essay about what is process

How to write a process essay

• August 25, 2023

Process essays are one of the most common types of essays . It’s simply explaining a process of how to do something. 

In this article, we’ll show you how to write a process essay in steps with interactive examples. 

Process essay definition

Let’s take a look at the steps outlined below to write a clear and effective process essay. 

Choose a topic

You should start by choosing a topic that not only interests you but also attracts your target audience. 

Whether it’s brewing the perfect cup of coffee or conquering the art of origami, your topic should be engaging and well-defined.  Let’s have a look at topic examples:

• Crafting Exquisite Miniature Bookbindings
• Building a Sustainable Vertical Garden
• Making the Perfect Cup of Coffee

So for this guide, I’ve chosen “Making the Perfect Cup of Coffee”. Now let’s continue with the next steps.

Create a process essay outline

Now that you’ve your topic at hand, it’s time to create an outline to present the steps chronologically. Outline will also help you organize your thoughts and ideas so you won’t get lost during the writing process.

Let’s examine this step with an example of a process essay explaining “Making the Perfect Cup of Coffee”.

Process essay outline example

• Thesis statement
• Provide safety precautions if necessary.
• Address to the reader
• Provide any variations or customization options if applicable.
• End with a memorable concluding thought or call to action.

By presenting the steps in chronological order, your readers can follow the process smoothly. 

During this step, just make sure to:

• Expand on each step you outlined earlier.
• Use clear and concise language.
• Make use of bullet points or numbered lists to make the process visually appealing.

After completing the outline, it’s time to write an interesting introduction.

Write an introduction

• Hook the reader's interest with a hook sentence
• Offer a brief overview of the topic and its significance
• Introduce and explain the process with a thesis statement at the end of introduction

Process essay introduction example

Introduction

Now that we have an intro on our hand, you need to tell what materials you need to finish the process.

Write the materials needed for the process

Listing the necessary materials for the process is a best practice for process essays. Typically found just after the introduction, this paragraph is devoted to outlining the necessary materials.

Here, p rioritizing the list is important; the more influential a component is, the higher its position on the list should be.

Example material list for process essay

Body paragraphs

Materials needed

• High-quality coffee beans that align with your flavor preference.
• A grinder for optimal flavor extraction.
• Equipment for brewing methods, such as a pour-over apparatus, a drip coffee maker, a French press, or an espresso machine.
• Fresh and clean water for brewing.
• Optional additives like milk, cream, sugar, flavored syrups, or other preferred elements.

Start writing the process

Right after listing the materials needed, it’s time to start writing the process itself.

When describing your process, be careful not to make it too complicated. To keep your readers on track, use transitional words like “after,” “eventually,” “first,” “then,” and others help you maintain an understandable tone.  

Or simply use a 1,2,3, bullet point structure as seen in example below to remind readers of their step during the process.

Body paragraphs - Process writing example

Materials needed ...

• Grind the beans just before brewing for optimal freshness. Use a burr grinder and adjust the coarseness to match your brewing method (coarse for French press, fine for espresso).
• Weigh your coffee grounds using a scale. A standard ratio is 1 to 2 tablespoons of coffee per 6 ounces of water, but adjust to your taste.
• Ensure the water is heated to the ideal temperature, typically between 195-205°F (90-96°C). Water that's too hot or too cold can affect the taste.
• Pay attention to the brewing time. Generally, 4-5 minutes is suitable for most methods, but again, adjust based on your preference.
• After finishing, regularly clean your coffee maker or French press to prevent rancid oils and residue from affecting your coffee's taste.

As seen from the example above, using an imperative language structure is generally preferable. It makes total sense as you’re describing a process in steps and usually don’t need a full sentence structure. 

Give tips and supporting details

After explaining the process above, it’s now time to provide tips and supporting details. Here, make use examples, tips, and even warnings if necessary. 

In other words, anticipate the questions your readers might have and address them as you go along. 

Body paragraphs - Supporting details

Supporting details & tips

• Ensure safe handling of hot water and coffee-making equipment.
• Water that's too hot can result in over-extraction, while water that's too cold won't extract enough flavor.

Write a conclusion

At this step, you simply need to write a conclusion paragraph to end your process essay. First summarize the key points, and restate the process in a concise and short sentence. And finally, finish your process essay by a memorable sentence or a call-to-action. 

Process essay conclusion example

Revise and polish your essay.

Now that you’ve written your essay, take a breath, and then come back for some editing. Check for consistency, correct sentence structure, efficient transitions , tense selection , and other linguistic issues that may arise. 

If possible, make use of proofreading tools like QuillBot or Grammarly . 

• Think about potential reader misunderstandings and address them. If needed, explain what should be avoided.
• Offer explanations for steps that might seem unusual or complicated.
• Define any unfamiliar terms or materials that the reader might not understand. This ensures clarity in your essay.

So  you’ve successfully learned how to write a captivating process essay. Remember, practice makes perfect. The more you write, the better you’ll become.

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Process Essay

Definition of process essay.

As the name suggests, this type of essay explains a process of making or breaking something. These essays are often written in chronological order, or in numerical order to show step-by-step processes. They are written in descriptive or prescriptive modes. Although it is not a technical communication, it sounds like having all the qualities of a technical document. The only difference is that it is often written in descriptive mode, while a technical document is mostly in imperative mode.

Transition in a Process Essay

As process essay provides step-by-step approach of doing something, they have typical transition words. These transition words make readers understand what has been done and what will follow next. Some of the specific transition words could be immediately, initially, in the end, in the future, in the meanwhile, later, next, soon, eventually, finally or firstly , and secondly .

Examples of Process Essay in Literature

Example #1: community re-discovered (by heidi ramirez).

“In any community , there are several and varying ways in which residents fulfill a sense of  community: participating in intramural sports, attending farmers’ markets, walking with neighbors, attending political meetings, helping the elderly, visiting the library, and volunteering for youth groups. It’s knowing the people in these interchanges, not just being familiar with faces, that build strong community.  Unfortunately, when this basic engagement is overlooked, communities can begin to disintegrate.”

This an excerpt from a process essay by Heidi Ramirez. It sets the tone of a process how communities integrate with each other. It clearly shows the sequence of the integration process.

Example #2: A Homemade Education (by Malcolm X)

“I was so fascinated that I went on—I copied the dictionary’s next page. And the same experience came when I studied that. With every succeeding page, I also learned of people and places and events from history. Actually, the dictionary is like a miniature encyclopedia. Finally the dictionary’s A section had filled a whole tablet—and I went on into the B’s. That was the way I started copying what eventually became the entire dictionary. It went a lot faster after so much practice helped me to pick up handwriting speed. Between what I wrote in my tablet, and writing letters, during the rest of my time in prison I would guess I wrote a million words.”

In this essay, Malcolm X has stated some of the ways through which he learned writing. He states how he “went on” copying the dictionary from one page to the next page. Some of the transition words such as “finally” and “actually” are quite obvious.

Example #3: Perspectives on “Borders” (by Luis Valdez)

“Let’s go back to the Popol Vuh. We’re talking about borders now . There is a border that defines the human being as a material and spiritual being. We have all learned that we’re Homo sapiens, wise monkeys. The monkey is a symbol of intelligence in the Popol Vuh, and in the classic Chinese novel Monkey. The wise monkey is a symbol for humanity. Now let me offer you another symbol for our human being—the feathered serpent. You are a feathered serpent that is evolving and crawling out of the seeds of your being. And once in awhile you get caught up in the dead skins of your life. You know biologically we go through a complete cellular change every seven to nine years. We’re totally renewed. So in one sense, biologically, you crawl out of a dead skin. You evolve out of yourself. The feathers are necessary because they represent our spiritual being.”

Although written in second person, this excerpt shows that the essay presents a process. It follows the same structure and same pattern of using things or doing tasks in a sequence. Specifically, the last lines show it clearly.

Function of a Process Essay

A process essay gives reader a sense of complete how-to-do process of making or creating some objects or things. Readers, after going through the essay, are able to create and make things. Although it is not like imperative instructions, it gives full details in a descriptive or prescriptive mode. It is because its major objective is not to present trite and dry instructions, but lively language to make readers read it with interest and do the act with enthusiasm.

Related posts:

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• Definition Essay
• Descriptive Essay
• Types of Essay
• Analytical Essay
• Argumentative Essay
• Cause and Effect Essay
• Critical Essay
• Expository Essay
• Persuasive Essay
• Explicatory Essay
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• Comparison and Contrast Essay

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5 Process Essay Examples

A process essay is a type of essay that explains a process in detail. Good process essays don’t just explain the process but provides details about common mistakes to avoid as well as tips and methods to achieve success. Below are some example essays:

Process Essay Examples

#1 how to bake a chocolate cake.

1337 Words | 4 Pages

Thesis Statement: “The purpose of this essay is to guide readers through the enjoyable and straightforward process of baking a chocolate cake, highlighting the essential steps and tips to ensure a delicious and successful outcome.”

#2 How to Write a Resume

Thesis Statement: “This essay aims to provide a comprehensive guide on crafting an effective resume, detailing each step from gathering relevant information to finalizing the document, while offering practical tips and common pitfalls to avoid, ensuring a polished and professional presentation of one’s career achievements and qualifications.”

#3 How to Train for a Marathon

1508 Words | 5 Pages

Thesis Statement: “This essay provides a comprehensive guide to marathon training, detailing a strategic approach to building endurance, strength, and speed, coupled with essential advice on nutrition, hydration, and mental preparation, to equip runners of all levels with the knowledge and tools necessary for successfully completing a marathon.”

#4 How to Prepare for a Job Interview

1309 Words | 5 Pages

Thesis Statement: “This essay outlines a comprehensive strategy for job interview preparation, encompassing in-depth company research, personalized response formulation, professional presentation, and logistical planning, to equip candidates with the tools necessary for making a compelling and confident impression in their pursuit of career opportunities.”

#5 How to Write an Essay

1473 Words | 5 Pages

Thesis Statement: “This essay outlines a comprehensive, step-by-step approach to essay writing, from understanding the prompt to the final stages of revision and editing, providing essential tips and strategies to enhance writing skills and ensure the creation of a well-structured, persuasive, and effectively communicated piece.”

How to Write a Process Essay

The following template provides an overview of a process essay structure:

Grab this process essay template here.

Instructions: To write a process essay, start by introducing the process and its significance, ensuring the reader understands the purpose and value of the instructions. Next, present the preparation and materials required, before outlining each step of the process in a logical order, offering detailed explanations, tips, and potential pitfalls to avoid, ensuring clarity and ease of understanding. Conclude by summarizing the main steps and reinforcing the benefits or results of completing the process, leaving the reader with a clear understanding and the confidence to undertake the task.

How to Write a Thesis Statement for a Process

To write a thesis statement for a process essay, identify the process you’re explaining and clearly state the purpose or goal of the essay. Concisely outline the primary steps or stages involved in the process, ensuring clarity and direction for the reader. The thesis should be informative, indicating what the reader can expect to learn and achieve by following the essay.

💡 AI Prompt For Writing a Process Essay Thesis Statement “Create a thesis statement for a process essay on [TOPIC] that clearly identifies the specific process being explained. The thesis should state the purpose of the essay and briefly outline the main steps or stages involved in the process. Ensure that the statement is concise, informative, and guides the reader on what they will learn and achieve by reading the essay.”

Read Also: 101 Thesis Statement Examples

Suggested Process Essay Topics

For Grades 4 to 8:

• How to Organize a School Backpack.
• Steps to Create a Simple Science Fair Project.
• The Process of Planting and Caring for a Vegetable Garden.
• How to Write a Book Report.
• Making a Handcrafted Greeting Card.

For Grades 9 to 12:

• How to Prepare for the SATs.
• Steps for Conducting a Basic Scientific Experiment.
• Crafting an Effective Persuasive Essay.
• Planning and Executing a Community Service Project.
• The Process of Creating a Personal Budget.

For University/College:

• How to Conduct a Literature Review for a Research Paper.
• Writing a Successful College Application Essay.
• The Process of Developing a Mobile App.
• How to Create a Comprehensive Marketing Plan.
• Steps for Conducting a Qualitative Research Study.
• Preparing and Delivering an Effective Oral Presentation.
• The Process of Writing a Business Plan.
• How to Analyze a Case Study in Business School.
• Crafting a Dissertation or Thesis Proposal.
• Developing and Implementing a Personal Fitness Plan.

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A process essay is a step-by-step guide on how to do or make something. It is important to include every step of the process, even if something appears self-explanatory. Your audience might not be as familiar on the topic as you are.

What may be equally important, and is often overlooked, is what not to do. For example, the process of making caramel is deceptively simple. The sugar mixture needs to be swirled to prevent burning. However, stirring the mixture will cause the molecules to agitate, making the syrup crystalize into a solid unusable lump. So, when writing a process essay on caramel it is equally important to define swirling and to caution against stirring.

Since a process essay is a series of instructions, transition words are an important component. Transitions establish connections between ideas. They can be a single word that imparts a logical order or sequence to your writing, or it could be an entire sentence that connects one paragraph to the next.

