first research paper experience

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Office of Undergraduate Research

My first research experience: being open to the unexpected, by claire fresher, peer research ambassador.

Many things surprised me when I started my first research opportunity. I didn’t know what to expect. I had heard a few things from upperclassmen about their own experiences and had attended a couple presentations from OUR, which is what got me interested in research in the first place, but I had no idea what my personal research experience was going to be like.

Something I hadn’t expected was how many people there are in a research group to support you and how willing people are to help. When I started my research position, I was introduced to a graduate student that worked in the lab station right next to mine. She showed me around the lab space and set me up on my computer. She was always there to ask quick questions or help me with any problems I encountered, as were the other people using the lab space, even if they weren’t in my specific lab group.

After a few weeks, I was given a partner who was also an undergraduate and I was introduced to the other undergraduates in the lab who I met at our weekly lab meetings where I got to hear what everyone was working on. I personally loved having a partner who could help me on the specific project I was assigned since I didn’t want to interrupt the other people in the lab with every question I had when they had other similar projects they were working on.

There was definitely a learning curve when I first started since I had never seen anything like this before. I started with basic literature research and began getting a better look into the broad topic which made it easier to really dive into the specific project that I was working on. In the beginning the work seemed a little intimidating but once I got comfortable in the lab space and knew I had people that could help me it was a lot easier to really get going and get into the really interesting parts, which is actually discovering new and exciting things!

I think the most important thing that I went into research with was being open to anything, and not being set on one way of learning or doing things. This was beneficial since it allowed me to be able to learn something completely new and be open to doing things differently than I had done before.

Throughout the course of my research experience, I know that I have changed in many ways. I learned how to work independently, how to be more analytical in my work, and how to ask the important questions that led to new discoveries. Research really has taught me to be open to the unexpected, and even welcome it, since being open has made me into a better researcher and student.

Claire is a junior majoring in Mechanical Engineering and minoring in Mathematics. Click here to learn more about Claire.

The Savvy Scientist

Experiences of a London PhD student and beyond

How to Write the First Draft of an Academic Research Paper

Actually making a start and putting together a first draft can certainly be the biggest stumbling block to getting a paper submitted. Unless you make a start, it’ll never progress! Drafting your first paper is even more difficult when you don’t yet have experience writing papers and submitting them to journals.

I know from experience how daunting the prospect can be and just how easy it is to unnecessarily procrastinate for months. But it doesn’t have to be difficult and the main thing is making a start. I’m here to try and help making the process less daunting for you!

This guide to drafting your first academic paper forms part of the publishing series . I suggest reading these associated posts in particular:

What to publish
When to publish
Where to publish

What to include in your first draft of an academic research paper

Let me start by saying that no one should be expecting for your first draft to be perfect! I wasted months of time on my first paper because I wanted to perfect everything, down to the wording, before sharing it with my supervisor. This is completely the wrong approach!

Instead of perfecting your first draft, just work to form the rough structure of your paper around whatever you want your key message to be. We discussed this further in the separate post: Deciding what to publish from your PhD work . Simply try to ensure your first draft roughly tells the story of what you want your main message to be.

It is absolutely fine for your first draft to be a rough cut, it should simply serve as a starting point. Therefore for example you can include extra figures you’re not sure about to be able to discuss with your co-authors whether or not they should be included. Throughout the drafting process you want to aiming to make your key message as clear and robust as possible but for now it’s fine to not be sure on the finer details. It may help to look at your favourite papers from the literature to get an idea what papers in your field typically include.

For now, don’t worry the quality of the written text, or finalising your figures. You want to use the first draft to form the rough structure and be a starting point for discussion with co-authors.

Let’s now discuss how to structure your first draft.

Structuring your first draft

If you already have a certain journal in mind to submit your paper to, how you structure your draft may slightly depend upon the format that the journal asks for. It’s a good idea to check their Author Instructions page which should include a “Guide for Authors”: a walkthrough of each section of the paper. Oftentimes there may even be a template you can download including section titles and advice for structuring your text.

If you don’t yet have a journal in mind, don’t worry. For the most part all journals follow the same format. For an original research paper, usually you’ll include sections as follows:

Abstract – typically around 200-250 words or less.
Introduction
Conclusions – sometimes appears as the final paragraph of the discussion section.

Then followed by Author Contributions, Funding sources, Acknowledgments, Conflicts of Interest, any Supplementary files or Appendix and finally the list of References. None of these sections you really have to worry about at this stage.

Let’s go through roughly what to include in each section:

Introduction:

A brief review of previous literature to set the scene;
The motivation for the study;
The aims of your study;
Sometimes you may include a very brief overview of your main findings. See what other papers in the journal do.

Always include enough detail for someone else to be able to repeat your experiments, including:

How many samples did you test? How did you process them? Were there inclusion/exclusion criteria?
If you synthesised or processed physical samples, what materials have you used? Include processing temperatures, durations of each step etc.
What equipment and consumables did you use? Include the item code, model number and manufacturer.
How did you process the data? Name the software package, version and operations you performed.
Details of any statistical analysis: software packages, models, methods, inclusion/exclusion criteria and so forth.

In all instances where you followed a method developed in another paper, include a reference to that paper. Not only is it good practice to give credit where it is due but you’ll have an easier time with peer review demonstrating you’re following the convention.

Remember, you shouldn’t be discussing findings in your results section, simply presenting them. Therefore there shouldn’t really be any suggesting why the results are a certain way. The exception is where the journal specifically allows results and discussion sections to be combined. Further on in this post is a section about choosing figures and results to include in your paper, and most of these will appear in your results section.

Your results should aim to convince the reader of your key message.
Be conscious that when first looking at your paper, most readers will go straight to looking at your figures.
Cite every figure you include, in the order you include them. Clearly explain what is being presented.

Discussion:

The way I was taught to write a discussion was to simply use four paragraphs/sections covering:

Your key finding . You can even start it with the sentence “The most important finding of this work was”
Comparison to previous literature . How do your findings compare to other papers? What was the same? What was different? How do your findings progress the field? What would you recommend next?
Limitations . Every study has limitations, don’t try and hide them. Be honest with what wasn’t ideal during your study. Examples may be: small sample size, imperfect analysis, impractical sample processing. If you can, cite other papers which relate to these limitations: either in regards to why it’s not such a big problem, how it is common problem, or potential solutions or improvements for future studies. In any case, be honest. You can recommend future work to overcome these limitations if appropriate.
Conclusions . Give a brief set of conclusions with reference to the potential impact of your work for future studies.

You can see how I used exactly this format for a recent paper available here .

Eager to learn more about the steps involved in publishing your first paper? My academic publishing series is now available as a free eBook which you can read offline. Click the button below for access.

In which order should you write the sections of the first draft?

Everyone writes papers differently, so what works for me may not work well for you. Personally once I start a document for a new paper, I typically write notes for each section as I think of them but go with the following strategy to get the text written.

Generally it is acknowledged that the methods section is an easy section to write, so I would suggest starting there. Even if you’ve got writer’s block, writing your methods is pretty robotic and shouldn’t require much thought. It simply involves writing down the process you went through to collect all your data. Writing the methods is an easy starting point which should give you confidence to dive into the other sections. In the above graphic I’ve separated the conclusions from the discussion but often the conclusions will simply be the final paragraph of the discussion section.

After the methods you can start drafting your key results and your discussion will naturally follow from there. If you follow the structure for the discussion as outlined in the section above, it should also be formulaic and pretty easy to write if you’ve got a clear message.

By all means crack on with the introduction whenever you fancy. If you’re in the mood to write it, don’t stop yourself! I personally like to write notes for it and include key references as I’m going along, but write the bulk of it after the methods, results and the bulk of the discussion.

Usually it is recommended to write the abstract last once everything else is finalised.

Choosing which figures to present

Remember you’re creating a story around your key message. As such all your figures should be helping to convince your reader of your key message.

Be aware that there are sometimes limits on the maximum number of figures you’re allowed to include (around 8) in the main text of your paper. Usually you can move figures to a supplementary section if necessary. Prioritise the most impactful figures to illustrate your main point.
Each figure should aim to address a certain point around your key message to convince readers. You can combine figures as panels within a larger figure but only do so if they address the same overall point. Don’t confuse readers by combining loads of unrelated things just because you’re running out of space!
Always make sure the caption fully describes what the figure is showing. The figure and caption should explain what is going on without the reader having to read any of the main text. What type of equipment generated the data? How many samples were tested? What do the error bars show? What is the scale? For stats: what is the p-value?

You may need a figure to describe your methods but after that usually you’ll try to include figures in an order which tells a story. Importantly: this order may not be the one in which experiments actually took place. You’re trying to tell a story to get a message across, not write a diary! It’s no problem to move sections of results around if it makes for a more convincing message, especially for readers who may only have a quick glance through your paper.

For example you may wish to start with your key finding, then follow with any validation work, then finally include more details to convince the reader. It will really depend on what suits the work you’re doing, but remember that you have full control and your aim should be to make a clear story.

My top tips for putting together your first draft of the paper

Iterate quickly.

My main bit of advice is to get a first draft put together pretty quickly otherwise you risking wasting lots of time like I did! I wish I had sent the initial drafts of my first paper to my supervisor sooner. I spent far too long trying to perfect it down to the exact phrasing of sentences. There is no point getting to this level of detail if there is potentially an improved completely different direction to take the paper in!

What I’ve found to work really well is to set deadlines with your supervisor to ensure you are making progress to submission. You don’t have to have the full paper available all at once. I have had calendar invites set up saying by a certain date I’d have sections of the paper sent across, and to limit procrastination no date was more than four weeks away.

After your supervisor(s) has had a look, send it across to any co-authors. It may take a few iterations until everyone is happy. Once you have the backing of your coauthors, don’t be scared to submit your manuscript slightly sooner than you feel comfortable.

A reviewer is pretty unlikely to outright reject your paper if they want more experiments to be carried out: they’ll ask for what they want in the review process.

Always think about the next publication

Once you start writing, you may struggle deciding what to include and what not to. Remember though that this doesn’t mean you need to delay publishing if you already have a clear story. Unless all your work sits together very neatly, please resist the urge to include everything in a single paper.

If you’ve got results you’d like to publish but they don’t sit nicely with the main message of this paper, you can always consider publishing them separately later. It is much more important to create a clear message with a coherent story than to include extra work just because you did it!

Although some academics shun the “salami slice” connotations of having many smaller papers, it doesn’t always make sense to force different experiments together in to one paper. I recently published two different papers in the same special issue of a journal, both were related but had very different messages:

Quantifying 3D Strain in Scaffold Implants for Regenerative Medicine
Exploratory Full-Field Mechanical Analysis across the Osteochondral Tissue—Biomaterial Interface in an Ovine Model

It wouldn’t have made for a stronger paper to combine them because in essence they were telling separate stories.

