Feihong Rodell Ms. Hanson Advanced Composition 24 March 2015 Writing a Scientific Research Paper Abstract This paper talks about writing scientific research papers. Most of the information is based on the structural features of the paper. However, it also includes minor details concerning style of writing. This type of writing will help students and researchers present data, findings, and opinions formed by an experiment. Student s how have to write a lab report would greatly benefit from this paper. Scientific research papers are the basis of the presentation of scientific findings and evidence. The two main types of research papers are argumentative research papers and analytical research papers. The argumentative research paper includes a clearly stated position which the writer will take on a idea. The position taken is usually the thesis statement of the paper. The main point of an argumentative paper is persuasion. This means that the thesis statement must be debatable or controversial. This means it is not recommended to write about a topic that is widely accepted. An analytical research paper has no stance on an opinion and is based on exploration and evaluation. An analytical research paper will often start off with a research question but is not required (Owl Research). The general format of a scientific research paper is having font size 12 and Times New Roman font (Owl APA). One of the more difficult parts of writing a scientific research paper is keeping the essay not personal. The essay must be written in third person (Lazar). Also the writer must include a header on every page which
Rodell 2 contains the page number (Owl APA). Other than the basic format one should keep in mind several other points while writing a research paper. These points include using normal prose, staying on topic, using paragraphs to separate points, indenting the first line of every paragraph, presenting points in logical order, using present tense to state well accepted facts, using past tense to describe specific results, avoiding slang, and avoiding unnecessary graphics (RICE). Prior to writing the research paper an outline should be written out. An outline is a general description, summary, organizational pattern, and a visual and conceptual design of the writing to come. This outline will help one follow logical thinking and order. Before writing an outline determine the purpose, audience, and thesis. When one outlines the purpose, audience, and thesis it is time to brainstorm, summarize, list key points, organize ideas, and order out the ideas. After having all of the ideas ordered out headings and subheadings can be made to help further organization (BOOK). Creating this outline will help write a research paper in a logical order that will be easy to follow. When one looks at a scientific research paper the first thing they should see is the title page. Everything on this page must be center aligned except for the running header, which should be left aligned. Around the center of the page should include a title (APA Title). The title of a paper should revolve around the thesis. The title should be specific enough that it will describe the contents of the paper, however it should not be so specific that it would only be understood by specialists. This is because some other students or researchers may want to look upon the topic, and if the topic is too specific they might not know it is what someone may need. Sometimes a title that summarizes results can be more effective (Columbia). Under the title, starting at the bottom of the page should contain information about the author. Usually this should contain a name, institution, and the date of the submission. Although these are the usual
Rodell 3 components it is the most variable to teachers and researchers. When writing a research paper one may have to include other components such as a thesis or teacher s name. The header, which is left justified at the top of the title page, should be a shorter version of the title with a maximum 50 letters. This header will be included and the same on every page of a research paper. Other than a shortened title a page there should be a page number stated five or seven spaces away (APA Title). The first section that should write after the title page is an introduction. The introduction should include several components. Firstly, one should include the research question of the experiment. One might even want to say why one would like to research this topic. The introduction should be between one to four paragraphs long. In the end of the introduction one may want to include a sentence that includes an explanation of the question asked in the experiment (Columbia). The introduction should include a history of similar experiments. Also, if one s research paper will include any intricate or lengthy word or processes one should define all important words and concepts, background research questions, and formulas (Science). When one writes an introduction a materials and methods section should be written. Firstly, one should describe how the question has been answered, whether it is research on the
Rodell 4 internet, performing an experiment, or any other form of information gathering. If one has performed an experiment enough information should be included for another person to duplicate this experiment on their own. If one has an intricate experiment or procedure one may want to include a diagram or image to help guide the reader into the right direction. It is also very important to keep in mind to not include final results in this section. However, one may include preliminary results. Preliminary results are results that have been gathered to create an experiment. In the end of this section ethical considerations may want to be included. This includes if one has experimented on any living creature, and if they are human, did one have their consent to experiment on them. Also, if animals have been used did the experimenter use anything to would minimize the pain dealt to the animals (Columbia). Following a section about the materials and methods used, the results should be included. This section contains finals results that you have received due to your experiment. Tables and graphs may be used but are not required unless stated by the reader or program. When including results it is important to keep in mind that this section is specifically for results, not the reasoning behind the results. Stating irrelevant information or including unnecessary information should be avoided. Presenting data should be a large component in a research paper. If the writer is using numbers and decides to round them, the approximation symbol should be used. When including numbers in the beginning of a sentence, the numbers must be written out; however, if the number is greater than 99 then it is best to rephrase the sentence to not have a number in the beginning. The numbers one through nine should be written out, but the numbers greater than nine should be in the numerical form. When writing numbers with units, a space should be included between the number and the unit of measurement. An exception to this rule is the percent sign, which is
