existing data obtained from different existing databases, like published literature, government reports, etc. 

Thus, data collection is more than gathering information from the Internet. Depending on the research, it can require more advanced skills for conducting experiments to generate your own data.

Source Evaluation

When doing research on any subject (especially when using the Internet), you’ll be amazed at the volume of information you’ll find. And a lot is pure garbage that can compromise your research work.

Thus, an important research skill is being able to dig through the garbage to get to the real facts. This is where source evaluation comes in!

Good research skills call for being able to identify biases, assess the authority of the author, and determine the accuracy of information before using it.

Time Management Skills

Have you ever felt that there is not enough time in a day for all that you need to do? When you already have so much to do, adding research can be overwhelming.

Good time management skills can help you find the time to do all you need to do, including relevant research work, making it an essential research skill.

Time management allows you to plan and manage your research project effectively. It includes breaking down research tasks into more manageable parts, setting priorities, and allocating time to the different stages of the research.

Communication Skills

Communication is an important aspect of every research, as it aids in data collection and sharing research findings. 

Important communication skills needed in research include active listening, active speaking, interviewing, report writing, data visualisation, and presentation, etc.

For example, when research involves collecting primary data via interviews, you must have sound speaking and listening skills. 

When you conclude the research and need to share findings, you’ll need to write a research report and present key findings in easy-to-understand formats like charts. 

Attention to Detail

Attention to detail is the ability to achieve thoroughness and accuracy when doing something. It requires focusing on every aspect of the tasks, even small ones. 

Anything you miss during your research will affect the quality of your research findings. Thus, the ability to pay close attention to details is an important research skill.

You need attention to detail at every stage of the research process. During data collection, it helps you ensure reliable data. 

During analysis, it reduces the risk of error to ensure your results are trustworthy. It also helps you express findings precisely to minimise ambiguity and facilitate understanding.

Note-Taking

Note-taking is exactly what it sounds like—writing down key information during the research process.

Remember that research involves sifting through and taking in a lot of information. It’s impossible to take in all the information and recall it from memory. This is where note-taking comes in!

Note-taking helps you capture key information, making it easier to remember and utilise for the research later. It also involves writing down where to look for important information.

Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is the ability to think rationally and synthesise information in a thoughtful way. It is an important skill needed in virtually all stages of the research process.

For example, when collecting data, you need critical thinking to assess the quality and relevance of data. It can help you identify gaps in data to formulate your research question and hypothesis. 

It can also help you to identify patterns and make reasonable connections when interpreting research findings.

Data Analysis

Data may not mean anything until you analyse it qualitatively or quantitatively (using techniques like Excel or SPSS). For this reason, data analysis analysis is an important research skill.

Researchers need to be able to build hypotheses and test these using appropriate research techniques. This helps to draw meaningful conclusions and gain a comprehensive understanding of research data.

Problem-Solving Skills

Research often involves addressing specific questions and solving problems. For this reason, problem-solving skills are important skills when conducting research. 

Problem-solving skills refer to the ability to identify, analyse, and solve problems effectively. 

With problem-solving skills, you’ll be able to assess a situation, consider various solutions, and choose the most appropriate course of action toward finding a solution.

Benefits of Research Skills

Research skills have many benefits, including:

Enhances Critical Thinking

Research skills and critical thinking are intertwined such that developing one enhances the other.

Research requires people to question assumptions, evaluate evidence, analyse information, and draw conclusions. These activities require you to think critically about the information at hand. Hence, engaging in research enhances critical thinking.

Develops Problem-Solving Skills

Research helps you acquire a set of critical skills that are directly transferable to problem-solving. 

For example, research fosters creative thinking, as it often requires synthesising data from different sources and connecting different concepts. After developing creative thinking via research, you can apply the skill to generate innovative solutions in problem-solving situations. 

Helps in Knowledge Acquisition

Engaging in research is a powerful way to acquire knowledge. Research involves exploring new ideas, and this helps you expand your breadth of knowledge.

It also involves applying research methods and methodologies. So, you’ll acquire knowledge about research methods, enhancing your ability to design and conduct studies in your higher education or professional life.

Why Are Research Skills Important?

Strong research skills offer numerous benefits, especially for students’ academic learning and development. 

When you develop good research skills, you’ll reap great academic rewards that include:

In-Depth Understanding

Conducting research allows you to delve deep into specific topics, helping you gain a thorough understanding of the subject matter beyond what is covered in standard coursework.

Critical Thinking Development

Research involves critical evaluation of information and making informed decisions. This builds your ability to think critically.

This skill will not only help you solve academic problems better, but it’s also crucial to your personal and professional growth.

Encouragement of Independent Learning

Research encourages independent learning. When you engage in research, you seek answers independently. You take the initiative to find, retrieve, and evaluate information relevant to your research.

That helps you develop self-directed study habits. You’ll be able to take ownership of your education and actively seek out information for a better understanding of the subject matter.

Intellectual Curiosity Development

Research skills encourage intellectual curiosity and a love of learning, as they’ll make you explore topics you find intriguing or important. Thus, you’ll be more motivated to explore topics beyond the scope of your coursework.

Enhanced Communication Skills

Research helps you build better interpersonal skills as well as report-writing skills.

Research helps you sharpen your communication skills when you interact with research subjects during data collection. Communicating research findings to an audience also helps sharpen your presentation skills or report writing skills.

Assistance in Career Preparation 

Many professions find people with good research skills. Whether you’ll pursue a career in academia, business, healthcare, or IT, being able to conduct research will make you a valuable asset.

So, researching skills for students prepares you for a successful career when you graduate.

Contribution to Personal Growth

Research also contributes to your personal growth. Know that research projects often come with setbacks, unexpected challenges, and moments of uncertainty. Navigating these difficulties helps you build resilience and confidence.

Acquisition of Time Management Skills

Research projects often come with deadlines. Such research projects force you to set goals, prioritise tasks, and manage your time effectively.

That helps you acquire important time management skills that you can use in other areas of academic life and your professional life when you graduate.

Ways to Improve Research Skills

The ways to improve your research skills involve a combination of learning and practice. 

You should consider enrolling in research-related programmes, learning to use data analysis tools, practising summarising and synthesising information from multiple sources, collaborating with more experienced researchers, and more. 

Looking to improve your research skills? Read our 11 ways to improve research skills article.

How Can I Learn Research Skills?

You can learn research skills using these simple three-point framework:

Clarifying the Objective

Start by articulating the purpose of your research. Identify the specific question you are trying to answer or the problem you are aiming to solve.

Then, determine the scope of your research to help you stay focused and avoid going after irrelevant information.

Cross-Referencing Sources

The next step is to search for existing research on the topic. Use academic databases, journals, books, and reputable online sources.

It’s important to compare information from multiple sources, taking note of consensus among studies and any conflicting findings. 

Also, check the credibility of each source by looking at the author’s expertise, information recency, and reputation of the publication’s outlet.

Organise the Research

Develop a note-taking system to document key findings as you search for existing research. Create a research outline, then arrange your ideas logically, ensuring that each section aligns with your research objective.

As you progress, be adaptable. Be open to refining your research plan as new understanding evolves.

Enrolling in online research programmes can also help you build strong research skills. These programmes combine subject study with academic research project development to help you hone the skills you need to succeed in higher education.

Immerse Education is a foremost provider of online research programmes.

Acquire Research Skills with Immerse Education 

Research skills are essential to academic success. They help you gain an in-depth understanding of subjects, enhance your critical thinking and problem-solving skills, improve your time management skills, and more. 

In addition to boosting you academically, they contribute to your personal growth and prepare you for a successful professional career.

Thankfully, you can learn research skills and reap these benefits. There are different ways to improve research skills, including enrolling in research-based programmes. This is why you need Immerse Education!

Immerse Education provides participants aged 13-18 with unparalleled educational experience. All our programmes are designed by tutors from top global universities and help prepare participants for future success.

Our online research programme expertly combines subject study with academic research projects to help you gain subject matter knowledge and the important research skills you need to succeed in higher education.  With one-on-one tutoring or group sessions from an expert academic from Oxford or Cambridge University and a flexible delivery mode, the programme is designed for you to succeed. Subsequently, enrolling in our accredited Online Research Programme will award students with 8 UCAS points upon completion.

Related Content

11 tips to improve your research skills for academic success.

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

11.1 The Purpose of Research Writing

Learning objectives.

• Identify reasons to research writing projects.
• Outline the steps of the research writing process.

Why was the Great Wall of China built? What have scientists learned about the possibility of life on Mars? What roles did women play in the American Revolution? How does the human brain create, store, and retrieve memories? Who invented the game of football, and how has it changed over the years?

You may know the answers to these questions off the top of your head. If you are like most people, however, you find answers to tough questions like these by searching the Internet, visiting the library, or asking others for information. To put it simply, you perform research.

Whether you are a scientist, an artist, a paralegal, or a parent, you probably perform research in your everyday life. When your boss, your instructor, or a family member asks you a question that you do not know the answer to, you locate relevant information, analyze your findings, and share your results. Locating, analyzing, and sharing information are key steps in the research process, and in this chapter, you will learn more about each step. By developing your research writing skills, you will prepare yourself to answer any question no matter how challenging.

Reasons for Research

When you perform research, you are essentially trying to solve a mystery—you want to know how something works or why something happened. In other words, you want to answer a question that you (and other people) have about the world. This is one of the most basic reasons for performing research.

But the research process does not end when you have solved your mystery. Imagine what would happen if a detective collected enough evidence to solve a criminal case, but she never shared her solution with the authorities. Presenting what you have learned from research can be just as important as performing the research. Research results can be presented in a variety of ways, but one of the most popular—and effective—presentation forms is the research paper . A research paper presents an original thesis, or purpose statement, about a topic and develops that thesis with information gathered from a variety of sources.

If you are curious about the possibility of life on Mars, for example, you might choose to research the topic. What will you do, though, when your research is complete? You will need a way to put your thoughts together in a logical, coherent manner. You may want to use the facts you have learned to create a narrative or to support an argument. And you may want to show the results of your research to your friends, your teachers, or even the editors of magazines and journals. Writing a research paper is an ideal way to organize thoughts, craft narratives or make arguments based on research, and share your newfound knowledge with the world.