It’s fine for your first draft if you’re not exactly sure what to include. Once you’ve got the rough form of the paper sorted, you can add or reduce bits as necessary. The key thing is to get a first draft done to get the framework for the paper. No one is expecting it to be perfect!

Word vs LaTex

I know some people enjoy using LaTex for their documents, but I’ve never used it. Everyone I’ve always worked with uses Word, so even if I was keen to use LaTex I’m not sure that it would be that easy to collaborate on documents to track changes etc. Journals will often request the paper to be submitted as a Word document so probably save using LaTex for your own internal reports or theses.

Keep your data, files and figures organised

This point extends far beyond your first draft of a paper! Once you start iterating on papers, it becomes more important than ever to know where all your key files are. Ensure you keep different version of documents clearly labelled.

Be prepared for reviewers to ask for modifications to figures or data to be reanalysed.

What I do is keep a folder for the paper and include the main working draft plus other relevant documents like notes or draft of the cover letter. I then have subfolders for data, figures and old drafts.

Aim to present figures with a clear message which are easy to “get”

Making figures is the focus of a whole other post which will follow this one. In short:

A lot of readers will initially flick through your paper and skip straight to your figures. It’s really important that the figures tell the story clearly and can be understood by just looking at the figure and caption. Also, if the readers don’t like the look of your figures, or can’t understand them, they’re less likely to bother reading the rest of the paper. Again, have a look at how published papers present their work to get some ideas.

You’ll want to make your figures in such a way that they can be amended easily to account for any adjustments suggested by co-authors or reviewers. I use a combination of Excel and Photoshop for most of my figures. There are lots of alternatives depending on what you’re presenting, GIMP is a free alternative to Photoshop.

If you make them in Paint and someone suggests making some alterations, it could take you ages. Instead if you make them in a non-binding software like Photoshop you can easily make non-destructive changes element by element.

It is worth spending time creating nice figures. Having polished figures makes your submission look more professional, ensuring the underlying science is easy to understand is critical too. Plus you can use them elsewhere, such as in presentations or other documents.

Got a draft? What happens next

The hard work is far from over once you have your first draft but you’ve overcome a really big hurdle in the journey to getting your work published. Now it’s time to discuss your draft with co-authors, incorporating feedback and changes into subsequent drafts.

There is no certain number of drafts you should expect to go through before submission, just know that you could endlessly spend time finding things to add (discussed here ) and you should be very conscious to avoid doing! For my papers I think it took around four drafts until we felt happy enough to submit. Not all of your co-authors have to give feedback for every draft, I’d suggest the main people you’ll be liaising with will be your supervisor(s) though it’s certainly important that everyone has an opportunity to help.

Once all of the authors, including yourself, are happy with the paper, speak to your supervisor for how to proceed with submission. Some supervisors like to lead the submission whereas others prefer for the student to do so, and then to transfer “corresponding authorship” at the final stages before publication.

In any case, be prepared to feel vulnerable when you do eventually submit the research paper to a journal. This can be completely normal, your work is going to get critiqued! But remember that you’ve done great and rather than leave the data on a computer you’re motivated to pursue publication in turn helping progress your field. Well done!

I hope this post has helped with your first draft of a paper! Remember that you can find the other posts in the series here: Writing an academic journal paper series. Next we’ll be covering creating figures and dealing with reviewers.

Please let me know what you thought of it or if there are any other details of publishing which you’d like help with .

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Author Insights - What to expect when publishing your first research paper.

Advice and tips from influential researchers who have been in the exact same starting position as you..

Are you considering publishing your research? Do you want to understand what to expect and learn some tips and tricks? Do you know the benefits and opportunities publishing your paper will bring?

In this case study, we talk to some influential researchers and dig down into what to expect when publishing your first paper, including what publishing was like for them and what they did after publishing their first paper.

Beyond these interviews, we highlight the key tips for researchers new to publishing, and identify the best publishing support tools researchers should be aware of, such as writing your journal article , the submission check list and sites such as Editage .

Q&A with Dr Eden Morales-Narváez

We chat with Dr Eden Morales Narvaez, winner of the Emerging Leaders 2020 award in JPhys Photonics , who has published 20 papers, starting with his first paper on Plasmonic colored nanopaper: a potential preventive healthcare tool against threats emerging from uncontrolled UV exposure published in 2019. Eden is now an editorial board member for the JPhys Photonics journal .

What made you decide to publish your first research paper?

“A great mentor combined with surprising results led me to publish my first paper.

I joined Professor Arben Merkoçi’s team (Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology) in early 2011. In those times, our research team was very motivated by graphene: the wonder material. So, I performed some experiments with graphene oxide and discovered that we were able to quench the photoluminescence of quantum dots with an almost 100% efficiency.

At the beginning, I did not feel convinced about this surprising results that I was getting (I believed that perhaps my results were wrong), but a chat with my mentor was really encouraging, and then my mind changed completely. I remember that he said: Yes, Eden, people in science get surprising results, people do that! So, my mentor vitalized my self-confidence, and this was simply the starting point of my first research paper and somehow my scientific journey. Nowadays, I still publish papers taking advantage of the wonder material and its photoluminescence quenching capabilities.”

What do you know now that you wish you knew when you were starting the process to publish your paper?

“I have to confess that at the beginning I was looking for a publication related to the biomedical field, because my thesis was expected to be focused in such a field. However, when I published my first paper in the materials field, I realized that early career researchers can modify the scope of their thesis to eventually unveil new steps and future opportunities in their career.

Besides, I am now aware that writing skills are your Swiss Army knife to succeed in the process to publish your paper. Editors and reviewers demand high quality papers, but they also enjoy manuscripts nicely and clearly written, the same as the readers. Professor Osvaldo Oliveira (University of São Paulo) says that writing skills are your best investment as a scientist and he also points out that a scientist with good writing skills is much better equipped than a scientist with other kinds of skills or resources. I could not agree more with Professor Oliveira.”

What did you enjoy/not-enjoy about publishing your research?

“I enjoyed sharing and discussing my published results in conferences and presentations. Seeing that my peers were reading and citing my research was also very satisfying. But no one enjoys rejection of their manuscripts, which is also part of the journey. Rejection is discouraging, but it is also an opportunity to change the scope of your research and/or improve the quality of your manuscript.”

How can IOP Publishing help early career researchers who are starting out in their publishing journey?

“Offer webinars on writing skills, promote all type of tools which are valuable in such a journey and explain their particularities and usefulness; for example, scientific search engines, journal suggesters/finders, plagiarism detectors, journal citation reports, research metrics, etc.”

Are there any tips, tools or websites that you would recommend?

Feel passionate about your field or research topic. Mix such a passion with patience and resilience, which are crucial abilities to be developed in a scientific career.
Seek a mentor whose results are inspirational and motivating for you. Mentors not only shape your current career but also the future of your career.
Invest in your writing skills (as highlighted by Professor Oliveira).
In order to publish innovative literature, you have to be aware of the state-of-the art in your field.
Read, read and read more, especially the journals you would like to publish in.
Be critical, spot agreements, gaps and controversies in your field.
One of your goals should be to write and publish a review article related to your thesis/research topic.
Avoid plagiarism, this type of misconduct can be easily spotted by peers using tools like ithenticate .
Promote your research on social media using messages easy to understand. Social media is a perfect way to reach society, decision-makers, colleagues and stakeholders. Follow and interact with inspirational colleagues on social media.
If you are not sure about the target journal of your manuscript, I recommend Master Journal List . This fantastic tool helps you to find suitable journals for your manuscript depending on the title and abstract.

What did you do after you published your paper? Did you promote it? How?

“The acceptance and publication of your first paper is a very special moment. Nausea, by Beck, was playing on my computer when I received the news of the acceptance of my first publication (I will never forget it). I happily jumped from my seat and celebrated the good news with my wife. In those times, I was not particularly active on social media but I immediately had the opportunity to share my results in NanoSpain 2012 (Santander), where I received valuable feedback on my research. It was really useful to plan new experiments and future work.”

How has publishing your paper influenced your career and networking?

“As I previously mentioned, I still publish papers taking advantage of the wonder material and its photoluminescence quenching capabilities. I am also the inventor of two related patents and several of my post-graduate students are developing their thesis taking advantage of the wonder material, even in translational settings. My networking opportunities were also enhanced; for instance, together with prestigious colleagues, I have organized some special issues dealing with 2D materials in reputable journals, I have several collaborations related to 2D materials and I have been invited by many editors to review countless manuscripts related to graphene derivatives. My first paper is also one of the most cited in my list of research papers. Definitely, that first publication represents a cornerstone in my career and networking opportunities.”

What would you say to an early career researcher who is asking the question “Should I consider publishing my research?”

“Absolutely! It will boost your career!”

Q&A with Professor Caterina Cocchi

We talk to Professor Caterina Cocchi, who is heavily involved in Electronic Structure (EST) ’s Emerging Leaders issues ( 2020 and 2021 ) as well as the past events, and who has also joined EST as a guest editor.

“IOP Publishing and publishers in general could offer more resources to train young scientists to write papers and to act as peer reviewers. For some unknown reason, academic education does not typically include official seminars or training about scientific writing and publishing. Both activities are typically passed on from mentor to mentee, naturally generating big gaps among scientists, which may ultimately affect their career. The ability to write a clear and convincing scientific text is not only key for publishing good papers but also to win grants, positions and, ultimately, to be visible in the community.”

“When writing a paper, it is important to communicate a clear message and to give the manuscript a clear structure. Also, using only essential words is much more effective than diluting the content in endless prose. During the peer-review process, it is important to always consider the referees’ comments on a factual level. Never take them personally.

I follow a few blogs about scientific writing. I can definitely suggest the one by Anna Clemens . It is regularly updated and offers a broad spectrum of suggestions and hints about scientific writing and about the whole publication process.”

“I published my first paper in 2010 and back then social media was not very much used by the scientific community. To disseminate, I attended a number of conferences and workshops in which I presented the results of that paper.”

“Publishing is the essence of scientific work. Any piece of work that is not published or disseminated to the community simply does not exist. Hence, if you want to give visibility to your work, you have to publish it. Very often, I see in young scientists the fear of submitting something that is not perfect, and this is usually the cause of big delays in publications. My motto is “published is better than perfect” and I encourage my young co-workers to wrap up their work effectively and disseminate it in a timely manner. Should the results be disproved later, well, this is how science works, right?”

