本书系统地介绍了写作研究论文的基本要求、格式规范和方法技巧，从如何有效选题开始，介绍了如何应用图书馆查询、收集和整理资料，如何确定论题和写作大纲，如何有效地在写作过程中使用计算机和互联网络，如何找寻相关的研究信息资料，如何将记录的卡片和笔记写成论文初稿，到如何修改初稿，如何合理引用文献和避免剽窃，如何引用参考文献等。该书还介绍了三种研究论文的体例格式，并列举了研究论文的样本。该书与其他同类书籍的一个显著区别是，它没有涉及更多的说教性内容，而是直接给出了写作研究论文各部分的基本技巧、步骤、方法和规范，并采用了大量实例分析，就像一本手册，随时随用，实践性和可操作性俱佳。
　　该书内容丰富，各部分相互独立，读者可以根据实际需求，阅读学习与自忆相关的内容。同时，本书对广大初学者具有指导作用，也可作为高校学术论文写作教学教材或学习参考书。

1　Basic Information about the Research Paper
　1a　Fear of the research paper
　1b　Definition of the research paper
　1c　Format of the research paper
　1d　Reasons for the research paper
　1e　The report paper and the thesis paper
　1f　Drafts of the research paper
　1g　Writing the research paper: Steps and schedule
2　Choosing a Topic
　2a　How to choose a topic
　2b　Topics to avoid
　　2b-1　Topics that are too big
　　2b-2　Topics based on a single source
　　2b-3 Topics that are too technical
　　2b-4 Topics that are trivial
　　2b-5 Topics that are overused
　　2b-6 Topics that are contemporary
　2c　Narrowing the topic
3　The Library
　3a　Layout of the library
　　3a-1　The computer
　　3a-2　Online full-text databases
　　3a-3　Microform indexes
　　3a-4 Stacks
　　3a-5 Reference room or shelf
　　3a-6 Main desk
　　3a-7 Reserve desk
　　3a-8 Audiovisual room
　　3a-9 Microform room
　　3a-10 Newspaper racks
　　3a-ll Computer room
　　3a-12 Carrels
3b Organization of the library collections
　　3b-1 The Dewey Decimal System
　　3b-2 The Cutter-Sanborn Author Marks
　　3b-3 The Library of Congress Classification System
　　3b-4 Classification of periodicals
　　3b-5 Classification of nonbooks
4　The Thesis and the Outline
　4a The thesis: Definition and function
　　4a-1　Formulating the thesis
　　4a-2 Rules for wording the thesis
　　4a-3 Placing the thesis
　　4a-4 Choosing a title
　4b The outline
　　4b-1　Visual conventions of the outline
　　4b-2 Equal ranking in outline entries
　　4b-3 Parallelism in outline entries
　　4b-4 Types of outlines
　　　a. The topic outline
　　　b. The sentence outline
　　　c. The paragraph outline
　　　d. Decimal outline notation
　4C　Choosing an outline form
5 Using the Computer in Your Research
6 Doing the Research
7 Transforming the Notes into a Rough Draft
8 Revising Your Rough Draft
9 The MLA System of Dovumentation
10 The APA System of Dovumentaion
11 The Traditional Sstem of Dovumentation
12 Sample Student Papers
APPENDICES