Write a paragraph about a time when you used research in your everyday life. Did you look for the cheapest way to travel from Houston to Denver? Did you search for a way to remove gum from the bottom of your shoe? In your paragraph, explain what you wanted to research, how you performed the research, and what you learned as a result.

Research Writing and the Academic Paper

No matter what field of study you are interested in, you will most likely be asked to write a research paper during your academic career. For example, a student in an art history course might write a research paper about an artist’s work. Similarly, a student in a psychology course might write a research paper about current findings in childhood development.

Having to write a research paper may feel intimidating at first. After all, researching and writing a long paper requires a lot of time, effort, and organization. However, writing a research paper can also be a great opportunity to explore a topic that is particularly interesting to you. The research process allows you to gain expertise on a topic of your choice, and the writing process helps you remember what you have learned and understand it on a deeper level.

Research Writing at Work

Knowing how to write a good research paper is a valuable skill that will serve you well throughout your career. Whether you are developing a new product, studying the best way to perform a procedure, or learning about challenges and opportunities in your field of employment, you will use research techniques to guide your exploration. You may even need to create a written report of your findings. And because effective communication is essential to any company, employers seek to hire people who can write clearly and professionally.

Writing at Work

Take a few minutes to think about each of the following careers. How might each of these professionals use researching and research writing skills on the job?

• Medical laboratory technician
• Small business owner
• Information technology professional
• Freelance magazine writer

A medical laboratory technician or information technology professional might do research to learn about the latest technological developments in either of these fields. A small business owner might conduct research to learn about the latest trends in his or her industry. A freelance magazine writer may need to research a given topic to write an informed, up-to-date article.

Think about the job of your dreams. How might you use research writing skills to perform that job? Create a list of ways in which strong researching, organizing, writing, and critical thinking skills could help you succeed at your dream job. How might these skills help you obtain that job?

Steps of the Research Writing Process

How does a research paper grow from a folder of brainstormed notes to a polished final draft? No two projects are identical, but most projects follow a series of six basic steps.

These are the steps in the research writing process:

• Choose a topic.
• Plan and schedule time to research and write.
• Conduct research.
• Organize research and ideas.
• Draft your paper.
• Revise and edit your paper.

Each of these steps will be discussed in more detail later in this chapter. For now, though, we will take a brief look at what each step involves.

Step 1: Choosing a Topic

As you may recall from Chapter 8 “The Writing Process: How Do I Begin?” , to narrow the focus of your topic, you may try freewriting exercises, such as brainstorming. You may also need to ask a specific research question —a broad, open-ended question that will guide your research—as well as propose a possible answer, or a working thesis . You may use your research question and your working thesis to create a research proposal . In a research proposal, you present your main research question, any related subquestions you plan to explore, and your working thesis.

Step 2: Planning and Scheduling

Before you start researching your topic, take time to plan your researching and writing schedule. Research projects can take days, weeks, or even months to complete. Creating a schedule is a good way to ensure that you do not end up being overwhelmed by all the work you have to do as the deadline approaches.

During this step of the process, it is also a good idea to plan the resources and organizational tools you will use to keep yourself on track throughout the project. Flowcharts, calendars, and checklists can all help you stick to your schedule. See Chapter 11 “Writing from Research: What Will I Learn?” , Section 11.2 “Steps in Developing a Research Proposal” for an example of a research schedule.

Step 3: Conducting Research

When going about your research, you will likely use a variety of sources—anything from books and periodicals to video presentations and in-person interviews.

Your sources will include both primary sources and secondary sources . Primary sources provide firsthand information or raw data. For example, surveys, in-person interviews, and historical documents are primary sources. Secondary sources, such as biographies, literary reviews, or magazine articles, include some analysis or interpretation of the information presented. As you conduct research, you will take detailed, careful notes about your discoveries. You will also evaluate the reliability of each source you find.

Step 4: Organizing Research and the Writer’s Ideas

When your research is complete, you will organize your findings and decide which sources to cite in your paper. You will also have an opportunity to evaluate the evidence you have collected and determine whether it supports your thesis, or the focus of your paper. You may decide to adjust your thesis or conduct additional research to ensure that your thesis is well supported.

Remember, your working thesis is not set in stone. You can and should change your working thesis throughout the research writing process if the evidence you find does not support your original thesis. Never try to force evidence to fit your argument. For example, your working thesis is “Mars cannot support life-forms.” Yet, a week into researching your topic, you find an article in the New York Times detailing new findings of bacteria under the Martian surface. Instead of trying to argue that bacteria are not life forms, you might instead alter your thesis to “Mars cannot support complex life-forms.”

Step 5: Drafting Your Paper

Now you are ready to combine your research findings with your critical analysis of the results in a rough draft. You will incorporate source materials into your paper and discuss each source thoughtfully in relation to your thesis or purpose statement.

When you cite your reference sources, it is important to pay close attention to standard conventions for citing sources in order to avoid plagiarism , or the practice of using someone else’s words without acknowledging the source. Later in this chapter, you will learn how to incorporate sources in your paper and avoid some of the most common pitfalls of attributing information.

Step 6: Revising and Editing Your Paper

In the final step of the research writing process, you will revise and polish your paper. You might reorganize your paper’s structure or revise for unity and cohesion, ensuring that each element in your paper flows into the next logically and naturally. You will also make sure that your paper uses an appropriate and consistent tone.

Once you feel confident in the strength of your writing, you will edit your paper for proper spelling, grammar, punctuation, mechanics, and formatting. When you complete this final step, you will have transformed a simple idea or question into a thoroughly researched and well-written paper you can be proud of!

Review the steps of the research writing process. Then answer the questions on your own sheet of paper.

• In which steps of the research writing process are you allowed to change your thesis?
• In step 2, which types of information should you include in your project schedule?
• What might happen if you eliminated step 4 from the research writing process?

Key Takeaways

• People undertake research projects throughout their academic and professional careers in order to answer specific questions, share their findings with others, increase their understanding of challenging topics, and strengthen their researching, writing, and analytical skills.
• The research writing process generally comprises six steps: choosing a topic, scheduling and planning time for research and writing, conducting research, organizing research and ideas, drafting a paper, and revising and editing the paper.

Writing for Success Copyright © 2015 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

How To Write A Research Paper

Step-By-Step Tutorial With Examples + FREE Template

By: Derek Jansen (MBA) | Expert Reviewer: Dr Eunice Rautenbach | March 2024

For many students, crafting a strong research paper from scratch can feel like a daunting task – and rightly so! In this post, we’ll unpack what a research paper is, what it needs to do , and how to write one – in three easy steps. 🙂 

Overview: Writing A Research Paper

What (exactly) is a research paper.

• How to write a research paper
• Stage 1 : Topic & literature search
• Stage 2 : Structure & outline
• Stage 3 : Iterative writing
• Key takeaways

Let’s start by asking the most important question, “ What is a research paper? ”.

Simply put, a research paper is a scholarly written work where the writer (that’s you!) answers a specific question (this is called a research question ) through evidence-based arguments . Evidence-based is the keyword here. In other words, a research paper is different from an essay or other writing assignments that draw from the writer’s personal opinions or experiences. With a research paper, it’s all about building your arguments based on evidence (we’ll talk more about that evidence a little later).

Now, it’s worth noting that there are many different types of research papers , including analytical papers (the type I just described), argumentative papers, and interpretative papers. Here, we’ll focus on analytical papers , as these are some of the most common – but if you’re keen to learn about other types of research papers, be sure to check out the rest of the blog .

With that basic foundation laid, let’s get down to business and look at how to write a research paper .

Overview: The 3-Stage Process

While there are, of course, many potential approaches you can take to write a research paper, there are typically three stages to the writing process. So, in this tutorial, we’ll present a straightforward three-step process that we use when working with students at Grad Coach.

These three steps are:

• Finding a research topic and reviewing the existing literature
• Developing a provisional structure and outline for your paper, and
• Writing up your initial draft and then refining it iteratively

Let’s dig into each of these.

Need a helping hand?

Step 1: Find a topic and review the literature

As we mentioned earlier, in a research paper, you, as the researcher, will try to answer a question . More specifically, that’s called a research question , and it sets the direction of your entire paper. What’s important to understand though is that you’ll need to answer that research question with the help of high-quality sources – for example, journal articles, government reports, case studies, and so on. We’ll circle back to this in a minute.

The first stage of the research process is deciding on what your research question will be and then reviewing the existing literature (in other words, past studies and papers) to see what they say about that specific research question. In some cases, your professor may provide you with a predetermined research question (or set of questions). However, in many cases, you’ll need to find your own research question within a certain topic area.

Finding a strong research question hinges on identifying a meaningful research gap – in other words, an area that’s lacking in existing research. There’s a lot to unpack here, so if you wanna learn more, check out the plain-language explainer video below.

Once you’ve figured out which question (or questions) you’ll attempt to answer in your research paper, you’ll need to do a deep dive into the existing literature – this is called a “ literature search ”. Again, there are many ways to go about this, but your most likely starting point will be Google Scholar .

If you’re new to Google Scholar, think of it as Google for the academic world. You can start by simply entering a few different keywords that are relevant to your research question and it will then present a host of articles for you to review. What you want to pay close attention to here is the number of citations for each paper – the more citations a paper has, the more credible it is (generally speaking – there are some exceptions, of course).

Ideally, what you’re looking for are well-cited papers that are highly relevant to your topic. That said, keep in mind that citations are a cumulative metric , so older papers will often have more citations than newer papers – just because they’ve been around for longer. So, don’t fixate on this metric in isolation – relevance and recency are also very important.

Beyond Google Scholar, you’ll also definitely want to check out academic databases and aggregators such as Science Direct, PubMed, JStor and so on. These will often overlap with the results that you find in Google Scholar, but they can also reveal some hidden gems – so, be sure to check them out.

