What are the parts of the research paper?
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In present era of globalization, academic institutions are trying hard to get global recognition. For most of the ranking frameworks and global accreditations such as AACSB, EQUIS, AMBA, research is an important component. Therefore, most of the academic institutions have started giving emphasis on quality research by their faculty members. Due to this change in academic environment, for faculty promotions and recruitments, research publications in top ranking journals is becoming an important criterion. Show
Publication in top journals has now become very tough due to exponential growth in research papers submissions. In most of the top ranking journals of ABDC, ABS, FT 50, UT Dallas, acceptance rate is lesser than five percent. Most of the research papers submitted to such top ranking journals are desk rejected by Editors. Major reason for rejection of manuscript is unstructured presentation. Usually, research paper should describe all components of research in comprehensive manner and in a simple language for easy understanding of audience. Major components of research paper are selection of title, abstract, introduction, literature review, research methodology, results, discussion, managerial implications, conclusion, limitations and future scope. Title selection is first step for writing a quality research paper. Usually title should specifically predict about content of the manuscript. Second component of research paper is abstract. Abstract should be crisp. Usually size of abstract should be around 200 words. It should be able to provide maximum information in limited words. Abstract should briefly describe objectives of study, research methods used in the study, major findings and implications. At the end of abstract, authors should give four to five keywords. Key words facilitate searching of articles by other researchers. After abstract, next component of research paper is introduction. Introduction should set the initial tone for research paper. Introduction should provide background information about the topic of research, reasons why present study is being carried out based on significant research gaps, research objectives and research questions, scope of research, uniqueness and novelty of study and last paragraph of introduction should be on organization of complete paper. Length of introduction should not exceed one fifth of total size of the research paper. Next component of research paper is literature review. Purpose of literature review is to synthesize prior research related to topic of the paper. Based on previous studies, authors should try to identify research gaps to prove uniqueness of the study. Most of the researchers make mistake in this part, as problem of study is not identified based on research gaps and papers get desk rejected by editors. Authors should prefer to refer latest research papers at least for ten years. If authors are targeting to a particular journal, it should be ensured that no paper from that journal in identified research area is left for review. Next component of paper is research methodology. It should be well-written, clear, and logically organized. It should be tied up with research objectives of the paper. There may be different kind of research methods such as case study based, empirical studies or modelling based. Authors should clearly justify use of specific methodology. It is also desirable that different steps of research methodology are given in form of a flow chart. After research methodology, results section should be described. Results section should clearly describe all findings in sequential manner. As far as possible findings should be presented in the form of tables and figures without any repetition. Authors should describe the results honestly without distortion of the data. After results section, discussion of findings is done. Findings should be interpreted in context to research questions mentioned in the paper. Findings should be also compared with previous studies done in the same area. Usually authors ignore the discussion section after describing the results. After discussion, authors should also give managerial implications of findings. If implications of study are not significant for academia and industry, chances of paper acceptance are usually less. Lastly authors should give conclusion of study. In this section, authors should briefly restate about objectives, major findings, unique contribution, limitations and future scope of the study. At the end, it is recommended that authors should try to maintain flow of contents in the whole paper for better readability. FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail Disclaimer Views expressed above are the author's own. END OF ARTICLEA research paper consists of 10 parts: cover page, table of content, abstract, introduction, methodology, data analysis, findings and discussion, conclusion, reference, and appendix section. All these parts of research paper are arranged in a way that shows flow of the paper from one section to the other. 1. Cover pageA great research paper format begins with a cover page. The cover page is the first page of the research paper and contains details of the writer/author of the piece. These details include title of the paper, name of author, name of university/affiliated institution, name of professor, year, and acknowledgement if applicable. The structure of a research paper is not complete without cover page. Writing the cover page is quite straight forward. Look at this example of research paper cover page below. You will notice that this first page is seemingly the simplest part of writing a scholarly piece. 