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How to write good documentation: home, documentation.

Why to Write Documentation

Documentation effectively connects humans and machines.

Why writing documentation is important:

• You will be using your code in 6 months
• You want people to use your code and give you credit
• You want to learn self-determination
• Others would be encouraged to contribute to your code
• Others can easily use your code and build upon it
• Advance the science
• Encourage open science 
• Allow reproducibility and transparency

What should you document about your research? Everything! All the data, notes, code, and materials someone else would need to reproduce your work.

Consider the following questions:

• How is your data gathered?
• What variables did you use?
• Did you use any code to clean/analyze your data?

Best Practices for Documenting Your Project

Best Practices for Writing Documentation:

• A brief description of the project
• Installation instructions
• A short example/tutorial
• Allow issue tracker for others
• What a function does
• What are the function's parameters or arguments are
• What a function returns
• Document your code
• Apply coding conventions, such as file organization, comments, naming conventions, programming practices, etc.
• Include information for contributors
• Include citation information
• Include licensing information
• Link to your e-mail address at the end
• List all the versions of the files along with the major edits you did in each version

An important tip: Naming files should be descriptive and consistent!

• Date format (ISO 8601 Standard): YYYYMMDDThhmmss
• Project or experiment name
• Researcher name/initials
• Date or date range of collection version

An example for README file.

An example of code documentation.

Tools for Documentation

Tools for Documentation:

• Doctest  
• R Markdown  
• Doxygen  - Doxygen can be used for C, C#, PHP, Java, Python, and Fortran.
• ​ BoostBook

Software Documentation Hosting Options:

• Read The Docs
• 18 Software Documentation Tools
• BIDS Docathon Kickoff - A Video
• Docathon at BIDS
• Documenting Your Code
• First Steps with Sphinx
• Google Style Guides
• How to maintain an open source project
• A Quick Guide to Software Licensing for the Scientist-Programmer

Library Data Services Program

• Last Updated: Nov 6, 2023 2:10 PM
• URL: https://guides.lib.berkeley.edu/how-to-write-good-documentation

• Academic Success / Academic Writing / APA 7th Ed

Documenting Sources Made Easy

by Purdue Global Academic Success Center and Writing Center · Published December 4, 2020 · Updated December 3, 2020

Many who are not familiar with the basics of APA Style documentation become confused, frustrated, and sometimes even stressed when they need to document a source that may not be typical or contains missing information, but the reality is that with a few deep breaths and a pragmatic approach, most can resolve any documentation challenge they face. 

In fact, proper documentation is just a matter of establishing the who, when, what, and where of the sources as applicable. APA Style documents sources in the body of the paper with in-text citations and at the end on a list of references. In-text citations need to provide the who, when, and where for each work; reference entries will include the who, when, what, and where for each work. 

The who is the author. Who is responsible for the work? The author might be a single person, several people, or maybe even twenty or more individuals. The author could also be an organization or government agency. 

The when is the date of publication. When was the work published? 

The what is the title. What is the work called? 

And, last, the where is the source. For a reference entry, where refers to where the work can be retrieved–a newspaper, a journal, a publisher, or a URL, for example. Within the body of a paper, where refers specifically to where a direct quote can be found. It might be a page number, a paragraph number, a time stamp, or perhaps something else. 

Let’s say you have a journal titled Studies in Popular Culture , and in that journal there is an article written by Joseph Bean titled “The New Coffee Culture” published in 2020. Let’s also say that you found a fabulous quote on page 44 that you have to use in the paper you are writing. Let’s also say that you accessed the journal via an academic database that included the digital object identifier (DOI) https://doi.org.978.1234.56 .

For an in-text citation, you need the who, when, and where. That is, you need the author, date of publication, and location of the direct quote. So an in-text parenthetical citation for this work would include the who, when, and where in parenthesis like this: (Bean, 2020, p. 44). 

What if you don’t use a direct quote? What if you paraphrase? Leave the where out of the citation so that all you have in parenthesis is the who and when–(Bean, 2020). What if there is no date of publication? Just leaving that information out of the citation might give the impression that you forgot to include it, so what you want to do is account for it by using n.d. in the place where the date would have been–like this: (Bean, n.d.).

The reference entry would be constructed by including the who, when, what, and where. The author element would include the last name followed by the first name initial. The date would be placed in parenthesis. The title of the work would be in sentence case. If the work is a stand-alone work like a web page or book, the title should be in italics, but if the work is not stand-alone like an article in a journal, for example, then use sentence case but no other formatting. The last element in the reference entry is where the work can be retrieved. Sometimes where a work can be retrieved has multiple parts such as is the case with the Joseph Bean example.

With this in mind, a reference entry for the work by Bean would be

Bean, J. (2020). The new coffee culture. Studies in Popular Culture. https://doi.org.978.1234.56 .

By considering the who, when, what, and where as applicable, you should be able to gather the necessary information to document any source. In fact, the Publication Manual says that by keeping the four elements in mind–the author, date, title, and source–someone should be able to construct a reference entry for a work even if no model can be found. Without a doubt, given the many variables to a work, sometimes creating a reference entry gets confusing, but with a little practice–as well as with a practical, no-nonsense, you-can-do-it-if-you-put-your-mind-to-it sort of approach such as identifying the who, what, when, and where of a work–you can be successful. And of course, you can always consult a resource for additional information, especially for the more picayune aspects of an entry. 

Are you up to a challenge? You are? Great! Let’s say you have a direct quote from a discussion board post made in an online classroom on May 31, 2020. The material you are quoting comes from the second paragraph of the post. The title of the post is Unit 3 Discussion and was authored by Denise Menace. The URL to the content is https://purdueglobal.brightspace.com/d2l/1333/discussions and was accessed on December 1, 2020. 

Let’s start with the “easy” part, a parenthetical in-text citation. How would that look? What’s needed? Ah, yes, the who, when, and where–the author, date, and in this case, the paragraph number where the direct quote appeared. 

(Menace, 2020, para. 2).

And what about the reference entry? Again, think about the elements that are needed–who, when, what, and where. The author is Denise Menace. The date of publication is May 31, 2020. The title is Unit 3 Discussion , which we’ll treat as a stand-alone source. And the where will include the URL and retrieval information since the content of an online discussion board post might change over time. Here’s how the reference entry would look:

Menace, D. (2020, May 31). Unit 3 discussion . Retrieved December 1, 2020, from the URL.

You might be thinking, great, I get it, but I likely would not have included the retrieval information. Ok, so be it! You’re right. Unless you consulted a resource, you very well may have left off the retrieval information. However, you still would have included enough of the key elements of the work so that someone could locate it if they wanted to, right? The purpose of a reference entry isn’t to create frustration or cause uncertainty. The purpose of a reference entry is to include specific pieces of information about a work so that someone else could find it. With or without the retrieval information, someone would be able to locate the work. 

Until next week–

Kurtis Clements

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Chapter 22 Appendix B: A Guide to Research and Documentation

Research documentation guidelines.

This appendix provides general guidelines for documenting researched information. See Chapter 7 "Researching" for more on the research process.

22.1 Choosing a Documentation Format

As a rule, your assignments requiring research will specify a documentation format. If you are free to use the style of your choice, you can choose any format you want as long as you are consistent, but you should know that certain disciplines tend to use specific documentation styles:

• business and social sciences: American Psychological Association (APA)
• natural and applied sciences: Council of Science Editors (CSE)
• humanities: Modern Language Association (MLA) or the Chicago Manual of Style (CMS)

For the purposes of this appendix, we will confine ourselves to the three documentation formats that will be the most common in your undergraduate courses: the style manuals from APA and MLA, as well as CMS. (Other formats are listed at the end of this appendix. Also, note this appendix explains the “Notes-Bibliography” system of CMS, used more often in history, the arts, and humanities, rather than the “Author-Date” system, used in the sciences and social sciences.)

These three systems of documentation have been refined over many generations so that academics can rely on certain standards of attribution when they cite each other’s work and when their work is cited. When you enter into an academic conversation in a given discipline, it’s imperative that you play by its rules. It’s true that popular, nonacademic forms of attribution exist. Making a link to another website in a blog or a Twitter post works quite well, but in an academic context, such a form of attribution is not sufficient. Of course it should go without saying that stealing someone else’s words or borrowing them without attribution, whether you do it casually on the web or in an academic context, is simply wrong.

22.2 Integrating Sources

Your goal within a research paper is to integrate other sources smoothly into your paper to support the points you are making. As long as you give proper credit, you can ethically reference anyone else’s work. You should not, however, create a paper that is made up of one reference after another without any of your input. You should also avoid using half-page or whole-page quotations. Make sure to write enough of your material so that your sources are integrated into your work rather than making up the bulk of your paper.

Think of yourself as a kind of museum docent or tour guide when you are integrating sources into your work. You’ll usually want to take some time to set up your use of a source by placing it in a proper context. That’s why in most cases, before you even launch into quotation, paraphrase, or summary, you will have probably already used what’s called a “signal phrase” that identifies the author of the source, and often the specific publication (whether web or print) from which it is taken. After your use of the source, you’ll need to follow up with analysis and commentary on how you think it fits into the larger context of your argument.

22.3 Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing

When you quote another writer’s exact words, you will have to identify the page number within the source where you found the quotation or the paragraph number if the source is taken from an online format or database that does not indicate the original print pagination. Note that only APA allows the use of “p.” or “pp.”

Table 22.1 Citing Quotations

Paraphrased and summarized text is cited within text in the same way that quoted material is cited except that quotations are not used. In APA style, you do not need to include page numbers in this case, but MLA and CMS, on the other hand, do still require page numbers, when they are available.

Table 22.2 Citing Paraphrased or Summarized Text

22.4 Formatting In-Text References

When you use others’ ideas, you have a variety of options for integrating these sources into your text. The main requirement is that you make it clear within your in-text reference that the information is not yours and that you clearly indicate where you got the idea. The following box shows some alternate phrases for signaling that the ideas you are using belong to another writer. Using a variety of wording makes writing more interesting. Note: Past tense is used in these examples. You may elect to use present tense (“writes”) or past perfect tense (“has written”), but keep your tense use consistent.

Phrases That Signal an Idea Belongs to Another Writer (Shown in APA style)

• According to Starr (2010)…
• Acknowledging that…
• Starr (2010) stated…
• As Starr (2010) noted…
• In 2010, Starr reported…
• In the words of Starr (2010)…
• It is obvious, according to Starr (2010), that…
• Starr (2010) argued that…
• Starr (2010) disagreed when she said…
• Starr (2010) emphasized the importance of…
• Starr (2010) suggested…
• Starr observed in 2010 that…
• Technology specialist, Linda Starr, claimed that…(2010).
• …indicated Starr (2010).
• …wrote Starr (2010)

Table 22.3 "Integrating Sources (Summarized or Paraphrased Ideas)" shows some actual examples of integrating sources within the guidelines of the three most common documentation formats. You should weave the cited details in with your ideas.

Table 22.3 Integrating Sources (Summarized or Paraphrased Ideas)

Table 22.4 Two Authors

Table 22.5 Multiple Authors

Table 22.6 Personal Communication

22.5 Developing a List of Sources

This appendix provides a general overview of some of the most common documentation guidelines for different types of sources. For situations not described in this appendix, such as types of sources not described in this chapter or situations where you elect to use footnotes or endnotes in addition to in-text, parenthetical citations, check the complete guidelines for the style you are using:

• APA: http://www.apastyle.org
• MLA: http://www.mla.org
• CMS: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org

Some general online searches, especially those conducted on your library databases, are also likely to generate guidelines for a variety of documentation styles. Look for an opportunity to click on a “citation” or “documentation” icon, or ask a member of your college library staff for guidance. You can even get help through the word processing program you typically use. Microsoft Word, for instance, has an entire tab on the taskbar devoted to managing and documenting sources in all three of the styles featured here. Also, don’t forget the tip from Chapter 7 "Researching" about the free resources that abound on the web from various online writing labs (OWLs) managed by writing programs at colleges and universities across the country.

Each different documentation style has its own set of guidelines for creating a list of references at the end of the essay (called “works cited” in MLA, “references” in APA, and “bibliography” in CMS). This section includes citations for the sources included in other parts of this appendix. For additional citation styles, consult complete citation guidelines for the style you are using.

Source lists should always be in alphabetical order by the first word of each reference, and you should use hanging indentation (with the first line of each reference flush with the margin and subsequent lines indented one-half inch). Here are some of the most common types of entries you will be using for your references at the end of your research essays. These lists are by no means exhaustive, but you will note from the examples some of the most important differences in conventions of punctuation, font, and the exact content of each style.

Table 22.7 APA References

Table 22.8 MLA Works Cited

Table 22.9 CMS Bibliography

22.6 Using Other Formats

Although APA, MLA, and Chicago are the most widely used documentation styles, many other styles are used in specific situations. Some of these other styles are listed in Table 22.10 "Other Documentation Formats" . You can find more about them by searching online.

Table 22.10 Other Documentation Formats

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• Research paper

Writing a Research Paper Introduction | Step-by-Step Guide

Published on September 24, 2022 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on March 27, 2023.

The introduction to a research paper is where you set up your topic and approach for the reader. It has several key goals:

• Present your topic and get the reader interested
• Provide background or summarize existing research
• Position your own approach
• Detail your specific research problem and problem statement
• Give an overview of the paper’s structure

The introduction looks slightly different depending on whether your paper presents the results of original empirical research or constructs an argument by engaging with a variety of sources.

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Table of contents

Step 1: introduce your topic, step 2: describe the background, step 3: establish your research problem, step 4: specify your objective(s), step 5: map out your paper, research paper introduction examples, frequently asked questions about the research paper introduction.

The first job of the introduction is to tell the reader what your topic is and why it’s interesting or important. This is generally accomplished with a strong opening hook.

The hook is a striking opening sentence that clearly conveys the relevance of your topic. Think of an interesting fact or statistic, a strong statement, a question, or a brief anecdote that will get the reader wondering about your topic.

For example, the following could be an effective hook for an argumentative paper about the environmental impact of cattle farming:

A more empirical paper investigating the relationship of Instagram use with body image issues in adolescent girls might use the following hook:

Don’t feel that your hook necessarily has to be deeply impressive or creative. Clarity and relevance are still more important than catchiness. The key thing is to guide the reader into your topic and situate your ideas.

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This part of the introduction differs depending on what approach your paper is taking.

In a more argumentative paper, you’ll explore some general background here. In a more empirical paper, this is the place to review previous research and establish how yours fits in.

Argumentative paper: Background information

After you’ve caught your reader’s attention, specify a bit more, providing context and narrowing down your topic.

Provide only the most relevant background information. The introduction isn’t the place to get too in-depth; if more background is essential to your paper, it can appear in the body .

Empirical paper: Describing previous research

For a paper describing original research, you’ll instead provide an overview of the most relevant research that has already been conducted. This is a sort of miniature literature review —a sketch of the current state of research into your topic, boiled down to a few sentences.

This should be informed by genuine engagement with the literature. Your search can be less extensive than in a full literature review, but a clear sense of the relevant research is crucial to inform your own work.

Begin by establishing the kinds of research that have been done, and end with limitations or gaps in the research that you intend to respond to.

The next step is to clarify how your own research fits in and what problem it addresses.

Argumentative paper: Emphasize importance

In an argumentative research paper, you can simply state the problem you intend to discuss, and what is original or important about your argument.

Empirical paper: Relate to the literature

In an empirical research paper, try to lead into the problem on the basis of your discussion of the literature. Think in terms of these questions:

• What research gap is your work intended to fill?
• What limitations in previous work does it address?
• What contribution to knowledge does it make?

You can make the connection between your problem and the existing research using phrases like the following.

Now you’ll get into the specifics of what you intend to find out or express in your research paper.

The way you frame your research objectives varies. An argumentative paper presents a thesis statement, while an empirical paper generally poses a research question (sometimes with a hypothesis as to the answer).

