HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY NO 2
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FACULTY

ARTICLE
HOW TO DO A RESEARCH PAPER

Subject

: Writing C1.2

Student’s Name

: Nguyen Thi Huyen Thuong

Student’s number code: 155D1402310106
Class:

K41B-English Language Teaching

Supervisor’s Name

: Tran Thi Minh Phuong

Hanoi, 10th June 2018
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Table of Contents
Step 1: Develop a topic ................................................................................................. 3
1.Select a topic ....................................................................................................... 3
2. Select your instructor or supervisor ..................................................................... 4

Step 2: Research your topic ......................................................................................... 4
1. Locate in formation ............................................................................................ 4
2. Evaluate sources and analyse information........................................................... 5
3. Develop research questions ................................................................................. 5
4. Identify keywords ............................................................................................... 5
5. Do literature review ............................................................................................ 6
6. Formulate a hypothesis ....................................................................................... 6
7. Identify the scope of study.................................................................................. 6
8. Materials, methods and procedure ...................................................................... 6
8.1. Research design ......................................................................................... 7
8.2. Participants (Research objects) ................................................................ 7
8.3. Location and time of study ........................................................................ 7
8.4. Selecting sample and sample size ............................................................. 7
8.5. Research instrument and methods for collecting information .................. 7
8.6. Data analysis ............................................................................................. 7
8.7. Research ethics .......................................................................................... 8
Step 3: Building outline and research plan ................................................................. 8
1. Make an outline .................................................................................................. 8
1.1. Identify the purpose of the paper............................................................... 8
1.2. Determine your audience you are writing for ........................................... 9
1.3. Annotate your research and organize your notes ...................................... 9
1.4. Construct a preliminary bibliography/references page ............................. 9
1.5. Determine your main points ...................................................................... 9
1.6. Determine the format of your paper .......................................................... 9
Step 4: Do research ...................................................................................................... 9
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1. Collect data ......................................................................................................... 9
2. Analyze data ..................................................................................................... 10

Step 5: Write the research paper ............................................................................... 10
1. Write the first draft ........................................................................................... 10
1.1. Compose a concise and descriptive title ................................................. 10
1.2. Write the abstract .................................................................................... 11
1.3. Write literature review ............................................................................ 11
1.4. Write up methodologies .......................................................................... 12
1.5. Write result .............................................................................................. 12
1.6. Write up the discussion ........................................................................... 13
1.7. Write a clear conclusions and recommendations .................................... 13
1.8. Write a compelling introduction ............................................................. 14
1.9. Write the acknowledgements ................................................................. 14
1.10. Write up the references ........................................................................ 15
2. Format your paper........................................................................................... 15
3. Proof-read the paper and revise for comprehension ....................................... 15
4. Write the final paper ....................................................................................... 16
CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................ 16
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................ 16

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ARTICLE
Topic: HOW TO DO A RESEARCH PAPER
Scientific research is an organized and logical activity, so the report should be organical and
logical.
This article provides the basic procedures and techniques for carrying out an article on research
results. Hope that the contents explained in the article can help you improve your skills in
writing a scientific paper.
Writing a research paper involves 5 main stages: developing a topic, researching your topic,
building outline and research plan, doing research and doing the actual writing: write the

research paper. The following are specific guidelines for doing a good scientific research:
STEP 1: Develop a topic
The first step to do a good research is to develop a good topic. To develop a topic, you need to
do these following:
1.Select a topic
Selecting your topic is the first and most important step in your research paper project. Before
selecting a topic or starting your research, make sure you understand your assignment and
define the task unless you will waste a great deal of time. The clear understanding of the
assignment will allow you to focus on other aspects of the process, such as choosing a topic and
identifying your audience. Answer these questions:
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What is the assignment asking of you?
Have you been assigned a field of study or can you choose your own?
What is the research’s audience?
How many pages/words do you need to write? How long is your presentation?
Do you need to include specific types of sources (e.g. scholarly journal, book.)?
When is the assignment due? How much time do you have to research?
How is cost of doing your research?

When in doubt, consult with your instructor to define the task clearer. After understanding your
assignment and define the task clearly, begin selecting a topic.
There are two ways to select a topic: choose your own or ask your instructor for advice to
choose a topic.

If you can choose your own, choose a topic that interests you and hold your attention. So the
research will be more enjoyable! First, you must identify a field of study that you would like
to. At the student level, you will either be assigned a topic during a course or a topic relating to
your course or speciality. Choose a subject that you love or that you find yourself drawn to,
which will drive you to do your best work possible.
In case you cannot think of a topic to research:
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Scan your textbook.
Read books, newspapers and other news sources.
Browse Encyclopedias.
Look at the researcher database for current "hot topics.".
Check the resources listed on the current topics guide.

