How to Outline & Organize an Academic Essay

Lorinda Toledo, PhD

ltoledo@otis.edu

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Traditional Overview

of the

Academic Paper

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(May vary depending on your discipline or purpose.)

• Title Page
• Abstract
• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• Body, comprised of the major subtopics. Often:
• Literature Review
• Methodology
• Results
• Discussion
• Conclusion
• References

Getting Started

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Goal at this phase is to take stock of your ideas (brainstorming).

Start from your research question/working thesis at top of the page.

Tip: Start by taking 3 deep breaths to help center yourself

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Thoughts on the Page!

Let thoughts flow without judgement using one (or more) of the following tools:

• Free write
• Bulleted Outline
• Mind map
• Traditional outline - letters/numerals

Organize

& then

Order

• Categorize: like goes with with like
• Label by topic/subtopic
• By theme
• Chronologically
• ...others?

Helpful Web Links

Four Types of Academic Essays

Three Ways to Organize Ideas

Reverse Outlining

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