Argumentative paper: Thesis statement

The thesis statement expresses the position that the rest of the paper will present evidence and arguments for. It can be presented in one or two sentences, and should state your position clearly and directly, without providing specific arguments for it at this point.

Empirical paper: Research question and hypothesis

The research question is the question you want to answer in an empirical research paper.

Present your research question clearly and directly, with a minimum of discussion at this point. The rest of the paper will be taken up with discussing and investigating this question; here you just need to express it.

A research question can be framed either directly or indirectly.

• This study set out to answer the following question: What effects does daily use of Instagram have on the prevalence of body image issues among adolescent girls?
• We investigated the effects of daily Instagram use on the prevalence of body image issues among adolescent girls.

If your research involved testing hypotheses , these should be stated along with your research question. They are usually presented in the past tense, since the hypothesis will already have been tested by the time you are writing up your paper.

For example, the following hypothesis might respond to the research question above:

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The final part of the introduction is often dedicated to a brief overview of the rest of the paper.

In a paper structured using the standard scientific “introduction, methods, results, discussion” format, this isn’t always necessary. But if your paper is structured in a less predictable way, it’s important to describe the shape of it for the reader.

If included, the overview should be concise, direct, and written in the present tense.

• This paper will first discuss several examples of survey-based research into adolescent social media use, then will go on to …
• This paper first discusses several examples of survey-based research into adolescent social media use, then goes on to …

Full examples of research paper introductions are shown in the tabs below: one for an argumentative paper, the other for an empirical paper.

• Argumentative paper
• Empirical paper

Are cows responsible for climate change? A recent study (RIVM, 2019) shows that cattle farmers account for two thirds of agricultural nitrogen emissions in the Netherlands. These emissions result from nitrogen in manure, which can degrade into ammonia and enter the atmosphere. The study’s calculations show that agriculture is the main source of nitrogen pollution, accounting for 46% of the country’s total emissions. By comparison, road traffic and households are responsible for 6.1% each, the industrial sector for 1%. While efforts are being made to mitigate these emissions, policymakers are reluctant to reckon with the scale of the problem. The approach presented here is a radical one, but commensurate with the issue. This paper argues that the Dutch government must stimulate and subsidize livestock farmers, especially cattle farmers, to transition to sustainable vegetable farming. It first establishes the inadequacy of current mitigation measures, then discusses the various advantages of the results proposed, and finally addresses potential objections to the plan on economic grounds.

The rise of social media has been accompanied by a sharp increase in the prevalence of body image issues among women and girls. This correlation has received significant academic attention: Various empirical studies have been conducted into Facebook usage among adolescent girls (Tiggermann & Slater, 2013; Meier & Gray, 2014). These studies have consistently found that the visual and interactive aspects of the platform have the greatest influence on body image issues. Despite this, highly visual social media (HVSM) such as Instagram have yet to be robustly researched. This paper sets out to address this research gap. We investigated the effects of daily Instagram use on the prevalence of body image issues among adolescent girls. It was hypothesized that daily Instagram use would be associated with an increase in body image concerns and a decrease in self-esteem ratings.

The introduction of a research paper includes several key elements:

• A hook to catch the reader’s interest
• Relevant background on the topic
• Details of your research problem

and your problem statement

• A thesis statement or research question
• Sometimes an overview of the paper

Don’t feel that you have to write the introduction first. The introduction is often one of the last parts of the research paper you’ll write, along with the conclusion.

This is because it can be easier to introduce your paper once you’ve already written the body ; you may not have the clearest idea of your arguments until you’ve written them, and things can change during the writing process .

The way you present your research problem in your introduction varies depending on the nature of your research paper . A research paper that presents a sustained argument will usually encapsulate this argument in a thesis statement .

A research paper designed to present the results of empirical research tends to present a research question that it seeks to answer. It may also include a hypothesis —a prediction that will be confirmed or disproved by your research.

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Documentation in Reports and Research Papers

• An Introduction to Punctuation
• Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia
• M.A., Modern English and American Literature, University of Leicester
• B.A., English, State University of New York

In a report or  research paper , documentation is the evidence  provided for information and ideas borrowed from others. That evidence includes both primary sources  and secondary sources .

There are numerous documentation styles and formats, including MLA style (used for research in the humanities), APA style (psychology, sociology, education), Chicago style (history), and ACS style (chemistry).

Examples and Observations

• Adrienne Escoe "Documentation has many meanings, from the broad—anything written in any medium—to the narrow—policies and procedures manuals or perhaps records." ( T he Practical Guide to People-Friendly Documentation , 2nd. ed. ASQ Quality Press, 2001)
• Kristin R. Woolever "An issue more important than documentation form is knowing when to document. In brief, anything that is copied needs to be documented... "Perhaps the best tip for knowing when to document is to use common sense. If writers are careful to give credit where it is due and to provide the reader with easy access to all the source material, the text is probably documented appropriately." ( About Writing: A Rhetoric for Advanced Writers . Wadsworth, 1991)

Note-Taking and Documentation During the Research Process

• Linda Smoak Schwartz "The most important thing to remember when you take notes from your sources is that you must clearly distinguish between quoted, paraphrased , and summarized material that must be documented in your paper and ideas that do not require documentation because they are considered general knowledge about that subject." ( The Wadsworth Guide to MLA Documentation , 2nd ed. Wadsworth, 2011)

Library Resources Versus Internet Resources

• Susan K. Miller-Cochran and Rochelle L. Rodrigo "When you are reviewing and analyzing your resources, keep in mind that the library/Internet distinction is not quite as simple as it might seem at first. The Internet is where students often turn when they are having difficulty getting started. Many instructors warn students against using Internet resources because they are easily alterable and because anyone can construct and publish a Web site. These points are important to remember, but it is essential to use clear evaluative criteria when you are looking at any resource. Print resources can be self-published as well. Analyzing how easily a resource is changed, how often it is changed, who changed it, who reviews it, and who is responsible for the content will help you choose resources that are reliable and credible, wherever you might find them." ( The Wadsworth Guide to Research, Documentation , rev. ed. Wadsworth, 2011)

Parenthetical Documentation

• Joseph F. Trimmer "You may decide to vary the pattern of documentation by presenting the information from a source and placing the author's name and page number in parentheses at the end of the sentence. This method is particularly useful if you have already established the identity of your source in a previous sentence and now want to develop the author's idea in some detail without having to clutter your sentences with constant references to his or her name.​" ( A Guide to MLA Documentation , 9th ed. Wadsworth, 2012)
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Online Guide to Writing and Research

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• Online Guide to Writing

Types of Documentation

The two most common types of documentation used in research are note citations and parenthetical citations (Winkler & McCuen-Metherell, 2008, p. 4).  You might also see terms like “footnotes,” “endnotes,” or “references” when learning about documentation practices. Refer to the required style guide and your instructor when determining exactly what kind of documentation is required for your assignment.

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Table of Contents: Online Guide to Writing

Chapter 1: College Writing

How Does College Writing Differ from Workplace Writing?

What Is College Writing?

Why So Much Emphasis on Writing?

Chapter 2: The Writing Process

Doing Exploratory Research

Getting from Notes to Your Draft

Introduction

Prewriting - Techniques to Get Started - Mining Your Intuition

Prewriting: Targeting Your Audience

Prewriting: Techniques to Get Started

Prewriting: Understanding Your Assignment

Rewriting: Being Your Own Critic

Rewriting: Creating a Revision Strategy

Rewriting: Getting Feedback

Rewriting: The Final Draft

Techniques to Get Started - Outlining

Techniques to Get Started - Using Systematic Techniques

Thesis Statement and Controlling Idea

Writing: Getting from Notes to Your Draft - Freewriting

Writing: Getting from Notes to Your Draft - Summarizing Your Ideas

Writing: Outlining What You Will Write

Chapter 3: Thinking Strategies

A Word About Style, Voice, and Tone

A Word About Style, Voice, and Tone: Style Through Vocabulary and Diction

Critical Strategies and Writing

Critical Strategies and Writing: Analysis

Critical Strategies and Writing: Evaluation

Critical Strategies and Writing: Persuasion

Critical Strategies and Writing: Synthesis

Developing a Paper Using Strategies

Kinds of Assignments You Will Write

Patterns for Presenting Information

Patterns for Presenting Information: Critiques

Patterns for Presenting Information: Discussing Raw Data

Patterns for Presenting Information: General-to-Specific Pattern

Patterns for Presenting Information: Problem-Cause-Solution Pattern

Patterns for Presenting Information: Specific-to-General Pattern

Patterns for Presenting Information: Summaries and Abstracts

Supporting with Research and Examples

Writing Essay Examinations

Writing Essay Examinations: Make Your Answer Relevant and Complete

Writing Essay Examinations: Organize Thinking Before Writing

Writing Essay Examinations: Read and Understand the Question

Chapter 4: The Research Process

Planning and Writing a Research Paper

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Ask a Research Question

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Cite Sources

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Collect Evidence

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Decide Your Point of View, or Role, for Your Research

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Draw Conclusions

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Find a Topic and Get an Overview

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Manage Your Resources

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Outline

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Survey the Literature

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Work Your Sources into Your Research Writing

Research Resources: Where Are Research Resources Found? - Human Resources

Research Resources: What Are Research Resources?

Research Resources: Where Are Research Resources Found?

Research Resources: Where Are Research Resources Found? - Electronic Resources

Research Resources: Where Are Research Resources Found? - Print Resources

Structuring the Research Paper: Formal Research Structure

Structuring the Research Paper: Informal Research Structure

The Nature of Research

The Research Assignment: How Should Research Sources Be Evaluated?

The Research Assignment: When Is Research Needed?

The Research Assignment: Why Perform Research?

Chapter 5: Academic Integrity

Academic Integrity

Giving Credit to Sources

Giving Credit to Sources: Copyright Laws

Giving Credit to Sources: Documentation

Giving Credit to Sources: Style Guides

Integrating Sources

Practicing Academic Integrity

Practicing Academic Integrity: Keeping Accurate Records

Practicing Academic Integrity: Managing Source Material

Practicing Academic Integrity: Managing Source Material - Paraphrasing Your Source

Practicing Academic Integrity: Managing Source Material - Quoting Your Source

Practicing Academic Integrity: Managing Source Material - Summarizing Your Sources

Types of Documentation: Bibliographies and Source Lists

Types of Documentation: Citing World Wide Web Sources

Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations

Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations - APA Style

Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations - CSE/CBE Style

Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations - Chicago Style

Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations - MLA Style

Types of Documentation: Note Citations

Chapter 6: Using Library Resources

Finding Library Resources

Chapter 7: Assessing Your Writing

How Is Writing Graded?

How Is Writing Graded?: A General Assessment Tool

The Draft Stage

The Draft Stage: The First Draft

The Draft Stage: The Revision Process and the Final Draft

The Draft Stage: Using Feedback

The Research Stage

Using Assessment to Improve Your Writing

Chapter 8: Other Frequently Assigned Papers

Reviews and Reaction Papers: Article and Book Reviews

Reviews and Reaction Papers: Reaction Papers

Writing Arguments

Writing Arguments: Adapting the Argument Structure

Writing Arguments: Purposes of Argument

Writing Arguments: References to Consult for Writing Arguments

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Anticipate Active Opposition

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Determine Your Organization

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Develop Your Argument

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Introduce Your Argument

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - State Your Thesis or Proposition

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Write Your Conclusion

Writing Arguments: Types of Argument

Appendix A: Books to Help Improve Your Writing

Dictionaries

General Style Manuals

Researching on the Internet

Special Style Manuals

Writing Handbooks

Appendix B: Collaborative Writing and Peer Reviewing

Collaborative Writing: Assignments to Accompany the Group Project

Collaborative Writing: Informal Progress Report

Collaborative Writing: Issues to Resolve

Collaborative Writing: Methodology

Collaborative Writing: Peer Evaluation

Collaborative Writing: Tasks of Collaborative Writing Group Members

Collaborative Writing: Writing Plan

General Introduction

Peer Reviewing

Appendix C: Developing an Improvement Plan

Working with Your Instructor’s Comments and Grades

Appendix D: Writing Plan and Project Schedule

Devising a Writing Project Plan and Schedule

Reviewing Your Plan with Others

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APA Documentation

• Finding and Evaluating Sources (Critical Analysis)
• Synthesizing Information from Sources
• MLA Documentation
• APA Page Format
• APA In-Text Citations
• Writing a Research Paper
• APA Handout

Related Pages

What does apa stand for.

APA is the abbreviation for American Psychological Association, which is a professional organization whose members are comprised of teachers and scholars in the field of psychology. Other similar organizations in different disciplines are the Modern Language Association (MLA) and the Council of Biology Educators (CBE). All such organizations publish journals with articles about topics of interest in the discipline. All created a style guide governing how articles submitted for publication are formatted and how they give credit to the sources. Many disciplines in the behavioral and social sciences such as psychology, sociology, anthropology, and some sciences require APA style for publication in their journals.

The term APA is used to refer both to the association and to the rules in the APA style guide which is called the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. This tutorial uses the 7th edition.

What is the purpose for developing a set of rules for style and citations?

In order to have uniformity of presentation and give proper credit to the sources used in the articles, each organization has a different set of rules called a style guide. They include rules on how to give credit to sources in the body of the paper and how to list the sources at the end in a bibliography (a list of sources). Proper credit must be given to the sources used in the paper in order to avoid plagiarism. These style rules also include instructions for page setup such as margins, font, line spacing, and headers along with mechanics of writing such as punctuation. APA also includes rules for organization of a paper including title page, abstract, main body (introduction, method, results, discussion), and references. Appendices, if any, follow the references. Papers which report the results of studies or experiments typically use this organization.

Typically, students are asked to do a research paper which requires doing research to find an answer to a question and then writing a paper. The paper can either be a review of existing studies or can also be an analysis of a new study or experiment done by the student. The APA format for a literature review (which is essentially summary and evaluation of research data) consists of a title page, possibly an abstract if the instructors requests one, the main body (which is a survey of the literature), and a list of references. There should be an introductory paragraph (the word introduction is not used) with a thesis statement which answers the research question at the end, body paragraphs which prove or perhaps disprove the thesis, and a concluding paragraph which sums up the proof and restates the thesis.

Why is APA called an author-date method of citation?

Generally, APA style uses the author and the year of publication to give credit to the particular study or source in sentences that contain a quote, a paraphrase, or a summary with information from the source.

Why do schools require using APA style?

Academic institutions such as high schools, colleges, and universities have courses which require training in a style system such as APA in order to avoid plagiarism and to train students in preparing research papers suitable for publication in scholarly journals.

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12.1 Creating a Rough Draft for a Research Paper

Learning objectives.

• Apply strategies for drafting an effective introduction and conclusion.
• Identify when and how to summarize, paraphrase, and directly quote information from research sources.
• Apply guidelines for citing sources within the body of the paper and the bibliography.
• Use primary and secondary research to support ideas.
• Identify the purposes for which writers use each type of research.

At last, you are ready to begin writing the rough draft of your research paper. Putting your thinking and research into words is exciting. It can also be challenging. In this section, you will learn strategies for handling the more challenging aspects of writing a research paper, such as integrating material from your sources, citing information correctly, and avoiding any misuse of your sources.

The Structure of a Research Paper

Research papers generally follow the same basic structure: an introduction that presents the writer’s thesis, a body section that develops the thesis with supporting points and evidence, and a conclusion that revisits the thesis and provides additional insights or suggestions for further research.

Your writing voice will come across most strongly in your introduction and conclusion, as you work to attract your readers’ interest and establish your thesis. These sections usually do not cite sources at length. They focus on the big picture, not specific details. In contrast, the body of your paper will cite sources extensively. As you present your ideas, you will support your points with details from your research.

