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How to Write a Position Paper: Definition, Outline & Examples

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A position paper is a written statement that presents a particular perspective on any issue or topic. It typically argues a specific point of view and presents evidence to support that position. To write a position paper, you need to research and understand the topic, develop a supported argument, and address opposing viewpoints.

In this comprehensive guide, you will find all important information that will help you prepare this type of assignment. More specifically we will talk about:

What is a position paper?
How to write a position paper?
Position paper example you could use for inspiration.

As an experienced paper writer team, we always come to support fellow students by providing them with helpful information and tips. Our readers can find detailed definitions and high-quality supporting materials on this website – all of that available for free!

What Is a Position Paper: Definition

First of all, let’s define it. Your position paper should clearly display and support your own view of a specific problem. Typically, position papers explore more or less controversial questions, which is why they must include argumentation supported by valid data. Providing evidence to the readers is the main distinctive feature of such an essay. Your work should demonstrate your ability to put up a strong case, not just describe your beliefs. Before you write a position paper, think it through and start with understanding your purpose. What do you try to tell your audience, and what is the best way to convey it? This helps with building good argumentation and structuring your essay.

Keep in mind that unlike a persuasive essay , convincing your readers to accept your point isn’t your primary task. Your piece should mainly focus on information that makes an argument strong. That’s why you should use supportive evidence that backs up your viewpoints.

Purpose of a Position Paper

Why do you need a position paper? First of all, it serves as great supporting material when talking about your viewpoint in front of an audience. Writing a position paper beforehand helps to organize your thoughts on the topic and set your defenses properly. Besides, you can use it when speaking to ensure you haven’t forgotten to mention something important. You might also be required to submit your paper before or after your speech. If it is your college or university assignment, this document will be your main output, which is why its structure and format are so important.

Position Paper Outline

One of the main first steps is preparing an outline for a position paper. After you’ve done some research and gathered enough data on your topic, spend additional time and create a concise draft. It should display your paper’s entire structure, including the key arguments, without going into much details. Your writing should follow a basic 5 paragraph essay outline . Once done with your plan, you can review it and easily spot major gaps or inconsistencies. Checking your work at this stage is typically much more productive than after writing the full text. Here is an example of position paper outline:

Hook the reader with stats, numbers or facts
Introduce the issue
Include a thesis statement presenting your central idea and stand on the problem
Present counterclaims
Offer evidence that backs up counterarguments
Refute the counter arguments using examples
Strong opinion
Supporting examples
Restate your main claim
Offer a course of action

Hopefully, this position paper template will speed up your progress with your own work. Check the attachments below – complete sample papers along with outlines are available there.

Position Paper Structure

What exactly does the structure of a position paper include? This is quite easy: similarly to any other scholarly essay, your position paper should contain three main parts:

Introduction

Main body part
Conclusion.

You’ll write a good position paper if you make it readable and concise in addition to preparing string argumentation backed by valid evidence. Otherwise, your poorly structured text won’t impress your readers. We’ve prepared more helpful information on how you should compose each of these sections. You can find it below, so please read it attentively. Also, check out the sample position papers available on this page. You can find more tips and ideas below.

Good introduction for a position paper should make your reader well familiar with the problem you are arguing about. This typically involves explaining why it is important for everyone or why you’ve decided to discuss it. Besides, the introduction must engage your audience so that they would be interested in hearing more about your position and evaluating its validity. This is how to start writing a position paper:

Clearly state your position, giving the thesis statement.
Give enough context about the problem and its background, explaining why you stand this ground.
‘Hook’ your readers by making it sound interesting.

The latter can be achieved by making some hints about upcoming evidence, using some kind of wordplay, or just making a suitable joke.

Body of a position paper is where its argumentation should be placed. When you make a position paper, be sure to divide it into logically interconnected paragraphs – each one for one of your major arguments expressed in the topic sentence . Make proper transitions between them. Leave at least one paragraph for the counter argumentation you may have faced and for its rebuttal. The evidence you’ve collected to support your claim should also be presented in the main body, together with quotes and references (if any). Remember to use solid and relevant data and avoid unnecessary facts, as they don’t bring value and may just make the text less readable. Pay attention to the consistency and readability of this section. Its structure and contents show how well you’ve built your argumentation. And that is what makes position papers persuasive.

This is how to write a conclusion for a position paper that adds real value to it:

Properly summarize your argumentation, showing how it supports your take.
Make it sound strong; ensure that it is logical and well-readable.
Keep it brief, don’t repeat anything from the main part.

Remember that your proposition paper conclusion will be the last thing your audience reads, so making a strong and persuasive ending would help with leaving a good impression on it. You’ll find a conclusion template in one of the sections below.

How to Write a Position Paper in 9 Steps

Let’s get to the point – you must write a good position paper, and now you’re looking for some helpful tips on that. We’ve got your back! First and foremost, the best beginning is to set up a strong position. Otherwise, your essay will simply be uninteresting. Now make sure you can actually prove what it states. But that’s just the beginning: think about captivating headings, add some clever techniques and diligent work to that, keeping focus on your goal – and you’ll get an excellent paper. What should be added? Just keep reading. We’ve prepared an elaborate guide on how to write a position paper step by step. Let’s go and check it!

1. Choose a Topic

Creating position papers requires some hard work, but choosing a proper subject may save a lot of time and effort. If it is uninteresting or too narrow, that might result in an issue. Better to choose a topic that:

Is relevant and controversial: this will draw your readers’ interest.
Is understandable for you, so it would be easier for you to discuss some points about it.
Has received some coverage in news, books, or other sources, making it simpler to find enough evidence about it.

Before commencing the writing process, search among good topics for position papers and select one most suitable for taking a point around it.

2. Do Research Before Writing a Position Paper

Conducting preliminary research for position papers is a key step before starting with actual writing. This is where you can collect evidence about your subject:

Google it This is easier but remember to filter out results with low credibility.
Media If this is a recent and big event, it should be mentioned in the news; make sure to pick the most credible resources.
Check the sources used by books or articles written on the subject This way, you might find some ‘hidden gems’ that are difficult to google.

Don’t know if you’ll write a winning position paper? Follow the next steps closely. And don’t forget to explore the free samples available on this page, check their structure and style.

3. Draft a Position Paper Thesis

Thesis of a position paper is basically its foundation. Make it strong, and you’ll ensure your success. Don’t be too wordy. One sentence is enough to deliver your thesis and summarize your position on the topic. You can put it closer to the start or put it at the end of your introduction so that it summarizes the explanations you would give about the problem. Examples of a position paper thesis:

4. Create an Outline

Once you have decided about the direction you’re taking with your essay, proceed with the position essay outline. This step is often overlooked, but it will be much easier to find and correct mistakes and gaps at this early stage. So, writing a position paper outline actually saves you time. This is how to write a position paper outline:

Keep it brief, just one sentence per idea. No need to always use full sentences, just make them readable.
Include your thesis, mention the context, then write one sentence per each argument.
Briefly summarize it, one sentence will suffice as well.

Don’t forget to review your outline carefully.

5. Begin Writing Your Position Paper

Once you’ve ensured the outline of an essay doesn’t have any gaps or logical flaws, go ahead and complete the full-text version. If you wonder how to start a position paper at this stage, begin with the introduction. You already have its shortened draft, so just add necessary details and list explanations if needed. But don’t give particular arguments or refute opposing opinions yet, those should come in the main body part. See how to write an introductory paragraph for a position paper in the next section.

Position Paper Introduction Example

Looking for introduction position paper examples? We’ve got one for you. Here’s how you can start your essay:

Check our sample position paper for introduction examples. They are available for free download.

6. Include Evidence in Your Position Paper

As we’ve already explained, position papers must be backed by solid evidence. You have to prove your point, and that requires addressing it with data, not just stating it with confidence. When you write your position paper, there are two main requirements for backing your claim:

collect valid and relevant data;
present it in your text properly.

Here’s an example of evidence in a position paper:

7. Provide Counterarguments and Refute Them

Still learning how to write position paper? If it is your first one, consider an important fact: ignoring evident contradictions to your claim doesn’t add credibility. Instead, you must work with counter arguments which is similar to writing an argumentative essay . You may be aware of the opposite opinions or think and assume which objections your opponents would make. Better mention them in your essay and show how you counter these claims. Here are some examples of counterarguments for position papers:

8. Summarize Your Position

When writing your position paper, it is important that you make it sound impressive in the end. Your position paper conclusion should properly summarize all arguments and rebuttal of counterarguments . Keep it brief, without repeating much, just highlight how all your findings support the claim. You can also add some extra notes, e.g., making additional assumptions, different predictions about this problem’s impact in the future, or hints about extra evidence you haven’t mentioned before to keep your text brief. This may help to make a lasting impression on your audience. Finally, review your conclusion once again, ensuring that it is logical and doesn’t contradict any claims, arguments, or assumptions provided above. Check the next section for an example of how to write a position paper conclusion.

Example of a Position Paper Conclusion

Need an actual conclusion for a position essay example? It can be something like this:

You can also find the conclusion of a position paper essay example if you check the free samples that are available on this page.

9. Proofread Your Position Paper

After your position essay is complete, you absolutely should spend some extra time and review it again. Try adopting a critical view, putting yourself in your potential opponent’s shoes. Are there any logical gaps or grammar mistakes left? Paper position is not clear enough? Wrong source mentioned? Nearly every text has some issues to correct. Sometimes even evident typos are left overlooked when writing. It is best to have someone else review a position paper since its writer may be biased toward their own text. Another way is reading it aloud to yourself prior to submission. Some flaws may be uncovered this way too.

Position Paper Format

Your position papers format is another element that shouldn’t be overlooked. Proper headline and paragraph styles make your text more readable. Also, there might be specific requirements for making citations. All your evidence must be presented correctly so that it doesn’t get mixed with your own opinions. Format depends on the discipline. You might need to use one of the popular styles: MLA, APA, or Chicago. If you don’t see which one of them is required, better ask your tutor. You can find some position paper format sample in our free attachments, available below.

Position Paper Examples

Need an example of a position paper so that you could learn how all these recommendations can be implemented? We’ve got some for you! Scroll down to the bottom of the page, and you’ll find sample of position papers available for free download. Each position paper example essay has been written by professional research writers and can be used for inspiration or as a reference. Just don’t copy any of those materials in your own text, as you should only submit 100% original works. Position paper example 1

Position paper example 2

Position paper example 3

Position Paper Sample 4

Tips for Writing a Position Paper

Finally, some extra tips on writing a position paper that is really persuasive:

Choose topics that are interesting for you. This will motivate you to discuss them.
Plan ahead and consider your deadlines. Don’t spend too much time conducting the preliminary research or perfecting your argumentation if it is already valid.
Pay attention to your sources. Some books or research might be considered dubious by your opponents or might have some obvious gaps.
Review your position papers as many times as possible. Ideally, ask a person with an opposite side on this issue to read and refute it.
Keep it professional. Maintain a confident tone but stay logical and correct, avoid emotional or derogatory remarks.

More examples of position papers are available here – you can check them below.

Final Thoughts on How to Write a Position Paper

So, in order to write a position paper, you need to choose an appropriate topic and elaborate on your position regarding the specific problem. Then you should defend it using logic, facts, and confidence. Still not clear what are position papers and how one should write them? Check out this sample position paper for students available below, and you’ll find all our tips illustrated there. Follow its structure and style, just don’t copy anything to avoid plagiarizing.

If you are stuck in any stage of the writing process, don’t hesitate to use professional academic writing services. StudyCrumb is always here for you to solve any academic challenge you may have. Let us know your task, and we will match you with the most fitting expert who can write an excellent position paper for you.

Rachel R. Hill is a real educational devotee. She prides in writing exceptional general guides while listening to every need of students.

FAQ About a Position Paper

1. how long should a position paper be.

The length of a position paper is usually limited to one page and a half (up to 350 words). Don’t make it too long, stick to the facts and brief statements. When given with confidence, concise claims are more persuasive. At the same time better include all necessary evidence, not rely just on confidence. So don’t make it less than one page.

2. What are the kinds of support in a position paper?

You can use these support types in your position paper:

Factual knowledge: either well-known facts (e.g., historical or biological) or data retrieved from credible sources;
Statistical trends: always helpful for making assumptions but also need to be backed by sources;
Informed opinion: citations from renowned specialists in fields related to your topic.

3. What is forbidden in a position paper?

When writing a position paper, avoid the following:

Taking opinions for facts.
Using threats or derogatory language as a means of persuasion.
Comparing unrelated situations and making some conclusions from that.
Copying other works without citing them.

Academic Writing

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Critical Analysis
Literature Review
Research Paper

Position Paper Diagram

Elements of the position paper, writing & tutoring help at bowie.

An author who writes a position paper is making an argument which has to be built upon evidence. The structure used to do this is very similar to that used when writing a critical essay.

Image taken from James Cook University Study Skills Online. "Essay Structure." 17 August, 2012. Retrieved from http://www.jcu.edu.au/tldinfo/writingskills/essay/structure.html.

The purpose of a position paper is to generate support on an issue. It describes the author’s position on an issue and the rational for that position and, in the same way that a research paper incorporates supportive evidence, is based on facts that provide a solid foundation for the author’s argument. It is a critical examination of a position using facts and inductive reasoning, which addresses both strengths and weaknesses of the author’s opinion.

The classic position paper contains three main elements:

An Introduction , which identifies the issue that will be discussed and states the author’s position on that issue.

The Body of the paper, which contains the central argument and can be further broken up into three unique sections:

Background information

Evidence supporting the author’s position

A discussion of both sides of the issue, which addresses and refutes arguments that contradict the author’s position

A Conclusion , restating the key points and, where applicable, suggesting resolutions to the issue.

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A Brief Guide to Writing a Position Paper

13 July, 2020

13 minutes read

Author: Mathieu Johnson

Speaking your thoughts out loud happens to be easier than doing the same in writing. Why is that so? Every time you prepare a speech, you need to write it down first. And your writing needs to be precise because readers are about to know what you’ve put down on a paper. When it comes to a position paper, your mission is to express your opinion on a controversial topic. You will have to take a side on a specific topic and make up a case based on your opinion. To succeed in this writing task, you may need some guidelines.

What Is Position Paper?

A position paper is a kind of essay in which you express your opinion or position regarding a particular subject matter. It can be used for different purposes, from a discussion of international challenges to an analysis of business strategies. As a result, a position paper format is widely used in business and politics. Also, it can take a form of a report revealing your plans for the subject matter at hand. A position paper should contain a smooth flow of thoughts and ideas that provide a rock-solid evidence for your line of reasoning.

What Are The 3 Parts of a Position Paper?

A position paper consists of three main parts: introduction, body, and conclusion. Here is an explanation of what you can write in each part:

Introduction

The introductory part aims to attract the reader’s attention to the covered subject matter. Ideally, you should begin with several opening sentences about the specific issue to hook the reader.

The body part involves background information, evidence to back up your opinion, and analysis of both sides of the subject matter. By conducting thorough research, you will collect enough data to support your claims. The main point is to address both aspects of the argument. That way, you will show the reader that you are objective in your statements.

In the conclusion part, you need to restate the key points of your essay without adding anything new. Depending on your topic, it makes sense to suggest a solution to the problem.

How to Write a Position Paper?

To start writing a position paper , you should have a clearly stated topic that is debatable with logical details. While writing a paper, you should examine your vision of the problem through the prism of available arguments. Consider practicability, cost-effectiveness, and local environment when evaluating possible solutions and necessary actions. In other words, you should express, explain, and back up your opinion. And don’t forget to be specific in stating and supporting your arguments.

Select a Position Paper Topic

If you want to create a good position paper, you should focus on a subject matter that has enough findings to support it as well as some controversy to produce an argument. If you are dealing with a position paper assignment, you will want to skip your personal values and focus on something that can get you the highest grade. Here are some of the position paper topics to consider:

Should reality TV shows be regulated?
What are the positive and negative sides of video gaming?
Are there any parallels between video gaming and addiction?
Can beauty contests have a positive impact on women?
Should children have a schedule for school and after-school activities or be given more free time for playing?
What affects the rapid increase in child obesity?
How to reduce the number of abortions without legislation?
How can pro-life and pro-choice groups cooperate?
Should the production of Barbie dolls be banned?
What is the meaning of true beauty?
Should young children be forced to compete at athletics?
What are the reasons for blood cancer?
How does COVID-19 pandemic affect the business sector?
Is COVID-19 a real problem or a huge fake?
How does COVID-19 affect our lives?
Should media coverage be taken under control?
Is private school tuition really worth it?
How can the country’s school system be amended?
What role should technology play in the business sector?
Should college athletes receive a salary?
Should college athletes be allowed to skip classes?
Technologies are changing the way people think.
How are online technologies affecting the way we live?
What laws should regulate the use of cell phones in cars?
Should parents limit teenagers’ use of social media?
Should scientists be allowed to experiment on human embryos?
What causes people to immigrate illegally?
Is there any way to reduce the immigration rate?
Can illegal immigration be justified?
How do people justify war?
How significant is race to American identity?
What is the world culture?
What is the value of knowing your cultural background?
Should schools teach multiculturalism?
Is global warming a problem?
Is racism the problem of the modern community?
How can clean water be provided to everyone?
Is the problem of air pollution exaggerated?
What needs to be done to reduce the level of air pollution?
Who should take responsibility for air pollution?
Will the worldwide population increase?
What needs to be done to stop poaching of endangered species?
Is hunting good for the environment?
Are citizens responsible for their local environment?
What can manufacturers do to reduce the air and water pollution across the world?
What is the real importance of clean water?
Is there any connection between health and pollution?
What can people do to stop global pollution?
How can people be encouraged to recycle more?
How does global warming increase?

Preliminary Research

How do you write a position paper? Where to start from? Preliminary research requires you to find sufficient evidence for the covered subject matter. At the same time, you don’t need to rely on a subject matter that falls apart under a challenge of hefty research. You will also need to specify the sources you are planning to use. Follow them in bibliography and make some notes about every particular book, journal, or document you take information from. Thus, you will save a lot of time in the writing process.

By searching a couple of education and social sites, you will be able to find professional research data. Our professional essay writer recommends to narrow your focus, you will develop a list of questions that you have to answer in your paper. If you find no valuable information after spending several hours on research, you should understand that your position cannot be supported by sufficient findings on trustworthy sites.

Challenge Your Topic and Collect Supporting Evidence

You will need to dispute the truth or validity of your topic by finding supporting evidence. If you have some doubts, you may need some time to identify all the possible challenges that you have to deal with. Your position paper will address the opposing view and address it with counterevidence. It will make sense to have some discussions with friends, colleagues, or family about the topic. That way, you will be able to learn some additional thoughts and ideas that can be used for further research. As soon as you find some counterarguments, you will need to analyze them. Once it is done, you will see whether they are sound or not.

