Learn How to Write a Research Paper

Submitted by szgarvey on
Kathy Keatley Garvey
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James R. Carey, UC Davis distinguished professor emeritus
James R. Carey, UC Davis distinguished professor emeritus

If you want to learn how to write a research paper, follow the "10 Principles" authored by UC Davis distinguished professor emeritus James R. Carey of the Department of Entomology and Nematology.

His students have won the Science, Engineering and Mathematics (SEM) category of the UC Davis Library’s 2025 Norma J. Lang Prize for Undergraduate Information Research for six consectuive years.

Repeat: six consecutive years! How rare is that?

This year's winner--and the last from a Carey classroom, as he's retired--is Miranda Do-Tran who won the $2000 cash prize for her well-researched and well-written research paper, “Midlife Hypertension and Dementia: The Shadow Link” that she completed in Carey's Longevity course.

The Lang Prize, launched in 2017, recognizes undergraduate students whose research projects "make extensive use of library resources, services or expertise" and "advance the students’ understanding of the academic research process." A bequest from the late Norma J. Lang, a professor emerita of botany, funds the project. The Lang Prize includes two categories: SEM and Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (AHSS). The 2025 AHSS category winner is Mariana Perez Sierra, who submitted "Expandiendo La Herida: How U.S. Training Exacerbated Human Rights Violations During Chile’s Dictatorship." 

In her paper, Do-Tran, a second-year cell biology major, explored the link between midlife hypertension and dementia through clinician interviews and analysis of peer-reviewed journal articles, opinion pieces, and an Alzheimer’s documentary. Do-Tran said she used the forward-backward citation method to map the field over time, examining both a study’s references (backward citation) and newer studies that cite it (forward citation) for highly cited pieces of research.

Do-Tran, a native of Cupertino and a 2023 graduate of Archbishop Mitty High School, San Jose, plans to become a physician/scientist. "I enjoy both laboratory and clinical research," she said.

Her prize-winning paper is online at https://library.ucdavis.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/miranda-do_tran-research.pdf.

Miranda Do-Tran
Miranda Do-Tran, shown here at the Getty Art Museum, won the Science, Engineering and Mathematics (SEM) category of the UC Davis Library’s 2025 Norma J. Lang Prize for Undergraduate Information Research

In her summary, she wrote: "The aging U.S. population faces an increasing assortment of age-associated morbidities, with dementia emerging as one of the most debilitating conditions, both financially and emotionally. Recent evidence suggests that midlife hypertension may be a significant risk factor for late-life dementia. This paper explores the hypothesis of a positive correlation between midlife hypertension and dementia, which otherwise have a complex relationship. Through a comprehensive review of epidemiological studies and proposed biological mechanisms, including vascular damage and inflammatory processes, this investigation seeks to unravel potential causal pathways linking both conditions." (See news story on the Department of Entomology and Nematology website)

Now an introduction to the "10 Principles of How to Write a Research Paper."

Writing, says Carey, an international award-winning teacher and scientist, is "a foundational skill that empowers people to persuade others, document knowledge, express emotion, reflect on experience, clarify meaning, deepen understanding, open doors, attract funding, earn promotions, motivate teams, impress supervisors, inspire subordinates, and convey love, empathy, gratitude, and the full spectrum of human feeling. Because the principles of good writing translate across disciplines, learning to write succinctly, clearly, proficiently, and competently in one context strengthens a person’s ability to communicate effectively in all others."

Carey’s principles of writing were shaped by his 45-year academic career during which he authored or co-authored nearly 250 scholarly works and four books. His teaching sought to distill the writing model that evolved through this experience and pass it on to his students. His distillation is summarized with ten principles.

1.      Writing videos introduce core concepts. Students begin with a 13-part video series Carey produced, which outlines the full writing process—topic selection, ethical use of sources, formatting, drafting, and final editing. These short tutorials ensure all students start with a shared foundation of practical writing, word- processing, and conceptual knowledge before their own papers begin.

