A good research paper may receive a low grade due to improper formatting. Therefore, it is important not only to take care of the quality and informativeness of the content but also to comply with standards regarding the volume, structure, and technical presentation of the text. Particular importance should be given to the title page of the research paper since this is the face of the work, which creates the first impression on the examiner and reviewer.
Research paper concept
A research paper discloses a specific topic based on a review and analysis of data from various sources. This work allows teachers to assess the students’ knowledge in a scientific field and their ability to search and analyze literature independently. The research paper reflects various points of view on the topic under study, including the opinion of the author, which is manifested in the selection of sources, their view of the problem, and analysis of the judgments of other researchers, as well as the formulation of conclusions.
How to write a research paper correctly
Each research paper, regardless of the approach chosen by the author, must meet certain requirements. They are accuracy of transmission of the content of primary sources, adherence to stylistic, linguistic, and thematic uniformity between parts of the work, logical coherence of the text, and structural ordering, including an introduction with a hook for research paper, main part and conclusion with the correct volumes.
Structure
To receive a high grade, you should not only find and analyze information but also to be able to present it correctly, observing the generally accepted composition for scientific texts in accordance with academic standards. The research paper consists of the following elements: title page, table of contents (but not necessary), introduction, description of research methods, main part, conclusion, bibliography, and appendices if provided for by the nature of the work.
The introduction indicates the topic and goals of the research paper and also justifies its relevance if they are not clear from the title. In the main part, through the analysis of selected literature, the topic is revealed, or the provisions of the primary sources are reproduced. The final part contains general conclusions.
It is necessary to divide the main part of the paper into chapters, each of which should begin with a statement of a specific task. It is important to maintain a coherent presentation and ensure that the idea put forward in the introductory part can be traced throughout the work and that the collected material fully reflects the essence of the problem and contributes to the achievement of the goal. It is necessary to avoid plagiarism and create unique content.
Content requirements
The research paper message must comply with generally accepted rules, such as the absence of secondary information and clear presentation, construction of the narrative using syntactic structures characteristic of academic writing, the use of standardized abbreviations and commonly used terminology, explanation of narrow-profile terms when they are first mentioned in the work.
It is necessary to avoid excessive academic speech so that the statements are understandable and do not have unnecessary complexity, and also to avoid typical mistakes when summarizing, such as the inclusion of uninformative material, tautologies, deviation from the topic, eclectic presentation, categorical value judgments, poor or overly pretentious language, lack of or too many quotations.
For clarity and to reduce the amount of work without compromising the content, you can present formulas, graphs, figures, and tables directly in the text of the research paper; otherwise, they are transferred to the appendices.
Rewriting the text and making it unique are important steps when writing a research paper. The language and style of the paper can indicate the level of the student’s general culture, so you should devote enough time to editing the text. If necessary, you can use a list of speech clichés for the introduction, main part, and conclusion of the research paper.
Format requirements
As a rule, each university has its requirements for formatting a research paper, so you should seek advice from a teacher or follow the department’s guidelines. If there are no such instructions, then you can be guided by generally accepted standards. It is better to print the main text in a font of at least 12 points, with one-and-a-half line spacing.
Times New Roman font is often used for writing research papers. Headings and subheadings can be highlighted in bold, but it is worth considering that bold font is sometimes not recommended in academic papers. For headings of the first level, a font size of 16 points is used.
The indentation from the main text is three spaces. It is advisable to use a portrait page orientation with margins indicated in the college or university manual. Each section should start on a new page, and the page number is most often placed in the upper right corner. However, it is worth considering that there may be other options for setting the page number.