Research projects can be utterly overwhelming. Any research paper, thesis, or dissertation is a massive undertaking and the sum of many parts. There are vast volumes & different kinds of information to be collated, analyzed, and presented in a clear, cohesive & organized manner. With proper structuring and organization, things can become smooth. The research project will eventually succeed in its purpose, as the audience needs help understanding your thoughts, ideas, and investigation findings.
Failure to properly organize and present all information in a structured manner are major reasons why many students seek online research paper help. However, there are certain best practices for research paper structuring, and this article offers a concise look at them all.
Read on for some quick reference.
Structuring & Organizing a Research Paper: A Roadmap
Besides brainstorming on the research question, developing a researchable hypothesis, identifying the best possible sources of information, and choosing the nature of the methodology, one of the first things to plan is the structuring and organization of the information to be presented.
And to do so in the right way, developing an outline is one of the first things to do.
- An outline is a tentative and formal way to craft a framework that helps one decide upon the information to be presented and how to organize & structure them on paper. The outline predicts and directs the structure & flow of the research paper.
- A good outline offers a bunch of benefits. Taking time to come up with a well-thought-out & structured outline can help a researcher:
- Understand how ideas connect.
- In what order should ideas & information be presented?
- How much supporting evidence needs to be added?
- Overcome writer’s block and aid in finding direction
- Re-calibrate one’s writing
- Stay organized and arrange different ideas per the research topic/question.
- Remain on track and focused on aims & objectives
- Stay motivated till the end
The outline of traditional research papers generally comprises several chapters, each a critical cog in the entire research process. Organizing and structuring information involves arranging everything according to the purpose of each chapter, ensuring pertinence, cohesion, & clarity throughout. This often proves to be a problem for many who seek research paper writing service.
Despite such aid, crafting an excellent research paper will only be problematic if the researcher knows how all information is structured. So, let’s look at how all the information is organized in every chapter in a typical research paper.
The Chapters Organization of a Research Paper
The Abstract
- Summaries comprising paragraphs of 300 words or less.
- Deliver the most crucial details and revelations from the research paper.
- Include the overall purpose & the research problem, the basic research design & methodology, key findings, and a brief about the analysis, discussion, & conclusion
Readers should get a clear idea about the overall research by going through the abstract once.
The Introduction
A good introduction should answer the following four questions.
- What is the subject of the research?
- The audience must know what is already known about the topic to understand the investigation
- Why is this topic important?
- How does this investigation contribute to the existing body of knowledge?
The introduction should help readers understand the research context and lead them from the broader subject area into the specifics of the research. It provides concise background information, states the research purpose in the form of a research question, hypothesis, or problem, and establishes the study’s theoretical framework.
The Literature Review
- Survey and criticize relevant information sources including books, articles, white papers, theses & dissertations, in light of the research problem;
- Synthesize information from different sources;
- Interpret and highlight key insights from existing research literature;
- Identify gaps in research and how your research addresses them;
- Describe relationships between different works in the research area;
- Come up with new ways of interpreting the works;
- Point out the need for additional research;
- Place your research in the existing body of knowledge;
The Research Methodology
This is where you tell the reader about how you gathered or generated and with what methods you analyzed all the research data.
- Talk about how the data was obtained and the actual methodology used.
- Be clear regarding why you chose a particular research approach.
- Mention how your research methods are consistent with current practices.
- Write about any limitations and ethical concerns associated with the methods employed.
- Align your methodology with the research problem and how it fits into the overall research design, and specify the methods of data collection and data analysis.
- Provide background rationale
The Results
Report your findings without any bias. Also, refrain from analyzing or discussing the results here. Just write about the data generated logically.
The Discussion
Often considered the most important part of the research paper, this is where you find out whether your investigation has been successful or not.
- Explain your findings in light of the research problem or hypothesis.
- Compare with the reviewed research literature.
- Discuss information that you have uncovered, talk about the patterns & relationships evident from the results, link with the theoretical framework of your research, and align everything with the context of your research.
- Deduce generalized insights and propose recommendations for best practices.
The Conclusion
Wrap things up by highlighting the most insightful revelations of your research. Synthesize key points from the entire investigation, discuss how your research contributed to the body of knowledge on the subjects, and suggest recommendations for future researchers.
And, that concludes this write-up. Hope it comes in handy as a quick reference guide for structuring & organizing research papers.
Research paper writing is a humongous and intricate task. Prepare well & early and seek buy research paper from reputed online research writing help services, if need be.
Author Bio: Mia ryan is associated with MyAssignmenthelp.com and provides law essay help online to students. He is also a blogger and writes on various topics on law and its impact on the society.