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• APA Title Page (7th edition) | Template for Students & Professionals

APA Title Page (7th edition) | Template for Students & Professionals

Published on November 6, 2020 by Raimo Streefkerk . Revised on January 17, 2024.

APA provides different guidelines for student and professional papers. The student version of the APA title page should include the following information (double spaced and centered):

Paper title

• Author name
• Department and university name
• Course number and name
• Instructor name
• Due date of the assignment

The professional title page also includes an author note (flushed left), but not a course name, instructor name, or due date.

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Table of contents

Title page example (student and professional version), institutional affiliation, course information, author note, page header, including an image on the title page.

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Write an informative, striking title that summarizes the topic of your paper. Try to keep the title focused and use relevant keywords.

Place the title three or four lines down from the top of the paper. Center align and bold it. Don’t forget to use title case capitalization (capitalize the first letter of each word, except small words such as articles and short prepositions).

Write the author’s name under the paper title (leave a blank line in between). Give their full names (first name, middle initial(s) and last name), but don’t include titles (Dr., Prof.) or degrees (Ph.D., MSc).

Multiple authors on the title page

List the authors in order of their contribution. If there are two authors, separate their names with the word “and”, like this:

If there are more than two authors, separate their names with a comma. Only write “and” before the last author, like this:

Write the author’s affiliation on the next line under the author names. Students should specify the department and institution where they’re attending school. Professional researchers should specify the department and institution where they conducted their research.

Multiple authors with different affiliations

Use superscript numbers on the author line to indicate which institution they’re affiliated with. Don’t use superscript numbers if all authors are affiliated with the same institution (and department).

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On a student title page, provide information about the course. List the following information on separate (double spaced) lines under the author’s affiliation:

• Instructor(s)
• Assignment’s due date

For professional papers, you may include an author note. This note may contain the author’s ORCID iD, affiliation changes, disclosures of conflicts of interest, brief acknowledgments, and contact information (in that specific order). Present this information in separate paragraphs.

Place the author note on the bottom half of the page. Center the label “Author note” and apply bold styling. The paragraphs in the author note are left-aligned. The first line of each new paragraph is indented.

For more information about formatting the author note, see section 2.7 of the APA Publication Manual.

For a student title page, the page header consists of just a page number in the top-right corner. There is no need for a running head (as was the case in APA 6th edition).

A professional title page does have a running head. The running head is an abbreviated version of the paper title in all capital letters. The maximum length is 50 characters (counting spaces).

Images are not usually included on an APA title page, and APA does not provide any guidelines for doing so. It’s usually viewed as unprofessional to include an image, since the title page is there to provide information, not for decoration.

If you do decide to include an image on your title page, make sure to check whether you need permission from the creator of the image. Include a note directly underneath the image acknowledging where it comes from, beginning with the word “ Note .” (italicized and followed by a period):

• If you found the image online or in another source, include a citation and copyright attribution .
• If it’s an image you created yourself (e.g., a photograph you took, an infographic you designed), explain this (e.g., “Photograph taken by the author.”).

Don’t give the image a label, title, or number. Only images within the text itself are labeled as figures .

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Streefkerk, R. (2024, January 17). APA Title Page (7th edition) | Template for Students & Professionals. Scribbr. Retrieved April 8, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/apa-style/apa-title-page/

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• The Complete Guide to APA Format in 2020

APA Title Page / Cover Page

• Headings and Subheadings
• Discussion Section
• Websites and Online Sources
• Journals and Periodicals
• Other Print Sources
• Other Non-Print Sources
• In-text Citations
• Footnotes and Endnotes
• Using MyBib Responsibly
• Miscellaneous Questions

Details to include

The title page (also known as the cover page) is the front page of your paper. It should contain:

• The running head , a header at the top of the page.
• The first page number .
• The title of the paper
• The institution for which you writing.

Running head

The running head should be in the top-left corner of the page in uppercase. It should include a shortened title of your paper. On the front page only, it should also be prepended with "Running head:".

First page number

The first page number -- generally page 1 -- should be in the top-right corner of the page. Both the page number and the running head should be a half inch from the top of the page.

The title of the paper can contain upper and lowercase letters, and ideally should be no more than 12 words in length. It should be direct, and should not contain abbreviations or other unnecessary words. It should not span longer than 2 lines. The first letter of each word should be uppercase, except for articles (a, an, the), and conjunctions (and, but, for, or, yet).

Underneath the title should be your name (or the author's name if you're not the author). It should be displayed as the first name , middle initial , and last name . Do not add titles (such as Dr.) to the beginning, or qualifications (such as PhD) to the end of an author's name.

Your institution

Finally, underneath the author's name, state the full name of the institution or school you're writing the paper for.

The font for all text on the title page should be Times New Roman, size 12pt, with double line-spacing.

A correct title page will look like the below image:

After completing your title page you will move on to writing an abstract of your paper.

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13.1 Formatting a Research Paper

Learning objectives.

• Identify the major components of a research paper written using American Psychological Association (APA) style.
• Apply general APA style and formatting conventions in a research paper.

In this chapter, you will learn how to use APA style , the documentation and formatting style followed by the American Psychological Association, as well as MLA style , from the Modern Language Association. There are a few major formatting styles used in academic texts, including AMA, Chicago, and Turabian:

• AMA (American Medical Association) for medicine, health, and biological sciences
• APA (American Psychological Association) for education, psychology, and the social sciences
• Chicago—a common style used in everyday publications like magazines, newspapers, and books
• MLA (Modern Language Association) for English, literature, arts, and humanities
• Turabian—another common style designed for its universal application across all subjects and disciplines

While all the formatting and citation styles have their own use and applications, in this chapter we focus our attention on the two styles you are most likely to use in your academic studies: APA and MLA.

If you find that the rules of proper source documentation are difficult to keep straight, you are not alone. Writing a good research paper is, in and of itself, a major intellectual challenge. Having to follow detailed citation and formatting guidelines as well may seem like just one more task to add to an already-too-long list of requirements.

Following these guidelines, however, serves several important purposes. First, it signals to your readers that your paper should be taken seriously as a student’s contribution to a given academic or professional field; it is the literary equivalent of wearing a tailored suit to a job interview. Second, it shows that you respect other people’s work enough to give them proper credit for it. Finally, it helps your reader find additional materials if he or she wishes to learn more about your topic.

Furthermore, producing a letter-perfect APA-style paper need not be burdensome. Yes, it requires careful attention to detail. However, you can simplify the process if you keep these broad guidelines in mind:

• Work ahead whenever you can. Chapter 11 “Writing from Research: What Will I Learn?” includes tips for keeping track of your sources early in the research process, which will save time later on.
• Get it right the first time. Apply APA guidelines as you write, so you will not have much to correct during the editing stage. Again, putting in a little extra time early on can save time later.
• Use the resources available to you. In addition to the guidelines provided in this chapter, you may wish to consult the APA website at http://www.apa.org or the Purdue University Online Writing lab at http://owl.english.purdue.edu , which regularly updates its online style guidelines.

General Formatting Guidelines

This chapter provides detailed guidelines for using the citation and formatting conventions developed by the American Psychological Association, or APA. Writers in disciplines as diverse as astrophysics, biology, psychology, and education follow APA style. The major components of a paper written in APA style are listed in the following box.

These are the major components of an APA-style paper:

Body, which includes the following:

• Headings and, if necessary, subheadings to organize the content
• In-text citations of research sources
• References page

All these components must be saved in one document, not as separate documents.

The title page of your paper includes the following information:

• Title of the paper
• Author’s name
• Name of the institution with which the author is affiliated
• Header at the top of the page with the paper title (in capital letters) and the page number (If the title is lengthy, you may use a shortened form of it in the header.)