Once you’ve worked your way through all the literature, you’ll want to catalogue all this information in some sort of spreadsheet so that you can easily recall who said what, when and within what context. If you’d like, we’ve got a free literature spreadsheet that helps you do exactly that.

Step 2: Develop a structure and outline

With your research question pinned down and your literature digested and catalogued, it’s time to move on to planning your actual research paper .

It might sound obvious, but it’s really important to have some sort of rough outline in place before you start writing your paper. So often, we see students eagerly rushing into the writing phase, only to land up with a disjointed research paper that rambles on in multiple

Now, the secret here is to not get caught up in the fine details . Realistically, all you need at this stage is a bullet-point list that describes (in broad strokes) what you’ll discuss and in what order. It’s also useful to remember that you’re not glued to this outline – in all likelihood, you’ll chop and change some sections once you start writing, and that’s perfectly okay. What’s important is that you have some sort of roadmap in place from the start.

At this stage you might be wondering, “ But how should I structure my research paper? ”. Well, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution here, but in general, a research paper will consist of a few relatively standardised components:

• Introduction
• Literature review
• Methodology

Let’s take a look at each of these.

First up is the introduction section . As the name suggests, the purpose of the introduction is to set the scene for your research paper. There are usually (at least) four ingredients that go into this section – these are the background to the topic, the research problem and resultant research question , and the justification or rationale. If you’re interested, the video below unpacks the introduction section in more detail. 

The next section of your research paper will typically be your literature review . Remember all that literature you worked through earlier? Well, this is where you’ll present your interpretation of all that content . You’ll do this by writing about recent trends, developments, and arguments within the literature – but more specifically, those that are relevant to your research question . The literature review can oftentimes seem a little daunting, even to seasoned researchers, so be sure to check out our extensive collection of literature review content here .

With the introduction and lit review out of the way, the next section of your paper is the research methodology . In a nutshell, the methodology section should describe to your reader what you did (beyond just reviewing the existing literature) to answer your research question. For example, what data did you collect, how did you collect that data, how did you analyse that data and so on? For each choice, you’ll also need to justify why you chose to do it that way, and what the strengths and weaknesses of your approach were.

Now, it’s worth mentioning that for some research papers, this aspect of the project may be a lot simpler . For example, you may only need to draw on secondary sources (in other words, existing data sets). In some cases, you may just be asked to draw your conclusions from the literature search itself (in other words, there may be no data analysis at all). But, if you are required to collect and analyse data, you’ll need to pay a lot of attention to the methodology section. The video below provides an example of what the methodology section might look like.

By this stage of your paper, you will have explained what your research question is, what the existing literature has to say about that question, and how you analysed additional data to try to answer your question. So, the natural next step is to present your analysis of that data . This section is usually called the “results” or “analysis” section and this is where you’ll showcase your findings.

Depending on your school’s requirements, you may need to present and interpret the data in one section – or you might split the presentation and the interpretation into two sections. In the latter case, your “results” section will just describe the data, and the “discussion” is where you’ll interpret that data and explicitly link your analysis back to your research question. If you’re not sure which approach to take, check in with your professor or take a look at past papers to see what the norms are for your programme.

Alright – once you’ve presented and discussed your results, it’s time to wrap it up . This usually takes the form of the “ conclusion ” section. In the conclusion, you’ll need to highlight the key takeaways from your study and close the loop by explicitly answering your research question. Again, the exact requirements here will vary depending on your programme (and you may not even need a conclusion section at all) – so be sure to check with your professor if you’re unsure.

Step 3: Write and refine

Finally, it’s time to get writing. All too often though, students hit a brick wall right about here… So, how do you avoid this happening to you?

Well, there’s a lot to be said when it comes to writing a research paper (or any sort of academic piece), but we’ll share three practical tips to help you get started.

First and foremost , it’s essential to approach your writing as an iterative process. In other words, you need to start with a really messy first draft and then polish it over multiple rounds of editing. Don’t waste your time trying to write a perfect research paper in one go. Instead, take the pressure off yourself by adopting an iterative approach.

Secondly , it’s important to always lean towards critical writing , rather than descriptive writing. What does this mean? Well, at the simplest level, descriptive writing focuses on the “ what ”, while critical writing digs into the “ so what ” – in other words, the implications . If you’re not familiar with these two types of writing, don’t worry! You can find a plain-language explanation here.

Last but not least, you’ll need to get your referencing right. Specifically, you’ll need to provide credible, correctly formatted citations for the statements you make. We see students making referencing mistakes all the time and it costs them dearly. The good news is that you can easily avoid this by using a simple reference manager . If you don’t have one, check out our video about Mendeley, an easy (and free) reference management tool that you can start using today.

Recap: Key Takeaways

We’ve covered a lot of ground here. To recap, the three steps to writing a high-quality research paper are:

• To choose a research question and review the literature
• To plan your paper structure and draft an outline
• To take an iterative approach to writing, focusing on critical writing and strong referencing

Remember, this is just a b ig-picture overview of the research paper development process and there’s a lot more nuance to unpack. So, be sure to grab a copy of our free research paper template to learn more about how to write a research paper.

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Developing effective writing habits.

In this module, you’ll learn how to overcome the barriers that keep you from finishing—or starting—a writing project, and how to develop a writing routine. With a few of these tools under your belt, you’ll be ready to form a writing habit that saves you time and maximizes your productivity.

We imagine prolific writers as geniuses who, struck by an idea, simply begin to write and, with very little effort, produce a finished product. Nothing could be further from the truth. Instead, prolific and skilled writers have developed writing habits that help them take charge of the writing process.

Make writing a habit

When you make writing a regular part of your life, it becomes much less of a burden. When writing becomes part of your routine, you’ll start getting more done in less time; thus your writing becomes more automatic, fluid, and natural.

Identify and overcome writing obstacles

When you have a writing project with an approaching deadline, you may suddenly decide to do more reading, check your email, or start a load of laundry . . . instead of sitting down to write. In effect, you’ve basically decided to procrastinate.

Procrastination is not an obstacle but a manifestation of a writing block. While nearly every writer is aware of procrastination, far fewer writers know about the different types of obstacles that are at procrastination’s root.

Writing obstacles include (a) lack of confidence, (b) distaste for writing, or (c) a lack of time. These three top obstacles have one thing in common: Once they’re identified as productivity blocks, they can be directly confronted and overcome.

^ identified by psychologist Robert Boice, Professors as Writers: A Self-Help Guide to Productive Writing. Stillwater, OK: New Forums Press, 1990. PP 20-22.

A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without putting a word on paper. —E.B. White

Writing Obstacle 1: Lack of confidence

Writers who lack confidence worry they don’t have the skills necessary to make a contribution to their field or they haven’t correctly analyzed their data, so their conclusion must either not be worthwhile or simply wrong. This is similar to the impostor syndrome: the belief they aren’t good enough to succeed, or they’ve deceived themselves or others about their ability to succeed. Additionally, telling yourself that you’re “not a good writer” is also counterproductive.

Strategy: Counter negative self-talk

Self-talk is about remaining confident in your skills and addressing any negative thoughts about your abilities. When your negative voice emerges, recognize it and gently self-correct. Counter those feelings with an affirmation about your abilities: You’re in graduate school because you are smart enough. You can learn to write well. From there, take one task at a time (if you’re overwhelmed by a number of tasks, it’s difficult to make headway). A checklist helps build confidence in your abilities to continue making progress. Source: thewritepractice.com/self-talk

Strategy: Form a writing group

Writing groups help you gain confidence by providing feedback, receiving encouragement from others, and helping you realize you’re not alone in your struggle to write. When you share your project timeline with others, you also become more accountable in completing tasks. Writing groups work best when writers are at a common stage in their careers (working on a final paper is a different task from writing a dissertation) and have a similar disciplinary focus, although members need not be from the same department. However, a word of caution is in order: A writing group must retain its focus; if it devolves into a social gathering or a meeting to vent frustrations together, you should either redirect the members to the group’s original purpose or, failing that, leave the group altogether. To start a writing group, talk with colleagues in your department or contact the Office of Graduate Studies.

Work on a good piece of writing proceeds on three levels: a musical one, where it is composed; an architectural one, where it is constructed; and finally, a textile one, where it is woven.” ―Walter Benjamin, One Way Street And Other Writings

Writing Obstacle 2: Distaste for writing

Perhaps the most common obstacle, many writers have a distaste for writing. Those who dislike writing think about how difficult it is and what they’d rather be doing. They often find writing exhausting.

Strategy: Outline

For writers who have a distaste for writing or who lack confidence in their writing abilities, outlining is a strategy to help them make measurable progress. Before writing, outlining the argument for a chapter, section, or even a paragraph gives the writer perspective on the project and shepherds thoughts into place. When it’s time to write, the writer doesn’t have to sit staring at a blank screen, wondering how to start.

Below are a writer’s two attempts to outline his progress report on the 1988 forensic investigation of the ill-fated Pan Am Flight 103—an air disaster that killed 243 passengers and 16 crew members.

When you read it closely, you’ll see that the weak outline suffers from vague descriptions, inconsistent coordination and subordination of ideas, single item headings, and an overall lack of transparent logic. After reading it, ask yourself this question: Does this outline really provide the direction the writer needs?

Weak Outline

• Debris recovered
• Cataloguing
• Interpretation
• Bomb makeup
• Work to be done

Unlike the first attempt, the revised outline reflects the writer’s intentional efforts to organize thoughts into a naturally logical, consistently well-coordinated and subordinated flow of ideas . . . before the actual writing begins! The strong outline provides clear directions for the writer.

Strong Outline

• Recovering debris
• Cataloguing debris
• Interpreting debris
• Placement of bomb
• Construction of bomb
• Future work

So, you’ll need to be self-critical of your first attempts at outlining . Taking the time to do so will make writing much easier and save you a great deal of time. Outlining is a powerful tool that helps you reflect on your own thinking and puts you in charge of meaning making when you’re ready to put thoughts onto the page.

