A research proposal is a proposal used to convince others that you have a worthwhile research project and the competence and plans to complete it. The research proposal consists of all of the key elements that may be involved in the investigation and include all of the important information so that the readers can evaluate the proposed study. All research proposals must answer the questions of what the writer plans to accomplish, why they want to accomplish it, and how they are going to do it. The research proposal lets others know that their efforts will not be wasted. However, while the research proposal is important in planning and developing research ideas, it is mainly written to focus on the actual proposal writing.

The research proposal shows that you have the needed information to show your readers that you have a valuable research idea and that you know what you are doing. You show that you have the appropriate literature, a firm grasp on the subject, and that your methodology is relevant and sound. To prove the aforementioned points, the research proposal must include extensive literature reviews and must offer convincing support that there is a need for the research study that is being proposed.

The research proposal can be viewed as the introduction to the actual dissertation or research paper. It sets up a framework for you, as the writer, and for readers, to understand the need of the proposal and to later understand how to write a proposal. The research proposal prepares the writer for the writing, researching, and investigating that they must do when they do their dissertation, in the ways of how to write the dissertation and as an outline for the paper. The research proposal needs to be done well so that the reader can trust their work.