Writing Research Papers 

Writing Concept Paper

principles and uses of a concept paper

The purpose of a concept paper is to lay out the basics of a grant proposal so
that everyone involved in planning and implementation (from your organization or a partner's) agrees
on what will be in the proposal. This promotes good relationships and helps you get letters of
commitment

principles of a concept paper

The fundamental elements of a Concept Paper are project vision, project scope, project targets,
timeline and milestones and project management. Let's look at them individually. The first section of
the Paper articulates the purpose and objectives of the project and defines the specific problem to be
solved. rom your partners, as well.

uses of a concept paper

Applicants may use concept papers in any of the following ways: to interest potential funders; ▪ to
develop potential solutions or investigations into project ideas; ▪ to determine whether a project idea
is fundable; and/or ▪ to serve as the foundation of a full proposal.

Writing a Literature Review writing-literature-reviews

When writing a research paper on a specific topic, you will often need to include an overview of any
prior research that has been conducted on that topic. For example, if your research paper is
describing an experiment on fear conditioning, then you will probably need to provide an overview of
prior research on fear conditioning. That overview is typically known as a literature review.

Different Types of Literature Reviews

Literature reviews come in many forms. They can be part of a research paper, for example as part of
the Introduction section. They can be one chapter of a doctoral dissertation. Literature reviews can
also “stand alone” as separate articles by themselves. For instance, some journals such as Annual
Review of Psychology, Psychological Bulletin, and others typically publish full-length review articles.
Similarly, in courses at UCSD, you may be asked to write a research paper that is itself a literature
review (such as, with an instructor’s permission, in fulfillment of the B.S. Degree Research Paper
requirement). Alternatively, you may be expected to include a literature review as part of a larger
research paper (such as part of an Honors Thesis).

Literature reviews can be written using a variety of different styles. These may differ in the way prior
research is reviewed as well as the way in which the literature review is organized.

Examples of stylistic variations in literature reviews include:

Summarization of prior work vs. critical evaluation. In some cases, prior research is simply described
and summarized; in other cases, the writer compares, contrasts, and may even critique prior research
(for example, discusses their strengths and weaknesses).

Chronological vs. categorical and other types of organization. In some cases, the literature review
begins with the oldest research and advances until it concludes with the latest research. In other
cases, research is discussed by category (such as in groupings of closely related studies) without
regard for chronological order. In yet other cases, research is discussed in terms of opposing views
(such as when different research studies or researchers disagree with one another).

Overall, all literature reviews, whether they are written as a part of a larger work or as separate
articles unto themselves, have a common feature: they do not present new research; rather, they
provide an overview of prior research on a specific topic.

How to Write a Literature Review

When writing a literature review, it can be helpful to rely on the following steps. Please note that
these procedures are not necessarily only for writing a literature review that becomes part of a larger
article; they can also be used for writing a full-length article that is itself a literature review (although
such reviews are typically more detailed and exhaustive; for more information, please refer to the
Further Resources section of this page).

Major Sections of a Research Paper in APA Style

A complete research paper in APA style that is reporting on experimental research will typically
contain a Title page, Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, and References sections.1
Many will also contain Figures and Tables and some will have an Appendix or Appendices. These
sections are detailed as follows (for a more in-depth guide, please refer to "How to Write a Research
Paper in APA Style”, a comprehensive guide developed by Prof. Emma Geller).2

Title Page
What is this paper called and who wrote it? – the first page of the paper; this includes the name of the
paper, a “running head”, authors, and institutional affiliation of the authors. The institutional
affiliation is usually listed in an Author Note that is placed towards the bottom of the title page. In
some cases, the Author Note also contains an acknowledgment of any funding support and of any
individuals that assisted with the research project.

Abstract

One-paragraph summary of the entire study – typically no more than 250 words in length (and in
many cases it is well shorter than that), the Abstract provides an overview of the study.

Introduction

What is the topic and why is it worth studying? – the first major section of text in the paper, the
Introduction commonly describes the topic under investigation, summarizes or discusses relevant
prior research (for related details, please see the Writing Literature Reviews section of this website),
identifies unresolved issues that the current research will address, and provides an overview of the
research that is to be described in greater detail in the sections to follow.

Methods

What did you do? – a section which details how the research was performed. It typically features a
description of the participants/subjects that were involved, the study design, the materials that were
used, and the study procedure. If there were multiple experiments, then each experiment may
require a separate Methods section. A rule of thumb is that the Methods section should be
sufficiently detailed for another researcher to duplicate your research.

Results

What did you find? – a section which describes the data that was collected and the results of any
statistical tests that were performed. It may also be prefaced by a description of the analysis
procedure that was used. If there were multiple experiments, then each experiment may require a
separate Results section.