List the first three elements in the order given in the previous list, centered about one third of the way down from the top of the page. Use the headers and footers tool of your word-processing program to add the header, with the title text at the left and the page number in the upper-right corner. Your title page should look like the following example.

The next page of your paper provides an abstract , or brief summary of your findings. An abstract does not need to be provided in every paper, but an abstract should be used in papers that include a hypothesis. A good abstract is concise—about one hundred fifty to two hundred fifty words—and is written in an objective, impersonal style. Your writing voice will not be as apparent here as in the body of your paper. When writing the abstract, take a just-the-facts approach, and summarize your research question and your findings in a few sentences.

In Chapter 12 “Writing a Research Paper” , you read a paper written by a student named Jorge, who researched the effectiveness of low-carbohydrate diets. Read Jorge’s abstract. Note how it sums up the major ideas in his paper without going into excessive detail.

Write an abstract summarizing your paper. Briefly introduce the topic, state your findings, and sum up what conclusions you can draw from your research. Use the word count feature of your word-processing program to make sure your abstract does not exceed one hundred fifty words.

Depending on your field of study, you may sometimes write research papers that present extensive primary research, such as your own experiment or survey. In your abstract, summarize your research question and your findings, and briefly indicate how your study relates to prior research in the field.

Margins, Pagination, and Headings

APA style requirements also address specific formatting concerns, such as margins, pagination, and heading styles, within the body of the paper. Review the following APA guidelines.

Use these general guidelines to format the paper:

• Set the top, bottom, and side margins of your paper at 1 inch.
• Use double-spaced text throughout your paper.
• Use a standard font, such as Times New Roman or Arial, in a legible size (10- to 12-point).
• Use continuous pagination throughout the paper, including the title page and the references section. Page numbers appear flush right within your header.
• Section headings and subsection headings within the body of your paper use different types of formatting depending on the level of information you are presenting. Additional details from Jorge’s paper are provided.

Begin formatting the final draft of your paper according to APA guidelines. You may work with an existing document or set up a new document if you choose. Include the following:

• Your title page
• The abstract you created in Note 13.8 “Exercise 1”
• Correct headers and page numbers for your title page and abstract

APA style uses section headings to organize information, making it easy for the reader to follow the writer’s train of thought and to know immediately what major topics are covered. Depending on the length and complexity of the paper, its major sections may also be divided into subsections, sub-subsections, and so on. These smaller sections, in turn, use different heading styles to indicate different levels of information. In essence, you are using headings to create a hierarchy of information.

The following heading styles used in APA formatting are listed in order of greatest to least importance:

• Section headings use centered, boldface type. Headings use title case, with important words in the heading capitalized.
• Subsection headings use left-aligned, boldface type. Headings use title case.
• The third level uses left-aligned, indented, boldface type. Headings use a capital letter only for the first word, and they end in a period.
• The fourth level follows the same style used for the previous level, but the headings are boldfaced and italicized.
• The fifth level follows the same style used for the previous level, but the headings are italicized and not boldfaced.

Visually, the hierarchy of information is organized as indicated in Table 13.1 “Section Headings” .

Table 13.1 Section Headings

A college research paper may not use all the heading levels shown in Table 13.1 “Section Headings” , but you are likely to encounter them in academic journal articles that use APA style. For a brief paper, you may find that level 1 headings suffice. Longer or more complex papers may need level 2 headings or other lower-level headings to organize information clearly. Use your outline to craft your major section headings and determine whether any subtopics are substantial enough to require additional levels of headings.

Working with the document you developed in Note 13.11 “Exercise 2” , begin setting up the heading structure of the final draft of your research paper according to APA guidelines. Include your title and at least two to three major section headings, and follow the formatting guidelines provided above. If your major sections should be broken into subsections, add those headings as well. Use your outline to help you.

Because Jorge used only level 1 headings, his Exercise 3 would look like the following:

Citation Guidelines

In-text citations.

Throughout the body of your paper, include a citation whenever you quote or paraphrase material from your research sources. As you learned in Chapter 11 “Writing from Research: What Will I Learn?” , the purpose of citations is twofold: to give credit to others for their ideas and to allow your reader to follow up and learn more about the topic if desired. Your in-text citations provide basic information about your source; each source you cite will have a longer entry in the references section that provides more detailed information.

In-text citations must provide the name of the author or authors and the year the source was published. (When a given source does not list an individual author, you may provide the source title or the name of the organization that published the material instead.) When directly quoting a source, it is also required that you include the page number where the quote appears in your citation.

This information may be included within the sentence or in a parenthetical reference at the end of the sentence, as in these examples.

Epstein (2010) points out that “junk food cannot be considered addictive in the same way that we think of psychoactive drugs as addictive” (p. 137).

Here, the writer names the source author when introducing the quote and provides the publication date in parentheses after the author’s name. The page number appears in parentheses after the closing quotation marks and before the period that ends the sentence.

Addiction researchers caution that “junk food cannot be considered addictive in the same way that we think of psychoactive drugs as addictive” (Epstein, 2010, p. 137).

Here, the writer provides a parenthetical citation at the end of the sentence that includes the author’s name, the year of publication, and the page number separated by commas. Again, the parenthetical citation is placed after the closing quotation marks and before the period at the end of the sentence.

As noted in the book Junk Food, Junk Science (Epstein, 2010, p. 137), “junk food cannot be considered addictive in the same way that we think of psychoactive drugs as addictive.”

Here, the writer chose to mention the source title in the sentence (an optional piece of information to include) and followed the title with a parenthetical citation. Note that the parenthetical citation is placed before the comma that signals the end of the introductory phrase.

David Epstein’s book Junk Food, Junk Science (2010) pointed out that “junk food cannot be considered addictive in the same way that we think of psychoactive drugs as addictive” (p. 137).

Another variation is to introduce the author and the source title in your sentence and include the publication date and page number in parentheses within the sentence or at the end of the sentence. As long as you have included the essential information, you can choose the option that works best for that particular sentence and source.

Citing a book with a single author is usually a straightforward task. Of course, your research may require that you cite many other types of sources, such as books or articles with more than one author or sources with no individual author listed. You may also need to cite sources available in both print and online and nonprint sources, such as websites and personal interviews. Chapter 13 “APA and MLA Documentation and Formatting” , Section 13.2 “Citing and Referencing Techniques” and Section 13.3 “Creating a References Section” provide extensive guidelines for citing a variety of source types.

Writing at Work

APA is just one of several different styles with its own guidelines for documentation, formatting, and language usage. Depending on your field of interest, you may be exposed to additional styles, such as the following:

• MLA style. Determined by the Modern Languages Association and used for papers in literature, languages, and other disciplines in the humanities.
• Chicago style. Outlined in the Chicago Manual of Style and sometimes used for papers in the humanities and the sciences; many professional organizations use this style for publications as well.
• Associated Press (AP) style. Used by professional journalists.

References List

The brief citations included in the body of your paper correspond to the more detailed citations provided at the end of the paper in the references section. In-text citations provide basic information—the author’s name, the publication date, and the page number if necessary—while the references section provides more extensive bibliographical information. Again, this information allows your reader to follow up on the sources you cited and do additional reading about the topic if desired.

The specific format of entries in the list of references varies slightly for different source types, but the entries generally include the following information:

• The name(s) of the author(s) or institution that wrote the source
• The year of publication and, where applicable, the exact date of publication
• The full title of the source
• For books, the city of publication
• For articles or essays, the name of the periodical or book in which the article or essay appears
• For magazine and journal articles, the volume number, issue number, and pages where the article appears
• For sources on the web, the URL where the source is located

The references page is double spaced and lists entries in alphabetical order by the author’s last name. If an entry continues for more than one line, the second line and each subsequent line are indented five spaces. Review the following example. ( Chapter 13 “APA and MLA Documentation and Formatting” , Section 13.3 “Creating a References Section” provides extensive guidelines for formatting reference entries for different types of sources.)