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Or get advice from your instructor, a supervisor or a classmate; or discuss with them to
come up with a topic you feel excited most.

After choosing your topic, make sure your topic requires these following factors: there is
enough research available on this topic, the topic is new and unique enough that you can offer
fresh opinions, and it is pertinent to your class or occupation.
Don’t be afraid to change your topic. As beginning researching, you realize that the topic you

chose isn’t the right decision for you for some reasons. Or in case your instructor disagrees the
topic you chose. Remember, as a first-time researcher, your knowledge of the process is quite
limited; the instructor is experienced, and may have very precise reasons for choosing the topics
he/she has offered to the class. If he/she likes your topic, great! If not, do not take it personally
and choose another from your list. Do not worry! Although it takes a bit more time, you are
able to change your topic even after you begin researching others.
2. Select your instructor or supervisor
Choosing the instructor or supervisor does not depend on the research topic you select. There
are two options: select the instructor previously then select the topic; or backwards, select the
topic previously then find the instructor. But in most case, in Vietnam, a research topic was
specified after choosing the instructor.
The instructor is who help you a lot in your study: selecting subjects and methods, consulting
materials, collecting and analysising data, etc. But you are always active person in your work
and you should not be passive, depend or rely completely on the design of your instructor
because the instructor only directs and leads her/his students.
You should choose the instructor who is suitable with you and is ready to help and guide you
during research process. Notice to his/her personal scientific profile as well as personality
characteristics, working methods, scientific opinion, professional experience, and priority
researches, etc. At the same time, it is important to equip yourself with the basic ideas of your
interested research topic (through research sources or fact finding). Once prepared, make an
appointment to your instructor and present your wishes.
After selecting your instructor, during the research process, you need to maintain periodic
meeting with your instructor to he/she is able to monitor your research process, identify the
achievements and failures, provide solutions to problems, discuss the nest steps, etc. Make a
suitable and specific schedule for the meeting with your instructor. Be respected and ask your
instructor for advice when you are difficulty.
STEP 2: Research your topic
1. Locate in formation
There are numerous places you can look for information such as books and ebooks, videos and
images, encyclopedias and dictionaries, internet to find newspaper, journal or magazine articles,

or websites. Take time to look for professional resources who offer valid research and insight
into your topic. Try to use a minimum of five sources to vary your information.
Tips: Keep track of all of the information you find. Write each source you use down on a
flashcard, including citation information about sources such as the author, title, publication date,
publisher/website, city in which it was published, page number for where you found the

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information, and so on; so that you can easily create your bibliography later. Note circulation
status. Also, try to avoid plagiarism.
2. Evaluate sources and analyse information
It is especially important when you using Internet sources (less reliable). Make sure your online
sources are reputable. If you are using the internet to find information about your topic, always
make sure to double check any facts you find. Stick with information gathered by known experts
in the field you are researching, government agency websites, and scholarly journals. Try to
avoid forums and other sources that have no credible backing
3. Develop research questions
Once you have selected a topic, the next step is to develop research questions or identify a
problem. The research question is one of the most important parts of your research design. It
will be the main focus of your study. It determines what you want to learn or understand and
also helps to focus the study. Your research question will also shape how you conduct your
study since different questions require different methods of inquiry.
To help you develop a research question, you can visit your library or search online to find and
read articles or books in the field related to the problem you are identified. The research question
should be based in a field that you have some familiarity with. Once you have a chosen a topic
that interests you, investigate some of the unanswered questions within that field or the problem
that was limited or unanswered in previous researches. Many articles will state some of the
unanswered questions and speculate on future directions or suggest experiments that will be
necessary in the future. Use these as a springboard for your own ideas. You can have more than

one research question for a scientific study.
Decide on questions you want to study by writing down what you already know or don't know
about the topic and from there develop questions. You should use probing questions that start
with “why?” or “what if?” and avoid “yes/no” questions. You should start with a burning
question and then narrow it down more to make it manageable to be researched effectively. For
example, "what is benefits of using ICT tools in teaching English?" is too broad for a research,
but if that's what you're interested you could narrow it by limiting the type of ICT tools or
focusing on teaching one English skill. For example, "what is benefits of using ICT tools on
teaching speaking English?'' or "what is benefits of using video on teaching English?". Have
your instructor or professors or other researchers help you identify the best question that you
could work on.
Revise the research question: After reading the literature more thoroughly or after asking your
instructor for advice, you will likely need to revise your research question to encompass all that
you have read. Using your new knowledge, make your research questions more specific. A
good research question is clear, specific, and manageable; refers directly to the problem; and
identifies a target group of participants.
4. Identify keywords
The keywords you use can have a profound impact on the results of your research. Using the
“right” words will speed up the research process, while the “wrong” words can bring to it to a
halt. Before you can begin searching for information, you need to identify keywords related to
your topic (about 3-6 words). Key terminology can be easily found by scanning your research