Discussion
What is the significance of your results? – the final major section of text in the paper. The Discussion
commonly features a summary of the results that were obtained in the study, describes how those
results address the topic under investigation and/or the issues that the research was designed to
address, and may expand upon the implications of those findings. Limitations and directions for
future research are also commonly addressed.

References

List of articles and any books cited – an alphabetized list of the sources that are cited in the paper (by
last name of the first author of each source). Each reference should follow specific APA guidelines
regarding author names, dates, article titles, journal titles, journal volume numbers, page numbers,
book publishers, publisher locations, websites, and so on (for more information, please see the Citing
References in APA Style page of this website).

Tables and Figures

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).

Appendix

Supplementary information (optional) – in some cases, additional information that is not critical to
understanding the research paper, such as a list of experiment stimuli, details of a secondary analysis,
or programming code, is provided. This is often placed in an Appendix.
 Steps for Writing a Literature Review

1. Identify and define the topic that you will be reviewing.

The topic, which is commonly a research question (or problem) of some kind, needs to be identified
and defined as clearly as possible. You need to have an idea of what you will be reviewing in order to
effectively search for references and to write a coherent summary of the research on it. At this stage
it can be helpful to write down a description of the research question, area, or topic that you will be
reviewing, as well as to identify any keywords that you will be using to search for relevant research.

2. Conduct a literature search.

Use a range of keywords to search databases such as PsycINFO and any others that may contain
relevant articles. You should focus on peer-reviewed, scholarly articles. Published books may also be
helpful, but keep in mind that peer-reviewed articles are widely considered to be the “gold standard”
of scientific research. Read through titles and abstracts, select and obtain articles (that is, download,
copy, or print them out), and save your searches as needed. For more information about this step,
please see the Using Databases and Finding Scholarly References section of this website.

3. Read through the research that you have found and take notes.

Absorb as much information as you can. Read through the articles and books that you have found,
and as you do, take notes. The notes should include anything that will be helpful in advancing your
own thinking about the topic and in helping you write the literature review (such as key points, ideas,
or even page numbers that index key information). Some references may turn out to be more helpful
than others; you may notice patterns or striking contrasts between different sources; and some
sources may refer to yet other sources of potential interest. This is often the most time-consuming
part of the review process. However, it is also where you get to learn about the topic in great detail.
For more details about taking notes, please see the “Reading Sources and Taking Notes” section of the
Finding Scholarly References page of this website.

4. Organize your notes and thoughts; create an outline.

At this stage, you are close to writing the review itself. However, it is often helpful to first reflect on
all the reading that you have done. What patterns stand out? Do the different sources converge on a
consensus? Or not? What unresolved questions still remain? You should look over your notes (it may
also be helpful to reorganize them), and as you do, to think about how you will present this research
in your literature review. Are you going to summarize or critically evaluate? Are you going to use a
chronological or other type of organizational structure? It can also be helpful to create an outline of
how your literature review will be structured.

5. Write the literature review itself and edit and revise as needed.

The final stage involves writing. When writing, keep in mind that literature reviews are generally
characterized by a summary style in which prior research is described sufficiently to explain critical
findings but does not include a high level of detail (if readers want to learn about all the specific
details of a study, then they can look up the references that you cite and read the original articles
themselves). However, the degree of emphasis that is given to individual studies may vary (more or
less detail may be warranted depending on how critical or unique a given study was). After you have
written a first draft, you should read it carefully and then edit and revise as needed. You may need to
repeat this process more than once. It may be helpful to have another person read through your
draft(s) and provide feedback.

6. Incorporate the literature review into your research paper draft.

After the literature review is complete, you should incorporate it into your research paper (if you are
writing the review as one component of a larger paper). Depending on the stage at which your paper
is at, this may involve merging your literature review into a partially complete Introduction section,
writing the rest of the paper around the literature review, or other processes.

Formatting Research Papers format

Research papers written in APA style should follow the formatting rules specified in the Publication
Manual of the American Psychological Association. Most research papers that are written for
psychology courses at UCSD, including the B.S. Degree Research Paper and the Honors Thesis, have to
follow APA format. Here we discuss the formatting of research papers according to APA style.

How to Format a Research Paper in APA Style

For the most accurate and comprehensive information on formatting papers in APA style, we
recommend referring directly to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.
Reputable online sources (e.g., the official APA Style website and the Purdue University Online Writing
Lab’s guide to APA style) are also recommended.
According to the Publication Manual, the major sections and components of APA style research
papers should adhere to the following guidelines. Note that how closely these guidelines are followed
may vary depending on the course and instructor.