Writing Your Introduction

There are several approaches to writing an introduction, each of which fulfills the same goals. The introduction should get readers’ attention, provide background information, and present the writer’s thesis. Many writers like to begin with one of the following catchy openers:

• A surprising fact
• A thought-provoking question
• An attention-getting quote
• A brief anecdote that illustrates a larger concept
• A connection between your topic and your readers’ experiences

The next few sentences place the opening in context by presenting background information. From there, the writer builds toward a thesis, which is traditionally placed at the end of the introduction. Think of your thesis as a signpost that lets readers know in what direction the paper is headed.

Jorge decided to begin his research paper by connecting his topic to readers’ daily experiences. Read the first draft of his introduction. The thesis is underlined. Note how Jorge progresses from the opening sentences to background information to his thesis.

Beyond the Hype: Evaluating Low-Carb Diets

I. Introduction

Over the past decade, increasing numbers of Americans have jumped on the low-carb bandwagon. Some studies estimate that approximately 40 million Americans, or about 20 percent of the population, are attempting to restrict their intake of food high in carbohydrates (Sanders and Katz, 2004; Hirsch, 2004). Proponents of low-carb diets say they are not only the most effective way to lose weight, but they also yield health benefits such as lower blood pressure and improved cholesterol levels. Meanwhile, some doctors claim that low-carb diets are overrated and caution that their long-term effects are unknown. Although following a low-carbohydrate diet can benefit some people, these diets are not necessarily the best option for everyone who wants to lose weight or improve their health.

Write the introductory paragraph of your research paper. Try using one of the techniques listed in this section to write an engaging introduction. Be sure to include background information about the topic that leads to your thesis.

Writers often work out of sequence when writing a research paper. If you find yourself struggling to write an engaging introduction, you may wish to write the body of your paper first. Writing the body sections first will help you clarify your main points. Writing the introduction should then be easier. You may have a better sense of how to introduce the paper after you have drafted some or all of the body.

Writing Your Conclusion

In your introduction, you tell readers where they are headed. In your conclusion, you recap where they have been. For this reason, some writers prefer to write their conclusions soon after they have written their introduction. However, this method may not work for all writers. Other writers prefer to write their conclusion at the end of the paper, after writing the body paragraphs. No process is absolutely right or absolutely wrong; find the one that best suits you.

No matter when you compose the conclusion, it should sum up your main ideas and revisit your thesis. The conclusion should not simply echo the introduction or rely on bland summary statements, such as “In this paper, I have demonstrated that.…” In fact, avoid repeating your thesis verbatim from the introduction. Restate it in different words that reflect the new perspective gained through your research. That helps keep your ideas fresh for your readers. An effective writer might conclude a paper by asking a new question the research inspired, revisiting an anecdote presented earlier, or reminding readers of how the topic relates to their lives.

Writing at Work

If your job involves writing or reading scientific papers, it helps to understand how professional researchers use the structure described in this section. A scientific paper begins with an abstract that briefly summarizes the entire paper. The introduction explains the purpose of the research, briefly summarizes previous research, and presents the researchers’ hypothesis. The body provides details about the study, such as who participated in it, what the researchers measured, and what results they recorded. The conclusion presents the researchers’ interpretation of the data, or what they learned.

Using Source Material in Your Paper

One of the challenges of writing a research paper is successfully integrating your ideas with material from your sources. Your paper must explain what you think, or it will read like a disconnected string of facts and quotations. However, you also need to support your ideas with research, or they will seem insubstantial. How do you strike the right balance?

You have already taken a step in the right direction by writing your introduction. The introduction and conclusion function like the frame around a picture. They define and limit your topic and place your research in context.

In the body paragraphs of your paper, you will need to integrate ideas carefully at the paragraph level and at the sentence level. You will use topic sentences in your paragraphs to make sure readers understand the significance of any facts, details, or quotations you cite. You will also include sentences that transition between ideas from your research, either within a paragraph or between paragraphs. At the sentence level, you will need to think carefully about how you introduce paraphrased and quoted material.

Earlier you learned about summarizing, paraphrasing, and quoting when taking notes. In the next few sections, you will learn how to use these techniques in the body of your paper to weave in source material to support your ideas.

Summarizing Sources

When you summarize material from a source, you zero in on the main points and restate them concisely in your own words. This technique is appropriate when only the major ideas are relevant to your paper or when you need to simplify complex information into a few key points for your readers.

Be sure to review the source material as you summarize it. Identify the main idea and restate it as concisely as you can—preferably in one sentence. Depending on your purpose, you may also add another sentence or two condensing any important details or examples. Check your summary to make sure it is accurate and complete.

In his draft, Jorge summarized research materials that presented scientists’ findings about low-carbohydrate diets. Read the following passage from a trade magazine article and Jorge’s summary of the article.

Assessing the Efficacy of Low-Carbohydrate Diets

Adrienne Howell, Ph.D.

Over the past few years, a number of clinical studies have explored whether high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets are more effective for weight loss than other frequently recommended diet plans, such as diets that drastically curtail fat intake (Pritikin) or that emphasize consuming lean meats, grains, vegetables, and a moderate amount of unsaturated fats (the Mediterranean diet). A 2009 study found that obese teenagers who followed a low-carbohydrate diet lost an average of 15.6 kilograms over a six-month period, whereas teenagers following a low-fat diet or a Mediterranean diet lost an average of 11.1 kilograms and 9.3 kilograms respectively. Two 2010 studies that measured weight loss for obese adults following these same three diet plans found similar results. Over three months, subjects on the low-carbohydrate diet plan lost anywhere from four to six kilograms more than subjects who followed other diet plans.

In three recent studies, researchers compared outcomes for obese subjects who followed either a low-carbohydrate diet, a low-fat diet, or a Mediterranean diet and found that subjects following a low-carbohydrate diet lost more weight in the same time (Howell, 2010).

A summary restates ideas in your own words—but for specialized or clinical terms, you may need to use terms that appear in the original source. For instance, Jorge used the term obese in his summary because related words such as heavy or overweight have a different clinical meaning.

On a separate sheet of paper, practice summarizing by writing a one-sentence summary of the same passage that Jorge already summarized.

Paraphrasing Sources

When you paraphrase material from a source, restate the information from an entire sentence or passage in your own words, using your own original sentence structure. A paraphrased source differs from a summarized source in that you focus on restating the ideas, not condensing them.

Again, it is important to check your paraphrase against the source material to make sure it is both accurate and original. Inexperienced writers sometimes use the thesaurus method of paraphrasing—that is, they simply rewrite the source material, replacing most of the words with synonyms. This constitutes a misuse of sources. A true paraphrase restates ideas using the writer’s own language and style.

In his draft, Jorge frequently paraphrased details from sources. At times, he needed to rewrite a sentence more than once to ensure he was paraphrasing ideas correctly. Read the passage from a website. Then read Jorge’s initial attempt at paraphrasing it, followed by the final version of his paraphrase.

Dieters nearly always get great results soon after they begin following a low-carbohydrate diet, but these results tend to taper off after the first few months, particularly because many dieters find it difficult to follow a low-carbohydrate diet plan consistently.

People usually see encouraging outcomes shortly after they go on a low-carbohydrate diet, but their progress slows down after a short while, especially because most discover that it is a challenge to adhere to the diet strictly (Heinz, 2009).

After reviewing the paraphrased sentence, Jorge realized he was following the original source too closely. He did not want to quote the full passage verbatim, so he again attempted to restate the idea in his own style.

Because it is hard for dieters to stick to a low-carbohydrate eating plan, the initial success of these diets is short-lived (Heinz, 2009).

On a separate sheet of paper, follow these steps to practice paraphrasing.

• Choose an important idea or detail from your notes.
• Without looking at the original source, restate the idea in your own words.
• Check your paraphrase against the original text in the source. Make sure both your language and your sentence structure are original.
• Revise your paraphrase if necessary.

Quoting Sources Directly

Most of the time, you will summarize or paraphrase source material instead of quoting directly. Doing so shows that you understand your research well enough to write about it confidently in your own words. However, direct quotes can be powerful when used sparingly and with purpose.

Quoting directly can sometimes help you make a point in a colorful way. If an author’s words are especially vivid, memorable, or well phrased, quoting them may help hold your reader’s interest. Direct quotations from an interviewee or an eyewitness may help you personalize an issue for readers. And when you analyze primary sources, such as a historical speech or a work of literature, quoting extensively is often necessary to illustrate your points. These are valid reasons to use quotations.

Less experienced writers, however, sometimes overuse direct quotations in a research paper because it seems easier than paraphrasing. At best, this reduces the effectiveness of the quotations. At worst, it results in a paper that seems haphazardly pasted together from outside sources. Use quotations sparingly for greater impact.

When you do choose to quote directly from a source, follow these guidelines:

• Make sure you have transcribed the original statement accurately.
• Represent the author’s ideas honestly. Quote enough of the original text to reflect the author’s point accurately.
• Never use a stand-alone quotation. Always integrate the quoted material into your own sentence.
• Use ellipses (…) if you need to omit a word or phrase. Use brackets [ ] if you need to replace a word or phrase.
• Make sure any omissions or changed words do not alter the meaning of the original text. Omit or replace words only when absolutely necessary to shorten the text or to make it grammatically correct within your sentence.
• Remember to include correctly formatted citations that follow the assigned style guide.

Jorge interviewed a dietician as part of his research, and he decided to quote her words in his paper. Read an excerpt from the interview and Jorge’s use of it, which follows.

Personally, I don’t really buy into all of the hype about low-carbohydrate miracle diets like Atkins and so on. Sure, for some people, they are great, but for most, any sensible eating and exercise plan would work just as well.

Registered dietician Dana Kwon (2010) admits, “Personally, I don’t really buy into all of the hype.…Sure, for some people, [low-carbohydrate diets] are great, but for most, any sensible eating and exercise plan would work just as well.”

Notice how Jorge smoothly integrated the quoted material by starting the sentence with an introductory phrase. His use of ellipses and brackets did not change the source’s meaning.

Documenting Source Material

Throughout the writing process, be scrupulous about documenting information taken from sources. The purpose of doing so is twofold:

• To give credit to other writers or researchers for their ideas
• To allow your reader to follow up and learn more about the topic if desired

You will cite sources within the body of your paper and at the end of the paper in your bibliography. For this assignment, you will use the citation format used by the American Psychological Association (also known as APA style). For information on the format used by the Modern Language Association (MLA style), see Chapter 13 “APA and MLA Documentation and Formatting” .

Citing Sources in the Body of Your Paper

In-text citations document your sources within the body of your paper. These include two vital pieces of information: the author’s name and the year the source material was published. When quoting a print source, also include in the citation the page number where the quoted material originally appears. The page number will follow the year in the in-text citation. Page numbers are necessary only when content has been directly quoted, not when it has been summarized or paraphrased.

Within a paragraph, this information may appear as part of your introduction to the material or as a parenthetical citation at the end of a sentence. Read the examples that follow. For more information about in-text citations for other source types, see Chapter 13 “APA and MLA Documentation and Formatting” .

Leibowitz (2008) found that low-carbohydrate diets often helped subjects with Type II diabetes maintain a healthy weight and control blood-sugar levels.

The introduction to the source material includes the author’s name followed by the year of publication in parentheses.

Low-carbohydrate diets often help subjects with Type II diabetes maintain a healthy weight and control blood-sugar levels (Leibowitz, 2008).

The parenthetical citation at the end of the sentence includes the author’s name, a comma, and the year the source was published. The period at the end of the sentence comes after the parentheses.

Creating a List of References

Each of the sources you cite in the body text will appear in a references list at the end of your paper. While in-text citations provide the most basic information about the source, your references section will include additional publication details. In general, you will include the following information:

• The author’s last name followed by his or her first (and sometimes middle) initial
• The year the source was published
• The source title
• For articles in periodicals, the full name of the periodical, along with the volume and issue number and the pages where the article appeared

Additional information may be included for different types of sources, such as online sources. For a detailed guide to APA or MLA citations, see Chapter 13 “APA and MLA Documentation and Formatting” . A sample reference list is provided with the final draft of Jorge’s paper later in this chapter.

Using Primary and Secondary Research

As you write your draft, be mindful of how you are using primary and secondary source material to support your points. Recall that primary sources present firsthand information. Secondary sources are one step removed from primary sources. They present a writer’s analysis or interpretation of primary source materials. How you balance primary and secondary source material in your paper will depend on the topic and assignment.

Using Primary Sources Effectively

Some types of research papers must use primary sources extensively to achieve their purpose. Any paper that analyzes a primary text or presents the writer’s own experimental research falls in this category. Here are a few examples:

• A paper for a literature course analyzing several poems by Emily Dickinson
• A paper for a political science course comparing televised speeches delivered by two presidential candidates
• A paper for a communications course discussing gender biases in television commercials
• A paper for a business administration course that discusses the results of a survey the writer conducted with local businesses to gather information about their work-from-home and flextime policies
• A paper for an elementary education course that discusses the results of an experiment the writer conducted to compare the effectiveness of two different methods of mathematics instruction

For these types of papers, primary research is the main focus. If you are writing about a work (including nonprint works, such as a movie or a painting), it is crucial to gather information and ideas from the original work, rather than relying solely on others’ interpretations. And, of course, if you take the time to design and conduct your own field research, such as a survey, a series of interviews, or an experiment, you will want to discuss it in detail. For example, the interviews may provide interesting responses that you want to share with your reader.

Using Secondary Sources Effectively

For some assignments, it makes sense to rely more on secondary sources than primary sources. If you are not analyzing a text or conducting your own field research, you will need to use secondary sources extensively.

As much as possible, use secondary sources that are closely linked to primary research, such as a journal article presenting the results of the authors’ scientific study or a book that cites interviews and case studies. These sources are more reliable and add more value to your paper than sources that are further removed from primary research. For instance, a popular magazine article on junk-food addiction might be several steps removed from the original scientific study on which it is loosely based. As a result, the article may distort, sensationalize, or misinterpret the scientists’ findings.

Even if your paper is largely based on primary sources, you may use secondary sources to develop your ideas. For instance, an analysis of Alfred Hitchcock’s films would focus on the films themselves as a primary source, but might also cite commentary from critics. A paper that presents an original experiment would include some discussion of similar prior research in the field.

Jorge knew he did not have the time, resources, or experience needed to conduct original experimental research for his paper. Because he was relying on secondary sources to support his ideas, he made a point of citing sources that were not far removed from primary research.

Some sources could be considered primary or secondary sources, depending on the writer’s purpose for using them. For instance, if a writer’s purpose is to inform readers about how the No Child Left Behind legislation has affected elementary education, a Time magazine article on the subject would be a secondary source. However, suppose the writer’s purpose is to analyze how the news media has portrayed the effects of the No Child Left Behind legislation. In that case, articles about the legislation in news magazines like Time , Newsweek , and US News & World Report would be primary sources. They provide firsthand examples of the media coverage the writer is analyzing.

Avoiding Plagiarism

Your research paper presents your thinking about a topic, supported and developed by other people’s ideas and information. It is crucial to always distinguish between the two—as you conduct research, as you plan your paper, and as you write. Failure to do so can lead to plagiarism.

Intentional and Accidental Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the act of misrepresenting someone else’s work as your own. Sometimes a writer plagiarizes work on purpose—for instance, by purchasing an essay from a website and submitting it as original course work. In other cases, a writer may commit accidental plagiarism due to carelessness, haste, or misunderstanding. To avoid unintentional plagiarism, follow these guidelines:

• Understand what types of information must be cited.
• Understand what constitutes fair use of a source.
• Keep source materials and notes carefully organized.
• Follow guidelines for summarizing, paraphrasing, and quoting sources.

When to Cite

Any idea or fact taken from an outside source must be cited, in both the body of your paper and the references list. The only exceptions are facts or general statements that are common knowledge. Common-knowledge facts or general statements are commonly supported by and found in multiple sources. For example, a writer would not need to cite the statement that most breads, pastas, and cereals are high in carbohydrates; this is well known and well documented. However, if a writer explained in detail the differences among the chemical structures of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, a citation would be necessary. When in doubt, cite.