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questions; articles found from background research; or bibliographies found at the end of books
and articles.
If you are still struggling, use a thesaurus to identify synonyms; find pictures related to your
topic, then describe them; or brainstorm keywords with your instructor or supervisor.
5. Do literature review

A literature review is a process of studying what others have written about your research
question and particular topic. Once you have defined your subject and the scope of the review,
find the sources that are relevant to your topic from the library catalogue, subject specific
databases and other search tools. Read and evaluate the sources and to determine their
suitability to the understanding of topic at your hand. Then analyse, interpret and discuss the
findings and conclusions of the sources you selected. Then select some papers (about 30) that
can be cited in your paper; these will be listed in the References. You then draw up an analytical
report that synthesizes and integrates the existing research (rather than simply presents a short
summary of each study in chronological order). In other words, you are "researching the
research".
6. Formulate a hypothesis
Hypotheses (or guessing responses) are based on prior researches or the author’s preliminary
observations that are subjective with a limited number and may be true or false. Basing on
hypotheses, you will have search direction to verify and bring to an end.
Once you have specified your research questions you need to give a clear and concise
articulation of your hypothesis.
How to develop the thesis statement of your article: Before writing the thesis statement,
determine what kind of paper you are writing (an argumentative research paper or an analytic
research paper). To write an effective hypothesis, choose a statement that answers a general
question about your topic. Check that your thesis is arguable and not factual, and make sure
you can back it up your evidence. Your thesis statement should be specific - it should cover
only what you will discuss in your paper and should be supported with specific evidences. For
example, your thesis could be something like "ICT tools help teacher manage students in
teaching and learning English skills."
The thesis statement usually appears at the end of the first paragraph of a paper.
Your topic may change as you write, so you may need to revise your thesis statement to reflect
exactly what you have discussed in the paper.
7. Identify the scope of study
To study deeply and thoroughly, the topic and scope of research should be limited.
8. Materials, methods and procedure

This is the most important part that describes the stages of the research process, including
sampling, data collection, techniques, analytical tools, and the explanation of the reasons for
choosing the meaning as well as the reliability verification method of result. Details are as
follows:

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8.1. Research design: descript the research model briefly.
Generally, there are 3 types common of research qualitative, descriptive, and quantitative. There
are also 3 kinds of information and data that are collected from available sources (books, audio
tapes, advertisements, documents or research results of other works), questionnaire, or
interview. Quantitative studies including the impact from the outside to the subject to obtain
results are very rare, which can explain the fact that it takes a lot of time and to process
information is quite complex.
8.2. Participants (Research objects): Define suitable research objects.
Information about characteristics of research object plays an important role for the reader to
evaluate the concept and generalize your study. Include the characteristics of the participants:
age, sex, ethnicity, education, marriage, etc; selection criteria; and exclusion criteria: specify
the variables.
8.3. Location and time of study: location may affect research results. Specify the location and
time of research.
8.4. Selecting sample and sample size: There is usually a sentence describing the sample size.
It is not necessary to be the formula, but the assumptions behind the calculation. Sample is
chosen in some ways such as random, convenient, or whole.
8.5. Research instrument and methods for collecting information: tools, variables, testing.
The process of research and data collection includes research steps, data collection,
interventions, intervention trials ...
It is good to visualise in your mind at this stage what kind of methodology you are going to use
i.e. how are you going to collect data. Each of the research methodologies has uses one or more

techniques to collect empirical data, including interviews, participant observation, feedback
from questionnaires, tests, fieldwork, archival research, documentary materials, etc.
Methodology, which is an important part of the project, help you know that whether your topic
will have a feasible methodology or may require funding beyond your means. This is
specifically aimed at undergraduates with limited resources such as poor students lacking both
time and money who are likely going to have to self-fund their projects. In that way, you will
be glad you did not waste time on projects that was not appropriate to you or you could not
have completed on time.
How to pick approach research methodologies and methods for your thesis:
At this stage, think about what kind of methodology you are going to use i.e. how to collect
data. Methodology, which is also an important part of the project, help you know that whether
your topic will have a feasible methodology or may require funding beyond your means,
especially undergraduates with limited resources such as poor students lacking both time and
money who are likely going to have to self-fund their projects. In that way, you did not waste
time on the inappropriate projects or worry about that you could not have completed on time.
How to pick research methodologies for your thesis:
Your research will dictate the kinds of research methodologies you use to underpin your work
and methods you use in order to collect data. What kind of research methods are you going to
use? Are they mostly: Quantitative, or qualitative, or a mixture of both? To determine your
research methodologies, answer the following questions:

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What do your methods you think will enable you to discover or prevent you from
discovering?
What kinds of research methods would be best suited to your kind of research and
research questions?
What sort of problems do you envisage in setting up these methods?
What are their benefits?
What will you need to do to ensure they gather useful data?

If you wish to collect quantitative data, you can measure variables and verify existing theories
or hypotheses and question them. Quantitative data must be remembered, are also collected in
accordance with certain research vehicles and underlying research questions. However,
collection of statistics and number are often not the answer to understanding meanings, beliefs
and experience, which are better understood through qualitative data. With mixture of both
qualitative and quantitative method, this is a common approach and helps you back up one set
of findings - for example, you might give out a questionnaire (normally quantitative) to gather
statistical data about responses, and then back this up and research in more depth by
interviewing (normally qualitative) selected members of your questionnaire sample.
8.6. Data analysis: Explain how data is analysed; use data analysis tools or software or not
using software. Specifically note the variables (independent, dependent), statistical test,
software use. Visio, Minitab and Stata are all good software packages for advanced statistical
data analysis. However, in most cases, Microsoft Excel is the most useful decision-making tool.
Depending on the nature of the type of study and the task, the research will use different
methods to produce results that ensure validity and reliability. This can be said to be quite
complicated because choosing the right analytical method will determine the value and
significance of the work.
8.7. Research ethics: if approved by the organization (number of certificates), actual
implementation (consent, voluntary, harmful, confidential).
STEP 3: Building outline and research plan
1. Make an outline
The next step is outlining the main contents of the research process. An outline helps you keep

track of large amounts of information and visualize how your essay will look. It is also the text
you will send to your supervisor for comments and suggestions in order to help you have a
complete outline before continuing your research. In addition, a plan attached to the
implementation process with specific milestones will also be set up to help you schedule
progress on time.
Outlines can be simple lists, idea webs or concept maps. Begin with your thesis statement and
then pick the three major ideas related to your thesis statement that you will want to cover in
your essay. Write down details about each main idea. Your main ideas should support your
thesis. They should be the evidence that provides support to your argument.
How to create a good outline:
1.1. Identify the purpose of the paper: You need to identify the purpose of your paper (an
argumentative research paper or an analytic research paper) to focus on the research and choose
the writing style which should be identified prior to beginning a rough draft.

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Aims (general objectives): including the purpose of research. For example, the purpose
of teaching English in Vietnam is to enhance the ability to communicate internationally
in all areas, the means of receiving new knowledge, and to increase understanding
between different ethnic groups. The purpose is long term and general.
Objectives (specific objectives) are that need to achieve in order to reach to a common
goal. For example, at the end of the course, students may gain all four English skills at
the intermediate level.

1.2. Determine your audience you are writing for: You need to determine who would be

reading this paper. If you’re writing for academic peers, the information you include should
reflect the information you already know; you don’t need to explain basic ideas or theories. On
the other hand, if you are writing for an audience who doesn’t know much about your subject,
include explanations and examples of more fundamental ideas and theories related to your
research.
1.3. Annotate your research and organize your notes: After gathering all your research, print
it out and gather post or anything you need to mark notes in the books or magazines you are
using to refer. Read through your research, highlight key facts and phrases, and take notes on
what you think is important or can be put to use in your paper. When marking off important
pieces in the research, add your own commentary and notes explaining to yourself where you
might use it in your paper as well as write down your ideas. Finally, organize your notes by
collecting all of your highlighted phrases and ideas into categories based on topic. By this step,
you will be easier to review your references.
1.4. Construct a preliminary bibliography/references page: As you go through your notes,
mark down the author, page number, title, and publishing information for each resource. It will
come in handy as you craft your bibliography or works cited page later.
1.5. Determine your main points: The body of essay will revolve around the ideas that you
judge to be most important. List all the ideas you want to include in your paper and group ideas
related together. What ideas can you write whole paragraphs about? Which ideas to you have
plenty of firm facts and research to back with evidence? It is important to put your main ideas
in a specific order in the outline. Arrange material in subsections from general to specific or
from abstract to concrete. Place your strongest points at the beginning and end of your essay,
with more mediocre points placed in the middle or near the end of your essay. List the major
points that support your thesis and label them in Roman numbers (I, II, III, etc.). List supporting
ideas or arguments for each major point and label them in capital letters (A, B, C, etc.). If
applicable, continue to sub-divide each supporting idea until your outline is fully developed and
label them 1, 2, 3, etc., and then a, b, c, etc.
1.6. Determine the format of your paper: Depending on your assignment or formatting
guidelines, you may have to outline the structure of your paper and organize your paper in a
specific way. For example, if you are due to write in APA format, you must organize your paper