Transition Words

If you have not been given a topic, choose one that you feel confident in explaining to your audience. Refer again to the introduction section of this guide to find information on progression and organization. Brainstorming and creating an outline will help you avoid missing any steps or directions. Here are a few topic suggestions for a process essay:

• Car Mechanic
• Cellular Structure
• Applying for a Green Card
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How to Write a Process Essay

Last Updated: December 6, 2023 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Jake Adams . Jake Adams is an academic tutor and the owner of Simplifi EDU, a Santa Monica, California based online tutoring business offering learning resources and online tutors for academic subjects K-College, SAT & ACT prep, and college admissions applications. With over 14 years of professional tutoring experience, Jake is dedicated to providing his clients the very best online tutoring experience and access to a network of excellent undergraduate and graduate-level tutors from top colleges all over the nation. Jake holds a BS in International Business and Marketing from Pepperdine University. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 167,405 times.

A process essay, otherwise known as a how-to essay, tells a reader how to perform a particular task. The best process essays follow a clear step-by-step organization. Start by providing your reader with a time estimate and general summary of the task. Then, move on to a more detailed explanation of each and every necessary step. When you are finished with your essay, read it over carefully to ensure that you haven’t left anything out.

Getting Ready to Write

• For example, a process essay intended for professional chefs could probably skip a description of how to chop carrots and just say, “Finely chop the carrots,” instead.

• You could also include a comprehensive “Things You’ll Need” section at the beginning of the paper. Or list the materials needed after the introduction.
• If an item on the list is a bit unusual, such as a particular type of hand tool, then make sure to clearly introduce it within the text. For example, “The pin hammer has a finer tip than a standard hammer, making it suitable for more detailed work.” You can also include a picture of the item, particularly if the essay will be published online.

• If you are writing an essay about how to cook lasagna, your initial outline might just state, “Mix in basil.” Before you start writing, you could expand your outline to say, “Briefly mention taste differences between dried and fresh basil.”
• Note that the more specific your article or essay topic, the more specific your details needs to be.

Crafting an Introduction

• For instance, you might write, “The process of preparing lasagna has a rich heritage all of its own.”

• If your process essay focuses on a cooking task, this is where you might advise your readers to consult the ingredients or materials list and put every item on the counter.
• For example, you might write, “This recipe requires 30 minutes of active preparation time, along with 45 minutes of baking time.”

• For example, your thesis might be, “This essay will explore how to create a complicated lasagna dish in a short period of time by preparing the noodles and sauce in advance.”

Writing Your Body Paragraphs

• Be especially careful with items that contain multiple steps. Make the transitions clear and acknowledge prior steps regarding a particular item, if applicable.

• For instance, when making pasta, consider writing a paragraph on how to boil pasta and another paragraph on how to make the sauce. This separates the ideas for easy clarification.

• For instance, you could write, “Next, place the pot on the stove,” to move from one paragraph to the next.

• For example, you could write, “This essay shows…” instead of “I’ll show.”

• For example, you might caution a reader to, “Cook the meat until it is no longer red in the center.” This advice will help them to avoid a foodborne illness.

Wrapping It Up

• In the case of the recipe, you could write something like, “You now have a bowl of boiled pasta and finished Bolognese sauce. Serve up plates of pasta and sauce to your family, topping them with parmesan, if desired. You can serve garlic bread or a side salad with this dish, too.”

• A simple example for our newly-made dinner might be, "And there you have it! A delicious yet quick meal fit for the entire family that you can make over and over again without complaint. Next time, experiment with different herbs and spices to find your own spin on this classic dish."

• Look to see if there are places where you can eliminate steps or condense your instructions. A reader is more likely to finish directions that they can easily skim through.
• Ask someone to read through the essay to see if they can understand the process. If possible, pick someone from your intended audience demographic.

• Don’t rely on spell-check alone, as it cannot account for context and doesn’t catch every error.

Expert Q&A

• If there are alternative ways to do a particular step in the process, make sure to mention these as you go along. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

• Give your readers pacing instructions as well. If they need to go slowly while performing a certain task, tell them early on. The same rule applies if a task requires speed for success. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

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• ↑ Jake Adams. Academic Tutor & Test Prep Specialist. Expert Interview. 20 May 2020.
• ↑ https://www.grammarly.com/blog/essay-outline/
• ↑ https://www.georgebrown.ca/sites/default/files/uploadedfiles/tlc/_documents/hooks_and_attention_grabbers.pdf
• ↑ https://courses.lumenlearning.com/atd-clinton-englishcomp/chapter/2-the-process-essay/
• ↑ http://www.butte.edu/departments/cas/tipsheets/style_purpose_strategy/procress_paper.html
• ↑ https://www.grammarly.com/blog/readability-scores/

About This Article

To write a process essay, begin by writing an introduction that grabs the reader’s attention so they’ll want to keep reading. Then, end the first paragraph with a thesis statement presenting a problem for which you are offering a solution. Next, explain the process, making each step its own paragraph, and using transitions like "next" or "then" to move from one task to another. As the final step, let the reader know what to expect from the finished product and what to do with it. Finally, close your essay by reiterating why the process is helpful to the reader. For tips from our Education reviewer on how to proofread for common errors in a process essay, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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How to Write a Process Essay?

18 June, 2020

14 minutes read

Author:  Tomas White

What is a “process essay”? What makes it different from dozens of other papers you create on a daily basis? What are its main components and what the main goal of this type of writing you need to bear in mind? If you're looking for answers to these questions, you're in luck! You can get them all from our academic guide on how to write a process essay.

Composing a process essay can be rather complicated especially if you are not familiar with this type of writing and do not know what pitfalls and specifications to pay attention to.

That is why our custom essay writing service has created this guide to help you tackle this task. We will answer all these questions in our article below and even provide you with great process essay examples and topics you can write on to stand out. So, if that sounds like something you need right now, read on: we are here to help and equip you with knowledge!

But first things first. Since it is impossible to create an excellent process essay without crystal clear understanding of the term, we will start with the definition. So, let’s dive in!

What is a process essay?

A process essay is commonly written either to explain how something works or to guide a reader through the process of completing a particular task, states the process essay definition.

Process essays also go under the “How-to articles” title and aim to teach the target audience how to achieve certain goals or complete specific assignments.

So, look at it like this. In case of “How to quit smoking” process essay, your primary goal is to provide several helpful ways of quitting this habit. These might be evidence-based recommendations if you have experience in this area, or simply common sense ideas you found while conducting your research.

Now that you realize what you will be working with, let’s look into different types of process essays and practical ways to compose them. Our essay writing guide will walk you through the process essay writing step by step.

Types of process essays

There are two main types of such papers: the ones that explain how something works , and those that show you how to complete a particular task .

1. How to do something.

Though it sounds quite self-explanatory, we’d like to emphasize the importance of clear instructions in case you are writing a process essay.

Your readers must be able to follow your guidance and complete each step successfully. So, split the process into small steps, keep it short and to the point at each stage of crafting a process essay.

For instance, in a “How to quit smoking” process essay , you can split the whole process into seven steps:

• Choose a date for a quit day;
• Imagine life without cigarettes and expect it;
• Have one last cigarette as a “Goodbye!”;
• Be among people to support you;
• Keep your goal in perspective not to give up;
• Don’t fall for substitutes;
• Be accountable.

2. How something works.

By contrast, this is an informative type of writing that aims to achieve one goal – explain the principle of work behind some process. Unlike the mentioned above type, this process essay type does not encourage a reader to take an action and do something step by step.

However, you must make sure that by the end of your essay, the audience will know for sure how something functions.

As an example of this type of a process essay, let’s see how an earthquake happens .

• First, the energy within the earth core builds up due to various moves in the earth crust;
• The energy level grows up and causes tension in the tectonic plates;
• After some time, the pressure radiates outwards by moving the plates from each other;
• The seismic waves shake the earth as they get from the core of the earth to the surface;
• That is when the earthquake takes place.

Before we go any further, let’s look at another example. In case of “How to prepare for a vacation” process essay, your task is to compose a few steps that your readers can take when getting ready for their vacation. In other words, you are describing how to do something.

Meanwhile, “What happens to your brain when you sleep” process essay is merely an explanation of the principle. In it, you are not encouraging readers to take any actions whatsoever. So, here is the fundamental difference.

How to write a process essay?

Getting started with process essay writing

When developing a process essay outline, take some time to answer the following questions:

• Who is your target audience? How deep is their knowledge of the subject? The complexity of your essay depends on their skills level. Thus, for instance, when explaining to your peers how to stretch a dollar to see the world, you can use basic terminology and examples they can relate to. However, your vocabulary should be way more sophisticated if you are writing a process essay on how to improve the overall quality of higher education in your state to the City Council.
• How can you divide the process into small steps? You do not want to bore your audience to death with unnecessary details in a process essay. Yet, you cannot afford to skip valuable steps if they are crucial to the overall understanding of the subject of your process essay. So, try to find the golden cut and figure out the most suitable amount of steps.
• What sources will you use for the task? It goes without saying that you can only use reliable sources to support your argument in a process essay. These sources should be all mentioned in the end of your essay. And remember about proper in-text citation styles. Read the materials carefully and take only the information that will add value to your essay and helps make it shine.

How to write a process essay outline

Finally, let’s look into the process essay structure. Needless to say that you must start with something that will grab readers’ attention, or in other words, “a hook.”

It is true for any essay, and process essay writing is not an exception.

The structure of your essay regardless of the process essay topics should consist of:

• A powerful introduction.
• Main body paragraphs.
• An interesting conclusion.

Related Post: Essay outline | Research Paper outline

Sounds simple, yet there are several things you should not forget about process essay writing.

How to write an introduction to a process essay

Once you compose a hook, mention why you believe that readers should use your approach to solve a problem even though there are dozens of other ones. We know two effective ways to achieve this in your process essay:

• Show how much time this task will take . People don’t have all the time in the world to tackle just this one task. So, you’ll really help them by stating how much time completing something using your approach will take and underline that with your approach described in a process essay it will take less time than if they opt for a different one. “Writing can be tough, especially if you always felt that it is not exactly your suit. However, Michael D. Pollock, a credible expert in this area, has recently presented 10 effective tips that will help you learn writing fast and make you able to craft a 1000-word article in 30 minutes. So, keep reading to find out how you can write this fast too.”
• Introduce your audience to the historical background of the approach (if any) you’re using in a process essay. Let them see the roots of your solution. Here is what a good introduction of a process essay should look like: “Giving a speech with lots of eyes concentrated on you is not an easy task. No wonder so many students dread this task. However, speech can be a powerful tool, and we can teach you how to give them right. Steve Jobs is known as one of the best public speakers of our time. People were sitting on the edge of their seats when he spoke. And we’ll teach you how to grab attention like he did using just five simple tricks he applied.”

At last, compose an engaging thesis of a process essay. Many students consider it a scary part. But it all goes down to this.

Your thesis statement should reason why your way is the best and why readers looking for answers should search no more and give your solution a chance.

It’s easier than you think. Here is a good thesis statement example:

“With more than 580 million tons of household waste produced all over the world, Every tiny effort you make to become eco-friendly counts. And if you don’t want to spend extra money on sustainable products but want to save the environment, use our guide on ten simple eco-friendly steps you can do daily without even noticing it!”

This is what a thesis statement for a process essay on how to be eco-friendly would look like. Yours can be different, but you get the idea!

How to plan main body paragraphs

• Dedicate one body paragraph to one point you want to bring to light.
• Provide enough details on each step including the ultimate goal of this step and reasons why this method was chosen for its achievement.
• Keep it short and to the point.

How to write a conclusion

Now is that time you reminded the readers about the purpose of a process essay, reasons why you chose this particular approach, and briefly mentioned steps needed to accomplish the task.

Besides, you can call your audience to action but only in case you are writing an essay that shows how to do something. Otherwise, it will be inapplicable.

Finally, help them set their expectations right: what results can they count on in the end? How long will it take them to achieve those results after reading your process essay and applying its tips?

How to use transition words in a process essay

Transition words can help you create a seamless reading experience. You can take readers smoothly from one step to another. And what is more you can help them immerse into the process!

Therefore, begin each new paragraph with a transition word, add one in between examples you provide, and summarize your instructions with them, too.

Think of transition words as of bridges that connect paragraphs and sentences. They make smooth communication between the two possible. And with them in your process essay, no reader feels irritated or frustrated with your writing style, as they have to stumble upon every other sentence in your piece.

Good process essay topics

It is not enough to just know the theory to create a good process essay. One should also come up with a topic that will be both interesting and useful to his readers. Here’s a list of our suggestions on process essay ideas:

• How to choose a perfect future career.
• How to survive college and stay sane.
• How to eat healthy on campus.
• How to balance your social and academic life.
• How to pay out a student loan while still at college.
• How to improve your public speaking skills.
• How to see the world with only $100 in your pocket.
• How to learn a foreign language.
• How to renovate your apartment and not go bankrupt.
• How to start your own business.
• How to prepare for your first interview.
• How to get volunteers to help you clean the neighborhood.
• How to write a life list.
• How to set boundaries in the relationship.
• How to study overseas for free.

Related Posts: Argumentative essay topics | Compare&Contrast essay topics

Process essay writing tips

Wrapping up, we would like to introduce you to a couple of vital recommendations on process essay writing:

• Your process essay subject cannot be too broad or too narrow. Look out for the golden cut!
• Introduce your readers to possible complications of the process. After all, forewarned is forearmed.
• Create a short vocabulary your audience can use in case they are not familiar with the terminology essential to the general understanding of the process essay in question.
• Develop a list of resources your readers will need as they deal with certain tasks. This way you will have them prepared to put your recommendations to action right away.
• Always write a process essay using Active Voice!

