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PURPOSIVE COMMUNICATION

CHAPTER 5

COMMUNICATION FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSES

ORGANIZATION OF A RESEARCH PAPER: THE IMRAD FORMAT

Most scientific papers are prepared according to a format called IMRAD. The term represents the first

letters of the words Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, And, Discussion. It indicates a pattern or format

rather than a complete list of headings or components of research papers; the missing parts of a paper are: Title,

Authors, Keywords, Abstract, Conclusions, and References. Additionally, some papers include Acknowledgments

and Appendices. The Introduction explains the scope and objective of the study in the light of current knowledge

on the subject; the Materials and Methods describes how the study was conducted; the Results section reports

what was found in the study; and the Discussion section explains meaning and significance of the results and

provides suggestions for future directions of research. The manuscript must be prepared according to the

Journal’s instructions to authors.

PART 1: TITLE

The title of the paper will be read more than any other part. The way in which a paper is ‘‘browsed’’ by

readers is in the order: Title—Abstract—Results (Tables and Figures)—Full paper. The prevailing trend is said to

be that, on average, the number of readers from one section to the next in the above sequence decreases by a

factor of 10. That means for every 10 readers who look at the title, one reads the Abstract; for every 10 who

read the Abstract, one goes to the Results section, especially Tables and Figures; for every 10 who read the

Results, one reads the full paper. Thus, for every person who reads the full paper, 1,000 read the title. Titles are

read both by scientists scanning the contents of a journal and by those depending on searches through

secondary sources, which always carry the title and author but may or may not carry abstracts. The title may be

reprinted in bibliographies and subject indexes, stored in bibliographic databases and cited in other articles.

Therefore, the title is an extremely important component of the paper. A good title will attract readers who

might not otherwise read the paper and may help future researchers find important information.

A good title of a research paper should:

Contain as few words as possible: many journals limit titles to 12 words

Be easy to understand

Describe the contents of the paper accurately and specifically

Avoid abbreviations, formulas, and jargon

Not include any verb

Not contain low-impact words such as ‘‘Some notes on …,’’ ‘‘Observations on …,’’ ‘‘Investigations on …,’’

‘‘Study of …,’’ and ‘‘Effect of …’’

Not be flashy as in newspapers (e.g., avoid statements like ‘‘Agroforestry can

stop deforestation’’)

Report the subject of the research rather than the results

Follow the style preference of the target journal.

PART II: AUTHORS

The authors of a paper are individuals who have made an important contribution to planning and carrying

out the research reported, and anyone listed as an author should also have helped in the preparation of the

paper. Technicians and other helpers are usually mentioned in the acknowledgments.

The authors are listed in the logical order of importance of their contribution to the work. The person listed

first is considered the senior author (unless otherwise specified); others may be listed according to the

importance of contribution to the effort. Listing authors in alphabetical order is an old practice that is not

followed by journals anymore. It is customary to list the graduate student whose thesis or dissertation forms the

basis of a paper as the first author followed by his or her major supervisor as the second author. In some

disciplines, however, the major supervisor of a graduate student whose research is published is listed as the last

author. The person to whom correspondence concerning the paper may be addressed is marked by an asterisk

or some other notation.

PART III: ABSTRACT

An Abstract is a mini-version of the paper. The American National Standards Institute says ‘‘A well prepared

abstract enables readers to identify the basic content of a document quickly and accurately, to determine its

relevance to their interests, and thus to decide whether they need to read the document in its entirety’’ (ANSI

1979). Therefore, it is extremely important that the Abstract be written clearly.

The abstract should be definitive rather than descriptive; i.e., it should give facts rather than say the paper is

‘‘about’’ something. Since an abstract will usually be read by an average of 100 times more people than will read

the full paper, it should convey the information itself, not just promise it. Journals have strict limitations on

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PURPOSIVE COMMUNICATION

CHAPTER 5 COMMUNICATION FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSES

ORGANIZATION OF A RESEARCH PAPER: THE IMRAD FORMAT

Most scientific papers are prepared according to a format called IMRAD. The term represents the first letters of the words Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, And, Discussion. It indicates a pattern or format rather than a complete list of headings or components of research papers; the missing parts of a paper are: Title, Authors, Keywords, Abstract, Conclusions, and References. Additionally, some papers include Acknowledgments and Appendices. The Introduction explains the scope and objective of the study in the light of current knowledge on the subject; the Materials and Methods describes how the study was conducted; the Results section reports what was found in the study; and the Discussion section explains meaning and significance of the results and provides suggestions for future directions of research. The manuscript must be prepared according to the Journal’s instructions to authors. PART 1: TITLE The title of the paper will be read more than any other part. The way in which a paper is ‘‘browsed’’ by readers is in the order: Title—Abstract—Results (Tables and Figures)—Full paper. The prevailing trend is said to be that, on average, the number of readers from one section to the next in the above sequence decreases by a factor of 10. That means for every 10 readers who look at the title, one reads the Abstract; for every 10 who read the Abstract, one goes to the Results section, especially Tables and Figures; for every 10 who read the Results, one reads the full paper. Thus, for every person who reads the full paper, 1,000 read the title. Titles are read both by scientists scanning the contents of a journal and by those depending on searches through secondary sources, which always carry the title and author but may or may not carry abstracts. The title may be reprinted in bibliographies and subject indexes, stored in bibliographic databases and cited in other articles. Therefore, the title is an extremely important component of the paper. A good title will attract readers who might not otherwise read the paper and may help future researchers find important information. A good title of a research paper should:  Contain as few words as possible: many journals limit titles to 12 words  Be easy to understand  Describe the contents of the paper accurately and specifically  Avoid abbreviations, formulas, and jargon  Not include any verb  Not contain low-impact words such as ‘‘Some notes on …,’’ ‘‘Observations on …,’’ ‘‘Investigations on …,’’ ‘‘Study of …,’’ and ‘‘Effect of …’’  Not be flashy as in newspapers (e.g., avoid statements like ‘‘Agroforestry can  stop deforestation’’)  Report the subject of the research rather than the results  Follow the style preference of the target journal. PART II: AUTHORS The authors of a paper are individuals who have made an important contribution to planning and carrying out the research reported, and anyone listed as an author should also have helped in the preparation of the paper. Technicians and other helpers are usually mentioned in the acknowledgments. The authors are listed in the logical order of importance of their contribution to the work. The person listed first is considered the senior author (unless otherwise specified); others may be listed according to the importance of contribution to the effort. Listing authors in alphabetical order is an old practice that is not followed by journals anymore. It is customary to list the graduate student whose thesis or dissertation forms the basis of a paper as the first author followed by his or her major supervisor as the second author. In some disciplines, however, the major supervisor of a graduate student whose research is published is listed as the last author. The person to whom correspondence concerning the paper may be addressed is marked by an asterisk or some other notation. PART III: ABSTRACT An Abstract is a mini-version of the paper. The American National Standards Institute says ‘‘A well prepared abstract enables readers to identify the basic content of a document quickly and accurately, to determine its relevance to their interests, and thus to decide whether they need to read the document in its entirety’’ (ANSI 1979). Therefore, it is extremely important that the Abstract be written clearly. The abstract should be definitive rather than descriptive ; i.e., it should give facts rather than say the paper is ‘‘about’’ something. Since an abstract will usually be read by an average of 100 times more people than will read the full paper, it should convey the information itself, not just promise it. Journals have strict limitations on

the length of abstracts, usually in the range of 150–250 words, and written in one paragraph (multiple paragraphs for review papers). The Abstract should stand on its own, i.e., be complete in itself. It starts with a statement of rationale and objectives and reports the methods used, the main results including any newly observed facts, and the principal conclusions and their significance. If keywords are not listed separately, the Abstract should contain the keywords by which the paper should be indexed. Because the Abstract is a short version of the full paper, it contains a mixture of tenses representing the tense used in reporting the respective sections of the paper. Thus, in the Abstract, statements referring to the rationale and introduction, interpretation of results, and conclusions are in present tenses, whereas materials and methods and results are in past tense. PART IV: KEYWORDS These are words by which the paper should be indexed by abstracting services. Words that appear on the title should not be repeated as keywords because titles and keywords are listed together by abstracting services. Most journals allow not more than six keywords; some journals do not allow any keywords; and some journals allow a string of several words as keywords. In any case, the keywords be specific to the article; common words such as plants, soils, models, and people are too general to be of any value as keywords. PART V: INTRODUCTION A good introduction is relatively short. It tells why the reader should find the paper interesting, explains why the author carried out the research, and gives the background the reader needs to understand and judge the paper. Specifically, the Introduction defines the nature and extent of the problems studied, relates the research to previous work (usually by a brief review of the literature clearly relevant to the problem), explains the objectives of investigation, and defines any specialized terms or abbreviations to be used in what follows. Remember that the Introduction leads logically to, and clearly states, the hypothesis or principal theme of the paper. The Introduction should be relatively brief; most journals recommend less than 500 words. Avoid repetition: do not repeat the Abstract in the Introduction (and Introduction in the Discussion). Do not go into an extensive literature review; two to four most relevant and recent citations should be adequate to corroborate a state- ment. Do not repeat well-known facts nor state the obvious. The Introduction section also may use different tenses: justification and motivation of the study is presented in present tense. Some want discussion of literature in the Introduction while some want it in the Discussion section. Some journals require a brief account of the Materials and Methods to be included in the Introduction section, and some may want even the important conclusions presented in the Introduction section, although that tendency is now disappearing. Your introduction should also include the research title: How to Write a Research Title?