In APA style, book and article titles are formatted in sentence case, not title case. Sentence case means that only the first word is capitalized, along with any proper nouns.

Key Takeaways

• Following proper citation and formatting guidelines helps writers ensure that their work will be taken seriously, give proper credit to other authors for their work, and provide valuable information to readers.
• Working ahead and taking care to cite sources correctly the first time are ways writers can save time during the editing stage of writing a research paper.
• APA papers usually include an abstract that concisely summarizes the paper.
• APA papers use a specific headings structure to provide a clear hierarchy of information.
• In APA papers, in-text citations usually include the name(s) of the author(s) and the year of publication.
• In-text citations correspond to entries in the references section, which provide detailed bibliographical information about a source.

Writing for Success Copyright © 2015 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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• Knowledge Base
• Dissertation

Dissertation title page

Published on 30 May 2022 by Shona McCombes . Revised on 18 October 2022.

The title page (or cover page) of your thesis, dissertation, or research paper should contain all the key information about your document. It usually includes:

• Dissertation or thesis title
• The type of document (e.g., dissertation, research paper )
• The department and institution
• The degree program (e.g., Master of Arts)
• The date of submission

It sometimes also includes your student number, your supervisor’s name, and your university’s logo.

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Table of contents

Title page format, title page templates, title page example, frequently asked questions about title pages.

Your department will usually tell you exactly what should be included on your title page and how it should be formatted. Be sure to check whether there are specific guidelines for margins, spacing, and font size.

Title pages for APA and MLA Style

The format of your title page can also depend on the citation style you’re using. There may be guidelines in regards to alignment, page numbering, and mandatory elements.

• MLA guidelines for formatting the title page
• APA guidelines for formatting the title page

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We’ve created a few templates to help you design the title page for your thesis, dissertation, or research paper. You can download them in the format of your choice by clicking on the corresponding button.

Research paper Google doc

Dissertation Google doc

Thesis Google doc

A typical example of a thesis title page looks like this:

The title page of your thesis or dissertation should include your name, department, institution, degree program, and submission date.

The title page of your thesis or dissertation goes first, before all other content or lists that you may choose to include.

Usually, no title page is needed in an MLA paper . A header is generally included at the top of the first page instead. The exceptions are when:

• Your instructor requires one, or
• Your paper is a group project

In those cases, you should use a title page instead of a header, listing the same information but on a separate page.

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If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the ‘Cite this Scribbr article’ button to automatically add the citation to our free Reference Generator.

McCombes, S. (2022, October 18). Dissertation title page. Scribbr. Retrieved 8 April 2024, from https://www.scribbr.co.uk/thesis-dissertation/title-page/

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Creating a captivating research paper title page – ultimate guide with examples.

August 29, 2019

A reader can become engaged or irritated after seeing your research paper title page. Th at is why you need to put in the effort to make sure that it is done properly, and it compels the reader to continue reading the content. Creating the title page for research paper is sometimes more difficult for students than writing a research paper.

How To Make A Title Page For Research Paper

The first thing you need to know is that there are primarily three formats for your title page – APA, Chicago style, and MLA. Your instructor will most likely tell you which format is ideal for the paper. The title page has to contain some precise information about the research in a few words. So, what should be contained in a research paper title page?

The front page of your research paper should contain your full name as it is stated on all your educational certificates. That should be on the same page where you put the topic.

Title Of The Research Paper

Make sure you come up with a good title for research paper and put it on the cover page along with your name. Make sure that the title is interesting. Also, it should not be misleading in any way but should provide a glimpse into the entire content. Typically, the title of the research paper title is expected to be written in capital letters and bold fonts.

Supervisor’s Name

Another important detail to add is the full name of the research supervisor. If you go through the research paper title page examples, you’ll see that adding the supervisor’s name is a must.

Course Information

You need to provide some information about the course, including the course code, academic year, and semester.

Now you know what your research paper title page is expected to contain, it’s time to dive into how to make a title page like a professional. Below are some useful tips for creating the perfect paper title page:

Use The Right Format

As stated earlier, there are three main research paper formats. The one you use will depend on what you’ve been instructed to use. However, you need to make sure you stick to one format from the title to the conclusion.

If you’ve been instructed to use the Chicago format, you have to make sure all the content on the cover page is aligned to the center. Your paper title should be halfway into the page. After the page title, write your full name followed by the name of your instructor and then the course title. There is no need to number the cover page when you’re using the Chicago style.

When you’re instructed to use the APA style, you have to number the title page at the top right corner. Use Times New Roman as your page font and keep one-inch margins on every side of the cover page. You may not need to write everything in capital letters.

For the MLA format, you need to start a third way into the paper, but it should not be as low as the Chicago style. You can add a subtitle to your original title. Just after that, add your name, the name of your school, the course title, your instructor’s name.

Writing A Research Paper – Quick Overview

After you’ve determined what you want your title page to look like, you need to find out how to start a research paper. It is important to note that each institution may have specific guidelines on how to write a research paper. So, make sure you read these guidelines thoroughly before you start. However, some general rules are as follows:

Don’t Joke With The Research

The research part of the research paper writing is crucial. Before you start writing anything, research the topic thoroughly, and get updated information about every fact you’re going to list. As soon as you understand the topic, you need to gather resources, formulate the idea, develop your thesis statement. Your research should be backed by empirical data. If possible, conduct first-hand research on the subject. Otherwise, look for reliable research on Google Scholar, government publications, encyclopedias, newspapers, and almanacs.

About Your Thesis Statement

Your thesis statement tells your reader what the main point of your essay is and what your supporting points are. It can be one or two sentences that prepare the minds of the readers for what is to come. Make sure that everything in the body of your paper is in line with the thesis statement, not opposite. Your thesis statement should appear at the end of your introduction and or should match the topic.

Work With An Outline

Your work would flow better if you use an outline from the beginning to the end. Your outline should be made up of all the points you intend to cover in the content. It can also include the research paper format. Make sure that you put down all the subheadings you intend to cover in the content as well as the details of the materials you want to use in each subheading.

Write A Draft First

To increase your chances of creating high-quality work, try writing a draft first. When you’ve completed the draft, you can start writing the content you will submit. Writing a draft first allows you to brainstorm ideas and find the perfect voice for the content.

Progress From Weakest To Strongest Point

For your content to have a logical flow, start with the weakest point, and slowly progress to the strongest. That doesn’t mean you need to start with a point that isn’t backed empirically. It just means the point you start with should not be your strongest. Each point should have a supporting argument as a backup. It makes your content better.

Restate Your Thesis Statement In Your Conclusion

When it’s time to conclude your paper after listing all the relevant points, you can restate your thesis statement as is common in research paper writing examples. That doesn’t mean you should copy and paste your thesis. Just find new words to say it and link all your points to it. Draw the reader’s attention to why all the points you’ve made support your thesis. That applies when you’re research is conclusive. If it is not, make sure you state that in the research is inconclusive.

Review Before Submission

So, you’ve completed your research paper successfully. That’s cool. However, you should not rush into submitting. Revise the work, make edits, and ask someone else to help you read it. Make sure that your work is as flawless as possible. There should be no inaccurate information, grammatical, or typographical errors. The last thing you want to do is submit a compelling research paper with bad grammar or typographical errors.

Let Our Writers Create Best Title Page For You

Writing a research paper, especially its title page, is like writing any other paper. However, it requires more precision and use of facts. Depending on the topic, make sure that everything you state is factual. These tips above will help when you’re creating a title page for your research paper and when you’re creating the paper. Also, should you feel stuck with crafting a research paper – feel free to hire our experts to help you get exciting results!