Author Insights Summary

We hope you enjoyed reading these inspiring interviews and have gathered some useful knowledge to help you with your publishing journey. Below are some of our key take-aways from both interviews useful for early career researchers publishing their first article.

Alongside this, we also have an extremely useful Publishing Support hub for both authors and reviewers which include free resources such as:

Article templates – both double and single anonymous templates. These may help to speed the publication of accepted articles.
Editage – Language and figure editing services. Helping you prepare your paper ready for submissions.
Track my article – a platform which helps you find out where in the journey your paper is at.
Paperpal Preflight – A free pre submission feedback service which checks for and highlights issues before you submit your paper.
IOP Academy resources and events – workshops, webinars and online training covering various aspects of publishing in journals.
Submission checklist – check you have covered everything before submitting your paper.

Key findings:

Promoting and networking is important:

Take part in discussions and presentations at conferences and workshops to present the results of your paper.
Use social media to get your messages across in an accessible way.

Rejection isn’t bad:

Rejection is part of the journey – it’s an opportunity to change the scope of your research as well, potentially unveiling new steps and future opportunities.
Always consider the referees’ comment on a factual level. Never take them personally.

Writing skills are key:

Writing skills are your “Swiss Army knife” to succeed in publishing your paper.
Make sure you have clear and well written manuscripts.
There are useful blogs and websites about scientific writing.

Keep on top of the research in your area:

Be aware of the state-of-the art in your field.
Read more, especially the journals you would like to publish in.

Pros of publishing

“Any piece of work that is not published or disseminated to the community simply does not exist.”
Having published work helps networking and other opportunities for your career.
“The ability to write a clear and convincing scientific text is not only key for publishing good papers but also to win grants, positions and, ultimately, to be visible in the community.”

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Knowledge Base
Starting the research process

A Beginner's Guide to Starting the Research Process

When you have to write a thesis or dissertation , it can be hard to know where to begin, but there are some clear steps you can follow.

The research process often begins with a very broad idea for a topic you’d like to know more about. You do some preliminary research to identify a problem . After refining your research questions , you can lay out the foundations of your research design , leading to a proposal that outlines your ideas and plans.

This article takes you through the first steps of the research process, helping you narrow down your ideas and build up a strong foundation for your research project.

Step 1: choose your topic, step 2: identify a problem, step 3: formulate research questions, step 4: create a research design, step 5: write a research proposal, other interesting articles.

First you have to come up with some ideas. Your thesis or dissertation topic can start out very broad. Think about the general area or field you’re interested in—maybe you already have specific research interests based on classes you’ve taken, or maybe you had to consider your topic when applying to graduate school and writing a statement of purpose .

Even if you already have a good sense of your topic, you’ll need to read widely to build background knowledge and begin narrowing down your ideas. Conduct an initial literature review to begin gathering relevant sources. As you read, take notes and try to identify problems, questions, debates, contradictions and gaps. Your aim is to narrow down from a broad area of interest to a specific niche.

Make sure to consider the practicalities: the requirements of your programme, the amount of time you have to complete the research, and how difficult it will be to access sources and data on the topic. Before moving onto the next stage, it’s a good idea to discuss the topic with your thesis supervisor.

>>Read more about narrowing down a research topic

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So you’ve settled on a topic and found a niche—but what exactly will your research investigate, and why does it matter? To give your project focus and purpose, you have to define a research problem .

The problem might be a practical issue—for example, a process or practice that isn’t working well, an area of concern in an organization’s performance, or a difficulty faced by a specific group of people in society.

Alternatively, you might choose to investigate a theoretical problem—for example, an underexplored phenomenon or relationship, a contradiction between different models or theories, or an unresolved debate among scholars.

To put the problem in context and set your objectives, you can write a problem statement . This describes who the problem affects, why research is needed, and how your research project will contribute to solving it.

>>Read more about defining a research problem

Next, based on the problem statement, you need to write one or more research questions . These target exactly what you want to find out. They might focus on describing, comparing, evaluating, or explaining the research problem.

A strong research question should be specific enough that you can answer it thoroughly using appropriate qualitative or quantitative research methods. It should also be complex enough to require in-depth investigation, analysis, and argument. Questions that can be answered with “yes/no” or with easily available facts are not complex enough for a thesis or dissertation.

In some types of research, at this stage you might also have to develop a conceptual framework and testable hypotheses .

>>See research question examples

The research design is a practical framework for answering your research questions. It involves making decisions about the type of data you need, the methods you’ll use to collect and analyze it, and the location and timescale of your research.

There are often many possible paths you can take to answering your questions. The decisions you make will partly be based on your priorities. For example, do you want to determine causes and effects, draw generalizable conclusions, or understand the details of a specific context?

You need to decide whether you will use primary or secondary data and qualitative or quantitative methods . You also need to determine the specific tools, procedures, and materials you’ll use to collect and analyze your data, as well as your criteria for selecting participants or sources.

>>Read more about creating a research design

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

Finally, after completing these steps, you are ready to complete a research proposal . The proposal outlines the context, relevance, purpose, and plan of your research.

As well as outlining the background, problem statement, and research questions, the proposal should also include a literature review that shows how your project will fit into existing work on the topic. The research design section describes your approach and explains exactly what you will do.

You might have to get the proposal approved by your supervisor before you get started, and it will guide the process of writing your thesis or dissertation.

>>Read more about writing a research proposal

If you want to know more about the research process , methodology , research bias , or statistics , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

Methodology

Sampling methods
Simple random sampling
Stratified sampling
Cluster sampling
Likert scales
Reproducibility

Statistics

Null hypothesis
Statistical power
Probability distribution
Effect size
Poisson distribution

Research bias

Optimism bias
Cognitive bias
Implicit bias
Hawthorne effect
Anchoring bias
Explicit bias

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How to Write a Research Proposal | Examples & Templates

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3 Tips When Writing Your First Scientific Research Paper

For first-time authors, the prospect of writing their very own scientific research article may be both exciting and overwhelming. Faced with a mountain of data, notes, and other remnants of the research process, it may be difficult to figure out where and how to begin the manuscript writing process. However, if the research has been done well and the topic is appropriate for classroom submission or journal publication , authors will be off to a good start by approaching the writing process in a methodical way.

Authors can also get assistance from the various tools available online to improve their writing. One tool that is widely recommended is Trinka – world’s first AI-powered grammar checker and language enhancement tool specially designed for academic writing! With Trinka, authors can easily incorporate all the requirements of academic writing such as technical spellings, conciseness, formal tone, style guide preferences and much more.

It is always helpful to understand the objectives of scientific writing before diving into the task. Above all, scientific writing must aim for clarity , simplicity, and accuracy. These should be the touchstones or benchmarks for authors of research articles, particularly in the field of science, which has a reputation for being difficult to understand. It is a fine balance that authors of scientific writing must maintain: achieving the recognition and respect of those in their field as well as making sure their work is comprehensible to a wider audience.

Clarity – Work is unambiguous and free of extraneous detail or conjecture

Simplicity – Language and sentence and paragraph structure are easy to understand and follow without losing authority or scientific credibility

Accuracy – Data, Tables and Figures, and References and Citations are represented honestly and verifiably

Related: Ready to submit your manuscript for publication? Get it polished from our native experts and increase your chances of acceptance!

Structure of a Scientific Manuscript

New authors are, no doubt, familiar with the structure of a scientific research paper – there is a standard in academic publishing . However, writing within that structure requires a deeper understanding of the role of each section. The following was discussed in an online resource from Bates College.

Title and Abstract – focus on drawing in the reader with clear and concise language
Introduction – highlight the key issues of the research, providing some context for the main question or problem
Methods and Materials – describe specific protocols for and details of the experiment/research, which should be explicit enough that the research can be duplicated
Results and Discussion – thorough yet succinct sections, focusing on critical findings, including those that were unexpected
References/Literature Cited – need to match references within the body of the manuscript precisely. It is best to be selective when choosing which literature to cite, avoiding the use of too many references and selecting the most current literature when appropriate.

Writing Tips

The goal of any piece of writing is to communicate the author’s message. For authors of scientific manuscripts, academic publishing requires that they adhere to a certain structure, but the goal is the same – to communicate the author’s message or findings.

1. Achieving Clarity

Clarity in writing is achieved through the following:

A. Proper Sentence Structuring

Shorter paragraphs and sentences allow the reader to grasp concepts more easily. No one wants to go back and re-read a sentence or paragraph several times, just to grasp what the author is trying to say. This is both discouraging to the reader and potentially off-putting to a journal editor. It is possible to write simple, informative sentences without sounding choppy or unsophisticated.

B. Correct Language and Grammar Usage

Proper language and grammar usage help improve the flow of the manuscript and enhance the readers’ experience. This prevents a reader’s bias against the author. No matter how excellent the research, poor language and grammar usage in manuscripts may cause the reader to question the author’s educational background and assume that the research article is somewhat less worthy of consideration. A quick check with Trinka can assist you in correcting all language and grammar errors and achieving clarity in your writing.

2. Time management

Writing manuscripts is a massively time-consuming affair. For authors who are making their first attempt at writing a research article, it will be imperative to carve out time on a daily basis to work on specific sections of the article – make a schedule and stick to it.

Scientific research and manuscript writing is bound to be complicated and detailed. Each section of the research article will require re-reading and editing . It is likely that writers will grow weary of their article before it is ready to be handed to a professor or submitted to a journal.

Thus for research paper editing , it is helpful to ask peers to review the work and offer comments and suggestions for changes. Writers always benefit from the feedback received from the peers and in the end, the manuscript is significantly improvised.

Another convenient way of proofreading research papers is Trinka. With Trinka’s Auto File Edit feature, authors can review and apply all language revisions in one go, bringing their research one step closer to publication.

A Global Endeavor

Whether writing for a university lecture or for journal submission , the academic world is no longer segmented into isolated cultures and nationalities. Even if a university classroom is filled with students with the same cultural and national background, they are being trained to move into the global community of scientists. Therefore, it is essential to consider one’s audience while drafting the article and what guidelines exist for publication.

In addition, if the authors are non-native speakers of English and are attempting to write in the language, it is important to know whether the target language is American English or British English.

Good article. For many, writing the first research paper is very difficult. To conduct research is a complex process, but it is even more difficult to write a research paper. Since writing this type of academic work requires good academic writing skills, as well as knowledge of “how to properly write a research paper”. On the Internet, many articles in which writers write about: “how to write a research paper”, “how quickly to write a research paper”, etc. I recommend using only authoritative resources. When I wrote a research paper, I used such resources – https://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/PlanResearchPaper.html . The main criterion for the quality of the written material is compliance with the standards for writing research papers in the United States.

