general writing - research paper organization - presentation

7/30/2019 General Writing - Research Paper Organization - Presentation

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Research papers have a well defined structure that allows the reader to focus on the material rather than trying to determine the structure. Some of the organization may be slightly different in your discipline,

but the principles can be applied in all areas.


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Layers of Effective

Writing

Layer 1: AppearanceGrammar, Formatting, Etc.Layer 2: Writing Style Sentence Flow

Layer 3: Organization

Connecting the IdeasLayer 4: Content The Ideas2

As discussed in the Academic Writing - Overview presentation, the organization of ideas is only one component of effective writing, but it is something that a writer must consider early in the writing

process.


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Layer 3: Organization

Present your ideas in a logical (not chronological)order

Essential at the macro (paper) and micro

(paragraph) levels

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Content must be presented in a way that allows the reader to

understand it.


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Research Paper

Structure

TAIMRD or IMRD: (Title, Abstract, Introduction, Methods,

Results, Discussion)

Follow discipline-specific conventions

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Research papers are usually broken down into large sections. In most disciplines, they follow the IMRD ( or TAIMRD) structure. We will address the Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion sections

here. There is a presentation on the GradWRITE page that investigates Abstracts.


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Introduction

Ease the reader into your study

Written as though you dont know the results

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While the Introduction may not be the first part of your paper that is read (Title and Abstract), it is to be written as a way to ease the reader into your study. What is the background that led to your study?

The final draft will be written after all the research is conducted and data collected and analyzed, which allows you to lead the reader down the path of your study, but you should not refer to what you foundin your study.


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Introduction

Introduce your field of study

Narrow focus using specific andimportant references

Statement of purpose(hypothesis, predictions etc.)

General

Specific6

Most introductions follow an Inverted Pyramid structure. At the beginning, the field of study is introduced to give the reader an idea of how your research fits into your field. From here, you start to narrow

the focus using specific and important references. Depending on the length and scope of your paper, this can be a full-fledged literature review, but usually it is best to keep the focus to a few references. Onceyou have pointed out the gap in the research, it is your opportunity to talk specifically about what you will be doing. Here is where the statement of purpose comes in. It may take several forms, be it a

hypothesis, predictions, objectives, or a combination of these components, but you must directly address what your study will be examining.


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Include

Basic terminology of your field (e.g. chemical names,definitions, species names)

Key papers that led to your study

Brief mention of your study in your statement of purpose

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Some things to make sure you include. Basic terminology orients the reader to your field of study, educates anyone who is unfamiliar with some terms and shows you have done your reading. Likewise, citing

the key papers that led to your study also shows that you have done your reading and contextualizes your study. Some people shy away from mentioning any methods in the introduction section, butintroducing the overall study setup you use to test your hypothesis is a nice way to finish off the introduction and transition into your Methods.


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Dont Include

Exhaustive literature search

Details of your study

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You dont need an exhaustive literature search. Leave that to literature reviews. And while you may want to mention the setup you will use to test your hypothesis, you do not want to mention any specifics

from your study.


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Methods

A complete account of all the steps in

your study Presented in logical order

Includes collecting and analyzing data Easy to write

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The party line for the methods section is that any competent researcher in your field should be able to easily recreate your experiment by following your instructions. While there may have been many steps to

your study, you should present them to the audience in the most logical order which isnt necessarily the order in which you performed them. Anything that was involved in collecting or analyzing data shouldgo in this section, and most people find this section relatively easy to write since they have already performed the actions and just need to write what they have done. Some people even like to make this section

the first that they write, choosing to get an easy section under their belt before tackling the discussion or introduction.


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Include

All materials, quantities, brands of major equipment andstudy locations

Citations of novel techniques

Figures of complicated setups

Equations and statistics

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All materials etc. should be included. If youre using a technique that was explained in great detail in another paper, you can just give the basics and cite the paper to save yourself some space. A picture is

worth a thousand words, but be sure that your figure is worthy of the extra space.


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Dont Include

Finicky details

Results

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You want to avoid finicky details that the average researcher would surely know (ie. How to work a micropipette). However, it is probably better to err on the side of too much information, since it can always

be taken out later. Of course, you do not write about what any of these actions resulted in.


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Results

A summary of your findings

Presents details in the same order as themethods

Can be technical

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In the results section, you summarize the findings you setup in the methods section. For claritys sake, it is usually best to present the results in roughly the same order that they were introduced in the methods

section. This section can be very technical with p-values and degrees of freedom and lots of numbers, but they are necessary to disclose all the results of your study.


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Include

Summary of your findings (i.e. averages, trends)

Tables and Figures

References to tables and figures

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The key word for the results section is summary: you are doing the work for the reader, so you want to point out the important findings, not just throw numbers at them. Use averages, tables and figures and

detail any trends that you find important (but not why you think theyre important). It is also important to reference your tables and figures appropriately, so that the reader knows when to refer to them. Thisis especially important when the tables and figures are displayed on separate pages, often at the end of the paper.


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Dont Include

Raw data

The same information twice

Too many figures

Interpretation of your results

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Avoid giving raw data, and if necessary, include it in an appendix. You do not want to repeat information, whether it be within the text or having a table and figure for the same data. You should also avoid

having too many figures because they can distracting and hard to distinguish. Finally, you should leave any interpretation of the results to your discussion section.


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Discussion

Now that you know the results, interpretthem

Sometimes combined with results into

one section

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The discussion is your chance to interpret your

results.


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Discussion

Address your hypothesis

with reference to yourresults

Explain and put findingsin context (references)

Comment on yourfindings significance andpotential for future studyGeneral

Specific

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The general structure of the discussion is the opposite of the introduction. You should start the discussion by revisiting your statement of purpose (hypothesis etc.) and answer the questions that you put forth

at the beginning of the paper using your results. From here, you should elaborate on these findings and put them in context using references. Opening it up even more, you should end off by discussing yourfindings significance, potential for future study and any other relevant comments.


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Include

Most papers from the introduction

References to tables and figures

Summary / Conclusion

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In your discussion, you should address many of the papers that you introduced in your introduction. Knowing what you know now, what can you say about them. Some people do not like to reference tables

and figures in the discussion, citing that this is a repetition of results and should be avoided, but careful use can cue the reader to find particular findings. Finally, there should be a summary or conclusion atthe very end. You may feel that it is unnecessary as you have probably pointed out the key points of your study at least twice already, but the reader will appreciate another mention of the key features.


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Dont Include

Detailed account of your results

Any new ideas not set up in the introduction

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You will need to mention results in your discussion, but you should avoid repeating them too much. There is a fine balance and this may require some careful revisions to perfect it. You should not present any

new information in your discussion that isnt set up in the introduction. While you may have had some unexpected results during your study, the research paper is not a journal of the scientific process. Notopics in the discussion should surprise the reader.


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Headings

Use headings to offset major sections

E.g. Introduction, Methods, Results, References

Use subheadings to offset distinct topics withinsections

E.g. Methods: Study site, Procedure, Statistics

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Headings can help the reader orient themselves within the paper and help people skimming the paper to find relevant material.

general writing - research paper organization - presentation

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