Studying an entire culture while immersed within it.
Qualitative research seeks to understanding some aspect of social life, and its methods (usually) generate words, rather than numbers, as data for analysis. These research methods seek to understand the experiences and attitudes of the people being studied. They answer questions about the “what,” “how, “ or “why” of a phenomenon rather than “how many” or “how much,” which are answered by quantitative methods.
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When you write a research paper, many instructors will ask you to find scholarly research articles as a basis for your research. A scholarly research article presents original research and is written and reviewed by experts in a field. A typical scholarly research article has several sections that can include the:
Bibliography or reference list, definitions.
Each part of the research article above has a specific purpose for the reader.
The abstract is a succinct summary of a research article, usually only a paragraph long. The abstract should tell readers whether an article will be useful for their research.
The introduction gives background information on the topic or problems that the research article addresses. The introduction usually includes a problem statement, which describes a specific problem that the researchers are trying to solve. The introduction can also include a literature review, intended to critically evaluate material that has been published on a certain topic or research problem. A literature review is often included as a separate section within a research article.
In the Methods section of a research article, the researchers describe the design of their study and how it was carried out. This may include a description of any instrument used to collect quantitative or qualitative data, the sample or participants, how data was gathered, and any statistical analysis of data.
The Results section of a research article reports the findings of the study, whether they come from quantitative or qualitative measures. In this section the findings are presented to the reader, but it does not include an interpretation of the findings
In the Discussion section, researchers interpret the findings of the study and comment on whether the study answered the problem/s it was attempting to solve. Researchers may also discuss the limitations of the study and suggestions for further research.
The bibliography or references section is a list of all the resources cited within the body of the article.
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Published on September 24, 2022 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on March 27, 2023.
The introduction to a research paper is where you set up your topic and approach for the reader. It has several key goals:
The introduction looks slightly different depending on whether your paper presents the results of original empirical research or constructs an argument by engaging with a variety of sources.
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Step 1: introduce your topic, step 2: describe the background, step 3: establish your research problem, step 4: specify your objective(s), step 5: map out your paper, research paper introduction examples, frequently asked questions about the research paper introduction.
The first job of the introduction is to tell the reader what your topic is and why it’s interesting or important. This is generally accomplished with a strong opening hook.
The hook is a striking opening sentence that clearly conveys the relevance of your topic. Think of an interesting fact or statistic, a strong statement, a question, or a brief anecdote that will get the reader wondering about your topic.
For example, the following could be an effective hook for an argumentative paper about the environmental impact of cattle farming:
A more empirical paper investigating the relationship of Instagram use with body image issues in adolescent girls might use the following hook:
Don’t feel that your hook necessarily has to be deeply impressive or creative. Clarity and relevance are still more important than catchiness. The key thing is to guide the reader into your topic and situate your ideas.
The AI-powered Citation Checker helps you avoid common mistakes such as:
This part of the introduction differs depending on what approach your paper is taking.
In a more argumentative paper, you’ll explore some general background here. In a more empirical paper, this is the place to review previous research and establish how yours fits in.
After you’ve caught your reader’s attention, specify a bit more, providing context and narrowing down your topic.
Provide only the most relevant background information. The introduction isn’t the place to get too in-depth; if more background is essential to your paper, it can appear in the body .
For a paper describing original research, you’ll instead provide an overview of the most relevant research that has already been conducted. This is a sort of miniature literature review —a sketch of the current state of research into your topic, boiled down to a few sentences.
This should be informed by genuine engagement with the literature. Your search can be less extensive than in a full literature review, but a clear sense of the relevant research is crucial to inform your own work.
Begin by establishing the kinds of research that have been done, and end with limitations or gaps in the research that you intend to respond to.
The next step is to clarify how your own research fits in and what problem it addresses.
In an argumentative research paper, you can simply state the problem you intend to discuss, and what is original or important about your argument.
In an empirical research paper, try to lead into the problem on the basis of your discussion of the literature. Think in terms of these questions:
You can make the connection between your problem and the existing research using phrases like the following.
Although has been studied in detail, insufficient attention has been paid to . | You will address a previously overlooked aspect of your topic. |
The implications of study deserve to be explored further. | You will build on something suggested by a previous study, exploring it in greater depth. |
It is generally assumed that . However, this paper suggests that … | You will depart from the consensus on your topic, establishing a new position. |
Now you’ll get into the specifics of what you intend to find out or express in your research paper.
The way you frame your research objectives varies. An argumentative paper presents a thesis statement, while an empirical paper generally poses a research question (sometimes with a hypothesis as to the answer).
The thesis statement expresses the position that the rest of the paper will present evidence and arguments for. It can be presented in one or two sentences, and should state your position clearly and directly, without providing specific arguments for it at this point.
The research question is the question you want to answer in an empirical research paper.
Present your research question clearly and directly, with a minimum of discussion at this point. The rest of the paper will be taken up with discussing and investigating this question; here you just need to express it.
A research question can be framed either directly or indirectly.
If your research involved testing hypotheses , these should be stated along with your research question. They are usually presented in the past tense, since the hypothesis will already have been tested by the time you are writing up your paper.
For example, the following hypothesis might respond to the research question above:
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The final part of the introduction is often dedicated to a brief overview of the rest of the paper.
In a paper structured using the standard scientific “introduction, methods, results, discussion” format, this isn’t always necessary. But if your paper is structured in a less predictable way, it’s important to describe the shape of it for the reader.
If included, the overview should be concise, direct, and written in the present tense.
Full examples of research paper introductions are shown in the tabs below: one for an argumentative paper, the other for an empirical paper.
Are cows responsible for climate change? A recent study (RIVM, 2019) shows that cattle farmers account for two thirds of agricultural nitrogen emissions in the Netherlands. These emissions result from nitrogen in manure, which can degrade into ammonia and enter the atmosphere. The study’s calculations show that agriculture is the main source of nitrogen pollution, accounting for 46% of the country’s total emissions. By comparison, road traffic and households are responsible for 6.1% each, the industrial sector for 1%. While efforts are being made to mitigate these emissions, policymakers are reluctant to reckon with the scale of the problem. The approach presented here is a radical one, but commensurate with the issue. This paper argues that the Dutch government must stimulate and subsidize livestock farmers, especially cattle farmers, to transition to sustainable vegetable farming. It first establishes the inadequacy of current mitigation measures, then discusses the various advantages of the results proposed, and finally addresses potential objections to the plan on economic grounds.
The rise of social media has been accompanied by a sharp increase in the prevalence of body image issues among women and girls. This correlation has received significant academic attention: Various empirical studies have been conducted into Facebook usage among adolescent girls (Tiggermann & Slater, 2013; Meier & Gray, 2014). These studies have consistently found that the visual and interactive aspects of the platform have the greatest influence on body image issues. Despite this, highly visual social media (HVSM) such as Instagram have yet to be robustly researched. This paper sets out to address this research gap. We investigated the effects of daily Instagram use on the prevalence of body image issues among adolescent girls. It was hypothesized that daily Instagram use would be associated with an increase in body image concerns and a decrease in self-esteem ratings.
