For the preliminary research plan (Phase I), 1-2 pages of ideas and/or outlines of your forthcoming graduate work is enough.
At Phase II & III you may utilize the following guidelines for the plan:
In total, the plan is approx. 5 pages, and contains the following items, among others:
1. The topic and the question setting(s) of the work (1 page)
– what is the object of my study? what are the central questions/issues there?
– why is this topic interesting and worthwhile?
2. Methodological issues: the philosophical approach of the work (1 page)
– description and characterization of the approach; how I plan to approach my topic
3. The central goals of the work (1 page)
– what I hope to get out of the work; e.g. what sorts of conclusions I am expecting
4. Contents of the work (1 page)
– outlining the concrete whole with the help of the contents list
– an approximation of the number of pages of individual chapters
5. Listing the central sources of the work and validating their choice (1 page)
– what is the literature I am planning to peruse in order to focus and develop my topic and question settings, and to write the final thesis?