When you think about writing a research paper, you might have a plan to research and then just report on your findings.  Research papers in the academic setting, though, shouldn’t just compile information.  Sometimes you’ll be required to summarize the information you find by condensing the material and including only the most important details, and other times, you’ll be asked to analyze the information in your research project.  How do you do that?

This section will explain the difference between summary and analysis and will provide strategies that can help you use these skills in your writing for a research project.