This document provides guidelines for writing research papers, including components of a research paper and how to write different sections. It discusses what research is, templates for writing research papers, how to write titles, acknowledgements, abstracts, introductions, literature reviews, methodology sections, and more. It also discusses how to write references in different styles like APA, Chicago, Harvard, IEEE and Turabian formats. The document is intended as a reference for students on how to structure and write up a research paper.

1. Research Paper Components
HOW TO WRITE
GUIDELINES

2. 23 April 2014INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB 2

3. Table of Contents
 What is re-search? 04
 What is manuscript? 05
 A template for writing re-search paper 07
 What is abstract? 22
 How to write Proposal? 34
 References Style 36
 APA
37
 Chicago 38
 Harvard 40
 IEEE
42
 Turabian 43
 References 4523 April 2014INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB 3

4. RE-SEARCH
 Re-search: search for one more time.
 Or return back to previous.
 Search: to look thoroughly.
 To find anything hidden.
 Research is an ORGANIZED and SYSTEMATIC way of FINDING ANSWERS to QUESTIONS .”
 “Research is a systematic inquiry to describe, explain, predict and control the observed phenomenon.
Research involves inductive and deductive methods .”(Babbie, 1998)
23 April 2014INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB 4

5. Manuscript
 A text that has not yet been published.
 They are intended to be published.
 It should cover all the parts:
 Introduction: Narrow the filed of study from general to specific.
 Methods: Present the information in logical manner.
 Results: Use methods to guide to have same order. Be more technical.
 Discussion: It should explain findings with reference to results in a down-step manner, from specific to general.
23 April 2014INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB 5

6. Difference Between Research paper and Manuscript
 RESEARCH PAPER
 Published Paper.
 More Detailed.
 MANUSCRIPT
 Not yet Published.
 Cover major portions.
23 April 2014INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB 6

7. A Re-search Writing Template
• Have following sections: (may or may not, up-to choice)
• Title Page
• Acknowledgements
• Abstract
• Content Page
• Introduction
• Literature Review
• Methodology
• Findings
• Conclusions
• Recommendations
• Appendices
• Bibliography
23 April 2014INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB 7

8. Title
• A Report on …
• An Investigation into …
• An Analysis of …
• A Comparison of … and …
• …… Name
• Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement of the
............................course.
• The Date
23 April 2014INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB 8

9. • It should be concise and descriptive.
• It should not include un-necessary words, phrases, chemical formulas, abbreviation etc.
• It should be specific and clear.
• It should be catchy, as it will be read by thousands of readers.
• One should used correct syntax.
23 April 2014INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB 9

10. Acknowledgement
• "I would like to thank my supervisor, Mr. _______, for the valuable advice and support he has given
me in the writing of this report. I would also like to thank my teachers, Mrs. _______ and Mr. _______
for their encouragement and guidance. Thanks also to my typist, Ms. _______, for her immaculate job
and her suggestions. My deepest thanks go to my wife/husband, for her/his love, understanding and
support."
23 April 2014INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB 10

11. Abstract
• This study was to ______________________________
• It was requested by ____________________________
• It was requested on date _______________________
• The investigation was done by ____________________
• The main findings were that ______________________
• It was concluded that __________________________
• The recommendations are that _______should be ______
23 April 2014INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB 11

12. Contents Page
23 April 2014INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB 12
• Section.................................................................................... Page Number
1.Introduction............................................................................. 01
2.Literature Review.................................................................... 03
3.Methodology............................................................................ 05
4.Findings................................................................................... 07
5.Conclusions............................................................................. 14
6.Recommendations................................................................... 16
7.Appendices.............................................................................. 18
8.Bibliography............................................................................ 25

13. • List of Figures
• Bar Chart of Answers to Question 1................................... 08
• Pie Chart of Socio-economic Status of the Respondents..... 09
• List of Tables
• Survey Findings by Gender and Age Group........................ 10
23 April 2014INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB 13

14. Introduction
• Background
• This report has been written because ....
• It was requested by ...
• It was requested on (date).
• Objectives
• The objectives of this report are to ....
• Scope
• This report examines .... It does not examine ..... because ......
23 April 2014INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB 14

