Sections of the Research Paper

Title

This tiny section is critical, for it determines whether a reader scanning the table of contents or a list of articles in a computerized search will bother to look at the abstract or paper. The idea is to convince someone who should be interested in your paper that it really is relevant to their interests. This can be accomplished by a specific title that accurately conveys the gist of your study. Include key words that describe the topic of your study; these are used in electronic databases that can be searched by scholars.

Vague title, few key words:
An investigation of the vastus lateralis: a preliminary study

Better:
Relationship between EMG signals and force in human vastus lateralis muscle using multiple bipolar wire electrodes

Abstract

This section is a one-paragraph summary of your paper. If the reader is using an electronic searchable database, the title and abstract are all that is available, so they must make sense on their own without reference to the body of the paper. Think of the abstract as a miniature paper incorporating elements from each of the four major sections. From the Introduction, state the purpose of your study or its questions, perhaps with a sentence providing essential background. From the Material and Methods, describe in one or two sentences what you did (treatments, measurements taken, techniques). From the results, distill your findings into one or two sentences describing the effects of treatments, relationships between variables, or means and standard deviations. From the Discussion, state your main conclusion and its implications. The title and abstract are the most important part of the paper and deserve your most finely polished prose. Most authors find it easiest to write this section after all the others are finished. back to Papers

Introduction

The key feature of the introduction is a clear statement of the questions and hypotheses that motivated your study. Beyond that, a good introduction must provide a context for your work. How does your work fit into the larger body of study in your topic? Why are your questions interesting and novel? What work have others done that is relevant to your questions? Cite the primary literature to summarize what was known about your topic before your investigation, but save in-depth analyses of specific papers for the discussion. The introduction should begin with general statements about your topic and conclude with your specific hypotheses and how (in a general way) you set out to test them. You may include text from your proposal, but be sure to switch to past tense, as you are describing what you did rather than what you will do. back to Papers

Material and Methods

Describe what you did and how you did it. The key here is deciding how much detail to include. Ask yourself whether the reader could, by reading your paper, figure out how to replicate the experiment to see whether your results are repeatable (a critical feature of good science). This doesn't mean describing how to attach cables to a differential amplifier (there are manuals for that) but it does mean stating that you recorded electromyograms using surface electrodes and a Biopac ECG100 differential amplifier. Examine published papers that describe experiments similar to your own to get a feel for what level of detail is appropriate. You can save space by referencing a published source of a technique when available. If you refer to such a source, be sure to mention any deviations you made from that published procedure. This section should also include details about treatments and controls, number of observations, number of test subjects and their characteristics (but not names of people), and statistical procedures used. Remember to use the past tense. back to Papers

Results

To communicate your results clearly and succinctly, organize your data into tables and graphs. In most cases you should not present raw data, but rather means, standard deviations or standard errors, and X-Y scatter plots with appropriate regression lines. Graphs are generally preferred over tables. Do not present the same data twice, e.g. as a bar chart and again as a table of means. Once you've prepared your tables and figures, summarize your results in the text, making reference to the table or figure you are discussing. Include both positive results (significant differences or relationships) and negative results (no significant differences or relationships). See How to present statistics for guidance on presenting your statistical results correctly and efficiently. For data that are difficult to represent fully with descriptive statistics or data that require subjective interpretation (e.g.raw EMGs), include a figure showing a representative sample of the recorded data. Make sure that you describe and cite every table and figure in the text of the results section. While it is important to summarize the major trends and relationships in this section, you should leave interpretation and conclusions for the discussion. Statements like "These data suggest that ..." or "It is surprising that ..." belong in the discussion. back to Papers

Discussion

In the discussion, you interpret your results in light of your hypotheses and of previous studies by other investigators. The discussion should address the following questions.

Be sure to go beyond the specific conclusion to discuss the biological meaning of your results. This section can be the most interesting part of your paper, an opportunity to present your view of the topic, pull together several threads of understanding to achieve a new synthesis, even speculate a bit. back to Papers

Acknowlegments

If your study benefited from someone's technical help, ideas, special equipment or materials, or financial assistance, it is a simple courtesy to thank them in print. In the case of grants, many granting agencies require an acknowlegment in any paper resulting from the work they funded. As strange as it may seem to thank someone unknown to you, authors often thank anonymous outside reviewers who made useful suggestions. This section may be omitted if there is no one you feel needs to be thanked publicly .

Literature Cited

List in this section all (and only) the references you have cited in the text of your paper. Use the exact format of the literature cited section in the instructions to authors.

 

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