General Formatting Rules

Papers should have at least 1-in. margins on all sides.1

All text should be double spaced.1

Times New Roman, 12 point font is preferred.1

All lines of text should be flush-left and should not be justified, except where noted in the
Manual.1

The first line of every paragraph should be indented. Exceptions to the indenting rule are the
Abstract, quotations, titles and headings, as well as Tables and Figures.1

Pages should be numbered at the top right, with the title page numbered page 1, the Abstract
numbered page 2, and the text starting on page 3.1

An abbreviated title called the Running Head should be placed at the top of each page, flush-
left in uppercase letters.1

Two spaces should be used after punctuation marks at the end of each sentence (in other
words, there should be two spaces after the period that ends each sentence).2

Formatting the Title Page

The title should be typed in the upper half of the title page, centered, and with the first letters of all
but minor words capitalized.3

The name(s) of the author(s) should be typed below the title and followed with the institutional
affiliation(s) of the author(s).3

An Author Note should appear below the aforementioned items. The Author Note can have up to four
paragraphs. These respectively describe the author(s)’ departmental and institutional affiliation, any
changes in affiliation, acknowledgments, and contact information.3
 Formatting the Abstract

The Abstract typically should not exceed 250 words.4

The Abstract should be placed on a separate page, with the label Abstract appearing at the top center
of that page and followed by the text of the Abstract.4

The Abstract should not be indented.4

Formatting the Main Body of Text

The main body of text should begin on a separate page after the Abstract.5

It should begin with the Introduction section.5

The Introduction section should be titled with the title of the research paper and not the word
“Introduction.” The title should appear at the top of the page, centered, and should not be bolded.5

The remainder of the text should be flush-left, with each new paragraph indented except where noted
above (see General Formatting Rules).5

Each of the subsequent sections of the paper should be prefaced with a heading. APA guidelines
specify different heading formats (for more information on Levels of Headings, see below).5

Formatting References

The references section should begin on a separate page after the main body of text.6

It should begin with the word “References” placed at the top of the page and centered.6

All references should be listed in alphabetical order by the last name of the first author of each
reference.6

All references should be double-spaced and should use a hanging indent format wherein the first line
of each reference is flush-left and all subsequent lines of that reference are indented (with that
pattern repeating for each reference).6

All references should use the appropriate APA reference format (for more information, please see the
Citing References section of this website).6
What Types of References Are Appropriate?scholarly-references

When writing a research paper, there are many different types of sources that you might consider
citing. Which are appropriate? Which are less appropriate? Here we discuss the different types of
sources that you may wish to use when working on a research paper.

Please note that the following represents a general set of recommended guidelines that is not specific
to any class and does not represent department policy. The types of allowable sources may vary by
course and instructor.

Highly appropriate: peer-reviewed journal articles

In general, you should primarily cite peer-reviewed journal articles in your research papers. Peer-
reviewed journal articles are research papers that have been accepted for publication after having
undergone a rigorous editorial review process. During that review process, the article was carefully
evaluated by at least one journal editor and a group of reviewers (usually scientists that are experts in
the field or topic under investigation). Often the article underwent revisions before it was judged to
be satisfactory for publication.

Most articles submitted to high quality journals are not accepted for publication. As such, research
that is successfully published in a respected peer-reviewed journal is generally regarded as higher
quality than research that is not published or is published elsewhere, such as in a book, magazine, or
on a website. However, just because a study was published in a peer-reviewed journal does not mean
that it is free from error or that its conclusions are correct. Accordingly, it is important to critically
read and carefully evaluate all sources, including peer-reviewed journal articles.

Tips for finding and using peer-reviewed journal articles:

Many databases, such as PsycINFO, can be set to only search for peer-reviewed journal articles. Other
search engines, such as Google Scholar, typically include both peer-reviewed and not peer-reviewed
articles in search results, and thus should be used with greater caution.

Even though a peer-reviewed journal article is, by definition, a source that has been carefully vetted
through an editorial process, it should still be critically evaluated by the reader.

Potentially appropriate: books, encyclopedias, and other scholarly works

Another potential source that you might use when writing a research paper is a book, encyclopedia, or
an official online source (such as demographic data drawn from a government website). When relying
on such sources, it is important to carefully consider its accuracy and trustworthiness. For example,
books vary in quality; most have not undergone any form of review process other than basic
copyediting. In many cases, a book’s content is little more than the author’s informed or uninformed
opinion.

However, there are books that have been edited prior to publication, as is the case with many
reputable encyclopedias; also, many books from academic publishers are comprised of multiple
chapters, each written by one or more researchers, with the entire volume carefully reviewed by one
or more editors. In those cases, the book has undergone a form of peer review, albeit often not as
rigorous as that for a peer-reviewed journal article.

Tips for using books, encyclopedias, and other scholarly works:

When using books, encyclopedias, and other scholarly works (that is, works written or produced by
researchers, official agencies, or corporations), it is important to very carefully evaluate the quality of
that source.