2.     Models guide the writing journey. Like scientists learning from journal articles, students study exemplary term papers, including Carey’s own mock submission and award-winning student work. These models help students visualize expectations, interpret grading criteria, and understand what distinguishes an average paper from an outstanding one in both structure and voice.

3.      Word processing mastery is empowering. Students create custom style sheets for headings, body text, and hanging paragraphs. They learn to format with purpose: controlling white space, using paragraph settings over manual tabs, and understanding structure through formatting. These foundational skills save time, reduce errors, and make writing more professional and efficient.

4.     Typography elevates the page. Students are required to apply key lessons from Butterick’s Practical Typography. Carey emphasizes visual design—1.5-inch margins, exact 15-point spacing, and California FB font at 11 pt—to ensure documents are readable, attractive, and typographically disciplined. A well-set page enhances clarity, focus, perceived authority, and visual elegance.

5.      Topic choice sets the foundation. A strong paper starts with a topic that excites the writer and lends itself to academic depth. Students must avoid topics that are too broad, obscure, or weakly sourced. The best topics are focused, feasible, and researchable—making them ideal platforms for building clear, engaging arguments.

6.     Research builds depth and authority. Carey encourages students to use 25–40 scholarly sources, well beyond the minimum, emphasizing Google Scholar as a primary tool. Deep research enables stronger arguments, reveals academic conversations, and uncovers meaningful gaps or controversies. The result is a paper with substance, credibility, and a well-informed point of view.

7.      Structure drives clarity and flow. Good writing is well-structured writing. Students are taught to outline thoughtfully and use structure as a roadmap for readers. AI tools can help with planning and sequencing, but logic and flow must be internally consistent. Clear structure enhances both the writing process and the reader’s experience.

8.     Start with messy writing. The early stage of writing should be exploratory and unpolished. Carey tells students to write without worrying about grammar or transitions—just get ideas down. This content-first approach allows structure and clarity to emerge naturally through revision. Momentum, not perfection, is the goal in the drafting phase.

9.     Writing polish comes towards the end. Students are trained to delay fine- tuning until their argument is complete and the structure is firm. Once ideas are clearly laid out, then begins sentence-level refinement—smoothing transitions, improving rhythm, clarifying points, and adding stylistic touches.

10.    Finish with disciplined editing. The final stage is a rigorous, multi-pass edit. Students tighten prose, trim redundancies, sharpen transitions, and fine-tune word choice. Carey teaches that editing is not a single task but a deliberate, recursive process. The goal is excellence, not perfection—recognizing when to stop is part of the craft.

The future of university writing instruction:

Professor Carey believes the future of university writing instruction will evolve along two converging paths. The first will follow the traditional model, using AI as an assistive tool to improve grammar, editing, and clarity—enhancing but not replacing human authorship. The second will focus on teaching students to become producers of written content through prompt engineering, curating AI outputs, and refining tone, structure, and accuracy, with AI generating nearly all of the raw verbiage. Eventually, these two approaches will merge into a new reality where writing becomes a seamless blend of human- and AI-generated content. Yet, original writing must still be taught, because clear writing is the very process that sharpens and refines clear thought.

Resources:

UC Davis Library Posting: How to write a research term paper (James R. Carey): 
https://app.screencast.com/NvHL3R8W58sOY?tab=Details

Basics of Term Paper-Writing  (James R. Carey on YouTube)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2DE7nC-f_w

Butterick’s Typography: 
https://practicaltypography.com/

All Lang Prize Winners (with Research Papers Posted):
https://library.ucdavis.edu/lang-prize/winners/ 

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Previous winners of the Lang Prize from the James R. Carey classroom.
Previous winners of the Lang Prize from the James R. Carey classrooms. Top: Rowan Webster, 2024 (left) and Jenna Schafer, 2023. Bottom (from left) Maram Saada, 2022; Barry Nguyen, 2021; and Jessica Macaluso, 2020.

Source URL: https://ucanr.edu/blog/bug-squad/article/learn-how-write-research-paper