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MODULE 3. WRITING RESEARCH PAPERS
Writing a research paper takes a lot of time and effort. It demands a
thorough knowledge not only of the subject you are writing about, but also
of the strategies for generating, verifying, substantiating and proving ideas.
It is necessary to follow the structure, style, format and layout of the paper. The
following guidelines will help you by providing a step-by-step explanation
of the research-writing process.
Unit 1. Gathering Data and Writing Summary Notes
When reading papers written by other authors, on the subject that is of
interest to you, you must write summary notes.
A summary condenses into a brief note the key ideas of a source. It is
a brief description of the material without a lot of concern for style or
expression. Summary notes are very helpful when you deal with references
to source materials, statistical data and all kinds of facts on your specific topic.
A precis is a polished summary that in a few words expresses the key
ideas on an entire paragraph, section or chapter. Writing a precis proves to be
very helpful when you review an article, a book, or produce an abstract. To
produce a precis condense the original piece of writing, reducing a paragraph
into a sentence, an article into a brief paragraph, a book into a page.
Preserve the tone and the mood of the original, do not take the material out
of context. Always locate the source of your material to review a piece of
writing or to write a plot summary.
TASK: Do you ever write summary notes? If not, are you going to start?
Write a precis of a paper using the instructions given above.
Unit 2. Organizing Ideas
Most papers in various scientific disciplines have a similar organization
pattern – Introduction, Body and Conclusion (especially papers on
theoretical issues). Research papers based on experiments would include
Introduction, Method, Results and Discussion/Conclusion.
When you write a research paper observe the following instructions:
Introduction: identify the subject of your research and narrow it to a specific
topic, provide background information, state the problem and the hypothesis
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of research, provide theoretical basics of the study, formulate the thesis
statement/ sentence.
Method: describe the subject/participants of your study, the apparatus and
equipment used, the procedure followed.
Results: report on your findings, support them with statistical data,
diagrams, graphs, tables and figures, etc., note whether your findings are
consistent with the advanced hypothesis.
Discussion/Conclusion: evaluate and interpret the results obtained, make
inferences from the results, discuss the implications of your findings. You
can end your paper with some reflections about the topic discussed, some
suggestions for further research.
TASK: When you start writing a paper, will you follow the instructions
given above? Will you eliminate or add new elements? Have you
consulted your thesis supervisor on this issue? If not, are you going
to discuss it with him/ her?
Unit 3. Writing the Paper: Structure, Linguistics and Style
A research paper has physical and structural characteristics. The physical
characteristics consist of the title, the introduction, the main body parts and
the conclusion, which you write in indented paragraphs.
The Title
When you start reading a research paper, its title is perhaps the most
important part, because the key words in the title help you make a decision
whether the paper is of interest for you or not. Thus the title should not be
very long and general, but rather specific, e.g. “The LUMINA element for
the matrix displacement method”. To achieve this effect you can first name
the general subject followed by a colon, and then:
– add the phrase that renames the subject, e.g. “Matrix displacement
method: recent developments”;
– add the phrase that describes the type of study, e.g. “Matrix
displacement method: experimental observations”;
– add a sentence in a question form, e.g. “Matrix displacement method:
What comes next?”.
The title should always be relevant to the problem studied, and fit the
paper. It should provide code words which identify the main points of
research.
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TASK: Look through the journals on the subject of your research and find
the titles of the papers that fit the requirements discussed above.
Write down several titles for your paper, discuss them with your
fellow-students and choose the best one.
Introduction
When you write the introduction, you begin with a broad statement
relating to the subject of research and narrow it down to specifics, namely
the thesis statement/ sentence of the whole paper. It is usually a single
declarative sentence, the assertion you make about the main points of your
study. The thesis statement helps both the writer and the reader. For the
writer, it provides a definite framework to follow in the rest of the paper.
For the reader, it provides a guide for a clear understanding of what to
expect from the rest of the paper. Express your thesis statement at the end
of the introduction.