Need help with your process essay writing? Handmadewriting is here for you to help. Drop us a line to get our professional essay writers to develop an excellent piece for you!

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3.4: Process Essay

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The Purpose of the Process Essay

The purpose of a process essay is to explain how to do something (directional) or how something works (informative). In either case, the formula for a process essay remains the same. The process is articulated into clear, definitive steps.

Almost everything we do involves following a step-by-step process. From learning to ride a bike as a child to starting a new job as an adult, we initially needed instructions to effectively execute the task. Likewise, we have likely had to instruct others, so we know how important good directions are—and how frustrating it is when they are poorly put together.

Exercise 10

On a separate sheet of paper, make a bulleted list of all the steps that you feel are required to clearly illustrate three of the following four processes (note that the first three are directional and the fourth is informative).

• Tying a shoelace
• Parallel parking
• Planning a successful first date
• How a historical event occurred (pick one you know well!)

The Structure of a Process Essay

The process essay opens with a discussion of the process and a thesis statement that states the goal of the process. The organization of a process essay typically follows chronological order. The steps of the process are conveyed in the order in which they usually occur, and so your body paragraphs will be constructed based on these steps. If a particular step is complicated and needs a lot of explaining, then it will likely take up a paragraph on its own. But if a series of simple steps is easy to understand, then the steps can be grouped into a single paragraph.

The time transition phrases covered in the Narration section are also helpful for organizing process analysis essays (see Table of Transition Words and Phrases for Expressing Time). Words such as first, second, third, next, and finally are cues to orient readers and organize the content of the essay.

Finally, it’s a good idea to always have someone else read your process analysis to make sure it makes sense. Once we get too close to a subject, it is difficult to determine how clearly an idea is coming across. Having a peer read over your analysis will serve as a good way to troubleshoot any confusing spots.

Exercise 11

Choose two of the lists you created in Exercise 10 and start writing out the processes in paragraph form. Try to construct paragraphs based on the complexity of each step. For complicated steps, dedicate an entire paragraph. If less complicated steps fall in succession, group them into a single paragraph.

Writing a Process Essay

Choose a topic that is interesting, is relatively complex, and can be explained in a series of steps. As with other rhetorical writing modes, it is best to choose a process that you know well so that you can more easily describe the finer details about each step in the process. Your thesis statement should come at the end of your introduction, and it should state the final outcome of the process you are describing.

Body paragraphs are composed of the steps in the process. Each step should be expressed using strong details and clear examples. If you are writing a directional essay, you should provide every detail necessary for your reader to complete the process. If you are writing an instructional essay, your body paragraphs should explain the process and how it works, although you should not expect your reader to be actually performing the process. Use time transition phrases to help organize steps in the process and to orient readers. The conclusion should thoroughly describe the result of the process described in the body paragraphs. See the student paper below, “Keep Them in Stitches,” or one of the sample professional essays to read an example of a process analysis essay.

Exercise 12

Choose one of the expanded lists from Exercise 11. Construct a full process essay from the work you have already done. That means adding an engaging introduction, a clear thesis, time transition phrases, body paragraphs, and a solid conclusion.

Sample Process Essay

“Keep Them in Stitches,” by Jacob Gallman-Dreiling, describes the process of finding the perfect yarn for a knitting project. As you read, pay attention to the words and phrases the author uses to help orient the reader, as well as the strong details that bring the subject to life.

Jacob Gallman-Dreiling

English 1101

24 February 2013

Thesis statement: Choosing the perfect yarn for a knitting project relies on the preferences of the person for whom the project is being made, the availability of the yarn, and the type of yarn called for by the pattern.

• Wool yarn will aggravate allergies to lanolin.
• Acrylic yearns can be scratchy or leave splinters.
• Warmer items should be made with animal fibers.
• Lighter items should be made with cotton.
• Wool yarn should be hand washed with cold water.
• Cotton and acrylic yarns are machine washable.
• Solid colors are great for sweaters and accessories like professional iPad cases.
• Variegated yarn makes for show-stopping pieces and can help maintain the knitter’s interest through the end of the project.
• An advantage to shopping in person is the ability to touch the yarn.
• An advantage to shopping at the local yarn store is the knowledgeable staff, many of whom have been knitting for years.
• An advantage to shopping at the yarn store is that the staff can provide ready assistance and often have first-hand knowledge of the yarn the knitter intends to use.
• Online retailers typically have greater stock availability.
• Online retailers also provide tutorial videos.
• Fingering, sport, and DK weight yarns are good for smaller projects like socks or baby clothes.
• Worsted, bulky, and super bulky are great for sweaters, scarves, blankets, and washcloths.
• Some people prefer sweaters with a small gauge.
• Some people prefer socks with a large gauge

Keep Them in Stitches

The popularity of knitting is cyclical, rising and falling according to the prevailing opinion of women’s places in society. Though internationally a unisex hobby, knitting is pervasively thought of as a woman’s hobby in the United States. Knitting is currently enjoying a boost in popularity as traditionally minded women pick up the craft while women who enjoy subverting traditional gender roles have also picked up the needles to reclaim “the lost domestic arts” and give traditionally feminine crafts the proper respect. American men are also picking up the needles in greater numbers, with men’s knitting guilds and retreats nationwide. This rise in popularity has made the receiving of hand-knit items special, and many people enjoy receiving these long-lasting, painstakingly crafted items. For any knitters, the perfect gift starts by choosing the perfect yarn. Choosing the perfect yarn for a knitting project relies on the preferences of the person for whom the project is being made, the availability of the yarn, and the type of yarn recommended by the pattern.

In order to select the right yarn for a knitting project, the knitter must take into account the preferences of the recipient of the knitted item. The most basic choice is the composition of the yarn to be used. Natural fibers are luxurious and tend to age better. Nevertheless, the knitter must determine if the recipient has any allergies or sensitivities. Wool yarn, for example, will aggravate allergies in those sensitive to lanolin, but mohair, alpaca, cotton, or angora will not cause discomfort. Acrylic is a synthetic yarn, but it can be scratchy or leave splinters. A second consideration is the type of project the knitter plans to complete: each project requires a specific type of yarn. For warmer items such as sweaters, blankets, or mittens, animal fibers are best. Socks, warmer-weather items, and household accessories are best served using cotton. One must also give thought to the care of the finished project. Items made from wool yarn survive best when hand washed in cold water whereas cotton and acrylic items are machine washable.

Once the type of yarn has been chosen, the knitter should consider what color yarn the recipient prefers. A solid color garment looks more professional and functions as a base piece in a wardrobe or interior design. Sweaters, iPad and tablet cases, as well as belts are well-suited to solid colors. Pieces made with variegated colors, in which the yarn has either multiple colors or shades of the same basic color, make for show pieces and accessories. Socks, gloves, scarves, and cowls are great projects for variegated yarn. Variegated yarn colors tend to keep the knitter’s interest, but multicolored yarn can be difficult to use when working on larger projects which require multiple skeins of yarn. Due to the way yarn is dyed, the color at the end of one skein may not match the color at the beginning of the next skein.

The next step in determining the right yarn for a project is availability, particularly where to purchase the yarn. Some people prefer to shop at a local store for yarn because it offers many advantages. Shopping in person allows the knitter to feel the yarn he or she intends to purchase. This can help sway the knitter’s opinion in regards to yarn choice. The staff at a local shop is often knowledgeable; many of them have been knitting for years, and they are usually ready to offer assistance with projects or yarn selection. If a knitter does not live near a yarn store, there are many online retailers who can fulfill their orders. Online retailers typically have a larger selection of yarns and patterns available for download. Since they cannot give personal assistance, many compensate for this deficiency by providing free tutorial videos.

Finally, choosing the right yarn for a project relies on the type of yarn called for in the knitting pattern. Patterns are highly adaptable. Most things in a pattern can be substituted: yarn type, yarn weight, color, and number of stitches can all be substituted to fit the knitter’s desire, but the pattern will provide a good place to start. The yarn weight, which determines the gauge of the project, is one of the most basic substitutions. Fingering or lace weight, sport, and DK weight are lighter weight yarns typically good for smaller projects like socks or baby clothes. Those types of yarn tend to be knit on smaller needles and produce a smaller stitch. Worsted, bulky, and super-bulky yarns are chunkier, knit on larger needles, and provide beautiful, large stitches. They are well suited for sweaters, scarves, blankets, and washcloths. The preferences of the recipient must also be taken into account. Some people prefer sweaters with a small stitch, while others prefer thick, warm socks to wear around the house.

The right yarn for a knitting project is one that meets the preferences of the recipient of the project, is readily available, and matches the needs of the pattern. After the project is completed and given to the intended recipient, both the knitter and receiver can bask in the adulation the finished garment brings. These hand-knit items can be passed down for several generations, truly becoming a gift that keeps on giving.

Online Process Essay Alternatives:

Stanley Fish, an American literary theorist, public intellectual, and professor of humanities and law, tells us why “Getting Coffee Is Hard to Do.”

How to Write a Great Process Essay

Otherwise Known as a How-To Essay

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

How-to essays , also known as process essays, are much like recipes: They provide instruction for carrying out a procedure or task. You can write a how-to essay about any procedure that you find interesting as long as your topic fits the teacher's assignment.

Start by Brainstorming

The first step in writing your how-to essay is brainstorming. Here are tips to help you:

• Draw a line down the middle of a sheet of paper to make two columns. Label one column "materials" and the other column "steps."
• Write down every item and every step you can think of that will be needed to carry out your task. Don't worry about trying to keep things in order yet. Just empty your head.
• Number your steps on your brainstorming page. Just jot a number beside each item/step. You may need to erase and scribble a few times to get the order right. It's not a neat process.

Create an Outline

First, determine the format required for your essay; ask your teacher if you are unsure. Your essay could contain a numbered list (like the one in the previous section), or it could be written as a standard narrative essay. If you are instructed to write a step-by-step without using numbers, your essay should contain all the elements of any other essay assignment, including an:

• Introductory paragraph : the section that identifies the  topic , arouses interest, and prepares the audience or readers for the development of the thesis
• Body : the part of an essay that develops the main idea
• Conclusion : the sentences  or paragraphs that bring the essay to a logical end

Regardless of the essay format—whether your teacher allows for numbered paragraphs or sections or simply wants you to craft a narrative report—your outline should center on these three areas.

Creating the Essay

Your introduction will explain why your topic is important or relevant. For example, your paper about "How to Wash a Dog" would explain that dog hygiene is important for your pet's good health.

• Your first body paragraph should contain a list of necessary materials. For example: "The equipment you will need depends somewhat on the size of your dog. At the very minimum, you will need dog shampoo, a large towel, and a container large enough to hold your dog. And, of course, you will need a dog."
• The next paragraphs should contain instructions for following steps in your process, as enumerated in your outline.
• Your summary, or conclusion, explains how your task or process should turn out if it is done correctly. It may also be appropriate to restate the importance of your topic.

Topics to Write About

You may believe that you are not expert enough to write a process essay. This is not so. There are many processes that you go through every day that you can write about, including:

• How to make a perfect paper airplane
• How to dye your hair
• How to wear makeup
• How to survive a weekend with your family
• How to play basketball
• How to play (a popular video game)

The goal in this type of assignment is to show that you can write a well-organized essay and clearly explain to the reader how to do what you are instructing.

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10.5 Process Analysis

Learning objectives.

• Determine the purpose and structure of the process analysis essay.
• Understand how to write a process analysis essay.

The Purpose of Process Analysis in Writing

The purpose of a process analysis essay is to explain how to do something or how something works. In either case, the formula for a process analysis essay remains the same. The process is articulated into clear, definitive steps.

Almost everything we do involves following a step-by-step process. From riding a bike as children to learning various jobs as adults, we initially needed instructions to effectively execute the task. Likewise, we have likely had to instruct others, so we know how important good directions are—and how frustrating it is when they are poorly put together.

Writing at Work

The next time you have to explain a process to someone at work, be mindful of how clearly you articulate each step. Strong communication skills are critical for workplace satisfaction and advancement. Effective process analysis plays a critical role in developing that skill set.

On a separate sheet of paper, make a bulleted list of all the steps that you feel would be required to clearly illustrate three of the following four processes:

• Tying a shoelace
• Parallel parking
• Planning a successful first date
• Being an effective communicator

The Structure of a Process Analysis Essay

The process analysis essay opens with a discussion of the process and a thesis statement that states the goal of the process.

The organization of a process analysis essay typically follows chronological order. The steps of the process are conveyed in the order in which they usually occur. Body paragraphs will be constructed based on these steps. If a particular step is complicated and needs a lot of explaining, then it will likely take up a paragraph on its own. But if a series of simple steps is easier to understand, then the steps can be grouped into a single paragraph.

The time transition phrases covered in the Narration and Illustration sections are also helpful in organizing process analysis essays (see Table 10.1 “Transition Words and Phrases for Expressing Time” and Table 10.2 “Phrases of Illustration” ). Words such as first , second , third , next , and finally are helpful cues to orient reader and organize the content of essay.

Always have someone else read your process analysis to make sure it makes sense. Once we get too close to a subject, it is difficult to determine how clearly an idea is coming across. Having a friend or coworker read it over will serve as a good way to troubleshoot any confusing spots.

