How to Write a Conclusion for Academic Paper: Expert Tips and Examples

Different types of conclusions

When trying to decide how to write a conclusion, consider the type of closure you want. Your choice of how to write a conclusion will rely on your paper's research topic and format. You can choose which method to use while writing your conclusion by consulting the information below.

1. Externalizing conclusion

An externalizing conclusion provides thoughts or points that may not have been explicitly mentioned or pertinent to how your study and thesis were presented. These kinds of findings, nevertheless, may be powerful since they offer fresh perspectives that expand on the research question you first raised. Externalizing conclusions encourages readers to analyze the implications of your subject in new ways.

2. Summarizing conclusion

A concluding summary is frequently utilized to summarise your topic and thesis concisely. While particular research articles may call for a different kind of conclusion, this is thought to be the most typical one. This form of conclusion is frequently required for research papers on themes, including argumentative papers, problem-solution studies, persuasive essays, and scientific and historical subjects.

3. Editorial conclusion

You give your own ending thoughts or remarks in an editorial conclusion. This kind of conclusion ties your ideas to the research you've discussed. You might express your thoughts on the conclusions, the findings, or the subject in general. The editorial conclusion can be particularly effective in research studies that give viewpoints, approach a subject humanely, or present contentious findings.

Steps to consider while writing a conclusion

The most basic conclusion includes restating your thesis, summarizing your significant points, and leaving your reader with something new to think about. Restating your thesis is just a short beginning of your conclusion.

You should then follow up with a sentence that outlines any further research that could be done on your topic to gain a better understanding or explore new angles. And finally, you'll want to briefly describe what implications or applications your findings have for further research or real-world applications. Let's break down each step in more detail.

1. Restate Your Thesis

After you've spent some time exploring and developing your argument in the body of your paper, it's time to reanalyze and restate what you've stated in your thesis statement in different words. This is called reiteration, and it usually sounds something like this:

• "The evidence collected throughout this paper supports the claim that______."

If you made an Original Argument, this is also where you state how well you believe you defended that argument.

2. Summarize Your Main Points  

We all know from English class that summaries are shorter versions of something original--in this case, shorter versions of each main point made throughout the body paragraphs of your research paper.

A good summary will include the following:

 Who/what is being summarized (often stated as "focus"), the main points made about that person/thing, and when/where those points were made throughout the body paragraphs (often stated as "in X section.")

Here's what that might look like for our previous example of restating a thesis:

"The focus of this paper was the claim that______. To support this claim, evidence was collected throughout the body paragraphs which showed______(main point 1), ______(main point 2), ______(main point 3). These points were explored in more depth in sections two through four."

3. Leave Your Reader With Something New To Think About

• What implications does your work have?
• What new questions have been raised that could use further exploration?
• Even if no one else has researched this topic before, how could someone build on what you have done?

Asking these questions might help you find ways to make your work even more useful and relevant than it might otherwise seem. You can even briefly describe potential future directions for research on this topic if you think there might be value in doing so! Just remember not to make any grandiose claims--you want to stay grounded in what evidence you actually have to support any statements you make here.    

4. Avoiding Common Pitfalls    

There are some things you'll want to avoid while writing your conclusion so that it doesn't sound dry or wooden. First, don't simply repeat what you already said in your introduction--this will make it seem like you didn't explore all aspects of your topic thoroughly enough (which may very well be accurate, but it's not something you want to highlight in your finish!)

Secondly, avoid making radical claims or statements that lack evidence just to sound impactful. Remember that anything you say should be backed up by supporting evidence from the body paragraphs of your paper (or from outside sources if you're citing them.)

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, avoid simply listing off all the main points made throughout the body paragraphs as though they were items on a grocery list; not only is this redundant, but it doesn't sound very nice, either! Instead, try synthesizing all those main points into one or two sentences before moving on to implications and applications. 

Tips for creating an efficient conclusion section

• Keep your major concepts, thesis, and concluding information succinct and clear.
• Using phrases like "in summary" or "in conclusion" at the start of your conclusion might make you sound redundant.
• If you feel overwhelmed, consider writing your conclusion in a straightforward summarizing approach.
• Provide questions and answers, findings, recommendations, or a conclusion to your arguments to synthesize your material.
• Include just the strongest justifications and ideas that you made in your paper.
• Do not reiterate anything that has previously been covered.

Final Remarks

Every research paper needs a basic conclusion that restates the thesis statement, summarises the main points made throughout the body paragraphs, and leaves readers with something new to think about. However, there are also several things you can do and several things you should avoid to make sure that yours sounds both convincing and authoritative. With these tips in mind about how to write a conclusion, move forth and conquer those conclusions!