TASK: Think over and write a thesis sentence for your paper. Show it to
your fellow students. Let them figure out what the subject and the
reason for your research are.
Body
The body of the paper should provide evidence in support of the thesis
sentence, each paragraph explaining one and only one aspect of the thesis.
Begin each paragraph with a statement of the key idea in one sentence,
which is called the topic sentence, and explain or support it with details and
evidence. There are several ways of supporting the key idea and developing
paragraphs – by describing, classifying, providing statistical data and
scientific evidence, analyzing causes and effects, comparing and contrasting,
etc. The strategies are determined by the point you want to make and the
kind of information you have to work with.
Conclusion
The conclusion can be a summary of the introduction and the development
paragraphs of the body parts, which is usually done from specific to general
– this study to larger implications. But more importantly it should express
your judgment on the research performed and the results obtained, explain
the findings and/or make suggestions for further investigation.
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* * *
Structurally, a paper should have unity and coherence. Unity gives the
writing single vision, and coherence connects the parts. Your paper has unity
when it talks about one topic, step by step exploring it in depth. Your paper is
coherent if all its parts fit together, talk about the same topic, are connected
logically and flow smoothly from one to the other. To obtain this effect use
cohesive devices.
Cohesive devices help readers follow a writer’s train of thought by
connecting key words and phrases thought a paper. Among such devices are:
pronoun references, same-word repetition, synonym repetition, sentencestructure repetition, collocations.
Transition words serve as a bridge, connecting one paragraph with
another. Transitions help readers anticipate how the next paragraph or sentence
will affect the meaning of what they have just read:
also, besides, furthermore, in addition – to add more thought;
first, next, finally, later, afterwards, in front, beyond, etc. – to arrange
ideas in order, time or space;
but, still, yet, however, on the other hand, nevertheless – to connect
two contrasting ideas;
for example, in other words – to add an illustration or explanation;
in short, in brief, to sum up – to summarize several ideas.
* * *
Nowadays in scientific publications there is a strong tendency to use
definite verb tenses in certain types of papers. When you write a paper in
natural sciences, use past tense or present tense to cite an author’s work
and/or show what has been accomplished: (e.g., “Landau created” or “the
experiment of Lakes and Paul has proven…”). Use present tense when you
discuss the results or when you mention established knowledge (e.g.,
“water boils at 100 degrees Centigrade”). Write your paper with a third-person
voice (e.g.“ It is well known”) that avoids “I believe” or “It is my opinion.”
TASK: Read sample 1 “Introduction” and mark sentences that describe the
subject, background, problem and thesis statement.
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Sample 1
Syntheses and Antimalarial Activities
of N-Substituted 11-Azaartemisinins
Daniel S. Torok and Herman Ziffer
National Institutes of Health, Building 5, Bl-31, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-0510
Steven R. Meshnick and Xing-Qing Pan
Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan School of Public Health,
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2029
Arba Ager
University of Miami School of Medicine, Center for Tropical Parasitic Diseases,
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, 12500 S. W. 152nd Street, Miami,
Florida 33177
Introduction
Malaria continues to be the most prevalent and deadly parasitic disease
in the world, infecting some 300 million people and causing ca. 3 million deaths
each year. Clinical studies in Thailand,
2a-c
China,2d Somalia,2e and Sudan2f of
artemisinin derivatives in combination with older antimalarial drugs have
demonstrated substantial improvements over conventional treatments
including more rapidly decreasing parasitemia and fever, as well as fewer
deaths. Patients infected with drug-resistant strains of Plasmodium falciparum
recovered completely. Although several studies have shown that artemisinin
derivatives can be administered by means of transdermal patches and
suppositories, in the above studies they were administered orally despite their
poor bioavailability. Apparently alternative modes of administration in Africa,
India, and Southeast Asia posed problems that could not be circumvented.
