Academic papers are written based on a conventional pattern of format and language. In fact, most journals provide authors with guidelines for font type, font size, margin, spacing, etc. They can also have specific guidelines about the outline and structure of the article. In addition, some journals might have rules about the structure of each section of the article. The structure of your article must conform to the specifications of the journal. If it does not, it will be sent back for revision, which will delay its publication. Most manuscript editing services also provide article correction services. They make sure that your article adheres to the journal’s formatting requirements.
In general, the structure of the article depends on its type. For instance, the structure of a case report is different from that of a research paper. Nevertheless, most research papers are structured based on the IMRAD format, including introduction, methods, results, and discussion.
But the abstract comes before that. Typically, the abstract reflects the structure and content of the original text in 100-300 words. Think of the abstract as an advertisement for your original text. The abstract should include non-technical terms and provide sufficient information to engage the reader.
The Introduction section is where the researcher explains the reason or motivation for the study. It is usually written in passive voice. Do not include all the existing information about your research topic in this section; only the information that is related. First of all, present the background of the study followed by research questions and the attempted solutions. Mention the attempts of previous studies to solve the research problem. Explain how they succeeded and how they failed. Finally, conclude this section with a brief, yet strong, statement of how you intend to answer the research question.
If you think you need help with the structure and content of this section, you can use research editing services where the editor can guide you about the flow and organization of your text.
The following section is called Methods or Materials and Methods. It contains the authors’ goal of addressing the research question and has always been written in the past. Clarity and detail are important here since the Methods section can help other researchers in the same field of study to better understand the research.
The Results section is where you present your findings. This section can be merely textual or include images as well. The results section of most scientific papers contains tables, figures, and graphs. As a rule, number-heavy data should be presented in tabular form. In addition, the data should be presented in text or tables, not both.
The Discussion section makes your results meaningful. In this section, you compare your findings with those of published articles and express your conclusions about the performed research. A very important aspect of this section is the limitations. The last part is the conclusion of your study which can be part of the discussion or a brief and separate section.
The structure of your paper should be clear and logical. The text must have a sequential flow. If you want an editor to review these aspects of your article, select manuscript editing services that go beyond the basic grammar review.