In recent years, issues related to the fair use of sources have been prevalent in popular culture. Recording artists, for example, may disagree about the extent to which one has the right to sample another’s music. For academic purposes, however, the guidelines for fair use are reasonably straightforward.

Writers may quote from or paraphrase material from previously published works without formally obtaining the copyright holder’s permission. Fair use means that the writer legitimately uses brief excerpts from source material to support and develop his or her own ideas. For instance, a columnist may excerpt a few sentences from a novel when writing a book review. However, quoting or paraphrasing another’s work at excessive length, to the extent that large sections of the writing are unoriginal, is not fair use.

As he worked on his draft, Jorge was careful to cite his sources correctly and not to rely excessively on any one source. Occasionally, however, he caught himself quoting a source at great length. In those instances, he highlighted the paragraph in question so that he could go back to it later and revise. Read the example, along with Jorge’s revision.

Heinz (2009) found that “subjects in the low-carbohydrate group (30% carbohydrates; 40% protein, 30% fat) had a mean weight loss of 10 kg (22 lbs) over a 4-month period.” These results were “noticeably better than results for subjects on a low-fat diet (45% carbohydrates, 35% protein, 20% fat)” whose average weight loss was only “7 kg (15.4 lbs) in the same period.” From this, it can be concluded that “low-carbohydrate diets obtain more rapid results.” Other researchers agree that “at least in the short term, patients following low-carbohydrate diets enjoy greater success” than those who follow alternative plans (Johnson & Crowe, 2010).

After reviewing the paragraph, Jorge realized that he had drifted into unoriginal writing. Most of the paragraph was taken verbatim from a single article. Although Jorge had enclosed the material in quotation marks, he knew it was not an appropriate way to use the research in his paper.

Low-carbohydrate diets may indeed be superior to other diet plans for short-term weight loss. In a study comparing low-carbohydrate diets and low-fat diets, Heinz (2009) found that subjects who followed a low-carbohydrate plan (30% of total calories) for 4 months lost, on average, about 3 kilograms more than subjects who followed a low-fat diet for the same time. Heinz concluded that these plans yield quick results, an idea supported by a similar study conducted by Johnson and Crowe (2010). What remains to be seen, however, is whether this initial success can be sustained for longer periods.

As Jorge revised the paragraph, he realized he did not need to quote these sources directly. Instead, he paraphrased their most important findings. He also made sure to include a topic sentence stating the main idea of the paragraph and a concluding sentence that transitioned to the next major topic in his essay.

Working with Sources Carefully

Disorganization and carelessness sometimes lead to plagiarism. For instance, a writer may be unable to provide a complete, accurate citation if he didn’t record bibliographical information. A writer may cut and paste a passage from a website into her paper and later forget where the material came from. A writer who procrastinates may rush through a draft, which easily leads to sloppy paraphrasing and inaccurate quotations. Any of these actions can create the appearance of plagiarism and lead to negative consequences.

Carefully organizing your time and notes is the best guard against these forms of plagiarism. Maintain a detailed working bibliography and thorough notes throughout the research process. Check original sources again to clear up any uncertainties. Allow plenty of time for writing your draft so there is no temptation to cut corners.

Citing other people’s work appropriately is just as important in the workplace as it is in school. If you need to consult outside sources to research a document you are creating, follow the general guidelines already discussed, as well as any industry-specific citation guidelines. For more extensive use of others’ work—for instance, requesting permission to link to another company’s website on your own corporate website—always follow your employer’s established procedures.

Academic Integrity

The concepts and strategies discussed in this section of Chapter 12 “Writing a Research Paper” connect to a larger issue—academic integrity. You maintain your integrity as a member of an academic community by representing your work and others’ work honestly and by using other people’s work only in legitimately accepted ways. It is a point of honor taken seriously in every academic discipline and career field.

Academic integrity violations have serious educational and professional consequences. Even when cheating and plagiarism go undetected, they still result in a student’s failure to learn necessary research and writing skills. Students who are found guilty of academic integrity violations face consequences ranging from a failing grade to expulsion from the university. Employees may be fired for plagiarism and do irreparable damage to their professional reputation. In short, it is never worth the risk.

Key Takeaways

• An effective research paper focuses on the writer’s ideas. The introduction and conclusion present and revisit the writer’s thesis. The body of the paper develops the thesis and related points with information from research.
• Ideas and information taken from outside sources must be cited in the body of the paper and in the references section.
• Material taken from sources should be used to develop the writer’s ideas. Summarizing and paraphrasing are usually most effective for this purpose.
• A summary concisely restates the main ideas of a source in the writer’s own words.
• A paraphrase restates ideas from a source using the writer’s own words and sentence structures.
• Direct quotations should be used sparingly. Ellipses and brackets must be used to indicate words that were omitted or changed for conciseness or grammatical correctness.
• Always represent material from outside sources accurately.
• Plagiarism has serious academic and professional consequences. To avoid accidental plagiarism, keep research materials organized, understand guidelines for fair use and appropriate citation of sources, and review the paper to make sure these guidelines are followed.

Writing for Success Copyright © 2015 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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16.1: Formatting a Research Paper

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• Page ID 251725

• Liza Long, Amy Minervini, and Joel Gladd
• College of Western Idaho, College of Western Idaho, and Lewis-Clark State College

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Learning Objectives

• Identify the major components of a research paper written using American Psychological Association (APA) style.
• Apply general APA style and formatting conventions in a research paper.

In this chapter, you will learn how to use APA style, the documentation and formatting style followed by the American Psychological Association, as well as MLA style, from the Modern Language Association. There are a few major formatting styles used in academic texts, including AMA, Chicago, and Turabian:

• AMA (American Medical Association) for medicine, health, and biological sciences
• APA (American Psychological Association) for education, psychology, and the social sciences
• Chicago—a common style used in everyday publications like magazines, newspapers, and books
• MLA (Modern Language Association) for English, literature, arts, and humanities
• Turabian—another common style designed for its universal application across all subjects and disciplines

While all the formatting and citation styles have their own use and applications, in this chapter we focus our attention on the two styles you are most likely to use in your academic studies: APA and MLA.

If you find that the rules of proper source documentation are difficult to keep straight, you are not alone. Writing a good research paper is, in and of itself, a major intellectual challenge. Having to follow detailed citation and formatting guidelines as well may seem like just one more task to add to an already-too-long list of requirements.

Following these guidelines, however, serves several important purposes. First, it signals to your readers that your paper should be taken seriously as a student’s contribution to a given academic or professional field; it is the literary equivalent of wearing a tailored suit to a job interview. Second, it shows that you respect other people’s work enough to give them proper credit for it. Finally, it helps your reader find additional materials if he or she wishes to learn more about your topic.

Furthermore, producing a letter-perfect APA-style paper need not be burdensome. Yes, it requires careful attention to detail. However, you can simplify the process if you keep these broad guidelines in mind:

• Work ahead whenever you can. Chapter 11 includes tips for keeping track of your sources early in the research process, which will save time later on.
• Get it right the first time. Apply APA guidelines as you write, so you will not have much to correct during the editing stage. Again, putting in a little extra time early on can save time later.
• Use the resources available to you. In addition to the guidelines provided in this chapter, you may wish to consult the APA website at http://www.apa.org or the Purdue University Online Writing lab at http://owl.english.purdue.edu , which regularly updates its online style guidelines.

General Formatting Guidelines

This chapter provides detailed guidelines for using the citation and formatting conventions developed by the American Psychological Association, or APA. Writers in disciplines as diverse as astrophysics, biology, psychology, and education follow APA style. The major components of a paper written in APA style are listed in the following box.

These are the major components of an APA-style paper:

• Headings and, if necessary, subheadings to organize the content
• In-text citations of research sources
• References page

All these components must be saved in one document, not as separate documents.

The title page of your paper includes the following information:

• Title of the paper
• Author’s name
• Name of the institution with which the author is affiliated
• Header at the top of the page with the paper title (in capital letters) and the page number (If the title is lengthy, you may use a shortened form of it in the header.)

List the first three elements in the order given in the previous list, centered about one third of the way down from the top of the page. Use the headers and footers tool of your word-processing program to add the header, with the title text at the left and the page number in the upper-right corner. Your title page should look like the following example.

The next page of your paper provides an abstract, or brief summary of your findings. An abstract does not need to be provided in every paper, but an abstract should be used in papers that include a hypothesis. A good abstract is concise—about one hundred to one hundred fifty words—and is written in an objective, impersonal style. Your writing voice will not be as apparent here as in the body of your paper. When writing the abstract, take a just-the-facts approach, and summarize your research question and your findings in a few sentences.

In Chapter 12, you read a paper written by a student named Jorge, who researched the effectiveness of low-carbohydrate diets. Read Jorge’s abstract. Note how it sums up the major ideas in his paper without going into excessive detail.

Exercise \(\PageIndex{1}\)

Write an abstract summarizing your paper. Briefly introduce the topic, state your findings, and sum up what conclusions you can draw from your research. Use the word count feature of your word-processing program to make sure your abstract does not exceed one hundred fifty words.

Depending on your field of study, you may sometimes write research papers that present extensive primary research, such as your own experiment or survey. In your abstract, summarize your research question and your findings, and briefly indicate how your study relates to prior research in the field.

Margins, Pagination, and Headings

APA style requirements also address specific formatting concerns, such as margins, pagination, and heading styles, within the body of the paper. Review the following APA guidelines.

Use these general guidelines to format the paper:

• Set the top, bottom, and side margins of your paper at 1 inch.
• Use double-spaced text throughout your paper.
• Use a standard font, such as Times New Roman or Arial, in a legible size (10- to 12-point).
• Use continuous pagination throughout the paper, including the title page and the references section. Page numbers appear flush right within your header.
• Section headings and subsection headings within the body of your paper use different types of formatting depending on the level of information you are presenting. Additional details from Jorge’s paper are provided.

Exercise \(\PageIndex{2}\)

Begin formatting the final draft of your paper according to APA guidelines. You may work with an existing document or set up a new document if you choose. Include the following:

• Your title page
• The abstract you created in Exercise 1
• Correct headers and page numbers for your title page and abstract

APA style uses section headings to organize information, making it easy for the reader to follow the writer’s train of thought and to know immediately what major topics are covered. Depending on the length and complexity of the paper, its major sections may also be divided into subsections, sub-subsections, and so on. These smaller sections, in turn, use different heading styles to indicate different levels of information. In essence, you are using headings to create a hierarchy of information.

The following heading styles used in APA formatting are listed in order of greatest to least importance:

• Section headings use centered, boldface type. Headings use title case, with important words in the heading capitalized.
• Subsection headings use left-aligned, boldface type. Headings use title case.
• The third level uses left-aligned, indented, boldface type. Headings use a capital letter only for the first word, and they end in a period.
• The fourth level follows the same style used for the previous level, but the headings are boldfaced and italicized.
• The fifth level follows the same style used for the previous level, but the headings are italicized and not boldfaced.

Visually, the hierarchy of information is organized as indicated in Table 13.1 “Section Headings”.

A college research paper may not use all the heading levels shown in Table 13.1 “Section Headings”, but you are likely to encounter them in academic journal articles that use APA style. For a brief paper, you may find that level 1 headings suffice. Longer or more complex papers may need level 2 headings or other lower-level headings to organize information clearly. Use your outline to craft your major section headings and determine whether any subtopics are substantial enough to require additional levels of headings.

Exercise \(\PageIndex{3}\)

Working with the document you developed in Note 13.11 “Exercise 2”, begin setting up the heading structure of the final draft of your research paper according to APA guidelines. Include your title and at least two to three major section headings, and follow the formatting guidelines provided above. If your major sections should be broken into subsections, add those headings as well. Use your outline to help you.

Because Jorge used only level 1 headings, his Exercise 3 would look like the following:

Citation Guidelines

In-text citations.

Throughout the body of your paper, include a citation whenever you quote or paraphrase material from your research sources. As you learned in Chapter 11, the purpose of citations is twofold: to give credit to others for their ideas and to allow your reader to follow up and learn more about the topic if desired. Your in-text citations provide basic information about your source; each source you cite will have a longer entry in the references section that provides more detailed information.

In-text citations must provide the name of the author or authors and the year the source was published. (When a given source does not list an individual author, you may provide the source title or the name of the organization that published the material instead.) When directly quoting a source, it is also required that you include the page number where the quote appears in your citation.

This information may be included within the sentence or in a parenthetical reference at the end of the sentence, as in these examples.

Epstein (2010) points out that “junk food cannot be considered addictive in the same way that we think of psychoactive drugs as addictive” (p. 137).

Here, the writer names the source author when introducing the quote and provides the publication date in parentheses after the author’s name. The page number appears in parentheses after the closing quotation marks and before the period that ends the sentence.

Addiction researchers caution that “junk food cannot be considered addictive in the same way that we think of psychoactive drugs as addictive” (Epstein, 2010, p. 137).

Here, the writer provides a parenthetical citation at the end of the sentence that includes the author’s name, the year of publication, and the page number separated by commas. Again, the parenthetical citation is placed after the closing quotation marks and before the period at the end of the sentence.

As noted in the book Junk Food, Junk Science (Epstein, 2010, p. 137), “junk food cannot be considered addictive in the same way that we think of psychoactive drugs as addictive.”

Here, the writer chose to mention the source title in the sentence (an optional piece of information to include) and followed the title with a parenthetical citation. Note that the parenthetical citation is placed before the comma that signals the end of the introductory phrase.

David Epstein’s book Junk Food, Junk Science (2010) pointed out that “junk food cannot be considered addictive in the same way that we think of psychoactive drugs as addictive” (p. 137).

Another variation is to introduce the author and the source title in your sentence and include the publication date and page number in parentheses within the sentence or at the end of the sentence. As long as you have included the essential information, you can choose the option that works best for that particular sentence and source.

Citing a book with a single author is usually a straightforward task. Of course, your research may require that you cite many other types of sources, such as books or articles with more than one author or sources with no individual author listed. You may also need to cite sources available in both print and online and nonprint sources, such as websites and personal interviews. Section 13.2 and Section 13.3 provide extensive guidelines for citing a variety of source types.

writing at work

APA is just one of several different styles with its own guidelines for documentation, formatting, and language usage. Depending on your field of interest, you may be exposed to additional styles, such as the following:

• MLA style. Determined by the Modern Languages Association and used for papers in literature, languages, and other disciplines in the humanities.
• Chicago style. Outlined in the Chicago Manual of Style and sometimes used for papers in the humanities and the sciences; many professional organizations use this style for publications as well.
• Associated Press (AP) style. Used by professional journalists.

References List

The brief citations included in the body of your paper correspond to the more detailed citations provided at the end of the paper in the references section. In-text citations provide basic information—the author’s name, the publication date, and the page number if necessary—while the references section provides more extensive bibliographical information. Again, this information allows your reader to follow up on the sources you cited and do additional reading about the topic if desired.

The specific format of entries in the list of references varies slightly for different source types, but the entries generally include the following information:

• The name(s) of the author(s) or institution that wrote the source
• The year of publication and, where applicable, the exact date of publication
• The full title of the source
• For books, the city of publication
• For articles or essays, the name of the periodical or book in which the article or essay appears
• For magazine and journal articles, the volume number, issue number, and pages where the article appears
• For sources on the web, the URL where the source is located

The references page is double spaced and lists entries in alphabetical order by the author’s last name. If an entry continues for more than one line, the second line and each subsequent line are indented five spaces. Review the following example. (Section 13.3 provides extensive guidelines for formatting reference entries for different types of sources.)

In APA style, book and article titles are formatted in sentence case, not title case. Sentence case means that only the first word is capitalized, along with any proper nouns.