The introduction of a research paper includes several key elements:
and your problem statement
Don’t feel that you have to write the introduction first. The introduction is often one of the last parts of the research paper you’ll write, along with the conclusion.
This is because it can be easier to introduce your paper once you’ve already written the body ; you may not have the clearest idea of your arguments until you’ve written them, and things can change during the writing process .
The way you present your research problem in your introduction varies depending on the nature of your research paper . A research paper that presents a sustained argument will usually encapsulate this argument in a thesis statement .
A research paper designed to present the results of empirical research tends to present a research question that it seeks to answer. It may also include a hypothesis —a prediction that will be confirmed or disproved by your research.
If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.
Caulfield, J. (2023, March 27). Writing a Research Paper Introduction | Step-by-Step Guide. Scribbr. Retrieved August 16, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/research-paper/research-paper-introduction/
Other students also liked, writing strong research questions | criteria & examples, writing a research paper conclusion | step-by-step guide, research paper format | apa, mla, & chicago templates, what is your plagiarism score.
Structure of typical research article.
The basic structure of a typical research paper includes Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion. Each section addresses a different objective.
A substantial study will sometimes include a literature review section which discusses previous works on the topic. The basic structure is outlined below:
Parts of a research article, example video.
This video shows you the different parts of a real research article. You can click on the video to make it larger.
R esearch articles tend to have 6 or 7 parts, each part is normally labeled.
1. Abstract: This is the first part of the article, normally at the top and set apart from the rest of the article. The abstract describes what the article is about.
2. Introduction: This is the first part of the actual text; it explains why the researchers selected the topic to study and why it is important.
3. Literature Review: In this section, the authors discuss research that is important to their study, this section can be long or short. Sometimes the introduction and literature review sections are combined.
4. Methods/Data Analysis: The methods portion of the article explains how the researchers actually conducted the research. Often it will include information on the participants and data collection methods used. They will also explain how the data was analyzed. This section may also include limitations of the research.
5. Results: This is where the authors tell you what they found.
6. Discussion: Here the authors discuss how their findings (results) tie back into the other research done in the field and why what they found is important. They may also give ideas for further research.
7. References: This section includes all the references to items cited within the body of the article.
This video shows the parts of a research article. You can click on the video to make it larger.
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The point of having specifically defined parts of a research paper is not to make your life as a student harder. In fact, it’s very much the opposite. The different parts of a research paper have been established to provide a structure that can be consistently used to make your research projects easier, as well as helping you follow the proper scientific methodology.
This will help guide your writing process so you can focus on key elements one at a time. It will also provide a valuable outline that you can rely on to effectively structure your assignment. Having a solid structure will make your research paper easier to understand, and it will also prepare you for a possible future as a researcher, since all modern science is created around similar precepts.
Have you been struggling with your academic homework lately, especially where it concerns all the different parts of a research paper? This is actually a very common situation, so we have prepared this article to outline all the key parts of a research paper and explain what you must focus as you go through each one of the various parts of a research paper; read the following sections and you should have a clearer idea of how to tackle your next research paper effectively.
There are eight main parts in a research paper :
If you stick to this structure, your end product will be a concise, well-organized research paper.
Yes, and failing to do so will likely impact your grade very negatively. It’s very important to write your research paper according to the structure given on this article. Follow your research paper outline to avoid a messy structure. Different types of academic papers have very particular structures. For example, the structure required for a literature review is very different to the structure required for a scientific research paper.
If you’re having problems with some parts of a research paper, it will be useful to look at some examples of finished research papers in a similar field of study, so you will have a better idea of the elements you need to include. Read a step-by-step guide for writing a research paper, or take a look at the section towards the end of this article for some research paper examples. Perhaps you’re just lacking inspiration!
Making adequate citations to back up your research is a key consideration in almost every part of a research paper. There are various formatting conventions and referencing styles that should be followed as specified in your assignment. The most common is APA formatting, but you could also be required to use MLA formatting. Your professor or supervisor should tell you which one you need to use.
If you have created your research paper outline, then you’re ready to start writing. Remember, the first copy will be a draft, so don’t leave it until the last minute to begin writing. Check out some tips for overcoming writer’s block if you’re having trouble getting started.
There are 8 parts of a research paper that you should go through in this order:
The very first page in your research paper should be used to identify its title, along with your name, the date of your assignment, and your learning institution. Additional elements may be required according to the specifications of your instructors, so it’s a good idea to check with them to make sure you feature all the required information in the right order. You will usually be provided with a template or checklist of some kind that you can refer to when writing your cover page .
This is the very beginning of your research paper, where you are expected to provide your thesis statement ; this is simply a summary of what you’re setting out to accomplish with your research project, including the problems you’re looking to scrutinize and any solutions or recommendations that you anticipate beforehand.
This part of a research paper is supposed to provide the theoretical framework that you elaborated during your research. You will be expected to present the sources you have studied while preparing for the work ahead, and these sources should be credible from an academic standpoint (including educational books, peer-reviewed journals, and other relevant publications). You must make sure to include the name of the relevant authors you’ve studied and add a properly formatted citation that explicitly points to their works you have analyzed, including the publication year (see the section below on APA style citations ).
Different parts of a research paper have different aims, and here you need to point out the exact methods you have used in the course of your research work. Typical methods can range from direct observation to laboratory experiments, or statistical evaluations. Whatever your chosen methods are, you will need to explicitly point them out in this section.
While all the parts of a research paper are important, this section is probably the most crucial from a practical standpoint. Out of all the parts of a research paper, here you will be expected to analyze the data you have obtained in the course of your research. This is where you get your chance to really shine, by introducing new data that may contribute to building up on the collective understanding of the topics you have researched. At this point, you’re not expected to analyze your data yet (that will be done in the subsequent parts of a research paper), but simply to present it objectively.
From all the parts of a research paper, this is the one where you’re expected to actually analyze the data you have gathered while researching. This analysis should align with your previously stated methodology, and it should both point out any implications suggested by your data that might be relevant to different fields of study, as well as any shortcomings in your approach that would allow you to improve you results if you were to repeat the same type of research.
As you conclude your research paper, you should succinctly reiterate your thesis statement along with your methodology and analyzed data – by drawing all these elements together you will reach the purpose of your research, so all that is left is to point out your conclusions in a clear manner.
The very last section of your research paper is a reference page where you should collect the academic sources along with all the publications you consulted, while fleshing out your research project. You should make sure to list all these references according to the citation format specified by your instructor; there are various formats now in use, such as MLA, Harvard and APA, which although similar rely on different citation styles that must be consistently and carefully observed.
