Anthropology sounded so exotic and exciting when you decided to take the class. You expected Indiana Jones-style adventures, but instead, you’re stuck in a library and told to embrace ‘cultural relativity’. Worse still, you have to write a ton of papers, all calling for extensive research and analysis. To get you out of trouble and well on your way to successful graduation, we’ll explain how to write an anthropology essay, term or research paper. Make the most of our tips, and your writing will win professors over.
How to Write an Anthropology Research Paper
Unlike short essays or reports, research papers call for in-depth literature review, methodology explanation, experiment design, analysis, and discussion. Creating a cohesive paper that gets you a high grade is a lot of work, and every stage of the writing process, from finding the right sources to proofreading and formatting, is equally important. We’ll walk you through the critical steps of crafting this assignment and point out the best ways to get it finished as quickly and painlessly as possible.
Research the Topic and Take Notes
Research is impossible without reading. You need to know what’s already been written on your topic to find the gaps in knowledge your work can fill. So the first step of writing a research paper is to find, assess, and discard the sources:
- Find the sources offline or online. If you don’t know where to start, ask your professor for suggestions, look for systematic overviews on the topic, or check out respectable journals. Google Scholar, ResearchGate, and DeepDyve are all good places to start your search.
- Assess the sources to decide if they fit your topic. Besides, your references should be recent, reliable, and unbiased. Do not use anonymous online sources if you can, instead go with scientific publications.
- Discard the sources that don’t meet the requirements. You don’t have to read the whole article to know it doesn’t fit your topic; instead, skim the abstract and the conclusion. Forget any sources that you’re not going to use so that they don’t clutter your research.
Read those references you decide are worth your time and take notes as you go to speed up the process. The two note-taking approaches are equally effective:
- Copy and paste. The fastest way to get your notes in one place is to copy the interesting pieces from the sources and paste them into a file. The downside of this approach is the increased processing time. Going through extensive notes to get to the core ideas will take more time than the initial copying stage. And if you go overboard, critical information may get lost within the sea of useless quotes.
- Summarize. If you choose this approach, instead of mindlessly copying quotes from sources, you should get to the core ideas and themes from the get-go. Summarize interesting passages into sentences to keep the note volume manageable. Just make sure your paraphrasing does not disrupt the data and represents the ideas correctly. You can, of course, still copy some of the quotes if you want to keep the original tone of voice and data.
Whichever approach you choose, remember to carefully specify the page number and the source name and author. This way, you will be able to insert in-text citations as you go and protect yourself from unconscious plagiarism.
Create an Anthropology Research Paper Outline
An outline may be a waste of time when you’re writing a 5-paragraph essay, but it is vital for long-form writing, like a medical anthropology research paper. Without a clear plan of what you want to say, your piece will likely be disjointed, unclear, and even illogical. And your chances of getting an A will dwindle.
The structure of the paper will depend on the topic and your research design. For instance, your paper won’t need a section on experiment design if your research is purely literary. But if you conduct a series of interviews, you will need to include an overview of their results and your analysis.
Some sections may be optional, but the introduction and conclusion are present across all academic writing assignments. As always, the first passage or two should introduce the topic of the paper, grab the reader’s attention, and include a thesis that outlines the core ideas. The conclusion should wrap up the paper by summarizing the main points and explaining the value of the research, its implications, and potential future avenues of study.
Everything that goes between the introduction and conclusion can take many forms. We recommend you pay attention to the structure of the journal articles as you read them. Find the one that fits your research design and mimic the section structure. If you’re still unsure about it, consult your professor before you go filling out the outline.
Stick to Proper Anthropology Research Writing Style
Once your outline is complete, all you have to do is sit down and fill in the gaps. There is no universal solution to get the writing done. You can complete the paper in a couple of day-long sessions or break it into tiny hour-long chunks peppered throughout the term. To save yourself some time on editing and proofreading, we suggest you follow the style recommendations below from the get-go:
- Clear logic. You can’t rely solely on sources to complete your research. Whichever references, quotes, or data you choose to use, you have to explain your logic behind including them and enter a scholarly dialogue to support your claims. Connect every point to the thesis of your paper and highlight why the information you use is critical. And remember to include your analysis of the sources.
