Are you pursuing your Ph.D. or plan to pursue it in the future? You may be going to publish a scientific study or simply be interested in having your work published.
Few things terrify academics more than the dreaded research paper, a phrase that conjures up images of long hours and arduous labor. Fortunately, there's a trick to getting past them. You'll find that they're not that horrible... or at least less unpleasant... if you know how to write a research paper properly.
From comprehending your assignment to editing your final document, this step-by-step tutorial will walk you through the whole writing process.
Introduction
A research paper or research thesis is a piece of writing that includes analysis, observation, and argumentation based on an independent study.
Research papers are comparable to academic essays, but they are generally longer and more extensive assignments that are used to evaluate not just your writing abilities but also your scholarly research abilities. A research paper demands you to show that you have a thorough understanding of your subject, engage with a number of sources, and contribute something new to the discussion.
A step-by-step strategy for preparing a research report for students, rather than researchers and practitioners, is provided below. While some of these procedures may or may not apply to your specific project, consider them as a general guideline to keep you on track.
- Understand the assignment
- Choose a research paper topic
- Conduct preliminary research
- Develop a thesis statement
- Create a research paper outline
- Write a first draft of the research paper
- Write the introduction
- Write a compelling body of text
- Write a systematic Literature survey
- Write the conclusion
- Add the References
- The second draft
Outline of research
A typical research paper has a common outline, for instance, title, abstract, keyword, introduction, methodology, results & discussion, conclusion, and references. Although the outline depends on the specific journal or conference format, however, these are used more. Fig.1 shows the research outline.
The title, abstract, keyword, introduction, methodology, findings & discussion, conclusion, and references are all part of a standard research paper's outline. Although the structure of the outline varies depending on the publication or conference, these are more commonly utilized. The research outline is shown in Figure.
đź“Ś Where to Begin Writing?
The following is a common format for scientific and technical articles:
- Abstract
- Introduction
- Previous Research
- Problem Formulation
- Model or Methods and Results
- Conclusion
- References
- Acknowledgments
Each component of your work serves a distinct purpose in explaining to the reader why your study addresses a fresh and pressing issue, what has been done previously, and how your research enhances your area significantly.
TITLE
The title is quite important since it can draw the reader's attention. In other words, a decent research paper title should be between 10 and 12 words long, as a longer title may distract readers from paying close attention. So keep in mind whether or not it reflects your study. The title's roadmap is depicted in Figure.
ABSTRACT
In most cases, an abstract is a synopsis of the research. The abstract, in general, reflects the substance of the research. 5–6 phrases of no more than 300 words exemplify what you've accomplished in your study. On the other hand, certain significant points can be highlighted, such as the main goal of the research and the problem with which you tested, the fundamental design of the study, the results of your experiment, an overall framework of your explanation, and your conclusion. Look at Fig. where the abstract shape is emphasized.
A brief description of your research field
Problem with the current research
What are you going to do to solve this problem?
Methodology
What did you achieve?
KEYWORDS
Keywords are terms that encapsulate the core of your article and help you gain more references by making it more accessible. As a result, it's vital to include the most relevant keywords that can help other authors find your paper. Anywhere between 3–8 words are requested in the journal. Nonetheless, I believe it is a good idea to have 4–5 keywords ready, with the possibility of adding more depending on the publication or conference requirements.
Introduction
The introduction to the research is the most important portion. If this portion isn't interesting, readers will stop reading. Furthermore, Stanford's Info Lab gives a formula for creating an intriguing introduction. Another point I'd like to add is that you must include a citation in your work because it establishes the legality of each argument. Take a look at the diagram below to see how the introduction should be structured.
Literature Review
The literature review comes next in the section. This section might be a stand-alone portion or follow the inspiration or background sections. You must demonstrate how other researchers succeeded in the literature review portion. To demonstrate the innovation of your study, you must demonstrate rationally why your approach outperforms previous work. It is important to note that when writing the literature review, you should be kind and not criticize other people's work.
Methodology
Time to present the core of the paper.
You must mention whatever method you used in your study in this part. The research methodology entails an examination and study of the many approaches that might be employed to carry out the research. Take a look at Fig. 5 below for a better understanding.
This should cover everything you utilized to create your solution, whether it was the strategy, some assumptions, an external library/API, or something else entirely. Because my work dealt with algorithms, I'll discuss how to present them.
Have you ever been perplexed by the terms method and methodology? Typically, research methodologies are referred to as "STEPS," which refers to a strategy, process, or approach.
RESULT AND DISCUSSION
The results of the research experiment must be demonstrated in this part. Your study findings, together with related graphs and figures, should be provided here. It is necessary to do the necessary statistical analysis. In other words, the study findings must be stated here, and it must be demonstrated that your research has been properly assimilated.
This is another crucial element in which you must demonstrate how good your research/work is. I spent around two months of the entire four-month period on results.
CONCLUSION
The conclusion of a research study is where you tie up your thoughts and leave a lasting impact on the reader. Its main objectives are as follows: Restate the research challenge that the study addresses. Make a summary of your main points or results.
You must describe what you discovered throughout the experiment and what the major point of the finding and discussion is. On the other side, you must quickly describe the limits of your study and what you want to accomplish in the future.
References
You should provide all of the information you've gathered in the form of a link below. It should be noted that you must structure the reference in journal or conference format according to the requirements. Depending on the publication or conference, there are several forms of references.
APA,
MLA,
Harvard,
BibTeX,
Chicago, and etc.
What to do next âť“
Let me know what you think in the comment section.
What approach have you taken?
What worked best for you?
Good luck with your research journey.