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First Research Paper Experience

Write a narrative about your first experience with writing a research paper..

Narrate your journey along the path of academic research – the excitement, challenges, triumphs, and learning instances. Remember how it felt to get lost in piles of information and then coming out with a concise research paper. This topic deals with experiential learning and the development of research habits, from your standpoint as an 8th grader.

Scratchpad ℹ️

Feel free to share your story in the comments below.

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Lessons from My First Major Research Essay

As I dive into my second junior paper, I’ve begun to realize how much more serious this paper is than the first one. Gone are the safety rails once provided by Princeton’s History department; instead of a course with concrete deadlines, I am now in the metaphorical Wild West, negotiating with my advisor on a whole bunch of elements: deadlines, research content, framing, among others. Even though it is only February when I write this, the April deadline eyes me ominously. With four classes and an array of extracurricular activities, whatever will I do to survive my second JP? How can I even anticipate the thesis?

At PCUR, we’ve done plenty of reflections on our prior research experiences. The more I think about it, the best thing to do is to reflect on my first JP. In that paper, I explored the attitudes and ideologies of consumption that post-war consumers held, particularly in relation to an acute shortage of nylon stockings . Sifting through dozens of articles in local newspapers, I identified many letters to the editor that female consumers sent in to voice their opinion about how nylons should be distributed, who deserves them, and how the shortage was affecting their everyday lives.

Although I am undoubtedly proud of the final product, there were many things I could improve about it. From the way I kept sources and my reading schedule to my writing method and the final editing process, I could enumerate an endless list. For now, I will highlight two of the biggest takeaways from my first JP, which will be particularly useful given the abbreviated timeline of the second paper.

Keeping a Research Journal

When I would write my first JP, thoughts would come and go. While I was eating with friends, taking a walk, or even showering, epiphanies about how to use sources, construct an argument, and piece together a convincing narrative would pop into my head. But given the situations that I was in—as well as my lack of a dedicated place to record these ideas—I often lost them before I could ever meditate on their significance to my research.

Since I have started my second JP, I have made sure to keep track of my thoughts, my readings, and my sources by taking notes in a research journal. Usually, after I complete a set of readings, for instance, I write down the central arguments and any of my questions. I also record important quotes, page numbers, or interesting sources, particularly if I believe they are directly relevant to my own research. But above all, the most important element is that I will be able to trace the development of my ideas. If I ever find that an idea does not work into the essay, I can always return to an earlier jumping-off point to propel my research with all the requisite information in one, easy-to-access location.

Setting Aside Research Time

Of course, I must make sure I habituate this practice into my daily life. The first few weeks of the semester have been challenging, particularly because my classes and extracurricular life have made more urgent demands of me so far. But if I want to even hope to have a finished product ahead of the April deadline, it is important that I keep to some regimented schedule, buttressed by achievable expectations and deliverables. This was a particularly burdensome part of my first JP, which is structured to be due over Winter Break instead of Reading Period. I offloaded a lot of my writing, then, to the break, when I should have been relaxing.

Thus, at the beginning of the semester, I input all the History department’s deadlines for JP work into my personal Google calendar. March 15, for instance, is the date a partial draft of the JP is due, while the final deadline is April 26 for a completed paper. Additionally, so that I would not forget, I also embedded more notifications for those dates. My calendar will remind me of the final copy of my JP up to two weeks in advance, which should sufficiently shock me into getting something done.

Above all, I set aside three hours every Sunday on my calendar to devote to research specifically. I don’t limit myself to these three hours, but I signal how important it is to intentionally take some time each week to force myself to work on it. This stands out on my calendar, particularly because I marked it with a ‘yellow’ color instead of the default blue. Standing out among a crowded field, it reminds me that this is the time that I must take if I want to make any progress on my JP.

There are countless other resources that many of my peers have written about that can also assist with the JP process. Zotero is an excellent tool that helps me streamline my research regularly, which Bridget has written about. Moreover, if you are interested in how to keep all your files organized in general, I wrote an article that might be of use regarding that. But you shouldn’t limit yourself to the two things to work for me. As I outlined above, there are plenty of other great resources, but it also requires your careful reflection and experimentation to figure out how you would keep a research journal, how you organize your files, or how you write. Research isn’t a one-size-fits-all type of shoe.

So far, I have kept to my two takeaways quite well. As the photos might show, I have been taking copious and helpful notes to guide my research. I have composed a schedule that intentionally sets aside time each week to make any progress on my research, even if I manage to find other time during the week to focus on my JP. But as the semester gets harder — and my other classes demand more and more of me — I am glad that I have taken this time to reflect on the strategies that can make my workflow even better from my first JP experience as I aspire to create a great piece of research.

– Austin Davis, Humanities Correspondent

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.

Beyond the Hype: Evaluating Low-Carb Diets cover page

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.

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Focus: Education — Career Advice

How to write your first research paper.

Writing a research manuscript is an intimidating process for many novice writers in the sciences. One of the stumbling blocks is the beginning of the process and creating the first draft. This paper presents guidelines on how to initiate the writing process and draft each section of a research manuscript. The paper discusses seven rules that allow the writer to prepare a well-structured and comprehensive manuscript for a publication submission. In addition, the author lists different strategies for successful revision. Each of those strategies represents a step in the revision process and should help the writer improve the quality of the manuscript. The paper could be considered a brief manual for publication.

It is late at night. You have been struggling with your project for a year. You generated an enormous amount of interesting data. Your pipette feels like an extension of your hand, and running western blots has become part of your daily routine, similar to brushing your teeth. Your colleagues think you are ready to write a paper, and your lab mates tease you about your “slow” writing progress. Yet days pass, and you cannot force yourself to sit down to write. You have not written anything for a while (lab reports do not count), and you feel you have lost your stamina. How does the writing process work? How can you fit your writing into a daily schedule packed with experiments? What section should you start with? What distinguishes a good research paper from a bad one? How should you revise your paper? These and many other questions buzz in your head and keep you stressed. As a result, you procrastinate. In this paper, I will discuss the issues related to the writing process of a scientific paper. Specifically, I will focus on the best approaches to start a scientific paper, tips for writing each section, and the best revision strategies.

1. Schedule your writing time in Outlook

Whether you have written 100 papers or you are struggling with your first, starting the process is the most difficult part unless you have a rigid writing schedule. Writing is hard. It is a very difficult process of intense concentration and brain work. As stated in Hayes’ framework for the study of writing: “It is a generative activity requiring motivation, and it is an intellectual activity requiring cognitive processes and memory” [ 1 ]. In his book How to Write a Lot: A Practical Guide to Productive Academic Writing , Paul Silvia says that for some, “it’s easier to embalm the dead than to write an article about it” [ 2 ]. Just as with any type of hard work, you will not succeed unless you practice regularly. If you have not done physical exercises for a year, only regular workouts can get you into good shape again. The same kind of regular exercises, or I call them “writing sessions,” are required to be a productive author. Choose from 1- to 2-hour blocks in your daily work schedule and consider them as non-cancellable appointments. When figuring out which blocks of time will be set for writing, you should select the time that works best for this type of work. For many people, mornings are more productive. One Yale University graduate student spent a semester writing from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. when her lab was empty. At the end of the semester, she was amazed at how much she accomplished without even interrupting her regular lab hours. In addition, doing the hardest task first thing in the morning contributes to the sense of accomplishment during the rest of the day. This positive feeling spills over into our work and life and has a very positive effect on our overall attitude.

Rule 1: Create regular time blocks for writing as appointments in your calendar and keep these appointments.

2. start with an outline.

Now that you have scheduled time, you need to decide how to start writing. The best strategy is to start with an outline. This will not be an outline that you are used to, with Roman numerals for each section and neat parallel listing of topic sentences and supporting points. This outline will be similar to a template for your paper. Initially, the outline will form a structure for your paper; it will help generate ideas and formulate hypotheses. Following the advice of George M. Whitesides, “. . . start with a blank piece of paper, and write down, in any order, all important ideas that occur to you concerning the paper” [ 3 ]. Use Table 1 as a starting point for your outline. Include your visuals (figures, tables, formulas, equations, and algorithms), and list your findings. These will constitute the first level of your outline, which will eventually expand as you elaborate.

The next stage is to add context and structure. Here you will group all your ideas into sections: Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion/Conclusion ( Table 2 ). This step will help add coherence to your work and sift your ideas.

Now that you have expanded your outline, you are ready for the next step: discussing the ideas for your paper with your colleagues and mentor. Many universities have a writing center where graduate students can schedule individual consultations and receive assistance with their paper drafts. Getting feedback during early stages of your draft can save a lot of time. Talking through ideas allows people to conceptualize and organize thoughts to find their direction without wasting time on unnecessary writing. Outlining is the most effective way of communicating your ideas and exchanging thoughts. Moreover, it is also the best stage to decide to which publication you will submit the paper. Many people come up with three choices and discuss them with their mentors and colleagues. Having a list of journal priorities can help you quickly resubmit your paper if your paper is rejected.

Rule 2: Create a detailed outline and discuss it with your mentor and peers.

3. continue with drafts.

After you get enough feedback and decide on the journal you will submit to, the process of real writing begins. Copy your outline into a separate file and expand on each of the points, adding data and elaborating on the details. When you create the first draft, do not succumb to the temptation of editing. Do not slow down to choose a better word or better phrase; do not halt to improve your sentence structure. Pour your ideas into the paper and leave revision and editing for later. As Paul Silvia explains, “Revising while you generate text is like drinking decaffeinated coffee in the early morning: noble idea, wrong time” [ 2 ].

Many students complain that they are not productive writers because they experience writer’s block. Staring at an empty screen is frustrating, but your screen is not really empty: You have a template of your article, and all you need to do is fill in the blanks. Indeed, writer’s block is a logical fallacy for a scientist ― it is just an excuse to procrastinate. When scientists start writing a research paper, they already have their files with data, lab notes with materials and experimental designs, some visuals, and tables with results. All they need to do is scrutinize these pieces and put them together into a comprehensive paper.

3.1. Starting with Materials and Methods

If you still struggle with starting a paper, then write the Materials and Methods section first. Since you have all your notes, it should not be problematic for you to describe the experimental design and procedures. Your most important goal in this section is to be as explicit as possible by providing enough detail and references. In the end, the purpose of this section is to allow other researchers to evaluate and repeat your work. So do not run into the same problems as the writers of the sentences in (1):

1a. Bacteria were pelleted by centrifugation. 1b. To isolate T cells, lymph nodes were collected.