Key Takeaways

• Following proper citation and formatting guidelines helps writers ensure that their work will be taken seriously, give proper credit to other authors for their work, and provide valuable information to readers.
• Working ahead and taking care to cite sources correctly the first time are ways writers can save time during the editing stage of writing a research paper.
• APA papers usually include an abstract that concisely summarizes the paper.
• APA papers use a specific headings structure to provide a clear hierarchy of information.
• In APA papers, in-text citations usually include the name(s) of the author(s) and the year of publication.
• In-text citations correspond to entries in the references section, which provide detailed bibliographical information about a source.

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Research Paper Format – Types, Examples and Templates

Table of Contents

Research paper format is an essential aspect of academic writing that plays a crucial role in the communication of research findings . The format of a research paper depends on various factors such as the discipline, style guide, and purpose of the research. It includes guidelines for the structure, citation style, referencing , and other elements of the paper that contribute to its overall presentation and coherence. Adhering to the appropriate research paper format is vital for ensuring that the research is accurately and effectively communicated to the intended audience. In this era of information, it is essential to understand the different research paper formats and their guidelines to communicate research effectively, accurately, and with the required level of detail. This post aims to provide an overview of some of the common research paper formats used in academic writing.

Research Paper Formats

Research Paper Formats are as follows:

• APA (American Psychological Association) format
• MLA (Modern Language Association) format
• Chicago/Turabian style
• IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) format
• AMA (American Medical Association) style
• Harvard style
• Vancouver style
• ACS (American Chemical Society) style
• ASA (American Sociological Association) style
• APSA (American Political Science Association) style

APA (American Psychological Association) Format

Here is a general APA format for a research paper:

• Title Page: The title page should include the title of your paper, your name, and your institutional affiliation. It should also include a running head, which is a shortened version of the title, and a page number in the upper right-hand corner.
• Abstract : The abstract is a brief summary of your paper, typically 150-250 words. It should include the purpose of your research, the main findings, and any implications or conclusions that can be drawn.
• Introduction: The introduction should provide background information on your topic, state the purpose of your research, and present your research question or hypothesis. It should also include a brief literature review that discusses previous research on your topic.
• Methods: The methods section should describe the procedures you used to collect and analyze your data. It should include information on the participants, the materials and instruments used, and the statistical analyses performed.
• Results: The results section should present the findings of your research in a clear and concise manner. Use tables and figures to help illustrate your results.
• Discussion : The discussion section should interpret your results and relate them back to your research question or hypothesis. It should also discuss the implications of your findings and any limitations of your study.
• References : The references section should include a list of all sources cited in your paper. Follow APA formatting guidelines for your citations and references.

Some additional tips for formatting your APA research paper:

• Use 12-point Times New Roman font throughout the paper.
• Double-space all text, including the references.
• Use 1-inch margins on all sides of the page.
• Indent the first line of each paragraph by 0.5 inches.
• Use a hanging indent for the references (the first line should be flush with the left margin, and all subsequent lines should be indented).
• Number all pages, including the title page and references page, in the upper right-hand corner.

APA Research Paper Format Template

APA Research Paper Format Template is as follows:

Title Page:

• Title of the paper
• Author’s name
• Institutional affiliation
• A brief summary of the main points of the paper, including the research question, methods, findings, and conclusions. The abstract should be no more than 250 words.

Introduction:

• Background information on the topic of the research paper
• Research question or hypothesis
• Significance of the study
• Overview of the research methods and design
• Brief summary of the main findings
• Participants: description of the sample population, including the number of participants and their characteristics (age, gender, ethnicity, etc.)
• Materials: description of any materials used in the study (e.g., survey questions, experimental apparatus)
• Procedure: detailed description of the steps taken to conduct the study
• Presentation of the findings of the study, including statistical analyses if applicable
• Tables and figures may be included to illustrate the results

Discussion:

• Interpretation of the results in light of the research question and hypothesis
• Implications of the study for the field
• Limitations of the study
• Suggestions for future research

References:

• A list of all sources cited in the paper, in APA format

Formatting guidelines:

• Double-spaced
• 12-point font (Times New Roman or Arial)
• 1-inch margins on all sides
• Page numbers in the top right corner
• Headings and subheadings should be used to organize the paper
• The first line of each paragraph should be indented
• Quotations of 40 or more words should be set off in a block quote with no quotation marks
• In-text citations should include the author’s last name and year of publication (e.g., Smith, 2019)

APA Research Paper Format Example

APA Research Paper Format Example is as follows:

The Effects of Social Media on Mental Health

University of XYZ

This study examines the relationship between social media use and mental health among college students. Data was collected through a survey of 500 students at the University of XYZ. Results suggest that social media use is significantly related to symptoms of depression and anxiety, and that the negative effects of social media are greater among frequent users.

Social media has become an increasingly important aspect of modern life, especially among young adults. While social media can have many positive effects, such as connecting people across distances and sharing information, there is growing concern about its impact on mental health. This study aims to examine the relationship between social media use and mental health among college students.

Participants: Participants were 500 college students at the University of XYZ, recruited through online advertisements and flyers posted on campus. Participants ranged in age from 18 to 25, with a mean age of 20.5 years. The sample was 60% female, 40% male, and 5% identified as non-binary or gender non-conforming.

Data was collected through an online survey administered through Qualtrics. The survey consisted of several measures, including the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) for depression symptoms, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) for anxiety symptoms, and questions about social media use.

Procedure :

Participants were asked to complete the online survey at their convenience. The survey took approximately 20-30 minutes to complete. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlations, and multiple regression analysis.

Results indicated that social media use was significantly related to symptoms of depression (r = .32, p < .001) and anxiety (r = .29, p < .001). Regression analysis indicated that frequency of social media use was a significant predictor of both depression symptoms (β = .24, p < .001) and anxiety symptoms (β = .20, p < .001), even when controlling for age, gender, and other relevant factors.

The results of this study suggest that social media use is associated with symptoms of depression and anxiety among college students. The negative effects of social media are greater among frequent users. These findings have important implications for mental health professionals and educators, who should consider addressing the potential negative effects of social media use in their work with young adults.

References :

References should be listed in alphabetical order according to the author’s last name. For example:

• Chou, H. T. G., & Edge, N. (2012). “They are happier and having better lives than I am”: The impact of using Facebook on perceptions of others’ lives. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 15(2), 117-121.
• Twenge, J. M., Joiner, T. E., Rogers, M. L., & Martin, G. N. (2018). Increases in depressive symptoms, suicide-related outcomes, and suicide rates among U.S. adolescents after 2010 and links to increased new media screen time. Clinical Psychological Science, 6(1), 3-17.

Note: This is just a sample Example do not use this in your assignment.

MLA (Modern Language Association) Format

MLA (Modern Language Association) Format is as follows:

• Page Layout : Use 8.5 x 11-inch white paper, with 1-inch margins on all sides. The font should be 12-point Times New Roman or a similar serif font.
• Heading and Title : The first page of your research paper should include a heading and a title. The heading should include your name, your instructor’s name, the course title, and the date. The title should be centered and in title case (capitalizing the first letter of each important word).
• In-Text Citations : Use parenthetical citations to indicate the source of your information. The citation should include the author’s last name and the page number(s) of the source. For example: (Smith 23).
• Works Cited Page : At the end of your paper, include a Works Cited page that lists all the sources you used in your research. Each entry should include the author’s name, the title of the work, the publication information, and the medium of publication.
• Formatting Quotations : Use double quotation marks for short quotations and block quotations for longer quotations. Indent the entire quotation five spaces from the left margin.
• Formatting the Body : Use a clear and readable font and double-space your text throughout. The first line of each paragraph should be indented one-half inch from the left margin.

MLA Research Paper Template

MLA Research Paper Format Template is as follows:

• Use 8.5 x 11 inch white paper.
• Use a 12-point font, such as Times New Roman.
• Use double-spacing throughout the entire paper, including the title page and works cited page.
• Set the margins to 1 inch on all sides.
• Use page numbers in the upper right corner, beginning with the first page of text.
• Include a centered title for the research paper, using title case (capitalizing the first letter of each important word).
• Include your name, instructor’s name, course name, and date in the upper left corner, double-spaced.

In-Text Citations

• When quoting or paraphrasing information from sources, include an in-text citation within the text of your paper.
• Use the author’s last name and the page number in parentheses at the end of the sentence, before the punctuation mark.
• If the author’s name is mentioned in the sentence, only include the page number in parentheses.

Works Cited Page

• List all sources cited in alphabetical order by the author’s last name.
• Each entry should include the author’s name, title of the work, publication information, and medium of publication.
• Use italics for book and journal titles, and quotation marks for article and chapter titles.
• For online sources, include the date of access and the URL.

Here is an example of how the first page of a research paper in MLA format should look:

Headings and Subheadings

• Use headings and subheadings to organize your paper and make it easier to read.
• Use numerals to number your headings and subheadings (e.g. 1, 2, 3), and capitalize the first letter of each word.
• The main heading should be centered and in boldface type, while subheadings should be left-aligned and in italics.
• Use only one space after each period or punctuation mark.
• Use quotation marks to indicate direct quotes from a source.
• If the quote is more than four lines, format it as a block quote, indented one inch from the left margin and without quotation marks.
• Use ellipses (…) to indicate omitted words from a quote, and brackets ([…]) to indicate added words.

Works Cited Examples

• Book: Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Publication Year.
• Journal Article: Last Name, First Name. “Title of Article.” Title of Journal, volume number, issue number, publication date, page numbers.
• Website: Last Name, First Name. “Title of Webpage.” Title of Website, publication date, URL. Accessed date.

Here is an example of how a works cited entry for a book should look:

Smith, John. The Art of Writing Research Papers. Penguin, 2021.

MLA Research Paper Example

MLA Research Paper Format Example is as follows:

Your Professor’s Name

Course Name and Number

Date (in Day Month Year format)

Word Count (not including title page or Works Cited)

Title: The Impact of Video Games on Aggression Levels

Video games have become a popular form of entertainment among people of all ages. However, the impact of video games on aggression levels has been a subject of debate among scholars and researchers. While some argue that video games promote aggression and violent behavior, others argue that there is no clear link between video games and aggression levels. This research paper aims to explore the impact of video games on aggression levels among young adults.

Background:

The debate on the impact of video games on aggression levels has been ongoing for several years. According to the American Psychological Association, exposure to violent media, including video games, can increase aggression levels in children and adolescents. However, some researchers argue that there is no clear evidence to support this claim. Several studies have been conducted to examine the impact of video games on aggression levels, but the results have been mixed.

Methodology:

This research paper used a quantitative research approach to examine the impact of video games on aggression levels among young adults. A sample of 100 young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 was selected for the study. The participants were asked to complete a questionnaire that measured their aggression levels and their video game habits.

The results of the study showed that there was a significant correlation between video game habits and aggression levels among young adults. The participants who reported playing violent video games for more than 5 hours per week had higher aggression levels than those who played less than 5 hours per week. The study also found that male participants were more likely to play violent video games and had higher aggression levels than female participants.

The findings of this study support the claim that video games can increase aggression levels among young adults. However, it is important to note that the study only examined the impact of video games on aggression levels and did not take into account other factors that may contribute to aggressive behavior. It is also important to note that not all video games promote violence and aggression, and some games may have a positive impact on cognitive and social skills.

Conclusion :

In conclusion, this research paper provides evidence to support the claim that video games can increase aggression levels among young adults. However, it is important to conduct further research to examine the impact of video games on other aspects of behavior and to explore the potential benefits of video games. Parents and educators should be aware of the potential impact of video games on aggression levels and should encourage young adults to engage in a variety of activities that promote cognitive and social skills.

Works Cited:

• American Psychological Association. (2017). Violent Video Games: Myths, Facts, and Unanswered Questions. Retrieved from https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2017/08/violent-video-games
• Ferguson, C. J. (2015). Do Angry Birds make for angry children? A meta-analysis of video game influences on children’s and adolescents’ aggression, mental health, prosocial behavior, and academic performance. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 10(5), 646-666.
• Gentile, D. A., Swing, E. L., Lim, C. G., & Khoo, A. (2012). Video game playing, attention problems, and impulsiveness: Evidence of bidirectional causality. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 1(1), 62-70.
• Greitemeyer, T. (2014). Effects of prosocial video games on prosocial behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 106(4), 530-548.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Chicago/Turabian Formate is as follows:

• Margins : Use 1-inch margins on all sides of the paper.
• Font : Use a readable font such as Times New Roman or Arial, and use a 12-point font size.
• Page numbering : Number all pages in the upper right-hand corner, beginning with the first page of text. Use Arabic numerals.
• Title page: Include a title page with the title of the paper, your name, course title and number, instructor’s name, and the date. The title should be centered on the page and in title case (capitalize the first letter of each word).
• Headings: Use headings to organize your paper. The first level of headings should be centered and in boldface or italics. The second level of headings should be left-aligned and in boldface or italics. Use as many levels of headings as necessary to organize your paper.
• In-text citations : Use footnotes or endnotes to cite sources within the text of your paper. The first citation for each source should be a full citation, and subsequent citations can be shortened. Use superscript numbers to indicate footnotes or endnotes.
• Bibliography : Include a bibliography at the end of your paper, listing all sources cited in your paper. The bibliography should be in alphabetical order by the author’s last name, and each entry should include the author’s name, title of the work, publication information, and date of publication.
• Formatting of quotations: Use block quotations for quotations that are longer than four lines. Indent the entire quotation one inch from the left margin, and do not use quotation marks. Single-space the quotation, and double-space between paragraphs.
• Tables and figures: Use tables and figures to present data and illustrations. Number each table and figure sequentially, and provide a brief title for each. Place tables and figures as close as possible to the text that refers to them.
• Spelling and grammar : Use correct spelling and grammar throughout your paper. Proofread carefully for errors.

Chicago/Turabian Research Paper Template

Chicago/Turabian Research Paper Template is as folows:

Title of Paper

Name of Student

Professor’s Name

I. Introduction

A. Background Information

B. Research Question

C. Thesis Statement

II. Literature Review

A. Overview of Existing Literature

B. Analysis of Key Literature

C. Identification of Gaps in Literature

III. Methodology

A. Research Design

B. Data Collection

C. Data Analysis

IV. Results

A. Presentation of Findings

B. Analysis of Findings

C. Discussion of Implications

V. Conclusion

A. Summary of Findings

B. Implications for Future Research

C. Conclusion

VI. References

A. Bibliography

B. In-Text Citations

VII. Appendices (if necessary)

A. Data Tables

C. Additional Supporting Materials

Chicago/Turabian Research Paper Example

Title: The Impact of Social Media on Political Engagement

Name: John Smith

Class: POLS 101

Professor: Dr. Jane Doe

Date: April 8, 2023

I. Introduction:

Social media has become an integral part of our daily lives. People use social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to connect with friends and family, share their opinions, and stay informed about current events. With the rise of social media, there has been a growing interest in understanding its impact on various aspects of society, including political engagement. In this paper, I will examine the relationship between social media use and political engagement, specifically focusing on how social media influences political participation and political attitudes.

II. Literature Review:

There is a growing body of literature on the impact of social media on political engagement. Some scholars argue that social media has a positive effect on political participation by providing new channels for political communication and mobilization (Delli Carpini & Keeter, 1996; Putnam, 2000). Others, however, suggest that social media can have a negative impact on political engagement by creating filter bubbles that reinforce existing beliefs and discourage political dialogue (Pariser, 2011; Sunstein, 2001).

III. Methodology:

To examine the relationship between social media use and political engagement, I conducted a survey of 500 college students. The survey included questions about social media use, political participation, and political attitudes. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and regression analysis.

Iv. Results:

The results of the survey indicate that social media use is positively associated with political participation. Specifically, respondents who reported using social media to discuss politics were more likely to have participated in a political campaign, attended a political rally, or contacted a political representative. Additionally, social media use was found to be associated with more positive attitudes towards political engagement, such as increased trust in government and belief in the effectiveness of political action.