Another useful approach to challenging the topic requires you to mention your arguments on one side and opposing arguments on the other one. In which part of the paper do you have more points collected? Which points are stronger? If counterarguments seem to outnumber your arguments, you will have to reconsider your subject matter or your opinion on it .

Position Paper Outline

Before taking action, you’ll need to develop a position paper outline to organize your thoughts and ideas. With an outline, you will find it easier to write a position paper. So how will you do that? It depends on your personal preferences. Some writers find it easier to apply pictures and diagrams, others just follow a template offered by the teacher. If you feel like writing an outline yourself from scratch, don’t hesitate to do so. You can create it on your computer or write it down in your notebook. After all, there is no right or wrong approach to developing an outline. The main point is that an outline contains all the key points that you have to add to your position paper. You may want to look at a position paper sample before starting the writing process. Here is the format to be followed:

Decide on your topic with some background details. Develop a thesis sentence that addresses your position. Some examples are as follows:

Smoking is a bad habit causing breathing problems.
Fast food packages should be marked with health warnings .
Air pollution requires certain actions from the national governments.

Decide on potential contradictions to your position. Here are some examples: :

A medical examination needs to be conducted on an annual basis to monitor the possible negative health conditions .
Health warnings can affect the companies’ revenues.
The national program can be quite costly.

Cover the opposing points. Make sure that you aren’t contradicting your own thoughts and ideas. Sample points are as follows:

It can be hard to determine the monitoring process.
Citizens don’t want their government to abuse its power.
Program funding will fall on the shoulders of average taxpayers.

Explain your position through the prism of counterarguments. This is how you can contradict some of the counterarguments and back up your own one. Sample points are as follows:

The government has already tried to reduce smoking statistics in the country.
Restaurants will enhance the quality of food in case of using health warnings .
The government’s primary role is to protect citizens.

Sum up your arguments and express your opinion in different words. You should finish your paper by focusing on your arguments and responding to the counterarguments. You need your reader to understand and accept your opinion on the covered subject matter.

When you create a position paper, you should act with confidence. In the end, your mission is to reveal your position from the best side.

Tips on Writing a Position Paper from Our Experts

Even if you have a position paper example, you still may need some practical recommendations to make things easier for you. Here are some tips you need to follow during the writing process:

Decide on a topic. While choosing the topic for discussion, you should find the one you have a clear idea of. You can broaden your outlook by reading some literature on the desired subject matter. Ideally, you should embark on different viewpoints to consider them for further analysis.
Express your position idea. Focus on one specific aspect of the topic in order to express it in a one-sentence opinion. Make sure you have found a really arguable idea. If the topic cannot be debated, then it can hardly be used for writing a good position paper.
Be precise in your statement. Try to express your opinion briefly and clearly. A position paper is not meant to be vague.
Lead the narrative in the present tense. You are discussing the topic here and now, so the use of the past tense is quite inappropriate.
Minimize the use of superlatives . Avoid using superlatives such as biggest, major, extremely, and so on because they make the context sound exaggerated.
Use frequently used terms. To make the content look appealing and well-written , you should use the most common thematic terms such as world community, member states, recommendations, development, realization, regulations, international, and so on.
Use commonly used verbs . You should include some commonly used verbs such as comprehend, enable, recognize, acknowledge, believe, suggest, consider, addresse, highlight, and so on.
Proceed with final proofreading . You cannot consider your position paper as completed unless a successful spelling and grammar check is done. To achieve the maximum result, you should read your paper aloud a couple of times. That way, you will find it easier to indicate and fix mistakes.

While there is no universal formula for writing a perfect position paper, you can still follow some simple tips that’ll make you closer to the desired result. Just think analytically and act logically throughout the writing process.

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How to write a Perfect Position Paper (A Student's Guide)

Writing a position paper is akin to writing an objective research paper that considers either side of an argument based on facts.

A position paper focuses on controversial issues by exploring an aspect of an argument, presenting valuable insights into interpreting the problems, and coming up with recommendations to solve them.

To write a strong position paper that scores excellent grades, you must choose a good topic, align with a position, develop arguments, draft the paper, and polish it well before submitting it for grading.

In this guide, our expert paper writers at GradeCrest share tips, insights, and details about how to write an excellent position paper.

What is a Position Paper?

Like an opinion essay , a position paper is an essay that presents an arguable opinion about a topic or an issue. The main goal of a position paper is to convince the readers (audience) that the author's argument is valid and worth consideration. The author picks a view on a specific topic and uses evidence and facts to support their stance, just like in a persuasive essay.

Like an objective research paper, an academic position paper draws from evidence, data, statistics, and facts, enabling the authors to take an evidence-based position by presenting an arguable opinion about the issue or problem in question. It is similar to an argument paper or a debate supporting one side of an issue.

When writing a position paper, you are expected to convince the audience that your opinion is valid and worth listening to, even if there are other potentially viable positions. It is an impartial paper that addresses both sides of an issue and persuades the audience that you have well-founded knowledge on the topic.

Although position papers might be assigned in high school and college, professionals in many industries also write them as part of their daily duties.

In college, the intention is to achieve what is set in the assignment prompt/instructions. However, for professional purposes, the point of focus is on matters relating to the industry and sometimes an entire country.

You are likely to write a position paper if you practice in healthcare, nursing, scientific research, public policy, education, economics, political sciences, international relations, and law, among others. In that case, the format differs because you have to include an abstract, background, position, conclusion and recommendations, appendices, and bibliography sections.

Purpose of a Position Paper

The overarching goal of a position paper is to generate support for an issue. It vividly describes the author's position on a problem and the rationale for the position based on facts that offer a solid foundation for the arguments and counterarguments. It entails inductive reasoning and the use of facts to critically examine a position to expose the strengths and weaknesses of the opinion of the author.

Position papers are usually short documents stating an organization's policy, position, or philosophy regarding a subject. It can also be an issue brief where you pose a problem or question and answer it by giving information or coming up with a proposed solution.

It is a paper created to transfer knowledge and enable the readers to understand a specific topic or issue. Position papers also provide critical information that can help in decision-making. They are also an excellent tool for professionals to present their perspectives on pertinent issues in the industry.

A position paper explains the conclusions or findings resulting from research collaborations, design and development efforts, or insights by an organized committee.

A policy position paper helps implement a procedure or policy in government and can also help build consensus and come up with solutions. Companies and corporations use position papers to share their ideologies, beliefs, stance, and recommendations.

Structure of a Great Position Paper

A comprehensive position paper has an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Since it is a one-page document, these three sections must be brief, clear, concise, and succinct. There is no room for wasting words when you only have a limited word count.

Although the structure of a position paper might be flexible, it should convey the problem and the author's position. The author's background, relevance, and position must be clear.

When writing the position paper, ensure that you address the critical components of the issue. Besides, you should present it in a palatable manner to the audience.

Introduction

The introduction paragraph of a position paper is a critical part of the assignment. It identifies the issue you are about to discuss in the paper and clearly states your position on the issue through your thesis statement.

It is vital to grab the readers' attention using a relevant hook statement. You can use a fact or statistic to draw the readers' attention. For example, if you are writing a position paper on microplastics, you can present facts about the number of organisms affected by microplastics in oceans.

Besides, the introduction should give a proper background of your topic, showing your readers why they need to focus on it. Wrap up the opening by including a thesis statement and, if possible, signpost the ideas the reader should expect in the rest of your paper.

The body section of your paper contains the central arguments and counterarguments, claims and counterclaims, examples, and supporting facts to support your position while looking at other potential positions. This means you must present a discussion of both sides of the issue that addresses your position and refute those that contradict your position.

It should have at least three paragraphs that are well-balanced, organized, and flow into one another. Every section should contain a topic sentence, supporting details, and a concluding sentence. Ensure that the topic sentence, like a mini-thesis, only focuses on one issue or idea that relates to the thesis statement. Use good, valid, relevant quotes, evidence, facts, and real-life examples to support your arguments or views.

When introducing opposing ideas to show your maturity in reasoning, ensure that you optimize the arguments and refute them to make room for acceptance of your position by the readers.

To craft an amazing body for a position paper, look at the model position papers published by different institutions of higher learning for inspiration. These examples can help you format and frame your arguments, organize your essay, and present your points logically.

At least have 2-3 main arguments that assert your position and relate to your thesis with relevant supporting details. At the same time, give room for counterarguments and have information that refutes the counterargument.

Ensure that each paragraph is indented well and that there is a clear transition from one to the other. Besides, your choice of words should be meticulous. Use powerful academic words and phrases to show that you understand your craft.

The conclusion paragraph of your position paper should offer closure for your readers. Having presented facts, it is now time to summarize the main points. You should restate your thesis by rephrasing it in different words but with the same meaning. Wind the paper by suggesting solutions or making recommendations.

How to write perfect Paragraphs
How to nail counterarguments
How to make a paper longer

Outline Template for a Position Paper

Introduce the topic
Provide the background of the topic
Assert the thesis (this should be your view, position, or perspective of the issue)
Summarize the counterclaims
Provide supporting details for the counterclaims
Refute the counterclaims
Give evidence for the argument
Give your opinion
Provide supporting points
Restate the thesis
Provide a plan of action

Steps for Writing an Excellent Position Paper

A position paper is like an argument paper or a debate where you pick a side on an issue and gather facts, evidence, and information to present a convincing argument that your position is the correct stance.

1. Read the instructions

Reading the assignment instructions before beginning to plan and write your academic position paper is a no-brainer.

The instructions have guidelines that you must follow to the T. besides, you will also know the format to use, citation style to incorporate, and the number of words or pages to include in the paper. Some professors also give a list of topics or hints of what topics to select for the specific assignment.

Apart from the prompt, you might also get the assessment criteria as a rubric. Go through it to determine what your instructor wants to see.

Comprehending the instructions will help you write a position paper that is compelling, clear, concise, and complete. It is good to read them as you take notes to piece everything together and earn full marks or score the best grade.

2. Select a Topic

After reading the instructions, the next step is to select a suitable position paper topic. You can select from the list your professor has suggested or choose one that meets the criteria outlined in the paper prompt. Selecting a good topic for the position paper is as essential as having a good structure with solid arguments and well-presented counterarguments.

If you are selecting a topic on your own, ensure that it has a multisided issue. Ensure that the topic is controversial and has at least two clear sides, with one side being the most agreeable to most people. To meet these criteria, you will need to do some rough search (preliminary research) to find a suitable position paper topic that:

Is controversial;
It has two precise positions and is thus debatable;
It has enough information, evidence, and facts to enable you to argue for one of the positions and,
It has a manageable scope (not too narrow, not too broad).

Such a topic will help you build a solid case for your argument and convince your readers that your position is defendable and valid. Remember, as you would in an argumentative essay , you will include supporting evidence for both sides, then refute the conflicting arguments.

For instance, you don't have to write about children requiring close parental guidance, as nobody would disagree.

A good topic could be Children aged nine years (preteens) and teenagers who need to get mandatory HPV vaccines to prevent them from HPV infections that could expose them to cancers in later years of life.

You can also take a stance on the actions that should be taken against parents who abandon their children. It could also be a position paper on climate change, focusing on global warming, overpopulation, industrialization, or wildfires.

As you select the topic, consider a manageable topic in terms of finding related scholarly resources because you will need facts and evidence anyway. Don't focus on topics related to your values. Instead, to succeed in a position paper assignment, get a topic you can explore for an excellent grade.

With the topic secured, some professors will request that you send it for approval. If that is the case, ensure they have given you the go-ahead to use the topic for your position paper.

3. Brainstorm

Brainstorming occurs almost constantly, but it does so more when you read new information. You can draw mind maps, concept maps, or flow charts to represent the ideas that come to mind as you try to comprehend the direction of the topic. You can also take short notes to record any ideas that you generate.

As you brainstorm, you can also use the freewriting technique to have as many ideas as possible. At this point, no thought can be underestimated.

Even the idea that seems farfetched can be developed into solid arguments, provided you can find substantial evidence and facts to support it. If frameworks, concepts, vocabulary, or keywords are challenging, try to simplify and comprehend them better.

By thinking outside the box, you are determined and prepared to write a position paper that will wow your professor. Please do not skip this step; it is integral to your writing process.

4. Research Widely

From the brainstorming, you can already connect the dots about the topic. The next step is to optimize your understanding through in-depth research.

For your research, check on the primary and secondary sources to understand the facts, evidence, and stance on the topic. Consider the background information, reasons behind every argument or side, and recent developments on the topic.

You can then narrow down the process to pros and cons list of the two major positions to choose good arguments when writing the paper. As you read, think about your perspectives on the issue. Sometimes, you might have strong views about a topic, which can help you choose a position. You can list your opinions and see if they are valid reasons to include in the position paper.

When considering your views, also try to evaluate the potential views of the audience on the topic. The audience matters the most because their perception of the topic determines how they will receive your paper. If it is a class assignment, consider the views of your instructor.

And if it is a policy paper, localize the issue and consider a wider worldview if you are writing for an international audience. If you cannot tweak your stance to suit the audience, address the reasons behind your position or counterargument to cater to their curiosity and concerns.

It would be best if you focused more on research that supports your lens, position, or perspective. Take notes and organize the sources because you will use them as evidence and supporting facts when drafting your position paper. Identify and manage the evidence you will use to support your arguments. If you prefer writing, you can use index cards to record your citations or ty

5. Come up with a Thesis

With the research done and the sources organized, you would want to build your argument, which is your voice in the position paper. Come up with a claim, which is your position on the topic you will defend in the paper. Base the claim on facts and evidence. Identify 2-3 of your strongest supporting reasons for your claim for a shorter paper and even more for a longer paper. The supporting reasons should be from the evidence you gathered.

It would be prudent to identify the counterargument you can easily dismiss. A counterargument should strengthen your claim, showing the reader that you have considered the other side before taking a stance. An example of a counterargument is "dams should not be built because they chock the life of rivers leading to damage to the environment, habitats, and local economies." You should, at the same time, find credible, reliable, and valid evidence that supports the counterargument.

It would be wise to let your argument and counterarguments feature in your thesis. For example, suppose you are talking about the dangers of dams. In that case, your thesis could read: " Even though dams help control waterways, irrigate the land, and conserve water for domestic, industrial, and agricultural use, they risk sedimentation and thus a potential source of disaster and a destruction of water ecology ."

6. Write an Outline

With the thesis formulated, your main arguments, and the counterargument set, you need to plan your position paper. Creating a position paper outline helps to envision what to expect in the end. The outline should include the main arguments in each body paragraph and what to include in the introduction and conclusion.

Proper planning and outlining help you estimate the number of words for each section. Therefore, you can make decisions on how to approach your paper. Besides, it also helps you fight writer's block because all there is left after it is to write the paper.

7. Write the First Draft

If you have the outline, you can begin writing in whatever format pleases you. Some people prefer writing logically from the introduction to the conclusion, and others prefer to do it randomly, starting with the body paragraphs, then the introduction, and finalizing with the conclusion. Whichever way works for you, choose it.

The introduction of a position paper begins with a hook or attention grabber, which can be a statistic, fact, or statement that makes a person see the value of your paper. You should include a few sentences introducing the topic and narrow it down to your stance. The last part of the introduction should be your thesis, which should consist of a claim and be original, arguable, clear, and concise.

As for the body, including at least two paragraphs for a short position paper: one for the counterargument and another for the main arguments that support your stance. If you are writing a standard position paper, you will need 3 or 4 body paragraphs, with at least one being for the counterargument.

When writing the body paragraphs, the topic sentences should be your mini-theses. They should back the thesis and control or predict what the reader expects in the paragraph. They should be followed by supporting evidence such as facts, quotes, statistics, or documented stories.

You should also include a commentary to expound on the evidence to show how it supports or refutes your position and link the evidence to the thesis. As part of the paragraphs, include a closing sentence that reasserts your position in the paragraph and transitions to the next paragraph.

Finally, write the conclusion of your paper. Restate the thesis or claim (position) to make it stronger and explain why it is the correct stance. You should then summarize your argument and briefly dismiss the counterargument. As it is a position paper, you can end with a call to action. Writing entails filling out the outline. And when writing, focus on writing first.

9. Write the Final Draft

Because you focused too much on writing, chances are that you made errors, mistakes, and omissions. You must write the final draft that meets the rubric requirements and answers the assignment prompt.

Begin by checking the in-text citations and the general format of your paper. If you were writing the paper in APA , MLA, Harvard, Chicago, or Turabian, ensure that the spacing, indentation , margins, fonts, and other aspects align with the style requirements. Ensure that you set the paper in double-spacing . To the least, the best position paper should match the writing levels of a master's level essay , which means everything should be perfect.

You should polish your paper well, including checking for the similarity score . It is higher; try to reduce it through simple strategies like paraphrasing , rewriting, or rephrasing to lessen the similarity levels or plagiarism in a paper .

You can use spell-check tools in your word processor to check if everything is fine. After checking for spelling and plagiarism, run the paper through an editing tool to correct the mistakes, errors, and omissions. Check whether the punctuations, choice, and use of words, language, voice, and tenses are correct. Remember, there is no use of first-person pronouns such as I in a position paper. It should be as objective as it can be.

You can then take a break and resume reading the essay objectively to spot and correct mistakes before submitting. Revise the paper sufficiently to ensure that anything unclear is clarified and that you do not exceed the word count limit. Proofread the paper and make final edits so that the paper is 100% perfect. Insert the works cited, reference, or bibliography section and recheck the format. Submit the paper via the preferred channels such as Turnitin, Canvas, Blackboard, SafeAssign, or Dropbox.

Watch this video to get further the points we have widely discussed.

Position Paper Topics and Ideas

If you are looking for a place to get some ideas to build your position paper, below are some suggestions you can select and write about.