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Research Paper Examples
When you’re still learning about the various parts that make up a research paper, it can be useful to go through some examples of actual research papers from your exact field of study. This is probably the best way to fully grasp what is the purpose of all the different parts.
We can’t provide you universal examples of all the parts of a research paper, since some of these parts can be very different depending on your field of study.
To get a clear sense of what you should cover in each part of your paper, we recommend you to find some successful research papers in a similar field of study. Often, you may be able to refer to studies you have gathered during the initial literature review.
There are also some templates online that may be useful to look at when you’re just getting started, and trying to grasp the exact requirements for each part in your research paper:
When you write a research paper for college, you will have to make sure to add relevant citation to back up your major claims. Only by building up on the work of established authors will you be able to reach valuable conclusions that can be taken seriously on a academic context. This process may seem burdensome at first, but it’s one of the essential parts of a research paper.
The essence of a citation is simply to point out where you learned about the concepts and ideas that make up all the parts of a research paper. This is absolutely essential, both to substantiate your points and to allow other researchers to look into those sources in cause they want to learn more about some aspects of your assignment, or dig deeper into specific parts of a research paper.
There are several citation styles in modern use, and APA citation is probably the most common and widespread; you must follow this convention precisely when adding citations to the relevant part of a research paper. Here is how you should format a citation according to the APA style.
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Nearly all journal articles are divided into the following major sections: abstract, introduction, methods, results, discussion, and references or literature cited. Usually the sections are labeled as such, although often the introduction (and sometimes the abstract) is not labeled. Sometimes alternative section titles are used. The abstract is sometimes called the "summary", the methods are sometimes called "materials and methods", and the discussion is sometimes called "conclusions". Some journals also include the minor sections of "key words" following the abstract, and "acknowledgments" following the discussion. In some journals, the sections may be divided into subsections that are given descriptive titles. However, the general division into the six major sections is nearly universal.
The abstract is a short summary (150-200 words or less) of the important points of the paper. It does not generally include background information. There may be a very brief statement of the rationale for conducting the study. It describes what was done, but without details. It also describes the results in a summarized way that usually includes whether or not the statistical tests were significant. It usually concludes with a brief statement of the importance of the results. Abstracts do not include references. When writing a paper, the abstract is always the last part to be written.
The purpose of the abstract is to allow potential readers of a paper to find out the important points of the paper without having to actually read the paper. It should be a self-contained unit capable of being understood without the benefit of the text of the article . It essentially serves as an "advertisement" for the paper that readers use to determine whether or not they actually want to wade through the entire paper or not. Abstracts are generally freely available in electronic form and are often presented in the results of an electronic search. If searchers do not have electronic access to the journal in which the article is published, the abstract is the only means that they have to decide whether to go through the effort (going to the library to look up the paper journal, requesting a reprint from the author, buying a copy of the article from a service, requesting the article by Interlibrary Loan) of acquiring the article. Therefore it is important that the abstract accurately and succinctly presents the most important information in the article.
The introduction section of a paper provides the background information necessary to understand why the described experiment was conducted. The introduction should describe previous research on the topic that has led to the unanswered questions being addressed by the experiment and should cite important previous papers that form the background for the experiment. The introduction should also state in an organized fashion the goals of the research, i.e. the particular, specific questions that will be tested in the experiments. There should be a one-to-one correspondence between questions raised in the introduction and points discussed in the conclusion section of the paper. In other words, do not raise questions in the introduction unless you are going to have some kind of answer to the question that you intend to discuss at the end of the paper.
You may have been told that every paper must have a hypothesis that can be clearly stated. That is often true, but not always. If your experiment involves a manipulation which tests a specific hypothesis, then you should clearly state that hypothesis. On the other hand, if your experiment was primarily exploratory, descriptive, or measurative, then you probably did not have an a priori hypothesis, so don't pretend that you did and make one up. (See the discussion in the introduction to Experiment 5 for more on this.) If you state a hypothesis in the introduction, it should be a general hypothesis and not a null or alternative hypothesis for a statistical test. If it is necessary to explain how a statistical test will help you evaluate your general hypothesis, explain that in the methods section.
A good introduction should be fairly heavy with citations. This indicates to the reader that the authors are informed about previous work on the topic and are not working in a vacuum. Citations also provide jumping-off points to allow the reader to explore other tangents to the subject that are not directly addressed in the paper. If the paper supports or refutes previous work, readers can look up the citations and make a comparison for themselves.
"Do not get lost in reviewing background information. Remember that the Introduction is meant to introduce the reader to your research, not summarize and evaluate all past literature on the subject (which is the purpose of a review paper). Many of the other studies you may be tempted to discuss in your Introduction are better saved for the Discussion, where they become a powerful tool for comparing and interpreting your results. Include only enough background information to allow your reader to understand why you are asking the questions you are and why your hypotheses are reasonable ones. Often, a brief explanation of the theory involved is sufficient.
Write this section in the past or present tense, never in the future. " (Steingraber et al. 1985)
In other words, the introduction section relates what the topic being investigated is, why it is important, what research (if any) has been done prior that is relevant to what you are trying to do, and in what ways you will be looking into this topic.
An example to think about:
This is an example of a student-derived introduction. Read the paragraph and before you go beyond, think about the paragraph first.
"Hand-washing is one of the most effective and simplest of ways to reduce infection and disease, and thereby causing less death. When examining the effects of soap on hands, it was the work of Sickbert-Bennett and colleagues (2005) that showed that using soap or an alcohol on the hands during hand-washing was a significant effect in removing bacteria from the human hand. Based on the work of this, the team led by Larsen (1991) then showed that the use of computer imaging could be a more effective way to compare the amount of bacteria on a hand."
There are several aspects within this "introduction" that could use improvement. A group of any random 4 of you could easily come up with at 10 different things to reword, revise, expand upon.
In specific, there should be one thing addressed that more than likely you did not catch when you were reading it.
The citations: Not the format, but the logical use of them.
Look again. "...the work of Sickbert-Bennett...(2005)" and then "Based on the work of this, the team led by Larsen (1991)..."
How can someone in 1991 use or base their work on something from 2005?
They cannot. You can spend an entire hour using spellcheck and reading through and through again to find all the little things to "give it more oomph", but at the core, you still must present a clear and concise and logical thought-process.
The function of the methods section is to describe all experimental procedures, including controls. The description should be complete enough to enable someone else to repeat your work. If there is more than one part to the experiment, it is a good idea to describe your methods and present your results in the same order in each section. This may not be the same order in which the experiments were performed -it is up to you to decide what order of presentation will make the most sense to your reader.
1. Explain why each procedure was done, i.e., what variable were you measuring and why? Example:
Difficult to understand : First, I removed the frog muscle and then I poured Ringer’s solution on it. Next, I attached it to the kymograph.