Strategy: Create a distraction-free environment

Once you’ve scheduled writing times, it’s important to have an environment that’s conducive to writing. A designated workspace minimizes distractions and helps you get in the right frame of mind for working. Before you start writing, have things like snacks, water, and tissues within easy reach. Doing so will keep you from getting up every few minutes. Turn off your phone and leave it in another room. Let your family and friends know there will be times when you’ll be unavailable because you’ll be writing. Similarly, use a productivity application on your computer to block internet sites you know will be especially distracting to you. In addition to physical distractions, there are mental distractions to writing—usually remembering something you have to do that’s totally unrelated to the task at hand. Keep a pad of paper within easy reach to jot down reminders for later, then put the pad aside.

Protect the time and space in which you write. Keep everybody away from it, even the people who are most important to you. —Zadie Smith

Writing Obstacle 3: Lack of time for writing

Ask any graduate student, postdoc, or faculty member—there are a lot of demands on their time, and there’s always something else that needs to be done. If you don’t make writing a priority it’s easy to go days or weeks without writing, and deadlines arrive before you know it.

Strategy: Create a schedule

Scheduling a regular writing time will help you make writing a priority and keep you working on your writing projects, even in the middle of a busy semester. Here’s how to schedule a regular writing time:

• Use a weekly planner to break days into 30-minute increments. First, fill in your weekly commitments: classes, meetings, and appointments.
• Next, schedule one or two hours a few times a week at the time of day you know you do your best work.
• Finally, allocate the time for less important tasks to the slots that are left. These blocks of time are flexible—you might use them to scan readings ahead of a seminar or quiz. Start writing for 15 minutes or half an hour. Over time, you’ll be able to lengthen your writing sessions to an hour or two. Distinguish your writing time independent from secondary writing tasks such as outlining, editing, fact-checking, and writing footnotes. These are common distractions for writers who put off the more challenging writing task of actual writing.

Strategy: Set goals

Make the most of your writing time by setting goals—for the project, sections of the project—even for a day or a week.

The best goals are SMART goals. They are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-based.

Setting SMART writing goals takes practice. Over the course of a project, by setting goals and reflecting on the work you did that day, you’ll learn when you’ve been too ambitious and when you can push yourself a little more.

Goals that are SPECIFIC are narrow and defined. For example, "I will write every day" is vague, while “I will draft the methods section” is clearly defined.

MEASURABLE goals can be checked off of a to-do list. “I will write two pages” or “I will finish the data analysis section” can be measured.

ACHIEVABLE goals are challenging, but reachable. Doing anything worthwhile requires persistence in spite of obstacles. Writing is no different. By keeping to your schedule of specific tasks, the more likely you’ll be of completing your writing project.

All of your intermediate writing goals are RELEVANT because they help you finish your writing project. They are also RELEVANT because they move you closer to having your research published, completing all course requirements, or finishing your dissertation. Finishing the project matters to you because it’s another step towards achieving your long-term aspirations.

TIME-BASED goals include completion dates and intermediate deadlines to serve as checkpoints.

It’s true that writing takes serious intellectual engagement. Sitting still for an hour or two, finding the right words, and shepherding ideas into a logical order takes extreme focus. But there’s a pleasure in creating clear prose, of communicating a particularly difficult idea so the reader grasps your meaning. There are a few common obstacles that can stymie even the most seasoned writer, but they can be overcome! Counter a lack of confidence with affirming self-talk or by participating in a writing group. Work through a distaste for writing by learning to develop an effective outline for a writing project and then creating a distraction-free writing environment. Find time to write by establishing a workable writing schedule and setting SMART writing goals. With a little practice, you can develop the good writing habits that will help you finish your writing projects. Developing these writing skills will help you look forward to the writing process (or dread it far less!). These skills eventually become habits that translate to other realms of your working life as well.

The beautiful part of writing is that you don’t have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon. —Robert Cormier

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• How to Do Research for an Excellent Essay: The Complete Guide

One of the biggest secrets to writing a good essay is the Boy Scouts’ motto: ‘be prepared’. Preparing for an essay – by conducting effective research – lays the foundations for a brilliant piece of writing, and it’s every bit as important as the actual writing part. Many students skimp on this crucial stage, or sit in the library not really sure where to start; and it shows in the quality of their essays. This just makes it easier for you to get ahead of your peers, and we’re going to show you how. In this article, we take you through what you need to do in order to conduct effective research and use your research time to best effect.

Allow enough time

First and foremost, it’s vital to allow enough time for your research. For this reason, don’t leave your essay until the last minute . If you start writing without having done adequate research, it will almost certainly show in your essay’s lack of quality. The amount of research time needed will vary according to whether you’re at Sixth Form or university, and according to how well you know the topic and what teaching you’ve had on it, but make sure you factor in more time than you think you’ll need. You may come across a concept that takes you longer to understand than you’d expected, so it’s better to allow too much time than too little.

Read the essay question and thoroughly understand it

If you don’t have a thorough understanding of what the essay question is asking you to do, you put yourself at risk of going in the wrong direction with your research. So take the question, read it several times and pull out the key things it’s asking you to do. The instructions in the question are likely to have some bearing on the nature of your research. If the question says “Compare”, for example, this will set you up for a particular kind of research, during which you’ll be looking specifically for points of comparison; if the question asks you to “Discuss”, your research focus may be more on finding different points of view and formulating your own.

Begin with a brainstorm

Start your research time by brainstorming what you already know. Doing this means that you can be clear about exactly what you’re already aware of, and you can identify the gaps in your knowledge so that you don’t end up wasting time by reading books that will tell you what you already know. This gives your research more of a direction and allows you to be more specific in your efforts to find out certain things. It’s also a gentle way of introducing yourself to the task and putting yourself in the right frame of mind for learning about the topic at hand.

Achieve a basic understanding before delving deeper

If the topic is new to you and your brainstorm has yielded few ideas, you’ll need to acquire a basic understanding of the topic before you begin delving deeper into your research. If you don’t, and you start by your research by jumping straight in at the deep end, as it were, you’ll struggle to grasp the topic. This also means that you may end up being too swayed by a certain source, as you haven’t the knowledge to question it properly. You need sufficient background knowledge to be able to take a critical approach to each of the sources you read. So, start from the very beginning. It’s ok to use Wikipedia or other online resources to give you an introduction to a topic, though bear in mind that these can’t be wholly relied upon. If you’ve covered the topic in class already, re-read the notes you made so that you can refresh your mind before you start further investigation.

Working through your reading list

If you’ve been given a reading list to work from, be organised in how you work through each of the items on it. Try to get hold of as many of the books on it as you can before you start, so that you have them all easily to hand, and can refer back to things you’ve read and compare them with other perspectives. Plan the order in which you’re going to work through them and try to allocate a specific amount of time to each of them; this ensures that you allow enough time to do each of them justice and that focus yourself on making the most of your time with each one. It’s a good idea to go for the more general resources before honing in on the finer points mentioned in more specialised literature. Think of an upside-down pyramid and how it starts off wide at the top and becomes gradually narrower; this is the sort of framework you should apply to your research.

Ask a librarian

Library computer databases can be confusing things, and can add an extra layer of stress and complexity to your research if you’re not used to using them. The librarian is there for a reason, so don’t be afraid to go and ask if you’re not sure where to find a particular book on your reading list. If you’re in need of somewhere to start, they should be able to point you in the direction of the relevant section of the library so that you can also browse for books that may yield useful information.

Use the index

If you haven’t been given specific pages to read in the books on your reading list, make use of the index (and/or table of contents) of each book to help you find relevant material. It sounds obvious, but some students don’t think to do this and battle their way through heaps of irrelevant chapters before finding something that will be useful for their essay.

Taking notes

As you work through your reading, take notes as you go along rather than hoping you’ll remember everything you’ve read. Don’t indiscriminately write down everything – only the bits that will be useful in answering the essay question you’ve been set. If you write down too much, you risk writing an essay that’s full of irrelevant material and getting lower grades as a result. Be concise, and summarise arguments in your own words when you make notes (this helps you learn it better, too, because you actually have to think about how best to summarise it). You may want to make use of small index cards to force you to be brief with what you write about each point or topic. We’ve covered effective note-taking extensively in another article, which you can read here . Note-taking is a major part of the research process, so don’t neglect it. Your notes don’t just come in useful in the short-term, for completing your essay, but they should also be helpful when it comes to revision time, so try to keep them organised.

Research every side of the argument

Never rely too heavily on one resource without referring to other possible opinions; it’s bad academic practice. You need to be able to give a balanced argument in an essay, and that means researching a range of perspectives on whatever problem you’re tackling. Keep a note of the different arguments, along with the evidence in support of or against each one, ready to be deployed into an essay structure that works logically through each one. If you see a scholar’s name cropping up again and again in what you read, it’s worth investigating more about them even if you haven’t specifically been told to do so. Context is vital in academia at any level, so influential figures are always worth knowing about.

Keep a dictionary by your side

You could completely misunderstand a point you read if you don’t know what one important word in the sentence means. For that reason, it’s a good idea to keep a dictionary by your side at all times as you conduct your research. Not only does this help you fully understand what you’re reading, but you also learn new words that you might be able to use in your forthcoming essay or a future one . Growing your vocabulary is never a waste of time!

Start formulating your own opinion

As you work through reading these different points of view, think carefully about what you’ve read and note your own response to different opinions. Get into the habit of questioning sources and make sure you’re not just repeating someone else’s opinion without challenging it. Does an opinion make sense? Does it have plenty of evidence to back it up? What are the counter-arguments, and on balance, which sways you more? Demonstrating your own intelligent thinking will set your essay apart from those of your peers, so think about these things as you conduct your research.