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• Sample MLA Paper – normal paper
• Sample MLA Paper – has cover page
• Sample APA Paper
• Sample Chicago Paper
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• APA Format Guidelines
• MLA Format Cover Page

The Modern Language Association (MLA) does not require you to create a cover page when you complete your research paper, but some instructors may require it.

If your instructor requires your paper to have a cover page, here is how to make it (very easy). This cover page should include: your school name, your research paper title, your name, your class, your professor name and your paper due date.

How to Format Your MLA Cover Page:

• This page is double spaced and the letters are centered.
• Font: Times New Roman
• Font size: 12
• The first letter of each word should be capitalized with the exception of very short words such as: the, and, of, or, a, an, in, to, for. Note: the first letter of the first word should be capitalized, regardless of what kind of word it is.
• Type the name of your university or college.
• Skip to about one-third of the page and type your research paper title, include a subtitle if you have.
• Skip several lines down and type your name, your course name and number, your instructor name and your paper’s due date.

Sample MLA Format Cover Page:

Sample MLA Format Cover Page

Alternate First Page:

If your instructor requires a cover page, you would omit the main heading on your first page. Here is an example of the first page if a cover page is used. You still need your last name and page number on the first page and every other page.

Sample MLA Format First Page with Cover Page

Sample MLA Paper:

Visit here for a sample paper with the cover page. The cover page can vary slightly. This paper also has the outline page for your sample.

If you find this website useful, please share with a friend:

How do I get the header on the second page on down? I tried editing it but then it takes the header away from all the pages.

In word select the header then go to: Header & Footer>Page Number>Format Page Numbers>Page Numbering>Start at page>Set to 0

How do I get the header on the second page on down? I tried editing it but then it takes the header away from all the pages. I am using windows. Also, the page numbers are not working for me either. Please help me.

How should I start the page after my cover page?

https://mlaformat.org/mla-format-heading/

Thank you so much Stephen !!! Helped a lot in my written assignments 🙂

Great site ! Thank you so much. Just returned to school to complete my bachelors and needed a little refreshing. Has all the information I needed !

Thanks so much for all of the great information! I have not used MLA before and was a little panic stricken. I have found all of my answers here. This is now saved to my favorites so I can use it regularly. Thanks again!

Should the lines on the cover page be double spaced?

Thanks so much for the picture of the cover page it has helped a lot. But, I was wondering do I still need to put my Title at the top of every page after the header?

Hello Lydia. You do not.

After your cover page, your next page’s heading should look like the “Alternate First Page” above.

After the “Alternate First Page” => your next pages should have “The Inner Pages” heading: https://mlaformat.org/mla-format-heading/

Sample paper: https://mlaformat.org/mla-format-sample-paper-with-cover-page-and-outline/

hey Lydia you don’t need to but if you want to you can

Thank you so so much. I love the simplicity of the website, very easy to understand. I finally have a cover page for my paper!!

I love this website!! It helped so many times with all my essays. I’m working on a college one and this was very useful. Thank you soo much. And thanks for the examples im a visual person I needed that 🙂

Hi Kaylin, I am glad you find this site useful. Take care!

By the way (sorry i forgot!) for the coverpage, would the text font be 12 times new roman???

You can set everything 12, Times New Roman. Or you can set the Title a little larger than 12, that should work too.

In the example above, I have the title larger than 12.

Here is an example with everything set at 12.

Thank you so much for your help on this useful website! I found it very organized and I’m very glad that I came across this particular article. Thanks!!!!!!!:)

I have a question regarding the cover page and the following pages. If I have a cover page as the example provided, do I still need the heading on the next page? And should the pages after that contain my last name on the top left as the header does on the on the previous pages? or do I not need the header at all if I have the cover page and just my name?

Excellence question, Stella! I have updated this article with information on the first page if a cover page is used. Please see “Alternate First Page” above.

You can omit the main heading but you still need your last name and page number on the first page and all subsequent pages. Take care!

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7 Writing the Research Paper

Writing in a formal, academic, and technical manner can prove a difficult transition for clinicians turned researchers; however, there are several ways to improve your professional writing skills.  This chapter should be considered a collection of tools to consider as you work to articulate and disseminate your research.

Chapter 7: Learning Objectives

This is it! You’re ready to tell the world of the work you’ve done. As you prepare to write your research paper, you’ll be able to

• Discuss the most general components of a research paper
• Articulate the importance of framing your work for the reader using a template based on the research approach
• Identify the major components of a manuscript describing original research
• Identify the major components of a manuscript describing quality improvement projects
• Contrast the specifications of guidelines and protocols
• Identify the major components of a narrative review

Guiding Principles

Although it is wise to identify a potential journal or like avenue as you begin to write up you research, this is not always feasible. For this reason, it is a good idea to have an adequate understanding of the general expectations of what is required of written research articles and manuscripts. Here are some things to keep in mind:

Consider the articles you read

As you begin to research potential research interests, pay close attention to the style of writing found in peer-reviewed and academic journals.  You will notice that the ‘tone’ of ‘voice’ is often formal and rarely uses the first-person narrative.  You will be expected to develop writing of this caliber in order to be published in a reputable peer-reviewed forum.  One of the most difficult concepts for novice researchers to understand is that professional or technical writing is very different from casual or conversational writing.  There is little room for anecdotes, opinions, or overly descriptive narratives.  Keep your writing succinct and focused.

Keep it simple, silly! (KISS)

Recall when you were first introduced to writing a paper in an early English Composition course.  It is likely that you were told that the key components of a paper are the introduction, body, and conclusion.  This is truly the foundational structure of any good paper.  Consider the following outline for your writing assignments:

Introduction

• Brief overview of the topic which identifies the gap of understanding about a particular topic that you hope to address (why is it important?)
• Statement of problem (what issue are you going to address?)
• Purpose statement/thesis statement (what is the objective of this paper?)

Typically the body of the paper will be broken down into themes or elements outlined in the introduction.  Occasionally rather than themes or topics to be addressed, the ‘body’ of the paper will have specific components such as a literature review, methodology, data analysis, discussion, and/or recommendation section.  Each of these sections may have specific requirements within that section. Later in this chapter, you will be introduced to specific requirements of different types of research papers.

The body of any paper is the ‘meat and potatoes’ of the work.  That is, this is the section wherein you both present and explain your ideas in support of the purpose of the paper (described in the introduction).  The body of your paper, regardless of specific structure, is where the majority of your evidentiary base should be included.  That is, many of the statements you make in these sections will require substantiation from outside resources.  It is vital to include appropriate citations of all references used. To save yourself time, cite and reference correctly as you write. Doing so will help ensure that you stay organized as your work evolves.

Sections such as methods or data analyses, will not require as much substantiation and should be considered very ‘cut and dry’. That is, there will be little to no discussion or interpretation of the evidence here. Results sections, similarly, should be focused on the presentation of results specific to your investigation, including statistical analyses. When reporting results of your work consider the format and whether it makes sense to summarize results in a table, figure, or appendix. The appropriate method will depend on both the type and amount of information that you are trying to convey.

The discussion section is the point at which you should frame your results in the context of your interpretation of the existing literature and how your work addresses the gap in knowledge. You’ll work to substantiate your interpretation by utilizing references to present evidence to support your rational. Pay close attention to your approach as you discuss your results and the impact of your work. Be careful not to make declarative statements if your data does not support a cause-and-effect relationship. Additionally, be careful not to draw inference as a result of bias. That is, use caution in skewing the evidence to support your hypothesis.

The conclusion is exactly that.  This is your opportunity to wrap your thoughts up succinctly.  A good conclusion will remind the reader of the point or focus of the paper, reiterate the arguments outlined in the body as well as summarize any discussion or recommendations posed in those respective sections, and articulate what the content of the paper added to the knowledge base of the subject.  This is not a time to introduce new arguments, concepts, or evidence.  The reader should be able to finish the paper understanding the purpose of the paper, the main arguments, and the impact of the work on the subject.