Choose two of the lists you created in Note 10.52 “Exercise 1” and start writing out the processes in paragraph form. Try to construct paragraphs based on the complexity of each step. For complicated steps, dedicate an entire paragraph. If less complicated steps fall in succession, group them into a single paragraph.

Writing a Process Analysis Essay

Choose a topic that is interesting, is relatively complex, and can be explained in a series of steps. As with other rhetorical writing modes, choose a process that you know well so that you can more easily describe the finer details about each step in the process. Your thesis statement should come at the end of your introduction, and it should state the final outcome of the process you are describing.

Body paragraphs are composed of the steps in the process. Each step should be expressed using strong details and clear examples. Use time transition phrases to help organize steps in the process and to orient readers. The conclusion should thoroughly describe the result of the process described in the body paragraphs. See Chapter 15 “Readings: Examples of Essays” to read an example of a process analysis essay.

Choose one of the expanded lists from Note 10.54 “Exercise 2” . Construct a full process analysis essay from the work you have already done. That means adding an engaging introduction, a clear thesis, time transition phrases, body paragraphs, and a solid conclusion.

Key Takeaways

• A process analysis essay explains how to do something, how something works, or both.
• The process analysis essay opens with a discussion of the process and a thesis statement that states the outcome of the process.
• The organization of a process analysis essay typically follows a chronological sequence.
• Time transition phrases are particularly helpful in process analysis essays to organize steps and orient reader.

Writing for Success Copyright © 2015 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Process Analysis: How to Write a Process Analysis Essay

Writing a process analysis essay sounds like a problematic task to do, but in reality, it’s just another writing assignment. In this article, our college essay writing service will explain how to write a process analysis essay, list some process analysis essay topics and give you useful writing tips and examples. But first things first — let’s start with a process analysis definition.

What Is a Process Analysis Essay

Before jumping to the How To section, let’s answer the question of what is process analysis. Process analysis is an essay which explains how something is done, how something occurs, or how something works. In this type of essay, the writer is required to present the steps of the process in sequential order, from first to last. All concepts or terms that might appear uncommon are defined.

For Example: When writing a process analysis essay about becoming a better person, you count and describe some actions — from small to bigger ones — like lifting peoples’ self esteem around you when you were young, to becoming a motivational speaker when you’re older.

Sometimes, your professor will assign you a process analysis topic. And sometimes, you will have to pick a topic by yourself.

You should also read the article on discursive essay format . It will help expand your understanding in writing any type of paper.

Stuck on the Steps of Process Analysis?

Journey through your essay with ease. Our expert guides are ready to help you analyze every step of the way!

Process Analysis Essay Structure

Process essays may be divided into two categories: informative and directive. A directive process analysis gives instructions on how to accomplish a certain goal (for example, how to prepare the best waffles). An informational process analysis essay describes a topic to the reader (for example, how an aircraft engine functions). A process essay may be written in three easy steps:

• Split the task

The workflow should be broken down into simple, well-defined phases that generally maintain a temporal sequence and have a clear objective. You can better arrange the document with a process paper outline.

• Make smooth transitions

A process analysis essay remains more engaging when you use transitional terms—the audience benefits from phrases like - therefore, subsequently, afterward, etc.

• Study the essay thoroughly

Inspect any potential gaps, such as missing ingredients from a recipe, by going through the process essay point by point.

Process Analysis Essay Examples

Referring to an example can save you time. Our free samples can provide insight into what a process analysis essay should look like.

How to Pick a Process Analysis Essay Topic

Imagine you need to describe something in steps: what would they be? Don’t rush with making a final decision and try to rationalize your choice by following our recommendations:

• Pick a topic you have a good understanding of.
• Choose a theme that will involve the readers.
• Focus your topic on a specific thing.
• Make sure you can explain your topic without pictures. Focus on words.
• Ensure that the topic is helpful and has practical worth.
• Your topic must be relevant. If you decided to write about using a pager, we suggest you rethink your idea.

It’s okay if you don’t have a lot of process analysis essay topics in mind; just focus on the writing process and pick one of the ones we’ve prepared for you below.

Check out our ARTICLE TO FIND MORE ESSAY TOPIC IDEAS

Writing a Process Analysis Essay Step-By-Step

Process analysis essay structure is as follows:

Let's overview that structure in more details:

• The introductory part should explain the actual process and why it’s relevant or necessary. Avoid any unnecessary information such as the background, history or origin. If for instance, a recipe needs tomato sauce, the reader should be informed so. In other words, go directly to the issue and provide only the necessary information.
• The next paragraph should present a list of all the equipment, tools or resources necessary for the particular process. For instance, if some ingredients cannot be found in the locality, explain where you can find it, or them. Potential risks or side effects that are likely to occur in the process should be stated so that the reader remains informed. Furthermore, it is essential to inform the reader about what might go wrong and what can be done to avoid potential mistakes.
• Then, outline the process in sequential order. If the process requires some steps to be undertaken at particular stages, these should be stated and explained clearly, at relevant points in the sequence. The writer should be very keen to avoid confusion. For processes that appear complicated, the steps should be subdivided accordingly. Additionally, the writer needs to vary their use of transitional words such as “after”, “then”, “next” to make sure the essay does not become repetitive.
• The final part should present a general review of the whole process so the writer can reinforce the main points succinctly, without details.

You can also read the essay example from our essay writer . If you still need help, contact us and we will do everything in the best way.

Process Analysis Essay Outline

The structure for this type of analysis essay outline is as follows:

Introduction:

• Introduce your topic and briefly outline what the process will achieve.
• Demonstrate where this process is relevant or when it is useful.
• It’s a good idea to offer a real-world example of the outcome of the procedure.
• The processes should be presented in paragraphs.
• Perform each step in its section.
• Appropriate transitions should be employed for each step.
• Be descriptive in your presentation.

Conclusion:

• In your conclusion, summarize the procedure. You don’t have to repeat all the individual steps, but you need to reinforce the main points and milestones.
• Describe the expected result.

Writing Tips

• Appropriate Use of Language and Vocabulary Making good use of vocabulary and technical terms can often make or break an assignment. This impacts the degree of depth and clarity the reader can get out of it. Thus, if your audience is meant to be doing the procedures while reading, the steps should be simple and to the point.
• Give the Reader a Sense of Direction When including comments in your essay that are tailored to give a sense of direction, like “once that’s done” or “wait until”, it’s best to do so where relevant. Try to avoid over-complicating the steps, while keeping everything clear and concise.
• Use Chronological Progression For example, if it’s a cooking recipe, it should always include the steps in sequential order, while also indicating how much of each ingredient to add. Additional information like cooking techniques can be added at the end—to be as detailed as necessary.

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Posted: 06 June, 2017

Process Essay: How-To, Structure, Examples, Topics

Process essays aren't as common as other essay types at university, but they are still assigned. If you've been assigned to write one, this guide will have everything you need to get started.

Table Of Contents

What is Process Essay?

Process essay structure, how to write process essay, process essay topics, process essay examples.

A process essay can be one of two things. It can be an essay that explains how to do something, or it can be an essay that explains how something works. It'll be more common if you study a subject that follows linear protocols, such as the sciences.

The essay structure for a process essay is one of the simplest ones around. The goal of the essay is to explain the process itself, so you'll break it down into different steps. Your essay should look like this:

• Introduction: Introduce the process you're going to explain, and talk about why it's important to the reader.
• Main body: Each section in this part will take on a different topic, or step in the process. Remember to include all the steps that are needed.
• Conclusion: You'll wrap up your explanation, but won't include anything new at this stage.

To write your essay, here's every step you'll need to take.

• First, research the process you're going to be explaining. Make sure you have all the information to hand. These kinds of essays aren't as reliant on evidence, but you still will need some to prove your points.
• Now, you'll need to write your outline. Use the structure above for guidance. This outline will ensure that you miss nothing out of your explanation.
• Once you have your outline, sit down to write. The outline will give you the guidance you need, making the writing process easier. Remember to leave lots of time to write my essay for me request, or you could rush it and make mistakes.
• Finally, proofread and edit your essay. This will ensure that no mistakes were made and that it's ready to hand in.

The topics you could be given in this genre of essay writing can vary wildly. You could be asked to write about how to draw a cow, or set up an email account. Whatever topic you're given, you'll be expected to write a full and thorough account of how to undertake that activity. Remember, you need to write so someone else could follow your steps and get the right result.

If you want some practice at writing your own process essays, here are some example topics:

• How to train your dog to sit.
• How to send a text message.
• How to start a small business online.
• How to change the oil in your car.

If you don't know how to do any of these things, you'll need to research first. Make sure you don't miss out any important steps!

Now you know how to write the perfect process essay. Use this guide when you next need to get one written.

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A process essay is a type of expository writing that explains a series of steps or procedures to achieve a particular outcome or complete a task. It provides detailed, step-by-step guidelines for the reader to follow.

If you want to understand how to write a “how to” essay, the best solution is to turn for help to the professional academic essay writers with a rich writing experience. Review this article, which contains everything a student should know before writing your process essay. 

What Is a Process Essay: Definition

Before learning how to write a process paper of A level, it is critical to define the term. A process essay refers to the type of academic writing which contains a detailed description of the particular process in the shape of the step-by-step guide. This form of essay is popular in business & technical writing. Some of the best examples of process essays include:

• Instruction/owner’s manual;
• User’s guide;
• “How to…” articles;
• Security instructions;
• Recommendations.

Students should test the process themselves before writing an instruction or manual. It would be the best answer to the question “ what is a process essay ?”

Process Essay Outline: Structuring Your Paper

There is not much to say about the process essay outline because structure repeats steps required to complete a certain procedure. Having an outline is helpful in any situation associated with academic writing. Put down every stage in chronological order. Once the student has an outline, they may later add some details depending on the process development to come up with the whole body. Maybe you will ask " How to structure an essay of this type?" The structure of a process outline is common:

• Introduction paragraph (mention the process to discuss).
• Body paragraphs (list the stage and provide details).
• Conclusion (specify what the expected outcome should be + share some success indicators).

The length of a “how to” essay depends on whether the chosen procedure is time-consuming or not. Do not pick something extra fast not to have a few-sentence essay in the end.

Process Essay Introduction

Let’s talk a little about the process essay introduction. It does not matter whether an essay is describing the way to get chocolate out of milk and coconuts, explaining some procedure of vaccination, or interpreting steps required to write a book. It is important to identify the target audience from the start! If it is an average user, avoid difficult terms. In case you write to satisfy the curiosity of advanced users, do not mind including various professional terms to prove your competence in the chosen field. Do not worry about structure. The best thing about this type of academic assignment is that step-by-step process itself provides a student with correct structure. Still, experts recommend having an outline. Would you like to know good ways to start an essay of this type? Start an opening paragraph by determining an analyzed procedure and share personal ideas on why this specific process is interesting & important to observe. Formulate a process essay thesis. It is not necessary to cover history or background of some discussed procedure.

Process Essay Body Paragraph

Do not include any details that do not relate to the process itself. If some required tools & equipment are rare, tell readers some ways to get these resources. Write down warnings about possible safety hazards to prevent readers from falling into trap/injuring. Describing steps alone might be dull. To enrich your writing, add some common mistakes to avoid. And provide helpful tips to make this process simpler & quicker. Main body of a process essay is usually written in chronological order. Add every step in chronological order with the help of clear words. If there are similar steps or those that can be performed at different stages, mention it to acknowledge the reader. To prevent confusing situations/failures, experts recommend subdividing the steps of especially long processes (example: Step 1A, 1B, etc.) Professional hint from essay order experts!

“A good process essay always uses the second person – “you.” It sounds more personal, and readers trust its writer. Be ready to apply a plenty of transitional words & phrases! They make this procedure description logical and clear to every reader. Try to insert different transitions to prevent text from being repetitive. During the process of writing an instruction or manual, do steps described in text to check whether everything works the way it should before offering the same actions to your target audience.” Professor Pryce, academic counselor and online writing tutors at StudyCrumb

Writing Process Essay Conclusion

Let’s see how to end writing a how-to essay. By the end of an instruction, reader/user must be able to repeat provided actions to activate the process or solve some problem alone. If readers cannot do that, it means that writer failed giving clear, correct instructions. How to start a conclusion in an essay ? Do it with some short review of an entire process from A to Z. It will help readers recall what they were doing, how long, and what expected results should be. While body paragraphs provide detailed interpretation of each stage, a conclusion must contain a single short sentence summarizing every step of a process. It should look like an opening sentence of this article.  

How to Write a Process Essay: 10 Simple Steps

Process essay writing is not a difficult task. Even though a process essay is easy to write, it is crucial to know the essential steps of writing. Knowing all nuts and bolts will help you write an article quickly and correctly. Below you will find 10 basic steps you should know to write an outstanding process essay. Step 1:  Think of some topic you want to write about. What interests you most? What will be useful for your readers? Consider all these questions and create the best topic. Browse our process essay topics we prepared for our users.  Step 2:  Start your research. Look for some sources that have relevant information. Collect all important data. Step 3:  Read sources you collected carefully and analyze information. Make notes when reading and have quick access to needed information. Step 4:  Create an outline for your paper. Plan your future paragraphs beforehand. Step 5:  Collect all parts of your guide together and think what you may add to the main body. Write body paragraphs. Step 6:  It is not a good idea to compose your introduction at the beginning. Start writing your introduction paragraph only after you have main part. Step 7:  Don’t forget about a strong hook for your paper. It should be concise, informative, and grab attention of your reader. Step 8:  Finally, summarize all points you mentioned in your text and create your conclusion. Highlight the result again. Show readers what they will get after they follow all steps mentioned in your essay. Step 9:  After all these steps are done, create a catchy and informative title. It should not only display what your essay is about but also grab your reader's attention and make them want to read your guide. Step 10: Proofread your process essay and edit mistakes. Read your text again, check for typos and grammar mistakes. Make sure it is readable and understandable. Following these steps will help you create a truly brilliant process essay that you will get an A+ for. Buy essays papers to enjoy even higher odds to succeed with your submission.