Rodell 5 allowed to be placed right next to the number. Also, when writing a decimal less than one, a zero should be included before the decimal point, for example, 0.32 should be used instead of.32 (BOOK). Tables, graphs, and pictures can be very appealing but are not needed in the paper. If the table or graph can be summarized in one or two sentences, then they should not be included (Science). When a trend in the data can be seen, the writer should describe it as a correlation (BOOK); however, if there is a lot of information that will be included in the table or graph, then there are several points different things to keep in mind. The first thing to keep in mind is the title; it should not be informal, such as My Results or The Data. The title should be named so that it will tell the reader what it represents, such as Enzyme Activity at Various Purdue Owl
Rodell 6 Temperatures (Columbia). It is important to remember to label the axes as well as the rows and columns of tables (Columbia). When including pictures, tables, or graphs from other sources, citations should be used; they may be allowed to be in the caption of pictures (Science). A discussion should follow presenting the results. To begin the discussion, the significant findings of the experiment should be highlighted. The results should then relate to the original research question. Following the connection, the presenter should state if his or her thesis is supported by the results. If the results disagree with the results of other experiments, there should be an explanation of the possible errors. Extra research may be needed to help explain why the results do not agree with that of other researchers. Any other way of interpreting the results should be included. A sentence or two should summarize the experiment and conclude the results (Columbia). An abstract should be written after all of the previous sections of a research paper. Even though this is the last section written in the paper, it is placed as the first paragraph, in front of the introduction. In the abstract, the purpose of your study, a model organism or system, brief description, results, and important conclusions, should all be included. The purpose of study, model organism or system, and brief description should be limited to one sentence each. In the purpose of study, the hypothesis, overall question, and objective, should be included. The model organism or system and brief description should be put together into one sentence. The results portion of the abstract should describe whether it is quantitative or qualitative, and results of any statistical analysis should be reported. The abstract should end with important conclusions or questions that follow the experiment (Rice). After writing the research paper, a list of sources should be included (Purdue). This will be at the end of a journal and will allow the reader to locate and retrieve any sources cited within
Rodell 7 the body section of the paper. Every citation that is included in the paper should be included in the reference section. Every reference in the body of the paper should also be briefly cited. In your reference section, every line after the first of every reference should include a hanging indent, which is a half inch indent from the left margin. The references should be alphabetized by author s name; it should be inverted so that the last name comes first followed by the first name. If there are sources written by the same author then the references should be in a chronological order with publication date. The title of the work included in the reference list should also follow the same punctuation and capitalization as the original title. When writing the titles in the reference list, long works such as books and journals should be in italics, whereas quotes should be in quotation marks; shorter works such as journal articles or essays in edited collections can be underlined (Purdue References). The format of a citation is: Contributor (last edit date). Title. address. (Owl APA). The research paper should be read over for any errors. It is important to write in a way that the reader will fully understand. Eliminating redundancy plays a key role in ensuring that the message behind the paper is not misunderstood. Transition words, subject-verb agreement,
Rodell 8 voiding over explanations and complex words, are some important things to look for when proofreading the research paper. (BOOK).
Rodell 9 References Baker, J. R., & Brizee, A. (2011, March 30). Genre and the Research Paper. Retrieved from https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/658/02/ Lazar, R. (n.d.). [Personal interview by C. Rodell]. Paiz, J. M., Angeli, E., Wagner, J., Lawrick, E., Moore, K., Anderson, M.,... Keck, R. (n.d.). General Format. Retrieved from https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ Paiz, J. M., Angeli, E., Wagner, J., Lawrick, E., Moore, K., Anderson, M.,... Keck, R. (n.d.). Reference List: Basic Rules. Retrieved from Purdue Owl website: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/05/ Shuttleworth, M. (2009, November 2). APA title page. Retrieved March 26, 2015, from https://explorable.com/apa-title-page Tischler, M. E., Ph.D. (n.d.). SCIENTIFIC WRITING BOOKLET [PDF]. Writing a research paper [Lecture notes]. (n.d.). Retrieved February 3, 2015, from http://www.columbia.edu/cu/biology/ug/amgen/paper.html Writing a Research Paper for your Science Fair Project. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_research_paper.shtml Writing Research Papers. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~bioslabs/tools/report/reportform.html