Be careful with web-based research

Although, as we’ve said already, it’s fine to use Wikipedia and other online resources to give you a bit of an introduction to a topic you haven’t covered before, be very careful when using the internet for researching an essay. Don’t take Wikipedia as gospel; don’t forget, anybody can edit it! We wouldn’t advise using the internet as the basis of your essay research – it’s simply not academically rigorous enough, and you don’t know how out of date a particular resource might be. Even if your Sixth Form teachers may not question where you picked up an idea you’ve discussed in your essays, it’s still not a good habit to get into and you’re unlikely to get away with it at a good university. That said, there are still reliable academic resources available via the internet; these can be found in dedicated sites that are essentially online libraries, such as JSTOR. These are likely to be a little too advanced if you’re still in Sixth Form, but you’ll almost certainly come across them once you get to university.

Look out for footnotes

In an academic publication, whether that’s a book or a journal article, footnotes are a great place to look for further ideas for publications that might yield useful information. Plenty can be hidden away in footnotes, and if a writer is disparaging or supporting the ideas of another academic, you could look up the text in question so that you can include their opinion too, and whether or not you agree with them, for extra brownie points.

Don’t save doing all your own references until last

If you’re still in Sixth Form, you might not yet be required to include academic references in your essays, but for the sake of a thorough guide to essay research that will be useful to you in the future, we’re going to include this point anyway (it will definitely come in useful when you get to university, so you may as well start thinking about it now!). As you read through various books and find points you think you’re going to want to make in your essays, make sure you note down where you found these points as you go along (author’s first and last name, the publication title, publisher, publication date and page number). When you get to university you will be expected to identify your sources very precisely, so it’s a good habit to get into. Unfortunately, many students forget to do this and then have a difficult time of going back through their essay adding footnotes and trying to remember where they found a particular point. You’ll save yourself a great deal of time and effort if you simply note down your academic references as you go along. If you are including footnotes, don’t forget to add each publication to a main bibliography, to be included at the end of your essay, at the same time.

Putting in the background work required to write a good essay can seem an arduous task at times, but it’s a fundamental step that can’t simply be skipped. The more effort you put in at this stage, the better your essay will be and the easier it will be to write. Use the tips in this article and you’ll be well on your way to an essay that impresses!

To get even more prepared for essay writing you might also want to consider attending an Oxford Summer School .

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• Guiding Writers: Engaging Scaffolds and “Cool Tools” for Results!

Teachers everywhere express concerns about teaching students to write.

Common problems with writing include the following:

• dull, lifeless pieces that don’t include details
• a lack of ideas on where to start
• student voice missing from their pieces
• no formal writing programs, just writing embedded within the reading program (which often is simply not enough)

Guided Writing: The missing middle piece

What can you do to improve student writing while also motivating students to write?

Imagine these classroom examples:

• After reading informational texts about spiders, first graders each compose one line on a sticky note for a team poem about tarantulas. Teams illustrate and display their poems.
• Third graders write on sentence strips and share one reason their “superhero” is the best.  They then collaborate in teams of four to craft persuasive paragraphs. Students present their creations to the class.

This quick and engaging routine is popular with students and teachers alike. Use any literature or informational texts you already teach as the mentor text. Students respond to the text by quickly composing a group summary or poem.

Lori Oczkus  is a literacy coach, author, and popular speaker across the United States and internationally.  Lori is the author of many books and resources including Teaching Guided Writing: Scaffolding for Success  and the best-selling Reciprocal Teaching At Work 3 rd Ed . Foreword by John Hattie. Disclaimer: The viewpoints expressed in blog posts on this website are those of the individual writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of ILA. We have taken reasonable steps to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in blog posts but do not warrant the accuracy or completeness of such information.

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Constant Content Blog

10 skills every great content writer needs.

Posted January 9, 2019 by Isaac Justesen in Freelance Writers

Being a content writer comes with some great perks. Depending on your position, you can have the flexibility to work from home or your favorite coffee shop, decide what topics you want to write about and see your work published and generate real value.

But the job isn’t always an easy one and there a few areas of expertise you need to have to be successful other than just being a great writer . So, here are seven essential skillsets that any good content writer needs to have and continue to hone over their career.

1. Adaptability

This might seem obvious, but I see a lot of content that falls flat because the tone and style don’t fit the purpose of the piece or the culture of the brand. For example, a landing page should probably contain copy that is short and designed to persuade the reader to take action. In contrast, a white paper will likely work best with more details to explain a more complex issue.

Regarding tone, blog posts for a scientific equipment company targeting medical researchers will likely be much different from posts for an organic food shop targeting a wider range of health-conscious consumers. The more styles you can learn and the more quickly you can adapt, the more valuable you’ll be as a content writer .

2. Strong Research Skills

Good research is key for good content writing – it adds credibility and, most importantly, value. Therefore, it’s vital to find trustworthy and interesting information from reliable sources online . Experts are especially great resources if you can effectively get the right information with good interviewing skills.

3. A Solid Understanding of SEO

Great content writers stay on top of S EO trends – after all, even the best content won’t be effective if readers can’t find it. It’s important to know how to craft SEO-friendly titles and descriptions, use keywords effectively and keep up with Google’s latest algorithm changes.

4. Organizational Skills

Organizing isn’t just about having a clean workspace; it’s about keeping on top of the writing jobs you’ve taken on.

Keep a calendar and know your deadlines. Most smartphones even have programs that will help you organize your time. Turning an assignment in late sends a bad message to your customers and often won’t give the editors as much time to proof your article. Prioritize your jobs, so you get them all done promptly.

5. The Ability to Get Focused

Writing requires focus which can sometimes be hard to find. When it’s time to work, get rid of distractions and focus on one task at a time. Sometimes to get the ball rolling, you can start with a few smaller, easy-to-complete tasks before launching into your larger projects .

6. The Ability to Meet Deadlines

Your clients have deadlines they have to meet. Delivering high-quality content promptly will show that you are not only professional but also reliable. This means good time management is essential to help you realistically determine how many jobs you can accept and reject and deliver it on time. If you find yourself struggling with time management, check out these 14 writing and productivity hacks .

7. Communicate

If you have a question about an assignment, let the customer know. Writing is an area of communication, so there are no excuses for not getting in touch with your client if there is a problem. When you write to your client, treat it as an official communication: proofread your message. Your customer will remember your courtesy.

8. Editing, Editing, and More Editing

First drafts are rarely perfect . Editing skills require patience, discipline and a good eye for detail. In addition to grammar, spelling, and punctuation, look out for redundant points and overused words. And don’t be surprised if you spend more time editing than writing.

9. Deliver Quality

Do your best to create quality unique content – make your articles engaging and grammatically correct. Ideally, when customers need articles, you want them to think of you as a superb writer that gets the job completed on time. If you want more clients and higher-paying work, consistently delivering good writing will eventually get you there.

10. Staying in Demand

You may be an excellent writer, but if you don’t stay up-to-date with the latest trends , your job opportunities will be limited. Join writing and freelance communities, improve your online profiles, be comfortable with cold emailing, leverage different social platforms and market examples of your work.

Maintaining an active presence on a few social platforms will not only make you more likely to get certain writing jobs, but you’ll also make valuable contacts. Clients are always looking to boost their reach so if you can offer to share content with your network; they will have an added incentive to hire you.

There’s More to Being a Content Writer

While it’s important for a content writer to have a flair for the written word, it’s only one piece of the puzzle.

Research skills, SEO knowledge, adaptability and staying current are the ways to ensure that you continue to find success as a content writer.

Take the time to continually develop these skills, and you’ll find yourself able to craft the kind of content that’s both easy for readers to find, compelling to read and in demand.

Related Posts

How to identify trending topics and do industry research during any given time period, the right way to apply for public writing requests on constant content (and what not to do), watch your language: communication techniques to sell yourself as a writer, five ways to stay focused on writing and improve productivity.

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Research Writer skills for your resume and career

Research topics, conducting research, writing web content, and proofreading are some of the hard skills that are important for a research writer. Conducting research is an important skill because it allows the writer to find information that is relevant to the project and to support their arguments. Press releases, editorials, and blog posts are a few examples of the types of content they may write. Additionally, being a research writer requires the ability to proofread content to ensure that it is accurate, concise, and engaging.

When it comes to soft skills, being a good communicator is a must. They need to be able to communicate their ideas clearly and effectively. They also need to be able to work well under pressure and meet deadlines. According to Whitney Adams , a Visiting Assistant Professor of Rhetoric and Writing at Berry College, "Writing is a flexible profession that can often be done remotely. This allows writers to work from anywhere in the world, making it a great profession for those who value freedom and flexibility."

15 research writer skills for your resume and career

1. research topics.

Research topics are specific areas of study, often in a given field. Research writers use research topics by thoroughly researching them and distilling their findings into appropriate prose for a specific audience. They may also compose articles to be presented at conferences, using the research topics they studied.

• Research topics associated with property management, Compose articles to be presented at conferences by AMG president.
• Research topics thoroughly and distill findings and analysis in prose appropriate for a specific audience.

2. Press Releases

Press releases are official statements issued to the media that provide information on a particular topic. Research writers use press releases to generate web content, blog and print magazine articles, and to communicate information to the public. They research and write artist profiles, album reviews, and translate press releases from different languages. They also prepare press releases for members of government, coordinate schedules, and write grants.

• Generated web content, blog and print magazine articles, press releases, resumes, and cover letters.
• Researched and wrote artist profiles, album reviews, and translated press releases from French to English.

3. Editorials

Editorials are written pieces that express the opinion of an editor or publisher. Research writers use editorials to provide informed coverage of international negotiations, conduct critical peer reviews, and support articles and monographs. They also use editorials to mentor project authors on interview processes and developing content.

• Focused on political negotiations, country demographics, and policy research for informed editorial coverage of international negotiations.
• Handled multiple editorial and programming responsibilities concurrently, independently, and under strict deadlines in an evolving environment.

4. Web Content

Web content refers to text, images, and other media published on the internet. Research writers use web content by creating strategic content projects for various clients, specializing in web content and strategy. They also develop scripts and content for TV shows highlighting music and urban culture, provide in-depth web content writing, and market their products on web platforms. As Joanne Diaz Ph.D. , Chair and Professor at Illinois Wesleyan University's Department of English, puts it, "English majors will not only need to master traditional forms of analytical and argumentative writing but also master writing to an audience beyond the classroom. So, for example, it would be great if an English major can also tell stories via podcasts, videos, and other forms of web content that are shareable via social media."

