WRITING RESEARCH PAPERS Puvaneswary Murugaiah

INTRODUCTION TO WRITING PAPERS Conducting research is academic activity Research must be original work Must emphasize concepts and underlying principles and should represent authentic contribution to knowledge If not original, present a fresh perspective or synthesis of existing knowledge

RESEARCH ARTICLE TYPES Research paper that is empirical Concept paper Review paper Book review

STAGES IN WRITING PAPER Planning Writing Checking

PLANNING STAGE Familiarize with literature know what has been reported Emphasis on primary literature, current work Learn how to evaluate a body of literature and its interpretation instead of just reporting

PLANNING STAGE Set objective and scope Can be carried out/reported Clear objectives Objectives as guide to content of paper

PLANNING STAGE Know the readers Journal requirements and expectations Who are the readers?

PLANNING STAGE Construct the outline Organize your thoughts Organize information List major points and fill in sub-topics Determine relative importance of different sections in paper and emphasize on strongest aspects Prepare diagrams, tables etc.

WRITING STAGE Focus on specific issue and fairly narrowed topic Topic too broad – makes writing difficult and less cohesive Set up good descriptive headings

WRITING STAGE Select appropriate figures that clearly represent your ideas Never present a figure before you mention it in the text Figures are not self-explanatory Tables – when absolute numbers are important Graphs – when trends are important

WRITING STAGE Organization Paper title Name (s) and contact information Abstract Introduction (problem statement) Background (justification for your work) Literature Method

WRITING STAGE Method Results and discussion Conclusion Acknowledgements (if any) References *NO PLAGIARISM

ABSTRACT Must be short – 1 paragraph words Mini version of paper Summarizes purpose, methods, results and conclusions of paper Must contain key phrases and words

INTRODUCTION Introduce topic – general statement of problem area Define objectives Clarify goal and set direction of paper Background (optional)

METHODOLOGY Approach used: qualitative/ quantitative Method: case study, historical research, action research etc. Tools used: questionnaire, interviews etc. Analysis: statistical, semantic analysis

FINDINGS Present findings that are relevant to objective of paper Illustrate findings with figures and tables Describe each finding clearly Avoid redundancy: don’t show in text what is shown in figures; only key points

DISCUSSION Heart of the paper Thoughtful interpretation of results Show significance of results Show how results and interpretations agree/contradict with literature If contradict, why?

DISCUSSION Draw conclusions Support hypotheses or not Avoid presenting new results in discussion Do not re-state results; suggest why results came out the way they did Implications

CONCLUSION Summarize and present significance of results Give directions for future work Give paper a strong closing

CHECKING Content Language References Journal requirements