Longer Research Paper

Unit IV: Structures of Research Papers, Proposals and Dissertations

Objective: Examine and develop the skills writing a research paper,
research proposal and dissertation;
What are the major components of a
Longer Research Paper? Explain the role of
methodology in it.

Shishir Prasad Aryal (Discussant)

NOU Roll No.: 75152101
 Presentation Outline
 Introduction : Research paper and Journal Article

 Types of Journal Articles

 Research Paper Components

 Role of Methodology in RPs

 Research Paper
• A research paper is any kind of academic writing based on original research which
features analysis and interpretation from the author. (Scribbr)
• Research paper is more than the sum of sources, more than a collection of different pieces
of information about a topic, and more than a review of the literature in a field. A
research paper analyzes a perspective  or argues a point. Regardless of the type of
research paper you are writing, your finished research paper should present your own
thinking backed up by others' ideas and information. 
• A research paper is an expanded essay that presents the interpretation or evaluation or
arguments of a author. (SESC, 2020)
• Research papers are sometimes written traditionally by a student at a university or
college, and the work is typically assigned.
• RP is a fairly straightforward account of an investigation and are designed to
create this impression so that authors can appear more convincing to their
readers.
 Journal Article
 Journal articles are Academic / standard write-up on a very
specific topics shorter than books.
 A journal is a collection of articles (like a magazine) that is published regularly
throughout the year. It presents the most recent research paper, and journal articles are
written by experts, for experts. They may be published in print or online formats, or
both. (Therefore, The RPs in a journal is a JA ???....)
 Types of Journal Articles:
 short research articles (sometimes called “short” or “brief”
communications) or Short Reports or Letters
 Longer Research Paper or Research Paper or Original Research Articles
 Review Articles,
 Case Studies Articles
 Methodologies or Methods Article (Springer.com)
 Short Reports or Letter
• Brief reports of data from original research that editors believe will be
interesting to many researchers, and that will likely stimulate further
research in the field.
• As they are relatively short. The format is useful for scientists with
results that are time sensitive and report on a rare or unusual phenom-.
• This format often has strict length limits, so some experimental details
may not be published until the authors write a full Original
Research manuscript.
• These papers are also sometimes called Brief / Short communications
or brief reports or technical notes. (IMRD format)
 Review Article
• A comprehensive summary of research on a certain
topic, and a perspective on the state of the art in a
particular field and where it is heading. (known also as
State of the art paper, meta-analysis.)
• They are often written by leaders in a particular
discipline after invitation from the editors of a journal. 
• Reviews are often widely read and highly cited. 
• Reviews commonly cite approximately 100 primary
research articles. IMRD pattern.
 Case studies Articles
• These articles report specific instances of interesting
phenomena.
• It makes other researchers aware of the possibility that
a specific phenomenon might occur.
• This type of study is often used in medicine to report
the occurrence of previously unknown or emerging
pathologies.
 Methods Article
• These articles present a new experimental method,
test or procedure.
• The method described may either be completely new,
or may offer a better version of an existing method.
• It describes a demonstrable advancement on what is
currently available.
Original Research Article
• This is the most common type of journal manuscript used to
publish full reports of data from research.
• It may be called an Original Article, Research Article,
Research, or just Article, depending on the journal.
• The Original Research format is suitable for many different
fields and different types of studies.
• It includes full Introduction, Methods, Results, and
Discussion sections.
• Generally empirical RPs with 5-15 pages are Considered as
Longer Research Papers
 RPs: Components
• Research components include the instruments, materials, activities,
participants, methods and techniques involved a research
• Research Report components : IMRaD structure (Swales and Feak, 2012)
• body sections (shape of RPs): Introduction, literature review, method, results,
discussion, and conclusion.
• supplementary elements: title, name of the authors, acknowledgments,
references, and appendices.
• The advantages :
• First, a good understanding of these components enables the readers to get a
more comprehensive understanding of research.
• Second, it also promotes the mastery of the skills to write a research report.
(Swales and Feak, 2012; Pardede, 2018)
 RPs: Components
Title
The title is a very essential component of a research paper because it
serves four things.
• First, it predicts content.
• Second, it catches the reader's interest.
• Third, it reveals the nature or genre (Field) of the manuscript. It
reflect the tone or viewpoint of the piece of writing
• Fourth, it contains keywords that will make it easy to access by a
computer search.
• Consisting of 4 to 15 words. Longer articles generally need longer
titles. (Pardede, 2018)
 RPs: Components
Name of author(s)
• The purpose of including author’s names in a research article is to specify the individuals
responsible for the research presented in the article.
• If a research article is written by more than one person, the most common way of writing the
authors name is by listing the names based on the amount of their contribution to the work
• The second way is by putting the senior author (the one responsible for overseeing the project)
in the last, and the person that did most of the day to day work on the project is listed first
• The third way is to list the authors alphabetically. However, this is no longer very common
• The authors’ e-mail address and institution are put under their names. The purpose is to
provide the readers with a way of contacting the authors and to indicate the institution(s) at
which the research was performed. (Pardede, 2018)
 RPs: Components
Abstract
• The abstract is the summary of the topic of the paper and the major findings of the
research. 1 paragraph.
• It is usually 120-250 words in length, although there is variation depending on the
policy of the journal in which the article is published.
• An abstract is usually one paragraph long, and should concisely summarize why the
reported research was conducted, how it was conducted, what outcomes were obtained,
and what conclusions were drawn.
• An abstract provides maximum information with minimum words, covering (1) the gist
of recent finding of the topic; (2) the Objective; (3) Materials and Methods; (4) Results;
and (5) Conclusions.
 RPs: Components
Key Words