• Completed strategic research and content creation projects for a wide variety of clients, specializing in web content and strategy.
• Developed scripts and web content for a daily one-hour TV show highlighting music and urban culture.

5. Conduct Research

Conduct research is gathering information and data from various sources. Research writers use conduct research to investigate potential cases and edit writing projects. They also travel to historical societies and libraries to conduct research for articles on education topics.

• Conduct research into potential cases including the Lumber Liquidators litigation.
• Conduct research and edit several writing projects

6. Oral Histories

Oral histories are written or recorded accounts of personal experiences or events. Research writers use oral histories by gathering and reviewing them to publish findings that share historical information with the public. For instance, they may conduct interviews and write down the responses to create a historical document.

• Gathered oral histories and conducted interviews for various historical documents.
• Review oral histories and write and publish findings to share with the public.

Choose from 10+ customizable research writer resume templates

7. proofread.

Proofreading is the process of reviewing a piece of writing to catch any mistakes or errors. Research writers use proofreading to ensure their work is accurate and free of mistakes. They might edit and proofread reports, proposals, and other documents, as well as scholarly books written by curators and directors. They might also design a filing system, gather and catalog articles, and create and update website content.

• Researched and updated numerous annual arts publications and proofread and edited scholarly books written by curators and the Director.
• Edited, proofread, and formatted new and existing courses.

8. Research Projects

Research projects are projects that involve gathering and analyzing information to gain insights. Research writers use them to manage customized projects for companies, gather information for grants and loans, and consolidate research material to write articles. They also use research projects to turn over every stone in complex projects, like FBI crime databases.

• Managed customized research projects for domestic and overseas companies; spearheaded media conferences with industry leaders from Asian and Western entertainment.
• Managed data-driven research projects, which included corporate, legal & financial information related to qualifications of grants and loans.

9. Public Policy

Public policy refers to the actions and decisions made by government entities. Research writers use public policy by focusing on technology, public policy, and business strategy.

• focused on technology, public policy, and business strategy.

10. Research Paper

A research paper is a document that presents original research or analysis. Research writers use research papers to analyze and interpret data, identify trends, and draw conclusions. They also use research papers to present their findings and share their knowledge with others. For example, one research writer completed a 10-page research paper analyzing the depictions of African Americans in film and television. Another research writer presented a 20-page research paper at an undergraduate research conference.

• Completed a 10-page research paper analyzing the depictions of African America found on film and in television.
• Presented twenty-page research paper at Meeting of the Minds Undergraduate Research Conference.

11. Blog Posts

A blog post is a short article or post on a website or blog that provides information or entertainment. Research writers use blog posts to write about a variety of topics, such as entertainment, relaxation methods during exams, and various other topics for different outlets. They also design and execute informational SEO posts, research topics, and create blog posts. Additionally, they may edit articles and blog posts to ensure high-quality content.

• Design blog posts and website, photograph for blog and execute informational SEO posts.
• Edit articles and blog posts.

12. Primary Research

Primary research involves gathering information directly through interviews, observations, and other methods. Research writers use primary research by conducting interviews, direct visits, and analyzing data to create original content. They may also use this information to write case narratives and synthesize data. For example, a research writer may conduct research on childcare and parenting for a video series.

• Conducted primary research via interviews and direct visits; compiled research into editorial content.
• Conducted primary research for commercial video series on childcare and parenting.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the practice of optimizing a website's content to increase its search engine ranking. Research writers use SEO by researching topics based on client requests and creating original content that boosts page ranking and traffic. They also perform SEO-related tasks, such as uploading content and photos on Wordpress and creating meta descriptions. This helps to increase the visibility of their articles and make them more shareable.

• Researched various topics based on clients requests in order to write keyword articles for search engine optimization (SEO).
• Acted as sole in-house researcher/copywriter for Temple Hospital's online marketing initiatives, including website development, social media and SEO.

14. Market Research

Market research is the process of gathering data about a target market or industry. Research writers use market research by conducting phone interviews and creating data sheets, like the one created for a client in the enterprise unified communications market.

• Completed market research for a client in the enterprise Unified communications market Created datasheet for Benu's MEG
• Schedule and conduct telephone interviews for Trifecta Research, a market research consultancy.

15. Research Findings

Research findings are the results of scientific research and analysis. Research writers use research findings to draft and edit comments to regulatory rule-makings, communicate disease research to health practitioners, and update web pages with new information.

• Drafted and edited comments to U.S. Department of Transportation regulatory rule-makings based on the Institute's highway safety research findings.
• Communicate research findings on various types of diseases to health practitioners, policy makers, and the public.

5 Research Writer Resume Examples

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List of research writer skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a research writer resume and required skills for a research writer to have include:

• Research Topics
• Press Releases
• Web Content
• Conduct Research
• Oral Histories
• Research Projects
• Public Policy
• Research Paper
• Primary Research
• Market Research
• Research Findings
• News Stories
• Literature Reviews
• Adobe Indesign
• Research Articles
• Data Collection
• Biographies
• Content Development
• Non-Profit Organization
• News Articles
• In-Depth Research
• Independent Research
• Search Engine
• Historical Research
• Scientific Journals
• Quantitative Analysis
• Journal Articles
• Book Reviews
• Documentaries

Updated April 25, 2024

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Research Writer Related Skills

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The Best Research Skills for a Resume

If you want to apply for a research position, you need to provide evidence of research skills on your resume. In this article, we explore what the best research skills for a resume are, why they are important and how to list them properly. We also provide a researcher resume sample to get you started – you can use it as inspiration or a template.

Table of Contents

What Are Research Skills?

A career like research is an excellent option for anyone who can collect, analyze and interpret data, solve complex problems, dive deep into discovery, and offer innovative solutions. The best thing about being a researcher is that you can not only succeed in science and academia but also climb up the career ladder in the corporate world. Indeed, having solid research skills opens the door to many roles and industries, including academic environments, government settings, transnational corporations, startups, tech giants, and non-profit organizations, to name but a few.

From human behavior to regional studies to biotech, there are myriads of research spheres where a qualified individual can make a difference. Researchers utilize their skills to explore a variety of topics, and if you have your mind set on pursuing a career as a researcher, you need to understand what skill set is pivotal for success in this field.

In a nutshell, research skills are all about searching ways to resolve problems. They are knowledge, abilities and competencies that ensure you can investigate particular topics, perform critical analysis, extract and organize data, interpret results, form hypotheses, and derive data-driven conclusions.

As a researcher, you are expected to be capable of relaying your findings to other people in a compelling and digestible form and even inspire action, both in yourself and in others.

Whether you are a seasoned researcher or a novice in this field, you need to put the right skills on your resume . Below you will find a list of the most in-demand research skills in today’s job market.

The Top 10 Research Skills for a Resume

Communication.

Communication is a crucial aspect of a research career since you are required to share information, relay findings and spread knowledge efficiently and effectively, both orally and in writing . While communication skills certainly have a place on your resume , that doesn’t mean adding “Communication” to your list of skills is enough to move on. You need to provide relevant examples verifying that you can research things as part of a team and work towards a common goal. You could add something like this to add credibility to your claim:

Recruited 7 research assistants for clinical studies by visiting clinics and sending out email invites, increasing participation by 20%.

Explained 100+ research procedures to a group of study participants in 10 days, resulting in a 0% incident rate.

Problem Solving

Being an advanced problem solver means you can consistently identify issues and find effective and efficient solutions to them . It is an extremely valuable skill when it comes to research-based activities, and 86% of employers look for workers who are capable of solving problems in the workplace according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers’ Job Outlook 2022 survey. If you want to add problem-solving skills to your resume, you need to underpin them with relevant accomplishments. For instance, you could add examples like these:

Resolved course accessibility issues by creating interactive presentations for remote learners, increasing student satisfaction by 89%.

Developed and introduced a new computing environment for analysis, identifying 100% of failure patterns and improving issue detection by 75%.

Analytical Skills

Having analytical skills means you can parse data into digestible pieces, interpret them correctly and make data-based connections and conclusions . Data analysis incorporates a vast set of competencies, including technical skills like proficiency in programming languages, such as Python and R, familiarity with data visualization tools, like Tableau and Power BI, and a strong grasp of statistical analysis methods, such as hypothesis testing, regression analysis, and sample size determination. Armed with these skills, a researcher can take data to the next level and drive both innovation and profitability.

Being able to make sense of facts and figures both manually and using automated solutions will help you thrive in most roles, so recruiters would love to know that you are an analytical thinker when considering your candidacy. Your best bet here is to make sure they can find this out by examining your resume. You can add examples like the ones below to prove you can tackle complicated issues using your analytical skill set:

Collected, cleaned and analyzed first-party data from 10+ departments to identify the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the company.

Performed regression analysis to determine the effects of a company-wide minimum wage increase, concluding that the hiring process was accelerated by 25% due to the wage change in question.

Qualitative Analysis

Qualitative analysis allows you to analyze a research subject using non-numerical and non-quantifiable parameters, characteristics and indicators and is based on abstract concepts . For instance, you can use qualitative attributes like human behavior or brand reputation to make business decisions or recognize investment opportunities. This skill is in demand today as it helps researchers use their observations to make conclusions, identify patterns and tackle challenges. Since you cannot quantify this area of your expertise, you need to provide relevant context to convince the reader that you are capable of analyzing non-tangible aspects of a subject. You can do that by using appropriate examples, like the following ones:

Evaluated the quality and accuracy of 200+ data sources in a month.

Performed quality control of high-volume content in a rapidly changing environment, maintaining a quality score of 99.9%.

Quantitative Analysis

Quantitative analysis is an approach that allows you to collect, study, measure, and analyze data . From statistical research to financial modeling, quantitative analysis includes a powerful toolkit that helps a researcher refine and simplify vast amounts of raw data to make better decisions and forecast trends.