by headings including the introduction, methods, results, and discussion. These guidelines will
alter the way you craft your outline and final paper.
STEP 4: Do research
1. Collect data
With your research question and methods clearly defined, now it’s time to collect your data.
The form of data collection will depend on the research methodology that you determined

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previously. As you collect and organize your data, remember to keep these important points in
mind:
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Before you collect new data, determine what information could be collected from
existing databases or sources on hand. Collect this data first.
Determine a file storing and name system ahead of time to help you as well as all team
members collaborate know to avoid repeating and save time.
If you need to gather data via observation or interviews, develop an interview template
ahead of time to ensure consistency and save time.
Keep your collected data in a log with collection dates and add any source notes as you
go (including any data normalization performed).

Remember to make appointment with the interviewee or the organization where you are
preparing to do the research to ensure that the collecting data as well as your research
schedule is on time.
2. Analyze data

After having collected the right data to answer your research questions, it’s time for deeper data
analysis. Begin by manipulating your data in a number of different ways, such as by plotting it
out and finding correlations or by creating a pivot table in Microsoft Excel. A pivot table lets
you sort and filter data by different variables and lets you calculate the mean, maximum,
minimum and standard deviation of your data. Excel is really a useful tool for you in calculating
and evaluating data. As you manipulate data, you may find you have the exact data you need,
but more likely, you might need to revise your original question or collect more data.
STEP 5: Write the research paper
1. Write the first draft
Before you write the first draft, you need to determine the length of your manuscript. An ideal
length for a manuscript is 25 to 40 pages, double spaced, including essential data only. Here
are some general guidelines:
1. Title: Short and informative
2. Abstract: 1 paragraph (<250 words)
3. Introduction: 1.5-2 pages
4. Methods: 2-3 pages
5. Results: 6-8 pages
6. Discussion: 4-6 pages
7. Conclusion: 1 paragraph
8. Acknowledgements: 1 paragraph
9. References: 20-50 papers (2-4 pages)
10. Appendixes: Figures: 6-8 (one per page) and Tables: 1-3 (one per page)
Details instructions for sections of an article:
1.1. Compose a concise and descriptive title
The title must explain what the paper is broadly about. It is your first (and probably only)
opportunity to attract the reader's attention and the first readers are the editor and the referees,
so the first impression is important. A good title should:

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Be specific and reflects the content of the manuscript. Reviewer and editors hate titles
that make no sense or fail to represent the subject matter adequately. Hence, keep the
title informative and concise (clear, descriptive, and not too long and maximum of 25
words). You must avoid technical jargon, formulas, abbreviations, and words difficult
to understand, if possible. Long title distracts readers.
Limit use of verbs. Remove all redundancies such as "Study on," "The nature of," "A
study of ...", "Investigations of ...", "Observations on ...", etc and never use expressions
such as "preliminary.". The title's content needs to be precise and specific. Include
keywords as important as possible, as they will be used for callouts and searches over
the network.

Put the title in the center of the first page of an article without underlining, and under the title
of the author and the workplace of each author.
Take some time to think about the title and discuss it with your co-authors and take advice from
your instructor to come up with the complete title for your paper.
1.2. Write the abstract
A clear abstract will strongly influence whether or not your work is further considered. A wellprepared abstract enables the reader to identify the basic content of a document (what you did
and what the important findings in your research were) quickly and accurately) and then decide
whether to read the document in its entirety.
The abstract must be concise; most journals specify a length, typically not exceeding 250 words.
Do not repeat information contained in the title. Omit all references to the literature and to tables
or figures. Avoid using jargon and uncommon abbreviations unless they are standard or
explained terms. Together with the title, it's the advertisement of your article, so make it
interesting and easily understood without reading the whole article.
The abstract also must be accurate and use the words that convey the precise meaning of your

