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RESEARCH III
Quarter 1 – Module 1
UNDERSTANDING THE IMRAD
FORMAT OF RESEARCH PAPER
Research III– Grade 9
Quarter 1 – Module 1: Understanding the IMRAD format of Research Paper

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 Follow IMRAD writing format
(Understanding the IMRAD format of Research
Paper)
SSP-RS9-IM-Ig-h-3
 Understanding the
IMRAD format of
Research Paper

You have been armed with an understanding of the nature

of research and research processes, different standard
rules in the conduct of research which are necessary in
the preparation
What is IMRADofFormat?
the system of research documentation.
Moreover, you have been equipped with the ways of
collecting, organizing, presenting data in the preparation
for the research proposal writing, and use of statistical
tools in the conduct of scientific research.

• Understand the IMRAD format of research paper

Let us begin with the purpose of a scientific paper.

Over the past three hundred years, the scientific paper has improved
into an instrument to clearly inform the results of a scientific
investigation. These scientific papers are supposed to clearly and
accurately present the research so that one can easily get the necessary
pieces of data for information, and so that the research can be
accurately repeated.

The format of the scientific paper in current use is that of the IMRaD ;

Introduction Methodology Results and Discussion

Sometimes it is written as AIMRAD;

Abstract Introduction Methodology Results and Discussion

Take note, though, that a scientific paper always has an abstract

so that whether it is called IMRAD or AIMRAD, it has the same parts.

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The diagram below very briefly describes the contents of the scientific paper.

( Accessed at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10980-011-9674-3)

Abstract
The statements of the abstract follow this order: introducing the topic which
may include a statement about a literature gap, giving the specific questions or
objectives that the study answered, listing the main techniques or procedures
(including materials and equipment), describing results, and describing the main
conclusion. Sometimes a recommendation is included.

Shown below is a simple but well written abstract. It is about a research to develop
a laboratory procedure using chromatography for analyzing amino acids in solution.
It can be seen that the statements in the abstract follow the IMRAD format.

“In this experiment, chromatography was used to analyse amino acids in

solution. Standards were used to identify amino acids in a mixture. Ascending layer
chromatography with an isopropanol based solvent was used to separate the amino
acids, which were then detected with ninhydrin. The unknown mixture analysed
was found to contain aspartate and histidine. It was observed that the hydrophobic
amino acids were most mobile. This technique was shown to be an effective way of
analyzing unknown mixtures of amino acids. A mechanism for ninhydrin binding
to amino acids is proposed, based on observations from this experiment.”
© unilearning.uow.edu.au

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 Arrange the following statements to come up with a logical
abstract.

You may write the numbers only.

1. Protocols from previous researches were used with modifications to suit

conductivity measurements. The solution conductivity measurements were
determined using a NeuLog™ conductivity logger sensor.

2. The malunggay leaves were prepared by washing in acid and rinsing in distilled
water, sundrying, and pulverizing using a blender. Standard solutions were
prepared from USP grade reagents the solutions with lower concentrations were
prepared through serial dilutions.

3. The investigation focused on developing a protocol for crude quantitative

determination of biosorption of zinc (II) sulfate and lead (II) nitrate ions on dried
malunggay (Moringa oleifera) biomass.

4. The results show that conductivity can be used as a possible substitute to

spectroscopy because the trends in data for pH dependence and time dependence
of biosorption are similar to those of previously reported researches using
spectroscopy.

You may check your answer with that in the answer key section.

Introduction
The introduction explains why the research is important or necessary. The
parts follow this order; a background that the problem or situation that motivates
the research, related literature and studies that describe the current state of research
in the field and reveal a “gap” or problem in the field, and an explanation how the
present research is a solution to that problem or gap that hints the objectives and
significance of the research.

After these, for high school investigatory projects, the objectives are then
explicitly given, followed by the significance of the research. Next is the scope and
delimitations that further elaborates the extent of how the current investigation
attempts to fill the existing gap. For crude researches, the limitations i.e., what
makes the research imperfect, are mentioned after the scope. If the study has
hypotheses, they are presented at the end of the introduction. If the research has no
statistical treatment, no hypothesis is given.

Shown below are excerpts from the introduction of an

investigatory project write up. Arrange the parts in the order
that they should be written based on the description of what
an introduction contains.