Quantitative analysis has countless applications: with it, you can track metrics, measure variables and evaluate parameters in multiple fields, from finance and accounting to molecular biology and astrophysics. Therefore, it is no wonder that it is one of the most important research skills for a resume and highlighting it the right way is likely to help you move forward in the job searching process. You can prove that you know how to work with tangible data by providing relevant examples, like the following ones:

Designed a new data analysis technique, saving 30 monthly hours in parameter comparisons.

Used SQL to analyze customer data and identify areas for improvement related to customer conversions, resulting in a conversion boost by 75%.

Academic Writing

Academic writing is the ability to create complex documents containing scientific data, such as formulas, graphs, and charts . Academic writing skills help researchers prepare reports, presentations and articles for scientific journals and magazines, and if you have them, it means you know how to present technical information clearly and concisely. Recruiters from scientific fields are especially interested in candidates capable of writing academically, so submitting a resume with examples of written work is likely to help you secure a position as a researcher. Listing your publications to prove your expertise is the best option here, but since you might not have enough space to add all your papers, books and articles, you could highlight your academic writing proficiency with something like this:

Created 350+ articles on the principles of academic research for the university’s database, increasing student satisfaction by 60%.

Published 30+ papers focused on structural changes in protein conformations.

We know that expressing your writing potential in limited words can be difficult, so here getting assistance from a summarizing tool can be a good idea.

Literature Review

Literature review is a methodology that implies conducting rigorous research on a particular topic . Having literature review skills means you can explore your subject area in greater depth using sources like books, journal articles, industry magazines, etc. Such competencies allow you to build upon existing knowledge and generate new ideas, accelerating your research and pushing it to its full potential. Naturally, your literature review skills are a valuable asset to your resume. We recommend you to illuminate them with appropriate examples, focusing on tangible outcomes:

Gathered and reviewed 10+ articles on Stata to extract variables from a dataset.

Performed 100+ literature reviews to implement changes in clinical practice, boosting quality of care by 70%.

Time Management

Time management is a powerful soft skill that is especially valuable in research environments. It allows you to manage your time effectively, break large tasks into manageable chunks and prioritize them properly, set up measurable, attainable, and time-bound goals, and even juggle your responsibilities . Proper time management helps you stay focused on your work, boosts your productivity and thereby leads to consistently high results and impressive outcomes. From carrying out experiments to writing reports to teaching, as a researcher, you need to apply time management strategies on a daily basis to successfully accomplish your tasks. You can show you are good at time management on your resume by showcasing your successes, like in the examples below:

Developed a database for organizing behavioral data for 100+ study participants, decreasing data processing time by 30%.

Implemented data analysis techniques in Python, increasing the amount of data analyzed per hour by 17% and accelerating project completion by 40%.

Attention to Detail

Paying attention to detail is a vital aspect of being a researcher. Having this skill helps you gather credible information, perceive meaningful connections, notice discrepancies, and deliver high-quality work based on correct evidence. Since each and every aspect of a career in research requires efficiency and trustworthiness, attention to detail is something you cannot go without – otherwise, your progress will come to a screeching halt. Naturally, you need to illuminate this skill on your resume as recruiters seek candidates who can look at details with a critical eye and minimize distractions. And the best way to do that is by providing a relevant example of success. You can use the ones below for reference:

Checked 10 + data sheets for completion and quality per day, resulting in a <1% error rate.

Supervised the maintenance and updates of the lab’s database with a 99% accuracy rate.

Editing & Proofreading

Editing and proofreading skills are essential to perform successful research since they ensure it is both accurate and easy to read . While editing is more about making your text more digestible and improving the overall quality of your writing, proofreading corrects surface issues like errors in spelling, punctuation and grammar. Both require you to have a solid command of the language you use and a certain degree of focus. The devil is indeed in the details, so you need to always polish your texts before submitting them. Only this way will they be perceived by your peers and superiors as constructive and professional. And to prove you are good at editing and proofreading, you need to add appropriate examples to your resume. Here is how you can demonstrate your ability to provide high-quality texts:

Edited 11 federal grant proposals designed by my team, which generated $200+ in lab funding.

Edited a research paper co-authored with 2 postdoctoral employees regarding protein generation, which received the Best Paper Award in 2020.

How to List Research Skills on a Resume

Your resume is the best place to highlight your research experience and the value you could bring to your next role. The key here is to put your research skills in the right section so that they get noticed by the reader. You have no fewer than 7 options here:

• A dedicated research section
• Your work experience section
• The education section
• The list of your research publications
• The projects section
• The skills section
• Your resume summary

If you have a solid research background, you may want to create a separate section on your resume and call it Research or Research Experience . This place will help you expand on your projects and their details, specify the nature of your research, and describe the specifics of your previous roles, providing relevant examples and demonstrating the most prominent accomplishments.

If your career is all things research, the work/professional experience section can incorporate your research skills and accomplishments. List your employers and your duties, along with the dates of your employment, like you would do when describing your non-research work experience.

Your education section is an appropriate place to highlight your research skills if you are a student or a recent graduate. You can put it at the top of your resume if you want to draw more attention to your research background when applying for your first job in science or academia.

If you have a whole host of published works, it could be a great idea to create a separate section for listing your publications . This will help you add credibility to your research skills and accomplishments. Research-related accomplishments can also be highlighted as projects on your resume. This might be appropriate if your research background is not so extensive or not quite relevant to your current career aspirations.

You can list your research skills in your skills section as long as they are tangible and relevant for the job you want to land. We recommend you to avoid general skills here and focus on industry-specific expertise, illuminating it with the keywords you can find in the corresponding job listing and relevant skill levels .

Highlighting your research skills in the summary section is appropriate if you are applying for a role where a robust research background is essential. Your resume summary is just a few lines appearing at the top of the document, so make sure to add only the most important research skills there – those that you want the reader to see first and foremost.

Why Are Research Skills Important?

Research-oriented positions and most jobs in academia require you to have a solid set of research skills. Employees outside these roles can also benefit from research experience – research skills are transferable , meaning you can bring them to the table no matter your position, career field or job level. Therefore, they are a valuable addition to a resume in many cases.

Businesses and organizations are eager to employ candidates with proven research skills because they can

• come up with original plans and ideas,
• design innovative products and services,
• improve processes,
• keep up with technology,
• identify customers’ needs and requirements and find ways to meet them,
• resolve complicated issues,
• analyze competitors’ strengths and weaknesses,

By adding research skills to your resume, you show recruiters that you can think outside the box, know how to work with data and technology, are capable of making well-informed decisions, and are good at solving problems. This makes you a valuable hire in today’s skill-based job market

A Resume Sample to Apply for a Research Position

JOHN/JANE DOE Research Assistant Location ⋅ Email ⋅ Phone number Diligent and hardworking clinical researcher seeking a position at [Name of Company] to apply academic expertise and facilitate biological research. PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE Company/Organization, Location Dates of Employment Research Assistant Assisted scientists in 30+ research projects related to therapeutics for COVID-19 Conducted data-driven testing with an accuracy rate of 98% Supervised a team of 3 junior research assistants with daily laboratory duties Company/Organization, Location Dates of Employment Graduate Research Assistant Participated in cell research projects as part of a cross-departmental team of 30 researchers. Performed cell counts with 99% accuracy Was engaged in developing a platform to investigate immune responses to virus-infected hepatocytes. … Company/Organization, Location Dates of Employment Research Student Assistant Gathered and analyzed data and evidence for 10+ clinical research cases monthly. Awarded “Research Impact Award” in recognition of consistent research excellence (only 1 student is awarded in a class of 100). … EDUCATION NAME OF UNIVERSITY Location Degree, Major Dates of Education SKILLS Molecular cloning RNA isolation Cell counting Knowledge of SQL code and queries Data analysis Literature review

A career in research is an extremely exciting yet quite a demanding path. Since the competition for positions in the field is very fierce, as a researcher, you need to have high levels of determination and persistence and a powerful combination of skills. The research skills we have outlined in this article are what recruiters expect to see on your resume, so make sure to expand on them to get the job of your dream, rise to the top of your game and deliver ground-breaking research.

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Library Connect

Building skills for your career: Academic writing skills are career skills

• by The Library
• posted May 30, 2024
• Researchers Students

Unsplash: Brett Jordan

Academic writing is a versatile career skill that allows you to communicate clearly, concisely, professionally and effectively. By developing strong writing abilities you will be able to convey your ideas, knowledge and successfully collaborate with others in your professional life.  

Not quite sure what academic writing is? Have a look at some examples, along with grammar tips on the Write with academic style webpage.  

Academic writing requires correct referencing. Once you know which style you need to use (hint: check your course site and assignment instructions), refer to the Library Referencing guide s for correct formatting and examples.  

You can take advantage of our Griffith Mentors for help with writing and general university skills throughout the semester. Times and locations can be found on the Griffith Mentors Study Support webpage.  

Studying a postgraduate program? Check out Academic writing for researchers and learn how to write for particular styles and formats such as: research proposals, literature reviews, thesis, creative practice exegesis, articles, reports and research blogs.   

Want help with your academic writing? Book a session with a Learning Adviser for writing help, a Librarian for referencing guidance or attend a Library workshop .  

For international students who have English has a second language, EnglishHELP  provide one-on-one support to help develop and support academic writing. Visit the EnglishHELP website to book a consultation.  

Lastly, you can download this Academic Writing Checklist to keep you on track as you progress in your professional life.  

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Why writing by hand beats typing for thinking and learning

Jonathan Lambert

If you're like many digitally savvy Americans, it has likely been a while since you've spent much time writing by hand.

The laborious process of tracing out our thoughts, letter by letter, on the page is becoming a relic of the past in our screen-dominated world, where text messages and thumb-typed grocery lists have replaced handwritten letters and sticky notes. Electronic keyboards offer obvious efficiency benefits that have undoubtedly boosted our productivity — imagine having to write all your emails longhand.

To keep up, many schools are introducing computers as early as preschool, meaning some kids may learn the basics of typing before writing by hand.

But giving up this slower, more tactile way of expressing ourselves may come at a significant cost, according to a growing body of research that's uncovering the surprising cognitive benefits of taking pen to paper, or even stylus to iPad — for both children and adults.

