•The systematic investigation into and the study of materials and sources in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions •Acts or periods of such investigation
•Engaged in or intended for use in such investigation and discovery Source:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&sa=N&biw=1024&bih=677&q=research&tbs=dfn:1&tbo=u&ei=_aH3T6KxJOGJmAQWPhZGeBQ&ved=0CGQQkQ4 2.What is research paper?
For starters, a research paper is primarily characterized by its use of data gathered from a wide range of sources to clarify, analyze, expound on, discover, discuss, and debate an idea. It entails undertaking a scholarly endeavour and acquainting yourself with the variety of materials at your disposal (e.g., the library, various institutions,, field interviews, questionnaires, the Internet, email and the like) to support your claims. In other words, whenever you write ordinary expository papers or close reading analyses of literary texts, all you do is organize and record your own ideas and reactions, without necessarily using evidence to analyze relationships, debate ideas, weigh facts and opinions, and argue a point. For example, writing a report on a cultural practice of the Tasadays will not necessarily acquaint you with a cross reference of materials; open any standard book on Philippine culture and you are bound to have all the information you will need. Even if you manage to find other materials, it is doubtful that they will provide you with anything new. A research paper, therefore, goes a step beyond mere report writing, as it is an exercise in both critical reading and writing. You will find yourself extensively over materials, weighing the relevance of each one, and weaving such information with your own ideas so that the paper is not, merely a patchwork of quilted ideas but an appropriate integration of personal ideas and professional evidence. To sum things up, don’t think that the research paper is merely another exercise using the...