As you can see, crucial pieces of information are missing: the speed of centrifuging your bacteria, the time, and the temperature in (1a); the source of lymph nodes for collection in (b). The sentences can be improved when information is added, as in (2a) and (2b), respectfully:

2a. Bacteria were pelleted by centrifugation at 3000g for 15 min at 25°C. 2b. To isolate T cells, mediastinal and mesenteric lymph nodes from Balb/c mice were collected at day 7 after immunization with ovabumin.

If your method has previously been published and is well-known, then you should provide only the literature reference, as in (3a). If your method is unpublished, then you need to make sure you provide all essential details, as in (3b).

3a. Stem cells were isolated, according to Johnson [23]. 3b. Stem cells were isolated using biotinylated carbon nanotubes coated with anti-CD34 antibodies.

Furthermore, cohesion and fluency are crucial in this section. One of the malpractices resulting in disrupted fluency is switching from passive voice to active and vice versa within the same paragraph, as shown in (4). This switching misleads and distracts the reader.

4. Behavioral computer-based experiments of Study 1 were programmed by using E-Prime. We took ratings of enjoyment, mood, and arousal as the patients listened to preferred pleasant music and unpreferred music by using Visual Analogue Scales (SI Methods). The preferred and unpreferred status of the music was operationalized along a continuum of pleasantness [ 4 ].

The problem with (4) is that the reader has to switch from the point of view of the experiment (passive voice) to the point of view of the experimenter (active voice). This switch causes confusion about the performer of the actions in the first and the third sentences. To improve the coherence and fluency of the paragraph above, you should be consistent in choosing the point of view: first person “we” or passive voice [ 5 ]. Let’s consider two revised examples in (5).

5a. We programmed behavioral computer-based experiments of Study 1 by using E-Prime. We took ratings of enjoyment, mood, and arousal by using Visual Analogue Scales (SI Methods) as the patients listened to preferred pleasant music and unpreferred music. We operationalized the preferred and unpreferred status of the music along a continuum of pleasantness. 5b. Behavioral computer-based experiments of Study 1 were programmed by using E-Prime. Ratings of enjoyment, mood, and arousal were taken as the patients listened to preferred pleasant music and unpreferred music by using Visual Analogue Scales (SI Methods). The preferred and unpreferred status of the music was operationalized along a continuum of pleasantness.

If you choose the point of view of the experimenter, then you may end up with repetitive “we did this” sentences. For many readers, paragraphs with sentences all beginning with “we” may also sound disruptive. So if you choose active sentences, you need to keep the number of “we” subjects to a minimum and vary the beginnings of the sentences [ 6 ].

Interestingly, recent studies have reported that the Materials and Methods section is the only section in research papers in which passive voice predominantly overrides the use of the active voice [ 5 , 7 , 8 , 9 ]. For example, Martínez shows a significant drop in active voice use in the Methods sections based on the corpus of 1 million words of experimental full text research articles in the biological sciences [ 7 ]. According to the author, the active voice patterned with “we” is used only as a tool to reveal personal responsibility for the procedural decisions in designing and performing experimental work. This means that while all other sections of the research paper use active voice, passive voice is still the most predominant in Materials and Methods sections.

Writing Materials and Methods sections is a meticulous and time consuming task requiring extreme accuracy and clarity. This is why when you complete your draft, you should ask for as much feedback from your colleagues as possible. Numerous readers of this section will help you identify the missing links and improve the technical style of this section.

Rule 3: Be meticulous and accurate in describing the Materials and Methods. Do not change the point of view within one paragraph.

3.2. writing results section.

For many authors, writing the Results section is more intimidating than writing the Materials and Methods section . If people are interested in your paper, they are interested in your results. That is why it is vital to use all your writing skills to objectively present your key findings in an orderly and logical sequence using illustrative materials and text.

Your Results should be organized into different segments or subsections where each one presents the purpose of the experiment, your experimental approach, data including text and visuals (tables, figures, schematics, algorithms, and formulas), and data commentary. For most journals, your data commentary will include a meaningful summary of the data presented in the visuals and an explanation of the most significant findings. This data presentation should not repeat the data in the visuals, but rather highlight the most important points. In the “standard” research paper approach, your Results section should exclude data interpretation, leaving it for the Discussion section. However, interpretations gradually and secretly creep into research papers: “Reducing the data, generalizing from the data, and highlighting scientific cases are all highly interpretive processes. It should be clear by now that we do not let the data speak for themselves in research reports; in summarizing our results, we interpret them for the reader” [ 10 ]. As a result, many journals including the Journal of Experimental Medicine and the Journal of Clinical Investigation use joint Results/Discussion sections, where results are immediately followed by interpretations.

Another important aspect of this section is to create a comprehensive and supported argument or a well-researched case. This means that you should be selective in presenting data and choose only those experimental details that are essential for your reader to understand your findings. You might have conducted an experiment 20 times and collected numerous records, but this does not mean that you should present all those records in your paper. You need to distinguish your results from your data and be able to discard excessive experimental details that could distract and confuse the reader. However, creating a picture or an argument should not be confused with data manipulation or falsification, which is a willful distortion of data and results. If some of your findings contradict your ideas, you have to mention this and find a plausible explanation for the contradiction.

In addition, your text should not include irrelevant and peripheral information, including overview sentences, as in (6).

6. To show our results, we first introduce all components of experimental system and then describe the outcome of infections.

Indeed, wordiness convolutes your sentences and conceals your ideas from readers. One common source of wordiness is unnecessary intensifiers. Adverbial intensifiers such as “clearly,” “essential,” “quite,” “basically,” “rather,” “fairly,” “really,” and “virtually” not only add verbosity to your sentences, but also lower your results’ credibility. They appeal to the reader’s emotions but lower objectivity, as in the common examples in (7):

7a. Table 3 clearly shows that … 7b. It is obvious from figure 4 that …

Another source of wordiness is nominalizations, i.e., nouns derived from verbs and adjectives paired with weak verbs including “be,” “have,” “do,” “make,” “cause,” “provide,” and “get” and constructions such as “there is/are.”

8a. We tested the hypothesis that there is a disruption of membrane asymmetry. 8b. In this paper we provide an argument that stem cells repopulate injured organs.

In the sentences above, the abstract nominalizations “disruption” and “argument” do not contribute to the clarity of the sentences, but rather clutter them with useless vocabulary that distracts from the meaning. To improve your sentences, avoid unnecessary nominalizations and change passive verbs and constructions into active and direct sentences.

9a. We tested the hypothesis that the membrane asymmetry is disrupted. 9b. In this paper we argue that stem cells repopulate injured organs.

Your Results section is the heart of your paper, representing a year or more of your daily research. So lead your reader through your story by writing direct, concise, and clear sentences.

Rule 4: Be clear, concise, and objective in describing your Results.

3.3. now it is time for your introduction.

Now that you are almost half through drafting your research paper, it is time to update your outline. While describing your Methods and Results, many of you diverged from the original outline and re-focused your ideas. So before you move on to create your Introduction, re-read your Methods and Results sections and change your outline to match your research focus. The updated outline will help you review the general picture of your paper, the topic, the main idea, and the purpose, which are all important for writing your introduction.

The best way to structure your introduction is to follow the three-move approach shown in Table 3 .

Adapted from Swales and Feak [ 11 ].

The moves and information from your outline can help to create your Introduction efficiently and without missing steps. These moves are traffic signs that lead the reader through the road of your ideas. Each move plays an important role in your paper and should be presented with deep thought and care. When you establish the territory, you place your research in context and highlight the importance of your research topic. By finding the niche, you outline the scope of your research problem and enter the scientific dialogue. The final move, “occupying the niche,” is where you explain your research in a nutshell and highlight your paper’s significance. The three moves allow your readers to evaluate their interest in your paper and play a significant role in the paper review process, determining your paper reviewers.

Some academic writers assume that the reader “should follow the paper” to find the answers about your methodology and your findings. As a result, many novice writers do not present their experimental approach and the major findings, wrongly believing that the reader will locate the necessary information later while reading the subsequent sections [ 5 ]. However, this “suspense” approach is not appropriate for scientific writing. To interest the reader, scientific authors should be direct and straightforward and present informative one-sentence summaries of the results and the approach.

Another problem is that writers understate the significance of the Introduction. Many new researchers mistakenly think that all their readers understand the importance of the research question and omit this part. However, this assumption is faulty because the purpose of the section is not to evaluate the importance of the research question in general. The goal is to present the importance of your research contribution and your findings. Therefore, you should be explicit and clear in describing the benefit of the paper.

The Introduction should not be long. Indeed, for most journals, this is a very brief section of about 250 to 600 words, but it might be the most difficult section due to its importance.

Rule 5: Interest your reader in the Introduction section by signalling all its elements and stating the novelty of the work.

3.4. discussion of the results.

For many scientists, writing a Discussion section is as scary as starting a paper. Most of the fear comes from the variation in the section. Since every paper has its unique results and findings, the Discussion section differs in its length, shape, and structure. However, some general principles of writing this section still exist. Knowing these rules, or “moves,” can change your attitude about this section and help you create a comprehensive interpretation of your results.

The purpose of the Discussion section is to place your findings in the research context and “to explain the meaning of the findings and why they are important, without appearing arrogant, condescending, or patronizing” [ 11 ]. The structure of the first two moves is almost a mirror reflection of the one in the Introduction. In the Introduction, you zoom in from general to specific and from the background to your research question; in the Discussion section, you zoom out from the summary of your findings to the research context, as shown in Table 4 .

Adapted from Swales and Feak and Hess [ 11 , 12 ].

The biggest challenge for many writers is the opening paragraph of the Discussion section. Following the moves in Table 1 , the best choice is to start with the study’s major findings that provide the answer to the research question in your Introduction. The most common starting phrases are “Our findings demonstrate . . .,” or “In this study, we have shown that . . .,” or “Our results suggest . . .” In some cases, however, reminding the reader about the research question or even providing a brief context and then stating the answer would make more sense. This is important in those cases where the researcher presents a number of findings or where more than one research question was presented. Your summary of the study’s major findings should be followed by your presentation of the importance of these findings. One of the most frequent mistakes of the novice writer is to assume the importance of his findings. Even if the importance is clear to you, it may not be obvious to your reader. Digesting the findings and their importance to your reader is as crucial as stating your research question.

Another useful strategy is to be proactive in the first move by predicting and commenting on the alternative explanations of the results. Addressing potential doubts will save you from painful comments about the wrong interpretation of your results and will present you as a thoughtful and considerate researcher. Moreover, the evaluation of the alternative explanations might help you create a logical step to the next move of the discussion section: the research context.