Should scientists be allowed to experiment on human embryos?
Should feral cats be killed?
Dams are problem creators, not problem solvers
Is illegal migration justified?
Is war justified?
Should certain products have warning labels?
Are fast food restaurants bad for health?
Are TV commercials targeting children justified?
Should people pay to watch TV?
Should the internet be free?
Should boundaries be abolished?
Should currencies be abolished?
Should the world have the exact pricing and one currency?
Are the rich controlling the poor?
Is religion to blame for poverty in Africa?
Religion or cultism?
Should presidents be held liable for losses during wars?
Should schools teach multiculturalism?
Should the west pay reparations for slavery?
Human activities cause climate change
Health effects of climate change
Ignoring climate change will eventually affect economic growth
Climate change increases infectious diseases
Wildfires are a threat to biodiversity
Impacts of drought on wild animals
Poaching as an organized crime
Human trafficking and drug trafficking are related
Importance of clean water
How pollution impacts physical and environmental health
Role of humans in stopping global pollution
Are citizens responsible for their safety?
Is community policing dead?
Effectiveness of using computers in classroom settings
Should students wear school uniforms?
Are charter schools better than public schools?
Can the digital divide for black students in the USA be bridged?
Are college admission committees fair or racially biased?
Low admission rates into nursing for minority students
The disparity in resources in schools located in low-income settings
Is pollution overrated?
Should same-sex marriage be abolished?
Are GMOs better than organics?
Should women and men earn the same salary?
The link between disarmament and international security
The connection between global peace and development
Can African leaders end corruption on their own?
Is the death penalty justified?
Are video games to blame for violent behavior?
Does universal healthcare provide security in times of uncertainty?
Should sex education be taught in schools?
Teachers should get better pay and perks
Nurses should be paid well
Do school vouchers make public schools worse or good?
Are school meals to blame for rising cases of childhood obesity?
Should animal testing be banned?
Parents are failing teens, not social media exposure
Cell phones should not be allowed in schools
Corporal punishment is good for society
Is cloning humans ethical?
Are test tube babies legal or ethical?
Should COVID-19 vaccines be mandatory?
Is cheerleading a sport?
Should extreme sports be banned?
Should the use of makeup be banned?
Are social media influencers better?
Should test scores matter for college athletes?
Should college athletes be paid?
Should we ban the electoral college?
Cyberbullying vs. Face-to-Face bullying, which is worse?
Are Arts subjects as important as science subjects?
Is the legalization of marijuana good for the economy?
Should governments spend more on renewable energy?
Are electric cars saving or destroying the environment?
The Patriotic Act should be repealed
College tuition should be capped
The war on drugs should shift to addiction
Ex-convicts should be allowed to vote
Prisoners should be allowed to continue their education while serving
Social welfare programs should be a priority
Gun ownership should be restricted
Public education should be free for all
Overseas military bases are a waste of resources
Spending too much on the military is a waste of resources
Carbon tax does not reduce greenhouse gas emissions
Developed nations should support developing nations
Developed nations should pay more for pollution
Abortion should be illegal after the first trimester
Police brutality targets minorities in the USA
All lives matter
Technology has transformed society
Beauty contests and self-esteem issues
Eating disorders among teenagers
Reality shows should be regulated
Video gaming helps improve creativity and problem-solving
Simulation helps in better training
Young children should not engage in athletics
Is Covid-19 a real problem or an overhyped pandemic?
Police officers should be paid well
Body cameras help save the innocent
DNA evidence is 100% reliable
Fun argumentative essay topics and ideas

Before you Go …

A position paper is a dreaded assignment by students and professionals alike. However, it is an assignment like any other, and it should argue why your chosen stance or point of view is valid or worth defense compared to different viewpoints. To write an excellent position paper, ensure that you stay focused on your claim and provide proper evidence to support the claim. Besides, your ending should have a call to action that suggests a solution.

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We understand the weight such papers have on your grades, which is why we offer custom paper writing services . When you say, "write my position paper," all you have to do is to fill out the order form, pay for your paper, and have it done by an expert. We deliver 100% original, organized, well-researched, and polished papers for high school, college, and graduate students. We also offer professional writing services that span around writing position papers for organizations, professionals, and governments. Don't hesitate to contact us and get a chance to work directly with our paper writers for the better!

Pssst! Please check the FAQ section for questions that we get often.

For us to do a comprehensive guide on writing a position paper, we have heeded the call of many. Often, we get consulted by those who need model papers or original samples for their topics, and here are some questions we get. We have tried to answer them so that you can get a rough idea of facts about position statements that could be bothering you.

How long is an academic position paper?

A typical position paper should be a one-page document. However, every instructor, department, or institution will have its unique preference on the appropriate length to attain. Since it has an introduction, a series of body paragraphs and a conclusion, writing at least 3-4 double-spaced pages (not counting title or reference/bibliography pages) suffices as the best length as it allows you to comprehensively address either side of the issue using facts, evidence, and information. It should at least have 1000 words so that your position and arguments are clear, elaborate, and supported by relevant in-text citations from scholarly sources .

What makes a good Position Paper?

A good position paper comprehensively breaks down the position into arguments and supporting facts. It should also make proposals and recommendations for solutions. Besides, it should contain the following:

A brief introduction to the topic and position (thesis statement)
The reason the topic is worth considering
Facts, statistics, and information from scholarly sources supporting your stance or position
The best approach to solve or address the issue

Does a position paper have an abstract?

Unless it is a professional position paper, an academic position paper follows the typical format of a comprehensive essay . Therefore, an abstract is not necessary in this case. If you are writing a professional position statement, include an abstract and appendices as necessary.

What is a Model UN position Paper?

A Model UN (MUN) position paper, a policy paper, is a strategic document where the author (s) present an overview of the delegate's country position. It bears three parts:

The position of the country on the topic
The relationship of the country to the topic
Proposals of policies the country wishes to see in a resolution.

You can learn more about MUN position papers by looking at resources online and looking for sample position papers for inspiration.

What is the difference between a position paper and a research paper?

A position paper focuses on a topic to persuade the readers that your position on the topic or issue is the best-given evidence, real-life examples, statistics, data, or information. On the other hand, a research paper is like a literature review on a topic where you weigh in on the opinions of scholars on a given topic, summarize these positions, and address an issue, potentially without taking sides unless it is an objective research paper. Scientific research papers are also written in the IMRAD format, usually following a study or experimentation.

Gradecrest is a professional writing service that provides original model papers. We offer personalized services along with research materials for assistance purposes only. All the materials from our website should be used with proper references. See our Terms of Use Page for proper details.

Introduction

Course Overview and Policy Statements

CO301 as a Core Course

Core Detail: Instructional Modes

Core Detail: Course Objectives

Core Detail: Weekly Schedule

Core Detail: Methods of Evaluation

Sample Weekly Outline

Portfolios?

Portfolio Overview - Thomas

Portfolio Process Requirements - Thomas

Portfolio Grading (Holtcamp)

Portfolios: Promises, Problems, Practices (Kiefer)

Traditional And/Or Portfolio Grading? (Gogela)

Defining the Humanities

Collaborative Activity - Myers

Humanities Defined - Myers

Text Analysis

Text Analysis Assignments

Individual Topics

Individual Topic Assignments

Individual Topic Activities

Reflective Writing

Position Paper - Myers

5 Steps to Writing a Position Paper

Writing Research Papers
Writing Essays
English Grammar
M.Ed., Education Administration, University of Georgia
B.A., History, Armstrong State University

In a position paper assignment, your charge is to choose a side on a particular topic, sometimes controversial, and build up a case for your opinion or position. You will use facts, opinion, statistics, and other forms of evidence to convince your reader that your position is the best one. To do this, you'll collect research for your position paper and craft an outline in order to create a well-constructed argument.

Select a Topic for Your Paper

Your position paper centers around a topic that is supported by research. Your topic and position have to hold up when challenged, so it's helpful to research a few topics and pick the one you can best argue, even if it may not reflect your personal beliefs. In many cases, the subject matter and your topic are not as important as your ability to make a strong case. Your topic can be simple or complex, but your argument must be sound and logical.

Conduct Preliminary Research

Preliminary research is necessary to determine whether sufficient evidence is available to back up your stance. You don’t want to get too attached to a topic that falls apart under a challenge.

Search a few reputable sites, like education (.edu) sites and government (.gov) sites, to find professional studies and statistics. If you come up with nothing after an hour of searching, or if you find that your position doesn’t stand up to the findings on reputable sites, choose another topic. This could save you from a lot of frustration later.

Challenge Your Own Topic

You must know the opposite view as well as you know your own stance when you take a position. Take the time to determine all the possible challenges that you might face as you support your view. Your position paper must address the opposing view and chip away at it with counter-evidence. Consider having friends, colleagues, or family debate the topic with you to get alternative points of view that you might not have readily considered yourself. When you find arguments for the other side of your position, you can address them in a fair manner, and then state why they are not sound.

Another helpful exercise is to draw a line down the middle of a plain sheet of paper and list your points on one side and list opposing points on the other side. Which argument is really better? If it looks like your opposition might outnumber you with valid points, you should reconsider your topic or your stance on the topic.

Continue to Collect Supporting Evidence

Once you’ve determined that your position is supportable and the opposite position is (in your opinion) weaker than your own, you are ready to branch out with your research. Go to a library and conduct a search, or ask the reference librarian to help you find more sources. You can, of course, conduct online research as well, but it's important to know how to properly vet the validity of the sources you use. Ensure that your articles are written by reputable sources, and be wary of singular sources that differ from the norm, as these are often subjective rather than factual in nature.

Try to collect a variety of sources, and include both an expert’s opinion (doctor, lawyer, or professor, for example) and personal experience (from a friend or family member) that can add an emotional appeal to your topic. These statements should support your own position but should read differently than your own words. The point of these is to add depth to your argument or provide anecdotal support.

Create an Outline

A position paper can be arranged in the following format:

1. Introduce your topic with some basic background information. Build up to your thesis sentence , which asserts your position. Sample points:

For decades, the FDA has required that warning labels should be placed on certain products that pose a threat to public health.
Fast food restaurants are bad for our health.
Fast food packages should contain warning labels.

2. Introduce possible objections to your position. Sample points:

Such labels would affect the profits of major corporations.
Many people would see this as overreaching government control.
Whose job is it to determine which restaurants are bad? Who draws the line?
The program would be costly.

3. Support and acknowledge the opposing points. Just be sure you aren't discrediting your own views. Sample points:

It would be difficult and expensive for any entity to determine which restaurants should adhere to the policy.
Nobody wants to see the government overstepping its boundaries.
Funding would fall on the shoulders of taxpayers.

4. Explain that your position is still the best one, despite the strength of counter-arguments. This is where you can work to discredit some of the counter-arguments and support your own. Sample points:

The cost would be countered by the improvement of public health.
Restaurants might improve the standards of food if warning labels were put into place.
One role of the government is to keep citizens safe.
The government already does this with drugs and cigarettes.

5. Summarize your argument and restate your position. End your paper focusing on your argument and avoid the counter-arguments. You want your audience to walk away with your view on the topic being one that resonates with them.

When you write a position paper, write with confidence and state your opinion with authority. After all, your goal is to demonstrate that your position is the correct one.

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How to Write a Position Paper: Step-By-Step Guide with Examples

Learn how to write a position paper with our step-by-step guide, including topic prompts and example papers.

A position essay or research paper is a paper that requires you to take a position on a controversial subject or question. Often, these papers cover argumentative essay topics that evoke emotion, like illegal immigrants, climate change, violent video game age rating or animal testing.

Your position on the topic because your topic sentence and the rest of the paper or essay back up your point with your research. A high-quality position essay will conclude with a final push toward getting your audience to believe your topic sentence based on the research you present.

You must have the right topic to write a position paper that will persuade an audience to your point of view. These position essay topics will get you started on your research. For help with your essays, check out our round-up of the best essay checkers .

How to Write a Position Paper?

A. is cloning humans to help with medical procedures ethical, b. should covid-19 vaccinations be mandatory, c. is cheerleading a sport, d. should the minimum wage be raised, step 2. conduct preliminary research, step 3. write your thesis, step 4. create an outline, step 5. write a draft , step 6. review and write, 1. the death penalty has no place in america by anthony langdon, 2. universal healthcare provides americans the security needed in uncertain times by jeremy c. kourvelas, 3. should sex education be taught in schools by peter dewitt, 4. we are the ones failing our teens, not social media by emma mccarthy, 5. communication is key to a successful roommate relationship, 6. the growing demand for limits on speech in academia.

Step 1. Pick a Topic

The purpose of a position paper is to pick a side of a question and aim to convince the reader of the writer’s stance by using research data to back up their views. Choosing a topic is the first step to writing a position paper.

Sometimes, your high school teacher or college professor might have assigned you a topic. But if you’re choosing your own topic, you can begin the process by considering your academic interests or deciding on a specific industry.

You can brainstorm topic questions from here by narrowing in on one section of your chosen interest. For example, if you’re writing about sports, you might choose to write about cheerleading as a sport. Whether you believe that cheerleading is a sport or whether you believe it’s not – you can use the paper to prove your point. Check out these position paper prompts to help you:

The ability to cline humans still hasn’t made it to reality , but the question is there. Would it be ethical to clone humans for help with medical procedures, such as organ transplants? This question raises a few concerns, including the ethics of experimenting on a newly created clone and the general ethics of cloning a replica of another person.

Discuss this important question in your argumentative essay. Back your choice with facts found in your research. For this topic, you don’t have to research the science behind cloning, just its ethics, so you can do the piece even if you don’t fully understand its science. Check out our explainer on how to write a thank you letter .

Should COVID-19 Vaccinations Be Mandatory?

As we near the end of the pandemic, many people wonder whether or not COVID-19 vaccinations should be required by law . Some claim that vaccination is for the greater good and is something everyone should do, while others state that it should be a personal choice.

If you argue for mandated vaccines, consider whether or not there should be exceptions to this rule. If you decide to argue against it, be prepared to show other measures society can take to slow or stop the spread of the virus.

Ask any cheerleader, and you will get an emphatic “yes” to this question. Cheerleading is physically demanding and often requires careful diets and exercise routines to find success.

Yet others will argue that cheerleading is not a sport because it is not a competition in the way that basketball or soccer are. You can argue either way based on your opinion after doing the research. You might also find our headings and subheadings examples helpful.

Federal labor laws have the minimum wage set at $12 an hour . Yet, this is not enough to live off a full-time income in many parts of the country. You could argue whether or not the minimum wage should increase to accommodate inflation.

Here’s the problem with that argument, which you should also consider. If you raise the minimum wage, you will have increased inflation to accommodate the higher labor costs. This can backfire, preventing you from enjoying the benefits of higher base pay.

Position papers use evidence to support the claims and to persuade the reader to join their stance on the chosen topic. It’s essential to use supporting evidence for your statements and to supply background information when writing your paper.

Gather evidence from reliable and credible sources to support your point of view and make a compelling argument to convince the reader. Doing this before writing your arguments and counterarguments is a great way to make writing easier and complete a good position paper.

Remember to include citations in your paper. Failing to include citations can put you at risk of being penalized for plagiarism. Also, ensure you use the correct format, such as MLA or APA. If you’re unsure of the citation style to use, check with your teacher or professor. You might also find our guide on how to write a case study useful.

Once you’ve decided on your topic and stance and gathered your preliminary evidence, it’s time to write the thesis statement! The thesis statement is a summary sentence that states your position on the topic and includes your key supporting evidence. Place your thesis statement after your introductory paragraph to help readers understand the main parts of your argument.

Use your thesis statement and notes to create a template and outline your argument. To do this, split your page into sections for the introduction, body, and conclusion.

Introduction: Introduce the topic and your position on the topic chosen for the paper. Include background information on the chosen topic, and explain why the topic is important to you.
Body: This section should include your arguments and claims with supporting evidence. Split your content into body paragraphs for each point of your argument, and include supporting evidence and counter arguments to support your stance. The body is the most important part of your paper, so make sure to include as much information on the subject matter as possible and use all of your research. Short position papers usually include three body paragraphs, but longer papers may have multiple sections and several body paragraphs.
Conclusion: The conclusion of a position paper is used to highlight the key points of your argument, emphasize your stance, and summarize your paper in a way that is compelling to the reader. Use a conclusion as an opportunity to leave a lasting impact on the reader and finish strong.

Write the first draft of your position paper using the outline template and bulk up the content with your research and arguments. Creating a draft is a great way to get into the flow of your paper and not get hung up on the details of writing. Use this as an opportunity to get your ideas on paper.

A great way to approach your draft is to add your evidence to each section of your outline template and build your content around the research. Once you’ve outlined the main points and counter arguments, you can work on bulking up the content.

Review your final draft and fill out your paper by adding emotive language, supporting your arguments with contextual information, and fully explaining your research data. Once you’ve completed your paper, it’s time to proofread and review your work. A great way to review your work is by using an AI assistant like Grammarly to tidy up the grammar, improve readability, and ensure your points resonate with the reader. Check out our Grammarly review !

Position Paper Examples

“Racial bias is obvious throughout our prisons and police departments, so it tracks that capital punishment is afflicted, as well. Katherine Beckett and Heather Evans studied the role of race in Washington state’s capital sentencing from 1981 to 2014 and found that, controlling for all other legal factors, Black defendants were four and a half times more likely to be sentenced to death as non-Black defendants.” Anthony Langdon

In this article, Langdon discusses his opinion that the death penalty should not be part of the American justice system. He cites problems with racial bias as a reason for this belief.

“Universal healthcare would free small business owners from having to provide coverage while simultaneously enhancing the freedom of the worker. Lifespans could be longer, people could be happier and healthier in systems that are simpler and more affordable.” Jeremy C. Kourvelas

In this piece, Kourvelas discusses the benefits of universal healthcare for Americans and the economy. He uses these benefits to show how, in his opinion, universal healthcare is the right choice for Americans.

“Thinking about sex education conjures up all of those uncomfortable moments as an adolescent when we had to sit at our desks and listen to our health teachers talk about things that we joked about with friends but never wanted to have a conversation about with adults. But things have changed a lot since then.” Peter DeWitt

As a former public school principal, DeWitt has a strong opinion on this topic. In this opinion piece, he looks at how middle school and high school students benefit from sex education in school and what people should consider when discussing this topic.

“It’s no secret that social media is taking a toll on teenagers, especially girls. Filters and photo editing create the facade of a seemingly perfect life and put an emphasis on unrealistic beauty standards and constant comparison. This often leads to decreased self-esteem and to body image concerns.” Emma McCarthy

There’s no denying that social media use by high school and college students is creating a mental health crisis. Still, in this article, McCarthy argues that the lack of parental and educator input into young people’s lives may have the most significant impact. She claims that a lack of education about how teens use social media among adults is the biggest problem.

“We respected each other by setting boundaries. We discussed when we typically went to bed during the week and then decided when to turn the lights out. We also always asked if it was okay to have a visitor, to borrow personal belongings or to call family. Our constant conversation allowed us to start off our college dorm experience seamlessly, as we both agreed to be honest with each other.” Maggi Abboud

Moving out of home is tough, but it becomes even tougher when you realize it’s time to navigate roommate relationships. In this position paper example, Maggi Abboud discusses the importance of creating a healthy relationship with her roommate through communication. She states that setting clear boundaries at the start of college helped them maintain respect and build a positive relationship with respect.

“The protection of free speech on campus should not be valued over the protection of students from the possible harm that the content of this speech may cause. In college, students are still learning who they are and how to love themselves and they should be free to grow into their identities without shame or embarrassment.” Sophia Eppley

Sophia Eppley believes that the protection of free speech should not be valued over the protection of students at University campuses. Georgia House Bill 1 was passed in 2022, which removed any restriction of free speech by making every accessible, common area on a college campus a free speech zone. Although free speech is arguably a positive thing, it’s important to remember that free speech also allows the freedom of those with controversial ( and often offensive) opinions to speak freely. This position paper example gives great insight into the experiences of students who face challenging confrontations by free speech activists.

