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I am teaching a introductory course this month, the first course for matriculating juniors.

This week, we discussed the academic writing process, and I felt as if I were knocked upside my head. All of the students admitted to never using an outline before writing a business report or academic paper. Maybe I need to remind us all of the importance of outlining our thoughts and research before composing the introduction, body and conclusion of our work.

I offer the following as an initial attempt at describing a proper writing sequence.

1. Review the objective and expectations of the assignment
2. State the objective of the paper
3. Research material defense (support) of the thesis and each argument to be presented
4. Apply the hamburger approach to presenting data
1. Introduce the thesis
2. Develop and defend the thesis and each argument
3. Conclude by restating the thesis and offering a call to action or application of the thesis
5. After the paper is drafted, reviewed, proofread, and corrected, compose the abstract (120 words or fewer that describes the thesis and conclusion presented in the paper).

Each paper should be a hamburger (introduction, body, conclusion); each paragraph should be a hamburger (introduction, body, conclusion).