research. It is usually a paragraph that provides a short description of the following contents:
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Background & aims of research: includes 2 sentences that describe what the author
is interested in and the current state of knowledge; and describe the purpose of the
research in a brief and clear way.
Research methodology: the research model, where the participant comes from and
the characteristics of the object, the measurement method, risk factors are usually 4 5 sentences.
Results: Major findings of the study, including weak points. Present the answer to
the research question from the first sentence, about 4-8 sentences.
Conclusions: 1 or 2 sentence conclusions and meaning of research results. Most
readers focus on this sentence before reading the other sections, so choose words
that are persuasive and attractive.
Keywords: The keywords are listed separately below the summary and consist of
about 3- 6 keywords on the main topic being easy to find.

1.3. Write literature review
A strong literature review presents important background information to your own research and
indicates the importance of the field. This is an important element of your paper which
demonstrates that you have a strong knowledge and understanding of the debates and

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scholarship in your area. Select only the most important points in each source to highlight in
the review. The type of information you choose to mention should relate directly to the research
problem. Give your review by summarizing and synthesizing, paraphrasing or using quotes
from the resource in order to provide information and arguments for your research problem.
Remember to cite the resource about the author, article and year.
1.4. Write up methodologies
This is the most important part because it needs to be exact and scientific. It is also the part that
scientists are usually interested in reading before reading the entire article. In this section, you
need to describe the stages of the research process, including sampling, data collection,
techniques, analytical tools, and the explanation of the reasons for choosing the meaning as
well as the reliability verification method of result. Those are the content for a complete
research description in order that when reading other researchers can learn and apply with what
you have done, how you do research and analyse the data. You need to provide all the
information necessary for other researchers to comment on your research or to be able to repeat
your experiment. The simplest way to write this part is to follow the sequence, includes:
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Research design: descript the research model briefly.
Participants (Research objects): present information about characteristics of research
object (age, sex, ethnicity, education, marriage, etc.), selection criteria and exclusion
criteria (specify the variables).
Location and time of study.
Research instrument and methods: what you will use in your research process, collecting

and analysing data (quantitative (test) or qualitative (through observations or
interviews) or mixture both them).
Research procedure: sum up all steps in whole process of your study in order that the
readers as well as your instructor have overview about your study (about how you do
the research).

1.5. Write result
After analysing your data and possibly conducting further research, it’s finally time to interpret
your results. As you interpret your analysis, remember that you cannot ever prove a hypothesis
true; rather, you can only fail to reject the hypothesis i.e. no matter how much data you collect,
chance could always interfere with your results. When interpreting the results of your data,
make sure that your data answer your original question (how?) and help you defend against any
objections (how?); and there is no any limitation on your conclusions or any angles you haven’t
considered yet. If so, then you likely have come to a productive conclusion.
The easiest way is to present the corresponding results in the order of the objectives set out in
the Introduction. Your presentation must use simple and clear statement. Report on average
data with standard error or standard deviation or results from statistical analysis. Do not repeat
the data in the writing and only repeat the data presented in the table or figure for the most
important data. With the same data, choose to display in a picture/table, not both. You should
only present the data related to the article topic as what you defined in the Introduction. Show
tables and figures that are necessary, clear and valuable and number them in order. Should avoid
repeating data or using data are not statistically meaning and unnecessary tables, figures and
words. You can present the data that are not be statistically significant if they affect the
interpretation results.

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The results can also be written with the discussion but must clearly distinguish what content is
the result, what content is discussed.

1.6. Write up the discussion
This may be the most difficult section when writing the paper because it does not have a fixed
structure. In this section, the author must answer the question, "What do these findings mean?"
You need to make the Discussion corresponding to the Results, but do not reiterate the results.
Experienced researchers often write the discussion in the following structure: explain the data
in the results; compare these results with previous studies; discuss the meaning of the results;
point out the strengths (or discrepancies) and weaknesses of the study; and finally a conclusion
that the reader can easily perceive.
In the Discussion, you must explain or suggest a model explaining why the collected data were
observed in the study. If you cannot explain it, then you must honestly say that "you do not
know". You also have to compare your results with previous studies' ones and explain why they
are similar or different, and what their meanings are. In addition, you must also be responsible
for finding the shortcomings, problems or difficulties and advantages in your study, as well as
providing solutions for those problems or putting forward the researches in the future.
Answering the following questions is also a suggestion for you to write the discussion:






What are the main findings? (Present the main findings and put them in the context of
previous studies.)
Are they able to be wrong? (Consider the following factors: lack of the objectivity in
the measurement and data collection, few objects, how to choose the sample gets
problem, other factors have been not considered yet, inadequate analysis, ...)
What is the significance of the findings? (Put the results of the study into a larger
context, and compare them with previous studies.)
Are the conclusions relevant to the facts? (The conclusion must be clear and should not
go out of the framework of the facts.)