Looking for more? Check out our round-up of informative essay topics !

Meet Rachael, the editor at Become a Writer Today. With years of experience in the field, she is passionate about language and dedicated to producing high-quality content that engages and informs readers. When she's not editing or writing, you can find her exploring the great outdoors, finding inspiration for her next project.

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Top 10 Tips for Writing a Strong Position Paper

As scientists and researchers, you might be familiar with objective research papers, which tend to consider both sides of an argument and present findings based on facts. But are you aware of another important piece of academic writing known as the position paper? In this article, we will discuss different aspects that make position paper share expert tips on writing a great position paper that clearly presents an argument or opinion.

Table of Contents

What Is a Position Paper?

A position paper discusses a controversial issue and focuses on one aspect of an argument, providing valuable insights on how to interpret issues where science is ambiguous. It can also act as a medium for scientists and researchers to put forth solutions to resolve problems. Similar to objective research papers, position papers are still rooted in facts, statistics, evidence, and data. Additionally, they further enable authors to take a position on what these facts and data are telling us.

The purpose of a position paper is to gather support for an opinion on an issue by explaining the author’s stance and providing factual evidence to back it up. It critically evaluates the position, acknowledging its strengths and weaknesses.

Types of Position Paper

There are several types of position papers, each serving a unique purpose.

Ready to gauge your understanding of position papers? Take our short quiz today!

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How to Write a Position Paper?

1. choosing a good topic.

Selecting a good topic for your position paper is just as important as having a well-structured paper that presents a strong argument. A well-written paper about an uninteresting or uncontroversial topic is simply a waste of time and effort. So how can you best choose a topic for your argument ?

Like all types of research, you should begin with preliminary research. A good topic for a position paper will answer yes to the following questions :

Does the topic represent a genuine controversy?
Are there two clear positions?
Do you care enough to argue for one of those positions?
Is the scope of the topic manageable?

Once you have found a topic that meets these criteria, you will need to conduct research to build a solid case in favor of your argument. This means finding supporting evidence (for both sides!) just as you would for an ordinary research paper . By including supporting evidence for the opposing side, you will be able to more clearly refute the conflicting arguments. In other words, you can point out weaknesses in the evidence cited by the opposing side or highlight strengths of evidence that supports your stand in comparison.

2. Conducting a Preliminary Research

Conducting preliminary research is crucial before delving into any topic. Evaluate evidence quality from reputable sources institutional websites, white papers, policies, scholarly articles, research reports, etc. Stay objective, dedicating some time for research. Be adaptable; reconsider your topic if evidence is lacking or contradictory. Prioritize quality over quantity in source selection. This ensures a well-supported and credible argument.

3. Crafting and Testing Your Thesis Statement

Crafting a thesis statement is a pivotal step in developing a coherent paper. This statement depicts your stance on the topic. A clear and focused thesis statement serves as the backbone of your argument, guiding the reader and shaping the trajectory of your analysis. Once established, subject it to rigorous examination by challenging it.

While it may seem counterintuitive, actively challenging your own thesis statement is a vital exercise in academic integrity and intellectual rigor. By earnestly considering opposing viewpoints and potential counterarguments, you not only demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the subject matter but also fortify your position through logical reasoning and evidence-based support.

4. Collecting Supporting Evidence

When gathering evidence for your position paper, prioritize relevance and credibility. Use expert quotes sparingly, ensuring they directly support your argument. Prefer research-based evidence over anecdotes, focusing on quality rather than quantity. Verify the credibility of sources and regularly update evidence to reflect the latest research. Following these guidelines enhances the credibility and persuasiveness of your paper.

5. Drafting and Structuring the Position paper

The structure of a position paper is flexible, but it should generally follow a simple flow that clearly conveys the problem and the position of the author(s). A position paper should begin by clearly stating the problem and its relevance to the scientific community or even to the society as a whole. It should then address the main position of the author. For example:

a. Background: For decades, the WHO has urged the adoption of a tax on unhealthy foods to discourage the consumption of products that are harmful to our health.

b. Relevance: Sugar has been shown to have a negative impact on health, and play a major role in the rising obesity rates in America.

c. Position: The United States should adopt a tax on drinks with added sugar, to reduce the consumption of sugar, and promote healthier eating habits.

The author should then clearly list the common arguments and possible objections against this position. To continue with our example:

Argument 1: A sugary drink tax that focuses on soda may not impact other products that have an equally negative health impact such as fruit juice or candy.

Argument 2: A sugary drink tax is regressive and places a financial burden on the poorest consumers.

A strong position paper acknowledges the validity of the counter-arguments and then puts forth reasons why the author’s position is still the correct one. In our example paper, the author can address the counter-arguments in the next section like so:

Counter-argument 1: It is true that a sugary drink tax would not impact all sources of added sugar in the average American diet. However, it would still have a significant impact on a major source of added sugar to achieve its goal of reducing overall sugar consumption.

Counter-argument 2: All consumption taxes are regressive. A sugary drink tax would be most effective accompanied by subsidies for healthy foods such as fruit and vegetables.

Finally, summarize your main points and re-state your position in your conclusion. All arguments in the paper should be backed up by facts, data, and evidence , with proper citation attributed to your sources. In this way, a position paper is no different from an ordinary research paper . If you wish, you can include a brief literature review in your discussion of the background of the issue. While such a literature review is not essential, it can make your paper stronger.

Ten Tips for Writing a Strong Position Paper

Now that we know what a position paper is, let us review some tips to write a great position paper.

Select a timely, relevant topic with two clear opposing sides.
Conduct thorough preliminary research, collecting evidence supporting arguments for and against your position.
Identify your intended audience. You should tailor your tone depending on who the paper is written for (the public, other scientists, policymakers, etc.).
Clearly state your position on the topic.
List and refute the counter-arguments to your position.
Include supporting data and evidence to back up your argument.
Properly attribute your sources using correct citation .
Keep it simple! Position papers don’t need to go into excessive detail . Present your points clearly and briefly.
Each paragraph in the paper should discuss a single idea.
Have someone proofread your paper to ensure it reads well and looks professional.

A position paper can be a great way to expand your horizons and write a new type of research paper. Use these ten tips to write an effective position paper!

Are you seeking advice on writing a position paper? Seek professional assistance to craft a compelling argument in your position paper that effectively communicates your perspective to the scientific community.

Frequently Asked Questions

The length of a position paper can vary depending on the requirements set by the institution or conference. However, typically, position papers are concise and focused documents, usually ranging from 1,000 to 2,000 words.

The purpose of a position paper is to articulate an author's stance on a particular issue or topic, backed by factual evidence and logical reasoning.

Characteristics of a position paper include: 1.Focus on a controversial issue or topic. 2.Clear statement of author's stance or position. 3.Incorporation of factual evidence, statistics, and data. 4.Acknowledgment of counterarguments and addressing them effectively. 5.Concise and well-structured presentation of arguments.

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The Ultimate Guide to Writing A Position Essay

What Is a Position Paper?
Position Paper Format
How to Write a Position Paper?
1. Choosing a topic
2. Conducting research
3. Developing your argument
4. Creating an outline
5. Crafting the thesis statement
How to write a position statement paper
6. Edit and proofread your essay
Position Paper Example
Position Paper Template

A position paper is an academic essay that presents an opinion on a polarizing issue. It bears a lot of similarity with argumentative essays in that they present the author’s opinion on a topic, with the goal of convincing the reader to agree with the author or support their opinion. However, this type of essay is not confined to the academe; it is often written by organizations and people in politics and law to justify their stand on law, resolution, decision, or social issue. Both students and professionals would, thus, benefit from mastering how to write a position paper.

A position paper is a type of essay that presents an opinion or point of view on a debatable topic, then substantiate it with logical argumentation and factual evidence. Its goal is to convince the reader that the author’s opinion is worth listening to and valid and therefore should be supported. In doing so, the paper also facilitates the reader’s deeper understanding of the topic or issue.

What is a position essay for? This document has uses in both academe, law, and politics. In the academe, professors and researchers may write about their stand on an emerging topic and present evidence to incite further discussion. In law and politics, position pieces are used to write about controversial issues with the goal of proposing solutions or inciting discussions toward a solution. Similarly, a position paper may be used to justify the author’s stand or decision regarding law or issue.

Need a paper? I can help!

You may have noticed from the explanation of what is a position paper that it is quite similar to argumentative and persuasive essays. However, one of the things that make this essay unique is its structure. A position paper structure inverts the format of an argumentative essay. This is better demonstrated.

What you will notice with the position paper format is that it presents the counterarguments first before your arguments. You cannot modify this structure because point papers should demonstrate a deep understanding of the issue, and that includes understanding all sides of the issue. Before writing a position paper, you must be knowledgeable of all sides of the issue—it is not enough that you are able to present logical arguments supporting your opinion, but you should also have sufficient reason for not taking the other side. This type of essay requires rigor and passion, which is why it is commonly used by professionals.

How to start a position paper? As with most writing, the writing process begins way before the actual writing. Follow these steps and tips for writing a compelling position piece.

Given its nature, there are some restrictions to choosing topics for position papers. You must choose a debatable topic—it should be a real issue, with plausible controversy. However, it is also helpful to choose a topic that is supported by research and, more importantly, one that you can argue on best. While it is commendable to choose a topic that you are passionate about, it is not necessary. Prioritize how well you can craft a logical argument and find factual evidence when choosing an issue for your paper.

Here are some things to ask yourself:

Is there genuine controversy in the issue?

Are there two sides? What are they?

Are you interested in advocating for one of these sides?

Is the issue narrow enough for the length of your essay?

The next step to writing any academic essay is research. Even if you are familiar with the topic, you should still need to research to make sure that your stand is supported. Look for sources that will give you a holistic understanding of the topic—seek out sources from each side of the argument. These will help you analyze the issue and develop your own argument .

At some point in your research, you will have an inkling as to which side you are taking, it is time to build your supporting evidence. Remember that you need to provide evidence for both your arguments and the counterarguments. Factual knowledge, statistics, and other facts proven by studies are always great evidence, however, you may also refer to informed opinion from experts and personal testimony from a knowledgeable individual to support your stand.

Armed with your research, you now start strengthening your reasoning. Lay out both the arguments and counterarguments. Determine the challenges your arguments may face and make sure that they will be able to discredit the counterarguments.

Another way to strengthen your arguments is to enlist the help of a friend or colleague in thinking of other counterarguments or alternative perspectives on the issue.

There is a reason why all students are required to learn how to make an effective outline —because it helps with the essay’s organization and coherence. For the position paper outline, simply follow the structure we discussed earlier.

Your proposition paper should have a thesis statement. This is the focal point of your essay—it summarizes your opinion on the topic and the arguments you present in the piece. Need help writing a strong thesis statement? Check out our guide to writing good thesis statements .

Here is a position argument example thesis statement:

While it is true that the police have become problematic in the past years, defunding it would result in higher crime rates and worse problems for communities. Its funding, however, should be used to reform the force and renew policing practices.

A lot of preparation goes into the writing process, but that is only half the journey. You need to be able to communicate your opinion and arguments so that the reader understands them. Here are a few writing tips:

1. Follow the quintessential paragraph structure

Start with a topic sentence that signals what the paragraph will discuss. For a position essay, this may be one of your main arguments. You may add another sentence or two if you need to explain the main point further.
The next 3 to 4 sentences should be devoted to presenting evidence that support or justify your argument.
Conclude the main point of your paragraph and introduce a transition to the next paragraph.

2. Use transition words to express the logical relationship between your main points or each sentence.

3. Be straight to the point and avoid flowery language. Professors generally expect a clear and concise writing style for this type of essay.

4, To avoid plagiarism:

Cite claims and facts that are not considered common knowledge.
Learn how to paraphrase properly. If an excerpt cannot be paraphrased, simply quote them directly.
Make sure you cite the correct authors to avoid misattribution. Here are other types of plagiarism you should avoid.

To finalize your position piece, go through it once or twice to look for any loopholes in your argument, unclear or awkward sentences, and grammatical errors and typos. You may also want to check that you formatted the paper according to the prescribed citation style. Minimizing, if not eliminating, errors in your essay is the best way to make it appear professional. Follow our t ips for editing any type of essay .

A great idea for effectively editing your essays is to ask a friend or your roommate to read your work. They will be able to give feedback based on the perspective of a reader. Be open to their feedback and find how you can improve your essay.

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So far, you have learned about the aspects that make up a position essay, and to make your life a little easier, here is a position paper example. For you to have a better understanding of these aspects, see how other writers write these parts and how they apply the tips we’ve shared.

Some things are easier said than done. Follow this position paper template to help you get started on the right track.

With this template, you do not need to spend hours just thinking about how to start a position paper. Keep practicing and soon you will be able to write a compelling position essay on your own. For now, do not hesitate to use tools to improve your writing or seek help when needed.

The position paper is a rare assignment in the college, and it is one of the most intimidating. But students need not fear this essay because CustomEssayMeister is here to equip you with the tools to help you succeed. We will match you with a professional writer who will help you on any and every stage of the writing process—from topic proposal to outline creation to writing and editing. If you are really busy, our professional writers can also write the position paper for you. What topic are you writing about? Tell us here.

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How to Write a Position Paper | Full Guide+ 2 Examples

Mar 7, 2022

Mar 7, 2022 | Blog

What is a position paper?

A position paper is a critical essay that presents an arguable opinion about an issue – typically that of the author or some specified entity. These papers are published in academia, in politics, in law and other domains. These papers also range from the simplest format of a letter to the editor through to the most complex in the form of an academic position essay.

What is a position essay?

A position essay can be referred to as a composition in which an individual presents an arguable statement about something.

By definition, the word position means a standpoint concerning a thing.

Also, the writer demonstrates why they believe the content is worth having the audience listen to and its validity.

While writing any position essay, you should never make a statement without having supporting evidence to your stand.

Besides, you require to take your time to understand the controversial topic before doing the homework.

Position Paper Diagram

Purpose of a position paper.

The purpose of a position paper is to generate support on an issue. It describes an author’s position on an issue and the rationale for that position. An effective position paper:

Defines the issue
Explains the significance of the issue
Gives a “position” (your thesis statement)
Includes three supporting arguments
Gives examples to support arguments
Shows both sides of an argument, then demonstrate why you agree with one side more than the other.

Elements of the Position Paper

The elements of a position essay are also the essay structure that can be used in writing a position paper assignment. We have also provided good ideas for a research paper, position paper examples to help you with the critical examination of a position.

An Introduction

In the introductory paragraph, you will present your topic. You will also include your thesis statement in this paragraph. The thesis should be the last sentence of this paragraph.

This section is the bulk of your essay, where you present the facts to support your claims. Each claim should be supported with ample and convincing evidence. The facts should be organized logically according to your outline and/or purpose, and they should not be repeated unless necessary for coherence or emphasis.

This section should also include a rebuttal to any counterclaims that you feel are incorrect or that you disagree with. A rebuttal gives you the opportunity to introduce opposing viewpoints and identify any fallacies or inaccuracies within those arguments. It is important to note that it may not be possible to address every counterclaim in a short essay; focus on two or three good ones.

A Conclusion

The conclusion serves as the ending paragraph and provides a sense of closure for the reader while reinforcing the main position idea or the author’s position in the paper. The conclusion typically does not offer new information but rather summarizes the main points addressed in the paper.

5 Steps to Writing a Position Paper

Step 1. Select a Topic for Your Paper

You may be assigned a particular topic by your instructor, or you may need to select your own topic. Choose a topic that is relevant and interesting to you as well as your intended audience. If you are given the opportunity to choose your own topic, decide whether you want to select one on which you will argue a particular position or are open to several possibilities. Once you have decided on the subject of your paper, develop some possible topics related to it.

Also, try to select a topic that has more than one reasonable opinion associated with it. This way, you will be able to discuss both sides of the issue and take a particular stance on it. For example, if you choose to write about abortion, you could take a stance against abortion and discuss why abortion is wrong; alternatively, you could take a pro-choice stance and discuss why women have the right to make choices concerning their bodies.

Step 2. Conduct Preliminary Research

Once you choose a topic, conduct preliminary research to determine if there are enough sources available for your paper. Reviewing the basic sources of information on a particular aspect of the topic will help you decide if there is enough evidence to support your argument. If there are not enough sources or if the sources do not meet standards for academic work, choose another topic.

Researching the subject of your paper lets you learn more about it and answer any questions that may have arisen in important step 1. Collect information from various sources such as books, magazines, online journals and libraries. Read through all of the information you have gathered and determine its relevance to the topic of your paper. From this research, create an outline for the structure of your paper and include any good ideas that support or oppose your main argument.

Step 3. Challenge Your Own Topic

Once you have selected a topic and gathered sufficient evidence, evaluate your topic. Do the facts support your position? Can your good ideas be challenged? Is there another side to the issue? Consider opposing viewpoints and then craft a rebuttal that will strengthen your argument. Take a stance on your chosen topic and then challenge it with an opposing viewpoint. This will help you build your argument from the ground up and ensure that your stance is well-supported with evidence.

Step 4. Continue to Collect Supporting Evidence

Continue your research and collect more evidence to support your argument. Don’t forget to evaluate each source as you add it to your list of references.

Now that you have gathered a lot of information, you need to start reading. Read all your sources carefully and thoroughly. Read for both facts and opinions. Read for the reasons behind the opinions — is there evidence? Are the sources reliable?

As you read, you should still be collecting additional evidence. You’ll want to use most of your time or space to provide evidence in support of your argument.

You’ll also want to consider what your opposition might say against your argument, and include that as well. This will help make your paper come across as balanced and thoughtful, rather than one-sided and overly emotional.

Step 5. Create an Outline

Create an outline that will organize your facts in a logical way. Your outline should include an introduction, a series of headings with supporting evidence, and a conclusion that restates your thesis statement and summarizes key points from each heading.

Writing a Position Paper

If you are asked to write a position essay, your task is to select a side on a particular issue and build up a case for your opinion or position. You will use facts, opinions, statistics, and other forms of evidence to convince your particular reader that the author’s position is the best one. The purpose of this kind of paper is to offer an argument that might change the way people think about something.

Issue Criteria

To take a side on a subject, you should first establish the plausibility of a topic that interests

you. Ask yourself the following questions to ensure that you will be able to present a strong

Is it a real issue, with genuine controversy and uncertainty?
Can you distinctly identify two positions?
Are you personally interested in advocating for one of these positions?
Is the issue narrow enough to be manageable?

There are several criteria that you can use to help you determine your position on an issue. In most cases, you can use more than one criterion to help you decide how to vote on an issue. It is important to be able to distinguish between those criteria that will best support the author’s position and those that will not.

