Title

The title summarizes the main idea or ideas of your study. A good title contains the
fewest possible words needed to adequately describe the content and/or purpose of
your research paper.
Abstract
An abstract summarizes, usually in one paragraph of 300 words or less, the major aspects
of the entire paper in a prescribed sequence that includes: 1) the overall purpose of the
study and the research problem(s) you investigated; 2) the basic design of the study; 3)
major findings or trends found as a result of your analysis; and, 4) a brief summary of your
interpretations and conclusions.
Introduction
The introduction does not have a strict word limit, unlike the abstract, but it should be as
concise as possible. It can be a tricky part of the paper to write, so many scientists and
researchers prefer to write it last, to make sure they haven’t missed anything important.
The introduction gives an overall review of the paper, but does address a few slightly
different issues from the abstract.
Methods/Procedure
The methods section describes actions to be taken to investigate a research problem and
the rationale for the application of specific procedures or techniques used to identify, select,
process and analyze information applied to understanding the problem, thereby, allowing
the reader to critically evaluate a study’s overall validity and reliability. The methodology
section of a research paper answers two main questions.
Result
The results section is where you report the findings of your study based upon the
methodology [or methodologies] you applied to gather information. The results section
should state the findings of the research arranged in a logical sequence without bias or
interpretation. A section describing results is particularly necessary if your paper includes
data generated from your own research
Conclusion/Discussion
The second to last step in conducting a research study is to interpret the findings in the
Discussion section, draw conclusions, and make recommendations. It is important that
everything in this last section is based off of the results of the data analysis. In an empirical
research study, the conclusions and recommendations must be directly related to the data
that was collected and analyzed.
Bibliography
A bibliography is an alphabetized list of sources that have been used to compile data,
typically in an article, essay, or research paper. This list is found at the end of the work and
allows the person reviewing the data to verify the veracity of the statements and/or figures
presented in the data itself.