This document provides guidance on how to write a research paper. It outlines the key sections that should be included such as the research problem/title, abstract, introduction, literature review, objectives, hypothesis, methodology, data analysis, findings, recommendations, and references. It describes what content should be included in each section, such as providing background in the introduction and detailing the variables, sampling, research design, and data collection methods in the methodology section. Statistical analysis methods and formatting guidelines for tables, figures, and references are also reviewed.

1. Dr. Prabhat Pandey
Librarian & Head
Department of Library and Information
Science
Sarojini Naidu Govt. Girls PG Auto.
College,Bhopal
E-mail : pkumarp11@gmail.com
How to Write aHow to Write a
Research PaperResearch Paper

2. 1. RESEARCH PROBLEM / TITLE OF THE PAPER
2. ABSTRACT / KEY-WORDS
3. INTRODUCTION OF YOUR TOPIC RELATED TO THE PROBLEM
4. REVIEW OF THE RELATED LITERATURE
5. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
6. HYPOTHESIS OF THE STUDY
7. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
VARIABLES OF THE STUDY
SAMPLE - SIZE
METHOD OF SAMPLING
RESEARCH DESIGN - EXPERIMENTAL / SURVEY / DESCRIPTIVE / OTHERS
STIMULUS MATERIALS / INSTRUCTION MATERIALS
TOOLS OF THE STUDY - QUESTIONNAIRES / INTERVIEWS / TEST / SCALES
(DATA COLLECTION METHODS )
8. DATA ANALYSIS --STATISTICAL METHODS / SPSS PACKAGE
9. FINDINGS
10. RECOMMENDATIONS / SUGGESTIONS / EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS
11. REFERENCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY
CONTENT OF A RESEARCH PAPER

3. Research Problem / title of the Paper
• Manuscripts should be headed by a
concise title. It should also contain full
name(s) of author(s), title(s), complete
mailing address(es) and address(es) of
associated institutions where the work has
been carried-out, if any, telephone and
mobile numbers and email address(es).

4. Abstract
• All manuscripts should be accompanied by
self-contained abstract highlighting the main
points of the manuscript, outlining the results
and conclusions, and elucidates the
significance of the results. It should not of
more than 200 words. After the abstract,
provide maximum of 6 keywords for
information retrieval purposes.

5. . Introduction of your topic
• The introductory section has no title and begins
on the page following the abstract. It provides
the reader with sufficient background
information to evaluate the results of the
research. An extensive review of the literature
is not needed. The introduction also gives the
rationale for and objectives of the study that is
being reported. It may include the scientific
importance and relevant historical background.

6. Research Methodology
Social Survey
• Hypothesis is not needed.
• Its objective is to bring reforms in
the society just by studying the
existing social problems /incidents.
• Geographic area / field of study is
limited.
• It may be conducted by census
method / Parametric or Sampling
method /Non-Parametric method.
• It may be done individually or by
groups.
Social Research
• Hypothesis is must.
• Its objectives are;
• To enrich teaching methods/techniques
• To discover new facts.
• To form new principles.
• No definite geographic area.
• Small group is selected as
representative of whole universe…
Sampling methods are used.
• It is always done by single person /
individual.

7. Hypothesis
• Hypothesis is tentative generalization of any
problem , validity of which remains to be tested.
• It is considered as a principal instrument in the
research work.
• It provides direction to the researcher for his
research work.
• It is of four types; Question form, Declarative
form ,Directive statement and Non-directional or Null
hypothesis.
• It depicts about the relationship between different
variables of the study.

8. Sample-is the set of units of an
aggregate.(homogeneity, representativeness,
accuracy)Probability
Sampling
There is a probability that sample is
representative of its universe.
• Random Sampling
• Systematic Sampling
• Stratified Sampling
• Multistage Sampling
• Cluster Sampling
Non-Probability
Sampling
There is absence of any idea of probability.
• Incidental or
Accidental Sampling
• Judgment Sampling
• Purposive Sampling
• Quota Sampling

9. Materials and
Methods
• Sufficient information must be provided so that another
researcher can repeat the experiments that are
described in the paper. If reference is made to a method
published elsewhere in a journal or document that may
not be readily available to most readers, then details of
the method are to be included. If a published method is
modified, such modification(s) must be described.
Sources (company, city, state, or country) of unusual
chemicals, bacterial strains, reagents, and equipment
must be identified. Delete registered and trademarks
when given with trade names.

10. Results and
Discussion
• Results section provides information by means of
text, tables, and figures. Results and Discussion
may be combined, or there may be a separate
Discussion section. If a Discussion section is to be
included, place extensive interpretations of results in
the Discussion section. Tables and figures must be
numbered in the order in which they are mentioned
in the text. All tables and figures must be cited in the
text. Tables and figures reporting results should not
be cited in the Materials and Methods section.

11. Conclusion
• Do not extensively repeat
the introduction or Results
sections. Provide an
interpretation of the results
in relation to known
information. Conclusions
should be included in this
section.

12. References
• Number and order the references alphabetically by the
last names of the authors between and within each
reference. Order references chronologically only when all
authors’ names are the same. Only the first author’s
name and initials are inverted. All references must be
cited in the text by normal numbers in square bracket,
with a space between the numbers of the references: [3,
7 and 22]. References may be made to papers that are in
press, i.e., that have been accepted for publication.
References for papers that have not been accepted for
publication should be listed by the authors’ names, as
submitted for publication. Tables and figures follow the
references (see preparation of figures section).

13. References
• Examples of different types of references are given
below.
• For articles in Journals : Indicate the initials and
surnames of the authors, the title of the Journal in italic,
issue number, volume number, the numbers of the page
and month & year of the publication, for example :
• [1] P.K. Roberts and A. B. Kang , “Top-down logic
design,” National Journal Engineering Science, Issue. 1,
Vol. II, pp. 585– 590, Jan 2005.
• [2] For Books : B.A. Forouzan, Data Communication
and Networking, McGraw Hill, 4th
Edition (2010).

14. Figures and Illustrations
• Figures and Illustrations :
Figures and Illustrations must
be placed in the text. They
must be neatly drawn and
legible and one copy must be
enclosed separately along with
the hardcopy. The figures and
illustrations in softcopy must
be in JPEG format.

15. Rules of Formatting ( Research Paper)
• All submissions must be written in English.
• Manuscripts should be typed double space on A4
size paper
• Using font size 12
• In Arial or Times New Roman Fonts
• Preferably not more than 8 pages in length
inclusive of tables, figures and illustrations.
• May be in single column or Double Column

16. Thank You