V. Conclusion:

The findings of this study suggest that social media has a positive impact on political engagement, by providing new opportunities for political communication and mobilization. However, there is also a need for caution, as social media can also create filter bubbles that reinforce existing beliefs and discourage political dialogue. Future research should continue to explore the complex relationship between social media and political engagement, and develop strategies to harness the potential benefits of social media while mitigating its potential negative effects.

Vii. References:

• Delli Carpini, M. X., & Keeter, S. (1996). What Americans know about politics and why it matters. Yale University Press.
• Pariser, E. (2011). The filter bubble: What the Internet is hiding from you. Penguin.
• Putnam, R. D. (2000). Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of American community. Simon & Schuster.
• Sunstein, C. R. (2001). Republic.com. Princeton University Press.

IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Format

IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Research Paper Format is as follows:

• Title : A concise and informative title that accurately reflects the content of the paper.
• Abstract : A brief summary of the paper, typically no more than 250 words, that includes the purpose of the study, the methods used, the key findings, and the main conclusions.
• Introduction : An overview of the background, context, and motivation for the research, including a clear statement of the problem being addressed and the objectives of the study.
• Literature review: A critical analysis of the relevant research and scholarship on the topic, including a discussion of any gaps or limitations in the existing literature.
• Methodology : A detailed description of the methods used to collect and analyze data, including any experiments or simulations, data collection instruments or procedures, and statistical analyses.
• Results : A clear and concise presentation of the findings, including any relevant tables, graphs, or figures.
• Discussion : A detailed interpretation of the results, including a comparison of the findings with previous research, a discussion of the implications of the results, and any recommendations for future research.
• Conclusion : A summary of the key findings and main conclusions of the study.
• References : A list of all sources cited in the paper, formatted according to IEEE guidelines.

In addition to these elements, an IEEE research paper should also follow certain formatting guidelines, including using 12-point font, double-spaced text, and numbered headings and subheadings. Additionally, any tables, figures, or equations should be clearly labeled and referenced in the text.

AMA (American Medical Association) Style

AMA (American Medical Association) Style Research Paper Format:

• Title Page: This page includes the title of the paper, the author’s name, institutional affiliation, and any acknowledgments or disclaimers.
• Abstract: The abstract is a brief summary of the paper that outlines the purpose, methods, results, and conclusions of the study. It is typically limited to 250 words or less.
• Introduction: The introduction provides a background of the research problem, defines the research question, and outlines the objectives and hypotheses of the study.
• Methods: The methods section describes the research design, participants, procedures, and instruments used to collect and analyze data.
• Results: The results section presents the findings of the study in a clear and concise manner, using graphs, tables, and charts where appropriate.
• Discussion: The discussion section interprets the results, explains their significance, and relates them to previous research in the field.
• Conclusion: The conclusion summarizes the main points of the paper, discusses the implications of the findings, and suggests future research directions.
• References: The reference list includes all sources cited in the paper, listed in alphabetical order by author’s last name.

In addition to these sections, the AMA format requires that authors follow specific guidelines for citing sources in the text and formatting their references. The AMA style uses a superscript number system for in-text citations and provides specific formats for different types of sources, such as books, journal articles, and websites.

Harvard Style

Harvard Style Research Paper format is as follows:

• Title page: This should include the title of your paper, your name, the name of your institution, and the date of submission.
• Abstract : This is a brief summary of your paper, usually no more than 250 words. It should outline the main points of your research and highlight your findings.
• Introduction : This section should introduce your research topic, provide background information, and outline your research question or thesis statement.
• Literature review: This section should review the relevant literature on your topic, including previous research studies, academic articles, and other sources.
• Methodology : This section should describe the methods you used to conduct your research, including any data collection methods, research instruments, and sampling techniques.
• Results : This section should present your findings in a clear and concise manner, using tables, graphs, and other visual aids if necessary.
• Discussion : This section should interpret your findings and relate them to the broader research question or thesis statement. You should also discuss the implications of your research and suggest areas for future study.
• Conclusion : This section should summarize your main findings and provide a final statement on the significance of your research.
• References : This is a list of all the sources you cited in your paper, presented in alphabetical order by author name. Each citation should include the author’s name, the title of the source, the publication date, and other relevant information.

In addition to these sections, a Harvard Style research paper may also include a table of contents, appendices, and other supplementary materials as needed. It is important to follow the specific formatting guidelines provided by your instructor or academic institution when preparing your research paper in Harvard Style.

Vancouver Style

Vancouver Style Research Paper format is as follows:

The Vancouver citation style is commonly used in the biomedical sciences and is known for its use of numbered references. Here is a basic format for a research paper using the Vancouver citation style:

• Title page: Include the title of your paper, your name, the name of your institution, and the date.
• Abstract : This is a brief summary of your research paper, usually no more than 250 words.
• Introduction : Provide some background information on your topic and state the purpose of your research.
• Methods : Describe the methods you used to conduct your research, including the study design, data collection, and statistical analysis.
• Results : Present your findings in a clear and concise manner, using tables and figures as needed.
• Discussion : Interpret your results and explain their significance. Also, discuss any limitations of your study and suggest directions for future research.
• References : List all of the sources you cited in your paper in numerical order. Each reference should include the author’s name, the title of the article or book, the name of the journal or publisher, the year of publication, and the page numbers.

ACS (American Chemical Society) Style

ACS (American Chemical Society) Style Research Paper format is as follows:

The American Chemical Society (ACS) Style is a citation style commonly used in chemistry and related fields. When formatting a research paper in ACS Style, here are some guidelines to follow:

• Paper Size and Margins : Use standard 8.5″ x 11″ paper with 1-inch margins on all sides.
• Font: Use a 12-point serif font (such as Times New Roman) for the main text. The title should be in bold and a larger font size.
• Title Page : The title page should include the title of the paper, the authors’ names and affiliations, and the date of submission. The title should be centered on the page and written in bold font. The authors’ names should be centered below the title, followed by their affiliations and the date.
• Abstract : The abstract should be a brief summary of the paper, no more than 250 words. It should be on a separate page and include the title of the paper, the authors’ names and affiliations, and the text of the abstract.
• Main Text : The main text should be organized into sections with headings that clearly indicate the content of each section. The introduction should provide background information and state the research question or hypothesis. The methods section should describe the procedures used in the study. The results section should present the findings of the study, and the discussion section should interpret the results and provide conclusions.
• References: Use the ACS Style guide to format the references cited in the paper. In-text citations should be numbered sequentially throughout the text and listed in numerical order at the end of the paper.
• Figures and Tables: Figures and tables should be numbered sequentially and referenced in the text. Each should have a descriptive caption that explains its content. Figures should be submitted in a high-quality electronic format.
• Supporting Information: Additional information such as data, graphs, and videos may be included as supporting information. This should be included in a separate file and referenced in the main text.
• Acknowledgments : Acknowledge any funding sources or individuals who contributed to the research.

ASA (American Sociological Association) Style

ASA (American Sociological Association) Style Research Paper format is as follows:

• Title Page: The title page of an ASA style research paper should include the title of the paper, the author’s name, and the institutional affiliation. The title should be centered and should be in title case (the first letter of each major word should be capitalized).
• Abstract: An abstract is a brief summary of the paper that should appear on a separate page immediately following the title page. The abstract should be no more than 200 words in length and should summarize the main points of the paper.
• Main Body: The main body of the paper should begin on a new page following the abstract page. The paper should be double-spaced, with 1-inch margins on all sides, and should be written in 12-point Times New Roman font. The main body of the paper should include an introduction, a literature review, a methodology section, results, and a discussion.
• References : The reference section should appear on a separate page at the end of the paper. All sources cited in the paper should be listed in alphabetical order by the author’s last name. Each reference should include the author’s name, the title of the work, the publication information, and the date of publication.
• Appendices : Appendices are optional and should only be included if they contain information that is relevant to the study but too lengthy to be included in the main body of the paper. If you include appendices, each one should be labeled with a letter (e.g., Appendix A, Appendix B, etc.) and should be referenced in the main body of the paper.

APSA (American Political Science Association) Style

APSA (American Political Science Association) Style Research Paper format is as follows:

• Title Page: The title page should include the title of the paper, the author’s name, the name of the course or instructor, and the date.
• Abstract : An abstract is typically not required in APSA style papers, but if one is included, it should be brief and summarize the main points of the paper.
• Introduction : The introduction should provide an overview of the research topic, the research question, and the main argument or thesis of the paper.
• Literature Review : The literature review should summarize the existing research on the topic and provide a context for the research question.
• Methods : The methods section should describe the research methods used in the paper, including data collection and analysis.
• Results : The results section should present the findings of the research.
• Discussion : The discussion section should interpret the results and connect them back to the research question and argument.
• Conclusion : The conclusion should summarize the main findings and implications of the research.
• References : The reference list should include all sources cited in the paper, formatted according to APSA style guidelines.

In-text citations in APSA style use parenthetical citation, which includes the author’s last name, publication year, and page number(s) if applicable. For example, (Smith 2010, 25).

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Research Documentation

When publishing research , it is important to make documentation available so that readers can understand the details of the research design that the work reports. This includes all of the technical details and decisions that could influence how the findings are read or understood. Usually, this will involve producing a document along the lines of a methodological note or appendix. That document will describe how a given study was designed and how the design was carried out. The level of detail is in such a document should be relatively high. This page will describe some common approaches to compiling this kind of material and retaining the needed information in an organized fashion throughout the life of a research project.

• Research documentation provides the context to understanding the results of a given research output.
• There is no standard form for this documentation, and its location and format will depend on the type of research output produced.
• For academic materials, this documentation often takes the form of a structured methodological appendix.
• For policy outputs or online products, it may be appropriate to include an informative README webpage or document.
• The most important process for preparing this documentation will be retaining and organizing the needed information throughout the life of the project, so that the team will not have to search through communications or data archives for small details at publication time.

What to include in research documentation

Research documentation should include all the information that is needed to understand the underlying design for the research output. This can include descriptions of:

• Populations of interest that informed the study
• Methods of sampling or other sources of data about selecting the units of observation that were actually included in the study
• Power calculations and pre-analysis plans
• Field work, including data collection or experimental manipulation, such as study protocols and monitoring or quality assurance information
• Data collection tools such as survey instruments, search keywords, and instructions or code for API requests or database queries
• Statistical approaches such as definitions of key constructed indicators, corrections or adjustments to data, and precise definitions of estimators and estimation procedures
• Data completeness, including non-observed units or quantities that were planned or "tracking" information

All of the research documentation taken together should broadly allow a reader to understand how information was gathered, what it represents, what kind of information and data files to expect, and how to relate that information to the results of the research. Research documentation is not a complete guide to data, however; it does not need to provide the level of detail or instructions that would enable a reader to approach different research questions using the same data.

Documentation will take different forms depending on the information included. Much of it will be written narrative rather than, for example, formal datasets . Understanding research documentation should not require the user to have any special software or to undertake any analytical tasks themselves. Relevant datasets (such as tracking of units of observation over time) might be included alongside the documentation, but the documentation should summarize in narrative form all the information from that dataset that is likely to affect the interpretation of the research.

Structuring research documentation as a publication appendix

If you are preparing documentation to accompany the publication of an academic output such as a working paper or journal article, the most common form of research documentation is a structured supplemental appendix. Check the journal's publication process for details. Some publishers allow unlimited supplementary materials to be included in a format such as an author-created document. These materials may or may not be included under the peer review of the main manuscript and might only be intended to provide context for readers and reviewers. In this case you should provide complete information in that material. Other publishers expect all supplementary materials to be read and reviewed as part of the publication process. In this case you should provide the minimum additional detail required to understand the research here (since much of the appendix will likely be taken up by supplementary results rather than documentation), and consider other methods for releasing complete documentation, such as self-publication on OSF or Zenodo.

Since there is unlimited space and you may have a large amount of material to include in a documentation appendix, organization is essential. It is appropriate to have several appendices that cover different aspects of the research. For example, Appendix A may include information about the study population and data, such as the total number of units available for observation , the number selected or included for observation, the number successfully included, and descriptive statistics about subgroups, strata, clusters, or other units relevant to the research. It could be accompanied by a tracking dataset with full information about the process. Appendix B might include information about an intended experimental manipulation in one section, and information about implementation, take-up, and fidelity in a second section. It could be accompanied by a dataset with key indicators. Appendix C might include data collection protocols and definitions of constructed variables and comparisons with alternative definitions, and be accompanied by data collection instruments and illustrative figures. Each appendix should included relevant references. Supplementary exhibits should be numbered to correspond with the appendix they pertain to. More granular appendices are generally preferable so that referencing and numbering remains relatively uncomplicated.

There have been many attempts to standardized some of these elements, such as the STROBE and CONSORT reporting checklists . Journals will let you know if they expect these exact templates to be followed. Even if they are not required, such templates can still be used directly or to provide inspiration or structure for the materials you might want to include.

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The Impact of Structured and Standardized Documentation on Documentation Quality; a Multicenter, Retrospective Study

1 Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, Netherlands

Rudolf B. Kool

3 Radboud University Medical Center, Radboud Institute for Health Sciences, IQ Healthcare, Nijmegen, Netherlands

Ludi E. Smeele

2 Department of Head and Neck Oncology and Surgery, Antoni Van Leeuwenhoek, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Richard Dirven

Chrisje a. den besten, luc h. e. karssemakers, tim verhoeven.

4 Department of Oromaxillofacial Surgery and Head and Neck Surgery, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, Netherlands

Jasmijn M. Herruer

Guido b. van den broek, robert p. takes, associated data.

Data is available upon reasonable request.

The reuse of healthcare data for various purposes will become increasingly important in the future. To enable the reuse of clinical data, structured and standardized documentation is conditional. However, the primary purpose of clinical documentation is to support high-quality patient care. Therefore, this study investigated the effect of increased structured and standardized documentation on the quality of notes in the Electronic Health Record. A multicenter, retrospective design was used to assess the difference in note quality between 144 unstructured and 144 structured notes. Independent reviewers measured note quality by scoring the notes with the Qnote instrument. This instrument rates all note elements independently using and results in a grand mean score on a 0–100 scale. The mean quality score for unstructured notes was 64.35 (95% CI 61.30–67.35). Structured and standardized documentation improved the Qnote quality score to 77.2 (95% CI 74.18–80.21), a 12.8 point difference (p < 0.001). Furthermore, results showed that structured notes were significantly longer than unstructured notes. Nevertheless, structured notes were more clear and concise. Structured documentation led to a significant increase in note quality. Moreover, considering the benefits of structured data recording in terms of data reuse, implementing structured and standardized documentation into the EHR is recommended.

Supplementary information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10916-022-01837-9.

Introduction

Clinical documentation is the process of creating a text record that summarizes the interaction between patients and healthcare providers during clinical encounters [ 1 ]. The quality of clinical documentation is important as it impacts quality of patient care, patient safety, and the number of medical errors [ 2 – 4 ]. Furthermore, clinical documentation is increasingly used for other purposes, such as quality measurement, finance, and research. Additionally, regulatory requirements regarding documentation have increased [ 5 , 6 ]. Consequently, physicians are spending more and more time on documentation [ 7 ].

In recent years, various tools and techniques have been developed to increase documentation efficiency and decrease the time physicians need to spend on documentation. These techniques are known as content importing technology (CIT). Examples of CIT are copy and paste functions (CPF), automated data import from other parts of the electronic health record (EHR), templates, or macros. These tools seem to have multiple benefits, primarily faster documentation during patient visits. However, Weis and Levy described that the use of CIT has multiple risks. Incorrect insertion of data from other parts of the record, or excessively long, bloated notes can distract a reader from key, essential facts and data [ 8 ]. However, when used correctly, it should be possible to limit these risks.