References should be cited correctly in text as well as appropriately formatted at the end of each body of work. The format of your references will depend on the guidelines required of the intended journal or forum you’re submitting to. For example, papers written utilizing the American Psychological Association (APA) formatting standards will include reference pages which are organized on a separate page, titled ‘References’, and organized alphabetically by author surname. If you’re not quite sure of where you’ll be submitting your paper for publication, it may be best to write using APA format; because the references are listed in ascending alphabetical order, adding or removing references during the revision process will be minimally impactful on the designation of subsequent references. Altering your references can then be done once you identify a method of dissemination and review specific guidelines.

Understanding how to present your work can be difficult. It’s one thing to plan and do the research; it’s quite another to put it down on paper in a logical and articulate way. As we discussed in chapters 1 and 2, planning is essential to the success of your research. Similarly, planning the layout of your manuscript will help ensure that you stay both organized and focused. Although most articles can be generalized as having an introduction, body, and conclusion; the specific components within each of those sections varies depending on the approach to research.

Original Research

Although many journals may outline specific requirements for how your manuscript or research paper is to be formatted, there are some generally acceptable formats. One of the most generalizable formats is referred to as IMRaD. IMRaD is an acronym and includes the following elements:

• Introduction- 25%
• Methods- 25%
• Results- 35%
• Discussion/conclusion- 15%
• Clearly state the focus for the work. Provide a brief overview of the issue and the gap in knowledge identified; including both a problem and purpose statement in the context of what is currently understood about the topic. This is where you ‘reel’ the reader in and also highlight the important themes which are consistently addressed in the existing literature.
• General and specific approaches
• Participant selection/randomization
• Instrumentation/measurements utilized
• Here is where you report specific findings and outcomes of your work. There should be very little discussion in this section. Rather, you should present your results and comment, briefly, on how this may relate to the existing literature and state the bottom line. That is, what do these findings suggest. These succinct comments should frame the lens of the discussion section.
• In the discussion section you can further elaborate on your interpretation, based in the evidence, of how your findings relate to what other researchers have found. You can discuss flaws in your work as well as suggestions for direction of future research. You should address each of the main points you presented in your introduction section(s).

QI Projects

When presenting your QI project; a systematic reporting tool, such as the SQUIRE method , is helpful to ensure that you appropriately present the information in a way that both adds to the understanding of the problem as well as a descriptive approach to solving the issue.

SQUIRE Method

Titling your QI project

• Your title should indicate that the project addresses a specific initiative to improve healthcare.

Example of QI Project title

Quality Improvement Initiative to Standardize High Flow Nasal Cannula for Bronchiolitis: Decreases Hospital and Intensive Care Stay

• Addresses specific initiative to improve healthcare
• Directly identifies the bounds and focus of the project
• Provide enough information to help with searching and indexing of your work
• Summarize all key findings in the format required by the publication. Typical sections include background (including statement of the problem), methods, intervention, results, and conclusion
• Include a description on the nature and significance of the problem
• Summary of what is currently understood about the problem
• Overview of framework, model, concepts and/or theory used to explain the problem. Include an assumptions, delimitations, or definitions used to both describe the problem as well as develop the intervention and why the intervention was intended to work.
• Describe the purpose of the project
• Describe the contextual elements relevant to both the problem and intervention (e.g. environmental factors contributing to the problem)
• Include team-based approach, if applicable
• Describe the approach used to assess the impact of the intervention as well as what approach was used to evaluate/assess the intervention
• What tools did you use to study both the process and intervention and why?
• What tools are in place for ongoing assessment of efficacy of the project?
• How is completeness and accuracy of the data measured?
• Describe the quantitative/qualitative methods used to draw inference from the data collected
• Describe how ethical considerations were addressed and whether the project was overseen by an Institutional Review Board (IRB)
• Initial steps of intervention and evolution over time; including modifications to the intervention or project
• Details of the process measures and outcome
• Key findings including relevance to the rational and specific aims
• Strengths of the projects
• Nature of the association between intervention and outcome
• Comparison of the findings with those of other publications
• Impact of the project
• Reasons for differences between observed and anticipated outcomes; include contextual rationale
• Costs and strategic implications
• Limits to the generalizability of the work
• Factors that may have limited internal validity (e.g. confounding variables, bias, design)
• Efforts made to minimize or adjust for limitations
• Usefulness of the work
• Sustainability
• Potential for application to other contexts
• Implications for practice and further study
• Suggested next steps
• This section would be included if you received funding for the projects.

Narrative Reviews

As mentioned in chapter 2, development of either guidelines or protocols is an intensive process which often requires a systematic team approach to ensure that the scope and purpose of the work is as generalizable as possible. The best approach for the development of guidelines can be found by reviewing the World Health Organization handbook for guideline development .

Presenting a narrative review of a topic is an excellent way to contribute to the knowledge base on a particular subject as well as to provide framework for development of a protocol or guideline. The elements included in presentation of a narrative review are not all that different from those of traditional research studies; however, there are some notable differences. Here is a brief outline of what should be included in a quality narrative review, adapted from Green, Johnson, and Adams (2006) and Ferarri (2015):

• Objective: State the purpose of the paper
• Background: Describe why the paper is being written; include problem statement and/or research question
• Methods: Include methods used to conduct the review; including those used to evaluate articles for inclusion into your work
• Discussion: Frame the findings of the review in the context of the problem
• Conclusion: State what new information your work contributes as a result of your review and synthesis
• Key words: List MeSH terms and words that may help organize and/or locate your work
• Clearly state the focus for the work. Provide a brief overview of the issue and the gap in knowledge identified; including both a problem and purpose statement
• Provide an overview of how information related to the review was located. This includes what terms were searched and where as well as why studies were included in your review. Delimiting your search is important to describe the scope of the review
• Themes or constructs should be identified throughout the review of the literature and arranged in a way such that the discussion of the theme and the link to the evidence should directly address the purpose of your inquiry
• What sets a review apart from an annotated bibliography is synthesis of the evidence around major points identified consistently throughout the research (i.e. themes). Both consensus and diverging approaches should be included in the discussion of the evidence. This should not be considered simply a comparison of the existing evidence, but should be framed through the lens of the author’s interpretation of that evidence.
• Tie back to the purpose as well as the major conclusions identified in the review. No new information should be discussed here, apart from suggestions for future research opportunities

An extremely important part of disseminating your work is ensuring that you have correctly attributed thoughts and content that you did not create. Depending on the nature of your research, discipline, or intended publication, the format by which you list your references or outline resources utilized may differ. Regardless of referencing formatting guidelines, it is imperative to keep your references organized as you draft different iterations of your work. For example, it may be easier to draft your work utilizing American Psychological Association (APA) formatting guidelines, which arrange references by author’s last name, in ascending alphabetical order, than in other formats which require that references be numbered in order of appearance in the text. As you add, delete, or rearrange references within the text of your manuscript, it may be both difficult and time consuming to constantly re-number each of your references. Note : Depending on the reference guidelines for your intended journal, you may be required to list the abbreviated names of journals. Finding this information can be difficult. Consider this resource for locating and identifying how best to list journal titles within a reference.

Key Takeaways

• Identifying an appropriate outline for the research approach you selected is essential to developing a publishable manuscript
• Academic writing is formal in both voice and tone
• Academic writing is technical
• Refrain from the use of the first person narratives, including anecdotes, or interjecting your unsubstantiated opinion
• All research papers have an introduction, body, and conclusion
• Specific components of the introduction and body will vary depending on the approach
• Proper citation, referencing, or attributing must be included in all work

Green, B.N., Johnson, C.D., & Adams, A. (2006). Writing narrative literature reviews for peer-reviewed journals: Secrets of the trade. Journal of Chiropractic Medicine, 3 (5), 101-117.