• Anywhere from 3 – 10 key words

• Keywords are used in research databases for
searching and locating researching articles.
• Keywords reflect the major concepts discussed in the
article.
 RPs: Components
The introduction: (well balanced, Current and Relevant)
• Tells readers why we did the study. Introduction contains information from other
relevant articles. It give the reader background information about the topic of
research and why the study was conducted.
• At the end of the introduction there is the purpose of the study, research
questions and hypothesis.
• Avoid: it must avoid unnecessary background information and repeating the
same information. Exaggerating the importance of the work and claiming
novelty without a proper literature search should also be avoided.
• The main purpose of the Introduction is to provide the rationale for the paper,
moving from a general discussion of the topic to the particular question, issue, or
hypothesis being investigated. A secondary purpose is to attract interest of
readers in the topic. ( 10 – 15 % of words of all paper)
 RPs: Components
Literature Review (2-3 pages)
• A literature review is a search, summary and evaluation of the
available past and current literature related to the research problem.
• The literature can include articles, abstracts, reviews, monographs,
dissertations, other research reports, textbooks and electronic media,
etc. A literature review should be quite recent so that the research
article will not become out-of-date when it is published.
• In general, the reviewer should include sources published in the last
10 years. The only exception here is in situations when authors
literally cannot access recent texts.
 RPs: Components
Purpose of Literature Review
• First, it defines what has already been done concerning the research topic.
• Secondly, It offers the prospect to detect research strategies and specific data
collection approaches that have or have not been made in the studies of topics
related to yours.
• The third, significance of literature review is that your understanding with
previous research helps you interpret your study results.
• Finally, literature review also shows your readers that you have an in-depth
grasp of your subject; and that you understand where your own research fits
into and adds to an existing body of agreed knowledge. This can increase your
article’s credibility.
 Longer Research Paper
Methods : 2-3 pages / paragraph
• Two functions: (1) Shows what was done (2) permits readers to replicate the
study if they desire to do so.
• Subsections: Participants, Materials (Instruments), and Design and Procedure.
• Use subheadings to separate different methodologies.
• Describe what you did in the past tense.
• Describe new methods in enough detail that another researcher can reproduce
your experiment.
• Describe established methods briefly, and simply cite a reference where readers
can find more detail.
• State all statistical tests and parameters.
 RPs: Components
Results: 6-8 pages
• tell readers what we found from doing the study. only obtained data
in the study is included in the Results section. “let the data speak for
themselves.”
• Usually information about participants. demographic (Age, sex, races,
nationality,) Experimental group or non experimental group
• Key finding related to the study research question. Figures, table,
graph, charts, etc… to help present the data.
• In the Results section, the findings are described, accompanied by
variable amounts of commentary.
 RPs: Components
Discussion: (4-6 pages) tells "what the findings mean" In the
Discussion section the core findings reported in the Results section are
summarized and interpreted in light of the research questions.
• The findings significance is also evaluated by comparing it to other
relevant findings in the study or to relevant findings of previous
studies, and their implications are examined.
• It discusses implications of the findings for future practice research. It
discusses limitation of the study methods.
• The Discussion section gives meaning to and interprets the results in a
variety of ways. Authors make a series of "points," at least some of
which refer to statements made in the Introduction.
 RPs: Components
Conclusion
• Some journals employs a format that contains a section labeled
“Conclusion” or “Summary.” For other journals, the Conclusion is the
untitled last paragraph of the Discussion.
• It should present (1) a concise summary of implications of the
