Components of a Full Research Paper

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 473.

Traditional, print-format "full research papers" usually include the following components, which represent the different stages of the research process. (The names and descriptions of these components may differ slightly from one academic discipline or paper "style" to another.)

1. Title page
2. Abstract (one paragraph or one page, as/if needed)
3. Introduction, or Problem Statement, or Problem Identification: what exactly is being researched and why; what the relevance or importance is; what questions will be addressed, and an overview of what conclusions will be drawn.
4. Background and Review of Existing Literature, including definitions of special terminology used in the paper
5. Research Methodology: What is Being Studied, and How: In this section the purpose and research questions or hypotheses are re-stated, and the exact nature of what is being researched and how (population and sampling) is defined, along with what instrumentation was used (copies of instruments should be included in Appendices). Also in this section are details on the procedure and time frame of the research, the analysis plan, the validity and reliability of the data used, the author's assumptions which are based on the research, and possible limitations to these assumptions, or other conclusions.
6. Data Collection: This presents the raw data collected via the research methodology described above.
7. Findings (Results and Analysis of Your Data): A discussion of what you did and discovered, including why and how you feel it is significant.
8. Conclusions: A summary of the nature and application of the "new knowledge" represented in your paper. Also included here are possible contraindications of your conclusions, along with proposed further research based on your findings (and the possible contraindications).
9. Discussion of 'Limitations': This section is increasingly a part of research articles published in academic journals. It is a separate section of the paper which describes real or potential faults with the methodology, research material, or other factors that could have influenced the research findings.
10. Notes (if needed — usually they are . . . )
11. Works Cited, plus a review (where relevant) of related materials which were not cited
12. Appendices (if needed), for example to present research instruments which were employed (questionnaires, surveys, statistical data, etc.)

https://www15.uta.fi/FAST/FIN/RESEARCH/research.html