The goal of the research context move is to show how your findings fit into the general picture of the current research and how you contribute to the existing knowledge on the topic. This is also the place to discuss any discrepancies and unexpected findings that may otherwise distort the general picture of your paper. Moreover, outlining the scope of your research by showing the limitations, weaknesses, and assumptions is essential and adds modesty to your image as a scientist. However, make sure that you do not end your paper with the problems that override your findings. Try to suggest feasible explanations and solutions.

If your submission does not require a separate Conclusion section, then adding another paragraph about the “take-home message” is a must. This should be a general statement reiterating your answer to the research question and adding its scientific implications, practical application, or advice.

Just as in all other sections of your paper, the clear and precise language and concise comprehensive sentences are vital. However, in addition to that, your writing should convey confidence and authority. The easiest way to illustrate your tone is to use the active voice and the first person pronouns. Accompanied by clarity and succinctness, these tools are the best to convince your readers of your point and your ideas.

Rule 6: Present the principles, relationships, and generalizations in a concise and convincing tone.

4. choosing the best working revision strategies.

Now that you have created the first draft, your attitude toward your writing should have improved. Moreover, you should feel more confident that you are able to accomplish your project and submit your paper within a reasonable timeframe. You also have worked out your writing schedule and followed it precisely. Do not stop ― you are only at the midpoint from your destination. Just as the best and most precious diamond is no more than an unattractive stone recognized only by trained professionals, your ideas and your results may go unnoticed if they are not polished and brushed. Despite your attempts to present your ideas in a logical and comprehensive way, first drafts are frequently a mess. Use the advice of Paul Silvia: “Your first drafts should sound like they were hastily translated from Icelandic by a non-native speaker” [ 2 ]. The degree of your success will depend on how you are able to revise and edit your paper.

The revision can be done at the macrostructure and the microstructure levels [ 13 ]. The macrostructure revision includes the revision of the organization, content, and flow. The microstructure level includes individual words, sentence structure, grammar, punctuation, and spelling.

The best way to approach the macrostructure revision is through the outline of the ideas in your paper. The last time you updated your outline was before writing the Introduction and the Discussion. Now that you have the beginning and the conclusion, you can take a bird’s-eye view of the whole paper. The outline will allow you to see if the ideas of your paper are coherently structured, if your results are logically built, and if the discussion is linked to the research question in the Introduction. You will be able to see if something is missing in any of the sections or if you need to rearrange your information to make your point.

The next step is to revise each of the sections starting from the beginning. Ideally, you should limit yourself to working on small sections of about five pages at a time [ 14 ]. After these short sections, your eyes get used to your writing and your efficiency in spotting problems decreases. When reading for content and organization, you should control your urge to edit your paper for sentence structure and grammar and focus only on the flow of your ideas and logic of your presentation. Experienced researchers tend to make almost three times the number of changes to meaning than novice writers [ 15 , 16 ]. Revising is a difficult but useful skill, which academic writers obtain with years of practice.

In contrast to the macrostructure revision, which is a linear process and is done usually through a detailed outline and by sections, microstructure revision is a non-linear process. While the goal of the macrostructure revision is to analyze your ideas and their logic, the goal of the microstructure editing is to scrutinize the form of your ideas: your paragraphs, sentences, and words. You do not need and are not recommended to follow the order of the paper to perform this type of revision. You can start from the end or from different sections. You can even revise by reading sentences backward, sentence by sentence and word by word.

One of the microstructure revision strategies frequently used during writing center consultations is to read the paper aloud [ 17 ]. You may read aloud to yourself, to a tape recorder, or to a colleague or friend. When reading and listening to your paper, you are more likely to notice the places where the fluency is disrupted and where you stumble because of a very long and unclear sentence or a wrong connector.

Another revision strategy is to learn your common errors and to do a targeted search for them [ 13 ]. All writers have a set of problems that are specific to them, i.e., their writing idiosyncrasies. Remembering these problems is as important for an academic writer as remembering your friends’ birthdays. Create a list of these idiosyncrasies and run a search for these problems using your word processor. If your problem is demonstrative pronouns without summary words, then search for “this/these/those” in your text and check if you used the word appropriately. If you have a problem with intensifiers, then search for “really” or “very” and delete them from the text. The same targeted search can be done to eliminate wordiness. Searching for “there is/are” or “and” can help you avoid the bulky sentences.

The final strategy is working with a hard copy and a pencil. Print a double space copy with font size 14 and re-read your paper in several steps. Try reading your paper line by line with the rest of the text covered with a piece of paper. When you are forced to see only a small portion of your writing, you are less likely to get distracted and are more likely to notice problems. You will end up spotting more unnecessary words, wrongly worded phrases, or unparallel constructions.

After you apply all these strategies, you are ready to share your writing with your friends, colleagues, and a writing advisor in the writing center. Get as much feedback as you can, especially from non-specialists in your field. Patiently listen to what others say to you ― you are not expected to defend your writing or explain what you wanted to say. You may decide what you want to change and how after you receive the feedback and sort it in your head. Even though some researchers make the revision an endless process and can hardly stop after a 14th draft; having from five to seven drafts of your paper is a norm in the sciences. If you can’t stop revising, then set a deadline for yourself and stick to it. Deadlines always help.

Rule 7: Revise your paper at the macrostructure and the microstructure level using different strategies and techniques. Receive feedback and revise again.

5. it is time to submit.

It is late at night again. You are still in your lab finishing revisions and getting ready to submit your paper. You feel happy ― you have finally finished a year’s worth of work. You will submit your paper tomorrow, and regardless of the outcome, you know that you can do it. If one journal does not take your paper, you will take advantage of the feedback and resubmit again. You will have a publication, and this is the most important achievement.

What is even more important is that you have your scheduled writing time that you are going to keep for your future publications, for reading and taking notes, for writing grants, and for reviewing papers. You are not going to lose stamina this time, and you will become a productive scientist. But for now, let’s celebrate the end of the paper.

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Research Experience for Undergraduates

2024 Program Updates

Interested students should email the faculty member they are interested in working with and submit their resume.
Faculty will submit student applications for the REU program to the student services office.
We will offer the program in-person, & only during summer quarter.
We must receive all REU applications from faculty by April 15 2024 for summer quarter.

Please read through our FAQ page for more information about the program & eligibility.

REU Student Openings in Aero Astro Labs for Summer 2024

Aeronautics astronautics faculty labs, current research projects, and openings for undergraduate students are updated here regularly. .

Morphing Space Structures Lab, Professor Manan Arya, email: [email protected] if you are interested.

Project description: The REU student will assist with the construction of small-scale prototypes of large unfolding structures for space applications, e.g., large radio reflectors or high-power solar arrays. These small-scale prototypes, measuring around 1 m in size, would be used for assessing and furthering the design of these structures. Some of the prototypes will be realized using low-fidelity materials, such as 3D-printed plastic, laser-cut sheets, and folded paper. Some of these prototypes will be realized using higher-fidelity materials to enable the experimental characterization of these prototypes.

Eligibility requirements: strong background in design, CAD, and prototyping. Knowledge of structures and structural analysis is important.

Current REU Openings:

Aerospace Design Laboratory (ADL), Professor Juan Alonso, email: [email protected] if you are interested.

The Aerospace Design Laboratory (ADL) fosters the use of high-fidelity analysis and design tools in a variety of aerospace design problems including aircraft, turbomachinery, launch vehicles, helicopters and spacecraft. Aerospace Design Laboratory (ADL)

Professor Anton Ermakov, email: [email protected] if you are interested.

Project Description:

How smooth are lava lakes Jupiter’s moon Io and what does it tell us about Io’s volcanism?

On Feb 3, 2024, Juno had a flyby of Jupiter’s moon Io. Io is the most volcanically active body in the Solar System. Its surface is covered by geologically young lava flows from dozens of volcanic centers. The observations by the camera onboard Juno (JunoCam) revealed that the surface of lava lakes is mirror-like. That is, it exhibits specular (as opposed to diffuse) reflection.

Four images shown below were taken during the flyby. The horseshoe shaped feature is the largest volcanic lake on Io called Loki Patera. It can be seen that the lava lake surface, which is normally much darker than the surrounding terrain, appears brighter at the left image.

The project is to quantify the strength specular reflection and relate it to the properties of the surface. For example, the surface of lava lakes must be very smooth to be mirror like. Thus, the lava might have been of low viscosity and with no bubbles. The project will involve JunoCam image processing, literature review and numerical modeling of the specular reflection.

Prerequisites: strong programming background (Matlab, Python). It would be preferred (but not required) if you have taken Geophysics or EPS classes on anything related to volcanos.

Reconfigurable Structures Lab, Professor Maria Sakovsky, email: [email protected] if you are interested.

Project description: Our research explores aerospace structures that can learn from inputs in their environment and change their mechanical properties on demand. Imagine a satellite solar array that passively reorients to face the sun without repointing the satellite or a robotic explorer that learns to navigate around obstacles by changing its type of locomotion. We are looking for students with experience and interest in materials and structures. Projects range from performing mechanical characterization of structures, to integrating sensors, to writing code to control the structures.

Space Rendezvous Laboratory (SLAB), Professor Simone D'amico, email: [email protected] if you are interested.

Project description: "Autonomous and distributed spacecraft Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) is an enabling technology for sustainable spaceflight, including on-orbit servicing to prolong the lifetime of space assets (e.g., through inspection, refueling and repair) and to remove space debris (e.g., through their characterization and de-orbiting). These projects investigate and develop new algorithms at the intersection of optimal control, computer vision and machine learning to enable the above in a spectrum of scenarios from known cooperative (on-orbit servicing) to unknown non-cooperative (debris removal) resident space objects. This research work leverages the experience and expertise of the Stanford’s Space Rendezvous Lab in the design and validation of robust algorithms for distributed space systems. The research is done in collaboration with external partners at various space companies (Blue, Redwire, TenOneSpace, etc)"

Stanford Intelligent Systems Laboratory (SISL), Professor Mykel Kochenderfer, If interested please apply at: https://forms.gle/Cboj8cJTa3JaXYG89

We are looking for an undergraduate to work on algorithms for decision making under uncertainty, applied to a variety of applications ranging from space exploration to unmanned aircraft. Programming knowledge in Julia or Python is required. Ideally, students will have taken AA228 already.

Structures And Composites Laboratory (SACL), Professor Fu-Kuo Chang. Welcome to apply! Follow the link for more information: https://sacld8.sites.stanford.edu/

To apply, please send your CV to the Lab PI, Prof Fu-Kuo Chang, at [email protected] and CC to the Lab Manager, Dr. Saman Farhangdoust, at [email protected]

Join our dynamic research team at the Structures and Composites Lab (SACL) within the Aeronautics and Astronautics Department. We are looking for motivated, independent, students interested in research on developing multifunctional energy storage composites (MESC) for the next generation of electronic vehicles and aircraft.