15. Literature Review
• The area of investigation has been commented on by Channel (1994), Hoey (1993), Halliday (1993) and
Lesser (1979), who are in agreement that...
• However, they have different opinions on ....
• Due to the differences highlighted above, it was decided to investigate ....
23 April 2014INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB 15

16. Methodology
• ___ respondents, chosen by the method of _____ were surveyed from (start date) to (end date). Of
these, ______ were invited for interview on (date).
• The statistics were analyzed using a _______ test because _____
• The significance of the results was __________
23 April 2014INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB 16

17. Findings/ Results
• In general, the findings indicated that...
• The major finding of the investigation was that...
• In addition, ....
• Surprisingly, ........ , which was an unexpected consequence of .....
23 April 2014INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB 17

18. Conclusions
• The main conclusion that can be drawn is therefore that...
• In the light of this, it is recommended that...
23 April 2014INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB 18

19. Recommendations
• In the light of these conclusions, I recommend that _____ should be ____
• In addition, a _______ could ______
• Grammar Note:
• To make suggestions and recommendations you should use 'could + infinitive verb' (if you are less sure), or
'should + infinitive verb' (if you are more sure). You could also use 'suggest + _ing' or 'suggest that + a subject
noun (e.g. 'we') + a verb (e.g. 'could' + infinitive verb).
• Do NOT use 'suggest to'.
23 April 2014INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB 19

20. Appendices
• Appendix 1: Sample Survey Form
• Appendix 2: Results of Statistical Analysis by ______
23 April 2014INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB 20

21. Bibliography
• As per the format given.
23 April 2014INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB 21

22. ABSTRACT
 It is a short summary of re-search paper or project.
 It should covered the main points and elements.
 Abstract writing is a highly specialized form of academic writing.
 Approximately 10 to 500 times more people will read an abstract than the associated article or attend a
presentation.
 A brief representation of a larger document or presentation.
 It should be stand alone.
 It should not include any new knowledge.
 Avoid using references. They have their portion at the end.
 Do not repeat title again in the abstract. It is the portion of findings.
23 April 2014INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB 22

23.  It should be able to answer the following questions:
 Who and what participate in the research?
 What is the objective?
 What main method used?
 What were the major findings?
 What recommendations could be offered?
23 April 2014INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB 23

24.  The word abstract comes from the Latin abstractum, „which means a condensed form of a longer piece of
writing.‟
 There are two main types of abstract:
 The Descriptive and
 The Informative abstract.
 The type of abstract you write depends on your discipline area.
 Abstracts are important parts of academic assignments, most often, reports and research papers.
 The abstract is the last item that you write, but the first thing people read when they want to have a quick
overview of the whole paper
23 April 2014INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB 24

25. Why Abstract?
 It serve following main purposes:
 Don't try to trick someone into reading your paper. Try to be as clear and informative as possible, so that the reader
knows what to expect in the content of the paper. So help reader decide whether to read the text or not.
 It is the summarized form findings of the text.
 Reading an abstract should give the reader a clear indication of the importance of the research.
 Positioned at the beginning of the text, abstracts introduce readers to the content of the article.
 Help scholars find your article
 It is essential to use key words specific
23 April 2014INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB 25

26. How to Write an Abstract
 Finish the paper.
 Take a break.
 Read the paper in the next morning, not late night like exhausted writers.
 Pick up the main points. One to two sentences from each sections.
 Topic of re-search
 Methodology
 Results
 Conclusions
 Recommendations
 Connect them together to make a strong sense.
 Revise and edit.
23 April 2014INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB 26

27. COMPONETS OF ABSTRACT
 The main components of any abstract, at-least should includes:
 Study Area (Participation)
 Objective
 Methodology
 Results/findings
 Conclusions
 Recommendations
23 April 2014INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB 27

28. Objective
 It is refer to expected or intended outcomes.
 Just focus on the main concepts explored in the re-search article.
 Avoid using outside references.
 It should be stand out and clear.
 Focus on what is need of this re-search.
 Avoid repeating information.
 Do not write title name again.
 It is not the statements from the topic, rather it is the expected output.
23 April 2014INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB 28

