What is an Outline?

An outline is useful because it allows you to assign information to a hierarchy so that you can write a coherent paper. A hierarchy, or hierarchic structure, is a way of classifying information from major to minor, or most important to least important. A major point is supported by minor points. Minor points are supported by evidence. Don’t mistake “least important” for “unimportant.” All information in your paper should be important, or it shouldn’t be included.

You might have worked with outlines in the past. A research paper outline is no different from any other outline. An alphanumeric outline (using numbers and letters) is the most common format and the one we will use here. Generally speaking, the structure of most outlines adheres to these guidelines:

• Although outlines may vary in the way they look, information of similar importance is always represented by the same type of heading.
• All information in the major points, subpoints, and evidence directly relates to the information above and is also subordinate to the higher-level information.
• The major points that reinforce the thesis are on the same level of importance as the thesis.
• The subpoints subordinate to each major point are on the same level.
• The evidence for each subpoint appears on the next level below.
• Each level has at least two entries. If it's not possible to come up with at least two subpoints to support each major point or with two pieces of evidence to support each subpoint, then the point is not strong enough, and more brainstorming and research are needed. It's also possible that the point needs to be replaced by a stronger one.

In the next section, you will see an example of these guidelines.