Research Paper Format

You are done with your research work and the objective you set out with has been achieved. Now it is time to present what you discovered in a systematic way and record your findings to be published in a research journal. Publication of a research paper validates your work and makes it easily accessible to millions of other researchers all over the world, who may gain an insight from it. To be accepted by journals, you need to structure your findings according to a specific research paper format. The aim of this article is to provide basic guidelines on how to format a research paper.

You may be researching in any field of science or sociology. May it be any field ranging from physics, chemistry to psychology or political science, the format of a research paper remains the same in principle, irrespective of the discipline. Once you have sufficient evidence to back up what you set out to prove and defend your thesis, you are ready to document your findings in a proper research paper format. Today special software tools like 'Latex' are available which helps you write your research paper in default templates and page setting. You may have to modify the page setting, font size, line spacing and overall structure, according to the demands of the research publication that you plan to publish your work in. The research paper outline and its details will depend on the subject you are presenting.

Nothing can compare with the instructions on how to write a research paper and insight provided by your guide or teacher as they have been there and done that! In the following lines, you will find guidelines on how to structure your write up according to the format of a research paper outline. The structure that I present is generic. You may want to make some journal specific and subject specific modifications in the research paper outline format.

Format of a Research Paper

The overall format of the research paper is designed in such a fashion that the causal link between the objective of research and the evidence backing it, is made crystal clear. Here are some guidelines on formatting your research paper, starting from the first point, which is the title.

Title: Idea of Research in a Nutshell
Let us first see what is the format of a title page for a research paper. Research paper topics and titles need to be selected wisely. The title is the essence of your research work summed up in a few words. Let it be such that a reader gets an exact idea of what your research work is all about. It is presenting the whole idea of your research in a nutshell. Keep it brief, precise and to the point. What follows after the title is the name of the authors of the paper. This part of research paper format, also includes contact information and names of institutes to which the authors may be affiliated written in the end notes of the first page and referred to by an asterisk.

Abstract: A Summary of Your Research Objective
What follows is the abstract of your thesis or research paper. This is a short synopsis that captures the objective of your research in a very concise and to the point description. It gives the readers an idea about your research objective.

Introduction: Overview of Research
Once the abstract is done, you get into the meat of the research paper, with the introduction. This is an introduction and overview of the problem that you have attacked through your research. It may include a bit of a background of the subject and related work done on that subject till date. Make sure you know what you are talking about, when you write every line of your thesis. Every claim or statement needs to be backed by evidence.

Main Body: Causal Reasoning and Experimental Evidence
This is where writing a research paper actually begins. The main body is the most important part of the research paper format. This is where you start from known ground about the subject and slowly develop the theory and present experimental evidence to support your research objective. You need to go about each and every part very carefully. You need to carefully build a causal structure that justifies your conclusions. This will include tabulated data, analysis of data and theoretical calculations based on existing theory.

In Conclusion: Summing it All Up
This is where you sum up all the conclusions that you can draw from the vast body of evidence that you research has generated. Here is where you also talk about the implications of your research and breakthroughs that you have achieved.

Acknowledgments: Showing Your Gratitude & Endorsing Your Sources
In the acknowledgments, you list out other research papers that have helped you develop your reasoning for research. This will include a bibliography of sources that you have referred to. Every previous work of research that you have referred to, needs to be quoted here. Link these sources with the parts of the main body, where you have used them, with reference numbers. Have a look at a research paper outline template.

Appendices: Additional Data & Basic Information
Some disciplines need additional information about methodology and other basic information, that is presented in the form of extra appendices. This may include the theoretical working out of some complex mathematics or other basic information that needs to be referred to, for understanding the paper. This concludes the description of the format for writing a research paper. Know how to write a bibliography.

Hope this article has given you a basic idea about how a research paper format should be. Setting up a research paper format in this manner is putting all the causal links that you found in your research in order to justify your conclusion. It is an exercise in precision thinking and analyzing your results which you will surely enjoy. After the paper is ready, you can behold it just like an artist beholds his finished masterpiece! It is an immensely satisfying experience.