Ferrari, R. (2015). Writing narrative style literature reviews. The European Medical Writers Association, 2 4(4), 230-235. doi: 10.1179/2047480615Z.000000000329

SQUIRE. (2017). Explanation and elaboration of SQUIRE 2.0 guidelines . SQUIRE. http://www.squire-statement.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Page.ViewPage&pageId=504

World Health Organization. (2020). WHO handbook for guideline development, 2nd Ed . World Health Organization. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/145714

Practical Research: A Basic Guide to Planning, Doing, and Writing Copyright © by megankoster. All Rights Reserved.

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APA Title Page

For most assignments written in APA format, a correctly laid out APA title page is essential.

This article is a part of the guide:

• Outline Examples
• Example of a Paper
• Write a Hypothesis
• Introduction
• Example of a Paper 2

Browse Full Outline

• 1 Write a Research Paper
• 2 Writing a Paper
• 3.1 Write an Outline
• 3.2 Outline Examples
• 4.1 Thesis Statement
• 4.2 Write a Hypothesis
• 5.2 Abstract
• 5.3 Introduction
• 5.4 Methods
• 5.5 Results
• 5.6 Discussion
• 5.7 Conclusion
• 5.8 Bibliography
• 6.1 Table of Contents
• 6.2 Acknowledgements
• 6.3 Appendix
• 7.1 In Text Citations
• 7.2 Footnotes
• 7.3.1 Floating Blocks
• 7.4 Example of a Paper
• 7.5 Example of a Paper 2
• 7.6.1 Citations
• 7.7.1 Writing Style
• 7.7.2 Citations
• 8.1.1 Sham Peer Review
• 8.1.2 Advantages
• 8.1.3 Disadvantages
• 8.2 Publication Bias
• 8.3.1 Journal Rejection
• 9.1 Article Writing
• 9.2 Ideas for Topics

A correctly formatted title page is very quick and easy to do, so there is no excuse for getting it wrong. It’s the very first part of your paper that anyone will see, so a glaring mistake here will create a bad impression, long before anybody starts to assess the quality of your work.

It’s a cliché, but people really do judge a book (or research paper !) by its cover.

There is an APA approved standard for title pages but, again, it’s important to inquire about the specific requirements for your department and university. APA, or any other style for that matter, is only a guide, and most departments have developed their own requirements to suit their own needs.

Figure 1 shows an example of an APA title page. Please note that, for clarity, the font size is slightly larger than the recommended 12 pt. Times New Roman.

Creating an APA Title Page

1) The Title

This is the most important part, and should be center aligned, about halfway down the page. This is the full title of the research paper, dissertation or thesis.

2) Personal Details

At the bottom of the page, center aligned, should be your name, your institution and the date of submission.

This is the most variable part of the title page, and you may need to include the name of your supervisor and also the level of paper - dissertation, thesis, and term paper. Check your departmental recommendations.

3) The Running Head

This is a shortened version of the title, no more than 50 characters long, and is the header that you will use at the top of each page. This needs to be left justified.

4) The Page Number

This needs to be made using the header function available in word processing programs. The running header should be separated from the page number by 5 or 7 spaces, and will appear on every page throughout the document. It must be right aligned.

APA Title Page Examples  

Final Remarks

These simple instructions will give you a good title page that will reflect favorably upon all the hard work that you have put into your paper. There is no need to add anything, simply follow the APA guidelines.

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Home » How To Write A Research Proposal – Step-by-Step [Template]

How To Write A Research Proposal – Step-by-Step [Template]

Table of Contents

How To Write a Research Proposal

Writing a Research proposal involves several steps to ensure a well-structured and comprehensive document. Here is an explanation of each step:

1. Title and Abstract

• Choose a concise and descriptive title that reflects the essence of your research.
• Write an abstract summarizing your research question, objectives, methodology, and expected outcomes. It should provide a brief overview of your proposal.

2. Introduction:

• Provide an introduction to your research topic, highlighting its significance and relevance.
• Clearly state the research problem or question you aim to address.
• Discuss the background and context of the study, including previous research in the field.

3. Research Objectives

• Outline the specific objectives or aims of your research. These objectives should be clear, achievable, and aligned with the research problem.

4. Literature Review:

• Conduct a comprehensive review of relevant literature and studies related to your research topic.
• Summarize key findings, identify gaps, and highlight how your research will contribute to the existing knowledge.

5. Methodology:

• Describe the research design and methodology you plan to employ to address your research objectives.
• Explain the data collection methods, instruments, and analysis techniques you will use.
• Justify why the chosen methods are appropriate and suitable for your research.

6. Timeline:

• Create a timeline or schedule that outlines the major milestones and activities of your research project.
• Break down the research process into smaller tasks and estimate the time required for each task.

7. Resources:

• Identify the resources needed for your research, such as access to specific databases, equipment, or funding.
• Explain how you will acquire or utilize these resources to carry out your research effectively.

8. Ethical Considerations:

• Discuss any ethical issues that may arise during your research and explain how you plan to address them.
• If your research involves human subjects, explain how you will ensure their informed consent and privacy.

9. Expected Outcomes and Significance:

• Clearly state the expected outcomes or results of your research.
• Highlight the potential impact and significance of your research in advancing knowledge or addressing practical issues.

10. References:

• Provide a list of all the references cited in your proposal, following a consistent citation style (e.g., APA, MLA).

11. Appendices:

• Include any additional supporting materials, such as survey questionnaires, interview guides, or data analysis plans.

Research Proposal Format

The format of a research proposal may vary depending on the specific requirements of the institution or funding agency. However, the following is a commonly used format for a research proposal:

1. Title Page:

• Include the title of your research proposal, your name, your affiliation or institution, and the date.

2. Abstract:

• Provide a brief summary of your research proposal, highlighting the research problem, objectives, methodology, and expected outcomes.

3. Introduction:

• Introduce the research topic and provide background information.
• State the research problem or question you aim to address.
• Explain the significance and relevance of the research.
• Review relevant literature and studies related to your research topic.
• Summarize key findings and identify gaps in the existing knowledge.
• Explain how your research will contribute to filling those gaps.

5. Research Objectives:

• Clearly state the specific objectives or aims of your research.
• Ensure that the objectives are clear, focused, and aligned with the research problem.

6. Methodology:

• Describe the research design and methodology you plan to use.
• Explain the data collection methods, instruments, and analysis techniques.
• Justify why the chosen methods are appropriate for your research.

7. Timeline:

8. Resources:

• Explain how you will acquire or utilize these resources effectively.

9. Ethical Considerations:

• If applicable, explain how you will ensure informed consent and protect the privacy of research participants.

10. Expected Outcomes and Significance:

11. References:

12. Appendices:

Research Proposal Template

Here’s a template for a research proposal:

1. Introduction:

2. Literature Review:

3. Research Objectives:

4. Methodology:

5. Timeline:

6. Resources:

7. Ethical Considerations:

8. Expected Outcomes and Significance:

9. References:

10. Appendices:

Research Proposal Sample

Title: The Impact of Online Education on Student Learning Outcomes: A Comparative Study

1. Introduction

Online education has gained significant prominence in recent years, especially due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This research proposal aims to investigate the impact of online education on student learning outcomes by comparing them with traditional face-to-face instruction. The study will explore various aspects of online education, such as instructional methods, student engagement, and academic performance, to provide insights into the effectiveness of online learning.

2. Objectives

The main objectives of this research are as follows:

• To compare student learning outcomes between online and traditional face-to-face education.
• To examine the factors influencing student engagement in online learning environments.
• To assess the effectiveness of different instructional methods employed in online education.
• To identify challenges and opportunities associated with online education and suggest recommendations for improvement.

