Academic Writing World

Traits Of A Good Research Paper: Basic Tutorial From An Expert

There are many types of writing assignments you will encounter throughout the duration of your academic career. The research paper is one of them. The research paper is a very unique form of writing which serves the more scientific communities such as psychological writing or social science assignments. Being able to write a good paper will provide you with the foundation you need to craft great research-based work in the future and more scientifically based work.

So what are the traits of a good research paper?

  1. The first trait is that it is scientific in writing. The words you use are much more poignant and technical compared to creative pieces. Whereas in a creative piece you have the opportunity to flourish and to use as many words as you need to best describe feelings or thoughts or scenes , in this type of assignment you want to use as few words as you can to adequately describe precise methods or situations or results.
  2. The second trait is that it is very organized and structured. Many more creative pieces allow you a great deal of flexibility in terms of the organization but in most cases this type of writing follows a very strict pattern. No matter which format you are required to follow, either APA, MLA, Harvard, or Chicago, you will generally cover the same points: Introduction and background
    • Literature Review
    • Methodology
    • Results
    • Discussion
    • Conclusion
    • References
    • Appendix

    There is limited flexibility in this regard as every research paper needs to present the same sections in that order.

  3. The third trait is that the Writer conducted some form of study or analysis and from that was able to produce certain results. This is truly the foundation of the research paper in that it serves to present a scientific study and the results of that study to the academic community.
  4. A good paper will explain to the reader what impact the findings have on the greater community. You never want to just leave the reader with a quick summary of what your research uncovered. You want to leave them with a call to action or some direction as to how your findings influence the greater community. By following all of these tips you can really produce a wonderful contribution to your field and to your department.
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