Make sure your discussion must stick to research objectives and follow the sequence of research
objectives. Avoid unnecessary details or do not repeat information from previous sections. Do
not include other methods, observations or results which are different from the sections
presented.
1.7. Write a clear conclusions and recommendations
Now, write the Conclusions section that provides a brief summary of the results and discussion.
This section briefly summarizes the development of the study and state a brief re-statement of
the findings for the reader to come up with a final conclusion for your study. Start by restating
the thesis statement, then remind the reader of the points you covered over the paper. Zoom out
of the topic and end by emphasizing the largest implication of your findings. In addition, this
section also states the implications for practical solutions and limitations of the study and states
the unanswered questions that require further research beyond the limits of the study.
Do not repeat the abstract or list experimental results and trivial statements of your results in
this section. Should provide a clear scientific justification for your work. Moreover, you also
can suggest future experiments and point out those are underway.

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It’s a good idea to write the conclusion before the introduction for several reasons. First of all,
the conclusion is easier to write when the evidence is still fresh in your mind. On top of that,
it’s recommended that you use up your most choice language in the conclusion and then reword these ideas less strongly in the introduction, not the other way around; this will leave a
more lasting impression on the reader.
1.8. Write a compelling introduction
Your introduction is where you introduce your topic and state your thesis. This can be the most
challenging part of the paper to write. This must make the reader accept the article and pay
attention to the results of your research. In addition, it also allows the reviewer or editor to
evaluate the importance of your article. In this section, you must make clear why you did this
research and why readers should care about your research; and you must provide the necessary

knowledge for reader to understand and comment on the article. In many respects, it is
considered as the conclusion written in reverse: start by generally introducing the larger topic,
then orient the reader in the area you’ve focused on, and finally, supply the thesis statement.
And avoid repeating exact phrases that you already used in the conclusion.
A full introduction should announce your topic, provide context and a rationale for your work
before stating your research questions and state the hypothesis. Once you state the context, the
status of the research problem, and the definition of the problem or technical term, you can
elaborate fully on the rationale of your research and its particular strengths and importance. The
rationale should clearly and concisely indicate the value of your paper and its contribution to
the field. After explaining your rationale of the research, you need to present the objectives of
this study and outline how to prepare the study in order to answer the research goal. To come
towards the end of the introduction, it is necessary to present your research questions. Next,
you need to give a clear and concise articulation of your hypothesis or thesis statement. You
should make it clear briefly how you came to this hypothesis in a way which references your
discussion of the existing literature. In a scientific paper, giving a clear one-sentence overview
of your results and their relation to your hypothesis makes the information clear and accessible.
The final part of an introduction, in some cases, to a research paper will be a few lines that
provide an overview of the structure of the body of the paper. This could simply give an outline
of how you have organised the paper and how it is broken down into sections.
The length of the introduction will vary depending on the type of research paper you are writing.
A good introduction should be relatively short and usually no more than 2 pages. State the
problem logically and clearly, ensure the principle of "from overview to specific", from broad
to narrow, from general to specific, from the past to the present. Definition of any specific terms
or abbreviations will be used later in the article. Notice avoid emotional or sensa tional
introductions, which can create distrust in the reader. Generally, avoid using personal pronouns
in your introduction, such as "I," "me," "we," "us," "my," "mine," or "our". Keep the
introduction as concise as possible by saving specific details for the body of your paper.
1.9. Write the acknowledgements
Your article may have the acknowledgments or not. If so, in this section, you can thank people
who have contributed to the manuscript but not to the extent where that would justify

authorship. For example, the agency or individual for helping you make meaningful sense in
carrying out the experiment. It may be a place to provide funds, laboratories to provide
materials, research facilities; it may be that people give tips when doing experiments, who help
read and comment on the article, your instructor or supervisor who you got advices and