The following are examples of some issues and criteria that might be relevant for each one:

1-Issue: Should students have to wear uniforms?

Criteria: safety/security, cost, school identity/pride, etc.

2-Issue: Should there be a dress code in our school ?

Criteria: safety/security, cost of enforcing the code, etc.

3-Issue: Should there be a curfew on teens under 18?

Criteria: safety/security, parental responsibility vs. individual rights, the crime rate for teens out after curfew, etc.

Analyzing an Issue and Developing an Argument

The key to writing a good position paper is to determine where you stand on the subject being discussed. Researching both sides of an argument allows you to see where the grey areas are in your knowledge, as well as what information you feel comfortable with and what information you still need to learn about or look for counterarguments against. Asking yourself questions about your argument will help you determine how strong it is, whether or not there are any holes in it, and how it can be improved upon.

Supporting evidence includes the following:

Factual Knowledge – Information that is verifiable and agreed upon by almost everyone.
Statistical Inferences – Interpretation and examples of an accumulation of facts.
Informed Opinion – Opinion developed through serious research and/or expertise of the claim.
Personal Testimony – Personal experience related to a knowledgeable party.

Once you have made your pro and con lists, compare the information side by side.

Considering your audience, as well as your own viewpoint, choose the position you will take

In considering the audience, ask yourself the following questions:

Who is your audience?
What do they believe?
Where do they stand on the issue?
How are their interests involved?
What evidence is likely to be effective with them?

In determining your viewpoint, ask yourself the following:

Is your topic interesting?
Can you manage the material within the specifications set by the instructor?
Does your topic assert something specific and propose a plan of action?
Do you have enough material to support your opinion?

Organization

Your introduction should lead up to a thesis that organizes the rest of your paper. A thesis statement is a one-sentence summary of your position. Your thesis statement may change as you write your paper, so it’s important to keep it flexible until you finalize the draft. There are three advantages to leading with the thesis:

The audience knows where you stand.
The thesis is located in the two strongest places, first and last.
It is the most common form of academic argument used.

Sample Outline for a Position Paper

I. Introduction

A. Introduce the topic

B. Provide background on the topic

C. Assert the thesis (your view of the issue)

II. Counter Argument

A. Summarize the counterclaims

B. Provide supporting information for counterclaims

C. Refute the counterclaims

D. Give evidence for the argument

III. Your Argument

A. Assert point #1 of your claims

1. Give your opinion

2. Provide support

B. Assert point #2 of your claims

C. Assert point #3 of your claims

IV. Conclusion

A. Restate your argument

B. Provide a plan of action

Sample Papers of a Position essay

Position Paper: Patient Violence against Nurses

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a position in an essay.

A position is an overall stance that the writer of an essay takes in answering the topic question or on the issue/topic at hand

How do you write a position essay?

What are the 3 parts of a position paper.

Introduction . The introductory part aims to attract the reader’s attention to the covered subject matter.
Body. The body part involves background information, evidence to back up your opinion, and analysis of both sides of the subject matter.
Conclusion. summary and restatement of the thesis statement

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How to Write a Position Paper?

Research Paper Writing Guides

What Is a Position Paper?

Position papers are often used in government, politics and academia. However, the most popular type of position paper you may be familiar with is a simple letter to the editor. These texts, depending on the status of the newspaper, may come from laypeople or those with significant professional interest and can act as another form of feedback on reporting which has already taken place.

In academic circles , position papers are a step-down from double-blind peer-reviewed articles, the specific role of which is to provide an avenue for discovery on topics considered novel, emerging, or ubiquitous at any given time.

Governance, whether political or corporate, has many uses for position papers. For example, political bodies such as the Model United Nations and the European Union use position papers to create channels of discussion, debate, and to maintain a record of opinion on current affairs for posterity and policy-making.

You may be familiar with the terms ‘green paper’ and ‘white paper’. The distinction between them lies in that position papers will in general not extend to laying down concrete perspectives or explicit solutions. White papers tend to have more complexity and weight, green papers are a colloquial British version of a white paper.

In short, a position paper is a way for organisations, individuals and other entities to express initial opinions on evolving subjects or news.

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What Are The 3 Parts of a Position Paper?

Introduction

The introduction to the topic requires providing basic background information. First, sketch the large picture. This should be done in a way which builds up to your thesis sentence and which sets out the position you are going to argue. Do not broach the main point of the opposition view just yet.

The body of the paper is for unpacking and expanding the topic and your position. Providing further background information to that given in the introduction should come first. Use facts, statistics and quotations to frame the issue and its significance to the reader.

Then re-state your position, and this time use evidence and source materials to back up your assertions. When it comes to evidence, you do not have to produce your own through experiments, although instances could easily arise if you were, say, a company involved in the production of medicines. Thus, a position paper may also act as a preliminary way to share data currently not in the public realm.

Issues are very rarely clear cut into black and white. Even if the opposition side is deplorable, your desire to eviscerate alternative and opposing perspectives must be expressed by refuting the central and underlying points of the arguments. However, emotion and affect are tools which are more welcome in a position paper than a peer-reviewed article or government white-paper. There is scope and time here to write in a way which appeals to emotion.

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Once the counter-argument has been refuted, make sure to check your reply is consistent with the argument you proposed originally. Position papers can, if at a certain length, come down to repeating, with different words and structures, and the key point of your belief. This is always done in response to opposing arguments. Otherwise, it will come across as a press release.

When concluding a position paper, you must end strongly. Restate key points which you feel are most pertinent and persuasive. If it is applicable, desirable or possible, you could also propose how you would resolve the issue. If you are used to writing more in-depth essays or articles, the positioning of this may feel more suited to the body of the text. However, a position paper is just the beginning in most cases, the details and the larger bodies of evidence can come in further papers or projects.

A position paper does not require large amounts of in-depth research or experimentation. This is due to the ‘position’ aspect of the format. Positions can change. That said, it is essential when composing a position paper to have a good understanding of the bigger picture, while the details can wait for further resources to be thrashed out.

For those working in academia or governance, the subject choice is likely to be defined by your pre-existing commitment. Although we do see entities producing position papers on tangential subjects from time to time. This tends to happen when significant events enter the public realm which apply broadly, or even universally. We can consider the climate crisis, the Black Lives Matter movement or the coronavirus crisis as recent examples of topics in this vein. These events and stories have revealed that companies and entities – who are un-related in their primary purpose to social justice or public health – make statements on their position. This tends to happen in proportion to the aforementioned severity and universality of the subject in question.

Select a Position Paper Topic

Choosing the right topic for a position paper requires thought and decision. If writing in a ‘mock’ sense for an educational assignment it will be a good challenge to try and take the opposite side of the argument to which you are naturally inclined. Doing so has the strong potential to make your own, more firmly held belief, stronger and more robust as you take pains to understand the epistemological and ontological basis for the opposite side. You may find ‘opposite’ becomes a less fitting word for those you disagree with, and common ground might emerge.

However, there is also the possibility you are incredibly well-informed, researched, and read on a topic you feel strongly about. Some subjects you may feel are personally too much of a stretch to take a position on. In this case, it is important not to dismiss alternative positions to yours without performing due diligence on your material.

In terms of defining the issue, one must make sure that the issue is indeed real and substantive. If there is intense controversy and ambiguity around the correct way forward, this is also a good marker for scouting position paper topics. Without the to-and-fro, a position paper would merely act as a report of the facts. In an ideal position paper, the facts are perhaps subject to interpretation, and outcomes remain unknown to a certain extent.

Conduct a preliminary research effort

When it comes to preliminary research, a position paper example on topics you’re interested in can be a useful source. Other banks of opinions can be found collected together in newspaper letter sections – this is a good way to find companies or institutions who may have their own authoritative position but lack a central and widespread platform to be heard from. There are likely to be many different perspectives collected in these sections, which makes it important for conducting opposition research.

Challenge Your Topic and Collect Supporting Evidence

In order to effectively defend and assert your argument, you must be able to address the criticism it comes under. As suggested elsewhere in this guide, newspaper letters sections provide fertile ground to discover opposing and differing positions.

Scouring the internet can be useful when collecting evidence; however, it is important to retain a level of quality when choosing arguments to deconstruct and evidence to support your claims.

Look for reliable sources such as governmental websites, use Google Scholar, academia.edu, and arxiv.org to find quality evidence as well as good-sense Googling.

When it comes to challenging your position, there are two schools of thought. Depending on the context of your audience, you will have to decide which is more effective. On one hand, you could choose one or two of the most important challenges by carefully examining the underpinnings of the logic and simply asserting how there is a deficiency. There is some debate as to whether this approach is more or less emotionally evocative than the next method, which is to go for quantity and list the many glaring errors in your opponent’s position.

Whilst going for broke on all aspects of your opposition is tempting, it is harder to back up when using figures and statistics. It can be done though, and when done well is a way to show broad understanding, rather than a targeted approach which may only negate one or two points.

It is worth bearing in mind this list style may be more persuasive in certain contexts, and for certain audiences. Those with pre-existing knowledge might find it easier to slot your evidence into their conceptions. Whereas newcomers might find your viewpoint and organisation more precise if you only discuss a couple of points.

Do not worry over this, there is always time to produce several position papers on different aspects of the issue – which is one method of building a larger project out of smaller pieces.

Position Paper Outline

When writing any form of essay, it is best to first sketch out a plan or outline. You may have intuitive and pre-existing knowledge you wish to factor in. Write these down so you can remember it for further research.

Once a sketch has been made and ideas have been put onto paper, you should refer back to our ‘3 Parts of a Position Paper’ subheading – it explains the position paper format in more detail.

It can be tempting to skip outlining papers of all kinds. The outline, however, requires effort on your part to assign your initial thoughts into a structure. Try and rank each argument by strength, work non-linearly to produce mind-maps and find links between arguments and assertions on both or all sides.

In refuting arguments, it is far better to present the problem seriously and treat it with objectiveness and fairness. If you attempt to ad hominem your way to success, it could come across as lacking in preparation.

Tips on Writing a Position Paper from Our Experts

Hopefully, this article has provided a sense of the context, structure, and usefulness of position papers. Position paper sample websites are easy to find on the internet. If looking for ideas on where to start researching, try formulaically searching for “Your Topics” + “debate” on your preferred search engine. You could also check out YouTube for videos of debates and presentations, which often come across as verbally performed position papers.

Another fantastic source which we can’t re-iterate enough for collating a wide range of perspectives is the letters to the editor sections in newspapers. These pages are often published by topic, with a narrative thread running through the content.

Some key takeaways to remember are:

Writing a solid position paper requires a broad understanding of a topic and the finest details. Definite solutions do not have to be forthcoming in the text.
Focus instead on the assumptions underpinning your argument, and those on the opposing side. For instance, a contentious aspect of the climate crisis debate could be the ‘cleanliness’ of nuclear energy as opposed to renewable sources.
Sketching position paper outlines will save you time in the long run as you have a plan to work form
Be sure to cite all sources consistently and correctly; regardless of what citation style you use, stick to it.

Remember: a position paper is a way for you to express an opinion on a subject of prominence and importance. It does require evidence to back up and refute claims, but it does not require original experimental work or novel solutions. Stating your case and laying down a firm marker are the core objectives.

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Position Paper

Position papers are essays written by prominent scholars or organizations to advance an argument, opinion, program, or action. They are usually invited, shorter (between 3,500 – 5,000 words) than empirical research and review papers. Position papers focus on specific topics that are of central importance to the field and make specific recommendations to advance research and practice of the topic.

Double-blind peer review

As this journal operates a double-blind peer review system, please do not include identifying information in your main manuscript as this must remain blinded. If sections of your manuscript contain identifying information in addition to the Declaration section please include these in your Title Page, along with the author names and contact information, and upload this at the Attach Files step.

Manuscript files to be prepared include Title Page, Abstract, Blinded Manuscript, Tables, Figures, and Supplementary Materials. Title page

The title page should:

present a title that includes, if appropriate, the research design or for non-research studies: a description of what the article reports
if a collaboration group should be listed as an author, please list the Group name as an author and include the names of the individual members of the Group in the “Acknowledgements” section in accordance with the instructions below
indicate the corresponding author
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1. Availability of data and materials

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Data availability statements can take one of the following forms (or a combination of more than one if required for multiple datasets):

The datasets generated and/or analysed during the current study are available in the [NAME] repository, [PERSISTENT WEB LINK TO DATASETS]
The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article [and its supplementary information files].
The datasets generated and/or analysed during the current study are not publicly available due [REASON WHY DATA ARE NOT PUBLIC] but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analysed during the current study.
The data that support the findings of this study are available from [third party name] but restrictions apply to the availability of these data, which were used under license for the current study, and so are not publicly available. Data are however available from the authors upon reasonable request and with permission of [third party name].
Not applicable. If your manuscript does not contain any data, please state 'Not applicable' in this section.

More examples of template data availability statements, which include examples of openly available and restricted access datasets, are available here .

SpringerOpen also requires that authors cite any publicly available data on which the conclusions of the paper rely in the manuscript. Data citations should include a persistent identifier (such as a DOI) and should ideally be included in the reference list. Citations of datasets, when they appear in the reference list, should include the minimum information recommended by DataCite and follow journal style. Dataset identifiers including DOIs should be expressed as full URLs. For example:

Hao Z, AghaKouchak A, Nakhjiri N, Farahmand A. Global integrated drought monitoring and prediction system (GIDMaPS) data sets. figshare. 2014. http://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.853801

With the corresponding text in the Availability of data and materials statement:

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available in the [NAME] repository, [PERSISTENT WEB LINK TO DATASETS]. [Reference number]

2. Competing interests

All financial and non-financial competing interests must be declared in this section.

See our editorial policies for a full explanation of competing interests. If you are unsure whether you or any of your co-authors have a competing interest please contact the editorial office.

Please use the authors’ initials to refer to each authors' competing interests in this section.

If you do not have any competing interests, please state "The authors declare that they have no competing interests" in this section.

All sources of funding for the research reported should be declared. The role of the funding body in the design of the study and collection, analysis, and interpretation of data and in writing the manuscript should be declared.

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The individual contributions of authors to the manuscript should be specified in this section. Guidance and criteria for authorship can be found in our editorial policies .

Please use initials to refer to each author's contribution in this section, for example: "FC analyzed and interpreted the patient data regarding the hematological disease and the transplant. RH performed the histological examination of the kidney, and was a major contributor in writing the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript."

5. Acknowledgements

Please acknowledge anyone who contributed towards the article who does not meet the criteria for authorship including anyone who provided professional writing services or materials.

Authors should obtain permission to acknowledge from all those mentioned in the Acknowledgements section.

See our editorial policies for a full explanation of acknowledgements and authorship criteria.

If you do not have anyone to acknowledge, please write "Not applicable" in this section.

Group authorship (for manuscripts involving a collaboration group): if you would like the names of the individual members of a collaboration Group to be searchable through their individual PubMed records, please ensure that the title of the collaboration Group is included on the title page and in the submission system and also include collaborating author names as the last paragraph of the “Acknowledgements” section. Please add authors in the format First Name, Middle initial(s) (optional), Last Name. You can add institution or country information for each author if you wish, but this should be consistent across all authors.

6. Authors' information : This section is optional.

You may choose to use this section to include any relevant information about the author(s) that may aid the reader's interpretation of the article, and understand the standpoint of the author(s). This may include details about the authors' qualifications, current positions they hold at institutions or societies, or any other relevant background information. Please refer to authors using their initials. Note this section should not be used to describe any competing interests.

Blinded Manuscript

Abstract The abstract should briefly summarize the aim, findings or purpose of the article. Please minimize the use of abbreviations and do not cite references in the abstract.

At the buttom of the abstract, please list three to ten keywords representing the main content of the article.

Introduction

The Introduction section should explain the background to the article, its aims, a summary of a search of the existing literature and the issue under discussion.

This should contain the body of the article, and may also be broken into subsections with short, informative headings.

Conclusions

This should state clearly the main conclusions and include an explanation of their relevance or importance to the field.

List of abbreviations

If abbreviations are used in the text they should be defined in the text at first use, and a list of abbreviations should be provided.

General formatting information

Manuscripts must be written in concise English. For help on scientific writing, or preparing your manuscript in English, please see Springer's Author Academy .

Quick points:

Use double line spacing
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For more information, see ' Preparing figures ' below.

Additional information for TeX/LaTeX users

You are encouraged to use the Springer Nature LaTeX template when preparing a submission. A PDF of your manuscript files will be compiled during submission using pdfLaTeX and TexLive 2021. All relevant editable source files must be uploaded during the submission process. Failing to submit these source files will cause unnecessary delays in the production process.

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Getting a fast, free online grammar check .
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Data and materials

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For some journals, deposition of the data on which the conclusions of the manuscript rely is an absolute requirement. Please check the Instructions for Authors for the relevant journal and article type for journal specific policies.

For all manuscripts, information about data availability should be detailed in an ‘Availability of data and materials’ section. For more information on the content of this section, please see the Declarations section of the relevant journal’s Instruction for Authors. For more information on SpringerOpen's policies on data availability, please see our editorial policies .

Formatting the 'Availability of data and materials' section of your manuscript

The following format for the 'Availability of data and materials section of your manuscript should be used:

"The dataset(s) supporting the conclusions of this article is(are) available in the [repository name] repository, [unique persistent identifier and hyperlink to dataset(s) in http:// format]."

The following format is required when data are included as additional files:

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For databases, this section should state the web/ftp address at which the database is available and any restrictions to its use by non-academics.

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Project name: e.g. My bioinformatics project
Project home page: e.g. http://sourceforge.net/projects/mged
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Any restrictions to use by non-academics: e.g. licence needed

Information on available repositories for other types of scientific data, including clinical data, can be found in our editorial policies .

See our editorial policies for author guidance on good citation practice.

What should be cited?

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Unpublished abstracts, unpublished data and personal communications should not be included in the reference list, but may be included in the text and referred to as "unpublished observations" or "personal communications" giving the names of the involved researchers. Obtaining permission to quote personal communications and unpublished data from the cited colleagues is the responsibility of the author. Either footnotes or endnotes are permitted. Journal abbreviations follow Index Medicus/MEDLINE.

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Preparing figures

When preparing figures, please follow the formatting instructions below.

Figure titles (max 15 words) and legends (max 300 words) should be provided in the main manuscript, not in the graphic file.
Tables should NOT be submitted as figures but should be included in the main manuscript file.
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Figures should be uploaded in the correct orientation.
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Figure file types

We accept the following file formats for figures:

EPS (suitable for diagrams and/or images)
PDF (suitable for diagrams and/or images)
Microsoft Word (suitable for diagrams and/or images, figures must be a single page)
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TIFF (suitable for images)
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CDX (ChemDraw - suitable for molecular structures)

Figure size and resolution

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Figures on the web:

width of 600 pixels (standard), 1200 pixels (high resolution).