Helpful Tips on How to Write a Process Paper

While writing this type of academic essay, recall these professional tips & tricks and earn A+!

• Say what you are doing to describe an action. It would be paper’s topic, precise, clear, and educating. Narrow down your topic if it sounds broad. Example: Instead of calling some instruction “How to Install Windows” make it “How to Install Windows 10 on the most recent Asus models (name them).”
• Get ready with outline of an essay , which is structure of your essay.
• Name requirements like resources, equipment, instruments, stuff, skills, and knowledge person will need to complete their process. If more than one person is required, mention it.
• Identify technical & professional terms in text. In case manual explains a procedure based on special, technical knowledge/skills, such as carpentry, it is better to include some definitions of some specific terms readers might not know. If your teacher allows, enrich your essay with images, signs, graphs, and tables to explain some word.
• Each good instruction should contain warnings/cautions. List all possible threats & security hazards. Along with some obstacles readers may face in the process. Use an active voice in this part.
• Finish manual/instruction with an explanation of what person should be ready to obtain once the procedure is over (stress the importance of experiment). It is important to list success factors. Example: “Cooked dumplings should not look tenderized/taste raw.”
• Add images & more techniques so readers follow instructions simpler. For instance, “peach color” may be perceived as various textures by various individuals.”

Interesting Process Essay Examples

Of course, we won’t leave you without a real example of a process essay. Only reading this article may not be enough. Before you start your writing, it is better to look at how other students organized similar works. Here is one of professional how-to essay examples shared by college students.

If you want a similar essay customized to your needs, just say " write my essays " and StudyCrumb will provide tailored assistance. Our writers prepare such orders daily and know how to make your process essay beautiful. 

How to Write a Perfect Process Essay: Final Thoughts

As you see, writing a professional essay is not as difficult as you might think. This type of essay does not require some special writing skills or use of high academic language . So following our simple tips we provided in our article will help you create an excellent essay that will guide readers through some steps easily.

Get in touch with our essay writing service and have your assignment done with great quality in mind.  

Frequently Asked Questions about Process Essay

1. what are good transition words for process essay.

The most appropriate process essay transition words are ones that help readers distinguish different stages of a guide described in your essay. To define stages of your paper try using following transition words:

• After that,
• Eventually,
• Afterwards,

2. How to write a thesis of a process essay?

Thesis statement for process essay should be clear, concise, and informative. In your thesis you should briefly inform a reader of result they will get after reading your guide and following all steps. Mention benefits readers will gain.

3. What is a process essay outline example?

Process essay outline example may look as follows:

• Prepare list of ingredients
• Prepare an oven
• Prepare chocolate chips or dried fruit
• Mix ingredients together
• Bake muffins
• Cool muffins
• Serve muffins.

4. What are final steps after finishing writing process essay?

After you finished writing your process essay, you still should edit and proofread your text:

• Read your text and correct mistakes and typos.
• Delete unnecessary words and sentences.
• Check your instructions again and make sure it is easy to read and understand.
• Give your paper to your friend and ask them to read it. After that ask if they fully understood all instructions. If not, make corrections.

Daniel Howard is an Essay Writing guru. He helps students create essays that will strike a chord with the readers.

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How to Write the Perfect Process Analysis Essay (With a Sample Essay)

A process analysis essay is a kind of expository essay that explains the process or actions someone needs to take to complete a task. You can think of it like a recipe, stating all of the necessary ingredients and steps, allowing the reader to follow along in logical order.

A process analysis essay can be written about a wide scope of topics, from highly technical processes to cleaning and organizing your closet. Writing a process analysis essay forces you to slow down and consider every tool and step involved in completing a task, and then explain what's needed in logical order for your reader to do the same.

Format of a process analysis essay

For this type of essay assignment, you will not be following the traditional five-paragraph essay outline. There is still an introduction and body to your essay, but your conclusion is more like the "analysis" part and the essay will end when you've completed explaining the steps involved in a process. Below, we'll break down exactly what should be included in each of these parts. Also keep in mind that you can still create an outline before beginning writing your process analysis essay, although it might look more like a list of bullet points rather than a traditional five-paragraph essay outline.

Introduction

The introduction to your process analysis essay will include information about the process you are analyzing and why it is important. This will likely be the shortest part of your essay. If there is a unique history to the process you'll be analyzing, the introduction is where you might mention that. You basically want to use this paragraph as a brief introduction to your reader of 1) what process you'll be analyzing and 2) how or why that process might be useful information to know.

The body of your process analysis essay will mention any prerequisites, materials, or instruments needed to complete the process. It should also mention any risks or warnings involved that are relevant to the process. It's important to include everything that the reader will need to complete the process, and even extra tools that might help the process go smoother but are not necessary. For example, in the sample process analysis essay provided below on how to make apple butter, I included a spoon to stir the butter as part of the list of tools that will be needed. Additionally, I mentioned that a food processor will make the apple butter cook better and have a more butter-like consistency, but it's not necessary to have as a tool to cook apple butter.

Following these sections, you'll write the actual process in sequential order required to complete the task. Make sure you include transitional words within and between paragraphs, as these are required to show the sequence of the process in logical order. Your analysis will likely be across several paragraphs, so make sure each paragraph describes a separate part of the process to avoid confusion for your reader.

Sample process analysis essay

To show you how a process analysis essay might look, we've provided a sample essay that includes the separate sections discussed above. Notice that the introduction paragraph is short, providing basic information about the process that will be discussed, while the remaining paragraphs are longer and more detailed.

Sample essay

Apple butter is similar to apple sauce but is different in that it is highly concentrated and used more often as a butter-like topping on bread or crackers. It's cooked long and slow, allowing the sugar in the apples to caramelize and turn it a deep brown color.

To make apple butter, you will need a slow cooker, food processor, cutting board, peeling knife, large spoon, apples, sugar, and spices for the desired flavoring (usually cinnamon and nutmeg). You might also want to use an apple slicer, which cuts down on the preparation time. Note that when you begin cooking your apple butter, the more minced the peeled apples are, the smoother the final product will be. If you want your apple butter to have a true butter-like consistency, mince the apples well in the food processor before cooking.

Now, let's look at the process of cooking apple butter. To begin, prepare a large, clean space for cutting and processing the apples. Five to six cups of fresh apples will likely only result in a few cups (at most) of apple butter, so depending on how much butter you want to make, you could be peeling and preparing apples for several hours. Each apple will need to be sliced, peeled, and minced in a food processor for maximum butter-like consistency.

Next, add the minced apples to a slow cooker and place the slow cooker on "high". You will notice that the top of the mixture is watery, once the larger pieces settle. Add sugar and spices until you reach the taste you want for the apple butter. Keep in mind that apples vary in sweetness, depending on what type of apple you are using, and sugar can be added slowly throughout the cooking process. Be careful not to add too much sugar at first, as the butter will get sweeter as the apples cook down. In fact, you might even choose to not at sugar at all at this stage of the cooking process, especially if you want a final product that is not too sweet. The spices can also be added as the apple butter cooks or not at all (if that's your preference). Be sure to stir every 10-15 minutes during the first hour as the apple butter is cooking on high and let it cook uncovered.

After one hour of cooking on high, turn the slow cooker to low and cover it. Depending on the type of apple you have used, it should cook for 8-10 hours, until there is no water left at the top and around the sides of the slow cooker. During this slow cooking time, stir occasionally (once per hour should be fine). This is also when the apple butter makes your kitchen smell amazing!

Finally, when the apple butter has reached the consistency and taste you want, remove it from the slow cooker. If you choose to can the apple butter, you can do that immediately or keep the apple butter in the refrigerator until you are able to can it.

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How to Write a Process Analysis Essay: Examples & Outline

Process analysis is an explanation of how something works or happens. Want to know more? Read the following article prepared by our custom writing specialists and learn about:

• process analysis and its types
• a process analysis outline tips
• free examples and other tips that might be helpful for your college assignment

So, let’s start digging deeper into this topic!

• ♻ Process Analysis Definition
• ✏️ Process Analysis Types

☑️ How to Write a Process Analysis Essay

• 📑 Examples & Bonus Tips

♻️ What Is Process Analysis?

A process analysis describes and explains the succession of actions, points out a specific result, and provides a detailed plan.

To be more precise, process analysis is targeted at explaining:

• how things work;
• how to do or make something;
• how something operates or happens.

So, if you want to know how an aircraft flies or how to start a business, you need to deal with process analyses that detail these procedures. You might be asking yourself: Are these two processes similar to each other? In fact, they are different. Moreover, there exist other types of processes. That’s why we have united some basic types into categories for your convenience.

Let’s get into the details.

• Processes that are either related to people or performed by them, such as relationships, psychological aspects, or some manuals. These include descriptions of how to overcome depression, work in a team, or change the oil in your car.
• Processes that take place within a society. For example, it can be a description of the electoral process or how the judicial system works.
• Processes that occur in nature. It may be an explanation of cell division, the process of season change, or the life cycle of an organism. Process analysis plays a crucial role in scientific research. It helps to describe complex mechanisms and procedures, leading to advancements in science.
• Processes that are performed by machines. It can be an explanation of how a car engine works or how a helicopter flies.
• documenting knowledge;
• analyzing some separate actions;
• finding problematic issues;
• identifying the options for further improvements.

As you can see, some of these processes just need to be described , while others should be explained . There is a considerable difference between a description and an analysis. If you want to find it out, read the following part of this article.

✏️ Two Types of Process Analysis

As you already know, a process can be either described or explained. Following this, the two types of process analysis are:

• Directive process analysis: a description of a process.
• Informational process analysis: an explanation of how something works.

The primary difference concerns the purpose of these analyses. Now, let’s go into details.

Directive Process Analysis: Examples & Definition

Directive process analysis (also called prescriptive) answers the question of how to do or make something . In other words, it serves as an outline of specific steps a person should take to achieve the desired result. For example, it may be a description of how to plan a party or write a particular essay type (like this article.)

This type of process analysis is used in tutorials, manuals, or policy guides. In most cases, technicians and decision-makers utilize it.

Informational Process Analysis Essay: Examples & Definition

In contrast, an informational process analysis (also called explanatory or descriptive) demonstrates how something works or is done . To be more precise, it presents information about the way some things or phenomena function. For example, it can describe how a disease affects our bodies.

A descriptive analysis consists of two parts:

• data gathering;
• identifying casual relationships.

This combination helps find out the essence of the process.

An informational process analysis may be found in essays, magazine or newspaper articles, or videos. Mostly, students, researchers, or just curious people are interested in this type.

We have talked about the process analysis definition and types. Now, it’s time to find out about a process analysis essay and how to write it correctly. In this section, you will find lots of interesting and helpful information on how to write each part of the essay, some tips on topics selection, and examples.

Process Analysis Essay Outline

Let’s start with the essay structure. Keep in mind that a process analysis should be written in chronological order. If you want your readers to understand the presented process clearly, divide it into stages and then into steps. It will make your essay more coherent.

A process paper outline consists of 4 parts. Here they are:

Process Analysis Essay Topics: How to Choose

Choosing a topic may seem confusing. You have many things you want to talk about, and you simply can’t decide. Sounds familiar? Don’t worry; these tips will help determine what process analysis essay topic to choose.

To select a topic, you need to:

• Analyze your interests and hobbies;
• Choose a process related to your interests;
• Look for something you are familiar with and don’t need any further research;

To sum it up, write about something you like and know about.

How to Start a Process Analysis Essay

You’ve chosen the topic but don’t know how to start writing about it? Don’t worry; we’ve collected the most effective strategies to help you create an excellent introduction.

It’s worth mentioning that your introductory part depends on the type of your process analysis. If it’s a directive essay, you need to explain the process to your readers. If it’s an informational essay, you describe the process.

STEP #1: Start with a definition . It’s necessary to mention the purpose and importance of your paper. The audience should have a meaningful reason for reading your essay.

Writing a perfect essay is easier than you think (directive.)

Stress is one of the reasons for health problems (informational.)

STEP #2: Add some background information . Expand on the details and define the process.  

Baking requires particular skills and time. However, if you do everything correctly, you will get an excellent cake (directive.)

Constant stress exposure leads to the development of various health disorders, resulting in complex treatment (informational).

STEP #3: End your introduction with a thesis statement . Present the steps or stages of the process in one sentence.

To write a perfect essay, one needs to search for information from different sources, analyze the gathered data, and organize the ideas into a coherent text (directive.)

Chronic stress leads to the rise of blood pressure, the release of histamine, and a change of insulin level (informational.)

Just follow these steps to make sure you included all the necessary aspects in your introduction.

Process Analysis Thesis Examples and Tips

A thesis statement is a roadmap of your essay. That’s why it’s important to make it an effective one. Here’s what to keep in mind when writing a powerful thesis.