29. Methodology
 Be specific to the methods used.
 Write the unique techniques.
 Sometimes, readers has only this reason to read out the paper.
 Mention those that are used to subject out in the re-search paper.
 If necessary, also define any pre-existing (up-to choice in abstract):
 Knowledge
 Models
 Techniques
 Programs
23 April 2014INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB 29

30. Results/findings
 There could be more than one result, Only present, that is most important…!
 Be concise.
 Write those techniques that properly address the re-search.
 Relate them to the purpose and objective of the study.
 Extra words are not waste here.
 Sometimes it is better for understanding.
 But it should not exceed the abstract word limit…!
 It should include:
 What was discovered?
 What was collected?
23 April 2014INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB 30

31. Conclusions
 It should describe whether investigation is completed or not.
 It is the most difficult part, but most important part also.
 It should not include new and un-necessary information.
 Suggest the future planning if so.
 It should emphasize on the major ideas of the re-search.
 It should summarize all the ideas.
23 April 2014INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB 31

32.  There could be two possibilities:
 Conclusions with results:
 It is a brief representation of the results.
 What result means to investigate.
 It should be in clear manner.
 Conclusions without results:
 It should includes investigation procedures.
 And also the limitations or any other hurdle.
23 April 2014INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB 32

33. Recommendations
 These are the suggestions for the future action.
 It just be logically derived from the re-search body.
 It should in the context of obtained results and findings.
23 April 2014INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB 33

34. How to write a Proposal?
It should include following sections:
 Study Area
 Purpose of the study
 Significance of the study
 Datasets
 Methodology
 Samples
 Instruments
 Procedure
 Design
 Statistical Procedure
 Limitations of the Study
 Applications
23 April 2014INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB 34

35. Con‟t
DO’S
 Study Area
 Objective of the study
 Data sets and Methodology
 Limitations
 Applications
DONT’S
 Results
 Conclusions
 Hypothesis
23 April 2014INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB 35

36. Reference Style
 Reference style is important for a re-search paper.
 Although, it depends on the format of the journal.
 But there are few of the styles that are in common with the students and the re-searchers.
 Some of them are listed below:
 APA
 Chicago
 Harvard
 IEEE
 Turabian
23 April 2014INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB 36

37. APA Style
 "APA style" is the set of specific formatting conventions approved by the American Psychological
Association. The collected procedures of any style are usually referred to collectively as a "style-sheet."
 BOOK:
 Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (1996). Title of book: Vol. 1. Title of series. City, Country:
Publisher.
 JOURNAL ARTICLE:
 Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (1996). Title of journal article. Title of journal: Subtitle of
journal, volume number (issue number), first page-last page.
 ONLINE JOURNAL:
 Ontoast, N. (1996). Communication games for the public school Pig Latin classroom. E-Journal of PL Studies
[On-line serial], 16. Available E-mail: hammw@pbarrel.com Message: get EJPLS
23 April 2014INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB 37

38. Chicago Style
 The Chicago Manual of Style presents two basic documentation systems:
 Notes and bibliography (humanities, including those in literature, history, and the arts.) and
 Author-date ( physical, natural, and social sciences.)
 Following is the example of Author-Date
 BOOK:
 Ward, Geoffrey C., and Ken Burns. 2007. The War: An Intimate History, 1941–1945. New York: Knopf.
 JOURNAL:
 Weinstein, Joshua I. 2009. “The Market in Plato‟s Republic.” Classical Philology 104:439–58.
23 April 2014INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB 38

39.  ONLINE JOURNAL:
 Kossinets, Gueorgi, and Duncan J. Watts. 2009. “Origins of Homophily in an Evolving Social
Network.” American Journal of Sociology 115:405–50. Accessed February 28, 2010. doi:10.1086/599247.
 WEB-SITE:
 Google. 2009. “Google Privacy Policy.” Last modified March 11.
http://www.google.com/intl/en/privacypolicy.html.
23 April 2014INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB 39