3. Methodology

3.1 Study Design

This research will utilize a mixed-methods approach to gather both quantitative and qualitative data. The study will include the following components:

3.2 Participants

The research will involve undergraduate students from two universities, one offering online education and the other providing face-to-face instruction. A total of 500 students (250 from each university) will be selected randomly to participate in the study.

3.3 Data Collection

The research will employ the following data collection methods:

• Quantitative: Pre- and post-assessments will be conducted to measure students’ learning outcomes. Data on student demographics and academic performance will also be collected from university records.
• Qualitative: Focus group discussions and individual interviews will be conducted with students to gather their perceptions and experiences regarding online education.

3.4 Data Analysis

Quantitative data will be analyzed using statistical software, employing descriptive statistics, t-tests, and regression analysis. Qualitative data will be transcribed, coded, and analyzed thematically to identify recurring patterns and themes.

4. Ethical Considerations

The study will adhere to ethical guidelines, ensuring the privacy and confidentiality of participants. Informed consent will be obtained, and participants will have the right to withdraw from the study at any time.

5. Significance and Expected Outcomes

This research will contribute to the existing literature by providing empirical evidence on the impact of online education on student learning outcomes. The findings will help educational institutions and policymakers make informed decisions about incorporating online learning methods and improving the quality of online education. Moreover, the study will identify potential challenges and opportunities related to online education and offer recommendations for enhancing student engagement and overall learning outcomes.

6. Timeline

The proposed research will be conducted over a period of 12 months, including data collection, analysis, and report writing.

The estimated budget for this research includes expenses related to data collection, software licenses, participant compensation, and research assistance. A detailed budget breakdown will be provided in the final research plan.

8. Conclusion

This research proposal aims to investigate the impact of online education on student learning outcomes through a comparative study with traditional face-to-face instruction. By exploring various dimensions of online education, this research will provide valuable insights into the effectiveness and challenges associated with online learning. The findings will contribute to the ongoing discourse on educational practices and help shape future strategies for maximizing student learning outcomes in online education settings.

About the author

Muhammad Hassan

Researcher, Academic Writer, Web developer

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How to choose an Appropriate Method for Research?

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• Center the title of your research paper at the top of the page.
• Make sure it is concise, informative, and reflects the main focus of your study.
• Below the title, list the author(s) or contributor(s).
• Include their full names, and in some cases, academic affiliations.
• Separate multiple authors with commas.
• Institutional Affiliation:
• If applicable, include the name of the institution where the research was conducted.
• This is often relevant for academic or scientific papers.
• Course Information:
• If the paper is being submitted for a course, include the course name and number.
• Mention the instructor's name if required.
• Include the date of submission or the date you finished the paper.
• Choose a topic 
• Gather information
• Organize ideas
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This essay was originally published in the Current Contents print editions October 10, 1994, when Clarivate Analytics was known as the Institute for Scientific Information.

Each year, Clarivate Analytics sorts its massive file of bibliographic records created for the Science Citation Index (SCI) and the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI). Over 1,000,000 source papers are indexed each year, and the average paper cites approximately 15 references. Two of the search strategies for accessing those indexes in print form, on CD-ROM, or on-line are the Source Index, which is the alphabetic all-author index to what has been published that year, and the  Citation Index , which is compiled from the 15,000,000 cited references of which approximately 7,000,000 will be unique. Each of the uniquely cited papers or books will be cited from 1 to 8,000 times.

The first step in identifying research fronts is to create the alphabetic first-author  Citation Index.  This is then sorted by citation frequency. The most-cited—or core—100,000 papers and books are selected and used as the input for the dictionary of research fronts. These connote areas of significant activity for the year. The next step in the procedure will, in turn, identify several million pairs of co-cited papers. This dictionary of co-cited core papers constitutes the main working file for research front identification. The clustering system developed by Henry Small is used. 1  Pairs of documents that have been cited by the same source paper (co-cited) are extracted and then aggregated into clusters that have at least one document in common. We identify approximately 10,000 clusters or research fronts each year. Each cluster is randomly assigned a unique serial number.

All of these procedures have been described in Current Contents many times before. 2    A detailed understanding of clustering, however, is not necessary for the practical use of research fronts in  SciSearch —Clarivate Analytics on-line system available on Dialog, DataStar, DIMDI, and STN. In the following pages, we describe ways to make use of the research fronts searching capability—whether for science policy or information retrieval.

Research fronts are subspecialties—complex keywords, if you will—that are identified by co-citation clustering. The breadth of the subspecialty can vary widely. Its size depends upon the frequency thresholds used. Research front clustering by co-citation or by co-word is a dynamic, self-generating, objective classification system.

Basis of Research Fronts

As explained above, a research front consists of a cluster of co-cited core papers as well as the group of current source papers that cite one or more of these core papers.

Elements of Clarivate Analytics Research Fronts

Each research front is uniquely labeled with a serial number which consists of the year, a four-digit random number, and a name [e.g., 92-3056 (Uptake of surfactant protein-B; casein kinase-II; catalytic subunits)].  

Year.  The last two numbers of the data year from which the front was generated are the first two digits of the research front serial number. Therefore, all research fronts generated from the combined 1992 SCI / SSCI would be labeled with an initial “92-.”

Serial Number.  The second part of the research front number is a randomly assigned four-digit number. Each of the one million papers indexed each year will be assigned to one or more research fronts, provided it has cited one of the core papers mentioned above. The computer checks each reference to determine whether it is one of the 100,000 core papers in the dictionary. It then assigns the research front labels, which are essentially indexing tags, to each. The labels facilitate calculation of the weight.  

Weight.  For each paper, a weight is calculated that indicates the number of core papers for that research front cited in that paper (e.g., if three of these are core to a particular research front, then the weight is expressed as “003” and is shown in the on-line identifier listing). In the listing in Figure 1, the weight appears in the fourth column, just after the research front number. This list is an excerpt from the list of 8,375 research fronts for 1992.

Figure 1. Excerpt from 1994 SciSearch® file.

In case of a small cluster like 92-4811, it is not necessary to use the weighting factor. Instead, one would proceed to look at the 20 retrieved papers on poly(butyl terephthalate). However, to conduct a more focused search for a highly active research front, as in the case of 92-4812, the weight makes it possible to focus the search. Thus, for research front #4812, line E8 indicates that there are only 4 papers that have cited 5 of the core papers for that research front, 55 papers have cited 4, 366 have cited 3 core papers, and 1,519 have cited 2 core papers. The 6,200 other papers are “relevant” to the search, but normally such a large set would be combined with other search parameters to reduce retrieval to manageable proportions. Those parameters could include another research front tag, a keyword, country, or even a single cited reference.

A low number for weight could indicate the presence of tangential works, while a high number could indicate either highly relevant research or a review article. Knowing the article type allows appropriate interpretation of the weight.

Name.  The research front’s name is shown in the last column in Figure 1. It is derived from the most frequently occurring words and phrases used in titles of the citing (source) papers. This naming procedure is similar in concept to the process of creating KeyWords Plus for   Current Contents on Diskette  3  , SciSearch, Social SciSearch, Current Contents Search, and Arts & Humanities Search.

Co-Citation Clustering

Bibliographic coupling occurs when two publications cite one or several other publications in common  4 .  In contrast, co-citation occurs when two publications are cited by a third, later publication  1 . The greater the frequency of co-citation of a given pair, the greater the likelihood that it defines an established or emerging topic or subspecialty. The citation pair can be used in a citation index search to retrieve related publications. One pair can usually identify a small research front, but active research fronts generally involve several interrelated co-citation pairs  5 .  The larger the number of pairs included in a cluster, the broader the scope.