You may write the numbers only.

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 From: Conductivity protocol for zinc (II) sulfate and lead (II) nitrate biosorption of
M. oleifera leaf biomass by Nesky A. Castilla

1..This investigation was conducted to answer these questions:

a. At what pH can malunggay biomass adsorb the greatest amount of ions?
b..Does the amount of time of exposure of malunggay biomass to the ionic
solutions affect the amount of ions the biomass adsorbs?

2. According to previous researches, the main explanation for biosorption is the

electrostatic attraction between the negatively charged functional groups on the
surface of the biomass and the positively (+2) charged metal ions in the solution.
Biosorption can be measured indirectly by measuring the effect of the heavy metal
on the cellular structure. ……..

3. In this project, the investigator conducted experiments in conductivity to

develop a less expensive and more accessible protocol for determining the amount
of metal ions adsorbed from the dried malunggay (Moringa oleifera) leaves, in
particular. This can be measured in terms of decrease in conductivity reading of
the resulting pH solution that contains heavy metal ions.

4..These methods are not only very expensive but also unavailable to schools with
simple laboratories. Because of this, experiments about quantitative
determination of metal adsorption are not very popular in countryside schools.

5..Leaching of heavy metals into the environment has been a threat to the
environment and to the well-being of the people. …. Environmental researches in
phytoremediation through bioaccumulation, biosorption, and ion exchange have
been intensively conducted in the last few years to alleviate this problem.

6..This research focused on the protocol only. Since this is only a qualitative
determination of adsorption of ions, no conclusions on the amount of heavy metal
ions adsorbed were made since this can only be measured using atomic
absorption spectroscopy.

You may check your answer with that in the answer key section.

Methodology

The methodology describes how the investigation was performed. There must
be enough information so that the reader can duplicate your experiment. The
procedure should be arranged in the order it was performed.

This part includes the following as needed:

A. chronological order of activities for a particular procedure (or refer the reader
to papers that have already described the used procedure)
B. particular techniques used and why, if important

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 C. changes in any techniques; be sure to describe the changes
D. specialized equipment, including brand-names
E. temporal, spatial, and historical description of study area and studied
population
F. assumptions underlying the study
G. statistical methods, including software programs

Identify the part of the methodology shown by the statements

below. Use the parts listed above as choices. The hints are in
italics.

You may write only the letters of your answers.

1..The conductivity reading was measured every hour using a NeuLog™ conductivity
logger sensor.

2.. To prepare the biomass, the leaves were first washed in running water to remove
dust and other impurities. Then the leaves were washed in 0.01 M HCl solution to
dissolve other biomolecules that might interact with the metals. ……

3. This experiment was carried out using the pH profile method previously reported
by Gardea-Torresdey with the following changes: twenty- one beakers with 0.01 M
zinc (II) sulfate were prepared.

4. Serial dilution was used to prepare solutions of ZnSO4 and Pb(NO3)2 with much
lower concentrations which are 0.01 M, 0.03M, 0.05M, 0.07M and 0.09 M.
5. The malunggay leaves were collected from a site in Bigaa, Virac, Catanduanes
where vehicular traffic is almost nonexistent. The site was selected so that it can be
assumed that the leaves have not already adsorbed heavy metal ions.

You may check your answer with that in the answer key section.

Results and Discussion

This section presents the detailed data in the form of measurements, counts,
percentages, patterns that usually appear in tables, figures, and graphs. The key
data and relationships among data are explained without repeating what can be read
from the table. Raw data is not included here but are found in the appendix. Note:
There are references that explain when a table or a graph can best present the data,
when data can be more conveniently mentioned in a statement, and the like. The most
important things to include are important findings highlighted according to the
research objectives, reference/s to previously mentioned related researches to
compare results, and logical conclusions.