• Its content. It should contain all the essential information on your topic. A thesis is like a presentation of your paper in one sentence. That’s why you need to be clear and concise. Each of the aspects mentioned in a thesis should be expanded in a body paragraph.

Baking a pie is a simple process as all you need to do is to mix all the products, prepare the filling, and bake the combined ingredients in the oven.

When you see such a thesis, you understand that the paper will be about baking a pie rather than changing a tire.

• The number of parts. In fact, a process analysis thesis consists of two parts: the main point and the organizational format. The first element focuses on the purpose of the thesis. It’s worth mentioning that the content of the second part depends on the type of your process analysis essay.
• Its place in the text. Your thesis should be situated at the end of your introduction. To be more precise, it’s the last sentence of this part. In such a way, our audience will get a hint about the content of the following body paragraphs.

Feel free to check out the additional tips below. They will make your thesis perfect.

• Make it an affirmative sentence . Don’t write your thesis in the form of a question. This statement should be the answer to the question of the audience.
• Try to make it emphatic . Don’t start your thesis with trite phrases such as   “this essay will explain,” “I will inform you about,” or “I will describe.”
• Add more aspects if necessary.  For example, the thesis may state the inefficiency or unfairness of the process in question.

Process Analysis: Paragraphs for the Main Body

Similar to a thesis statement, the content and structure of the main body depend on your essay type. We have prepared several useful strategies for both types.

Informational Process Analysis: Body Paragraphs

Directive process analysis: body paragraphs, transition words for process essay & examples.

Each process has a beginning, a middle part, and an ending. To present a process analysis, divide it into meaningful parts and organize them properly. The readers should always have a clear understanding of a succession of actions.

That’s why you need to use transitional words. They can help the readers follow the text. We have prepared a list of transition words with some examples. Check it out below.

Process Essay Conclusion Writing Strategies

Finally, we get to the concluding part and how it should be arranged. Here are some helpful strategies for you to write an effective conclusion.

• Briefly summarize all the information you mentioned in your body paragraphs.
• Don’t introduce any new details. This part intends to conclude the essay.
• Paraphrase your thesis statement.
• Relate your conclusion with the introduction. There should be a logical ending for your essay. Sum up the information presented in all the parts of your paper.

To conclude, stress produces a negative effect on health. That’s why you should do something to reduce its impact. Include meditation and yoga in your daily routine. Don’t forget to have enough sleep. If you follow all these recommendations, your mental and physical health will improve very soon.

📑 Process Paragraphs Examples & Bonus Tips

We have already composed the process analysis essay. Now you know what to include and what to pay attention to while writing such a type of essay. However, we would like to share a list of some additional tips with you. They will help you to look at your paper from different angles and make it perfect.

Bonus tips:

• Consider the tone of your writing. Try to sound as professional as possible.
• Don’t forget about the formal style. Avoid writing in 1 st person. Instead, use the 2nd person in directive and the 3rd person in informational process analyses:
• You can interrupt the chronology of your process description. Sometimes, it’s essential to specify the terms or concepts, show how the preceding and following steps are connected, or clarify why it’s necessary to do some steps simultaneously.
• Give your readers a specific reason to care about your essay. Before writing your thesis statement, ask yourself: Why do people need to know about this process? The thesis should reflect the answer to this question.

Finally, we would like to present you with a process analysis essay example. Pay attention to the contents of each essay part:

Below, you can find even more process analysis essay samples. Make sure to check them out to get some inspiration for your paper.

• A Medical Committee’s Group Process Analysis
• How to Groom Your Pet Dog: Process Analysis
• Agency Supervisory Process Analysis
• Passing a Test: Process Analysis

Process Analysis Essay Topics

• Analysis of engineering process.  
• Steps to successful aging.  
• Analysis of quality improvement process. 
• The process of data analysis . 
• How to lose weight .  
• Process of selecting a suitable theory or model in health intervention. 
• The important steps of images processing. 
• Strategic planning process analysis: stakeholders and initial agreement guidelines. 
• How to write: process analysis. 
• Steps for maintaining your mental health during pandemic.  
• Process for financial accounting cycle .
• Steps for creating a realistic buyer persona.
• How to make a final decision .
• Stages of problem-solving strategy . 
• The risk management in healthcare : process analysis. 
• How to organize a group: stages.
• Describe the contingency planning process. 
• Steps to planning a career.  
• Enhancing wireless network performance: process analysis. 
• How to cope with grief: five stages theory .  
• Process for conflict resolving .  
• How to analyze a primary source.  
• Communication problems at workplace: stages analysis.  
• How to conduct sociological research . 
• Process of prenatal development : main stages. 
• Stages of developing a new product . 
• Clear steps to conducting community-based research . 
• Making a dental public health policy : process analysis. 
• Conducting a utility test : process analysis. 
• The key steps to facilitate parent participation process.  
• The implementation plan for treating patients with cancer. 
• Discuss the steps of buying a product . 
• Describe the process of business development .  
• Analyze the brewery process . 
• Cognitive development of children: process analysis. 
• Describe the stages of different types of interviews . 
• Analyze the process of employees’ talents development. 
• How to buy a used motorcycle . 
• Steps to making ethical decision.  
• Analyze the ways of managing s diverse international team.  
• Process analysis for proper teeth cleaning.  
• Describe the steps of project management .  
• Four stages of business development .  
• How to cope with distress in nursing.  
• External auditing process analysis. 
• Analyze the stages of Alzheimer’s disease.  

We hope you find our article useful and apply these strategies to your process analysis essay. We wish you success with all your future assignments.

Further reading:

• Case Study Analysis: Examples + How-to Guide & Writing Tips
• How to Write a Visual Analysis Essay: Examples & Template
• How to Write a Film Analysis Essay: Examples, Outline, & Tips
• How to Write a Literary Analysis Essay Step by Step

🔍 References

• Process Analysis: The University of Toledo
• Business Process Analysis: UNICE
• Process Analysis: University of Minnesota Twin Cities
• Informative Process Analysis: Saint Leo University
• How to Write a Thesis for Process Analysis Essay: Seattle PI
• Informative Process Analysis: Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
• Introductions and Conclusions: University of Toronto
• Process Description: How to Write about a Sequence of Events: Seton Hill University
• Essay Introductions: University of Maryland
• Essay Structure: Harvard University
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Want to know how to write a reflection paper for college or school? To do that, you need to connect your personal experiences with theoretical knowledge. Usually, students are asked to reflect on a documentary, a text, or their experience. Sometimes one needs to write a paper about a lesson...

A character analysis is an examination of the personalities and actions of protagonists and antagonists that make up a story. It discusses their role in the story, evaluates their traits, and looks at their conflicts and experiences. You might need to write this assignment in school or college. Like any...

Any critique is nothing more than critical analysis, and the word “analysis” does not have a negative meaning. Critical writing relies on objective evaluations of or a response to an author’s creation. As such, they can be either positive or negative, as the work deserves. To write a critique, you...

If you are assigned to write a rhetorical analysis essay, you have one significant advantage. You can choose a text from an almost infinite number of resources. The most important thing is that you analyze the statement addressed to an audience. The task of a rhetorical analysis essay is to...

Any literary analysis is a challenging task since literature includes many elements that can be interpreted differently. However, a stylistic analysis of all the figurative language the poets use may seem even harder. You may never realize what the author actually meant and how to comment on it! While analyzing...

As a student, you may be asked to write a book review. Unlike an argumentative essay, a book review is an opportunity to convey the central theme of a story while offering a new perspective on the author’s ideas. Knowing how to create a well-organized and coherent review, however, is...

The difference between an argumentative and persuasive essay isn’t always clear. If you’re struggling with either style for your next assignment, don’t worry. The following will clarify everything you need to know so you can write with confidence. First, we define the primary objectives of argumentative vs. persuasive writing. We...

You don’t need to be a nerd to understand the general idea behind cause and effect essays. Let’s see! If you skip a meal, you get hungry. And if you write an essay about it, your goal is achieved! However, following multiple rules of academic writing can be a tough...

An argumentative essay is a genre of academic writing that investigates different sides of a particular issue. Its central purpose is to inform the readers rather than expressively persuade them. Thus, it is crucial to differentiate between argumentative and persuasive essays. While composing an argumentative essay, the students have to...

It’s not a secret that the reader notices an essay title first. No catchy hook or colorful examples attract more attention from a quick glance. Composing a creative title for your essay is essential if you strive to succeed, as it: Thus, how you name your paper is of the...

The conclusion is the last paragraph in your paper that draws the ideas and reasoning together. However, its purpose does not end there. A definite essay conclusion accomplishes several goals: Therefore, a conclusion usually consists of: Our experts prepared this guide, where you will find great tips on how to...

A five-paragraph essay is one of the most common academic assignments a student may face. It has a well-defined structure: an introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Writing an introduction can be the most challenging part of the entire piece. It aims to introduce the main ideas and present...

Your Best College Essay

Maybe you love to write, or maybe you don’t. Either way, there’s a chance that the thought of writing your college essay is making you sweat. No need for nerves! We’re here to give you the important details on how to make the process as anxiety-free as possible.

What's the College Essay?

When we say “The College Essay” (capitalization for emphasis – say it out loud with the capitals and you’ll know what we mean) we’re talking about the 550-650 word essay required by most colleges and universities. Prompts for this essay can be found on the college’s website, the Common Application, or the Coalition Application. We’re not talking about the many smaller supplemental essays you might need to write in order to apply to college. Not all institutions require the essay, but most colleges and universities that are at least semi-selective do.

How do I get started?

Look for the prompts on whatever application you’re using to apply to schools (almost all of the time – with a few notable exceptions – this is the Common Application). If one of them calls out to you, awesome! You can jump right in and start to brainstorm. If none of them are giving you the right vibes, don’t worry. They’re so broad that almost anything you write can fit into one of the prompts after you’re done. Working backwards like this is totally fine and can be really useful!

What if I have writer's block?

You aren’t alone. Staring at a blank Google Doc and thinking about how this is the one chance to tell an admissions officer your story can make you freeze. Thinking about some of these questions might help you find the right topic:

• What is something about you that people have pointed out as distinctive?
• If you had to pick three words to describe yourself, what would they be? What are things you’ve done that demonstrate these qualities?
• What’s something about you that has changed over your years in high school? How or why did it change?
• What’s something you like most about yourself?
• What’s something you love so much that you lose track of the rest of the world while you do it?

If you’re still stuck on a topic, ask your family members, friends, or other trusted adults: what’s something they always think about when they think about you? What’s something they think you should be proud of? They might help you find something about yourself that you wouldn’t have surfaced on your own.  

How do I grab my reader's attention?

It’s no secret that admissions officers are reading dozens – and sometimes hundreds – of essays every day. That can feel like a lot of pressure to stand out. But if you try to write the most unique essay in the world, it might end up seeming forced if it’s not genuinely you. So, what’s there to do? Our advice: start your essay with a story. Tell the reader about something you’ve done, complete with sensory details, and maybe even dialogue. Then, in the second paragraph, back up and tell us why this story is important and what it tells them about you and the theme of the essay.

THE WORD LIMIT IS SO LIMITING. HOW DO I TELL A COLLEGE MY WHOLE LIFE STORY IN 650 WORDS?

Don’t! Don’t try to tell an admissions officer about everything you’ve loved and done since you were a child. Instead, pick one or two things about yourself that you’re hoping to get across and stick to those. They’ll see the rest on the activities section of your application.

I'M STUCK ON THE CONCLUSION. HELP?

If you can’t think of another way to end the essay, talk about how the qualities you’ve discussed in your essays have prepared you for college. Try to wrap up with a sentence that refers back to the story you told in your first paragraph, if you took that route.

SHOULD I PROOFREAD MY ESSAY?

YES, proofread the essay, and have a trusted adult proofread it as well. Know that any suggestions they give you are coming from a good place, but make sure they aren’t writing your essay for you or putting it into their own voice. Admissions officers want to hear the voice of you, the applicant. Before you submit your essay anywhere, our number one advice is to read it out loud to yourself. When you read out loud you’ll catch small errors you may not have noticed before, and hear sentences that aren’t quite right.

ANY OTHER ADVICE?

Be yourself. If you’re not a naturally serious person, don’t force formality. If you’re the comedian in your friend group, go ahead and be funny. But ultimately, write as your authentic (and grammatically correct) self and trust the process.

And remember, thousands of other students your age are faced with this same essay writing task, right now. You can do it!

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Giuliani Is Formally Notified of His Indictment in Arizona Election Case

After trying to reach him for weeks, officials served him the notice as he left his 80th birthday party. He is expected to appear in court on Tuesday.

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By Anna Betts

Rudolph W. Giuliani was served with a notice of his indictment in the Arizona election interference case on Friday night, becoming the last of the 18 defendants to receive the notice after nearly a month of unsuccessful attempts by the authorities.

The indictment against Mr. Giuliani, Donald J. Trump’s former personal lawyer, and others includes conspiracy, fraud and forgery charges related to their attempts to change the results of the 2020 election in the state in favor of Mr. Trump, according to prosecutors. Among the other defendants are Mark Meadows, the former White House chief of staff, along with all of the fake electors who acted on Mr. Trump’s behalf to keep him in power despite his defeat there.

Richie Taylor, a spokesman for Kris Mayes, Arizona’s attorney general who brought the indictment, said that Mr. Giuliani was served on Friday night at around 11 p.m. in Palm Beach County, Fla., as he left his 80th birthday party. “The agents by no means disrupted his event. They waited to serve him outside as he left,” Mr. Taylor said.

