How to write a research paper for a master, postgraduate student, university professor? Expert advice
- January 19, 2023
- Posted by: Yury Subachev, PhD
- Categories: For young scientists, Paper publication
When a young researcher has obtained the first scientific results, which can already be shared with the scientific community, he or she asks him/herself a question: “How to write a research paper?”
However, one does not necessarily has to be a scientist to write a scientific paper. Masters, postgraduate students, associate professors, and professors also write scientific papers. Some of them do it to share their scientific developments, but in many cases, this is a prerequisite for passing one’s Ph.D. defense, being elected to a certain position, or getting a job promotion.
It turns out that many people have to write scientific articles, but only a few enjoy writing them. The reason is that one has also to know how to write scientific articles, to know where to start and where to find motivation for writing. We will answer these questions in the present article.
What is a “good research paper”? This is a scientific work that covers a certain topic with the justification of the author’s position, confirmed by authoritative sources, the results of experiments, measurements, observations, modeling, and other research methods. The paper should be built according to a certain structure and have novelty. Knowing what we should get in the end, we can start writing a scientific paper. All that is left to do is to begin.
2. How to start writing a master’s research paper?
Start by choosing the research area.
First. Here you can take your lead from the university professor who will be your supervisor in the future. The human factor is still in force: your supervisor’s area of scientific research can become the direction of your own research.
Second. Choose areas where research has already been conducted and where there are data for analysis (for example, websites with analytical research).
Third. Register in the academic research databases – Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. See what the papers are written about.
When the direction is clear, you have to start reading. Extensive reading will help you a lot. Have you already registered in scientometric databases? Read two to three dozen papers in the chosen area. This will help to master the vocabulary related to the chosen topic and understand the basics of the scientific writing style.
Have you read the articles? Choose the journal in which you want to publish your paper! You can choose the journal based on your scientific supervisor’s recommendation, consider the possibility of participating in conferences with the publication of articles in scientific collections, or you can choose it yourself, relying on the Scopus or Web of Science database.
Now that you have selected the journal, carefully study its guidelines for authors. Thus, you will get to know the structure of the article, its volume, the requirements for formatting the reference list, and the number of reference list entries. In this way, your project “writing a research paper” takes shape. You know how much text you need to write and how many sources to cite.
Now you have a little left to do – to start writing the text. Start by describing the studied sources on your topic. Be sure to make references in the text. This will be an introduction.
In the introduction, you have to state the hypothesis and explain why the studied problem is relevant. Be sure to show what is already known about your research subject (with references to the authors who have already studied this issue).
The introduction is followed by the main text of the article. There you present the obtained results. It is good if there are graphs and tables: they help to perceive information better. Describe graphs and tables and analyze the obtained results.
In the conclusion, indicate whether your hypothesis was confirmed, what the significance of the results is, and how they can be applied in practice.
When the paper is written, show it to your supervisor to ensure his/her support. Journals often require a review of the paper by a professor at your university. Take into account the supervisor’s remarks (if there are any), and send the article to the chosen journal.
Be sure to write a cover letter, where indicate who you are and what your paper is about (briefly). Wait for an answer. If there is no response within 3–5 days, write again or make a phone call to make sure that the editorial office has received your letter.
Your article will be submitted for review. The review can be expected for several weeks. Then you will have to work with the reviewer’s comments.
After the paper is corrected, it finally gets into print.
3. How to start writing a postgraduate student’s research paper?
It is worth starting to write your paper by choosing a journal.
- Therefore, go immediately to the Scopus or Web of Science website, find the latest list of journals there, and select journals in your specialty.
- Then go to the journal’s website and take a close look at the articles in this journal. Adopt the format and style.
- Study the requirements for the authors of the selected journal and determine the volume of the paper, the number of sources, and formatting.
- Study papers on your topic in the Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar databases, collect material.
- Formulate the topic of the paper and the main hypothesis, which you will confirm or reject.
- Write the paper following the structure “introduction – main text – conclusion”. The introduction, as in the PhD thesis, outlines the relevance of the research and contains a review of the available literature on the studied problem. The main text contains the results obtained and their analysis. Tables and figures are welcome. The conclusion outlines the practical value, the significance of the results, and contains the answer to the question of whether you managed to prove the hypothesis.