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suggestion from, technical help and assistance with writing and proofreading, etc. Probably, the
most important thing is to thank your funding agency or the agency giving you a grant or
fellowship.
1.10. Write up the references
Whenever you draw upon information contained in another paper, you must acknowledge the
sources and cite them properly. All references to the literature must be followed immediately
by an indication of the source of the information that is referenced, for example, "ICT equips
learners with digital age literacy, inventive thinking, creative thinking, higher-order thinking,
effective communication, and high productivity (Tinio, 2002)." In the text, you must cite all the
scientific publications on which your work is based, but avoid basing on too many references.
Avoid excessive self-citations and excessive citations of publications from the same region.
A list of references ordered alphabetically by author's surname, or by number, depending on
the publication, must be provided at the end of your paper. The reference list should contain all
references cited in the text but no more. Include with each reference details of the author, year
of publication, title of article, name of journal or book and place of publication of books, volume
and page numbers.
Now it is easy for you when there are a lot of available softwares to use to format for the
reference list such as EndNote or Mendeley, to cite and format your references in the paper.
Your teacher, professor, supervisor or instructor should tell you whether to use MLA, APA or
Chicago style when writing your essay.
Finally, check the following: Spelling of author names, year of publications, usages of "et al.",
the number of pages, punctuation and whether all references are included.

2. Format your paper
Try to follow your teacher's formatting instructions to the letter. If he or she made no formatting
instructions, go with something clean and classic. Standard format for academic reports in the
United States is 12-point Times New Roman or Arial font, double-spaced lines, and 1-inch
margins all around.
3. Proof-read the paper and revise for comprehension
Proofreading is primarily about searching your writing for errors, both grammatical and
typographical, before submitting your paper for an audience. Before proofreading your paper,
make sure you have plenty of time for finishing your paper. Printing out a hard copy of your
paper with a pen will help you easy to proofread it. In addition, having a list of what to look for
will help you manage your time and not feel overwhelmed by proofreading. You can get this
list from previous handouts where your instructor noted common errors you make. While
proofread, remember to read slowly and carefully to spot errors. You can use the search in
document function of the computer to look for common errors from your list. While reading,
put yourself in your audience’s shoes, which encourages you to see the paper as they might.
After having made all the corrections you identified, have a friend look at your paper. They will
able to help you catch mistakes that you might have overlooked.
Take the time to edit your draft thoroughly, reorganize your paper and then polish it and pay
attention to details. You can use the following statements to evaluate your paper and revise it
by reorganizing them to make your best points stand out, by adding needed information, by
eliminating irrelevant information, and by clarifying sections or sentences.

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







Try to summarize your thesis, or main point, and the evidence you are using to support
that point clearly.
Identify your readers and your purpose.
Evaluate your evidence: Does the body of your paper support your thesis? Do you offer
enough evidence to support your claim? If you are using quotations from the text as
evidence, did you cite them properly?
Tighten and clean up your language: use clear language.
Eliminate mistakes in grammar and usage.

Make an appointment with your instructor to revise and check your draft the last time, and then
polish your final paper.
4. Write the final paper
After having revised and polished your paper, formatted your report according to the subject
matter, and finalized all the main points, you are ready to create the final paper. Adjust the
font, line spacing, and margins to meet the requirements your professor or profession set up.
The completion of these tasks finalizes your paper! Make sure to save the paper and print out
your final draft.
CONCLUSION
That are all steps to do a research paper. Writing a report can be a long and daunting process.
Fortunately, if you take your time and effort for a research paper following specific plan above,
writing a report can be an enjoyable learning experience. wish you success!
REFERENCES
B. J. Thompson., 1995. What is a Reference?. Opt. Eng. 34(7). 1861.
Chris A. Mack., 2018. How to write a good scientific paper. Conclusion, p. 9.
Dr. Angel Borja,. 2014. How to Prepare a Manuscript for International Journals. 11 steps to
structuring a science paper editors will take seriously.
Available at: />Dr. Angel Borja., 2014. How to Prepare a Manuscript for International Journals. Six things to
do before writing your manuscript. Available at: />Jack Raymond Baker, Allen Brizee, Ashley Velázquez. Writing a Research Paper.

Available in: />John Dillard., The Data Analysis Process: 5 Steps To Better Decision Making.
Available at: />L. F. Azevedo et al., 2011. How to write a scientific paper. Writing the methods section. Rev.
Port. Pneumol. 17(5), 232–238.

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R. G. Driggers,. 2010. Editorial: How do you write a great abstract and why is it important?”.
Opt. Eng. 49(6), 060101.
Scidev., 2008. How do I write a scientific paper?.
Available at: />Elyssa Tardiff, Allen Brizee., 2018. Why and How to Create a Useful Outline.
Available at: />Wiki., 2018. How to Write a Report [Online]
Available at: />Wiki., 2018. How to Write a Research Introduction[Online]
Available at: />Wiki., 2018. How to write a research paper. [Online]
Available at: />
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