Department of History

We've put these pages together to help you research and write history papers and make the most of the wonderful resources available here at Indiana University. This website will provide you with information about how to do certain tasks in the process of researching and writing rather than about the content of history as a discipline, even though they are difficult to separate! You will not find a magic formula that will work for every paper here, but rather the idea that writing a history paper is a long process that takes time. You can't sit down at your computer at the end of the semester and simply write a history paper.

These steps walk you through the process, from background prep work like choosing a topic to the practical nitty gritty of revising a final draft.

• Before you start

1. What makes a history essay good?
2. Why should you care about a history essay?

• Getting started

1. Finding a topic
2. Finding sources

• Managing your research

1. Reading sources
2. (Re)focusing a topic
3. Research strategies

• Writing and revising

1. The first draft
2. Revision strategies