Department of Information Systems – CEPS – SQU

General guidelines on your thesis writing

Title:

The title summarizes the main idea or ideas of your study. A good title contains the fewest possible
words that adequately describe the contents and/or purpose of your research paper.

The title is without doubt the part of a paper that is read the most, and it is usually read first. If the
title is too long it usually contains too many unnecessary words, e.g., "A Study to Investigate the...."
On the other hand, a title which is too short often uses words which are too general. For example,
"Global Pandemic" could be the title of a book, but it does not provide any information on the focus
of a research paper.

Effective titles in academic research papers have several characteristics.

 Indicate accurately the subject and scope of the study.

 Avoid using abbreviations.
 Use words that create a positive impression and stimulate reader interest.
 Use current nomenclature from the field of study.
 Identify key variables, both dependent and independent.
 May reveal how the paper will be organized.
 Suggest a relationship between variables which supports the major hypothesis.
 Is limited to 10 to 15 substantive words.
 Do not include "study of," "analysis of" or similar constructions.
 Titles are usually in the form of a phrase, but can also be in the form of a question.
 Use correct grammar and capitalization with all first words and last words capitalized,
including the first word of a subtitle. All nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs that
appear between the first and last words of the title are also capitalized.
 In academic papers, rarely is a title followed by an exclamation mark. However, a title or
subtitle can be in the form of a question.

Abstract Writing:

An abstract is a 150- to 250-word paragraph that provides readers with a quick overview of your
essay or report and its organization. General abstract writing guidelines are as follows:

1) Be concise

Most abstracts are between 150-250 words in length. Summarize the key elements from your article
in a way that describes what you have written but encourages readers to read further for the details
of your research and argument.

2) Be complete

The abstract should represent the entirety of your article – introduction, methodology, results, and
conclusions. Key research questions addressed in the paper should be identified, followed by the
methods used to conduct the research, the significant results of your study, and finally why your
paper matters.

3) Be factual
The abstract should be unbiased and present the factual elements of the article. Any arguments
made by the author should be done within the article. The abstract should focus on what research
was conducted, how it was done, the results of the study, and why it matters as a contribution to the
discipline.

4) Be articulate

The abstract represents not only the content of the article, but the writing abilities of the author.
This first impression should be grammatically accurate, ideas should flow naturally from introduction
through conclusion in a logical progression consistent with the body of the article, and unnecessary
information should be eliminated to improve readability (and meet word count requirements).

Keywords

Keywords are words that capture the essence of your paper. Keywords make your paper searchable
and ensure that you get more citations. Therefore, it is important to include the most relevant
keywords that will help other authors find your paper.

Here are a few tips that will help you create relevant and effective keywords for your paper:

1. Think from the point of view of the reader. What keywords would the reader search for that
would help retrieve your article?

2. Keywords should ideally be phrases of 2-4 words; single word keywords are acceptable, but they
may lead to many false matches.

3. Keywords should contain words and phrases that suggest what the topic is about. Also include
words and phrases that are closely related to your topic. (For example, if the paper is about heart
diseases, use words like stroke, circulatory system, blood, etc.)

4. Also use variants terms or phrases that readers are likely to use (For example, if the paper is about
spine disorders, use words like spinal cord, vertebral column, backbone, etc.)

5. The full forms of shortened words or acronyms and abbreviations should be included as well.

Introduction

An introduction is the initial part of a research paper and the part that a reader is likely to read first
(at least when focusing deeply and reading your paper in detail). Hence, definitions, notions, and
some other important information required for understanding the paper are presented/listed here.

Every research paper needs context so that readers can understand why you have created it. This is
exactly what you can do in your research paper introduction. Of course, this can mean that your
introduction is the hardest part of paper to write first. So, it is essential that you take your time and
make sure that you get it right.

The introduction of writing is going to set out your rationale, which is what a research will be based
around. Your readers will be able to tell right from the beginning what they are going to be reading
about and even whether it interests them.

It is important that you make the beginning of your research paper interesting and engage with your
readers from the first line. This will make sure that people continue to read research and learn about
what you have found out. In addition, you should also state hypothesis and the way that you think
your work will turn out in conclusion. You can follow this when you are writing an introduction
section.

 Introduce your topic.

 Create some context and background.
 Tell your reader about the research you plan to carry out.
 State your rationale.
 Explain why your research is important.
 State your hypothesis.