Improved: I removed the frog muscle and poured Ringer’s solution on it to prevent it from drying out. I then attached the muscle to the kymograph in order to determine the minimum voltage required for contraction.
Better: Frog muscle was excised between attachment points to the bone. Ringer's solution was added to the excised section to prevent drying out. The muscle was attached to the kymograph in order to determine the minimum voltage required for contraction.
2. Experimental procedures and results are narrated in the past tense (what you did, what you found, etc.) whereas conclusions from your results are given in the present tense.
3. Mathematical equations and statistical tests are considered mathematical methods and should be described in this section along with the actual experimental work. (Show a sample calculation, state the type of test(s) performed and program used)
4. Use active rather than passive voice when possible. [Note: see Section 3.1.4 for more about this.] Always use the singular "I" rather than the plural "we" when you are the only author of the paper (Methods section only). Throughout the paper, avoid contractions, e.g. did not vs. didn’t.
5. If any of your methods is fully described in a previous publication (yours or someone else’s), you can cite work that instead of describing the procedure again.
Example: The chromosomes were counted at meiosis in the anthers with the standard acetocarmine technique of Snow (1955).
Below is a PARTIAL and incomplete version of a "method". Without getting into the details of why, Version A and B are bad. A is missing too many details and B is giving some extra details but not giving some important ones, such as the volumes used. Version C is still not complete, but it is at least a viable method. Notice that C is also not the longest....it is possible to be detailed without being long-winded.
In other words, the methods section is what you did in the experiment and has enough details that someone else can repeat your experiment. If the methods section has excluded one or more important detail(s) such that the reader of the method does not know what happened, it is a 'poor' methods section. Similarly, by giving out too many useless details a methods section can be 'poor'.
You may have multiple sub-sections within your methods (i.e., a section for media preparation, a section for where the chemicals came from, a section for the basic physical process that occurred, etc.,). A methods section is NEVER a list of numbered steps.
The function of this section is to summarize general trends in the data without comment, bias, or interpretation. The results of statistical tests applied to your data are reported in this section although conclusions about your original hypotheses are saved for the Discussion section. In other words, you state "the P-value" in Results and whether below/above 0.05 and thus significant/not significant while in the Discussion you restate the P-value and then formally state what that means beyond "significant/not significant".
Tables and figures should be used when they are a more efficient way to convey information than verbal description. They must be independent units, accompanied by explanatory captions that allow them to be understood by someone who has not read the text. Do not repeat in the text the information in tables and figures, but do cite them, with a summary statement when that is appropriate. Example:
Incorrect: The results are given in Figure 1.
Correct: Temperature was directly proportional to metabolic rate (Fig. 1).
Please note that the entire word "Figure" is almost never written in an article. It is nearly always abbreviated as "Fig." and capitalized. Tables are cited in the same way, although Table is not abbreviated.
Whenever possible, use a figure instead of a table. Relationships between numbers are more readily grasped when they are presented graphically rather than as columns in a table.
Data may be presented in figures and tables, but this may not substitute for a verbal summary of the findings. The text should be understandable by someone who has not seen your figures and tables.
1. All results should be presented, including those that do not support the hypothesis.
2. Statements made in the text must be supported by the results contained in figures and tables.
3. The results of statistical tests can be presented in parentheses following a verbal description.
Example: Fruit size was significantly greater in trees growing alone (t = 3.65, df = 2, p < 0.05).
Simple results of statistical tests may be reported in the text as shown in the preceding example. The results of multiple tests may be reported in a table if that increases clarity. (See Section 11 of the Statistics Manual for more details about reporting the results of statistical tests.) It is not necessary to provide a citation for a simple t-test of means, paired t-test, or linear regression. If you use other more complex (or less well-known) tests, you should cite the text or reference you followed to do the test. In your materials and methods section, you should report how you did the test (e.g. using the statistical analysis package of Excel).
It is NEVER appropriate to simply paste the results from statistical software into the results section of your paper. The output generally reports more information than is required and it is not in an appropriate format for a paper. Similar, do NOT place a screenshot.
Should you include every data point or not in the paper? Prior to 2010 or so, most papers would probably not present the actual raw data collected, but rather show the "descriptive statistics" about their data (mean, SD, SE, CI, etc.). Often, people could simply contact the author(s) for the data and go from there. As many journals have a significant on-line footprint now, it has become increasingly more common that the entire data could be included in the paper. And realize why the entire raw data may not have been included in a publication. Prior to about 2010, your publication had limited paper space to be seen on. If you have a sample of size of 10 or 50, you probably could show the entire data set easily in one table/figure and it not take up too much printed space. If your sample size was 500 or 5,000 or more, the size of the data alone would take pages of printed text. Given how much the Internet and on-line publications have improved/increased in storage space, often now there will be either an embedded file to access or the author(s) will place the file on-line somewhere with an address link, such as GitHub. Videos of the experiment are also shown as well now.
The function of this section is to analyze the data and relate them to other studies. To "analyze" means to evaluate the meaning of your results in terms of the original question or hypothesis and point out their biological significance.
1. The Discussion should contain at least:
2. Trends that are not statistically significant can still be discussed if they are suggestive or interesting, but cannot be made the basis for conclusions as if they were significant.
3. Avoid redundancy between the Results and the Discussion section. Do not repeat detailed descriptions of the data and results in the Discussion. In some journals, Results and Discussions are joined in a single section, in order to permit a single integrated treatment with minimal repetition. This is more appropriate for short, simple articles than for longer, more complicated ones.
4. End the Discussion with a summary of the principal points you want the reader to remember. This is also the appropriate place to propose specific further study if that will serve some purpose, but do not end with the tired cliché that "this problem needs more study." All problems in biology need more study. Do not close on what you wish you had done, rather finish stating your conclusions and contributions.
5. Conclusion section. Primarily dependent upon the complexity and depth of an experiment, there may be a formal conclusion section after the discussion section. In general, the last line or so of the discussion section should be a more or less summary statement of the overall finding of the experiment. IF the experiment was large enough/complex enough/multiple findings uncovered, a distinct paragraph (or two) may be needed to help clarify the findings. Again, only if the experiment scale/findings warrant a separate conclusion section.
The title of the paper should be the last thing that you write. That is because it should distill the essence of the paper even more than the abstract (the next to last thing that you write).
The title should contain three elements:
1. the name of the organism studied;
2. the particular aspect or system studied;
3. the variable(s) manipulated.
Do not be afraid to be grammatically creative. Here are some variations on a theme, all suitable as titles:
THE EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE ON GERMINATION OF ZEA MAYS
DOES TEMPERATURE AFFECT GERMINATION OF ZEA MAYS?
