【正文】 others do not. For research papers, outlining can be a particularly useful intermediate activity between research and writing. In fact, some instructors require each student to hand in an outline with the final draft. Others require a draft outline earlier, asking the student to submit not only a topic for the paper but also a tentative list of subtopics for research. They then suggest that this working outline be continually reviseditems dropped, added, modifiedas the research progresses. You may find a series of outlines helpful, whether or not your instructor requires them, especially if you are a beginning writer of research papers. An outline will help you to get an overall view of your paper and, perhaps more important, to figure out how each section of the paper relates to the others. Thus, developing an outline can help you to see the logical progression of your argument. Word processing is useful for preparing a working outline, which may well pass through many and sometimes quite different versions. Wordprocessing programs monly have an outlining feature that offers several formats with automatic numbering and lettering. It is probably best to create a different puter file for each version of an outline. For example, assign the first version a label like “outline 1,” and save the file when it is finished. When you are ready to revise the outline, create a new file for the second version (“outline 2”), copy the firstdraft file into the new file, and revise. If you bee dissatisfied with the way the second or a subsequent one is progressing, you can discard it, return to an earlier draft, which is stored untouched o the disk, and begin revising in another direction. Printing out each new version will let you pare it more easily with other versions. A working outline will make it easier to keep track of allimportant aspects of your subject and to focus your research on relevant topics. Continual revision of the working outline, moreover, will encourage you to change your thinking and your approach as new information modifies your understanding of the subject. 5. Writing Drafts Do not expect your first draft to be the finished product. The successful research paper is usually the culmination of a series of drafts. Habits, capacities, and practices of writers differ widely. Some individuals write more slowly and e close to a final draft the first time through. Others prefer to work in stages and expect to undertake several drafts. In any case, review and rewriting are always necessary. Plan ahead and leave plenty of time for revision. You might start off by trying to set down all your ideas in the order in which you want them to appear. Do not be concerned if the writing in the first draft is hasty and fairly rough. Attempt to stay focused by following your outline closely. Revise the outline, of course, whenever new ideas occur to you and it no linger works. After you plete a rough draft, read it over and try to refine it. In revising, you may add, eliminate, and rearrange material. If a section in the first draft seems unclear or sketchy, you may have to expand it by writing another sentence or two or even a new paragraph. Similarly, to improve the fluency and coherence of the paper, you may need to add transitions between sentences and paragraphs or to define connections or contrasts. Delete any material that is irrelevant, unimportant, repetitive, or dull and dispensable. If the presentation of ideas seems illogical or confusing, you may find that you can clarify by rearranging phrases, clauses, sentences, or paragraphs. In later drafts you should concern yourself with the more mechanical kinds of revision. For example, strive for more precise and economical wording. Try, in addition, to vary your sentence patterns as well as your choice of words. Finally, correct all technical errors, using a standard writing guide to check punctuation, grammar, and usage and consulting a standard dictionary for the spelling and meaning of words. Your last draft, carefully proofread and corrected, is the text of your research paper. Language and Style Effective writing depends as much on clarity and readability as on content. The anization and development of your ideas, the unity and coherence of your presentation, and your mand of sentence structure, grammar, and diction are all important considerations, as are the mechanics of writingcapitalization, spelling, punctuation, and so on. The key to successful munication is using the right language for the audience you are addressing. In all writing, the challenge is to find the words, phrases, clauses, sentences, and paragraphs that express your thoughts and ideas precisely and that make them interesting to others. Because good scholarship requires objectivity, careful writers of research pap