How to Write a Research Paper: From Research Question to Journal Submission

A research paper follows IMRaD: Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion. That is the reading order. The writing order is different, and getting it wrong is why introductions take three weeks.

Write in this order

1. Methods. You already know what you did. Write it first, in the past tense, in enough detail to be repeated.
2. Results. What you found, without interpretation. Build the tables and figures before the prose, then write around them.
3. Discussion. What it means, what it does not mean, and where it sits against existing work.
4. Introduction. Written last, because only now do you know exactly what the paper argues.
5. Abstract. A miniature of the finished paper.
6. Title. Once everything else is settled.

Methods

The test is replication. Design, setting, participants and how they were selected, variables and how measured, sample size justification, statistical methods, ethics approval with reference number.

Name your software with version numbers. Our guide to selecting the right statistical test covers the choices reviewers query most.

Results

Findings only. No interpretation, no discussion of other studies. Report effect sizes, confidence intervals and exact p-values rather than significance alone.

Every table and figure should be comprehensible without the text. The text should highlight what matters, not narrate every cell.

Discussion

A reliable structure:

• Principal finding, in one or two sentences
• How it compares with existing literature, including work that disagrees
• Possible mechanisms or explanations
• Limitations, stated plainly and without excessive hedging
• Implications for practice or research
• A conclusion no stronger than the data supports

Overstated conclusions are among the most common reasons papers are rejected.

Introduction

Four moves, in roughly a page: what the field knows, what it does not, why that matters, and what this paper does about it. The final paragraph should state the aim explicitly.

Abstract and title

The abstract is what most people will read in full. Follow the journal's structure and word limit exactly. The title should contain the terms someone would search for — it is the single most important line for discoverability.

Before you submit

1. Confirm the target journal — see how to choose the right journal
2. Reformat references to that journal's style
3. Check word limits, section headings and figure counts against the author guidelines
4. Write the cover letter
5. Run a similarity check — see avoiding plagiarism
6. Have someone outside the project read it