TEMPERATURE AND ZEA MAYS GERMINATION: IMPLICATIONS FOR AGRICULTURE
Sometimes it is possible to include the principal result or conclusion in the title:
HIGH TEMPERATURES REDUCE GERMINATION OF ZEA MAYS
Note for the BSCI 1510L class: to make your paper look more like a real paper, you can list all of the other group members as co-authors. However, if you do that, you should list you name first so that we know that you wrote it.
Please refer to section 2.1 of this guide.
Training videos | Faqs
PhD students are expected to write and publish research papers to validate their research work and findings. Writing your first research paper can seem like a daunting task at the start but must be done to validate your work. If you are a beginner writer new to academic writing or a non-native English speaker then it might seem like a daunting process at inception. The best way to begin writing a research paper is to learn about the research paper structure needed in your field, as this may vary between fields. Producing a research paper structure first with various headings and subheadings will significantly simplify the writing process. In this blog, we explain the basic structure of a research paper and explain its various components. We elaborate on various parts and sections of a research paper. We also provide guidance to produce a research paper structure for your work through word cloud diagrams that illustrate various topics and sub-topics to be included under each section. We recommend you to refer to our other blogs on academic writing tools , academic writing resources , and academic phrase-bank , which are relevant to the topic discussed in this blog.
The Introduction section is one of the most important sections of a research paper. The introduction section should start with a brief outline of the topic and then explain the nature of the problem at hand and why it is crucial to resolve this issue. This section should contain a literature review that provides relevant background information about the topic. The literature review should touch upon seminal and pioneering works in the field and the most recent studies pertinent to your work.
The literature review should end with a few lines about the research gap in the chosen domain. This is where you explain the lack of adequate research about your chosen topic and make a case for the need for more research. This is an excellent place to define the research question or hypothesis. The last part of the introduction should be about your work. Having established the research gap now, you have to explain how you intend to solve the problem and subsequently introduce your approach. You should provide a clear outline that includes both the primary and secondary aims/objectives of your work. You can end the section by providing how the rest of the paper is organized. When you are working on the research paper structure use the word cloud diagrams as a guidance.
The Materials and methods section of the research paper should include detailed information about the implementation details of your method. This should be written in such a way that it is reproducible by any person conducting research in the same field. This section should include all the technical details of the experimental setup, measurement procedure, and parameters of interest. It should also include details of how the methods were validated and tested prior to their use. It is recommended to use equations, figures, and tables to explain the workings of the method proposed. Add placeholders for figures and tables with dummy titles while working on the research paper structure.
Suppose your methodology involves data collection and recruitment. In that case, you should provide information about the sample size, population characteristics, interview process, and recruitment methods. It should also include the details of the consenting procedure and inclusion and exclusion criteria. This section can end with various statistical methods used for data analysis and significance testing.
Results and Discussion section of the research paper should be the concluding part of your research paper. In the results section, you can explain your experiments’ outcome by presenting adequate scientific data to back up your conclusions. You must interpret the scientific data to your readers by highlighting the key findings of your work. You also provide information on any negative and unexpected findings that came out of your work. It is vital to present the data in an unbiased manner. You should also explain how the current results compare with previously published data from similar works in the literature.
In the discussion section, you should summarize your work and explain how the research work objectives were achieved. You can highlight the benefits your work will bring to the overall scientific community and potential practical applications. You must not introduce any new information in this section; you can only discuss things that have already been mentioned in the paper. The discussion section must talk about your work’s limitations; no scientific work is perfect, and some drawbacks are expected. If there are any inconclusive results in your work, you can present your theories about what might have caused it. You have to end your paper with conclusions and future work . In conclusion, you can restate your aims and objectives and summarize your main findings, preferably in two or three lines. You should also lay out your plans for future work and explain how further research will benefit the research domain. Finally, you can also add ‘Acknowledgments’ and ‘References’ sections to the research paper structure for completion.
In this blog, we will go through many research question examples and understand how to construct a strong research question for your paper.
In this blog, we will look at how to use constructive language when critiquing other’s work in your research paper.
In this blog, we will go through a few introduction paragraph examples and understand how to construct a great introduction paragraph for your research paper.
In this blog, we will go through many literature review examples and understand different ways to present past literature in your paper.
In this blog, we will look at best practices for presenting tables and figures in your research paper.
In this blog, we will go through many abstract examples and understand how to construct a good abstract for your research paper.
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Students should know the different parts of a research paper before they start the writing process. Research paper writing is an important task in the academic world. But, many learners don’t know much about the research paper structure when asked to complete this task. Essentially, many learners don’t know about the components of a research paper. Unfortunately, this can ruin the overall quality of their work.
So, what are the basic parts of a research paper? Well, there are five major sections of a research paper. These are the parts that you will find in any paper. However, the number of research paper parts can always vary depending on the nature and length of the work.
Perhaps, you’re wondering, what are the 5 parts of research paper? Well, this article will answer your question. The basic parts to a research paper are the introduction, method, results, discussion, and conclusion. However, a research paper can include other parts like the abstract, discussion, and reference list.
Although a student can be writing on a single topic, each part of research paper requires specific information. That’s why different research paper sections exist. It’s, therefore, important that students learn about the information that should go to different sections of research paper.
The introduction is one of the most important parts of an APA research paper. This is the section that gives the paper a direction. It tells the readers what the paper will attempt to achieve. The introduction of a research paper is the section where the writer states their thesis argument and research problem. What do you intend to study and what makes it important?
An ideal introduction of a research paper should: Provide a general research problem presentation Layout what you will try to achieve with your work State your position on the topic
Perhaps, you may have always wondered, what are the major parts of an argumentative research paper? Well, the introduction is one of these sections because it tells the readers about your position on the topic.
This is also called the methodology part of a research paper. It states the methodology and design used to conduct research. The methodology used in every paper will vary depending on the research type and field.
For instance, social sciences use observation methods to collect data while physical sciences may use apparatus. Such variations should be considered when learning how to write a methods section of a research paper. However, the most important thing is to ensure that other researchers can replicate the performed research using similar methods for verification purposes.
The assumption is that the person that will read the paper knows the basic research methods that you use to gather information and write the paper. Therefore, don’t go into detail trying to explain the methods. For instance, biochemists or organic chemists are familiar with methods like chromatography. Therefore, you should just highlight the equipment that you used instead of explaining the entire process.
If you did a survey, include a questionnaire copy in the appendix if you included too many questions. Nevertheless, refer your readers to the questionnaire in the appendix section whenever you think it’s necessary. Use the internet to learn how to write the methods section of a research paper if still unsure about the best way to go about this section. You can also c ontact us to get professional writing help online.
The content that you include in this section will depend on the aims and results of your research. If you’re writing a quantitative research paper, this section will include a presentation of numerical data and results. When writing a qualitative research paper, this section should include discussions of different trends. However, you should not go into details.
