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A significance statement is an essential part of a research paper. It explains the importance and
relevance of the study to the academic community and the world at large. To write a compelling
significance statement, identify the research problem, explain why it is significant, provide
evidence of its importance, and highlight its potential impact on future research, policy, or
practice. A well-crafted significance statement should effectively communicate the value of the
research to readers and help them understand why it matters.
How have my research findings advanced knowledge or provided notable new insights?
How has my research helped to prove (or disprove) a hypothesis or answer a research question?
Why are those results important?
In terms of content, emphasize the importance, timeliness, and relevance of your research
results.
Write the statement in plain, clear language rather than scientific or technical jargon. Your
audience will include not just your fellow scientists but also non-specialists like journalists,
funding reviewers, and members of the public.
Follow the process we outline below to build a solid, well-crafted, and informative statement.
Get started
Some suggested opening lines to help you get started might be:
Alternatively, you may start with a statement about the phenomenon you’re studying, leading to
the problem statement.
Include these components
Next, draft some sentences that include the following elements. A good example, which we’ll
use here, is a significance statement by Rogers et al. (2022) published in the Journal of Climate.
1. Briefly situate your research study in its larger context. Start by introducing the topic,
leading to a problem statement. Here’s an example:
‘Heatwaves pose a major threat to human health, ecosystems, and human systems.”
2. State the research problem.
“Simultaneous heatwaves affecting multiple regions can exacerbate such threats. For example,
multiple food-producing regions simultaneously undergoing heat-related crop damage could
drive global food shortages.”
3. Tell what your study does to address it.
“We assess recent changes in the occurrence of simultaneous large heatwaves.”
4. Provide brief but powerful evidence to support the claims your statement is making, Use
quantifiable terms rather than vague ones (e.g., instead of “This phenomenon is happening now
more than ever,” see below how Rogers et al. (2022) explained it). This evidence intensifies and
illustrates the problem more vividly:
“Such simultaneous heatwaves are 7 times more likely now than 40 years ago. They are also
hotter and affect a larger area. Their increasing occurrence is mainly driven by warming baseline
temperatures due to global heating, but changes in weather patterns contribute to
disproportionate increases over parts of Europe, the eastern United States, and Asia.
5. Relate your study’s impact to the broader context, starting with its general significance to
society—then, when possible, move to the particular as you name specific applications of your
research findings. (Our example lacks this second level of application.)
“Better understanding the drivers of weather pattern changes is therefore important for
understanding future concurrent heatwave characteristics and their impacts.”
Refine your English
Don’t understate or overstate your findings – just make clear what your study contributes. When
you have all the elements in place, review your draft to simplify and polish your language. Even
better, get an expert AJE edit. Be sure to use “plain” language rather than academic jargon.
After revising your significance statement, request feedback from a reading mentor about how to
make it even clearer. If you’re not a native English speaker, seek help from a native-English-
speaking colleague or use an editing service like AJE to make sure your work is at a native level.
Understanding the significance of your study
Your readers may have much less interest than you do in the specific details of your research
methods and measures. Many readers will scan your article to learn how your findings might
apply to them and their own research.
Different types of significance
Your findings may have different types of significance, relevant to different populations or fields
of study for different reasons. You can emphasize your work’s statistical, clinical, or practical
significance. Editors or reviewers in the social sciences might also evaluate your work’s social or
political significance.
Statistical significance means that the results are unlikely to have occurred randomly. Instead, it
implies a true cause-and-effect relationship.
Clinical significance means that your findings are applicable for treating patients and improving
quality of life.
Practical significance is when your research outcomes are meaningful to society at large, in the
“real world.” Practical significance is usually measured by the study’s effect size. Similarly,
evaluators may attribute social or political significance to research that addresses “real and
immediate” social problems.