Figures in the final PDF version:

width of 85 mm for half page width figure
width of 170 mm for full page width figure
maximum height of 225 mm for figure and legend
image resolution of approximately 300 dpi (dots per inch) at the final size

Figures should be designed such that all information, including text, is legible at these dimensions. All lines should be wider than 0.25 pt when constrained to standard figure widths. All fonts must be embedded.

Figure file compression

Vector figures should if possible be submitted as PDF files, which are usually more compact than EPS files.

TIFF files should be saved with LZW compression, which is lossless (decreases file size without decreasing quality) in order to minimize upload time.
JPEG files should be saved at maximum quality.
Conversion of images between file types (especially lossy formats such as JPEG) should be kept to a minimum to avoid degradation of quality.

If you have any questions or are experiencing a problem with figures, please contact the customer service team at [email protected] .

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Examples of the American Psychological Association (APA) reference style are shown below. For further guidance, see the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association and the respective web site of the Association ( http://www.apastyle.org/ ).

Web links and URLs: All web links and URLs, including links to the authors' own websites, should be given a reference number and included in the reference list rather than within the text of the manuscript. They should be provided in full, including both the title of the site and the URL, as well as the date the site was accessed, in the following format: The Mouse Tumor Biology Database. http://tumor.informatics.jax.org/mtbwi/index.do . Accessed 20 May 2013. If an author or group of authors can clearly be associated with a web link, such as for weblogs, then they should be included in the reference.

Example reference style:

Article within a journal

Harris, M., Karper, E., Stacks, G., Hoffman, D., DeNiro, & R., Cruz, P. (2001). Writing labs and the Hollywood connection. Journal of Film Writing , 44 (3), 213-245.

Article by DOI (with page numbers)

Slifka, M.K., & Whitton, J.L. (2000). Clinical implications of dysregulated cytokine production. Journal of Molecular Medicine , 78 (2), 74-80. doi:10.1007/s001090000086.

Article by DOI (before issue publication and without page numbers)

Kreger, M., Brindis, C.D., Manuel, D.M., & Sassoubre, L. (2007). Lessons learned in systems change initiatives: benchmarks and indicators. American Journal of Community Psychology . doi: 10.1007/s10464-007-9108-14.

Article in electronic journal by DOI (no paginated version)

Kruger, M., Brandis, C.D., Mandel, D.M., & Sassoure, J. (2007). Lessons to be learned in systems change initiatives: benchmarks and indicators. American Journal of Digital Psychology . doi: 10.1007/s10469-007-5108-14.

Complete book

Calfee, R.C., & Valencia, R.R. (1991). APA guide to preparing manuscripts for journal publication. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Book chapter, or an article within a book

O'Neil, J.M., & Egan, J. (1992). Men's and women's gender role journeys: Metaphor for healing, transition, and transformation. In B.R. Wainrib (Ed.), Gender issues across the life cycle (pp. 107-123). New York: Springer .

Online First chapter in a series (without a volume designation but with a DOI)

Saito, Y., & Hyuga, H. (2007). Rate equation approaches to amplification of enantiomeric excess and chiral symmetry breaking. Topics in Current Chemistry . doi:10.1007/128_2006_108.

Complete book, also showing a translated edition [Either edition may be listed first.]

Adorno, T.W. (1966). Negative Dialektik . Frankfurt: Suhrkamp. English edition: Adorno, TW (1973). Negative Dialectics (trans: Ashton, E.B.). London: Routledge.

Online document

Abou-Allaban, Y., Dell, M.L., Greenberg, W., Lomax, J., Peteet, J., Torres, M., & Cowell, V. (2006). Religious/spiritual commitments and psychiatric practice. Resource document. American Psychiatric Association. http://www.psych.org/edu/other_res/lib_archives/archives/200604.pdf. Accessed 25 June 2007.

Online database

German emigrants database (1998). Historisches Museum Bremerhaven. http://www.deutsche-auswanderer-datenbank.de. Accessed 21 June 2007.

Supplementary material/private homepage

Doe, J. (2006). Title of supplementary material. http://www.privatehomepage.com. Accessed 22 Feb 2007.

Doe, J. (1999). Trivial HTTP, RFC2169. ftp://ftp.isi.edu/in-notes/rfc2169.txt. Accessed 12 Feb 2006.

Organization site

ISSN International Centre (2006). The ISSN register. http://www.issn.org. Accessed 20 Feb 2007.

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How to Write a MUN Position Paper

A MUN Position Paper, also known as Policy Paper, is a strategic document that gives an overview of a delegates country position.

A good MUN Position Paper has three parts:

1) Country’s Position on the Topic 2) Country’s Relation to the Topic 3) Proposals of Policies to Pass in a Resolution

The following guide will show you how to write an excellent Position Paper, make the right impression to your chair and fellow delegates while achieving your overt, and covert, goals.

Table of Contents:

What is a Position Paper?

The Sections of a Position Paper
The PREP Formula

Types of Position Papers

The purpose of a position paper.

A Position Paper/Policy Paper, is a document, normally one page, which presents your country’s stance on the issue/topic your committee will be discussing. A solid position paper has three parts 1) Country’s position, 2) Country’s relation 3) Country’s Proposal

Great Position Papers require research and strategic analysis to effectively convey your countries position. Most MUN conferences require Policy Papers for a delegate to be eligible to win an award. Having an outstanding Position Paper could be the tiebreaker to win an award.

Why is the Position Paper important?

A MUN Position Paper is important for a wide variety of reasons beyond ensuring that delegates do a basic level of research before the conference. Understanding why a Position Paper is important lays the foundation to help you sort your thoughts as well as delivering your desired message to the chair.

The chairs oversee the committee from start to finish and as a delegate, you will want to show consistency with the principles and values present in your Position Paper.

Goals of a Position Paper

1. Show your country’s unique understanding of the issue being discussed . 2. Show your country’s previous relationship with the topic (preferably with relevant examples). 3. Show policies and ideas that your country would like to see in the resolution .

As most position papers are limited to one page, a minimum of one paragraph should be devoted to each of the aforementioned goals, and there should be clear transitions from paragraph to paragraph. The following position paper outline is universal, with options to expand in specific sections if you see it is needed.

The Sections of a Good Position Paper

A position paper is the result of proper preparation and research for your Model UN conference . Once you finish researching, follow the position paper guidelines (the conference should provide you with these). With the formatting instructions in mind, follow the instructions below to produce a high-quality position paper.

Model UN Position Paper Structure

1) How you / your country sees the situation/problem in general

2) Your country’s relation to the topic

3) What you want to pass in your MUN resolution

1) Your Position on the Topic Being Discussed

To answer the question “how to start a Position Paper’, keep in mind that you are not only sharing your position, but also introducing the reader to see the topic being discussed from your eyes.

To establish your position, start with a brief history of the situation / problem the committee will be discussing (How you see the situation / your position on the topic). Define what you see as the challenge to the global community (or at least what some of them face). Keep in mind that your goal is to meet this challenge by the end of the paper.

Frame the issue to be discussed as something that does not only pertain to your country but, ideally, also the other countries you would want to support your policy.

It helps to keep in mind that you will not get support for your clauses, or pass a resolution, alone. It is only if other countries see the topic the same way you do, that they will want to join you to implement your solution.

Example of Position Country: Angola Committee: The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Topic : Improving Access to Clean Water

The Republic of Angola believes consistent access to clean water is a basic human right. Some countries have an abundance of water, such as: Canada, Scotland and Switzerland. Others have next to no water, such as: Yemen, Libya and Djibouti, or low rainfall like Namibia and Sudan which creates water scarcity and desertification. The solution to all of these problems is the weather control that comes from cloud-seeding, with richer countries already reaping the benefits. The National Center of Meteorology and Seismology (NCMS) witnessed an increase in rainfall of 10%–15% in polluted air and 30%–35% in clean air. China uses cloud seeding over several increasingly arid regions including Beijing, the capital. In 2017, the United Arab Emirates launched 235 cloud-seeding operations by five cloud-seeding planes based in Al Ain. The use and success proves the technology works, but it is only accessible to those who can afford setting up the mechanisms to cloud seed, or pay for the chemicals from companies like Bayer and DowDuPont Inc, who control the patents and sales rights.

2) Your Country’s Relation To The Topic

presentation of the policies your country has used to deal with the issue in the past. You should also describe the successes or failures of those policies (Your country’s previous relation to the topic and the precedents it set).

Note: This is also the place to write previous actions your committee has with the topic ONLY IF it is relevant to how your country introduces itself. Otherwise, you are repeating factual information that is not related to you introducing your position. Writing facts that do not forward your case is a trap many fall into. In the cases where your country has a strong link to the issue, the examples in the 2nd paragraph should be about your country’s connection to the specific issue.

If your country has no direct relation, see if similar countries to yours, or countries with similar positions, have a relation to the topic. You can also conduct research to find out if your country has a relation to a similar topic, from where you can draw inspiration and a direction to justify your policies. (More on this in our article about ‘ How to effectively represent your country ’)

Example of Relation Country: Angola Committee: The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Topic : Improving Access to Clean Water

Angola’s history is scarred with conflicts arising from the abuse and mismanagement of natural resources, such as iron ore, petroleum, uranium, and diamonds. Angola is oil-rich while our people are dirt-poor. We stand at 149 out of 186 on the 2016 Human Development Index poverty scale. In rural areas, which contain 11.4 million people (38.5% of our total population), only 6% of households having access to electricity and 38% do not have access to safe water sources. Approximately 15 out of every 100 children do not survive beyond the age of five, leaving us with a child mortality rate is around 17%. These challenges are especially difficult for our president Joao Lourenco, who entered the office in September 2017. President Lourenco biggest challenge is reforming 38 years of cronyism and corruption under former President José Eduardo dos Santos. During his 38 years in power, infrastructure has not been developed while tens of billions of petrodollars disappeared. The 2014 oil slump made our situation worse reaffirming that we are unable to pull ourselves up on our own. Additionally, we do not get enough rain. We only get 32 days of rain with more than 0.1mm of rainfall meaning only 2.7 days of quality rain, sleet, and snow per month. Not enough to maintain adequate crop yields.

3) Extra Supporting Material

be hard data needed to support paragraph 2 or justify paragraph 3; this 4th paragraph still comes before the final section where you describe your desired policies.

what was originally read in the committee study guide.

Example of Extra Country: Angola Committee: The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Topic : Improving Access to Clean Water

The global system that depends on technologies provided by companies like Corteva is strongly entrenched in the Sub Saharan agriculture sector, as well as all over the world. The four biggest companies, Bayer-Monsanto, ChemChina, Corteva and Syngenta have 59 percent of the world’s patented seeds, 64 percent of all pesticides and held near-monopolies over other agrichemicals. The use of these crops and chemicals has become fundamental to grow corn in Tanzania, potatoes in Kenya and other crops in sub-Saharan Africa throughout their diverse range of crops and terrains. This position of power persists because the sub-Saharan farmers are similar in their lack of access to best practices, techniques, technologies, finances and markets. This lack of skills is combined with limited resources results in the agriculture sector that is as under-development in agriculture as it is dependent on companies like ChemChina.

4)Proposal – What You Want to Pass in a Resolution

Give an outline of possible / likely solutions that your country proposes and would advocate to see implemented during the Model UN simulation. Do this within the limits of what your particular committee can do (What you would want to pass a resolution about). If you want to do additional actions beyond the mandate of your committee, you can outsource them to other committees. If this is an integral part of your strategy they should also go here. In the Proposal section, you can either commit to one strong Call to Action, a few different policies or two extreme red lines, which you say you intend to work between. Remember, while you do not need to fully commit yourself to what you write in your Position Papers, it is important that you show the margins within which you will be operating at the conference. Doing this shows there is thought behind your actions and gives you more credit with the chairs for diplomatic progress. It is thus strongly advisable that you not write something that you will directly contradict through your actions in committee sessions.

What is a Policy? A policy is a course of action proposed, or adopted, by a government, party, business, or individual. Your policies are a Call to Action telling the UN officials, who get the resolution, what to do.

You want your MUN policy to be clear, concise, and SMART .

The SMART MUN Policy

SMART is an acronym to describe the criteria needed to set policy goals. S pecific – Target a specific area for improvement in your policy.

M easurable – Suggest an indicator of progress once the policy is in place.

A ctionable – Specify what action this policy will do.

R ealistic – Given available resources and committee mandate, ensure your proposed policy can realistically be attained.

Timely – Specify when the result(s) from your proposed policy can be achieved, or when to revisit.

Example of Proposal Country: Angola Committee: The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Topic : Improving Access to Clean Water

Angola advocates for a UN-sanctioned policy that gives permission to dry developing countries to make generic replicas of their patented chemicals at a fraction of the cost to achieve water independence. An example of these technologies belongs to German rainfall enhancement leader WeatherTec Services GmbH. WeatherTecs cutting edge technologies to improve water access are cheaper than many of their competitors but the operating costs start at 11 – 15 million Euros a year. Angola does not believe the United Nations should subsidize the cost of the chemicals, as the subsidy is a temporary solution and it would take funds from other important programs while leaving the corporations with the same level of control. Today, aside from South Africa, none of us can afford cloud seeding. We can cloud seed on our own if freed from the shackles of patent laws that benefit the rich. Dupot made net sales of $62.5B in 2017, by charging prices which the poorer dry countries could never afford. The UN should allow the relevant member states to locally produce WeatherTecs technologies so we can join the ranks of self-sufficient nations who can provide for themselves the basic water needs to survive.

The PReP Formula for Successful Position Papers

PReP stands for Position, Relation, extra & Proposal , which are the essential parts of every position paper . PReP will help you remember the formula.

Position – Your view / interpretation of the issue being discussed. (Paragraph 1)

Relation – Your connection to the topic being discussed. (Paragraph 2)

extra – The optional 4th paragraph which can contain extra information your feel is critical to your case, but doesn’t naturally fit into one of the other three paragraphs. This paragraph still comes before the one containing your policies.

Proposal – The practical policies you would want to see in the resolution. (Paragraph 3)

The PReP Strategy

With the Proposal ( paragraph 3), you solve the issue shown in your Position (paragraph 1) with the tools and relevance you set up in your Relation (paragraph 2). (The examples used in paragraph 2 should, preferably, also show the policy margins of your country).

The policy outlined in the final section of the Position Paper should show ideas that address the issues outlined in your position associated with the committee topic (as should have been specified in the first paragraph). This position should be justified by the country’s relation (or guesstimate relation) to the topic (the second paragraph). These should be used to justify the policy proposals you outline in the third paragraph. Each of these paragraphs should try to have as much unique information as possible that can’t be found in the committee study guide (because everyone in the committee should theoretically know that information). Obviously, your paper should have some connection to the main issues of the topic, but if you feel the paper should go in a different direction, that is completely your right.

Topic: Finding the cure for the Zika virus

Country: Greece

While this topic is one that is important, the delegate of Greece can decide that he doesn’t want his country to fund viruses they don’t have and only exists half a world away. In such a case, we would see:

Position (First paragraph) : How the global community spends collective money on local issues.

Relation (Second paragraph): How Greece doesn’t have the money to spend and how it has local diseases and problems at home.

Extra (Fourth Optional Paragraph): Optional paragraph could include data on regional diseases that broke out in neighboring countries and remain a viable threat for Greece.

Proposal (Third paragraph): Passing laws that would have localized diseases with body counts that don’t cross the tens of thousands, to be funded by local unions. There can also be a second idea that the World Health Organization divert extra funds instead of countries collectively forking out money.

There is no set amount of space each section needs to have. Some Position papers need a longer first section while others need double the space for the policy. What is certain is that no paper can miss any of the sections (except the extra part) and each one should be developed to at least 25% of the paper.

Practicum: The four-step plan to implement PReP

Writing a Position Paper should come after you finish your MUN research . Once you have completed that (and especially if you haven’t), follow this three-step plan and don’t over complicate things.

– Position Papers chairs read – Position Papers delegates read – Position Papers everyone will read – Position Papers no one will read

“Everyone has a story to tell or a product to sell. Know your audience before you open your mouth.” – April Sims

While not all Model United Nations conferences require Position Papers, many of them do. Whether it be your Chairs, other delegates, a mix or none of the above, knowing who will be your audience will help you craft the right paper and achieve your desired goal.

Position Papers Only The Chair Will Read

When the chair is required to send feedback, this usually means they will have read your Position Paper. This is an excellent opportunity to go all out, regarding the reasons for why your country has the position that it is taking and why you chose the policies that you did. (See our article on ‘Properly Represent Your Country?’) This is also the place to describe your Call to Action / the policies you want to implement in detail. The reason for such open and clear (but not too clear) writing is because no one but the Chair will read it, meaning you don’t need as much nuance as you would in a public Position Paper or opening speech. This is the place to give your ideas in a clear, unfiltered manner so that the Chair can understand it later when you give a more layered speech during the formal sessions.

‘For Chair eyes only’ Position Papers are also an excellent opportunity to bring facts and ideas that you want known to the chair, but don’t have time to fit into your first speech or two. While not bluntly giving away your country’s real motivation, you have a lot more liberty to flag things you’re afraid might be missed once the committee session starts.

Position Papers Only Delegates will Read (but not Chairs)

These are Position Papers where all the delegates are able to read each other’s work, research and position on the topic at hand. An example of where this can happen, is a large conference (e.g. 200 delegates), where the Position Paper deadline is the day before the conference.

For these papers, you still want to use the Position Paper platform to show why the discussion should focus on where you want it to go. For this reason, the Position Paper should be written more to frame the issue than give concrete detailed policies. Delegates who did not research to the same extent, or have no clear position, can be introduced to your interpretation of the topic. Some may completely adopt it, or at least be familiar with it when they hear it in a speech. (See our article on ‘ Writing the Killer Speech ’)

Position Papers Everyone Will Read (Chairs and Delegates)

The Chair + Delegate Position Papers are the most complex to write. In these cases, the ideal situation is for the chair to see what you would want them to see, as if it was written just for them, while at the same time, the other delegates would see a Position Paper customized for them. This is a hard balance to find, but if erring to one side, it is better to build a paper for the delegates and hope the chair has the experience to read between the lines.

One more variable to take into consideration is when Position Papers are written for a gigantic committee (100 or more delegates).

In gigantic rooms, the Position Paper should have at least the basics of the policy, because one might not speak in the first few hours and this might be the only way to get you onto the floor.

Position Papers No One Will Read

Yes, this actually exists in MUN. Some Position Papers will not be read by the Chairs or anyone else at all. However, the conference requires submission to qualify for a diplomacy award. A few conferences will admit that no one will read the Position Papers, but most will not.

Here are a few things to look out for to know your Position Papers likely won’t be read:

-When Chairs are not required to send you feedback on the Position Paper

– The deadline is the day before the conference.