The majority of artemisinin derivatives prepared to date have been
either ester, ether, carbonate, or urethane derivatives of the hydroxyl group
of dihydro-artemisinin, 1a.3 The greater stability of lactams to acidic
conditions, such as those present in the stomach, should reduce the
destruction of the drug that occurs there and might, therefore, lead to an
increase in the drag’s bioavailability. Moreover, incorporating a lipo-philic
or hydrophilic substituent on the lactam nitrogen provides a means to control
the drug’s solubility properties. Furthermore, preliminary data by Avery et
al.4a on a totally synthetic azaartemisinin analog, N-benzyl-11-aza-9-
desmethylartemisinin, indicated that it was 50% more potent than
45
artemisinin, 2. We report here a short synthetic route for the conversion of
2 into a series of novel N- substituted 11- azaartemisinin derivatives as well
as in vitro and in vivo test data for these compounds.
TASK: Read the following recommendation which will help you avoid
certain mistakes while writing the introduction of your paper.
Avoid:
– a purpose statement, such as “The purpose of this study is …”
– repetition of the title, which should appear on the first page of the text
anyway
– complex or difficult questions that may puzzle the reader
– simple dictionary definitions
– humor, unless the subject deals with humor.
TASK: Read the list of phrases and choose the most appropriate ones to
write an introduction of your paper.
List of phrases used to write an introduction:
Historical background and the research problem
1. During the past decade there has been increasing research into … .
2. In some theoretical studies … .
3. … were able to provide a fully generalized, compact simultaneous solution
to … .
4. In particular, they employed … for … .
5. … is an important and common problem.
6. It has become a canonical problem in the study of …, providing a valuable
test for simulation methods or theoretical models.
7. In the previous paper … we used a specific model for … .
8. The paper examines a method for … .
9. Earlier descriptions of the … assumed that … .
10. However, detailed experimental studies of … indicate that … .
11. The most rigorous treatments available are restricted to the … .
12. Accordingly, we suggest that … .
13. A number of different techniques have been used in … to study ….
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14. The paper continues in Section 2 with a discussion of …, Section 3
overviews …, Section 4 then proposes … and this matter is discussed in
Section 5. Finally in Section 6 we discuss … .
15. Several techniques have been used to investigate … .
Literature review
1. There is a wide body of literature which suggests that … .
2. …effects have received much attention.
3. There were the limited number of studies conducted on … .
4. The listings of the programme may be found in … .
5. Examples are given in … .
6. Extensive field studies were undertaken by the scientists at … .
The need for your investigation
1. There is still lack of knowledge … . Much further research is needed to
understand … .
2. … has received little attention in recent years.
3. It is therefore important to establish the … .
4. Studies on the … process have been and still are of great interest because
of the …
5. In spite of significant recent advancement in the fundamental understanding
of … several important aspects of the … still remain controversial.
6. … investigations have been proved very valuable in … but they do not
give a complete picture of …, since they eliminate … .
7. Most of the above investigations concentrated on the general effects of
… and did not look carefully at the … .
8. There is still no complete knowledge of … .
9. There are still many gaps in our knowledge of the problems of … .
10. We still know very little about the origin of … .
The purpose of research
1. The objective of this study is … .
2. … is the primary purpose of the paper.
3. The aim of this paper is to investigate the … .
TASKS:
1. Let your fellow-students read the introduction to the paper you have
written. What do they like/dislike about it?
47
2. Discuss with your fellow-students what techniques of writing research
papers are most typical for your field of science, and then read sample 2
“The Body of the Paper: Experimental Section”.
Sample 2
Experimental Section
Melting points were determined on a Reichert melting point apparatus and
are uncorrected. 1H and 13C NMR spectra were recorded at 300 and 75 MHz,
respectively, on a Varian Gemini 300 spectrometer, using CDC13 as solvent.
CIMS analyses were performed on a Finnigan 4600 mass spectrometer.
