You have spent months or years doing your academic research. Now is the time to write your magazine article. For some, this can become a daunting task because writing is not their strong suit. It can be difficult to even start writing. However, once you organize your thoughts and start writing them down, the overall task will be easier. We offer you some useful tips here. Structure of a research paper outline

Organize your ideas

Perhaps one of the most important tasks before you start writing is getting organized. At this point, your data is compiled and analyzed. You will most likely have many pages of “notes” as well. These also need to be organized. Fortunately, this is much easier to do than in the past with handwritten notes. Assuming these tasks have been completed, what’s next?

When we suggest that you organize your ideas, we propose to take a look at what you have compiled. Ask yourself what you are trying to convey to the reader. What is the most important message of your research? How will your results affect others? Is more research needed?

Write down your answers and keep them where you can see them as you type. This will help you focus on your goals. Structure of a research paper outline

Aim for clarity

Your work should be presented as clearly as possible. You want your readers to understand your research. You also don’t want them to stop reading because the text might be too technical.

Please note that your published research will be available in academic journals around the world. This means that people of different languages ​​will read it. Also, even with scientists, this could present a language barrier. According to a recent article , these are the points you always have to remember as you write:

• Clarity: Clearly define terms and avoid irrelevant information.
• Simplicity: Keep the sentence structure simple and straightforward.
• Accuracy: Represent all data and illustrations accurately. Structure of a research paper outline

For example, consider the following sentence:

“Chemical x had an effect on metabolism.”

This is an ambiguous statement. It doesn’t tell the reader much. Enter the results instead:

“Chemical x increased fat metabolism by 20 percent.”

All scientific investigations also attach importance to findings, which are generally presented as definite values ​​of “P”. Be sure to explain these findings using descriptive terms. For example, instead of using the words “significant effect,” use a more descriptive term, such as “significant increase.”

For more tips, see also ” Tips and Techniques for Scientific Writing “. Also, it is very important that a professional native English-speaking editor edit your article. There are many editing services available for academic manuscripts and publication support services. Structure of a research paper outline

Structure of the research document

With the above in mind, you can now focus on the structure. Scientific articles are organized into specific sections and each one has a purpose. We have listed them here.

• Qualification
  • Your title is the most important part of your role.  It attracts the reader and tells them what you are presenting. Also, if you think about the titles of the articles that you can browse in a day and the documents that you actually read, you will agree.
  • The title must be clear and interesting, otherwise the reader will not continue reading.
  • The names and affiliations of the authors are on the title page.
• Resume/summary
  • The abstract is a summary of your research. It is almost as important as the title because the reader will be able to read it quickly.
  • In most journals, the abstract can be divided into very short sections to guide the reader through the abstracts. Structure of a research paper outline
  • Keep sentences short and focused.
  • Avoid acronyms and quotes.
• Introduction
  • Include background information on the topic and your goals here.
• Materials and methods
  • Describe the materials used and include the names and locations of the manufacturers.
  • For any animal studies, include where you obtained the animals and a statement of humane treatment.
  • Clearly and concisely explain your methods so that it can be duplicated.
  • Inclusion and exclusion criteria should be included in the study and statistical analyzes.
• Results
  • Discuss your findings here.
  • Be careful not to make definitive claims.
  • Their results suggest that something is or is not true.
  • This is true even when your results test your hypothesis.
• Discussion
  • Discuss what your results mean in this section.
• Limitations
  • Discuss any limitations of the study. Suggest additional studies.
• Expressions of gratitude
  • Mention all contributors. Structure of a research paper outline
• References
  • All citations in the text must have a corresponding reference.
  • Consult its author’s guidelines for formatting protocols.
• Tables and Figures
  • In most cases, your tables and figures appear at the end of your article or in a separate file.
  • Titles (legends) generally appear after the reference section.
  • Be sure to define each acronym and abbreviation in each table and figure.

Useful rules

In their article titled, ” Ten Simple Rules for Structuring Documents, ” in PLOS Computational Biology, authors Mensh and Kording provided 10 helpful tips as follows: Structure of a research paper outline

1. Focus on one core contribution.
2. Write for those who don’t know your work.
3. Use the “context-content-conclusion” approach.
4. Avoid superfluous information and use parallel structures.
5. Summarize your research in the abstract.
6. Explain the importance of your research in the introduction.
7. Explain your results in a logical sequence and support them with figures and tables.
8. Discuss any information gaps and limitations.
9. Allot your time for the most important sections.
10. Get feedback from colleagues.

Some of these rules have been briefly discussed previously. However, the study by the authors does provide detailed explanations about all of them. Structure of a research paper outline