Organizarion of research documents into different sections

Research methodology

1. A seminar on Organization of the research document into different sections Paper 1 – Research methodology DAVANGERE UNIVERSITY Department of Biotechnology Under the guidance of Dr . Niranjan M. H. Associate Professor Presented by Ms. Srividya D. Research scholar

2. Introduction Research document - technical writing that scientists do to communicate their research findings to others (scientific community) Thesis, M.Phil reports Research articles, Reviews Patents  Research documents Books     Project proposals   Conference presentations   Technical reports to Govt Types of research documents History - Scientific writing in English started in the 14th century and the Royal Society of UK established good practice for scientific writing 2

3. Structure and organization Generally IMRAD (Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, and Discussion) format is followed. The uniform requirements are released by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) Ref: Michael  Jay Katz, (2009) Order of publishing Order of writing 3

4. The introduction section Background for the study Establishes the context of the work Sets the tone of the manuscript  Starts with a broad statement to set the context States what is known-literature survey-significance of the study Information gap-identification of the problem How the study aims to address the problem Hypotheses Research questions 4

5. The materials and methods section All about how the study was conducted Describing the materials used in the study Explaining how the materials were prepared Describing the research protocol Explaining how measurements were made and what calculations were performed Stating which statistical tests were done to analyze the data Chronological, clear, precise. Tendency to state the results should be avoided. Detailed and accurate, so as to be repeatable by another trained person. 5

6. The results section Outcome of the study Mirrors the Materials and Methods section. An introductory context restating the research problem. Summary of key findings arranged in a logical sequence that generally follows the methods section. Non-textual elements such as figures, charts, photos, maps, tables, etc. with precise legends and numberings . Past tense is used while referring to the results; however figures and tables are referred in the present tense. The interpretation should not be included. References in this section should be limited 6

7. The discussion section . Meaning of the results It should be structured as if it were a natural flow of ideas.   The consistentency of the results should be explained How different is the result from similar studies? Confounding factors and their impact Pitfalls Avoid excessive wordiness  Repeating detailed data or additional results to be avoided Overstating the interpretation of the results Structure of the discussion section 7

8. The conclusion section Take home message Restatement of the findings with a crisp, precise sentence. Keywords from the topic should be used. It should reflect the flow and outcomes of the entire paper. Caution Ambiguous and speculative statements should be avoided 8

9. Title and Keywords Gives the first impression about the manuscript Determinant for the indexing process of the article   Contributes to the visibility of the paper It should be clear, brief, specific, not include jargon or non-standard and unexplained abbreviations More specific and accurate, more chance of the manuscript being cited 9

10. Authors Much-abused section An author is one who has substantial contribution to the conception or design of the work participated in the drafting of the work or revising it carefully given the final approval of the version to be published accountable for all aspects of the work Anyone who has contributed to the study in parts, such as acquisition of funding, general supervision, administrative support, writing assistance, language editing or proofreading is termed non author contributors and may be acknowledged at the end of the manuscript, with a mention of their contributions. 10

11. Abstract The last section to be written but the first to be read An independent document consisting of around 250 words summing up the entire study. It begins with a clear statement of the aims and objectives followed by a brief description of the methodology, the results and their significance. Easy to understand and broadly appealing, informative but not too detailed Acknowledgements All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in an acknowledgements section 11

12. References The references at the end of the manuscript need to be listed in a manner specified by the journal. EndNote , BibTex , Mendeley are some citation management tools. Need for referencing Establish the origin of ideas Justify claims Provide a context for your work Show there is interest in your field of research Several different styles of referencing APA (American Psychological Association) MLA ( Modern Language Association) Oxford Harvard Chicago 12

13. APA style of citation Last_name , First_initial . Middle_initial . (Publication Date). Title of article: Subtitle of article. Title of Periodical, vol #( iss #), page-range. https://doi.org/doi.number Journal Article, Continous Pagination, with DOI Sangster, A., & Scataglinibelghitar , G. (2010). Luca Pacioli : The father of accounting education. Accounting Education, 19, 423-238. https://doi.org/10.1080/09639284.2010.501955 Journal Article, Paginated by Issue, with DOI Klimoski , R., & Palmer, S. (1993). The ADA and the hiring process in organizations. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 45(2), 10-36. https://doi.org/10.1037/1061-4087.45.2.10 Magazine Article, Online Yong, E. (2018, October 17). The butterflies that hear with their wings. The Atlantic. Retrieved from: https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/10/butterflies-hear-their-wings/573193/ Newspaper Article, Online Overbye , D. (2013, March 4). Chasing the Higgs. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/05/science/chasing-the-higgs-boson-how-2-teams-of-rivals-at-CERN-searched-for-physics-most-elusive-particle.html Specific Examples: 13

14. A poster format 14 Balakumar P. et al., 2013

15. Conclusion Though IMRAD format seems rigid and confusing to follow initially, it is an organized and efficient way to communicate the research findings to the scientific community. 15

16. References Michael Jay Katz, (2009) Composing the Sections of a Research Paper. In: From Research to Manuscript. 2nd edition, Springer , Dordrecht. Joseph E. Harmon, Alan G. Gross (2007), On Early English Scientific Writing,  The scientific literature , ISBN 9780226316567 Nileshwar , Anitha (2018). Scientific writing.  Indian Journal of Respiratory Care.  7 (1): 1 Balakumar P, Inamdar MN, Jagadeesh G . (2013). The critical steps for successful research: The research proposal and scientific writing. Journal of Pharmacology and Pharmacotherapeutics ;4:130-8 Liumbruno, G. M., Velati, C., Pasqualetti, P., & Franchini, M. (2013). How to write a scientific manuscript for publication.  Blood transfusion  11(2), 217–226. Jirge P. R. (2017). Preparing and Publishing a Scientific Manuscript. Journal of human reproductive sciences, 10(1), 3–9. 16

17. Thank you 17