This research paper will be 5 – 6 pages in length, and in addition will also require an annotated bibliography. You will be required to use a minimum of 9 research sources (all 9 must be used in paper), all of which must come from professional and credible sources which you will have guidance and instruction on.
Purpose:
The intention of the informative paper is to enlighten, not advocate. Though most would agree that there is no paper that is entirely informative or persuasive, there is general agreement that a highly informative piece is, by that virtue alone, at least potentially persuasive.

Elements:
The following elements are strategies for conveying information of varying levels of complexity. Order should be determined organically, and centered upon the audience’s need, as determined by their prior knowledge, level of concern, values, etc., to the extent that such information can be determined. “Who should know this?” is a question that should be taken up along with the research topic per se, for such knowledge can be invaluable in creating an organizing principle for the paper. In any case, any substantial research-based informative paper is likely to require several the following elements.

I. Introduction:
Should show evidence of attempts to engage readers’ needs;
Should demonstrate the topic’s relevance to the field and audience;
Should preview main points
II. Means of Conveying Information (Body):
Definition of Terms by
Operation (what a thing does)
Negation (what a thing isn’t)
Example (providing direct, concrete examples)
Synonym (comparison)
Etymology (word origin)
Description of Information
Provision of details that create a mental image
Demonstration
Explaining how something works
Simplifying terms accurately, with neutrality. (This is very important because the researcher is not simply a conduit, passing information along without alteration. The researcher is presumed to be expert, and the reader must be able to rely on him to make complex issues accessible and without bias.)
Demonstrating Underlying Causes
Building on Prior Knowledge
Using Analogies to Link Concepts (not just terms) to the Familiar
In-Depth Explanation (cf. the typical college lecture format)
III. Conclusion of an Informative Paper
Somewhat unfortunately, the informative paper tends to end with a summary of the main points, albeit in more advanced phrasing, since the audience understands all the terms by now. The summary is probably mainly due to the desire to keep the informative paper from turning into a persuasive paper at the very end. Nevertheless, some structural devices—such as a circular or “bookend” approach, or something involving an anecdote that makes more sense at the end—can be employed, and can help students to think ahead and build their paper toward the conclusion. (I generally tell students that the reader should need to have read and understood the paper in order to fully understand and appreciate the conclusion. If the conclusion is a straight reiteration, what progress has been made? What was the point?)
IV. Special Topical Considerations:
Informative papers about Process tend to have two stages, the first being to explain how something works or develops, and the second being to actually teach the audience how to perform the process (such as the topic of selling items on eBay).
Informative papers about Issues have a much greater chance of turning into persuasive papers, so students need to be alert to this potential.
Informative papers about Concepts create a great need in readers to rely on the researcher to interpret information, for the main purpose of such papers is to make abstract or complex ideas concrete and understandable.