Start with the Mode of Study- The researcher should know what kind study to focus. a. Effectiveness- to test a certain thing whether it’s effective b. Analysis- to scrutinize things c. Phenomenological- to study the events, experiences and stories of something/someone
Identify the Topic to Focus- The researcher should think on a specific topic they would like to talk about
Choose the Respondents- Identify the specific group of people that will be subjected to the study. PART VI: MATERIALS AND METHODS The purpose of this section is to present in a simple and direct manner what has been done, how, and when, and how the data were analyzed and presented. This section should provide all the information needed to allow another researcher to judge the study or actually repeat the experiment. The simplest way to organize this section is chronologically; include all necessary information, but avoid unnecessary details that the readers are supposed (ought) to know. The section should include the following though not necessarily in this order:  Description of the study location (climate, soil—by US Soil Taxonomy and/ or FAO system, vegetation, etc., to the extent such information is relevant to the study)  Design of the experiment with number of replications and sampling proce- dures used  Plants or animals involved, with exact descriptions (genus, species, strain, cultivar, line, etc.); include Latin names in italics, even for common plants,  upon first mention in text (e.g., maize or corn, Zea mays L.)  Materials used, with exact technical specifications and quantities and their source or method of preparation. Generic or chemical names are better than trade names, which may not be universally recognized. Some journals as well as companies require that the company’s name is included in parentheses after the material is mentioned

presented in past tense; e.g., ‘‘Treatment A was better than Treatment B, which suggests that ….’’ Mismatch between stated objectives and discussion/conclusion is a very common problem in many manuscripts. Analytical insight is what we should strive for in the Discussion section, but unfortunately, it is difficult to describe how to accomplish that. Lack of such insight is evident when authors simply state—often repeat—the results, and make superficial statements such as ‘‘this work agrees with the work of author X (some unknown author’s work, published several years earlier)’’ as though the objective of research was to see if the results agreed with some other author’s (obscure) work published 20 or more years earlier. PART IX: REFERENCES Preparing a proper reference list is one of the most tedious aspects of finalizing a manuscript for publication. Part of the problem is that there is no standard or uniform format for citing literature, except that ‘‘All citations in the text, and only those, must be listed in the References.’’ In other words, the References section and text citations should match perfectly. Although the saying that ‘‘there are as many reference-citation styles as there are journals’’ is an exaggeration, there seem to be as many reference-citation styles as there are publishers. Standardization of reference-citation style has been talked about for a while, and some progress has been made. All in-text references should be listed in the reference list at the end of your document. The purpose of the reference list entry is to contain all the information that a reader of your work needs to follow-up on your sources. An important principle in referencing is to be consistent. A. The basics of an in-text reference in APA:  Include author or authors and year of publication.  Use round brackets. Example: (Smith & Bruce, 2018) B. Citation at the References Section When compiling your APA Reference List, you should:  List references on a new page with a centered heading titled: References.  Include all your references, regardless of format, e.g. books, journal articles, online sources, in one alphabetical listing from A - Z.  Order entries alphabetically by surname of author(s).  List works with no author under the first significant word of the title.  Indent second and subsequent lines of each entry (5-7 spaces).  Use double spacing. Note that all references in APA end with a full stop except when the reference ends with a URL or a DOI. B.1. JOURNAL ARTICLE  A basic reference list entry for a journal article in APA must include:  Author or authors. The surname is followed by first initials.  Year of publication of the article (in round brackets).  Article title.  Journal title (in italics).  Volume of journal (in italics).  Issue of journal (no italics).  Page range of article.  DOI (presented as a hyperlink, for example https://doi.org/xxxxx).  The first line of each citation is left adjusted. Every subsequent line is indented 5-7 spaces. Example: Ruxton, C. (2016). Tea: Hydration and other health benefits. Primary Health Care, 26(8), 34-. https://doi.org/10.7748/phc.2016.e B.2. BOOK  A basic reference list entry for a book from a library database in APA must include:  Author or authors. The surname is followed by first initials.  Year of publication of the book (in round brackets).  Book title (in italics).  Edition (in round brackets), if other than first edition.  Publisher.  DOI (where a book has a DOI this must be included, even if you are referring to a print book).  The first line of each citation is left adjusted. Every subsequent line is indented 5-7 spaces. Example: Arnott, G. D. (2017). The disability support worker (2nd ed.). Cengage Learning.

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Download it all about the lesson plan and more Study notes Advanced Education in PDF only on Docsity!

PURPOSIVE COMMUNICATION

CHAPTER 5

COMMUNICATION FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSES

ORGANIZATION OF A RESEARCH PAPER: THE IMRAD FORMAT