IR spectra were obtained from neat films on a Perkin Elmer Model BIORad FTS-45 spectrophotometer. Optical rotations were measured at 589
nm on a Perkin-Elmer 241 MC polarimeter. Thin layer chromatography
was performed on EM silica gel 60 F
chromatography (RDC) was performed on a chromatotron (Harrison
Research, Palo Alto, CA) using 1 or 2 mm silica gel-coated plates. All
reagents are commercially available and used as supplied with the exception
of the amines which were distilled prior to use. Microanalyses were
performed by Galbraith Laboratories (P.O. Box 51610, Knoxville, TN 37950-
1610) and are within +0.4 % of the theoretical values. The compounds with
satisfactory microanalyses are indicated in Table 3 by the letter A and those
by high-resolution mass spectrometry by the letter B. In those cases where
the molecular ion was too weak for high-resolution mass spectrometry, the
molecular ion by CI-MS (NH3) was readily detected by low-resolution mass
spectrometry and is indicated by the letter C. The identities and purities
were established by mass spectroscopy and the absence of extraneous
resonances in their 1H and 13C NMR spectra.
Table 3. Physical and Chemical Data of Compounds 4-17
compound formula anal.
4
6
7
8
9
10
12
13
C15H23NO4 A B
C16H27NO4 A C
C18H23NO3 C
C19H31NO4 A C
C19H31NO3 C
C16H25NO3 C
C18H27NO4 C
C22H29NO4 A B C
plates. Radial dispersion
254
a
MS
high res low res
48
compound formula anal.
14
15
16
17
a
A. indicates that the microanalysis for C, H, and N was within 0.4% of the
C21H28N2O4 C
C20H27NO4S B C
C20H27NO5 C
C17H25NO5 A C
high res low res
MS
theoretical value. B indicates that the high-resolution mass spectrometric
analysis was satisfactory. C indicates that the low-resolution CIMS (NH3)
was correct. …..
TASKS:
1. What are the main points covered in this section of the paper? Which
techniques used in this paper do you find helpful in writing the body of
your paper?
2. Read the list of phrases and choose the most appropriate ones to write the
body of your paper.
List of phrases to write the body of the paper:
Methods and Techniques
1. The experiments were performed at … .
2. The experimental set up included … .
3. Two array configurations were used.
4. The measurements … were conducted using … .
5. The main experimental configuration is presented in Figure 1.
6. The simulation starts with … .
7. The instrumentation and general arrangements were those described
previously … .
8. All the experiments were carried out using a …
9. A standard … was used to … .
10. The velocity distribution in the … is obtained numerically using the
finite element method.
11. The experimental … is fitted with an array of …, as shown schematically
in Fig. … .
12. The equation governing the direct problem is obtained by … .
13. The direct problem is solved using the… method.
14. The following procedure is used to determine … .
49
15. Figure 3 summarizes the direct model and inverse approach.
16. At any given time … the inverse algorithm determines … .
17. … was verified by measuring the … at various axial locations.
18. The device was similar in concept to that described by …
19. The probe itself consisted of …
20. … was recorded by the computer for a set sampling rate and time.
21. The outside diameter of the tube is taken to be …
22. … was studied under steady state conditions.
Results
1. The results of … numerical calculations are shown in … .
2. The results obtained indicated that … .
3. A schematic diagram of the system is shown in Fig. 1.
4. Charts / tables/ figures show … .
5. From the graph it can be seen that there is good agreement between
experiment and theory for … .
6. The data cover a wide range of … dimensions and operating conditions.
7. As shown in Fig…, the discrepancy between the equation and the data
is as much as … .
8. The present correlation is in good agreement with most data.
9. Prior to applying the inverse procedure to experimental results… .
10. Two observations can be made from these plots.
11. Fig. … shows a scatter plot of … .
12. Table … summarizes the results … .
13. Results of the … are presented in …
14. As expected, the … errors decreased with … more rapidly.
15. The fact that the … errors are larger than the … errors suggests one of
two things: …
16. Similar observations can be made about the behavior of the mean errors.
17. In general, there is no significant qualitative difference between the …
and … cases.
18. The data are plotted in logarithmic form, for ease of comparison with
… paper
19. From Fig. … it is estimated that …
20. On the basis of these results it can be observed that …
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