Research paper outline with sources and a schedule
A research paper fails early when the question is too broad or the sources come too late. This prompt has your todo.is agent narrow your topic into a researchable question, search for credible sources and list them with links, map each section of the paper to its evidence, and plan the weeks until your deadline.
The prompt
- Help me plan a research paper for [COURSE] on [TOPIC]. Length: [LENGTH], due [DUE DATE], in [CITATION STYLE]. First suggest 3 narrower research questions and recommend one. Then search for [NUMBER OF SOURCES] credible sources (peer-reviewed articles, books, official reports), and for each give the full citation, a link, a 2-sentence summary and which section it supports. Build the outline: introduction with background and thesis, a literature review or background section, [MAIN SECTIONS], limitations and conclusion, with bullet points and target word counts. Add a week-by-week schedule to the due date. Give me a Word document, email it, and remind me of each milestone on WhatsApp the day before.
What to change
- [COURSE]: E.g. "second-year psychology" or "AP Seminar".
- [TOPIC]: E.g. "remote work and employee wellbeing". Broad is fine; your agent narrows it.
- [LENGTH]: E.g. "3,000 words" or "12 pages double-spaced".
- [DUE DATE]: E.g. "December 4".
- [CITATION STYLE]: E.g. "APA 7", "MLA 9", "Chicago author-date".
- [NUMBER OF SOURCES]: E.g. "8". Check your assignment for a minimum.
- [MAIN SECTIONS]: E.g. "methods, results, discussion" for an empirical paper, or "3 themed sections" for a review.
Example result
- Research paper outline: remote work and wellbeing
- Second-year psychology · 3,000 words · APA 7 · due December 4
- Research questions
- • A. How does remote work affect wellbeing? (too broad)
- • B. How does the number of remote days per week relate to reported loneliness and burnout among office workers? (recommended: measurable, enough studies exist)
- • C. Do managers' check-in habits change remote employees' stress? (interesting, fewer sources)
- Working thesis
- Hybrid schedules of 2 to 3 remote days appear linked to lower burnout than fully remote or fully in-office work, mainly through reduced commuting and kept social contact, though study designs limit causal claims.
- Outline
- 1. Introduction (400 words)
- • Shift to remote and hybrid work since 2020
- • Why wellbeing matters for workers and employers
- • Research question and thesis
- 2. Background and key concepts (500 words)
- • Definitions: burnout (exhaustion, cynicism, reduced efficacy), loneliness, hybrid work
- • Theories: job demands-resources model
- 3. Remote days and burnout (700 words)
- • Findings from cross-sectional surveys vs longitudinal studies
- • Commuting time and work-home boundaries
- 4. Remote days and loneliness (700 words)
- • Social contact, team cohesion, differences by age and living situation
- 5. Limitations of the evidence (350 words)
- • Self-reported data, selection effects, pandemic-era samples
- 6. Conclusion (350 words)
- • Answer the question, practical points for employers, future research
- Source list (sample entry)
- • Author, A., & Author, B. (2023). Title of the hybrid work study. *Journal Name*, 12(3), 45–60. https://doi.org/…
- • Summary: two-wave survey of office workers; hybrid group reported less exhaustion. Supports section 3.
- • Your agent lists real sources with working links; open each and check it says what the summary says.
- Schedule
- • Week 1: read and take notes on 4 sources
- • Week 2: read 4 more, finalise the outline
- • Week 3: draft sections 2 to 4
- • Week 4: draft introduction, limitations, conclusion
- • Week 5: revise, check APA references
- • Week 6: final read-aloud, submit December 4
How to do it with todo.is
- Fill in your course, topic, length, deadline and citation style.
- Send the to-do to your agent from todo.is, WhatsApp or Telegram. Attach the assignment brief if you have one.
- You get a Word outline with research questions, sources with links, section plans and a schedule.
- Ask for more sources on one section, a different citation style, or a reminder before each milestone.
Tips for a better result
- Narrow the question until you can name the variables or the comparison. Broad questions lead to shallow papers.
- Read the abstract, then the discussion, then the methods of each source. It is faster than reading front to back.
- Open every source link and check it before you cite it. Only cite what you have read.
- Use your library's databases through your school login for full-text articles your agent finds behind paywalls.
research paper outline: FAQ
- What should a research paper outline include? A research question, a working thesis, the main sections with key points, the sources that support each section and rough word counts.
- Are the sources real? Your agent searches the web and gives links to each source. Always open the link and confirm the details, because a citation is only useful if you have checked it.
- How many sources does a research paper need? It depends on the course; many undergraduate papers of 2,500 to 4,000 words use 8 to 15 sources. Your assignment brief is the rule.
- Can it format my reference list? Yes. It writes the references in APA, MLA, Chicago or Harvard. Check them against your style guide, especially capitalisation and DOIs.
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