A manual for writers of research papers, theses, and dissertations, 7th edition - Kate L. Turabian 2007

For each section, sketch in evidence, acknowledgments, warrants, and summaries
Planning a first draft
Part I. Research and writing: from planning to production

In their relevant sections, sketch out the parts of your argument. Remember that many of those parts will themselves make a point that must be supported by smaller arguments.

EVIDENCE. Most sections consist primarily of evidence supporting reasons. Sketch the evidence after the reason it supports. If you have different kinds of evidence supporting the same reason, group and order them in a way that makes sense to your readers.

EXPLANATIONS OF EVIDENCE. You may have to explain your evidence—where it came from, why it's reliable, exactly how it supports a reason. Usually, these explanations follow the evidence, but you can sketch them before if that seems more logical.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND RESPONSES. Imagine what readers might object to and where, then sketch a response. Responses are typically subarguments with at least a claim and reasons, often including evidence and even another response to an imagined objection to your response.

WARRANTS. If you think you need a warrant to justify the relevance of a reason, develop it before you state the reason. (If you're using a warrant only for emphasis, put it after the reason.) If you think readers will question the truth of the warrant, sketch a mini-argument to support it. If readers might think that your reason or claim isn't a valid instance of the warrant, sketch an argument that it is.

SUMMARIES. If your paper is more than twenty or so pages, you might briefly summarize the progress of your argument at the end of each major section, especially if your report is fact-heavy in dates, names, events, or numbers. One fact after another can blur the line of an argument. What have you established in this section? How does your argument shape up thus far? If in your final draft those summaries seem too obvious, cut them.

Writers in different fields may arrange these elements in slightly different ways, but the elements themselves and their principles of organization are the same in every field and profession. And what is key in every report, regardless of field, is that you must order the parts of your argument not merely to reflect your own thinking, but to help your readers understand it.