A good results section of a research paper example will include graphs or tables of analyzed data. Raw data can also be included in the appendix to enable other researchers to follow it up and check calculations. Commentary can also be included to link results together instead of displaying unconnected and isolated figures and charts. Striking a balance between the results section and the discussion section can be difficult for some students. That’s because some of the findings, especially in descriptive or quantitative research fall into the grey area. Additionally, you should avoid repetition in your results section.
Therefore, find a middle ground where you can provide a general overview of your data so that you can expand it in your discussion section. Additionally, avoid including personal interpretations and opinions into this section and keep it for the discussion part.
Some people confuse the results section with the discussion section. As such, they wonder what goes in the discussion section of a research paper. Essentially, elaborating your findings in the results section will leave you with nothing to include in the discussion section. Therefore, try to just present your findings in the result section without going into details.
Just like the name suggests, the discussion section is the place where you discuss or explain your findings or results. Here, you tell readers more about what you found. You can also add personal interpretations. Your discussion should be linked to the introduction and address every initial point separately.
It’s also crucial to ensure that the information included in the discussion section is related to your thesis statement. If you don’t do that, you can cloud your findings. Essentially, the discussion section is the place where you show readers how your findings support your argument or thesis statement.
Do you want to write a paper that will impress the tutor to award you the top grade? This section should feature the most analysis and citations. It should also focus on developing your thesis rationally with a solid argument of all major points and clear reasoning. Therefore, avoid unnecessary and meaningless digressions and maintain a clear focus. Provide cohesion and unity to strengthen your research paper.
This is the last major part of any research paper. It’s the section where you should build upon the discussion and refer the findings of your research to those of other researchers. The conclusion can have a single paragraph or even two. However, the conclusion can be the most important section of an entire paper when writing a dissertation. That’s because it can describe results while discussing them in detail. It can also emphasize why the results of the research project are important to the field. What’s more, it can tie the paper with previous studies.
In some papers, this section provides recommendations while calling for further research and highlighting flaws that may have affected the results of the study. Thus, this can be the section where the writer suggests improvements that can make the research design better.
Though these are the major sections of a research paper, the reference list or bibliography is also very important. No research paper can be complete without a bibliography or reference list that documents the used sources. These sources should be documented according to the specified format. Thus, the format of the reference list can vary from APA to MLA, Chicago to Harvard, and other formats. Nevertheless, a research paper that features the five major sections and a reference list will be considered complete in most institutions even without the acknowledgment and abstract parts. The best way to get a high grade is to ask professionals ‘Can someone do my assignment for me now?’ and get your papers done on time.
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Stress is your body's response to a challenging or demanding situation. When you feel stressed, your body releases certain hormones. Your hormones are chemical signals your body uses to tell your body systems what to do. The hormones your body releases when you're stressed get you ready to meet the challenge or demand in your environment. During the stress response, your body gets ready to flee or fight by increasing your heart rate, breathing rate, and blood pressure.
Not all stress is bad. In small doses, stress can help you accomplish tasks or prevent you from getting hurt. For example, stress is what makes you slam on the brakes to avoid hitting a suddenly stopped car in front of you. That's a good thing.
But people handle stressful situations differently. What stresses you out may be of little concern to someone else.
Stress can be a short-term response to something that happens once or only a few times or a long-term response to something that keeps happening. Our bodies can usually handle short-term stress without long-term effects. But long-term or chronic stress can make you sick, both mentally and physically.
The first step to managing your stress is to know the symptoms. But recognizing stress symptoms may be harder than you think. Many of us are so used to feeling stressed that we may not know it until we get sick. Read on to learn more about the various symptoms you may have when you're stressed.
Difference between stress and distress
Stress is a normal reaction to challenges in your physical environment or in your perceptions of what's happening around you. Experts consider distress to be stress that is severe, prolonged, or both. Distress is when you feel you’re under more stress than you can handle.
Mental symptoms of emotional stress include:
Symptoms of stress that you might feel in your body include:
Respiratory distress
This is when you aren't getting enough oxygen or are having to work really hard to breathe. If you or a loved one has symptoms of respiratory distress, you need to call 911 and get to the ER as soon as possible. Signs include:
Symptoms of stress that affect your mental performance include:
Symptoms of behavioral stress include:
Chronic stress is when you experience stress over an extended time. This can have negative effects on your body and your mental state, and it can increase your risk of cardiovascular disease, anxiety, and depression.
In general, the symptoms of chronic stress are the same as those for shorter-term stress. You may not have all these symptoms, but if you have more than three symptoms and they last for a few weeks, you may have chronic stress. Potential symptoms to look for include:
You may be dealing with something more serious than day-to-day stress if you have symptoms over a period of time even though you've tried to cope using healthy mechanisms. Long-term stress is linked to number of mental health disorders, such as:
It may be time to visit your doctor if you're struggling to cope with the stress in your life or you have mental health problems from long-term stress. They can help you figure out ways of coping in a healthy way or refer you to a mental health professional who can help you.
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is mental health condition that you may have after you have or witness a traumatic event, such as a natural disaster, accident, or violence. PTSD overwhelms your ability to cope with new stress. PTSD can lead to symptoms such as intrusive memories, avoidance behaviors, and hyperarousal.
These symptoms can cause significant problems in your work or relationships. T alk to your doctor or a mental health professional if you've had or witnessed a traumatic event and have disturbing thoughts and feelings about it for more than a month, if your thoughts and feelings are severe, or if you feel like you're having trouble getting your life back on track.
Ongoing, chronic stress can trigger or worsen many serious health problems, including:
Stress is a part of life. What matters most is how you handle it. The best thing you can do to prevent stress overload and the health consequences that come with it is to know your stress symptoms.
If you or a loved one is feeling overwhelmed by stress, talk to your doctor. Many symptoms of stress can also be signs of other health problems. Your doctor can evaluate your symptoms and rule out other conditions. If stress is to blame, your doctor can recommend a therapist or counselor to help you better handle your stress.
Stress is your body's response to a challenging or demanding situation. It can affect you physically, mentally, and behaviorally, especially when you have chronic stress. Chronic stress is when you are stressed for an extended time. Chronic stress can make it more likely for you to develop other mental health disorders, such as anxiety or depression. It can also affect your heart health and digestive health. If you're stressed and having trouble coping, it may be time for you to see your doctor or a mental health professional.
What can extreme stress cause?
Extreme stress, especially if it's prolonged, can cause emotional distress. And stress from a traumatic event, which is usually extreme, can cause posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). These are more serious cases of stress that overwhelm your ability to manage on your own. You may need to get a professional's help to get back on track. If you feel like you're having trouble managing your emotions, talk to your doctor. They can help you or direct you to someone who can help you.
Can stress make you throw up?
