Free AI Research Paper Outline Generator
A research paper outline maps the standard path from question to conclusion. It keeps the literature review focused and makes sure your methods can actually answer the question you ask.
Tip: click any line to edit. Press Enter to add a point, and Backspace on an empty line to remove it.
Your outline is not stored on our servers. Your last outlines stay in this browser only.
Start with the generated outline, then adapt it to your field. Humanities papers often replace Methods and Results with thematic sections; empirical papers keep them.
How to structure a research paper outline
- Introduction: research question, gap in existing work, and contribution.
- Literature review: group sources by theme, not one by one.
- Methods: data, procedure, and how you will analyze it.
- Results: findings reported without interpretation.
- Discussion: what the results mean, limits, and future work.
- Conclusion and references.
Common mistakes
- A literature review that is a list of summaries with no argument.
- Mixing results and interpretation.
- A research question too broad to answer in the page limit.
- Forgetting to note which sources support which section.
Example outline
Research paper: Effects of sleep on exam performance
- Introduction
- Question: does sleep duration predict exam scores?
- Literature review
- Sleep and memory consolidation
- Gaps in student-population studies
- Methods
- Survey of 200 students
- Regression on sleep hours
- Results
- Main effect and confidence interval
- Discussion
- Interpretation and limits
- Conclusion
- Implications for study schedules
Checklist before you start writing
- Is your research question narrow enough to answer within the page limit?
- Is the literature review organized by theme and tied to your question?
- Could another researcher repeat your method from your description alone?
- Are results reported separately from their interpretation?
- Does the discussion admit the limits of your evidence?
Related templates
Frequently asked questions
Does the outline follow APA or MLA?
The structure is neutral. Formatting of headings and citations follows your style guide, and the template pages show APA and MLA variants.
Can the AI find real sources?
No. Never cite anything you have not read. Use the outline to plan, then find sources in your library database.
How detailed should it be?
Detailed enough that each paragraph has a purpose and a source attached.