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The parts of a research paper

Writing the best research paper will not confer the expected status of your work if you did not write it out in an ordered well laid out way. There is a general underlying structure for writing the research paper. We shall be taking a look at the building blocks that are required to construct a good research paper. Enjoy.

  • Introduction

This is the starting point of the research paper for most students where they are expected to set out a definite direction for the research paper. For others, they prefer writing the introduction as a summary of the entire work after they are through with the body of the paper. Both approaches are legally acceptable.

There are three distinct parts that make up a good introduction.

  1. The general presentation: Take a look at the benefits involved in solving the problem. It might be from an angle that nobody has ever thought of in the past in the form leads that other researchers did not bother to follow up. 
  2. The Purpose: The research paper must follow a purpose that defines what you are trying to establish through the research work. For some writers, the hypotheses are included here.
  3. The statement of intent: People should be able to follow the overall view of the paper by reading the statement of intent without reading through the entire manuscript. 
  • Results

This is the most variable part of the research paper. The approach will be determined by the aims of the experiment. If a lot of results are generated through the research, it is best to include tables or graphs. Getting a good balance between the results and the discussion section might pose some issues; the bottom line here is to try as much as possible to avoid repeating yourself.

  • Discussion

This is the area where you are going to elaborate on your work and add your own views based on your personal interpretations of the results that you have obtained. Every bit of information that you are going to include here should have a direct bearing on your thesis or statement. If you want to expand on the topic, you can do that in the conclusion part of the paper.

  • Conclusion

You are expected to build on your discussion here and you are to relate your findings to the world at large or to other research findings. It might take just a few lines or be in a paragraph or two. Some research papers will demand the inclusion of the recommendation section. In that case, you are expected to suggest areas of further improvements to the research design.

  • Reference List

You cannot conclude a paper without the reference list. All the documents that were used in carrying out the research are to be included here to avoid issues bothering on plagiarism. This is commonly included on the last page of the paper and usually laid out in MPA, APA.

Final take

The above are the essential parts of a research paper. A brilliant paper without following the template above will not yield the expected results.

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