Mr. Giuliani’s spokesman, Ted Goodman, confirmed in a statement on Saturday that Mr. Giuliani was served “after the party, after guests had left and as he was walking to the car.”

“He was unfazed and enjoyed an incredible evening with hundreds of people, from all walks of life, who love and respect him for his contributions to society,” Mr. Goodman said. “We look forward to full vindication soon.”

Mr. Giuliani is expected to appear in court on Tuesday unless the court grants a delay, Mr. Taylor said. A trial in the Arizona election interference case has been tentatively set to start in mid-October .

Over the past several weeks, Mr. Taylor said that authorities had tried multiple times to serve Mr. Giuliani in New York City, as well as through a phone call and certified mail.

Mr. Taylor said that agents with Ms. Mayes’s office traveled to Florida on Friday, knowing that Mr. Giuliani was there because of livestreams from his residence there.

“We would have preferred to serve him three weeks ago when everyone else was served,” he said, adding that Mr. Giuliani had avoided the attempts and had been taunting the office online.

The party was organized by Caroline Wren, a Republican consultant. Several hours before it began, Mr. Giuliani posted on X a now-deleted photo of himself with a group of people, captioned: “If Arizona authorities can’t find me by tomorrow morning: 1. They must dismiss the indictment; 2. They must concede they can’t count votes.”

Mr. Taylor said that though the initial scheduled court appearance was approaching, there was no deadline to serve the notice.

The defendants are accused by prosecutors of putting pressure on “officials responsible for certifying election results to encourage them to change the election results,” among them the governor, members of the State Legislature and the board of supervisors in Maricopa, the state’s most populous county.

On Friday morning, John Eastman, another lawyer who advised Mr. Trump’s 2020 election campaign, became the first of the defendants to be arraigned in the Arizona case. He pleaded not guilty.

Several other prominent defendants in the case are also scheduled to be arraigned next week , including Mr. Meadows and Boris Epshteyn, who remains one of Mr. Trump’s top legal advisers.

Mr. Giuliani and other former Trump allies also face similar charges in Georgia. Prosecutors in Michigan and Nevada have also brought criminal charges related to the Trump campaign’s efforts to reverse the results of the 2020 election, but those cases have focused solely on the fake electors the campaign deployed.

Last year, a jury ordered Mr. Giuliani to pay $148 million to two former Georgia election workers who said he had destroyed their reputations with lies that they tried to steal the 2020 election from Mr. Trump.

Several days later, a federal judge ordered Mr. Giuliani to immediately pay the sum he owes , citing concerns that he might “conceal his assets” if he were given more time. The next day, he filed for bankruptcy .

Danny Hakim contributed reporting.

Anna Betts reports on national events, including politics, education, and natural or man-made disasters, among other things. More about Anna Betts

What is ChatGPT? Here's everything you need to know about ChatGPT, the chatbot everyone's still talking about

• ChatGPT is getting a futuristic human update. 
• ChatGPT has drawn users at a feverish pace and spurred Big Tech to release other AI chatbots.
• Here's how ChatGPT works — and what's coming next.

OpenAI's blockbuster chatbot ChatGPT is getting a new update. 

On Monday, OpenAI unveiled GPT-4o for ChatGPT, a new version of the bot that can hold conversations with users in a very human tone. The new version of the chatbot will also have vision abilities.

The futuristic reveal quickly prompted jokes about parallels to the movie "Her," with some calling the chatbot's new voice " cringe ."

The move is a big step for the future of AI-powered virtual assistants, which tech companies have been racing to develop.

Since its release in 2022, hundreds of millions of people have experimented with the tool, which is already changing how the internet looks and feels to users.

Users have flocked to ChatGPT to improve their personal lives and boost productivity . Some workers have used the AI chatbot to develop code , write real estate listings , and create lesson plans, while others have made teaching the best ways to use ChatGPT a career all to itself.

ChatGPT offers dozens of plug-ins to those who subscribe to ChatGPT Plus subscription. An Expedia one can help you book a trip, while an OpenTable one will get nab you a dinner reservation. And last month, OpenAI launched Code Interpreter, a version of ChatGPT that can code and analyze data .

While the personal tone of conversations with an AI bot like ChatGPT can evoke the experience of chatting with a human, the technology, which runs on " large language model tools, " doesn't speak with sentience and doesn't "think" the way people do. 

That means that even though ChatGPT can explain quantum physics or write a poem on command, a full AI takeover isn't exactly imminent , according to experts.

"There's a saying that an infinite number of monkeys will eventually give you Shakespeare," said Matthew Sag, a law professor at Emory University who studies copyright implications for training and using large language models like ChatGPT.

"There's a large number of monkeys here, giving you things that are impressive — but there is intrinsically a difference between the way that humans produce language, and the way that large language models do it," he said. 

Chatbots like ChatGPT are powered by large amounts of data and computing techniques to make predictions to string words together in a meaningful way. They not only tap into a vast amount of vocabulary and information, but also understand words in context. This helps them mimic speech patterns while dispatching an encyclopedic knowledge. 

Other tech companies like Google and Meta have developed their own large language model tools, which use programs that take in human prompts and devise sophisticated responses.

Despite the AI's impressive capabilities, some have called out OpenAI's chatbot for spewing misinformation , stealing personal data for training purposes , and even encouraging students to cheat and plagiarize on their assignments. 

Some recent efforts to use chatbots for real-world services have proved troubling. In 2023, the mental health company Koko came under fire after its founder wrote about how the company used GPT-3 in an experiment to reply to users. 

Koko cofounder Rob Morris hastened to clarify on Twitter that users weren't speaking directly to a chatbot, but that AI was used to "help craft" responses. 

Read Insider's coverage on ChatGPT and some of the strange new ways that both people and companies are using chat bots: 

The tech world's reception to ChatGPT:

Microsoft is chill with employees using ChatGPT — just don't share 'sensitive data' with it.

Microsoft's investment into ChatGPT's creator may be the smartest $1 billion ever spent

ChatGPT and generative AI look like tech's next boom. They could be the next bubble.

The ChatGPT and generative-AI 'gold rush' has founders flocking to San Francisco's 'Cerebral Valley'

Insider's experiments: 

I asked ChatGPT to do my work and write an Insider article for me. It quickly generated an alarmingly convincing article filled with misinformation.

I asked ChatGPT and a human matchmaker to redo my Hinge and Bumble profiles. They helped show me what works.

I asked ChatGPT to reply to my Hinge matches. No one responded.

I used ChatGPT to write a resignation letter. A lawyer said it made one crucial error that could have invalidated the whole thing .

Read ChatGPT's 'insulting' and 'garbage' 'Succession' finale script

An Iowa school district asked ChatGPT if a list of books contains sex scenes, and banned them if it said yes. We put the system to the test and found a bunch of problems.

Developments in detecting ChatGPT: 

Teachers rejoice! ChatGPT creators have released a tool to help detect AI-generated writing

A Princeton student built an app which can detect if ChatGPT wrote an essay to combat AI-based plagiarism

Professors want to 'ChatGPT-proof' assignments, and are returning to paper exams and requesting editing history to curb AI cheating

ChatGPT in society: 

BuzzFeed writers react with a mix of disappointment and excitement at news that AI-generated content is coming to the website

ChatGPT is testing a paid version — here's what that means for free users

A top UK private school is changing its approach to homework amid the rise of ChatGPT, as educators around the world adapt to AI

Princeton computer science professor says don't panic over 'bullshit generator' ChatGPT

DoNotPay's CEO says threat of 'jail for 6 months' means plan to debut AI 'robot lawyer' in courtroom is on ice

It might be possible to fight a traffic ticket with an AI 'robot lawyer' secretly feeding you lines to your AirPods, but it could go off the rails

Online mental health company uses ChatGPT to help respond to users in experiment — raising ethical concerns around healthcare and AI technology

What public figures think about ChatGPT and other AI tools:

What Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and 12 other business leaders think about AI tools like ChatGPT

Elon Musk was reportedly 'furious' at ChatGPT's popularity after he left the company behind it, OpenAI, years ago

CEO of ChatGPT maker responds to schools' plagiarism concerns: 'We adapted to calculators and changed what we tested in math class'

A theoretical physicist says AI is just a 'glorified tape recorder' and people's fears about it are overblown

'The most stunning demo I've ever seen in my life': ChatGPT impressed Bill Gates

Ashton Kutcher says your company will probably be 'out of business' if you're 'sleeping' on AI

ChatGPT's impact on jobs: 

AI systems like ChatGPT could impact 300 million full-time jobs worldwide, with administrative and legal roles some of the most at risk, Goldman Sachs report says

Jobs are now requiring experience with ChatGPT — and they'll pay as much as $800,000 a year for the skill

Related stories

ChatGPT may be coming for our jobs. Here are the 10 roles that AI is most likely to replace.

AI is going to eliminate way more jobs than anyone realizes

It's not AI that is going to take your job, but someone who knows how to use AI might, economist says

4 careers where workers will have to change jobs by 2030 due to AI and shifts in how we shop, a McKinsey study says

Companies like Amazon, Netflix, and Meta are paying salaries as high as $900,000 to attract generative AI talent

How AI tools like ChatGPT are changing the workforce:

10 ways artificial intelligence is changing the workplace, from writing performance reviews to making the 4-day workweek possible

Managers who use AI will replace managers who don't, says an IBM exec

How ChatGPT is shaping industries: 

ChatGPT is coming for classrooms, hospitals, marketing departments, and everything else as the next great startup boom emerges

Marketing teams are using AI to generate content, boost SEO, and develop branding to help save time and money, study finds

AI is coming for Hollywood. 'It's amazing to see the sophistication of the images,' one of Christopher Nolan's VFX guy says.

AI is going to offer every student a personalized tutor, founder of Khan Academy says

A law firm was fined $5,000 after one of its lawyers used ChatGPT to write a court brief riddled with fake case references

How workers are using ChatGPT to boost productivity:  

CheatGPT: The hidden wave of employees using AI on the sly

I used ChatGPT to talk to my boss for a week and she didn't notice. Here are the other ways I use it daily to get work done.

I'm a high school math and science teacher who uses ChatGPT, and it's made my job much easier

Amazon employees are already using ChatGPT for software coding. They also found the AI chatbot can answer tricky AWS customer questions and write cloud training materials.

How 6 workers are using ChatGPT to make their jobs easier

I'm a freelance editor who's embraced working with AI content. Here's how I do it and what I charge.

How people are using ChatGPT to make money:

How ChatGPT and other AI tools are helping workers make more money

Here are 5 ways ChatGPT helps me make money and complete time-consuming tasks for my business

ChatGPT course instruction is the newest side hustle on the market. Meet the teachers making thousands from the lucrative gig.

People are using ChatGPT and other AI bots to work side hustles and earn thousands of dollars — check out these 8 freelancing gigs

A guy tried using ChatGPT to turn $100 into a business making 'as much money as possible.' Here are the first 4 steps the AI chatbot gave him

We used ChatGPT to build a 7-figure newsletter. Here's how it makes our jobs easier.

I use ChatGPT and it's like having a 24/7 personal assistant for $20 a month. Here are 5 ways it's helping me make more money.

A worker who uses AI for a $670 monthly side hustle says ChatGPT has 'cut her research time in half'

How companies are navigating ChatGPT: 

From Salesforce to Air India, here are the companies that are using ChatGPT

Amazon, Apple, and 12 other major companies that have restricted employees from using ChatGPT

A consultant used ChatGPT to free up time so she could focus on pitching clients. She landed $128,000 worth of new contracts in just 3 months.

Luminary, an AI-generated pop-up restaurant, just opened in Australia. Here's what's on the menu, from bioluminescent calamari to chocolate mousse.

A CEO is spending more than $2,000 a month on ChatGPT Plus accounts for all of his employees, and he says it's saving 'hours' of time

How people are using ChatGPT in their personal lives:

ChatGPT planned a family vacation to Costa Rica. A travel adviser found 3 glaring reasons why AI won't replace experts anytime soon.

A man who hated cardio asked ChatGPT to get him into running. Now, he's hooked — and he's lost 26 pounds.

A computer engineering student is using ChatGPT to overcome learning challenges linked to her dyslexia

How a coder used ChatGPT to find an apartment in Berlin in 2 weeks after struggling for months

Food blogger Nisha Vora tried ChatGPT to create a curry recipe. She says it's clear the instructions lacked a human touch — here's how.

Men are using AI to land more dates with better profiles and personalized messages, study finds

Lawsuits against OpenAI:

OpenAI could face a plagiarism lawsuit from The New York Times as tense negotiations threaten to boil over, report says

This is why comedian Sarah Silverman is suing OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT

2 authors say OpenAI 'ingested' their books to train ChatGPT. Now they're suing, and a 'wave' of similar court cases may follow.

A lawsuit claims OpenAI stole 'massive amounts of personal data,' including medical records and information about children, to train ChatGPT

A radio host is suing OpenAI for defamation, alleging that ChatGPT created a false legal document that accused him of 'defrauding and embezzling funds'

Tips on how to write better ChatGPT prompts:

7 ways to use ChatGPT at work to boost your productivity, make your job easier, and save a ton of time

I'm an AI prompt engineer. Here are 3 ways I use ChatGPT to get the best results.