Yes, stress can make you throw up. Your digestive system is one of the many systems that stress can affect. In fact, you may have a whole range of other digestive symptoms, such as nausea, pain, and constipation or diarrhea. Not everyone has stress nausea or vomiting, but you may be more prone to it if you have a gastrointestinal condition, such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), or you have anxiety or depression.
You may be able to tell if you're stress vomiting if your episode passes when the stress goes away. If it doesn't, then your episode may be caused by something else. It's time to get checked out by your doctor if you have more than a couple of episodes or you can't figure out what's causing them.
Chu, B. Physiology, Stress Reaction , StatPearls Publishing, 2024.
American Psychological Association: "Stress effects on the body."
MedlinePlus: "Stress."
Mayo Clinic: "Stress management," "Emotional exhaustion: When your feelings feel overwhelming," "Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)."
Cleveland Clinic: "Emotional Stress: Warning Signs, Management, When to Get Help," "Stress Nausea: Why It Happens and How To Deal. "
Johns Hopkins Medicine: "Signs of Respiratory Distress."
Helpguide.org: "Stress Symptoms, Signs, and Causes," "Understanding Stress."
Yale Medicine: "Chronic Stress."
Department of Health and Human Services: "Stress and Your Health."
American Institute of Stress: "Effects of Stress."
Need a quick pick-me-up? These simple steps can get you moving and boost your mood - fast!
From knots in your stomach to headaches, heartburn and chronic health conditions, stress can lead to a variety of health issues.
Self-care doesn't have to cost a lot. These simple steps can boost your mood and get you moving.
These natural remedies can help ease your anxiety. Learn how they work - and when to see a doctor.
From pain to digestive problems and more, the signs and symptoms of too much stress are easy to spot - once you know what to look for.
Papers should have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Your introductory paragraph should grab the reader's attention, state your main idea and how you will support it. The body of the paper should expand on what you have stated in the introduction. Finally, the conclusion restates the paper's thesis and should explain what you have learned, giving a wrap up of your main ideas.
1. The Title The title should be specific and indicate the theme of the research and what ideas it addresses. Use keywords that help explain your paper's topic to the reader. Try to avoid abbreviations and jargon. Think about keywords that people would use to search for your paper and include them in your title.
2. The Abstract The abstract is used by readers to get a quick overview of your paper. Typically, they are about 200 words in length (120 words minimum to 250 words maximum). The abstract should introduce the topic and thesis, and should provide a general statement about what you have found in your research. The abstract allows you to mention each major aspect of you topic and helps readers decide whether they want to read the rest of the paper. Because it is a summary of the entire research paper, it is often written last.
3. The Introduction The introduction should be designed to attract the reader's attention and explain the focus of the research. You will introduce your overview of the topic, your main points of information, and why this subject is important. You can introduce the current understanding and background information about the topic. Toward the end of the introduction, you add your thesis statement, and explain how you will provide information to support your research questions. This provides the purpose, focus, and structure for the rest of the paper.
4. Thesis Statement Most papers will have a thesis statement or main idea and supporting facts/ideas/arguments. State your main idea (something of interest or something to be proven or argued for or against) as your thesis statement, and then provide supporting facts and arguments. A thesis statement is a declarative sentence that asserts the position a paper will be taking. It also points toward the paper's development. This statement should be both specific and arguable. Generally, the thesis statement will be placed at the end of the first paragraph of your paper. The remainder of your paper will support this thesis.
Students often learn to write a thesis as a first step in the writing process, but often, after research, a writers viewpoint may change. Therefore a thesis statement may be one of the final steps in writing.
Examples of thesis statements from Purdue OWL. . .
5. The Literature Review The purpose of the literature review is to describe past important research and how it specifically relates to the research thesis. It should be a synthesis of the previous literature and the new idea being researched. The review should examine the major theories related to the topic to date and their contributors. It should include all relevant findings from credible sources, such as academic books and peer-reviewed journal articles. You will want to:
More about writing a literature review. . . from The Writing Center at UNC-Chapel Hill More about summarizing. . . from the Center for Writing Studies at the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign
6. The Discussion The purpose of the discussion is to interpret and describe what you have learned from your research. Make the reader understand why your topic is important. The discussion should always demonstrate what you have learned from your readings (and viewings) and how that learning has made the topic evolve, especially from the short description of main points in the introduction. Explain any new understanding or insights you have had after reading your articles and/or books. Paragraphs should use transitioning sentences to develop how one paragraph idea leads to the next. The discussion will always connect to the introduction, your thesis statement, and the literature you reviewed, but it does not simply repeat or rearrange the introduction. You want to:
7. The Conclusion A concluding paragraph is a brief summary of your main ideas and restates the paper's main thesis, giving the reader the sense that the stated goal of the paper has been accomplished. What have you learned by doing this research that you didn't know before? What conclusions have you drawn? You may also want to suggest further areas of study, improvement of research possibilities, etc. to demonstrate your critical thinking regarding your research.
Research Impact Canvas workshop at the Sydney Knowledge Hub 8 April 2024
The RIA, pioneered by SSSHARC, is a key part of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences’ research strategy.
It aims to optimise opportunities and build the skills needed for FASS researchers to obtain government, industry and philanthropic funding.
The six projects selected for the 2024 pilot and their external partners are outlined here .
In the RIA, each team includes researchers at different levels, including HDRs (Higher Degree by Research), and has at least one member from beyond FASS.
Each team is led by a non-professorial researcher, a requirement that reflects the RIA’s focus on building early to mid-career researcher leadership skills through real-world application.
The program is delivered in four phases with each phase focusing on different aspects of the planning, execution and leadership of multidisciplinary collaboration.
The first phase brought the individual project teams together to discuss shared vision, collective strengths and capacity given the time and resources available.
The aim was to build a strong collaborative foundation for each project in a setting that one team described in feedback as ‘non-judgemental and inclusive’.
The second phase, delivered at the Sydney Knowledge Hub, was built around a ‘theory of change’ methodology which begins by imagining impact and then works backwards to devise the steps to achieve it.
Each team articulated their vision for impact and broadly scoping opportunities for knowledge translation. They then completed a Research Impact Canvas (a visualisation and planning tool) and presented the results to the wider group.
The exercise helped sharpen focus on the key elements that need to be considered when developing and validating the impact and translation potential of research ideas/projects.
The third phase involved devising a sequenced Project Plan and Team Collaboration Charter to delegate tasks and ensure timely completion in budget.
Teams identified activities to reach specific and diverse audiences while serving the needs of their external partners, identified at the outset.
These included conventional outcomes like external grant applications and white papers, but also podcasts and audio documentaries and in one case a puppet show to visualise absences in funded health services.
The documents produced in phase three then passed through a threshold assessment to ensure feasibility, strategic use of funding, and identify unforeseen impediments or opportunities before project funds and project management support were approved.