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In kids, studies show that tracing out ABCs, as opposed to typing them, leads to better and longer-lasting recognition and understanding of letters. Writing by hand also improves memory and recall of words, laying down the foundations of literacy and learning. In adults, taking notes by hand during a lecture, instead of typing, can lead to better conceptual understanding of material.

"There's actually some very important things going on during the embodied experience of writing by hand," says Ramesh Balasubramaniam , a neuroscientist at the University of California, Merced. "It has important cognitive benefits."

While those benefits have long been recognized by some (for instance, many authors, including Jennifer Egan and Neil Gaiman , draft their stories by hand to stoke creativity), scientists have only recently started investigating why writing by hand has these effects.

A slew of recent brain imaging research suggests handwriting's power stems from the relative complexity of the process and how it forces different brain systems to work together to reproduce the shapes of letters in our heads onto the page.

Your brain on handwriting

Both handwriting and typing involve moving our hands and fingers to create words on a page. But handwriting, it turns out, requires a lot more fine-tuned coordination between the motor and visual systems. This seems to more deeply engage the brain in ways that support learning.

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"Handwriting is probably among the most complex motor skills that the brain is capable of," says Marieke Longcamp , a cognitive neuroscientist at Aix-Marseille Université.

Gripping a pen nimbly enough to write is a complicated task, as it requires your brain to continuously monitor the pressure that each finger exerts on the pen. Then, your motor system has to delicately modify that pressure to re-create each letter of the words in your head on the page.

"Your fingers have to each do something different to produce a recognizable letter," says Sophia Vinci-Booher , an educational neuroscientist at Vanderbilt University. Adding to the complexity, your visual system must continuously process that letter as it's formed. With each stroke, your brain compares the unfolding script with mental models of the letters and words, making adjustments to fingers in real time to create the letters' shapes, says Vinci-Booher.

That's not true for typing.

To type "tap" your fingers don't have to trace out the form of the letters — they just make three relatively simple and uniform movements. In comparison, it takes a lot more brainpower, as well as cross-talk between brain areas, to write than type.

Recent brain imaging studies bolster this idea. A study published in January found that when students write by hand, brain areas involved in motor and visual information processing " sync up " with areas crucial to memory formation, firing at frequencies associated with learning.

"We don't see that [synchronized activity] in typewriting at all," says Audrey van der Meer , a psychologist and study co-author at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. She suggests that writing by hand is a neurobiologically richer process and that this richness may confer some cognitive benefits.

Other experts agree. "There seems to be something fundamental about engaging your body to produce these shapes," says Robert Wiley , a cognitive psychologist at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. "It lets you make associations between your body and what you're seeing and hearing," he says, which might give the mind more footholds for accessing a given concept or idea.

Those extra footholds are especially important for learning in kids, but they may give adults a leg up too. Wiley and others worry that ditching handwriting for typing could have serious consequences for how we all learn and think.

What might be lost as handwriting wanes

The clearest consequence of screens and keyboards replacing pen and paper might be on kids' ability to learn the building blocks of literacy — letters.

"Letter recognition in early childhood is actually one of the best predictors of later reading and math attainment," says Vinci-Booher. Her work suggests the process of learning to write letters by hand is crucial for learning to read them.

"When kids write letters, they're just messy," she says. As kids practice writing "A," each iteration is different, and that variability helps solidify their conceptual understanding of the letter.

Research suggests kids learn to recognize letters better when seeing variable handwritten examples, compared with uniform typed examples.

This helps develop areas of the brain used during reading in older children and adults, Vinci-Booher found.

"This could be one of the ways that early experiences actually translate to long-term life outcomes," she says. "These visually demanding, fine motor actions bake in neural communication patterns that are really important for learning later on."

Ditching handwriting instruction could mean that those skills don't get developed as well, which could impair kids' ability to learn down the road.

"If young children are not receiving any handwriting training, which is very good brain stimulation, then their brains simply won't reach their full potential," says van der Meer. "It's scary to think of the potential consequences."

Many states are trying to avoid these risks by mandating cursive instruction. This year, California started requiring elementary school students to learn cursive , and similar bills are moving through state legislatures in several states, including Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina and Wisconsin. (So far, evidence suggests that it's the writing by hand that matters, not whether it's print or cursive.)

Slowing down and processing information

For adults, one of the main benefits of writing by hand is that it simply forces us to slow down.

During a meeting or lecture, it's possible to type what you're hearing verbatim. But often, "you're not actually processing that information — you're just typing in the blind," says van der Meer. "If you take notes by hand, you can't write everything down," she says.

The relative slowness of the medium forces you to process the information, writing key words or phrases and using drawing or arrows to work through ideas, she says. "You make the information your own," she says, which helps it stick in the brain.

Such connections and integration are still possible when typing, but they need to be made more intentionally. And sometimes, efficiency wins out. "When you're writing a long essay, it's obviously much more practical to use a keyboard," says van der Meer.

Still, given our long history of using our hands to mark meaning in the world, some scientists worry about the more diffuse consequences of offloading our thinking to computers.

"We're foisting a lot of our knowledge, extending our cognition, to other devices, so it's only natural that we've started using these other agents to do our writing for us," says Balasubramaniam.

It's possible that this might free up our minds to do other kinds of hard thinking, he says. Or we might be sacrificing a fundamental process that's crucial for the kinds of immersive cognitive experiences that enable us to learn and think at our full potential.

Balasubramaniam stresses, however, that we don't have to ditch digital tools to harness the power of handwriting. So far, research suggests that scribbling with a stylus on a screen activates the same brain pathways as etching ink on paper. It's the movement that counts, he says, not its final form.

Jonathan Lambert is a Washington, D.C.-based freelance journalist who covers science, health and policy.

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The Health and Clinical Outcomes Research, Health Data Science Student Spotlight Series: Nitin Katakam (‘24)

Nitin Katakam (’24) is a second-year student in the master of health data science program in the Saint Louis University School of Medicine. 

Joining the program after receiving a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degrees from Mahatma Ghandi Medical College and Research Institute in Pondicherry, India, Katakam shared his thoughts on why he chose the SLU master's of health data science to continue his training, what stood out to him about the program, and what he hopes to do in the future after graduation.  

What inspired you to pursue health data science?  

Initially, the realm of research seemed daunting to me, yet an opportunity presented by a professor during my clinical rotations sparked a profound interest that has persisted ever since. Delving into health data science appeared as the perfect avenue to immerse myself fully in research methodologies. It promised to equip me with skills in the statistical aspects of research—a component often met with apprehension by many clinicians. This realization guided me toward this course. 

What advice would you give to incoming students interested in HDS?  

Two words: REACH OUT. Please reach out to your faculty. They are very friendly and willing to  help you. If they can't, they will direct you to someone who can. You will not be overlooked. Other than this, I would say be thorough with your coursework. You don’t have to be perfect with what you learn. All that is expected of you is a decent, honest effort. Most times, that is all you need. Also bear in mind that the coursework touches upon all the necessary concepts for a data scientist, but it is on you to build on those concepts. 

What are your future aspirations or career plans upon completing the program and what job title will you be pursuing

I aim to work as a research analyst within clinical research upon graduation and would like to work up to a research scientist position. I think traditional research is evolving and embracing data science more by the year. There's lots of potential here. 

How would you describe what ‘health data science’ is to someone who has not heard of it before?  

My answer to this has definitely evolved over time. But to put it simply, it is statistics on steroids. We clean, analyze, make predictions and present our findings about data to improve health care. For instance, if we notice a spike in common cold cases, we don’t just count them. We dig deeper: Is this spike normal? How fast are cases rising? What might happen next? We can do this normally. But, let's say we want to predict/analyze such trends at a nationwide scale with hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of data points. That’s where health data science stands out, but it’s so much more! 

Why is the field of health data science important?  

I think it is at the forefront of medical research, unlocking the power of vast datasets — from thousands to billions of data points — to refine our understanding and decision-making in health care. Such statistical power is invaluable in medicine, a field where a false negative or a false positive can mean/cost a lot. 

Can you share a memorable experience or project from your time in the program?  

One of my most memorable projects was a geomapping analysis focused on the visualization of smoking trends, marijuana use, the area deprivation index (ADI), and their correlations with cancer. I accurately predicted drug overdose deaths, highlighting significant regional health disparities. My statistical analysis — using Mann-Whitney U and chi-squared tests — revealed significant correlations between various factors and cancer incidence across different states. I personally like it because it is my most aesthetically pleasing project due to the heatmaps and trend charts. 

What skills or knowledge have you gained that you believe will benefit your future career?  

I think the attitude of approaching any problem/project with a willingness to learn is what has rewarded me the most in my research projects. I've also developed strong technical skills in data analysis and visualization using tools like R, BigQuery and Python. Additionally, my medical background and research experience have equipped me with the knowledge to apply data science effectively in health care contexts. 

Is there anything else you'd like to share with fellow students and alumni about your journey in HDS?  

The faculty are the best part about the program. They absolutely love it when you are proactive and will go a long way to help you grow. It's been amazing to see the department evolve, welcoming more brilliant minds into the faculty recently. Plus, if you're ever in need of a quiet spot to hit the books, the department offers a great study space that's pretty much a bonus. 

About the Health Data Science, M.S. 

Saint Louis University's Master of Science in Health Data Science is designed to prepare students for a career in today's data-driven health care industry. Successful data scientists possess an artful ability to blend, synthesize and communicate data for use in clinical decisions by patients and providers, as well as advancing quality improvement efforts across health systems. 

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About the Department of Health and Clinical Outcomes Research 

The mission of the Department of Health and Clinical Outcomes Research is to serve as the collaborative bridge between divisions, departments, and colleges/schools across medicine and the health sciences to support methodologically rigorous research to solve complex health problems. The Department of Health and Clinical Outcomes Research is a scholarly community of faculty, staff and students committed to strengthening the delivery and outcomes of medical care through education and training programs, innovative research, and consulting services.