12 ways to get better at using ChatGPT: Comprehensive prompt guide

Here's 9 ways to turn ChatGPT Plus into your personal data analyst with the new Code Interpreter plug-in

OpenAI's ChatGPT can write impressive code. Here are the prompts you should use for the best results, experts say.

Axel Springer, Business Insider's parent company, has a global deal to allow OpenAI to train its models on its media brands' reporting.

Watch: What is ChatGPT, and should we be afraid of AI chatbots?

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NeurIPS 2024 Datasets and Benchmarks Track

If you'd like to become a reviewer for the track, or recommend someone, please use this form .

The Datasets and Benchmarks track serves as a venue for high-quality publications, talks, and posters on highly valuable machine learning datasets and benchmarks, as well as a forum for discussions on how to improve dataset development. Datasets and benchmarks are crucial for the development of machine learning methods, but also require their own publishing and reviewing guidelines. For instance, datasets can often not be reviewed in a double-blind fashion, and hence full anonymization will not be required. On the other hand, they do require additional specific checks, such as a proper description of how the data was collected, whether they show intrinsic bias, and whether they will remain accessible. The Datasets and Benchmarks track is proud to support the open source movement by encouraging submissions of open-source libraries and tools that enable or accelerate ML research.

The previous editions of the Datasets and Benchmarks track were highly successful; you can view the accepted papers from 2021 , 2002 , and 2023 , and the winners of the best paper awards 2021 , 2022 and 2023

CRITERIA. W e are aiming for an equally stringent review as the main conference, yet better suited to datasets and benchmarks. Submissions to this track will be reviewed according to a set of criteria and best practices specifically designed for datasets and benchmarks , as described below. A key criterion is accessibility: datasets should be available and accessible , i.e. the data can be found and obtained without a personal request to the PI, and any required code should be open source. We encourage the authors to use Croissant format ( https://mlcommons.org/working-groups/data/croissant/ ) to document their datasets in machine readable way.   Next to a scientific paper, authors should also submit supplementary materials such as detail on how the data was collected and organised, what kind of information it contains, how it should be used ethically and responsibly, as well as how it will be made available and maintained.

RELATIONSHIP TO NeurIPS.  Submissions to the track will be part of the main NeurIPS conference , presented alongside the main conference papers. Accepted papers will be officially published in the NeurIPS proceedings .

SUBMISSIONS.  There will be one deadline this year. It is also still possible to submit datasets and benchmarks to the main conference (under the usual review process), but dual submission to both is not allowed (unless you retracted your paper from the main conference). We also cannot transfer papers from the main track to the D&B track. Authors can choose to submit either single-blind or double-blind . If it is possible to properly review the submission double-blind, i.e., reviewers do not need access to non-anonymous repositories to review the work, then authors can also choose to submit the work anonymously. Papers will not be publicly visible during the review process. Only accepted papers will become visible afterward. The reviews themselves are not visible during the review phase but will be published after decisions have been made. The datasets themselves should be accessible to reviewers but can be publicly released at a later date (see below). New authors cannot be added after the abstract deadline and they should have an OpenReview profile by the paper deadline. NeurIPS does not tolerate any collusion whereby authors secretly cooperate with reviewers, ACs or SACs to obtain favourable reviews.

SCOPE. This track welcomes all work on data-centric machine learning research (DMLR) and open-source libraries and tools that enable or accelerate ML research, covering ML datasets and benchmarks as well as algorithms, tools, methods, and analyses for working with ML data. This includes but is not limited to:

• New datasets, or carefully and thoughtfully designed (collections of) datasets based on previously available data.
• Data generators and reinforcement learning environments.
• Data-centric AI methods and tools, e.g. to measure and improve data quality or utility, or studies in data-centric AI that bring important new insight.
• Advanced practices in data collection and curation that are of general interest even if the data itself cannot be shared.
• Frameworks for responsible dataset development, audits of existing datasets, identifying significant problems with existing datasets and their use
• Benchmarks on new or existing datasets, as well as benchmarking tools.
• In-depth analyses of machine learning challenges and competitions (by organisers and/or participants) that yield important new insight.
• Systematic analyses of existing systems on novel datasets yielding important new insight.

Read our original blog post for more about why we started this track.

Important dates

• Abstract submission deadline: May 29, 2024
• Full paper submission and co-author registration deadline: Jun 5, 2024
• Supplementary materials submission deadline: Jun 12, 2024
• Review deadline - Jul 24, 2024
• Release of reviews and start of Author discussions on OpenReview: Aug 07, 2024
• End of author/reviewer discussions on OpenReview: Aug 31, 2024
• Author notification: Sep 26, 2024
• Camera-ready deadline: Oct 30, 2024 AOE

Note: The site will start accepting submissions on April 1 5 , 2024.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q: My work is in scope for this track but possibly also for the main conference. Where should I submit it?

A: This is ultimately your choice. Consider the main contribution of the submission and how it should be reviewed. If the main contribution is a new dataset, benchmark, or other work that falls into the scope of the track (see above), then it is ideally reviewed accordingly. As discussed in our blog post, the reviewing procedures of the main conference are focused on algorithmic advances, analysis, and applications, while the reviewing in this track is equally stringent but designed to properly assess datasets and benchmarks. Other, more practical considerations are that this track allows single-blind reviewing (since anonymization is often impossible for hosted datasets) and intended audience, i.e., make your work more visible for people looking for datasets and benchmarks.

Q: How will paper accepted to this track be cited?

A: Accepted papers will appear as part of the official NeurIPS proceedings.

Q: Do I need to submit an abstract beforehand?

A: Yes, please check the important dates section for more information.

Q: My dataset requires open credentialized access. Can I submit to this track?

A: This will be possible on the condition that a credentialization is necessary for the public good (e.g. because of ethically sensitive medical data), and that an established credentialization procedure is in place that is 1) open to a large section of the public, 2) provides rapid response and access to the data, and 3) is guaranteed to be maintained for many years. A good example here is PhysioNet Credentialing, where users must first understand how to handle data with human subjects, yet is open to anyone who has learned and agrees with the rules. This should be seen as an exceptional measure, and NOT as a way to limit access to data for other reasons (e.g. to shield data behind a Data Transfer Agreement). Misuse would be grounds for desk rejection. During submission, you can indicate that your dataset involves open credentialized access, in which case the necessity, openness, and efficiency of the credentialization process itself will also be checked.

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

A submission consists of:

• Please carefully follow the Latex template for this track when preparing proposals. We follow the NeurIPS format, but with the appropriate headings, and without hiding the names of the authors. Download the template as a bundle here .
• Papers should be submitted via OpenReview
• Reviewing is in principle single-blind, hence the paper should not be anonymized. In cases where the work can be reviewed equally well anonymously, anonymous submission is also allowed.
• During submission, you can add a public link to the dataset or benchmark data. If the dataset can only be released later, you must include instructions for reviewers on how to access the dataset. This can only be done after the first submission by sending an official note to the reviewers in OpenReview. We highly recommend making the dataset publicly available immediately or before the start of the NeurIPS conference. In select cases, requiring solid motivation, the release date can be stretched up to a year after the submission deadline.
• Dataset documentation and intended uses. Recommended documentation frameworks include datasheets for datasets , dataset nutrition labels , data statements for NLP , data cards , and accountability frameworks .
• URL to website/platform where the dataset/benchmark can be viewed and downloaded by the reviewers. 
• URL to Croissant metadata record documenting the dataset/benchmark available for viewing and downloading by the reviewers. You can create your Croissant metadata using e.g. the Python library available here: https://github.com/mlcommons/croissant
• Author statement that they bear all responsibility in case of violation of rights, etc., and confirmation of the data license.
• Hosting, licensing, and maintenance plan. The choice of hosting platform is yours, as long as you ensure access to the data (possibly through a curated interface) and will provide the necessary maintenance.
• Links to access the dataset and its metadata. This can be hidden upon submission if the dataset is not yet publicly available but must be added in the camera-ready version. In select cases, e.g when the data can only be released at a later date, this can be added afterward (up to a year after the submission deadline). Simulation environments should link to open source code repositories
• The dataset itself should ideally use an open and widely used data format. Provide a detailed explanation on how the dataset can be read. For simulation environments, use existing frameworks or explain how they can be used.
• Long-term preservation: It must be clear that the dataset will be available for a long time, either by uploading to a data repository or by explaining how the authors themselves will ensure this
• Explicit license: Authors must choose a license, ideally a CC license for datasets, or an open source license for code (e.g. RL environments). An overview of licenses can be found here: https://paperswithcode.com/datasets/license
• Add structured metadata to a dataset's meta-data page using Web standards (like schema.org and DCAT ): This allows it to be discovered and organized by anyone. A guide can be found here: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/data-types/dataset . If you use an existing data repository, this is often done automatically.
• Highly recommended: a persistent dereferenceable identifier (e.g. a DOI  minted by a data repository or a prefix on identifiers.org ) for datasets, or a code repository (e.g. GitHub, GitLab,...) for code. If this is not possible or useful, please explain why.
• For benchmarks, the supplementary materials must ensure that all results are easily reproducible. Where possible, use a reproducibility framework such as the ML reproducibility checklist , or otherwise guarantee that all results can be easily reproduced, i.e. all necessary datasets, code, and evaluation procedures must be accessible and documented.
• For papers introducing best practices in creating or curating datasets and benchmarks, the above supplementary materials are not required.
• For papers resubmitted after being retracted from another venue: a brief discussion on the main concerns raised by previous reviewers and how you addressed them. You do not need to share the original reviews.
• For the dual submission and archiving, the policy follows the NeurIPS main track paper guideline .

Use of Large Language Models (LLMs): We welcome authors to use any tool that is suitable for preparing high-quality papers and research. However, we ask authors to keep in mind two important criteria. First, we expect papers to fully describe their methodology, and any tool that is important to that methodology, including the use of LLMs, should be described also. For example, authors should mention tools (including LLMs) that were used for data processing or filtering, visualization, facilitating or running experiments, and proving theorems. It may also be advisable to describe the use of LLMs in implementing the method (if this corresponds to an important, original, or non-standard component of the approach). Second, authors are responsible for the entire content of the paper, including all text and figures, so while authors are welcome to use any tool they wish for writing the paper, they must ensure that all text is correct and original.

REVIEWING AND SELECTION PROCESS

Reviewing will be single-blind, although authors can also submit anonymously if the submission allows that. A datasets and benchmarks program committee will be formed, consisting of experts on machine learning, dataset curation, and ethics. We will ensure diversity in the program committee, both in terms of background as well as technical expertise (e.g., data, ML, data ethics, social science expertise). Each paper will be reviewed by the members of the committee. In select cases where ethical concerns are flagged by reviewers, an ethics review may be performed as well.

Papers will not be publicly visible during the review process. Only accepted papers will become visible afterward. The reviews themselves are also not visible during the review phase but will be published after decisions have been made. Authors can choose to keep the datasets themselves hidden until a later release date, as long as reviewers have access.

The factors that will be considered when evaluating papers include:

• Utility and quality of the submission: Impact, originality, novelty, relevance to the NeurIPS community will all be considered. 
• Reproducibility: All submissions should be accompanied by sufficient information to reproduce the results described i.e. all necessary datasets, code, and evaluation procedures must be accessible and documented. We encourage the use of a reproducibility framework such as the ML reproducibility checklist to guarantee that all results can be easily reproduced. Benchmark submissions in particular should take care to ensure sufficient details are provided to ensure reproducibility. If submissions include code, please refer to the NeurIPS code submission guidelines .  
• Was code provided (e.g. in the supplementary material)? If provided, did you look at the code? Did you consider it useful in guiding your review? If not provided, did you wish code had been available?
• Ethics: Any ethical implications of the work should be addressed. Authors should rely on NeurIPS ethics guidelines as guidance for understanding ethical concerns.  
• Completeness of the relevant documentation: Per NeurIPS ethics guidelines , datasets must be accompanied by documentation communicating the details of the dataset as part of their submissions via structured templates (e.g. TODO). Sufficient detail must be provided on how the data was collected and organized, what kind of information it contains,  ethically and responsibly, and how it will be made available and maintained. 
• Licensing and access: Per NeurIPS ethics guidelines , authors should provide licenses for any datasets released. These should consider the intended use and limitations of the dataset, and develop licenses and terms of use to prevent misuse or inappropriate use.  
• Consent and privacy: Per  NeurIPS ethics guidelines , datasets should minimize the exposure of any personally identifiable information, unless informed consent from those individuals is provided to do so. Any paper that chooses to create a dataset with real data of real people should ask for the explicit consent of participants, or explain why they were unable to do so.
• Ethics and responsible use: Any ethical implications of new datasets should be addressed and guidelines for responsible use should be provided where appropriate. Note that, if your submission includes publicly available datasets (e.g. as part of a larger benchmark), you should also check these datasets for ethical issues. You remain responsible for the ethical implications of including existing datasets or other data sources in your work.
• Legal compliance: For datasets, authors should ensure awareness and compliance with regional legal requirements.

ADVISORY COMMITTEE

The following committee will provide advice on the organization of the track over the coming years: Sergio Escalera, Isabelle Guyon, Neil Lawrence, Dina Machuve, Olga Russakovsky, Joaquin Vanschoren, Serena Yeung.

DATASETS AND BENCHMARKS CHAIRS

Lora Aroyo, Google Francesco Locatello, Institute of Science and Technology Austria Lingjuan Lyu, Sony AI

Contact: [email protected]