The introduction of a research paper may contain a few other parts/ elements such as the chief
goal(s) and objectives of the research, a brief but informative outline of the following content,
explained, concept definitions, a brief history of the research into the topic, recent related
discoveries, etc.).

Literature Review

Please refer to URL: https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/literature-reviews/ to understand

how effectively we can write literature review for your paper.

Analysis

Explains what your findings mean and what the implications and importance are both to your
specific area of research and in a broader context (i.e., to the wider field or to society).

Includes limitations to your study and discusses possible future research that is needed to answer
your research question more clearly and address closely related questions.

This section should include:

 Critique your study—be honest about the effectiveness of your design; suggest
modifications and improvement.
 Answer this question: “Did your study contribute to knowledge in the field or not?”
 Discuss the impact of this research on related research within the domain

Pre-writing Questions to Answer for the Discussion:

 How do these results relate to the original question or objectives outlined in the
Introduction section?
 Do the data support your hypothesis?
 Are your results consistent with what other investigators have reported?
 Discuss weaknesses and discrepancies. If your results were unexpected, try to explain why
 Is there another way to interpret your results?
 What further research would be necessary to answer the questions raised by your results?

Divide the analysis of results by paragraph and do not combine unrelated datasets in one paragraph

 The first paragraph/part should summarize the process, the results, and the overall purpose
of this study.
 The second paragraph/part should answer questions about the limitations and potential
flaws or shortcomings of this study (e.g., the “failure to reveal clear relationships between
samples or groups”). Assesses which of the results are most useful in answering the research
question.
  The third paragraph should focus on the successes of the study and highlight which method
or approach yielded the best results or those most closely hypothesized. You can also
compare results of different methods and assess which was more fruitful and why.
 In subsequent paragraphs, discuss the implications for this research and compare it to the
results of other studies. This is the other section (in addition to the Introduction) where you
can cite related studies to show how your study compares.

Problem Definition:

If you are focusing on a problem, be sure to define and state it specifically enough that you can write
about it. Avoid trying to investigate or write about multiple problems or about broad or overly
ambitious problems. Vague problem definition leads to unsuccessful proposals and vague,
unmanageable documents. Naming a topic is not the same as defining a problem.

Problem statements often have three elements:

 the problem itself, stated clearly and with enough contextual detail to establish why it is
important;
 the method of solving the problem, often stated as a claim or a working thesis;
 the purpose, statement of objective and scope of the document the writer is preparing.

These elements should be brief so that the reader does not get lost.

Conclusion

The conclusion is intended to help the reader understand why your research should matter to them
after they have finished reading the paper. A conclusion is not merely a summary of your points or a
re-statement of your research problem but a synthesis of key points. For most essays, one well-
developed paragraph is sufficient for a conclusion, although in some cases, a two-or-three paragraph
conclusion may be required.

A well-written conclusion provides you with several important opportunities to demonstrate your
overall understanding of the research problem to the reader. These include:

Presenting the last word on the issues you raised in your paper. Just as the introduction gives a first
impression to your reader, the conclusion offers a chance to leave a lasting impression. Do this, for
example, by highlighting key points in your analysis or findings.

Summarizing your thoughts and conveying the larger implications of your study. The conclusion is an
opportunity to succinctly answer the "so what?" question by placing the study within the context of
past research about the topic you've investigated.

Demonstrating the importance of your ideas. Don't be shy. The conclusion offers you a chance to
elaborate on the significance of your findings.

Introducing possible new or expanded ways of thinking about the research problem. This does not
refer to introducing new information [which should be avoided], but to offer new insight and
creative approaches for framing/contextualizing the research problem based on the results of your
study.

References:

Your source should be acknowledged every time the point that you make, or the data or other
information that you use, is substantially that of another writer and not your own. As a very rough
guide, while the introduction and the conclusions to your writing might be largely based on your
own ideas, within the main body of your report, essay or dissertation, you would expect to be
drawing on, and thus referencing your debt to, the work of others in each main section or
paragraph. Look at the ways in which your sources use references in their own work, and for further
guidance consult the companion guide Avoiding Plagiarism.

In-text Citation to References

When citing a reference from your reference list, please use the following conventions. Put in
parentheses the author(s) last names, the year, and optionally the page number(s) separated by
commas.

Do not use footnotes in this class for citations. You can use them for explanatory text, but not for
references. Have the citation make it easy to find the reference in the "References" section. All
references in that section should be complete enough for readers to obtain a copy for themselves.