We currently have two openings for some active projects and successful applicants will have the opportunity to get training in an academic program specialty and adopt professional skills to participate in two programs:

1. Experimental Program including Lithium-Ion Battery Fabrication, MESC Specimen Fabrication, Testing MESC Specimen (Peel, Thermal-Expansion, Fatigue, Impact, etc.).

2. Computational Program including Design and Conceptualization of MESC Applications, Hand Calculations, Finite Element Analysis, Simulation Modeling of MESC.

Two candidates with a strong background in one or more areas of computational modeling, composite fabrication, lithium-ion battery, material science, and computer programming are sought. These two positions will be placed at SACL (Aeronautics and Astronautics Department). The students will have access to workstation computers and professional lab facilities. The students will have the opportunity to conduct modeling and experimental work and collaborate with interdisciplinary researchers at SACL.

In addition to the research project, a Mentorship Program is designed to assist students in acquiring and developing academic skills under postdoctoral scholar mentorship. This mentoring program includes In-depth involvement in the research project, Interaction with industries, Training in oral presentations during group meetings, Publication of high-quality articles in journals and conferences, Guidance for career development and future paths.

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About the College of Pharmacy

Pharmacy lab assistant accepted to M.D./Ph.D. program

Since the time she conducted her first research experience as a student at the South Carolina Governor’s School for Science and Mathematics, Darby Porter was hooked on research.

While completing her undergraduate studies in chemistry and neuroscience at the University of South Carolina Honors College, Porter joined the lab of Jun Zhu , Ph.D., in the College of Pharmacy. After graduating in 2023, Porter continued as Zhu’s lab assistant and has now been accepted into the Medical Science Training Program to pursue an M.D./Ph.D. at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Porter joined Zhu’s lab after searching through the university’s research registry.

“I typed in drug discovery and drug design, and while I didn’t understand what much of it meant, I thought Dr. Zhu’s research was a good option because I knew what the main keywords were – dopamine and HIV,” she says.

Turns out, it was the perfect fit for Porter’s ambition to conduct research and do benchwork.

“I love conducting experiments and analyzing results,” she notes. “I love connecting the results from one experiment or set of experiments to a broader issue that is affecting people’s health. Being able to tie in what is happening at the molecular level with patients who are experiencing a disorder is a nice blend that I want to incorporate into my career.”

I love connecting the results from one experiment or set of experiments to a broader issue that is affecting people’s health.

Porter developed an interest in serving patients alongside her research while working at CAN Community Health, an HIV- clinic providing care to underserved health populations in the Columbia area.

Zhu noted Porter’s dedication to successfully conducting experiments as well as drafting manuscripts and grant applications.

“What distinguishes Darby from other students is her deep interest and passion about her work and the potential implications it may have on human health,” Zhu adds. “She is an example to students who want to develop their career in the field of biomedical science. For faculty, it is our responsibility to not only provide research training opportunities but also guide students for future career development.”

Porter will begin the arduous eight-year process of earning her M.D./Ph.D. in June, where she will begin her studies in translational research before starting her medical school studies in the fall.

“I think I want to eventually do clinical research,” she says, “The advantage of having an M.D. and a Ph.D. is that you can identify a therapeutic target on the bench and then develop some level of treatment while working with patients. I like the idea of working on one project and seeing it to completion.”

Topics: Research , Drug Discovery and Biomedical Sciences

Challenge the conventional. Create the exceptional. No Limits.

Read our research on: Gun Policy | International Conflict | Election 2024

Regions & Countries

About 1 in 4 u.s. teachers say their school went into a gun-related lockdown in the last school year.

Twenty-five years after the mass shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado , a majority of public K-12 teachers (59%) say they are at least somewhat worried about the possibility of a shooting ever happening at their school. This includes 18% who say they’re extremely or very worried, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.

Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to better understand public K-12 teachers’ views on school shootings, how prepared they feel for a potential active shooter, and how they feel about policies that could help prevent future shootings.

To do this, we surveyed 2,531 U.S. public K-12 teachers from Oct. 17 to Nov. 14, 2023. The teachers are members of RAND’s American Teacher Panel, a nationally representative panel of public school K-12 teachers recruited through MDR Education. Survey data is weighted to state and national teacher characteristics to account for differences in sampling and response to ensure they are representative of the target population.

We also used data from our 2022 survey of U.S. parents. For that project, we surveyed 3,757 U.S. parents with at least one child younger than 18 from Sept. 20 to Oct. 2, 2022. Find more details about the survey of parents here .

Here are the questions used for this analysis , along with responses, and the survey methodology .

Another 31% of teachers say they are not too worried about a shooting occurring at their school. Only 7% of teachers say they are not at all worried.

This survey comes at a time when school shootings are at a record high (82 in 2023) and gun safety continues to be a topic in 2024 election campaigns .

A pie chart showing that a majority of teachers are at least somewhat worried about a shooting occurring at their school.

Teachers’ experiences with lockdowns

A horizontal stacked bar chart showing that about 1 in 4 teachers say their school had a gun-related lockdown last year.

About a quarter of teachers (23%) say they experienced a lockdown in the 2022-23 school year because of a gun or suspicion of a gun at their school. Some 15% say this happened once during the year, and 8% say this happened more than once.

High school teachers are most likely to report experiencing these lockdowns: 34% say their school went on at least one gun-related lockdown in the last school year. This compares with 22% of middle school teachers and 16% of elementary school teachers.

Teachers in urban schools are also more likely to say that their school had a gun-related lockdown. About a third of these teachers (31%) say this, compared with 19% of teachers in suburban schools and 20% in rural schools.

Do teachers feel their school has prepared them for an active shooter?

About four-in-ten teachers (39%) say their school has done a fair or poor job providing them with the training and resources they need to deal with a potential active shooter.

A bar chart showing that 3 in 10 teachers say their school has done an excellent or very good job preparing them for an active shooter.

A smaller share (30%) give their school an excellent or very good rating, and another 30% say their school has done a good job preparing them.

Teachers in urban schools are the least likely to say their school has done an excellent or very good job preparing them for a potential active shooter. About one-in-five (21%) say this, compared with 32% of teachers in suburban schools and 35% in rural schools.

Teachers who have police officers or armed security stationed in their school are more likely than those who don’t to say their school has done an excellent or very good job preparing them for a potential active shooter (36% vs. 22%).

Overall, 56% of teachers say they have police officers or armed security stationed at their school. Majorities in rural schools (64%) and suburban schools (56%) say this, compared with 48% in urban schools.

Only 3% of teachers say teachers and administrators at their school are allowed to carry guns in school. This is slightly more common in school districts where a majority of voters cast ballots for Donald Trump in 2020 than in school districts where a majority of voters cast ballots for Joe Biden (5% vs. 1%).

What strategies do teachers think could help prevent school shootings?

A bar chart showing that 69% of teachers say better mental health treatment would be highly effective in preventing school shootings.

The survey also asked teachers how effective some measures would be at preventing school shootings.

Most teachers (69%) say improving mental health screening and treatment for children and adults would be extremely or very effective.

About half (49%) say having police officers or armed security in schools would be highly effective, while 33% say the same about metal detectors in schools.

Just 13% say allowing teachers and school administrators to carry guns in schools would be extremely or very effective at preventing school shootings. Seven-in-ten teachers say this would be not too or not at all effective.

How teachers’ views differ by party

A dot plot showing that teachers’ views of strategies to prevent school shootings differ by political party.

Republican and Republican-leaning teachers are more likely than Democratic and Democratic-leaning teachers to say each of the following would be highly effective:

Having police officers or armed security in schools (69% vs. 37%)
Having metal detectors in schools (43% vs. 27%)
Allowing teachers and school administrators to carry guns in schools (28% vs. 3%)

And while majorities in both parties say improving mental health screening and treatment would be highly effective at preventing school shootings, Democratic teachers are more likely than Republican teachers to say this (73% vs. 66%).

Parents’ views on school shootings and prevention strategies

In fall 2022, we asked parents a similar set of questions about school shootings.

Roughly a third of parents with K-12 students (32%) said they were extremely or very worried about a shooting ever happening at their child’s school. An additional 37% said they were somewhat worried.

As is the case among teachers, improving mental health screening and treatment was the only strategy most parents (63%) said would be extremely or very effective at preventing school shootings. And allowing teachers and school administrators to carry guns in schools was seen as the least effective – in fact, half of parents said this would be not too or not at all effective. This question was asked of all parents with a child younger than 18, regardless of whether they have a child in K-12 schools.

Like teachers, parents’ views on strategies for preventing school shootings differed by party.

Note: Here are the questions used for this analysis , along with responses, and the survey methodology .

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About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts .

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Using First Person in Research Papers: Is it Allowed?

As research writing becomes increasingly complex and digitalized, the use of first person language in formal academic papers has come under scrutiny. Many scholars question whether this type of informal communication is appropriate for an essay or other scholarly document that requires more strict rules regarding point-of-view and content. This article will discuss the implications surrounding using first person in academic work, examining both sides to determine if it is permissible within the conventions of proper research paper composition. Additionally, this paper will explore some potential alternatives which could be used when first person language would otherwise be necessary. Ultimately, by addressing these topics a greater understanding can be gained on how best to employ personal expression while still adhering to accepted standards of conduct within academia.

I. Introduction to the Use of First Person in Research Papers

Ii. advantages and disadvantages of using first person narratives in academic writing, iii. different perspectives on the appropriateness of utilizing a personal voice in scholarly contexts, iv. the impact of professional standards, genre conventions, and institutional regulations on permissible use of first person narration, v. examining arguments for & against allowing academics to integrate personal accounts into their research publications, vi. a critique of guidelines that discourage or prohibit researchers from incorporating self-referential statements into their work, vii. conclusion: assessing whether it is appropriate to employ a “self” perspective when preparing professional documents.

What Is the First Person in Writing? The use of first person when writing research papers is an accepted and often encouraged approach. This type of writing refers to using ‘I’ or ‘we’ while discussing a topic, opinion, or idea. It allows for more personal insight into the thoughts and feelings associated with a certain concept without being too informal or overly subjective. The challenge lies in balancing this style with other elements such as objectivity and evidence-based arguments.

Can Research Papers Be In First Person?

Yes, there are several advantages to utilizing first person within academic works – especially those focusing on social sciences, psychology, education studies and qualitative research methods.

It helps promote clarity by avoiding any confusion around who is expressing opinions within the paper; also making it easier for readers to follow along from one point to another since everything will be seen from a single perspective throughout.