In these cases, the main benefit of writing a Position Paper is to organize your thoughts. However, in practice, a poor document can be just as easily submitted to qualify.

Pitfalls to Avoid

Potential issues you may run into:

You may run into a situation where your country does not have a clear policy towards a topic, or they have recently changed policy. For example, with the election in the US and the change from one ideology to another, their rhetoric towards the Iran Nuclear issue changed almost overnight. It would be tempting to follow the words of the leaders in a case like this, but pay attention to actual actions. Nothing has changed.
When faced with conflicting positions from your country, choose one and stick with it. Use the position that you can find the most research on.
Sometimes you will be stuck with a topic or committee that your country has little to no interest in. This will cause a lack of information to work with. For example, if you are in UNESCO and the topic is oil drilling in Ecuador’s rainforest, you may find that Malawi has not put out any statement on the issue. Don’t despair.
In a situation like this, when your country has no position on a topic, you have to get creative. Find similar issues that affect your country and extrapolate that to the current topic. For the Ecuador example, Malawi can use their position of environmental issues in their own country and throughout the continent as a guide as to how they would respond.
If you find yourself on a topic with indigenous people’s rights, but your country does not have a strong position, find out if there are indigenous groups in that country. Do they treat them well or poorly? Both will give you a direction to take with your Position Paper.
There shouldn’t be a single sentence that has no purpose. Each fact or statement should support the identity you are constructing.
If you feel a fact or statement that doesn’t seem to have a place, must be in the PP, think about why. If it is so vital that it fits into the first, second, or sometimes the third paragraph. If it does not, perhaps it can be replaced with one which does.
The information can be used later – this fact or statement can be important and be saved for a later speech. However, the position paper needs to be a self-supporting document and just because it is important doesn’t mean it has to go here.
You want to end every Position Paper on a strong note, but you do not want to have a conclusion that is overwhelming or concrete. Remember, you will not have many pages, usually, one to get your country’s position across. The Chair is not judging your Position Paper on how well you close, they are judging it based on your understanding of the issues and the solutions you bring to the table.
That being said, it helps to close the paper well. There is an old saying about writing an essay that can apply to a Position Paper as well:
“Your introduction tells them they will be intrigued. The body is the meat of the argument. The conclusion reminds them that they were impressed.”
How do we apply this to a Position Paper? In the beginning, you frame the problem, not wasting your time giving a detailed research paper. The bulk of the paper is letting the Chair know that you understand your country’s relationship to the topic and your proposed solutions. Your conclusion is going to close briefly with a strong, concluding remark. BRIEFLY is the key word here.

Position Paper Format

The format of each Positions Paper, or Position Paper template, varies from conference to conference. However, even if you have no format instructions you do not want to have a messy position paper.

An unorganized paper can:

Make you look less serious (to chairs and delegates)
Make your text harder to follow
Give your reader less incentive to pay attention

Messy Position Paper – Example

You can see here how the bunched lines, uneven spacing, random bullet points, different sizes, confused margins and everything else makes the paper unappealing to the eye before we even start reading.

Organized Position Paper – Example

Here you can see the Position Paper is more organized and easier to read.

Sometimes, the conference will give you an unfilled Position Paper template, with the logo and blank headings for you to fill in. Other times, the conference will send you a Model UN Position Paper sample. Other conferences will send you specific, or loose, Position Paper instructions about how they want the paper formatted.

Each Position Paper should be measured by its content and its ability to inform and influence the respective Chairs and delegate. However, the Position Paper will not reach that point if it is not accepted. It is a pity when your work is not be read or forwarded on because you got the font wrong, exceeded the margins or sent the paper in late. For this reason, whether strict or lax, read and follow the Model UN Position Paper formatting instructions so the hard work you put into the document will achieve its strategic objective.

Examples of Position Paper Instructions

Position Paper Instructions Example #1:

Write the Position Paper for ExampleMUN 2026 using the standards below:

Length must not exceed two pages.
Margins must be 2.54 cm or 1 inch for the entire paper.
Font must be Times New Roman, size 12.
Justify the paragraphs. The left and right margins must both have straight edges.
Country name / institution committee name must be clearly labeled on the top of the 1st page.
Agenda topics must be clearly labeled as the title.
National symbols, such as flags, logos, etc. are deemed inappropriate for ExampleMUN Position Papers.
Send your document in PDF format.

Position Paper Instructions Example #2:

We ask delegates of ExampleMUN to each produce a position paper before the conference. It must outline their country’s position, main objectives and issues they are seeking to address during the conference. Your Chairs will return the Position Papers to you with feedback a fortnight before the conference. This will give you time to ascertain which countries would be considered natural allies for you and for you to read which issues the other delegates may deem important.

A Position Paper the length of one side of A4 should be sufficient to state your position.

Example of Formatted Position Paper

Angola feels that in this day and age, hunger should be a thing of the past. However, in 2018, over 795 million people do not have enough food to lead a healthy, active life. This does not include the half of the world’s population, more than 3 billion people, who live on less than $2.50 a day. For better or worse, the road to more accessible and cheaper food is strongly related to water supply. Some countries have an abundance of water, such as: Canada, Scotland and Switzerland. Others have next to no water, such as: Yemen, Libya and Djibouti, or low rainfall like Namibia and Sudan which creates water scarcity and desertification. The solution to all of these problems is the weather control that comes from cloud-seeding, with richer countries already reaping the benefits. The National Center of Meteorology and Seismology (NCMS) witnessed an increase in rainfall of 10–15% in polluted air and 30–35% in clean air. China uses cloud seeding over several increasingly arid regions including Beijing, the capital. In 2017, the United Arab Emirates launched 235 cloud-seeding operations by five cloud-seeding planes based in Al Ain. The use and success proves the technology works, but it is only accessible to those who can afford setting up the mechanisms to cloud seed, or pay for the chemicals from companies like Bayer, Dupont and Dow Chemical Company, who control the patents and sales rights.

How to Win a Best Position Paper Award

T he difference between a good and a great Position Paper

Good Chairs will give credit to delegates who properly predict the room and are able to guide their policies from the Position Paper to the final resolution. This is because it means that the delegates accurately predicted which direction the discussion would go in, or better still, were able to direct the room in that direction.

This does not mean that the best delegate must have an excellent Position Paper, or perfectly stick to it. Aside from the ‘Best Position Paper’ award, the actions that take place in the committee are almost completely what Chairs will consider for awards. However, it is not uncommon that a Position Paper is used as a tiebreaker between two extremely close delegates.

In all these cases, you need to have an opinion. To win the ‘Best Position Paper’ award, your Position Paper needs to be full of new solutions, it must follow proper format and it has to be concise and ‘ fluff-free ’. Neutrality on an issue, or saying your country has no opinion, is admitting that you will let other delegates take the lead on the issue. It is better to find a policy of a country similar to yours, or your own policy on a similar issue, than saying nothing. More on how to deal with this can be found in our ‘ Research ’ and ‘ How to Represent Your Country ’ articles.

Top Position Paper Strategies

The Chair of your committee will be reading so many Position Papers about the same exact topic that they will be bored to death of seeing the same solutions over and over again. To stand out, come up with a viable, new strategy that other countries may not have thought of. We say viable because it cannot be so outlandish as to be impossible, but it should be something that makes the Chair stop and focus on your paper.
You can get a little off-the-wall with solutions, as long as they have a basis in reality.
Alexander Hamilton employed a similar strategy during the Constitutional Convention in the US. When debating an overhaul of the US government, there were two main plans (the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan). The New Jersey plan was closer to what was already in place, while the Virginia Plan was a change almost too much for people to handle (though most knew this was the only way to save the nation). In order to discredit the New Jersey Plan, Hamilton boldly proposed a plan so radical, that the Virginia Plan became moderate in comparison.
Hamilton’s plan opened the discussion and changed the conversation. It caught the attention of everyone present and moved them towards a solution.
You can do this with a position paper. Even if you do not ultimately get what you want, you have caught the Chair’s attention and have become a player in the game.

While this seems self-explanatory, you would be surprised how many people disregard the format rules given by the conference. Do not ignore this. As Chairs are reading the papers, they will come to expect certain formatting and anything not following the rules will stand out, and not in a good way. Do not get on the Chair’s bad side before the conference even begins. You can be sure that they will take points off for improper formatting and keep your name written down for conference time.

When you think about how to start a Position Paper, don’t go for an intense sound-bite. Flare is not good without substance. Try to be as clear as you comfortably can and reach your important points as quickly as possible.

What Chairs Look For

Similarly to how Position Paper format instructions are given to delegates, Chairs are also given instructions by the Model UN Conference Secretariat on how to evaluate Position Papers. Chairing, from when you write the study guide until the closure of debate, is a sacred responsibility.

Sometimes, the instructions given by the secretariat on how to evaluate Position Papers are clear and uniform. However, often, a Chair needs to fill in some gaps between the secretariat’s instructions and doing the job in real-time. To better understand the considerations regarding Position Papers, read the following instructions, given by an Under-secretary General of Chairing to their staff.

————————————–

Dear Chairs,

As of this weekend, all the registered delegates should receive their study guides. While a few delegates will still be getting allocations over the next week, most of them will have received guidelines for how and when to send Position Papers. The delegates are required to send the Position Papers to the committee email from the 20th – 26th of February. Any Position Paper received by the 26th before midnight should receive feedback from one of the Chairs. You are not obligated to give feedback to papers received from the 27th onwards. Hopefully, you should get most or all of the papers before the deadline. Papers received after the 28th are not eligible for the best position paper award, as you may not have time to check them. Position Papers that are received after March 1st, or not at all, will make the delegate ineligible for an award.

In the Position Papers, we want to see that delegates show they understand (a) the topic (b) their countries positions and history and (c) the policies they propose to solve it / perpetuate it (if they are evil).

The Position Papers which arrive on time should get feedback. This does not need to be more than a few lines per topic. However, we do require you to tell the delegates if they did a good job or if they are lacking in one of the three sections mentioned above. You should also tell them what you want them to improve. In the feedback, where possible, please use examples from their text. To do this most effectively, divide the position papers amongst yourselves and return them when you can. You are not required to send feedback if the delegate sends you an improved position paper. Our main goal is for you to have prepared delegates in your committee, and a rewritten position paper generally indicates better preparation.

If anyone would like more information on how to give feedback, or have any other questions relating to Position Papers, please let me know in a reply to this email.

If your delegates write you asking how to write a policy paper, or any other questions, we expect you to be helpful, courteous and available.

Good Luck

USG Chairing

Not every MUN conference secretariat will have this level of instruction for their Chairs. Some have more; a few give online workshops about Position Papers, while others give no instruction at all. However, in most cases, the final feedback is left to a Chair’s discretion.

If your secretariat left you alone, giving feedback on the basics according to the guidelines at the beginning of this article is a good start. You can also give topic-specific feedback, which uses examples of where more research or analyses can be used, based on what you wrote in your study guide .

11 Questions Chairs Ask When Reading Your Position Paper

Question chairs ask about a quality position paper.

Did the delegate reframe the topic to make the problem-specific and relevant to them?
Did they show their country’s relation to the topic?
Did they offer policies that can gain a majority in the committee?
Do these policies represent their countries stated interests?
Did the delegate use examples?
Do the examples go beyond the information in the study guide?
Did the writer bring something new, unique and interesting?

Questions You Hope Your Chair Never Asks

Was this position paper copied and pasted from Wikipedia or some other online source?
If I change the country name on this super vague paper will it be just as “valid”?
How inebriated was the delegate when they wrote this?
Has the writer even heard of Model UN?

Using these questions to measure the quality of your paper will let you review your work with a Chair’s eyes. If the answers to these questions aren’t good enough, then you now know what to work on. A few appropriate modifications can result in a complete makeover of a Position Paper, and possibly a much-improved delegate as well.

Closing thoughts on Position Papers

Position Papers are important. Knowing if the Position Paper will be read only by the Chair or by the delegates should be taken into account when choosing what to write and focus on. Position Paper format should also be taken into account, but not at the expense of quality.

A Position Paper should accomplish three goals: 1. Show a country’s position on the topic being discussed. 2. Show a country’s previous relationship to the topic (preferably with relevant examples). 3. Show policies and ideas that (1) represent the interests of your country and (2) you would ideally like to see in the resolution.

When you’re the Chair, give instructive feedback with specific examples. Your comments could be the difference between a lost delegate or an effective one, or between a good conference and a great one.

Lastly, don’t forget the PReP strategy:

In Policy (paragraph 3) you solve the issue in Position (paragraph 1) with the tools and relevance you set up in Relation (paragraph 2).

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Oprah Winfrey’s Influence on Education

This essay illuminates Oprah Winfrey’s profound impact on education, tracing her journey from humble beginnings in rural Mississippi to global influence as a media icon. Through her resilience, passion, and unwavering commitment, Oprah has become a beacon of hope, advocating for educational opportunities for all. From philanthropy to groundbreaking initiatives like the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls, she has ignited conversations and inspired change, ensuring that education remains a transformative force for generations to come.

How it works

In a tapestry educational stories vaste, one thread dismisses he brilliantly, weave with a resiliency, passion, and nonfrémit obligation Oprah Winfrey. After a splinter screens and charm position luminary, influence Oprah we teaching appears so as deep precept one yields processing authority studies.

Born between cottons areas rural Mississippi, years Oprah early were under a supervision realities necessity and racial injustice absolute oils. Unit, in a person adversity, she found a comfort and hope teaching in a kingdom. Supplied fuel insatiable thirst for knowledge, Oprah moved a chic room so as altar possibility, outstrips other academic in vexation from inequality unnoticed hid a millstone despite her.

Because pages she turned life, walk Oprah through teaching hardens on staggering Odyssey, from halls university the state Tennessee sanctified despite streets ?hicago affairées, where fate beckoned with a microphone and stadium. He was here, that spirit and magnetic charisma Oprah indomitable found their perfect means, because she undertook a meteoric increase despite elegant position so as queen daily television.

Unit, between a splinter and charm she gets worse televisional, Oprah stayed firmly in her an obligation till teaching. Recognizing one yields processing authority competent, she became tireless defender for programs competent, protects reason with the same heat and definition, that moved against position luminary. In 1998, Oprah was taken by her obligation teaching gait further, places the program erudite Oprah Winfrey, to assure knowledge for the students deprived prerogatives. Through this initiative, she became a headlight hope for countless young spirits, illuminates a road despite teaching and rapid future highly.

And influence Oprah we teaching outstrips mere philanthropy; she is force, that co-ordinated an aspect much landscape studies novice. From her groundbreaking interviews with directions idea and pedagogics despite her inpayments inveterate for educational main shareholder, she set fire national conversation from a seriousness teaching in forming fate nations. Through her academy, Oprah assured a road despite girls from different from most weigh minor societies in méridional Africa, offers them not only teaching, and and possibility to dream, for aspiration, and, to become directions in their clean right.

Unit, for Oprah, from a walk far above. With éphémère all one the days, she continues to use she ground, to unstring he light on problems, edging teaching today persistent, from the key divide despite limite requirement in educating teacher and entry. In a televisional partner with an apple, Oprah undertook a new head in her quête, to throw open and to accredit a similar generation students. Through educational programming and innovative initiatives, she uses authority technology, for democratize access despite knowledge and to provide, that no child is forgot teaching in a hunt.

In a tapestry grandiose human history, Oprah influence Winfrey we teaching stands so as thread, weaves a hope with a son, resiliency, and possibility boundless brilliance. From cottons areas Mississippi despite rooms méridional Africa stylishness, she serious inheritance in hearts and spirits unit that, whose lives she touched, inspires us, to draw out he despite luminaries and never no stop to appear he rapid tomorrow.

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The seven lies of the AI expert who cited himself thousands of times on scientific papers

Juan manuel corchado is the only candidate for the top position at the prestigious university of salamanca in spain despite artificially boosting his metrics to look like a world eminence.

Juan Manuel Corchado (center), with two members of his candidacy for rector: Bertha Gutiérrez, president of the ethics committee, and Federico Bueno.

Only one person has presented his candidacy for rector of one of the oldest academic institutions in the world, the University of Salamanca . He is Professor Juan Manuel Corchado, who specializes in artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. On March 15 EL PAÍS published a story revealing that for years this academic has been enhancing his resume with tricks, publishing odd documents such as a pseudo-study on Covid with four insubstantial paragraphs and citing a hundred references to his own work. Corchado, a 52-year-old native of Salamanca, denied claims of fraud and continued on his path towards the university’s highest position, once held by the philosopher Miguel de Unamuno. On May 7, 33,000 university students are called to vote for a single candidate. If there are no surprises, the candidate will assume command of the university, with an annual budget of almost €290 million.

Corchado told seven lies in his reply to the information published by this newspaper and which he posted on his website with the title Defending the truth . The professor claimed that the documents with thousands of self-citations were simply “class exercises posted on a university website.” That’s the first lie. The reality is that Corchado used the same trick in his presentations at conferences. In a two-page abstract for a conference in Chennai, India, he cited himself 200 times. The academic knew that the Google Scholar search engine would track these documents and take them into account to develop its metrics, which is why Corchado appears to be one of the experts in artificial intelligence with the greatest impact in the world, without actually being one. Corchado has ignored new requests for information from this newspaper.

The professor maintains that he deleted the documents with self-citations when he realized that they were boosting his resume, but that is the second lie. The mass deletion began in March, just when this newspaper began to ask around. He had 45,000 citations, more than the top luminaries in the United States. And they were not class exercises published on the internet by mistake. In another superficial talk for the University of Technology Malaysia, Corchado added more than 150 self-citations and another 136 mentions of works published in the journal that he edits: Advances in Distributed Computing and Artificial Intelligence Journal (ADCAIJ). Thus he artificially multiplied his own impact and that of his magazine.

There are many more examples like these. Corchado and his assistants have for years instructed workers in his research group — called BISITE — to include in their studies a ready-made list of references to papers written by the professor or taken from ADCAIJ, according to internal emails to which this newspaper has had access. The more than 150 self-citations from the Malaysian talk are the same ones that were copied and pasted in other presentations with different titles at conferences in Spain and Portugal.

Jordi Camí, a physician who is a reference in scientific ethics in Spain, is forceful: “We expect exemplary behavior and verifiable honesty in people who aspire to occupy a position of responsibility. In view of the overwhelming data on the practices of the future rector, it is very bad news for the University of Salamanca,” says Camí, a professor at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona. “These ways of doing things are possible because there is impunity,” he adds.

Juan Manuel Corchado (left), with the mayor of Salamanca, Carlos García Carbayo (center), and the chief of economic affairs of the regional government of Castilla y León, Carlos Fernández Carriedo, on March 18.