40. Harvard Style
 BOOK:
 McCarthy, EJ, William, DP & Pascale, GQ 1997, Basic marketing, Irwin, Sydney.
 CONFERENCE (PRINT):
 Riley, D 1992, 'Industrial relations in Australian education', in Contemporary Australasian industrial
relations: proceedings of the sixth AIRAANZ conference, ed. D. Blackmur, AIRAANZ, Sydney, pp. 124-140.
 CONFERENCE (ONLINE):
 Fan, W, Gordon, MD & Pathak, R 2000, 'Personalization of search engine services for effective retrieval and
knowledge management', Proceedings of the twenty-first international conference on information systems, pp.
20-34. Available from: ACM Portal: ACM Digital Library. [24 June 2004].
23 April 2014INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB 40

41.  WEB-SITE:
 Australian Securities Exchange 2009, Market Information. Available from:
<http://www.asx.com.au/professionals/market_information/index.htm>. [5 July 2009].
 JOURNAL:
 Conley, TG & Galeson, DW 1998, 'Nativity and wealth in mid-nineteenth century cities', Journal of Economic
History, vol. 58, no. 2, pp. 468-493.
 ONLINE JOURNAL:
 Liveris, A 2011, 'Ethics as a strategy', Leadership Excellence, vol. 28, no. 2, pp.17-18. Available from: Proquest
[23 June 2011].
23 April 2014INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB 41

42. IEEE STYLE
 BOOK:
 J. K. Author, “Title of chapter in the book,” in Title of His Published Book, xth ed. City of Publisher, Country if not
 ONLINE:
 R. J. Vidmar. (1994). On the use of atmospheric plasmas as electromagnetic reflectors[Online]. Available FTP:
atmnext.usc.edu Directory: pub/etext/1994 File: atmosplasma.txt
 THESIS:
 J. K. Author, “Title of dissertation,” Ph.D. dissertation, Abbrev. Dept., Abbrev. Univ., City of Univ., Abbrev.
State, year.
23 April 2014INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB 42

43. Turabian Style
 Kate L. Turabian‟s Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations presents two basic
documentation systems:
 Notes-bibliography style (or simply bibliography style) and
 Author-date style (sometimes called reference list style).
 These styles are essentially the same as those presented in The Chicago Manual of Style.
 Following presenting the author-ate style.
 BOOK:
 Bernstein, Jay M., Claudia Brodsky, Anthony J. Cascardi, Thierry de Duve, Aleš Erjavec, Robert Kaufman, and
Fred Rush. 2010. Art and Aesthetics after Adorno. Berkeley: University of California Press.
23 April 2014INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB 43

44.  PRINT JOURNAL:
 Bogren, Alexandra. 2011. “Gender and Alcohol: The Swedish Press Debate.” Journal of Gender Studies 20, no. 2
(June): 155–69
 ONLINE JOURNAL:
 Brown, Campbell. 2011. “Consequentialize This.” Ethics 121, no. 4 (July): 749–71. Accessed December 1, 2012.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/660696.
 CONFERENCE:
 Adelman, Rachel. 2009. “ „Such Stuff as Dreams Are Made On‟: God‟s Footstool in the Aramaic Targumim and
Midrashic Tradition.” Paper presented at the annual meeting for the Society of Biblical Literature, New
Orleans, Louisiana, November 21–24.
23 April 2014INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB 44

45. REFERENCES
23 April 2014INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB 45
A. http://www2.elc.polyu.edu.hk/cill/reports.htm
B. http://www.niso.org/standards/resources/Z39-14.pdf
C. http://www.sdc.uwo.ca/writing/gradhandouts/Academic%20Tasks%20-%20Manuscripts%20-%20Presentation.pdf
D. http://older.sharjah.ac.ae/English/Academics/Colleges/Graduate/DepartmentsPrograms/DepartmentofResearch/Do
cuments/CGSR_TWG07/3_CGSR_TWG07_CHAPTER3_ENG.pdf
E. http://linguistics.byu.edu/faculty/henrichsenl/apa/APA01.html
F. http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/home.html
G. http://guides.is.uwa.edu.au/content.php?pid=43218&sid=318554
H. http://www.ieee.org/documents/ieeecitationref.pdf
I. http://www.press.uchicago.edu/books/turabian/turabian_citationguide.html

46. 23 April 2014INSTITUTE OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB 46