If the source is an edited volume (in which case in the editor(s) will be listed on the cover), is
published by a reputable source (such as Academic Press, MIT Press, and others), or is written by a
major expert in the field (such as a researcher with a track record of peer-reviewed journal articles on
the subject), then it is more likely to be trustworthy.

For online encyclopedias such as Wikipedia, an instructor may or may not consider that an acceptable
source (by default, don’t assume that a non-peer reviewed source will be considered acceptable). It is
best to ask the instructor for clarification.1

Usually inappropriate: magazines, blogs, and websites

Most research papers can be written using only peer-reviewed journal articles as sources. However,
for many topics it is possible to find a plethora of sources that have not been peer-reviewed but also
discuss the topic. These may include articles in popular magazines or postings in blogs, forums, and
other websites. In general, although these sources may be well-written and easy to understand, their
scientific value is often not as high as that of peer-reviewed articles. Exceptions include some
magazine and newspaper articles that might be cited in a research paper to make a point about public
awareness of a given topic, to illustrate beliefs and attitudes about a given topic among journalists, or
to refer to a news event that is relevant to a given topic.
Tips for using magazines, blogs, and websites:

Avoid such references if possible. You should primarily focus on peer-reviewed journal articles as
sources for your research paper. High quality research papers typically do not rely on non-academic
and not peer-reviewed sources.

Refer to non-academic, not peer-reviewed sources sparingly, and if you do, be sure to carefully
evaluate the accuracy and scientific merit of the source.

Citing Referencesciting-references

In your research paper, whenever you refer to prior research or to ideas that were generated by
others, you should cite the source or sources in the text and in a References section at the end of the
paper. In the psychological sciences, typically references are cited using APA style (as specified by the
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association).

For related information, please see the Formatting Research Papers and
Academic Integrity and Avoiding Plagiarism.

Citing References in APA Style

The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association has detailed guidelines for the
citing of different sources within the text (in-text citations) and in the References section. On this
page we detail general guidelines and common cases of citing sources in APA style.

Please note that the following is an overview; for more in-depth information, referring to the Manual is recommended.
Please also note that required reference styles and the specifics of citing references may vary across courses. You should
check with your instructor for any special referencing requirements.
In-Text Citations in APA Style

In APA style, references are cited in the text using the last name of the author(s) and the publication
date. For example, if you are citing an article written by John Wixted in 2004, the in-text citation
would typically be enclosed in parentheses as “(Wixted, 2004)”. For example:

Research in the fields of psychology and neuroscience provides support for the theory that forgetting
often stems from retroactive interference (Wixted, 2004).

Alternatively, if you are referring directly to the name of the author in the text, then the name is
followed by the year of publication. The year of publication is enclosed in parentheses. For example:

Wixted (2004) reviewed psychology and neuroscience research that provides support for the theory
that forgetting often stems from retroactive interference.

If the reference has between two to five authors, then the last names of all authors are listed as part
of the first in-text citation of that reference in the article. For example:

Taking practice tests has been shown to boost 8th grade students’ memory of U.S. history facts,
relative to a restudy control condition, on a final test administered 16 weeks later (Carpenter, Pashler,
& Cepeda, 2009).

After that initial in-text citation, all subsequent in-text citations for that reference only list the last
name of the first author followed by et al. For example:

The relative benefits of practice testing over restudy were larger on the final test administered 16
weeks later than on a final test administered 1 week later (Carpenter et al., 2009).

If the reference has more than five authors, the last name of the first author, followed by et al., is
used for all in-text citations.
These examples represent among the most common cases of in-text citations; for further examples
you might wish to consult the official APA Style website and the Purdue University Online Writing
Lab’s guide to in-text citations in APA style.

Reference Lists in APA Style

In APA style, each peer-reviewed article is listed in a References section towards the end of the
research paper. Each reference of a journal article names the author(s), publication date, article title,
name of journal, volume, and page number. For example (note that hanging indents are not shown):

Wixted, J. T. (2004). The psychology and neuroscience of forgetting. Annual Review of Psychology, 55,
235-269.

Similarly, each reference of a book names the author(s), the editor(s) if applicable, book title, page
numbers (if applicable), as well as publisher name and location. For example (note that hanging
indents are not shown):

Healy, A. F., Wohldmann, E. L., & Bourne, L. E., Jr. (2005). The procedural reinstatement principle:
Studies on training, retention, and transfer. In A. F. Healy (Ed.), Experimental cognitive psychology and
its applications; experimental cognitive psychology and its applications (pp. 59-71). Washington, DC:
American Psychological Association.

As with in-text citations, the above examples represent two common cases of including a source in a
Reference list; there are many other cases. For further details on creating the References section,
please see the Formatting Research Papers section of this website. You may also wish to consult the
official APA Style website and the Purdue University Online Writing Lab’s guide to the References list
in APA style.