Writing Resources for Your Coursework
Before you start writing, it helps to have the right building blocks in place: a clear research question, a focused thesis, and a plan for how you’ll organize your sources. This page walks through each of those, plus the APA and grammar tools American National University students use most.
Writing a Strong Research Question
A research question is the specific thing your paper sets out to investigate — not your general topic, but the focused question within it. A good research question is:
- Focused enough to answer in the length of paper you’re assigned
- Complex enough to need more than one source to answer
- Clearly scoped, naming a specific population, timeframe, or angle rather than a broad subject
Example: Instead of “How does telehealth affect healthcare?” (too broad), try “How has telehealth adoption affected appointment no-show rates among rural primary care patients since 2020?”
Turning Your Research Question Into a Thesis Statement
Your thesis statement is the answer your paper argues for, stated as a clear claim — usually one to two sentences near the end of your introduction. It should:
- State your position directly, not just announce your topic
- Be specific enough that a reader knows exactly what you’re going to prove
- Set up the structure of your paper (if your thesis has three parts, your paper probably needs three main sections)
Example: “Telehealth adoption has reduced no-show rates among rural primary care patients by making appointments easier to attend, but it has also introduced new barriers for patients without reliable internet access.”
Download the Problem Statement Worksheet
Annotated Bibliographies: A Quick Primer
An annotated bibliography is a reference list where each entry is followed by a short paragraph (usually 3–5 sentences) summarizing the source and noting how you plan to use it in your paper. It’s a useful tool for organizing your sources before you start writing, even on papers that don’t require one.
Example entry:
Patterson, L. (2023). The modern workforce: Skills over credentials. Career Press.
This book argues that employers increasingly value demonstrated skills over degree credentials. I’ll use this source to support my paper’s discussion of certificate programs as an alternative career pathway.
Download the Annotated Bibliography Worksheet
APA Formatting and Citation Tools
- APA’s Student Title Page Guide
- APA Style’s Student Paper Setup Guide
- Academic Writer Tutorial: Basics of Seventh Edition APA Style
- Test your APA knowledge with our interactive quiz
- Full citation guide with examples
- Full formatting guide: title page, margins, headings
More Writing Help
- Purdue OWL — one of the most complete free writing reference sites available, useful for grammar rules and citation edge cases this page doesn’t cover
- Grammarly — catches grammar and spelling issues as you write, though it shouldn’t replace a human review of your argument and structure
