Components of Research Papers

Scientific research is about getting all the parts of research in the correct order. You can successfully finish the best research project ever on earth. Still, if your presentation is not well-structured and exciting, your audience will not take the findings seriously. Remember that the majority of a research paper resembles an hourglass structure that begins with general introductory information followed by a literature review and tends to be specific when you do write about the research problem and the hypothesis. Towards the end, it becomes general when you attempt to apply the findings to the world in general. Though there are subtle minor differences between the research fields, where someplace fields place more emphasis on certain sections of the research, the basic underlying structure is the same. The steps outlined in this article are the fundamentals of designing a research paper.

• Introduction

An introduction is the initial part of the process of writing research. This part sets out the research paper's direction and lays out what the paper seeks to achieve. Another introduction is the last part of writing as a summary of the research paper. An excellent introduction consists of the following unique parts: First, offer a general demonstration of the research problem. The next part is to lay down the purpose of your research. Finally, you should state your point of view.

• Method

It is the easiest section to write since it summarizes the methodology and design used in doing the research. A significant difference exists between studies on social sciences and physical sciences. Despite the difference, make sure that other researchers can replicate your experiments to be similar to yours as much as possible. Assume that the target audience reading your paper is familiar with the methodology; therefore, do not explain everything in detail.

• Results

It is the most variable section of research papers, and it depends on the objective of the research and the results. For qualitative research, you should discuss the trends without espousing much detail, while for quantitative research, it is about the presentation of data and numerical analysis. If your study is generating lots of research, consider including graphs and tables of the analyzed data and have raw data in the appendix section so that audience can verify your calculations. To link results together, do a commentary, so avoid presenting isolated and unlinked figures and charts.

• Discussion

This section elaborates on the findings by explaining what you discovered from the experiment and including individual interpretations. Link the discussion to the introduction and address each point individually. Link all information in the debate to the thesis statement; else, you run the risk of cluttering the findings. To keep the hourglass structure alive expands the topic in conclusion.

• Conclusion

From the conclusion, develop your discussion and attempt to link the findings to other studies and the global phenomena. For short research papers, this can be a few lines, a paragraph, or two. It is an essential part of all the research papers for dissertations since it discusses the discussion and results in more detail. Still, it emphasizes the significance of the findings in the study field and binds it with other research.

• Reference 

All research papers require reference to document the sources that the paper relied on for the research. Provide a reference list based on MLA, APA, or any other format to allow the audience to follow up on the research.