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The examples below come from “Conductivity protocol for zinc (II) sulfate and lead (II)
nitrate biosorption of M. oleifera leaf biomass” by Nesky A. Castilla

Here is an example of a well-written result. This part reports the data that answers
the first question in the objectives. “ At what pH can malunggay biomass adsorb
the greatest amount of ions? “

The conductivity readings (in micro Siemens per centimeter, i.e. µS/cm) is
lowest at pH 5. This means that the ability of dried malunggay biomass to adsorb
zinc (II) sulfate ions is highest at pH 5. This result agrees with the research
conducted by Abdusalam and Adekola (2005) wherein the maximum adsorption of
lead happened at an initial pH of 5 in goethite, which is the most abundant and the
most stable iron oxide in the soil…… “

Figure 1. Conductivity of ZnSO4 (at various pH) after addition of

malunggay biomass
2500.00

2000.00
conductivity µS/cm

1500.00

1000.00
Conductivity (µS/cm)

500.00

0.00
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
pH

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This part answers the second question “ Does the amount of time of exposure of
malunggay biomass to the ionic solutions affect the amount of ions the biomass
adsorbs?”3

The computed values for the molar concentrations based from the regression
equation are averaged and presented in the Figure 2 below. This result implies that
the longer the biomass is exposed to the solution; the more ions it adsorbs. This agrees
with the results reported by Gardea-Torresdey and colleagues in 1990 and by
Ndibewu, P.P and colleagues in 2011.

Figure 2. Change in molar concentration of ZnSO4 with biomass

0.003
0.002495077
0.0025 0.002312798
Concentration

0.001885858
0.002

0.0015

0.001

0.0005

0
60 min 120 min 180 min
Length of exposure to malunggay biomass

Write the conclusions (in one complete statement each) for the
following questions based on parts of the Results and Discussion
shown above.

1.. At what pH can malunggay biomass adsorb the greatest amount of ions?

2. Does the amount of time of exposure of malunggay biomass to the ionic

solutions affect the amount of ions the biomass adsorbs?”

You may check your answer with that in the answer key section.

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 Shown below are statements from the abstract for the research
conducted by Stefan Joshua Coburn from Fayette County High
School, Fayetteville, GA. The title of his winning paper in the
2007 Intel ISEF was “Effects of Context on Interior Scrambled
Text”.

Identify which part of the paper are the statements below.

The choices are:

A. Introduction B. Methodology C. Results and Discussion/Conclusion

You may write the letter only.

1. The purpose of this experiment is to identify what effect context has on interior
scrambled text recognition.

2. Twenty-five participants were given two sets of 24 stimuli to distinguish as

either interior scrambled word or nonword in a lexical decision experiment.

3. In one set the twenty- four stimuli were each presented in isolation, and in the
other set the stimuli were each presented in the context of a sentence, which
was completely interiorly scrambled. Each stimulus was shown via PowerPoint
on a slide for 4 seconds.

4. The mean difference was 3.88. Using a single-tailed T-test a p of 5.34X10^-10

was obtained.

5. This means the null hypothesis can be reasonably rejected in favor of the
alternative hypothesis, that context aids word recognition. In addition, the data
contests the idea that the ability to read interior scrambled text implies that
people read words independent of letter order.

You can check your answers using the answer key section.

Congratulations on finishing the

supplementary learning module! You have just had
an amazing learning journey, and for sure, you will
have the same in the succeeding modules.
,

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 ANSWER KEYS

Abstract 3, 2, 1, 4

Introduction 5, 2, 4, 3, 1

Methodology
1. D 2. A 3. C 4. B 5. F

Results and Discussion

1. Malunggay biomass adsorbs the greatest amount of zinc (II) sulfate and lead
(II) nitrate ions at pH 5 .

2. The amount of time of exposure of malunggay biomass to the ionic solutions

affects the amount of ions the biomass adsorbs.

1. A 2. B 3. B 4. C 5. C

REFERENCES

Balch, Tucker. How to Compose a Title for Your Research Paper. Augmented Trader
blog. School of Interactive Computing, Georgia Tech University; Choosing
the Proper Research Paper Titles. AplusReports.com, 2007-2012; General
Format. The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University.
Hartley, James. Academic writing and publishing: a practical guide. New York:
Routledge, 2010. Print.

Masons The Writing Center, (2020) Writing a Scientific Research Report (IMRaD).
https://writingcenter.gmu.edu/guides/apa-style-quick-guide-2020

The University of Southern California has a guide specific to social science research
papers: http://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/title

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University of Southern California. 2017. Organizing your social sciences research
paper: choosing a title. [Online] Available
at: http://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/title
Wu, J., (2011) Improving the writing of research papers: IMRAD and
beyond. Landscape Ecol 26, 13451349.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-
011-9674-3

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