How to Write a Research Paper

The Question Comes First

A research paper is an argument supported by evidence. Before writing a single section, you should be able to state, in one sentence, what question the work answers and why the answer matters to someone other than you.

Authors who skip this step usually produce papers that describe activity rather than findings: what was done, in order, with no thread connecting it. Reviewers notice immediately, because they cannot summarise the contribution in their report.

Write your one-sentence claim on a separate line and keep it visible while drafting. Every section should either establish that claim, support it, or qualify it. Material that does none of those three things belongs in a different paper.

The Standard Structure

Most empirical papers follow a structure readers already know, which lets them find what they need without learning your organisation:

• Title — specific, and where possible stating the finding rather than only the topic
• Abstract — a self-contained summary of question, method, results and implication
• Keywords — the terms a reader would search for
• Introduction — the problem, why it matters, what is known, and the gap
• Literature review — engagement with prior work, including work that disagrees
• Methodology — enough detail for another researcher to repeat the work
• Results — the findings, presented once
• Discussion — what they mean and what limits them
• Conclusion — what was established and what follows
• References — complete and consistent

Review articles and case studies may depart from this, but must still make their method of selection and analysis explicit.

Writing the Introduction

A workable introduction moves through four steps in order: establish the territory, establish what is known, identify the gap, and state what this paper does about it. Each step should take a paragraph or less.

The commonest fault is spending three pages on general background before reaching the gap. A reader should know what your paper contributes by the end of the first page. If the gap only becomes clear in the discussion, the introduction has failed.

Avoid opening with a dictionary definition or a claim that the topic is "of great importance in today's world". Say specifically who has the problem and what it costs them.

Writing the Methods

The test for a methods section is reproducibility: could a competent researcher in your field repeat the work from this description alone? If the answer is no, the section is incomplete regardless of its length.

• State the design, the setting, and the period the work covers
• Describe participants, samples or datasets, and how they were selected
• Name instruments, software and versions
• Give the analysis in enough detail to be checked, including how uncertainty was handled
• Record ethical approval and consent where the work involves people or animals

Write the methods in the past tense, describing what was actually done rather than what the protocol intended. Where you deviated from the plan, say so and why.

Reporting Results

Report findings once. A number that appears in the text, again in a table and again in a figure wastes space and invites inconsistency between the three.

Present results without interpreting them — interpretation belongs in the discussion. Report findings that did not support your hypothesis as fully as those that did; selective reporting is a research integrity problem, not a stylistic choice.

Give effect sizes and uncertainty, not only whether a test crossed a significance threshold. A statistically significant result that is practically trivial should be described as such.

Discussion and Conclusion

The discussion answers the question the introduction raised. Start by stating what you found, in plain words. Then relate it to prior work: where it agrees, where it differs, and what might explain the difference.

Address limitations honestly and specifically. "Limitations include a small sample size" is filler; "the sample was drawn from one institution, so the finding may not transfer to settings with different intake criteria" is useful. Reviewers trust authors who can see the weaknesses in their own work.

The conclusion states what was established and what follows from it. It introduces no new results and makes no claim the evidence does not support.

Revising Before You Submit

1. Put the draft aside for several days, then read it straight through as a reader would.
2. Check that every claim in the abstract is supported in the body.
3. Check every citation against its source — not against another paper's reference list.
4. Cut sentences that carry no information. Most drafts lose fifteen per cent without losing content.
5. Have a colleague outside your immediate group read it. It is the cheapest review you will get.
6. Read the target journal's publication guidelines and check every requirement.

Common Reasons Papers Are Rejected

See also the peer review process to understand what reviewers are asked to assess.

Quick Checklist

1. One questionStated clearly in the introduction
2. Repeatable methodDesign, data, procedure and analysis described
3. Results onceText, table or figure — not all three
4. Honest discussionLimits stated alongside meaning
5. References checkedEvery citation against its source

Frequently Asked Questions

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