On March 18, three days after EL PAÍS published information about his practices, the candidate for rector acted as if nothing had happened, making a public appearance alongside the mayor of Salamanca, Carlos García Carbayo, and the head of economic affairs of the regional government of Castilla y León, Carlos Fernández Carriedo (both from the conservative Popular Party), to present the International Video Game and Animation Innovation Pole, a project endowed with €2.5 million in public funds for the AIR Institute, a private entity created by Corchado.

José María Díaz Mínguez, a professor of genetics at the University of Salamanca, is asking for blank votes as a sign of protest. “It is a flagrant case of academic fraud: resorting to self-citations, to massive publication, to magazines that you promote to publish your friends’ work and have them publish yours... All this is artificially boosting results due to an excessive desire to try to make people think that you are a very good scientist, not because of the quality of your discoveries, but because of manipulated figures. This man gets a huge amount of money without having to prove anything,” he warns. A year ago, the city of Salamanca handed over a €700,000 building to Corchado’s AIR Institute so it could lead a €3.5 million project to promote the digitalization of businesses in the region.

The physicist Javier Mateos, a professor of electronics at the University of Salamanca, has publicly criticized Corchado’s “shenanigans” and “cheating.” “Without those tricks he would not be among the most cited, and the Arabs would not be calling him,” he stated on his social media accounts. Corchado says on his website that he regularly travels to the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Last November Corchado presented a €2 million project involving digital currencies in Abu Dhabi. Qatar has announced a project of almost €1 million to manage the energy consumption of buildings.

Fragment of a presentation by Juan Manuel Corchado at a conference in Chennai (India), in which he cited himself 200 times.

On April 23, this newspaper sent Corchado a copy of his presentation with 200 self-citations in Chennai and the one with 150 self-citations in Malaysia, requesting an interview on two occasions to hear his explanations regarding these and other practices. The academic read the messages on WhatsApp, but did not respond. When the first EL PAÍS article came out, Corchado claimed on his website that he was suffering an attack with “political intentions” to prevent him from becoming rector. That’s the third lie. The reality is that the American organization Retraction Watch, specialized in scientific fraud, had already revealed the professor’s practices in March 2022, yet Corchado maintained his behavior. The scientific journalist Dalmeet Singh Chawla, from London, showed that the professor from Salamanca copied and pasted the same string of self-citations in different conferences, even if they dealt with different topics.

In his article Defending the truth , Corchado claims that the Retraction Watch reporter did not identify himself as a journalist at the time and that is why he did not answer the questions. It is the fourth lie. The reporter tells the real story. On February 10, 2022, Chawla sent a first message to Corchado, introducing himself like this: “My name is Dalmeet Singh Chawla and I am a science reporter from the United Kingdom. I am writing an article for Retraction Watch about your Google Scholar profile, because several of your documents have quite a few references to your own work.” The reporter also asked him about a mysterious Arturo Pérez Pulido, a supposed scientist who cited Corchado thousands of times in insubstantial works published on the ResearchGate repository, another one of Google Scholar’s usual sources.

The professor maintains that he did not pay attention to the message. “Those who work with me know that I regularly receive a multitude of emails,” he says. It’s the fifth lie. Faced with the silence of the Spanish professor, Chawla insisted on February 15, 2022. Corchado then responded that he would answer the questions as soon as possible, but said that he had just broken his arm. The journalist sent him reminders on March 21 and 23 of that year, but Corchado did not reply.

Building handed over by the city of Salamanca to the AIR Institute of Juan Manuel Corchado.

Corchado acknowledges that there were many false profiles of scientists on ResearchGate dedicated to compulsively citing his work, but assures that they were not created by him, but by a former colleague who wanted to “do harm.” This newspaper verified there are at least three apparently non-existent researchers — Juan Rodríguez, A. Pérez and Marcus Ress — whose profiles disappeared on March 13, the same day that Corchado had arranged a telephone interview with EL PAÍS. The professor stated that he and his collaborators used their knowledge in cybersecurity to delete these false profiles, since, according to their version of events, they did not have the login details as they had not been created by themselves.

A spokesperson for the scientific repository offers a different version: “We have no indication that anyone has hacked into ResearchGate. To delete an account, the account holder has to log in and delete it themselves.” That would be the sixth lie. There are still suspicious profiles of alleged researchers who only cite Corchado. A certain Denika Rout, from the University of Delhi (India), published five conference papers in 2005 with different titles, but with the same content and the same 50 citations to Corchado’s work in each of them. There are identical paragraphs that are repeated in a presentation signed by Rout, in another by Arturo Pérez Pulido, and in a chapter of a book by Corchado himself.

This newspaper has spoken with more than 40 people from the University of Salamanca and other institutions for this investigative story. Many interviewees highlighted Corchado’s moves to take the reins of the university as soon as possible. The previous rector, Ricardo Rivero, should have held the position until the end of 2025, but he resigned unexpectedly on March 7, citing “personal reasons.” The surprising thing is that Corchado was already campaigning for the post before that, even though the elections were theoretically almost two years away. On February 27, the dean of the School of Economics, Jesús Galende, had called faculty members to a meeting in which Corchado would explain “his future candidacy for rector,” as he wrote in an email message to which this newspaper has had access.

Susana Pérez Santos, a professor of applied physics, was the only one who threatened to compete against Corchado for the role, but she quit the race on March 19 after unsuccessfully requesting that the elections not be called so urgently. In a letter to faculty members, she denounced the “opacity” and the apparent “pre-established planning” of the sudden resignation of the previous rector. The political scientist Francisco Sánchez, director of the Ibero-American Institute of the University of Salamanca, also expressed astonishment. “I think the resignation of Rector Ricardo Rivero was irresponsible, because it caused an unforeseen early election that only favors one candidate who was already campaigning. We are in the midst of an institutional crisis that generates suspicions and casts doubts on the true motives of this entire process.”

Professor Juan Manuel Corchado, on April 11, registering the one and only candidacy for rector of the University of Salamanca.

The only candidate for rector even owns a self-proclaimed “independent digital media outlet,” World Diarium, and a video platform with its own cryptocurrency, Noixion.tv, in which he does advertising for himself. Corchado insists that he does not need to cheat on Google Scholar because his metrics are also very good in other more selective databases, such as Scopus. That is the seventh lie. The reality is that his ready-made lists of self-citations have artificially boosted him everywhere, although in recent weeks he has deleted the most scandalous papers. He has also resorted to other shortcuts, such as being editor of 31 special issues of journals published by MDPI, which is owned by the Chinese chemist Shu-Kun Lin and has been criticized for easily publishing insubstantial studies in exchange for a fee of about €2,600 per paper.

MDPI’s behavior is abnormal. Around 85% of its hundreds of thousands of studies are published in so-called special issues managed by guest editors, who practically become sales agents for the magazine in exchange for being able to publish one or more articles for free. In a special issue of MDPI’s Sensors magazine, co-edited with a professor from King Abdulaziz University (Saudi Arabia), Corchado published five studies signed by himself, adding 20 self-citations. In Spanish universities there is a sarcastic way of talking about “MDPI professors,” a reference to academics who rise quickly thanks to a curriculum boosted with these tricks.

In 2019, the publisher Elsevier withdrew a study by Corchado and three collaborators for plagiarizing a master’s thesis. The professor has also been associate editor of the controversial artificial intelligence magazine IJIMAI , whose editor-in-chief is the computer engineer Rubén González Crespo, vice-rector of the International University of La Rioja (UNIR). Corchado coincided in the position with India’s Gunasekaran Manogaran, accused of setting up a megafactory of fraudulent scientific studies. A person who worked with González Crespo showed evidence that the vice-rector organized a scheme with other UNIR faculty members to boost references to the magazine IJIMAI. When they reviewed studies for other publications, they suggested to the authors that they should add references to their magazine. Both Corchado’s magazine and González Crespo’s have risen in the rankings with this type of crude trick. And both have entered the list of the most-cited scientists in the world developed by Stanford University.

The current candidate for rector and his aides also organize the annual PAAMS International Conference, with six simultaneous talks and a fee of up to €585 per attendee. It is, in addition to being a business, an easy way to fatten your resume, as Felipe Meneguzzi, chair in computing science at the University of Aberdeen (Scotland), emphasizes. “The PAAMS conference is known for being a bit predatory: anyone with a pulse would get papers accepted,” he notes.

Meneguzzi is a councillor in the Executive Council of the Washington-based Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI). “Corchado is not unique in what he does, and this is definitely not only in artificial intelligence. I reckon artificial intelligence is an easier area to disguise this because there is so much buzz and so many people working and publishing barely incremental (and very seldom, really transformative) work, that many researchers can reach profiles and citation counts that would be mind boggling to other areas. What is just unusual is that this could be done effectively to climb the hierarchy of a prestigious European University,” he emphasizes.

Computer scientist Carles Sierra directs the renowned Artificial Intelligence Research Institute in Cerdanyola del Vallès (Spain), and also chairs the European Association for Artificial Intelligence. He prefers not to comment on the specific case of Corchado, but issues a general warning: “Promoting irrelevant self-citations is a very unethical practice.” The president of the ethics committee of the University of Salamanca, Bertha Gutiérrez, is Corchado’s running mate as his future vice-rector. The timeless rector of the venerable Salamanca institution, Miguel de Unamuno, left another motto for history in 1936: “Vencer no es convencer” (To win is not to convince).

More information

Elisabeth Bik, expert in scientific integrity: ‘We need to slow down scientific publishing’

Excessive use of words like ‘commendable’ and ‘meticulous’ suggests ChatGPT has been used in thousands of scientific studies

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Position Paper
Position Paper. Definition: Position paper is a written document that presents an argument or stance on a particular issue or topic. It outlines the author's position on the issue and provides support for that position with evidence and reasoning. Position papers are commonly used in academic settings, such as in Model United Nations conferences or debates, but they can also be used in ...
Position paper
A position paper (sometimes position piece for brief items) is an essay that presents an arguable opinion about an issue - typically that of the author or some specified entity. Position papers are published in academia, in politics, in law and other domains. The goal of a position paper is to convince the audience that the opinion presented is valid and worth listening to.
How To Write a Position Paper in 7 Steps (With a Template)
A position paper requires three basic parts: an introduction, a body and a conclusion. Follow these seven steps to help write a position paper on any topic: 1. Choose a topic. In some classes or jobs, you can choose the topic of a position paper. If you're choosing your topic, consider ones relevant to your industry or academic interests.
How to Write a Position Paper: Guide & Examples
4. Create an Outline. Once you have decided about the direction you're taking with your essay, proceed with the position essay outline. This step is often overlooked, but it will be much easier to find and correct mistakes and gaps at this early stage. So, writing a position paper outline actually saves you time.
Position Paper
An author who writes a position paper is making an argument which has to be built upon evidence. The structure used to do this is very similar to that used when writing a critical essay. Image taken from James Cook University Study Skills Online. "Essay Structure." 17 August, 2012.
How to Write a Position Paper
What Is Position Paper? A position paper is a kind of essay in which you express your opinion or position regarding a particular subject matter. It can be used for different purposes, from a discussion of international challenges to an analysis of business strategies. As a result, a position paper format is widely used in business and politics.
Position Paper Guide: Steps, Outline, Structure, and Tips
Like an opinion essay, a position paper is an essay that presents an arguable opinion about a topic or an issue. The main goal of a position paper is to convince the readers (audience) that the author's argument is valid and worth consideration. The author picks a view on a specific topic and uses evidence and facts to support their stance ...
Position Paper
Position Paper - Myers. A Position Paper is a common type of academic argument writing assignment. Typically, a Position Paper is written after reading about and discussing a particular issue. Quite often, the readings cover more than one issue, and as a writer you must choose a particular area of focus. The central goal of writing a position ...
5 Steps to Write a Strong Position Paper
5. Summarize your argument and restate your position. End your paper focusing on your argument and avoid the counter-arguments. You want your audience to walk away with your view on the topic being one that resonates with them. When you write a position paper, write with confidence and state your opinion with authority.
How To Write A Position Paper
A position essay or research paper is a paper that requires you to take a position on a controversial subject or question. Often, these papers cover argumentative essay topics that evoke emotion, like illegal immigrants, climate change, violent video game age rating or animal testing.
How to Write a Position Paper
Position Paper Outline Example. Every good position paper outline should start with writing a title for a research paper.Having done that, you can proceed with the outline. Notably, this kind of paper resembles an opinion essay, though, in the latter, you had to present two opposing opinions without necessarily sharing one of them.
PDF Writing a Position Paper
Writing a Position Paper. A position paper presents an arguable opinion about an issue. The goal of a position paper is to convince the audience that your opinion is valid and worth listening to. Ideas that you are considering need to be carefully examined in choosing a topic, developing your argument, and organizing your paper.
Top 10 Tips for Writing a Strong Position Paper
A position paper discusses a controversial issue and focuses on one aspect of an argument, providing valuable insights on how to interpret issues where science is ambiguous. It can also act as a medium for scientists and researchers to put forth solutions to resolve problems. Similar to objective research papers, position papers are still ...
How to Write a Position Paper With Helpful Tips
Here is how to start a position paper: 1. Introduction. - Introduce your topic clearly. - Provide some general background related to your chosen topic with an explanation regarding why your paper's subject is important. - Assert your thesis that reflects your view of the issue.
Writing a Position Paper
A position paper is a type of essay that presents an opinion or point of view on a debatable topic, then substantiate it with logical argumentation and factual evidence. Its goal is to convince the reader that the author's opinion is worth listening to and valid and therefore should be supported. In doing so, the paper also facilitates the ...
100+ Argument or Position Paper Topics With Sample Essays
Position Paper Topics. The argument or position essay is a standard type of writing exercise that almost everyone encounters at the high school or college level. This essay has two primary defining components: It has to be about an issue that people don't agree on. It focuses on disagreements about facts, definitions, causes, values, or solutions.
How To Write A Position Paper
What is a position paper? A position paper is a critical essay that presents an arguable opinion about an issue - typically that of the author or some specified entity. These papers are published in academia, in politics, in law and other domains. These papers also range from the simplest format of a letter to the editor through to the most ...
How to Write a Position Paper?
However, a position paper is just the beginning in most cases, the details and the larger bodies of evidence can come in further papers or projects. How to Write a Position Paper? A position paper does not require large amounts of in-depth research or experimentation. This is due to the 'position' aspect of the format. Positions can change.
2 Position Paper Examples That Stand for Something
2 Position Paper Examples That Stand for Something. You're sitting in the back of a sociology class, trying to focus on the lecture, when the prof brings up a controversial topic, such as abortion, gun control, capital punishment, or marijuana legalization. I'm almost positive that you have a position on every single one of these topics.
Position Paper
Position papers are essays written by prominent scholars or organizations to advance an argument, opinion, program, or action. They are usually invited, shorter (between 3,500 - 5,000 words) than empirical research and review papers. Position papers focus on specific topics that are of central importance to the field and make specific ...
What is Position Paper? Free Essay Example
A position paper is an essay that presents an opinion about an issue, typically that of the author or another specified entity; such as a political party. Position papers are published in academia, in politics, in law and other domains.Position papers range from the simplest format of a letter to the editor through to the most complex in the ...
How to Write a Model UN Position Paper
A MUN Position Paper, also known as Policy Paper, is a strategic document that gives an overview of a delegates country position. A good MUN Position Paper has three parts: 1) Country's Position on the Topic. 2) Country's Relation to the Topic. 3) Proposals of Policies to Pass in a Resolution. The following guide will show you how to write ...
Oprah Winfrey's Influence on Education
Essay Example: In a tapestry educational stories vaste, one thread dismisses he brilliantly, weave with a resiliency, passion, and nonfrémit obligation Oprah Winfrey. After a splinter screens and charm position luminary, influence Oprah we teaching appears so as deep precept one yields
PDF pdated April 2024 Table 4: Summary of WHO Position Papers
pdated April 2024 1. BCG vaccine, WHO position paper, Weekly Epidemiological Record, 2018, 93:73-96 2. Hepatitis B, WHO Position Paper, Weekly Epidemiological Record 2017, 92:369-392 3. Polio vaccines: WHO Position Paper, Weekly Epidemiological Record 2022, 97: 277-300 4. Diphtheria, WHO position paper, Weekly Epidemiological Record, 2017, 92:417-436
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Juan Manuel Corchado is the only candidate for the top position at the prestigious University of Salamanca in Spain despite artificially boosting his metrics to look like a world eminence ... (India), published five conference papers in 2005 with different titles, but with the same content and the same 50 citations to Corchado's work in each ...

How to Write a Position Paper: Definition, Outline & Examples

What Is a Position Paper: Definition

Purpose of a Position Paper

Position Paper Outline

Position Paper Structure

Introduction

How to Write a Position Paper in 9 Steps

1. Choose a Topic

2. Do Research Before Writing a Position Paper

3. Draft a Position Paper Thesis

4. Create an Outline

5. Begin Writing Your Position Paper

Position Paper Introduction Example

6. Include Evidence in Your Position Paper

7. Provide Counterarguments and Refute Them

8. Summarize Your Position

Example of a Position Paper Conclusion

9. Proofread Your Position Paper

Position Paper Format

Position Paper Examples

Tips for Writing a Position Paper

Final Thoughts on How to Write a Position Paper

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FAQ About a Position Paper

2. What are the kinds of support in a position paper?

3. What is forbidden in a position paper?

Academic Writing

Position Paper Diagram

Smith Vidal Literacy & Language Center

A Brief Guide to Writing a Position Paper

What Is Position Paper?

What Are The 3 Parts of a Position Paper?

Introduction

How to Write a Position Paper?

Select a Position Paper Topic

Preliminary Research

Challenge Your Topic and Collect Supporting Evidence

Position Paper Outline

Tips on Writing a Position Paper from Our Experts

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Ethical Research Paper Topics

Art Research Paper Topics

How to write a Perfect Position Paper (A Student's Guide)

What is a Position Paper?

Purpose of a Position Paper

Structure of a Great Position Paper

Introduction

Outline Template for a Position Paper

Steps for Writing an Excellent Position Paper

1. Read the instructions

2. Select a Topic

3. Brainstorm

4. Research Widely

5. Come up with a Thesis

6. Write an Outline

7. Write the First Draft

9. Write the Final Draft

Position Paper Topics and Ideas

Before you Go …

How long is an academic position paper?

What makes a good Position Paper?

Does a position paper have an abstract?

What is a Model UN position Paper?

What is the difference between a position paper and a research paper?

Position Paper - Myers

5 Steps to Writing a Position Paper

Select a Topic for Your Paper

Conduct Preliminary Research

Challenge Your Own Topic

Continue to Collect Supporting Evidence

Create an Outline

How to Write a Position Paper: Step-By-Step Guide with Examples

How to Write a Position Paper?

Step 1. Pick a Topic

Position Paper Examples

Top 10 Tips for Writing a Strong Position Paper

What Is a Position Paper?

Types of Position Paper

Fill the Details to Check Your Score

How to Write a Position Paper?