Basic Research Help

1. The abstract

An abstract is a one paragraph write up that appears before the article. The abstract is used by readers to quickly review the overall content of the paper. Journals typically place strict word limits on abstracts. The abstract provides a summary of the entire journal article. The abstract should be read carefully to determine the topics the authors are studying about and what was the authors primary findings.
 

2. Literature review

The literature review is often at the beginning of the article. You can identify it because it contains citations and references. A literature review is a search and evaluation of the available literature in your given subject or chosen topic area. It documents the state of the art with respect to the subject or topic you are writing about.

A literature review has three main objectives which are:

1. It surveys the literature in your chosen area of study.
2. It synthesises the information in that literature into a summary.
3. It critically analyses the information gathered by identifying gaps in current knowledge by showing limitations of theories and point of view by formulating areas for further research and reviewing areas of controversy.
    

3. The methodology

The methodology in a journal usually refers to the process used to collect information and data for the purpose of making decisions. The methodology may include publication research interviews, surveys and other research techniques and could include both present and historical information.

This section follows the literature review. It can often be identified because it will have a title of method’s or methodology.
 

4. Results

The results section follows the methods. In a journal it would often have the title “results” or “findings”. The results section provides information about what the authors found when they analysed their data. The results of the analysis are presented. How the results are presented will depend upon weather the research study was qualitative or quantitative in nature. This section should focus only on results that are directly related to the research or the problem.
 

5. Conclusion/ Discussion

The conclusion or discussion is the section that follows the result section. It will often have the title “conclusion” or “discussion”. This section summarises the author’s main findings and explains why the findings are important. This section should discuss how the results relate to previous research mentioned in the literature review.