- First-person pronouns. You can use ‘I’ in an Anthropology reflection paper, but keep the first-person pronouns to a minimum if your piece is on the analytical side. Remember that your topic should be at the center of attention, not your feelings or opinions.
- Active voice. While passive voice is acceptable in some cases, it can make your paper challenging to read and follow. If there is a clear subject in the sentence, stick to active voice. It will make your writing style more dynamic and less cluttered.
- Tense choice. Whether you choose the past or present tense, consistency is the key. Try to stick to your choice throughout the paper. However, you may use both past and present tenses if you’re describing historical and current events.
- Word and sentence length. Overusing thesaurus and clauses will not make your research paper look smarter. Instead, it can become unreadable. Most professors do appreciate some writing flair, but it should not detract from the contents of the piece. So try mixing complex sentences with short ones and don’t go overboard with wordiness. If you can say something using five words instead of fifteen, do it.
And if your professor has personal preferences or pet peeves, you need to heed them while you write. Look back to your past assignment and read the comments provided to learn more about your instructor’s likes and dislikes when it comes to writing style, and your chances of getting a high grade will skyrocket.
Take Care of the Anthropology Paper Format and Citations
Your professor will include the formatting and citation style requirements in the assignment. But if they don’t, ask and take note of the proper style. Most Anthropology schools prefer the Chicago style, though some may call for APA or MLA. While there are similarities, all three have significant differences, and you need to stick to the style of your professor’s choosing. Nothing annoys professors more than poor formatting.
Check out the official formatting guidebooks online or offline and make your work look pretty once you’re done with editing and proofreading. You can also create and use a research paper template that will automatically format your paper as you write it.
In-text citations and the reference list are the last obstacles between you and the submission deadline. Still, you shouldn’t rush this step, as a single missed citation can raise questions about plagiarism. That’s why it’s essential you keep track of every quote and paraphrased passage and provide the relevant citation information.
If you want to speed up this last writing step, use online automatic citation generators. But if you do, always check the results against the formatting style recommendations. Sometimes algorithms fail to include all pertinent information, and that’s not worth losing points off your grade for.
Common Mistakes When You Learn How to Write a Term Paper for Anthropology
Let’s wrap up with a couple of precautions. If you’re after a high grade and a GPA boost, DO NOT:
- Choose too broad a topic. It’s tempting to go looking for a list of physical anthropology research paper topics online and pick the first one that looks intriguing. Most of those topics are far too broad to cover in a research paper. So if you want to use a stock idea, narrow down the scope of your study to a certain period, population group, research method, etc.
- Ignore parts of the prompt. Most professors will provide a list of questions you need to answer in your paper. Those questions are designed to guide your inquiry and structure your work. If you skip parts of the prompt, you risk missing important information and conclusions your professor expects to see. So pay attention to the prompt, especially when you’re outlining the paper.
- Overuse references. Eliminating unsuitable sources is one of the most challenging research tasks. However, you need to keep your topic and prompt in mind and let go of any references that aren’t relevant. If you stumble upon an interesting piece of information that doesn’t fit into your paper, store it in a separate file for later use in other assignments.
- Make unsubstantiated assumptions. Cultural relativism is at the core of anthropological research, and losing sight of it will not win you points. Remain objective when conducting experiments and analyzing the results. And avoid making conclusions without enough proof. Your job is to study the differences between cultures, not to judge them.
- Skip editing and proofreading. We didn’t pay much attention to this step, but it’s essential for your success. Ideally, you want to give yourself a couple of days away from the research to come back to it with fresh eyes before you start editing. Getting a second opinion is also a great option. If you don’t find a classmate willing to look over your paper, ask for help at a campus writing center or reach out to professional editors. They will provide plenty of actionable feedback to improve your writing by leaps and bounds.
- Put off writing. You can’t produce an A-worthy term paper in two days, even if you pull two all-nighters in a row. Even if it goes against your nature, create a plan and break your writing down into small, manageable chunks throughout the semester. Even 30-minute daily writing sprees will add up to a solid piece by the end of the term.
Anthropology research papers are challenging and time-consuming, but if you follow our suggestions and stay in touch with your professor or TA throughout the term, you’ll do fine. Still, if you find yourself scrambling to get things done with a week or less time before the submission deadline, getting professional writing help might not be such a bad idea.