Single-link clustering, for which the computer selects a single document and searches for all the other items that are linked to it, is used to form clusters of co-cited papers. With the papers that cite them, research fronts are identified  6 .  Frequency thresholds are used to modulate clustering by controlling the relative number of pairs selected. With either co-citation or co-word analysis, the scope can be adjusted by increasing or decreasing the threshold. In other words, the larger the number of pairs included in the cluster, the broader the scope. This concept is important when trying to create maps of the literature at different levels of detail. Threshold strength refers to the degree of association between co-cited pairs in terms of the proportion of their total citations that are co-citations  2 .  

Co-Word Clustering

An alternative to co-citation clustering is co-word clustering, which focuses on analysis of the title or keywords used by authors  7 . Clarivate Analytics uses co-word clustering in its Permuterm Subject Index section of the SCI or SSCI  8 .  Co-citation and co-word methods can be combined in an analysis. This helps to overcome the limitations of co-citation clustering in certain forms of literature, especially where referencing is limited  9 . Tony van Raan and his colleagues have used a combination of these techniques in many of their scientometric studies, such as their study of literature on atomic and molecular biology, and have found that the combination of methods allowed them to gain a clearer picture of the cognitive content of publications  10 .

In a review of Callon’s work on co-word analysis, Small points out that “if co-word links are viewed as translations between problems, co-citation links have been viewed as statements relating concepts.  11 ”  Each offers an interesting perspective on analysis of literature and helps in the identification of research fronts. Combining the aspect of cognitive content with the broader view of co-cited publications affords this enhanced insight.

The “Invisible College” Connection

While research fronts are essentially a posteriori constructs that provide both highly specific and broad access to subject matter, they can be combined with a priori classification systems if desired. However, the term “invisible college” is generally used to characterize dynamic research areas involving groups of researchers as, for example, the invisible college on “chaos in life sciences.  12 ”  The authors are its faculty, and both core and citing authors may or may not be members of these research communities  13 .  

Using Clarivate Analytics on-line SCISEARCHsystem, data can be ranked to reveal interesting facts about performance and trends. Among the fields available on-line for ranking analysis are:

• most cited author
• most prolific author
• most active institution or lab
• most active research front.

Journalists, among others, often want to know the key people or labs working in a given area. For large institutions or regions, one may want to learn the types of research emphasized there. In many of my lectures, I have presented a list of the most active research fronts for that country. These insights can be of value for planning purposes.  

Conclusions

From a scientific management perspective, it is interesting to observe changes in research front activity over a multiyear period. A new field could be associated with a small group of key papers. As that literature grows and the field grows, new branches are created. Using the Clarivate Analytics research fronts files, one can then trace the evolution of the field through its many stages of growth and decline. It is interesting to see what has happened in the past (which strong research fronts have persevered), what is happening now, and what might happen in the future. The relationship to research evaluation should be apparent. Kostoff, for example, predicts that federal use of co-occurrence techniques (research front analyses) will increase in the near future as these systems become better understood and easier to use  14 .

Graphic presentation of research front information in the form of co-citation maps is an important by-product of the system involved here. That topic will be the subject of the next essay  15 .

Dr. Eugene Garfield  Founder and Chairman Emeritus, ISI

• Small H S. Co-citation in the scientific literature: a new measure of the relationship between two documents. J. Amer. Soc. Inform. Sci. 24:265-9, 1973.
• ——————. The ABCs of cluster mapping. Part 1. Most active fields in the life sciences in 1978. Essays of an Information Scientist. Philadelphia: ISI Press®, 1980, Vol. 4. p. 634-41.
• Garfield E G. KeyWords Plus®: ISI®’s breakthrough retrieval method. Part 1. Expanding your searching power on Current Contents on Diskette®. Essays of an Information Scientist. Philadelphia: ISI Press, 1990, Vol. 13. p. 295-9.
• Kessler M M. Bibliographic coupling between scientific papers. Amer. Doc. 1410-25, 1963.
• Garfield E G. New tools for studying the history of science. Essays of an Information Scientist. Philadelphia: ISI Press, 1988, Vol. 11. p. 20-1.
• ——————. History of citation indexes for chemistry: a brief review. Essays of an Information Scientist. Philadelphia: ISI Press, 1985, Vol. 9. p. 42-7.
• Zitt M, Bassecoulard E. Development of a method for detection and trend analysis of research fronts built by lexical or co-citation analysis. Scientometrics 30(1):333-51, 1994.
• Garfield E G. How to use Science Citation Index® (SCI®). Essays of an Information Scientist. Philadelphia: ISI Press, 1983, Vol. 6. p. 53-60.
• Callon M, Law J, Rip A  (eds). Mapping the Dynamics of Science and Technology. London: MacMillan. 1986.
• Braam R R, Moed A F, Van Raan A F J. Mapping of science by combined co-citation and word analysis, part II: Structural aspects. J. Amer. Soc. Inform. Sci. 42:233-51, 1991.
• Small H S. Book review of Callon et al. Scientometrics 14(1-2):165-8, 1988.
• Sankaran N. Chaos theory finding new applications in life sciences. The Scientist 8(16):3,9, 1994.
• Crane D. Invisible Colleges: Diffusion of Knowledge in Scientific Communities. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1972.
• Kostoff R N. Federal research impact assessment: State-of-the-art. J. Amer. Soc. Inform. Sci. 45(6):428-40, 1994.
• Small H, Garfield E. The geography of science: Disciplinary and national mappings. J. Inform. Sci. 11:147-59, 1985.

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From hydrogen to health care: zeng developing next-generation sensors based on naturally occurring phenomenon.

April 08, 2024

Every day, billions of natural reactions happen all around us. Reactions in our bodies that enable us to function. Reactions in the air that form clouds. But the potential for harnessing these naturally occurring phenomenon for technological advancement has remained largely untapped.

That’s where Xiangqun Zeng comes in. A professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering as well as chemistry, Zeng joined Mizzou last year, bringing with her insatiable curiosity and an impressive portfolio of sponsored research.

“We develop next-generation sensors that mimic how the human sensory system works,” she said. “We want these sensors to be able to measure molecules continuously and in real time, similar to how we use our five senses. Our sensory system uses multiple interactions and reactions in a smart architecture, and we want to translate those into smart sensor devices.”

The through-line of her research is turning foundational understanding of the interface of biological and chemical interactions and reactions into tangible—and world-changing—innovations.

Take hydrogen, for instance. Hydrogen is a promising clean energy source however hydrogen is flammable and can be dangerous. In addition,    hydrogen losses to the atmosphere impact the lifetime of other greenhouse gases, namely methane, ozone and water vapor, indirectly contributing to the increase of the Earth’s temperature in the near-term. While existing sensors can detect hydrogen in parts per million for hydrogen safety application, Zeng’s goal is to develop a sensor capable of detecting it at the unprecedented level of parts per billion. That technology is essential for the hydrogen production and hydrogen use in a wide array of applications such as hydrogen fuel cells, a renewable, greener form of energy.

Another project is the development of a device that can continuously monitor greenhouse gas emissions from Artic soil. By providing real-time big data on emissions patterns, such sensor can help researchers and policymakers better understand climate dynamics and devise more informed mitigation strategies.

Zeng applies the same scientific principles in the realm of health care. By leveraging insights from fundamental and applied research of chemical and biological reactions and processes, she is focused on medical sensor devices with innovative chemical/biointerfaces that can provide continuously monitoring of key biomarkers as well as more targeted, customized treatments.

“The reason I am here at Missouri is really because I have a lot of ideas and my creativity can be best utilized at max,” she said. “I’m so valued here, and I can really see tremendous potential for my work. There are a lot of opportunities for collaboration, and I’ve already reached out to colleagues across departments and colleges whose work complements. I’m excited to make more of an impact.”

Zeng’s work is supported by the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, Department of Energy and private foundations. She holds more than 10 patents, has published more than 100 papers and six book chapters. Zeng was featured in the 2015 book, “Women who Changed the World: The Journey and the Joy.”

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