In addition, it gives authors greater freedom of expression which can further add depth that can’t easily be achieved through third-person narrative techniques alone.

When it comes to writing in an academic setting, the use of first person narratives can be both beneficial and disadvantageous. On one hand, they allow writers to craft persuasive arguments while on the other they may come off as informal or even too subjective for some readers.

One advantage of using first person narratives is that when done correctly, it allows authors to add a level of personalization and relatability into their work. They can also present their thoughts in such a way that creates more vivid images within the reader’s mind. Furthermore, this type of writing style helps them express what would otherwise remain unsaid.

Disadvantages

As an academic community, the appropriateness of utilizing a personal voice in scholarly contexts has long been debated. On one hand, some believe that allowing for authors to express their own views can provide valuable insights into research and discourse; on the other, others argue that such a personalized approach runs counter to academia’s traditional mission. This section will explore both sides of this contentious issue.

The Benefits of Utilizing Personal Voice

Including oneself as part of analysis and narrative is often seen as beneficial because it allows readers to connect with what they are reading more easily. Additionally, relying on first person accounts during research or writing lends authenticity and authority while providing a unique perspective only possible when using personal voice. Finally, there can be particular circumstances where delivering an opinion in first-person proves essential to accurately describe situations – such as when describing phenomenological experiences – but even then being cautious is always advised.

Regarding whether individual opinions should have any place within scientific papers: opinions certainly do not belong in results sections since these must remain objective summaries based exclusively on facts from experiments performed. However if used carefully elsewhere – for example through appropriate references or limited subjective commentaries – including points from your viewpoint could prove useful additions which augment reader understanding without compromising accuracy or credibility. Ultimately though it’s up to each researcher how much “I/me” presence is allowed within papers since guidelines vary significantly between disciplines

The use of first person narration has been a hot topic in the English writing community for many years, due to its ability to inject an element of personal insight and opinion into any given piece. Professional standards, genre conventions, and institutional regulations have all come together to shape how it is used in various contexts.

In terms of professional standards, most authorities agree that using first person narration in formal academic papers should be avoided unless necessary or instructed by instructors. It can provide too much distraction from the main point being argued within those types of documents if not handled with care. On the other hand, certain genres like memoirs rely heavily on this kind of narrative approach as they are meant to convey personal experiences and observations directly.

Research Papers:

When it comes to including personal accounts into research papers, there are arguments for and against allowing academics the freedom of doing so. On one hand, using first-person narration can help provide a more compelling narrative which engages readers better than impersonal third-person writing. Furthermore, telling stories from their own lives can make researchers feel closer to the subject they’re studying.

On the other side of this debate lies an understandable concern that opinion or bias might creep in if authors use personal experience as part of their argumentation. Additionally, journals may be concerned with can research papers be in first person , making them less inclined to accept such submissions due to potential academic integrity issues. A compromise here could involve asking experts within peer review panels specifically whether they think any subjective evidence presented is appropriate.

Self-referential statements can be powerful tools for researchers as they provide a way to add personal insights and opinions into their work. While some guidelines may discourage or even prohibit self-referential statements, this approach runs counter to the idea of producing research that is authentic and meaningful. By allowing authors to draw on their experiences within their writing, it allows them to bring more perspective into the subject matter.

Can Research Papers Be in First Person?

Yes – while many journals have strict conventions governing language use when composing papers, there are certainly cases where an author can incorporate first person accounts into her paper. The key is finding balance between subjective experience without detracting from the scholarly aspects of academic discourse.
No – it should also be noted that not all types of texts allow for self-reference; scientific experiments or statistical data would require distance from direct contact with any form of narrative input.

In conclusion, whether using self-referential statements should depend upon context rather than being prohibited outright. If used appropriately, such devices can help convey valuable insights without compromising objectivity or accuracy in reporting findings.

Assessing a “Self” Perspective

When preparing professional documents, such as research papers and essays, it is important to assess the appropriateness of employing a “self” perspective. This involves taking into consideration factors such as audience, purpose, context and discipline-specific conventions. Generally speaking, in most cases an impersonal approach should be taken; however there are certain instances where using first person may be more appropriate.

In general academic writing calls for an objective viewpoint which can often times lead to confusion when debating whether or not research papers should be written in first person or third person voice. It would depend on the specific rules given by instructors in each individual situation as well as what type of paper is being written – some examples include narrative essay topics or reflective pieces that encourage personal insights. Ultimately it comes down to understanding who you’re trying to communicate with and what you want your message to accomplish in order for readers take away something valuable from your work.

In conclusion, it is clear that the use of first-person in research papers can be a tricky issue to consider. There are various factors which must be taken into account such as an author’s discipline and university regulations before making this decision. It has been established that while certain disciplines may allow or even encourage the use of first-person language when writing research papers, other academic fields discourage its usage. For those interested in further exploring this debate on personal pronouns within academia, there exist numerous resources online and through scholarly publications where greater clarity on these issues might be found.

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My First Research Experience: Being Open to the Unexpected
When I started my research position, I was introduced to a graduate student that worked in the lab station right next to mine. She showed me around the lab space and set me up on my computer. She was always there to ask quick questions or help me with any problems I encountered, as were the other people using the lab space, even if they weren ...
How to Write the First Draft of an Academic Research Paper
Instead of perfecting your first draft, just work to form the rough structure of your paper around whatever you want your key message to be. We discussed this further in the separate post: Deciding what to publish from your PhD work. Simply try to ensure your first draft roughly tells the story of what you want your main message to be.
Tips for Writing about Your Research Experience (Even if You Don't
First things first: tailor not just your cover letter (for applications that ask for it) but your resume to the position for which you are applying. Even if you're just sending a casual email to a professor to ask about the research that they're doing, as a rule, it never hurts to attach your resume.
Remembering Your First Paper
Dr. Viknesh Andiappan. Associate Professor at the Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus. Viknesh won the Processes 2022 Young Investigator Award after co-authoring three different papers published in the journal. "I have fond memories of my first publication. The journey to publishing my first research paper was an eye-opening one.
Author Insights
What made you decide to publish your first research paper? "A great mentor combined with surprising results led me to publish my first paper. I joined Professor Arben Merkoçi's team (Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology) in early 2011. In those times, our research team was very motivated by graphene: the wonder material.
PDF How to Write Your First Research Paper
Use Table 1 as a starting point for your outline. Include your visuals (figures, tables, formulas, equations, and al-gorithms), and list your findings. These will constitute the first level of your outline, which will eventually expand as you elabo-rate. Table 1. Outline — Level 1.
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(PDF) How to Write Your First Research Paper
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A paper on the experience of Danish citizens living close to the German border during World War II would be specific and could be original enough. Conduct preliminary research. ... Write a first draft of the research paper. Your first draft won't be perfect — you can polish later on. Your priorities at this stage are as follows:
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For these and other reasons, the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers specifically defines research papers as assignments that "require us to go beyond our personal knowledge and experience" (Gibaldi 3). Even Gesa Kirsch, an outspoken proponent of the authorial I, acknowledges that unrestrained use of the first-person perspective in ...
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When writing a research paper, it is important to choose an appropriate style of writing and voice. One option available is using the first person "I" or "we" in your work. This can be an effective choice when addressing personal experience or opinions on a topic. However, there are some key points to consider if you decide to employ ...
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At PCUR, we've done plenty of reflections on our prior research experiences. The more I think about it, the best thing to do is to reflect on my first JP. In that paper, I explored the attitudes and ideologies of consumption that post-war consumers held, particularly in relation to an acute shortage of nylon stockings. Sifting through dozens ...
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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.
Exploring the First-Person in Research Papers
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PDF Guidelines to Citing Personal Experience and Interviews in Research
evidence to support your argument. Using citations for personal experience and interviews should be a piece of the wider puzzle constituting your argument. Guidelines: The personal experience you cite should serve as evidence to support your argument or provide background information that adds substance to your paper and is a unique
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After you get enough feedback and decide on the journal you will submit to, the process of real writing begins. Copy your outline into a separate file and expand on each of the points, adding data and elaborating on the details. When you create the first draft, do not succumb to the temptation of editing.
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Aeronautics Astronautics faculty labs, current research projects, and openings for Undergraduate students are updated here regularly. Morphing Space Structures Lab, Professor Manan Arya, email: [email protected] if you are interested. Project description: The REU student will assist with the construction of small-scale prototypes of large ...
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Since the time she conducted her first research experience as a student at the South Carolina Governor's School for Science and Mathematics, Darby Porter was hooked on research. While completing her undergraduate studies in chemistry and neuroscience at the University of South Carolina Honors College, Porter joined the lab of Jun Zhu , Ph.D ...
About 1 in 4 public school teachers experienced a ...
Teachers' experiences with lockdowns. About a quarter of teachers (23%) say they experienced a lockdown in the 2022-23 school year because of a gun or suspicion of a gun at their school. Some 15% say this happened once during the year, and 8% say this happened more than once.
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Proposed RCRA Corrective Action
SJS Linde LP (Formerly Scott Paper Company Research Annex) 50 West Powhattan Avenue Essington, PA 19029 United States. Related Documents. SJS Linde LP Statement of Basis (pdf) (2.4 MB, April 16, 2024) This document provides information upon which EPA's proposed remedy is based;
Using First Person in Research Papers: Is it Allowed?
The use of first person when writing research papers is an accepted and often encouraged approach. This type of writing refers to using 'I' or 'we' while discussing a topic, opinion, or idea. It allows for more personal insight into the thoughts and feelings associated with a certain concept without being too informal or overly subjective.

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How to Write the First Draft of an Academic Research Paper

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13.1 Formatting a Research Paper

General Formatting Guidelines

Margins, Pagination, and Headings

Citation Guidelines

Writing at Work

References List

Key Takeaways

Focus: Education — Career Advice

1. Schedule your writing time in Outlook

Rule 1: Create regular time blocks for writing as appointments in your calendar and keep these appointments.

Rule 2: Create a detailed outline and discuss it with your mentor and peers.

3.1. Starting with Materials and Methods

Rule 3: Be meticulous and accurate in describing the Materials and Methods. Do not change the point of view within one paragraph.

Rule 4: Be clear, concise, and objective in describing your Results.

Rule 5: Interest your reader in the Introduction section by signalling all its elements and stating the novelty of the work.

Rule 6: Present the principles, relationships, and generalizations in a concise and convincing tone.

Rule 7: Revise your paper at the macrostructure and the microstructure level using different strategies and techniques. Receive feedback and revise again.

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Teachers’ experiences with lockdowns

Do teachers feel their school has prepared them for an active shooter?

What strategies do teachers think could help prevent school shootings?

How teachers’ views differ by party