Writing a research paper

Teresa S. Welsh, Melissa S. Wright, in Information Literacy in the Digital Age, 2010

Research paper format
The research paper format varies according to the discipline and the professor’s instructions, but
below is one example of the required format for an analytical paper.
[Research paper title page format: an appropriate title for the paper should be centered with
major words capitalized.]
Research Paper Title
 Student Name
 E-mail address
 Course Number
 Date
[Research paper body format: distinguish between topic headings and subtopics/subheadings; for
example, center main topics or headings, left-align subtopics/subheadings.]
Introduction
Background information about the topic of the study and importance of the study. (The
importance of the study may come at the beginning or the end of the introduction section.)
Purpose of the study
Clear, concise and focused purpose of the study: the problem statement including sub-problems.
Research questions or hypotheses
Clearly state the specific research questions or hypotheses. Choose one but not both. Use the
present tense and number appropriately: R1, R2, etc. for research questions; H1, H2, etc, for
hypotheses.
Definitions
List relevant terms or acronyms and their definitions. Properly cite the source(s) of the
definitions.
Limitations and delimitations of the study
State what is included in the study and what is excluded from the study.
Assumptions
State the assumptions embedded in the research design.
Importance of the study
End the introduction section with a statement about the importance of the study unless this is
addressed in the introductory paragraphs.
Literature review
The literature review paints the background for the research, creating a frame of reference and
context. Research builds upon previous research so it is important to recognize and credit
previous studies that are similar in topic and methodology.
Use subtopics if appropriate. Some topics have a previous body of research that is related to the
topic and methodology but students may find research related to the topic and other studies that
use the same or similar methodology but few or no previous studies that use the same
methodology to study the same topic. In this instance, it is appropriate to have a subtopic on
studies related to the subject or topic of the study and another subtopic related to studies that use
the same methodology as this study on similar topics.
Subtopics should follow a logical flow. For instance, when reviewing the studies that use a
particular methodology, it would be useful to put them in chronological order within that
subtopic to indicate a progression of the research that leads up to this research.
Each review of a scholarly study should include a summary of the methodology and results. It
should be clear to the reader how each study reviewed is related to this study. End with a
concluding paragraph about how this study is similar to or different from the studies reviewed.
Methodology
Begin the methodology section with a description of the methodology used in this study. Include
details of data sources, how appropriate data are identified, and data collection
procedures (detailed enough so that it could be replicated by others). State how data are compiled
and analyzed, including software used such as Word tables or Excel. (For a research
proposal, the methodology should be written in the future tense; for a final research report, the
methodology should be changed to the past tense).
Results
Restate each research question or hypothesis (these may be used as subheadings), then the results
of the data analysis. Research questions are answered or addressed; hypotheses are tested and
supported or not supported by the data (do not use the word ‘prove’). It is desirable to use tables
(data in columns and rows) and figures (charts, graphs, images) to illustrate data analysis. Each
table or figure should be appropriately titled and numbered and referenced in the text (‘see Table
1’). Tables or figures longer than three-quarters of a page may be placed at the end of the paper
as an appendix and referenced appropriately in the text (‘see Appendix’). If the study is a survey,
include the survey instrument as an appendix. Number appendices if there is more than one
(‘see Appendix 1’). Data in tables or figures may be single-spaced or 1½ spaced. Journal or book
titles in tables or figures should be italicized or underlined just as in the text.
Discussion
Summarize and discuss the research results. Compare the results with the results of previous
studies reviewed in the literature review. Discuss possible general conclusions (using cautious
language) that may be drawn from the study results. End with a concluding paragraph that
suggests further research related to this study.
Bibliography (or References or Works cited)
List citations of works referenced in the paper in chronological order by author. Use the required
citation style (or the style of your choice if permitted) and be consistent.
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Theoretical Research
Thomas W. Edgar, David O. Manz, in Research Methods for Cyber Security, 2017
Proofs and Theorems
A theoretical research paper’s results are the proofs and theorems generated. You should not
document every proof; only highlight significant or interesting proofs as theorems. If it is
necessary to build up a theorem then you need to specify any necessary lemmata. Often the
contribution is the development and explanation of the theory. However, sometimes a theory can
be exercised to produce or highlight results that are worth sharing with the wider audience. Often
this is in the form of a model or simulation; see Chapter 8, Using Simulation for Research, for
further details.
In the results section of your paper, explain what you found after you performed your analysis.
Creating tables to show results is an efficient and effective method. You can also show pictures
of interesting results, that is if a data anomaly occurred or to display the distributions of the data
samples. Regardless of whether or not you are generating datasets, you should make sure and
explain the impact, implications, and reach of the theoretical research. Are there any limitations
of scope, impact, applicability, and so on.
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Lessons learned from nearly 200 cases of KM journeys by Hong

Kong and Asian Enterprises
E. Tsui, in Successes and Failures of Knowledge Management, 2016
Factors for sustaining the use of knowledge management systems that differ from factors
that affect adoption
KM books and research papers cover extensively the topic of knowledge management
systems (KMS) adoption and the factors that influence users to take up and start using a KM
system. While knowing these factors are no doubt very useful for planning and the deployment
of a KM system, it is even more important to know the factors that lead users to continue their
use of the KM system in a sustained way. Our own research, as well as the knowledge gained
from working with these 200 projects, leads us to believe that the two sets of factors (ie, for
preadoption and postadoption) are different; for example, peer influence, demonstrated
usefulness, personal experience, and personalization are among factors that make users continue
their use of KM systems in a sustained way.
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Writing and Publishing a Research Paper

I. Scott MacKenzie, in Human-computer Interaction, 2013
8.2.3 Keywords
Keywords are used for database indexing and searching. They allow
others who are interested in the work to find it. Keywords are chosen
by the author. They identify the subject matter and the scope of the
work. For the backdrop paper in Figure 8.1, the keywords are “Eyes-
free, text entry, touchscreen, finger input, gestural input, Graffiti,
auditory display, error correction, mobile computing.”
Since 1998, research papers published in ACM conference
proceedings or journals are required to also include indexing and
retrieval information according to the ACM’s Computing Classification
System (CCS). As the ACM notes, “This is beneficial to you because
accurate categorization provides the reader with quick content
reference, facilitating the search for related literature, as well as
searches for your work in ACM’s Digital Library and other online
resources.”3 In applying the CCS, research papers include “Categories
and Subject Descriptors” and “General Terms.” (For conference
submissions, the general terms are optional.) The descriptors and
terms are provided by the ACM, not the author. Since the CCS spans
all of computer science, the choices are numerous. The descriptors
and terms for the backdrop paper in Figure 8.1 are shown in Figure
8.2. The terms are taken from the ACM’s CCS, which is available
online (see URL in footnote). The formatting shown in the figure (e.g.,
brackets, bold, italics) is required and must be strictly followed.
Although choosing descriptors and terms is a challenge, there is an
easy way. Just find a paper on the same or similar topic in the same
proceedings or journal as the paper in preparation and mimic that
paper’s descriptors and terms. In fact, the ACM recommends this (see
URL in footnote). Of course, care is warranted in the event of an
inappropriate descriptor in a published paper.

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Figure 8.2. Example of the ACM Computing Classification System.