In the present educational system, everyone is trying to secure their score in content writing, article writing, review writing, research paper, etc. Many beginners think writing a research paper is complicated or it may be difficult to write. After knowing these essential components of the research paper, you may think writing a research paper is simpler.
Many questions may arise, like what to write in this research paper. Which topic should I select? Am I eligible to write this or not? Which qualification should I study to write this research paper? Many questions like this. After reading this upto the end, you may get answers. Let us know.
Selection of topic:
The topic you have selected should be the most useful and unpopular. It may be about analysis or academic writing or interpreting something, or argument-based research. The main important thing in a research paper or not is your writing skills or something. It is all about the information that you have provided. It should give us scientific proof that your argument or opinion is correct. How strong and convincing is your evidence that your writings will be very effective? Your paper would be more interesting if you did a comparative study. You must specify the importance of selecting that topic, what the use is after reading or approving the article and what problem does it solve. If you keep all these things in mind then your research paper will be the best and show them how it differs and what’s so special about yours.
Methods:
Different people have different perspectives of presenting their papers, but there are two types of methods that are most commonly and widely followed while writing a research paper they are as follows
- Qualitative method: It is like an investigation. They frame a question like how, why, what, when, who, etc., and answer those questions in their way.
- Quantitative method
It requires something to present, like collected data or analysis of data in graphs, charts, or something they are interested in.
There are some other methods like
- Applied
- Correlational
- Experimental
- Scientific method
These are not most commonly used,but are still in existence.
Steps in writing a research paper:
While you are thinking about writing a research paper:
- First, you choose the topic based on your skills and interests.
- Then go through the research that has been done on that previously.
- Come to an assumption about that particular topic.
- Try to form a hypothesis or question on that particular topic.
- Search for valid and proof-based information or try to present your views
- Outline the topic
- Then start writing
- After completion, check for edits.
There are a total of 5 levels of quality research. The zero-level research is about presenting ‘what you have done.’ And the first level is anecdotal. The second is about case studies. The third is qualitative, the fourth is qualitative, and the final level is meta-analysis.
Parts of the research paper:
There are some specific parts that must be included in a research paper which are as follows:
- Title (cover page)
Your research paper’s title, your name, the date it was due, and the name of your school should all be listed on the very first page. Your professors’ requirements may call for additional components, so it’s a good idea to check with them to be sure you include all the necessary material in the proper sequence. Typically, you will be given a template or checklist of some form to use as a guide when composing your cover page.
- Introduction
The intro must be short, with 8-10 lines which should give a brief description of your writing. After reading that intro, the person who is reading should get knowledge about what you are going to tell further. Your thesis statement should be stated at the very beginning of your research paper. It should be a concise explanation of the goals you have for your research project, including the issues you plan to examine and any potential solutions or suggestions you may have. This must contain the type of research you are doing and on what basis you selected the topic along with specifications like the name of the research,the things you have used to complete the research and the brief intro about the topics you have listed in the further lines. The questions may be like:
- What? Be specific about the paper’s topic, introduce the background, and define key terms or concepts.
- Why? This is the most important, but also the most difficult, part of the introduction. Try to provide brief answers to the following questions: What new material or insight are you offering? What important issues does your essay help define or answer?
- How? To let the reader know what to expect from the rest of the paper, the introduction should include a “map” of what will be discussed, briefly presenting the key elements of the paper in chronological order.
- Literature review
This section of the research paper should present the theoretical framework you developed throughout your investigation. When preparing for the assignment, you must demonstrate the sources you examined; these sources should be reliable academically. Include the names of the pertinent authors you’ve studied, and then include a correctly formatted reference that specifically refers to the works you’ve examined by them, along with the publication year.
- Multi-experiment papers
When there are several experiments, it is typical to follow the Introduction with a part titled “Experiment 1,” which includes subsections for the sections “Methods,” “Results,” and “Discussion.” The Experiment 2 section follows with a similar arrangement, followed by the Experiment 3 section, and so on, until all experiments are addressed. The paper concludes with a section on general discussion and then lists its references. Additionally, it is typical in multi-experiment papers to combine the separate “Results and Discussion” sections for each experiment into a single section.
- Research Methodology
Different sections of a research report have different objectives, and in this section you must specify the precise research techniques you employed. Common techniques include direct observation, lab experimentation, and statistical analyses. Any techniques you decide to use must be specifically mentioned in this section.
- Data analysis
All of a research paper’s components are significant, but from a practical perspective, this section is perhaps the most vital. Of all the sections of a research paper, this is the one where you will be asked to analyze the information you have gathered via your investigation. Here’s your time to shine by offering fresh information that can advance our understanding of the subjects you studied. You only need to report your data objectively at this stage; more analysis will be done in the research paper’s later sections.
- Results
This is the section of a research paper where you analyze the information you have obtained while conducting your investigation. This analysis should be consistent with the methodology you previously described. It should also highlight any implications your data might have for other academic disciplines and any methodological flaws that might make future research on the same topic more fruitful.
- Conclusion
Rather than concluding in a general manner, add some extra things like your final thoughts and other things. When you draw all these components together, you will arrive at the purpose of your research, so all that is left to do is to point out your conclusions in a clear way. As you wrap up your research paper, you should succinctly restate your thesis statement along with your methodology and analyzed data.
- Reference page
This is the last thing that you include in your research paper which contains the information about from where you have collected the details and another reason behind this is to give them access to compare your study
To make your writing special and effective the following tips should be Included:
- Summary of findings
This includes the things you have assessed. Does this discussion assert that you have answered your research questions or not?
- Implications for practise
Address how your study informs the practice of professionals in certain fields. How many fields are there, and discuss a minimum of 2 lines about each field.
- Future research
Discuss the future research that can be done on your research or how to conduct further studies. And describe the methods of conducting in a few sentences.
- Research questions
The study design is guided by well-defined and specific research questions. It includes the analytical path and the descriptive part. The question should be clear and focused.
- Placement of Tables and Figures
In some cases, to make reading through the paper easier, Tables and/or Figures are embedded in the text (for example, having a bar graph placed in the relevant Results section). The embedding of Tables and/or Figures in the text is one of the most common deviations from APA style (and is commonly allowed in B.S. Degree Research Papers and Honors Theses; however, you should check with your instructor, supervisor, or editor first). Graphs and data (optional in some cases) – depending on the type of research being performed, there may be Tables and/or Figures (however, in some cases, there may be neither). In APA style, each Table and each Figure is placed on a separate page, and all Tables and Figures are included after the References. Tables are included first, followed by Figures. However, for some journals and undergraduate research papers (such as the B.S. Research Paper or Honors Thesis), Tables and Figures may be embedded in the text (depending on the instructor’s or editor’s policies; for more details, see “Deviations from APA Style” below).
General format rules
- Papers should have margins of at least 1 inch on all sides.
- Double spaces should be used for all content.
- The preferred font size is 12 point Times New Roman. Except as noted in the Manual, all text lines should be flush-left and not justified.
- Every paragraph’s initial line needs to be indented.
- The Abstract, quotations, titles, and headings, as well as Tables and Figures, are exempt from the indenting requirement.
- The title page should be numbered page 1, the abstract should be numbered page 2, and the text should begin on page 3.
- Pages should be numbered at the top right.
- The Running Head, a shortened title, should be flush-left and written in uppercase at the top of each page.
- Punctuation marks should be followed by two spaces at the end of each sentence (in other words, there should be two spaces after the period that ends each sentence).