findings, (2) general implications of the study, and (3) suggestions for
further research.
• A Conclusion section is the place where the author restates the
contribution of the research, with a particular emphasis on what it
allows others to do; and proposes new research directions to prevent
duplication of effort or to encourage collaboration.
RPs: Components
 RPs: Components
Acknowledgments
• Recognize and thank those individuals and organizations whose
contributions to the work presented should be valued but do not
qualify for authorship. The list in this section is limited only to those
with significant intellectual assistance and technical help (including
with writing and editing).
References
• A list of the source cited in the article (Use APA 7th Edition)
 RPs: Components
Appendices
A research article is basically supposed to be complete without the
appendices. However, it is also appropriate to include appendices when
1. The incorporation of material in the body of the work would make it
poorly structured;
2. The material would make the article too long and detailed; and
3. Although the material is essential but its integration in the body
would clutter or break up the narrative flow of the article, or it
would be distracting to the reader.
 Methodology
"branch of logic that shows how abstract logical principles are to be applied to
the production of knowledge,", from French méthodologie or directly from
Modern Latin methodologia; ( method + -ology)
 The system of methods followed in a particular discipline
 Research methodology is a systematic way to solve a problem.
 It is a science of studying how research is to be carried out.
 The procedures by which researchers go about their work of
describing, explaining and predicting phenomena
 It is the study of methods by which knowledge is gained.
 Its aim is to give the work plan of research.
 Methodology
 A methodology is a repeatable process. The idea is that if you find a process that works on one kind of
project, the same process (or a variation of it) will work on another similar project.
 A methodology provides a higher probability of success on a project.
 A methodology provides a vehicle for capturing lessons learned from one project to the next if it is used
correctly,
 The importance is associated with not only the validity of the research itself but also the means by which
others can replicate what we’ve done in the research.
 The research methodology gives rise to diversities of perception, intervention, description, conception and
even misconception of possible and probable relevancy, validity and significance toward researchers and
readers alike.
 The importance lies on the concrete span of evidencing data and information, interpolation and
extrapolation of concepts, and analytical thought which may influence other minds. The impact of reading
any research is the lasting effect on readers because of the methods used to garner results. What do you get or
learned after reading them?
(Interpolation is the process of calculating the unknown value from known given values whereas extrapolation is the process
of calculating unknown values beyond the given data points)
 Conclusion
RP is a fairly straightforward account of an investigation. Indeed, RPs are often
designed to create this impression so that authors can appear more convincing to
their readers. .
Authors need to be familiarized with basic components / parts / body of research
papers i.e. IMRaD and other essential parts.
A research methodology or involves specific techniques that are adopted
in research process to collect, assemble and evaluate data. It defines those tools
that are used to gather relevant information in a specific research study
A methodology also provides a vehicle for capturing lessons learned from one
project to the next if it is used correctly.
References
Swales, J., & Feak, C. B. (2012). Academic Writing for Graduate Students: Essential Tasks and Skills. Ann Arbor:
University of Michigan Press.
Types of journal articles, https://
www.springer.com/gp/authors-editors/authorandreviewertutorials/writing-a-journal-manus
cript/types-of-journal-articles/10285504
: April 19, 2020.
How to write a research paper. https://www.scribbr.com/category/research-paper/
SESC (2020), What is a Research Paper.
https://www.esc.edu/online-writing-center/resources/research/research-paper/
Pardede, P. (2018). Research Components. Universitas Kristen Indonesia. :
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/330134699