In addition to the need to increase documentation efficiency, documentation needs to be accurate. Cohen et al. stated that variation in EHR documentation between physicians impedes effective and safe use of EHRs, emphasizing the need for increased standardization of documentation [ 9 ]. However, some studies have suggested that structured and standardized documentation (hereafter: structured documentation) can impede expressivity in notes. Rosenbloom explored this tension between flexible, narrative documentation and structured documentation and recommended that healthcare providers can choose how to document patient care based on workflow and note content needs [ 1 ]. This implies that structured documentation is preferred when reuse of data is desirable. On the other hand, narrative documentation can be used when reuse of information is not required.

Research has shown that structured documentation can improve provider efficiency and decrease documentation time [ 10 ]. Unfortunately, little is known about the effects that a transition from primarily unstructured, free-text EHR documentation to structured and standardized EHR documentation has on the quality of EHR notes. To date, research on this topic has mainly focused on the difference between paper-based and electronic documentation [ 11 – 13 ]. Although reuse of data, for which structured documentation is essential, will become increasingly important, the primary goal of EHR documentation is supporting high-quality patient care [ 14 ]. Therefore, the primary objective was to investigate the effect of increased standardized and structured documentation on the quality of EHR notes.

Since 2009, the Radboudumc Center for Head and Neck Oncology developed and implemented a highly structured care pathway. A care pathway is a complex intervention for the mutual decision-making and organization of care processes for a well-defined group of patients during a well-defined period [ 15 ]. In 2017, for all stages of the care pathway (e.g. first visit consultation, multidisciplinary tumor board, diagnostic results consultation, treatment, follow-up consultation) the patient information that had to be entered into the EHR was defined. Structured and standardized forms using different types of CIT, automated documentation and standardized response options were developed in Epic EHR (EPIC, Verona Wisconsin). These forms allowed physicians to enter all patient information efficiently into the EHR. This resulted in structured and standardized notes while simultaneously storing structured data elements into the EHR database. These data elements can be reused in other stages of the care pathway, automatically compute referral letters, trigger standardized ordersets, or other tools to make the care process more efficient. Ultimately, this data is used to populate real-time quality dashboards. Furthermore, data can be extracted from the EHR and sent to third parties, such as quality and cancer registries or other health care centers when referring patients. Besides structured data recording, these forms support additional narrative documentation if needed or preferred. Recently, a similar highly structured care pathway with structured documentation based on the previously developed care pathway in Radboudumc, was implemented at the Head and Neck Oncology department in Antoni van Leeuwenhoek. In this center, HiX EHR (Chipsoft, Amsterdam) is used. Because of the difference in EHR vendor and the resulting variation in technical possibilities of the EHRs, there were slight differences in structured forms and notes in both centers. However, the structured forms that were built in center B remain highly similar to the forms used in Center A, as the forms and notes of Center A were shared with center B and were subsequently used in the development phase.

A multicenter, retrospective design was used to assess the difference in note quality in two tertiary HNC care centers. In center A, structured documentation has gradually increased in recent years. Therefore, the EHR notes of patients seen between January and December 2013 were compared with those of patients seen between January and December 2019. The transition to structured documentation in center B was more immediate due to implementing an EHR embedded care path that supports structured documentation. Therefore, the notes of patients seen between March and July 2020 were compared with those seen between January and April 2021. This shorter interval added to internal validity because it is less likely that other, time-related factors influenced the outcome. Notes of consultations of adult patients that completed at least one initial oncological consultation (IOC) or follow-up consultation (FUC) during the study period were eligible for inclusion. In both centers, a list of eligible notes was extracted from the EHR and for each consultation type and each documentation method, 36 notes were randomly drawn. In total, 288 notes were included. Subsequently, notes were carefully anonymized. All names, dates, and other identifying information were replaced with < name > , < date > , or otherwise masked. A translated example of a structured note is available as Electronic Supplementary Material (Online Resource 1 ). HNC care providers from center A were recruited to rate the notes collected in center B, and HNC care providers in center B were recruited to rate notes from center A to minimize bias. Each physician was assigned a random group of notes. However, unstructured and structured notes were evenly distributed among raters. Subsequently, notes were scored in a secured digital environment created in CastorEDC (Castor, Amsterdam), an electronic data capture platform.

The quality of the notes was assessed using the Qnote instrument, a validated measurement method for the quality of clinical documentation [ 16 ]. This instrument rates every element of a note individually, by using one or more of seven components (Table ​ (Table1 1 ).

Elements and components of Qnote instrument

The primary outcomes of this study were the quality of notes and note elements, measured by the Qnote instrument on a 100-point scale. Secondary outcomes included length of notes in words, mean component scores per note, and subjective quality measured by a general score given on a scale of 1–10.

Data were notated and analyzed using SPSS version 25 (IBM Corp, Armonk, NY, USA). Two-way ANOVA was used to assess differences in note quality between before and after implementation of structured documentation. The Qnote grand mean score and element scores were outcome variables. The type of note, the originating center, and a dummy variable indicating the period in which the note was written were added as fixed factors. Two-tailed significance was defined as p < 0.05 or a 95% CI not including zero.

This study was approved by the Institutional Review Boards at Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Netherlands Cancer Institute and Radboud University Medical Center.

The grand mean score of all 144 EHR notes written before implementing structured documentation was 64.35 (95% CI 61.30–67.35). When comparing this score to all 144 EHR notes written with structured documentation, a 12.8 point difference (p < 0.001) was found. Structured documentation improved the grand mean score to 77.2 (95% CI 74.18–80.21). Subsequently, additional analysis was conducted on all element scores. The results are shown in Table ​ Table2 2 .

Estimated marginal means of Qnote scores and main effect of structured documentation

* difference significant (p < 0.05)

Table ​ Table3 3 shows descriptive results of element scores displayed per type of note. What can be observed from the data in Table ​ Table3 3 is that for structured documentation, the standard deviation decreases in most elements scores, indicating the variability in quality seems to be lower in structured notes. Furthermore, when comparing the grand mean score for IOC and FUC notes separately, an increase for both types of notes was found (Fig.  1 ). IOC Qnote score increased by 14.9 (95% CI 11.3–18.5) points from 67.3 to 82.3. FUC Qnote score increased by 10.8 (95% CI 4.6–17.0) from 61.3 to 72.1.

Descriptive results of Qnote element scores, per note type

* grey marked elements were not evaluated for this note because these elements were considered not relevant in this type of consultation

Boxplot of grand mean score per note type

Subsequently, analysis was conducted on data from both centers separately to determine whether structured documentation led to increased quality in both centers. In center B, an increase of 14.59 was found (95% CI 7.22–21.96) in IOC note quality, and a 16.36 point increase (95% CI 8.99–23.73) in FUC note quality was found. A significant improvement in IOC Qnote score by 15.10 (95% CI 8.26–22.10) was observed in center A. The 5.3 point increase in FUC note quality was not statistically significant (95% CI -1.61–12.14).

Analysis of secondary outcome measures showed a significant increase in note length for structured documentation in both note types. IOC notes increased from 442.1 to 639.6 words, with a mean difference of 197.5 (95% CI 146.9–248.1), translating to a 44.7% increase. A significant 53.3% increase was found in FUC notes, increasing with 46.5 words (95% CI 31.7–61.2) from 86.9 to 133.4. To evaluate whether this increase in note length led to unnecessary long notes containing excessive non-essential information, all scores for a given component were averaged. For example, the component concise was used to rate 9 of the 11 elements used to rate a note. The mean of all conciseness scores was calculated to get an overall indication of the conciseness of the note. Table ​ Table4 4 shows the difference in mean component scores. As can be seen from the data in Table ​ Table4, 4 , the mean conciseness score, indicating whether note elements were focused and brief, increased significantly. Furthermore, the mean clearness score, indicating whether note elements were understandable to clinicians, also increased significantly.

Mean component score difference between unstructured and structured documentation

When analyzing the scores of the general instrument that rated the notes on a scale of one to ten, a significant increase in documentation quality was also found. Mean scores increased from 6.83 to 7.52, which was an 0.68 increase (95% CI 0.44–0.94).

The study offers some important insights into the impact of increased structured and standardized documentation on EHR note quality in outpatient care. In this retrospective multicenter study, our results show that structured documentation is associated with higher quality documentation. In summary, our results show a 20.0% increase measured on a 0–100 scale. Furthermore, results showed that structured notes were significantly longer than unstructured notes, but were more concise nevertheless.

This study showed an overall increase in documentation quality after the implementation of structured and standardized recording. In 8 of the 11 elements measured with the Qnote instrument, a significant increase in quality was found. This result may be explained by the fact that relevant elements and items that have to be documented are presented to the health care provider in an intuitive, uniform way. Therefore, clinicians are less likely to forget certain elements and items within the note. Furthermore, repeatedly recording in the same format ensures the physician is trained to record properly and completely. The medication element showed a minor, insignificant increase. This might be because medications were not included in notes in one center and therefore did not contribute to the observed results on this element. Additionally, minor, insignificant increases were found in physical examination and plan of care. This could be explained by the fact that the score for these elements was already high in unstructured documentation.

A recent study found variation in the quality of documentation between healthcare providers [ 9 ]. This variation could lead to inefficient documentation and the risk of patient harm from missed or misinterpreted information. Therefore, reducing this variability may also be considered relevant. The descriptive data on element scores in this study showed a trend indicating that the variation in documentation quality decreases when using structured documentation. However, some elements still showed significant variation. Therefore, implementing solutions that reduce variation in documentation quality between encounters and healthcare providers should be encouraged.

In addition, when the notes were analyzed differentiated by center, a significant increase in the quality of IOC notes was observed. This was also the case for follow-up notes in one of the two centers. This supports the conclusion that structured and standardized recording increases documentation quality, independent of a specific center or EHR vendor.

The results also show notes were longer when structured documentation was used. This could be because structured documentation contributes to including all relevant elements, or because health care providers are more reliant on CIT. CIT can be a problem if it leads to unnecessary, unorganized, or unclear information in a note and distracts the reader from the essential information buried within the note. This is known as note bloat. When considering the results of this study, there is no evidence that the longer notes were the result of note bloat. Firstly, an increase in quality in almost all elements where CIT is mainly used (problem list, past medical history, adverse reaction, social and family history) was observed. Secondly, the analysis on components used to assess the individual elements showed significant increases in clearness and conciseness. Therefore, it is safe to assume that in this study, the longer notes were not associated with note bloat and are most likely the result of more complete, and therefore higher quality, documentation.

The reports in the literature to date have mainly focused on the effect of electronic documentation versus handwritten documentation. Some studies have shown a perceived decrease in quality after implementing EHRs, identifying copy-paste functions (CPF) and note clutter as the main reasons for this quality decrease [ 17 ]. Others claim that EHRs increase note quality compared to manual recording in inpatient and outpatient care [ 11 – 13 , 18 ]. A small number of studies have evaluated semi-structured templates that mainly use free-text documentation, comparing them to traditional templates or fully unstructured free-text notes. A small (n = 36) trial comparing outpatient notes written using a traditional template with an optimized template found mixed results, with no difference in overall quality [ 19 ]. However, the intervention notes were inferior in accuracy and usefulness, although better organized. Another study evaluating a quality improvement project to improve clinical documentation quality found no increase in quality [ 20 ]. A third, larger study did find a significant increase in inpatient documentation quality using a semi-structured template [ 21 ]. The abovementioned studies indicate that further research on this topic is warranted. However, our findings show compelling evidence that structured documentation can improve documentation quality.

This study has several strengths. This is the first study to use a validated measure instrument for outpatient notes to examine the impact of structured and standardized recording on outpatient note quality. Given the rising demand for reuse and exchange of healthcare data, structured and standardized data recording will become increasingly important. This study proves that structured documentation can also improve the quality of EHR notes. Furthermore, the increase in quality was found in two centers with different EHRs. These factors contribute to the generalizability of the results.

Another strength of this study is the method used to assess the quality of the notes. Of the instruments available in the literature that are used to assess the quality of documentation, most focus on the absence of data or only assess the global quality of the note, such as the PDSI-9 [ 22 ]. However, the Qnote instrument is based on a qualitative study in which relevant elements of an outpatient clinical note were identified [ 23 ]. Therefore, it is possible to rate the quality of all note elements independently and subsequently calculate a total score. This structured approach is likely to be more objective than other, more general rating instruments. Besides, rating elements individually benefit from being able to identify specific deficits in note quality. Because of this, improving the quality of clinical EHR notes can be conducted in a more targeted and effective way.

This study also has some limitations. Firstly, the main limitation of the retrospective nature of this study is that a causal relationship between the implementation of structured and standardized documenting cannot be established with certainty. In one center, the interval between the two study periods was several years. Therefore, the influence of other factors cannot be eliminated. In the other center, the interval between study periods is shorter, making it highly likely that implementing the standardized care pathway with structured documentation is the primary reason for the increase in note quality. Moreover, analyzing the data differentiated by center resulted in similar outcomes. Secondly, the Qnote instrument has been validated on a population of diabetic patients and not for oncological patients. However, the elements used are general and not disease- or setting-specific. Moreover, the general score given by the raters in this study showed similar or marginally lower scores than the Qnote instrument. This conclusion was also stated in the initial Qnote validation study [ 16 ]. Lastly, due to the visual similarity of structured and standardized notes, the complete blinding of study notes for raters was impossible. This might have led to an unconscious bias. However, the risk was minimized by recruiting note raters employed at another hospital.

The findings of this study support the assumption that structured documentation positively influences documentation quality. This is an important finding, given that the need for structured documentation will only increase in the near future because structured data is key in enabling the reuse of healthcare data. Data reuse will become increasingly important in health care, for various purposes, such as automated quality measurement, information exchange when referring patients to other health care centers, and less time-consuming data collection methods for scientific research. Furthermore, the use and implementation of decision support tools also require structured recording of healthcare data. The abovementioned applications of data reuse in healthcare can lead to increased efficiency and quality of healthcare. Nevertheless, there could be a concern that as data reuse becomes more important, healthcare providers are required to capture more data while providing care. This, in turn, might lead to an increased administrative burden. This should be avoided, as healthcare providers are unlikely to accept a documentation method that adds a significant burden to their workload [ 24 ]. Efforts should be made to to implement structured documentation methods within EHRs to enable data reuse while reducing the administrative burden. The results of this study raise further questions about the benefits and pitfalls of structured documentation systems, on which future studies should focus. These include the effect of the structured documentation systems on documentation time and effort, how physicians' perceptions regarding the documentation process and the EHR are influenced, and how these factors affect adoption, and how these factors affect adoption. As a result, we have started another study to answer such questions.

This study demonstrated that structured and standardized recording led to an increase in the quality of notes in the EHR. Additionally, a significant increase in note length was found. Moreover, the results showed that the longer notes were also considered more clear and concise. Considering the benefits of structured data recording in terms of data reuse, it is recommended to implement structured and standardized documentation into the EHR.

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Data availability statement

Declarations.

None declared.

This article is part of the Topical Collection Clinical Systems

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General guidelines and best practices for documenting code:

A Guide to Reproducible Code in Ecology and Evolution : A guide to write reproducible code for researchers in Ecology and Evolution fields, created by  British Ecological Society . Most guidelines can still be applied to other disciplines.  

Best Practices for Scientific Computing : This article is published in PLoS Biology in 2014 and offers several useful best practices for writing reproducible code.   

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Guides for R and Python syntax and styles: 

The tidyverse style guide : This style guide is created by Hadley Wickham for R programming language. There are two R packages,  styler  and  lintr , that support this style guide.  

Google’s R style guide : This style guide is a fork from  the tidyverse style guide  above. Google modified it with its internal R user community.     

PEP8 style guide for python code : A style guide for writing Python code on Python’s official website.  

Google’s Python style guides : The style guide created by Google for Python programming language. It is a list of dos and don’ts when programming in Python.  

Write Comments

Tutorials and templates for writing helpful code comments: 

Code Like a Pro:  Comments | How to Write Code Professionally  (With Code Examples): An YouTube video shows how to write good comments for code and how to give good variable/function names so the code is self-explanatory.  

