Complete Hands-on Guide to How to Write a Term Paper Outline

What Is a Term Paper Outline?
Traditional Term Paper Outline Structure
How to Write a Term Paper Outline
Outline Formatting Guidelines
Term Paper Outline Example
FAQ
What Does a Term Paper Outline Look Like?
How to Make a Good Outline for a Term Paper?
How to Write a Term Paper Outline in APA Format?

If you got a dollar every time you were told how important it is to write a term paper outline, you’d probably be well on your way to a millionaire club. Unfortunately, the truth is that few people can transform a mess of research data and a jumble of disconnected ideas into a cohesive piece without outlining. And while you can get away with skipping the planning step when writing short 5-paragraph essays, term papers are too crucial for your GPA to mess up their structure. So today, we take a closer look at outline basics and provide hands-on, actionable instructions on writing an outline that will impress your professor and make writing the term paper easier for you.

If it still sounds too daunting to you, ask someone to do your term paper for you and use this guide to check the quality of the paper.

What Is a Term Paper Outline?

An outline is a formal or informal plan or roadmap of your term paper. It is usually one or two pages long, with a numbered list of significant points you wish to make throughout the paper. Although most students abhor outlining a term paper, it is a beneficial activity that serves multiple goals.

Improving your grade if a structured outline is the professor’s requirement.
Organizing the mess of reference information you’ve collected through research.
Gaining an understanding of the relationship between different points and ideas.
Providing a clear big-picture overview of the paper, its shortcomings, and necessary alterations before you start writing.
Accelerating the writing process by reducing deliberation and guesswork.

Traditional Term Paper Outline Structure

If your professor does not provide a template or specific requirements for an outline of a term paper, you can follow a universal three-part term paper structure that works for most assignments.

Introduction	Context	Present the problem in general terms
	Relevance	Explain why you chose the topic and why the reader should care about it
	Thesis statement	Summarize the core idea of the paper in one or two sentences
Body	Literature review or Major point 1	Provide relevant reference information to demonstrate where your work fits with it
	Methodology or Major point 2	Describe the research methods, materials, and tools used
	Results and analysis or Major point 3	Present research results and analyze their importance for resolving the problem
	Discussion or Major point 4	Provide implementation recommendations or highlight potential issues
Conclusion	Thesis reiteration	Restate the core idea of the paper in the context of your research
	Summary of major points	Highlight achieved results and their relevance
	Final thoughts	Add further research potential and opportunities, implementation examples or barriers, etc.

Note that the outline only contains meaningful term paper parts. You don’t need to include the title page, abstract, table of contents, acknowledgments, reference list, or appendices in your outline, though they will certainly be present in the final draft of your paper.

Read also:

Learn how to craft a stunning conclusion and get a term paper conclusion example.

How to Write a Term Paper Outline

Before working on the term paper outline, you need to do some preliminary work. First, you need a topic. If your professor doesn’t provide one, you should pick the one that excites you, fits the scope of the assignment, and is researchable within your timeframe. Next comes the research. You should find and screen relevant, objective, and credible references, browse the latest discoveries and take notes.

When you have a good grasp of the topic and reference data, brainstorm and list every idea that comes to mind. Categorizing and organizing those ideas come next. You may need to go back to research and repeat the previous steps if you realize something is missing from your outline.

Once you list all significant points, review and edit them to ensure they are:

Divided. The more subsections and sublevels you use, the more detailed your outline will be. Still, you don’t need to add separate headings for each paragraph.
Coordinated. All headings of the same level should hold equal weight and be of comparable importance for your narrative.
Subordinated. Headings and subheadings should go from general to specific, detailing significant aspects of each point.
Parallel. Headings and subheadings should follow the same grammatical structure to be readable and understandable. For instance, if your first-level headers start with an action verb (analyze, describe, etc.), all the subheadings should also begin with a verb.

Outline Formatting Guidelines

It’s not enough to know how to make a term paper outline. It should look professional and polished, especially if you submit it for grading. Unless your professor specifies otherwise, the outline should follow the paper’s formatting style listed in the assignment prompt.

For example, an APA term paper outline should comply with the following formatting rules:

Double-spaced text with 1-inch margins all around.
The page number should be in the upper right-hand corner.
Legible 12 pt font, such as Georgia, Arial, or Times New Roman.
0.5-inch indents for each heading relative to upper-level headings (use the Tab key or indent feature, not spaces).
First-level headings are numbered using Roman numerals, i.e., I, II, III, IV, V.
Second-level headings are numbered using capitalized letters, i.e., A, B, C, D, E.
Third-level headings are numbered using Arabic numerals, i.e., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
Fourth-level headings are numbered using lower-case letters, i.e., a, b, c, d, e.
Fifth-level headings are numbered using Arabic numerals in parentheses, i.e., (1), (2), (3), (4), (5).
Two or more subheadings are required at each level; otherwise, the upper-level heading does not require a finer level of detail.

The alpha-numeric numbered outline described above can be written in complete sentences or short phrases. You can also use the decimal numbering system that uses Arabic numerals separated by periods, i.e., 1, 1.2, 1.2.1, 1.2.1.4, etc.

These requirements will make sense in a moment when you check out our sample outline. And to make formatting easier, we suggest creating a term paper outline template using your preferred word processor. You can fill it with new information without rereading the APA manual.

Term Paper Outline Example

Let’s put everything we’ve discussed into practice in a short term paper outline example. You can use it as a template to edit for your assignment.

I. Introduction

A. The rise of online classes due to Covid-19

B. School dropouts and incarceration statistics

C. Dropouts caused by Covid-19 may lead to the crime rate rise

II. Body

A. School and crime rate statistics during 2020-2022

1. Online classes efficiency

2. Satisfaction rates

a. Among students

b. Among teachers

3. High school and college dropouts

B. Relationship between education and crime rate

1. Historical data

2. Future prognosis

C. Potential solutions

1. Mixed online and offline classes

2. Informal education

a. MOOCs

b. Offline adult classes

III. Conclusion

A. Covid-era online classes may lead to crime rise

B. Recent education and crime stats lead to an unfavorable prognosis

C. Possible solutions: informal education and mixed-media classes

We hope that after reading our guide, the process of term paper outlining will seem pretty doable for you. But suppose writing is not your forte, or you can't allocate a minute for the assignment. In that case, there is always a worthy alternative - place your term paper orders with ordertermpaper.net, a reliable yet affordable writing service.

FAQ

What Does a Term Paper Outline Look Like?

It looks like a numbered list of sentence fragments or sentences. Heading levels are numbered using Roman numerals, capital letters, Arabic numerals, and lower-case letters. Each subheading level is indented 0.5 relative to the upper-level heading or subheading.

How to Make a Good Outline for a Term Paper?

First, list everything you want to include in the term paper, then start organizing and grouping the information into categories until you get several major points with two or more subpoints. Then, shuffle them around until you get a logical order and bracket them with an introduction and conclusion.

How to Write a Term Paper Outline in APA Format?

List all the structural elements and major points of the paper and add minor points. Then, choose a full-sentence or sentence fragment approach and number each point and subpoint using Roman numerals, capital letters, Arabic numerals, and lower-case letters. Use double spacing, 1-inch margins on all sides, 0.5-inch idents for headings, and a readable 12pt font, such as Times New Roman, Georgia, or Arial.

Term Paper Outline: A Practical Guide

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