2. Table of contentsWriting a table of content usually comes after the paper is complete but the author can decide to update it while typing the different the contents. Tables of content as as research paper parts all depend on the preference of the author. Some like inserting table of contents after completing an entire research paper. Others love to see their table of contents updated frequently to avoid too much work on editing and last-minute pressure to complete the task. Table of contents provides a list of all items in a research paper. The list of items include all main headings and sub-headings. Level I, II, III, and IV headings are written included. There is no limit in how many levels of headings are allowed in a research paper. Depending on the formatting style, each paper may vary based on heading levels. However, the table of contents section is usually filled in a similar manner. An example of a table of contents is shown below. This article also has a list of contents at the beginning and that can be used to give a hint. 3. AbstractAn abstract is a concise summary of a research paper. It details the research methodology including sampling methods, data collection, data analysis, results and findings, and conclusions. Usually, a research paper will provide a one sentence objective or goal followed by methodology in the abstract. The length of the abstract ranges from 100 – 450 words depending on topic or genre of writing. 4. IntroductionIn the introduction section of a research paper, the writer focusses on the topic of interest. For instance, a research paper examining the “Effects of fast food industry on childhood obesity,” the introduction could explain the fast food industry, prevalence of childhood obesity, and other additional basic information about the topic. 5. Background/review of the literatureThe background section of provides current literature findings regarding the topic or thesis. Here, the researcher reviews literature to justify why their proposed study is needed. Perhaps there is a literature gap and further research is needed to explain the relationship between the variables of the research. 6. MethodologyThe structure of a research paper is not complete without methodology (research design). Sampling methods, data collection criteria, data analysis, findings and discussion sections make up the body of a research paper. The purpose of this section is usually to describe the steps you undertook and the participants you recruited to carry out the study. 7. Data analysisData analysis can be qualitative or quantitative depending on your study design. Analysis involves drawing inferences from your data by performing manipulations through statistical methods or any other approach to data analysis. Most students usually feel that data analysis is the most complex part of a research paper because it requires accuracy and working with complex formulas. Poor methods of data analysis could lead to inaccurate findings thus lowering the validity and reliability of your research. 8. Findings and discussionDiscussing the findings of a research study requires comparison of the outcomes with existing literature. Do the results support or disprove existing knowledge on the field? That is the main purpose of new research. The authors can also include the relevance of the findings. Explaining what can be draw from the study outcomes and its usefulness to policymaking is needed. Other than the two issues identified, the discussion section of a research paper also explains potential future research that new researchers may want to consider. It is also usually important to discuss the limitations of a research paper to allow other researchers understand the context of the study findings. Explaining the limitations of a paper shows that the outcomes of the findings might have been influence by other external factors and to what extent? 9. ConclusionResearch paper parts in the correct order are not complete without a conclusion. The conclusion section summarizes the findings of a study and explains the researchers’ final remarks. Were the findings valid? What is the overall implication of the paper? What next for future research? Could the outcomes shape policymaking? These are some of the questions a research paper conclusion need to answer. 10. ReferencesThe reference list is provided on a fresh new page after conclusion. The more number of sources cited, the longer the list and the more rigorous the study can be considered. Read more on different referencing styles: How to format a research paper in APA referencing style References in an article depends on the journal publication preferences. Referencing style is also based on individual university guidelines to their students. 11. AppendixA less fancied research paper part is the appendix. The appendix is the section containing figures and statistical information that might have been used in the research study. It comes at the very last section of a research paper. A research paper format can be complete without appendices if the research decides to include the figures within the other earlier sections. What are the 10 parts of research paper in order?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. Many will also contain Figures and Tables and some will have an Appendix or Appendices.
What are the 5 parts of a research paper?There are five MAJOR parts of a Research Report:. Introduction.. Review of Literature.. Methods.. Results.. Discussion.. What are the parts of a paper?These are the introduction, the thesis statement, the body paragraphs, the conclusion, and the citations and works cited. Students might consider these parts the “skeleton” of a college paper. There might be other components in a paper, depending upon the requirements of the assignment, but these are the basics.
What are the 4 main components of a research paper?Major components of research paper are selection of title, abstract, introduction, literature review, research methodology, results, discussion, managerial implications, conclusion, limitations and future scope.
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