- Write a letter to the editorial office of a scientific journal. Introduce yourself and tell what your paper is about. Do not forget to attach the paper itself.
- Wait for receiving a response from the editorial office (if there is no answer for a long time, write again. Maybe the letter did not arrive or was lost). The response can include the reviewer’s comments. Work on comments. Do not get upset. This is a common thing.
Send the corrected paper, get a positive response, and wait for the journal to be published.
4. How can university professors write articles easily and with pleasure?
An associate professor or professor has already written more than a dozen papers, but it is required to write more and better. They need publications in top-rated international journals and a high Hirsch index (citation index).
Plan your work on the paper in advance. Think of the paper as a project that has its beginning and end. Determine the date of submission (deadline) and rely on it. To force yourself to sit down and start writing, find a science-writing marathon. It can help a lot. By the way, it is also the best advice for master’s and postgraduate students to start writing a research paper.
So the deadlines are set. Let us begin. And do not get distracted.
- Choose a journal in scientometric databases (for example, Scopus, Web of Science), assess its impact factor, the frequency of publication per year, and the number of published articles.
- Study the requirements for authors. Formatting, the number of reference list entries, and the structure of the paper – strictly follow the recommendations
- When writing the paper, it is better to be guided by the generally accepted IMRAD structure of international journals.
- IMRAD means Introduction – Methods – Results – and – Discussion. The introduction includes the relevance of the research and the hypothesis, what has already been studied on this topic, and what still needs to be studied. The “Methods” section simply and clearly explains how the study was conducted. It should be so clear that one could repeat it. The “Results” section contains graphs and tables showing the obtained results. The “Discussion” section analyzes the results, the possibility of their theoretical or practical application, shows whether the hypothesis was confirmed, and outlines directions for further research. In Russian journals, a conclusion is also needed (in international journals – not always). The conclusion gives an answer to the question regarding the hypothesis (was it confirmed or not), shows the value of the results and their practical significance, and the possibility of further study of the topic.
- For subsequent citation, it is very important to pay attention to the title of the paper, keywords, and abstract. If they are drawn up at a good level and arouse interest in your paper, its citation will increase, and the Hirsch index will grow, accordingly.
- In the abstract, it is necessary to indicate: what for the study was conducted (its relevance), how it was conducted (methods), what results were obtained, and what they mean (value). As soon as you have answered these four questions, write the keywords.
- Keywords should not repeat the words used in the title of the paper. They are required to help find your paper, so if the paper is called “Logistics in industrial enterprises”, do not include “logistics” and “industrial enterprises” in the keywords. Look for synonyms or something related (metallurgy, operational management). In this way, we will increase the number of views of our paper, and, therefore, the probability of citation.
- Sending the paper to the journal. Waiting (if there is no answer for a long time – write again). Correspondence.
- Work on the reviewers’ comments and submission of the paper for publication.
Equipped with this knowledge, and inspired to write the paper, the key point now is not to lose the fuse. Look for motivation in the following section.
5. How to finally start writing?
Answer the question “why?” What for do you want to write an article? There is internal motivation, and there is external motivation. Since you are reading this article, it means that you have internal motivation, and this motivation is the strongest. The desire to be the first, the best, to defend a master’s thesis with an excellent mark, to find a better job, to get a Ph.D. or Doctor of Science degree. However, this is global and abstract. Specific actions require also external motivation.
This can be education – admission to the master’s degree, postgraduate, or doctoral program.
This can be a specific deadline date – the date of the conference, the deadline for submission of articles, or the date of the report on the work done.
This can be a prize, money – for example, you will receive a grant for a business trip and research, get an academic title, or a scientific degree.
If your internal motivation is strong, then you know what to do, and use external motivation for help in specific steps.
Conclusion
We have found out how to write a research paper for a master, a postgraduate student, and a young teacher. There is one rule that works for everyone: if there is internal and external motivation, then you will succeed! So,
- Choose the topic (in this way, we specify the goal),
- Choose the journal (specify the task in terms of time and volume),
- Collect data (study the topic more deeply),
- Analyze the data (make an increment of scientific knowledge),
- Draw up the text according to the accepted structure (a scientific paper is also a certain genre),
- Send the paper to the journal (get the reviewers’ assessment: a view from the outside),
- Publish (achieve the goal)!
Good luck with your future publications!