The threshold assessment committee included internal and external representatives, who provided additional expert feedback on the projects and their capacity-building dimensions.
Threshold assessment committee member Associate Dean Education Professor Fiona Martin , drew attention to the need for each team to articulate a HDR mentoring strategy, noting the vital role they play across all six projects.
The RIA has also created space for early career researchers to receive project-based mentoring and advice.
Professor Elizabeth Hill (Political Economy) has been providing guidance to Luara Ferracioli (Humanities) and her team in the development of policy proposals grounded in non-ideal theory.
Luara’s team is focussed on expanding Australian debates on the provision of childcare to include social justice frameworks and will be organising a public stakeholder workshop in collaboration with the Sydney Policy Lab.
The RIA has now entered Phase 4, all six teams have been assigned project officers to assist them organize and deliver their project activities across the remainder of 2024.
The three people SSSHARC recruited to these roles – Emily Herdman, Leila Frijat and Natalie Hargrave - have diverse skill sets. This means the RIA is also increasing professional capacity through peer-to-peer skill-sharing as well as specialist training in media, project management and cultural competency.
This investment in the development of non-academic staff reflects SSSHARC’s commitment to including professional staff members as strategic contributors to research impact and design.
The RIA will run again in 2025, stay tuned for details of an information session and a formal call for participant teams.
Related articles, mca australia and power institute host major forum on vision, the value of cultural exchange between australia and vietnam, destigmatising dementia with culturally informed translations.
IMAGES
COMMENTS
What is a good research question? The key attributes are: (i) specificity; (ii) originality or novelty; and (iii) general relevance to a broad scientific community. The research question should be precise and not merely identify a general area of inquiry.
A research paper is a piece of academic writing that provides analysis, interpretation, and argument based on in-depth independent research.
Parts of a Research Article. While each article is different, here are some common pieces you'll see in many of them... Title. The title of the article should give you some clues as to the topic it addresses. Abstract. The abstract allows readers to quickly review the overall content of the article. It should give you an idea of the topic of ...
Introduces topic of article Presents the "Research Gap"/Statement of Problem article will address How research presented in the article will solve the problem presented in research gap. Literature Review. presenting and evaluating previous scholarship on a topic. Sometimes, this is separate section of the article.
Parts of a Scientific & Scholarly Paper Different sections are needed in different types of scientific papers (lab reports, literature reviews, systematic reviews, methods papers, research papers, etc.).
Writing Your Paper. Parts of the Research Paper. Papers should have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Your introductory paragraph should grab the reader's attention, state your main idea, and indicate how you will support it. The body of the paper should expand on what you have stated in the introduction. Finally, the conclusion restates the ...
Then narrows down to the specific research question relating to the topic. Provides the purpose and focus for the rest of the article and sets the justification for the research. Sometimes this includes a literature review that describes past important research and relates it specifically to the research question.
Why it is Important Understanding the different parts of a research paper is important because it allows you to comprehend the study more effectively and extract the key information efficiently. Each section of a research paper serves a specific purpose and provides valuable insights.
Key components of a research paper Good research articles tend to have all of the following components, so look for them to help determine the credibility of a study.
When you write a research paper, many instructors will ask you to find scholarly research articles as a basis for your research. A scholarly research article presents original research and is written and reviewed by experts in a field. A typical scholarly research article has several sections that can include the: Abstract. Introduction. Method.
The introduction to a research paper presents your topic, provides background, and details your research problem.
The basic structure of a typical research paper includes Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion. Each section addresses a different objective. what they think the results mean in Discussion. A substantial study will sometimes include a literature review section which discusses previous works on the topic.
Parts of a research article R esearch articles tend to have 6 or 7 parts, each part is normally labeled. 1. Abstract: This is the first part of the article, normally at the top and set apart from the rest of the article. The abstract describes what the article is about. 2.
This model is standard in the U.S. social sciences and at HGSE, so we will focus on it for the rest of the tutorial. That said, writing conventions vary widely across countries, cultures, and even disciplines. For example, although the hourglass model introduces the most important point right from the beginning as a guide to the rest of the paper, some traditions build the argument gradually ...
This is actually a very common situation, so we have prepared this article to outline all the key parts of a research paper and explain what you must focus as you go through each one of the various parts of a research paper; read the following sections and you should have a clearer idea of how to tackle your next research paper effectively.
3.2 Components of a scientific paper Nearly all journal articles are divided into the following major sections: abstract, introduction, methods, results, discussion, and references or literature cited. Usually the sections are labeled as such, although often the introduction (and sometimes the abstract) is not labeled. Sometimes alternative section titles are used. The abstract is sometimes ...
In this blog, we explain the basic structure of a research paper and explain its various components. We also provide guidance to produce a research paper structure for your work through word cloud diagrams that illustrate various topics and sub-topics to be included under each section.
The basic parts to a research paper are the introduction, method, results, discussion, and conclusion. However, a research paper can include other parts like the abstract, discussion, and reference list. Although a student can be writing on a single topic, each part of research paper requires specific information.
Marymount University LibGuides Finding Scholarly and Peer Reviewed Articles Parts of a Research Article Search
Start by carefully reading the title, abstract, and introduction to understand the main research question or hypothesis being explored. Pay close attention to the methodology section to grasp the experimental or analytical approach used. The results and discussion sections are crucial for comprehending the key findings and their interpretation.
Abstract The presentation was meant to introduce early-career scholars to the art of writing a scholarly research article for publication in an academic journal.
The major parts of a research paper are abstract,Introduction,review of literature,research methods,findings and analysis,discussion,limitations,future scope and references. Bir - Jaspreet has ...
A review article might highlight patterns or gaps in the research, might show support for existing theories, or suggest new directions for research, but does not conduct original research on a subject. Review articles can be a great place to get an overview of the existing research on a subject. A review article is a secondary source.
Stress is a part of life. What matters most is how you handle it. The best thing you can do to prevent stress overload and the health consequences that come with it is to know your stress symptoms.
Research Writing ~ How to Write a Research Paper Papers should have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Your introductory paragraph should grab the reader's attention, state your main idea and how you will support it. The body of the paper should expand on what you have stated in the introduction. Finally, the conclusion restates the paper's thesis and should explain what you have learned ...
The RIA, pioneered by SSSHARC, is a key part of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences' research strategy. It aims to optimise opportunities and build the skills needed for FASS researchers to obtain government, industry and philanthropic funding.
Project 2025 aims to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs in schools and government departments as part of what it describes as a wider crackdown on "woke" ideology. What does the ...
Research is focused on child and teen mental health, exploring why they are struggling and what can be done to help them ... "Part of our role is to highlight specific areas that are critical in this discussion." ... are a key way to reach and help children—but a 2022 Pew Research Center survey found that only about half of U.S. public ...