Putting comments in code: the good, the bad and the ugly : An article that discuss documentation comments and clarification comments. 

Choose an open source license for code : Visit this website to view different types of software license and choose one most appropriate for your code. 

My easy R script header template : A R script template with header information and instructions for how to use this template.   

A Python script to create a header for Python scripts : A Python script that can create a header for your own Python scripts. 

Jim's Computer Science Topics  –  Commenting Your Code : A professor, H. James de St. Germain, in the School of Computing, University of Utah created these materials for his computer science course students. The programming languages used in examples are Matlab, C, and Actionscript. 

Writing Comments in Python  (Guide): A guide on  Real Python  about how to write comments for Python code.   

R Markdown is a file format to create interactive documents in R. Such a document can include text,  code chunks and metadata. Other programming languages, such as Python, SQL, D3, can also be documented with R Markdown. 

R Markdown official site :   The office site for R Markdown, with instructions to get started, and gallery, resources to learn more.   

RPubs :  A web space to share R Markdown documents, created by  RStudio . You can also view other people’s R Markdown documents.   

R Markdown: The Definitive Guide : A book written by the creator of R Markdown package,  Yihui Xie . A good reference when writing an R Markdown document.   

R Markdown chapter  in R for Data Science: An R Markdown chapter in the  R for Data Science  book, written by Hadley Wickham and Garrett Grolemund. 

Introduction to R Markdown : A section about R Markdown in  Reproducible Research course  created by  National Bioinformatics Infrastructure Sweden (NBIS) .  

An R and R Markdown Tutorial : A step-by-step instruction to create an R project and an R Markdown document. This is shared on  RPubs .  

Pimp my RMD: a few tips for R Markdown : This is not a guide for how to write an R Markdown document, but some useful tips to improve the appearance of output documents.  

Jupyter Notebooks

Jupyter Notebook allows you to create interactive documents in Python. You can embed and execute code within Jupyter Notebooks. Other programming languages, such as R and Julia, can be documented with Jupyter Notebooks as well.  

Jupyter Notebook official site : The official site for Project Jupyter, including documentation, a list of Jupyter community,  nbviewer  for viewing and sharing Jupyter Notebook and the latest information about Project Jupyter.  

Jupyter Notebook: An Introduction  by Real Python: A brief introduction of Jupyter Notebook, including how to get started, elements in a Jupyter Notebook, how to explore a Notebook and Notebook extensions.  

Jupyter Notebook Tutorial: The Definitive Guide  by Data Camp: A tutorial introduces the history of Jupyter Notebook, and how to install, use and create a Notebook document. In addition, it offers tips, best practices and examples of Jupyter Notebook.   

A gallery of interesting Jupyter Notebooks : A list of Jupyter Notebook examples in various disciplines on GitHub. 

Ten simple rules for writing and sharing computational analyses in Jupyter Notebooks : A journal article on PLoS Computational Biology. It provides 10 rules to best sharing data anlaysis in Jupyter Notebooks.  

Guide for Reproducible Research and Data Science in Jupyter Notebooks : A crowdsourced guidelines and tutorials on GitHub for reproducible research in Jupyter Notebooks.    

Best practices and templates for creating a well-structured ReadMe file:  

Choose an open source license for code : Visit this website to view different types of software license and choose one most appropriate for your code. 

How to cite and describe software : Tips to describe and cite software you have used or built your code upon.  

ReadMe 101 : Explain what is a ReadMe file and why you need to create one. Provide several suggestions for a good ReadMe and also a couple templates.   

Art of ReadMe and examples : Provide some best practices tips for creating a good ReadMe, with several examples of ReadMe and a ReadMe checklist. 

A good readme template by PurpleBooth : A good ReadMe template for  GitHub  users. 

A readme template by scottydocs : Another good ReadMe template on GitHub.

Computational physics ReadMe template : A ReadMe template on  GitLab  for researchers work in computational physics field, but could also be expanded to other fields.  

Version Control and Code Repository

Introduction of version control system, why it is important and best practices for version control. In addition, some resources about Git, GitHub and GitHub Desktop including installation instructions, documentation and tutorials. 

Source code management : A tutorial created by  BitBucket  about the importance of source code management, and the benefits and best practices of it.  

Version control concepts and best practices : Professor  Michael Ernst  in the Department of Computer Science & Engineering, University of Washington created this as an introduction to version control concepts and best practices tips for versioning. 

About version control: An introduction to different version control systems on the Git's official site. 

Comparison of centralized and distributed version control systems:

Evolution of version control system

Comparison of version control system tools

The Wikipedia page that compare multiple version control systems

The Git official site : The official site of Git. You can download the latest release version of Git and find documentation and other related information here. 

GitHub Desktop  installation  and  documentation : GitHub Desktop is a graphic user interface (GUI) tool that you can use to interact with GitHub repositories from a local computer.  Here are installation instructions and documentation for how to use GitHub Desktop. 

Git & GitHub Crash Course For Beginners : An YouTube tutorial shows how to install Git and use command lines to do version control.  

GitHub Guides : Online guides for using some basic features of GitHub.  

Happy Git and GitHub for the useR : An online book about how to use Git and GitHub for R users. You will learn how to connect git, GitHub and RStudio.  

GitHub Learning Lab : Many interactive, hands-on tutorials for GitHub learners.    

Resources to learn Git :  A few of resources to learn Git.    

Git and GitHub learning resources : A list of Git and GitHub learning resources in GitHub Documentation. 

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How Pew Research Center Uses Its National Public Opinion Reference Survey (NPORS)

In 2020, Pew Research Center launched a new project called the  National Public Opinion Reference Survey (NPORS) . NPORS is an annual, cross-sectional survey of U.S. adults. Respondents can answer by paper, online or over the phone, and they are selected using address-based sampling from the United States Postal Service’s Computerized Delivery Sequence File. The response rate to the latest NPORS was 32%, and previous years’ surveys were designed with a similarly rigorous approach. 

NPORS estimates are separate from the  American Trends Panel  (ATP) – the Center’s national online survey platform. Pew Research Center launched NPORS to address a limitation that researchers observed in the ATP. While the ATP was well-suited for the vast majority of the Center’s U.S. survey work, estimates for a few outcomes were not in line with other high-quality surveys, even after weighting to demographics like age, education, race and ethnicity, and gender.

For example, in 2018, roughly one-quarter of U.S. adults were religiously unaffiliated (i.e., atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular”), according to the General Social Survey (GSS) and the Center’s own telephone-based polling . The ATP, however,  estimated the religiously unaffiliated rate at about 32%. The Center did not feel comfortable publishing that ATP estimate because there was too much evidence that the rate was too high, likely because the types of people willing to participate in an online panel skew less religious than the population as a whole. Similarly, the ATP estimate for the share of U.S. adults identifying as a Democrat or leaning to the Democratic Party was somewhat higher than the rate indicated by the GSS and our own telephone surveys .

From 2014 to late 2020, the Center approached these outcomes slightly differently. We addressed the political partisanship issue by weighting every ATP survey to an external benchmark for the share of Americans identifying as a Republican, Democrat or independent. For the benchmark, we used the average of the results from our three most recent national cellphone and landline random-digit-dial (RDD) surveys. 

During this time period, ATP surveys were not weighted to an external benchmark for Americans’ religious affiliation. The ATP was used for some research on religious beliefs and behaviors, but it was not used to estimate the overall share of Americans identifying as religiously affiliated or unaffiliated, nor was it used to estimate the size of particular faith groups, such as Catholics, Protestants or the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. NPORS allows us to improve and harmonize our approach to both these outcomes (Americans’ political and religious affiliations). 

Design and estimates

Read our fact sheet to find the latest NPORS estimates as well as methodological details. Data collection for NPORS was performed by Ipsos from 2020 through 2023 and is now performed by SSRS. 

Why is the NPORS response rate higher than most opinion polls?

Several features of NPORS set it apart from a typical public opinion poll. 

• People can respond offline or online.  NPORS offers three different ways to respond: by paper (through the mail), online, or by telephone (by calling a provided phone number and speaking to a live interviewer). The paper and telephone options bring in more conservative, more religious adults who are less inclined to take surveys online.
• Monetary incentives.  When sampled adults are first asked to respond to NPORS online, the mailing contains a $2 incentive payment (cash visible from the outside of the envelope) and offers a $10 incentive payment contingent on the participant completing the survey. When nonrespondents to that first stage are sent the paper version of the survey, the mailing contains a visible $5 bill. These incentives give people a reason to respond, even if they might not be interested in the questions or inclined to take surveys in general. 
• Priority mailing.  The paper version of the survey is mailed in a USPS Priority Mail envelope, which is more expensive than a normal envelope, signaling that the contents are important and that the mailing is not haphazard. It helps people distinguish the survey from junk mail, increasing the likelihood that they open and read what is inside. 
• Low burden.  The NPORS questionnaire is intentionally kept short. It’s about 40 questions long, including demographics such as age, gender and education. This means that NPORS takes about seven minutes to finish, while many polls take 10 minutes or longer. 
• Bilingual materials.  In parts of the country with sizable shares of Hispanic Americans, the materials are sent in both English and Spanish. 
• No requirement to join a panel.  NPORS respondents are not required to join a survey panel, which for some people would be a reason to decline the request. 

These features are not possible in most public polls for a host of reasons. But NPORS is designed to produce estimates of high enough quality that they can be used as weighting benchmarks for other polls, and so these features are critical.

Why a ‘reference’ survey for public opinion?

The “R” in NPORS stands for “reference.” In this context, the term comes from  studies  in which researchers calibrate a small sample survey to a large, high-quality survey with greater precision and accuracy. Examples of reference surveys used by researchers include the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) and the Current Population Survey (CPS). NPORS is not on the scale of the ACS or CPS, nor does it feature face-to-face data collection. But it does have something that those studies lack: timely estimates of key public opinion outcomes. Other studies like the American National Election Survey (ANES) and the General Social Survey collect key public opinion measures, but their data is released months, if not years, after data collection. The ANES, while invaluable to academic researchers, also excludes noncitizens who constitute about 7% of adults living in the U.S. and are included in the Center’s surveys.

NPORS is truly a reference survey for Pew Research Center because researchers weight each American Trends Panel wave to several NPORS estimates. In other words, ATP surveys refer to NPORS in order to represent groups like Republicans, Democrats, religiously affiliated adults and religiously unaffiliated adults proportional to their share of the U.S. population. The ATP weighting protocol also calibrates to other benchmarks, such as ACS demographic figures and CPS benchmarks for voter registration status and volunteerism.

Pew Research Center is weighting on political party affiliation, but isn’t that an attitude?

It’s correct that whether someone considers themselves a Republican or a Democrat is an attitude, not a fixed characteristic, such as year of birth. But there is a way to weight on political party affiliation even though it is an attitude and without forcing the poll’s partisan distribution to align with a benchmark. 

Pew Research Center started implementing this approach in 2021. It begins with measuring the survey panelists’ political party affiliation at a certain point in time (typically, each summer). Ideally, the reference survey will measure the same construct at the same point in time. We launched NPORS because we control its timing as well as the American Trends Panel’s timing, allowing us to achieve this syncing.

NPORS and ATP measurements of political party are collected at approximately the same time each summer. We may then conduct roughly 25 surveys on the ATP over the next year. For each of those 25 surveys, we append the panelists’ party affiliation answers from the summer  to the current survey. To illustrate, let’s say that a survey was conducted in December. When researchers weight the December ATP survey, they take the measurement of party taken in the summer and weight that to the NPORS estimates for the partisan distribution of U.S. adults during the summer time frame. If, for example, Democrats were more likely than Republicans to respond to the December survey, the weighting to the NPORS target would help reduce the differential partisan nonresponse bias. 

Critically, if the hypothetical December poll featured a fresh measurement of political party affiliation (typically asked about three times a year on the ATP), the new December answers do  not  get forced to any target. The new partisan distribution is allowed to vary. In this way, we can both address the threat from differential partisan nonresponse and measure an attitude that changes over time (without dictating the outcome). Each summer, the process starts anew by measuring political party on the ATP at basically the same time as the NPORS data collection. 

Is the NPORS design connected to the American Trends Panel?

A key feature of NPORS is that respondents are not members of a survey panel. It is a fresh, random sample of U.S. adults. This matters because some people are willing to take a onetime survey like NPORS but are not interested in taking surveys on an ongoing basis as part of a panel. That said, in certain years, NPORS serves as a recruitment survey for the ATP. After the NPORS questions, we ask respondents if they would be willing to take future surveys. People who accept and those who decline are both part of the NPORS survey. But only those who consent to future surveys are eventually invited to join the ATP.

Can other survey researchers use NPORS?

Yes. As a nonprofit organization, we seek to make our research as useful to policymakers, survey practitioners and scholars as possible. As with the Center’s other survey work, the estimates and data are freely available. 

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Beyond the War: Public Service and the Transmission of Gender Norms

This paper combines personnel records of the U.S. federal government with census data to study how shocks to the gender composition of a large organization can persistently shift gender norms. Exploiting city-by-department variation in the sudden expansion of female clerical employment driven by World War I, we find that daughters of civil servants exposed to female co-workers are more likely to work later in life, command higher income, and have fewer children. These intergenerational effects increase with the size of the city-level exposure to female government workers and are driven by daughters in their teenage years at the time of exposure. We also show that cities exposed to a larger increase in female federal workers saw persistently higher female labor force participation in the public sector, as well as modest contemporaneous increases in private sector labor force participation suggestive of spill-overs. Collectively, the results are consistent with both the vertical and horizontal transmission of gender norms and highlight how increasing gender representation within the public sector can have broader labor market implications.

We thank seminar participants at the Chicago Economic History workshop, Duke, UBC, Simon Fraser, Nottingham, LSE, and Vanderbilt for their helpful suggestions. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research.

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The main text of a submitted paper is limited to nine content pages , including all figures and tables. Additional pages containing references don’t count as content pages. If your submission is accepted, you will be allowed an additional content page for the camera-ready version.

The main text and references may be followed by technical appendices, for which there is no page limit.

The maximum file size for a full submission, which includes technical appendices, is 50MB.

Authors are encouraged to submit a separate ZIP file that contains further supplementary material like data or source code, when applicable.

You must format your submission using the NeurIPS 2024 LaTeX style file which includes a “preprint” option for non-anonymous preprints posted online. Submissions that violate the NeurIPS style (e.g., by decreasing margins or font sizes) or page limits may be rejected without further review. Papers may be rejected without consideration of their merits if they fail to meet the submission requirements, as described in this document. 

Paper checklist: In order to improve the rigor and transparency of research submitted to and published at NeurIPS, authors are required to complete a paper checklist . The paper checklist is intended to help authors reflect on a wide variety of issues relating to responsible machine learning research, including reproducibility, transparency, research ethics, and societal impact. The checklist forms part of the paper submission, but does not count towards the page limit.

Please join the NeurIPS 2024 Checklist Assistant Study that will provide you with free verification of your checklist performed by an LLM here . Please see details in our  blog

Supplementary material: While all technical appendices should be included as part of the main paper submission PDF, authors may submit up to 100MB of supplementary material, such as data, or source code in a ZIP format. Supplementary material should be material created by the authors that directly supports the submission content. Like submissions, supplementary material must be anonymized. Looking at supplementary material is at the discretion of the reviewers.

We encourage authors to upload their code and data as part of their supplementary material in order to help reviewers assess the quality of the work. Check the policy as well as code submission guidelines and templates for further details.

Use of Large Language Models (LLMs): We welcome authors to use any tool that is suitable for preparing high-quality papers and research. However, we ask authors to keep in mind two important criteria. First, we expect papers to fully describe their methodology, and any tool that is important to that methodology, including the use of LLMs, should be described also. For example, authors should mention tools (including LLMs) that were used for data processing or filtering, visualization, facilitating or running experiments, and proving theorems. It may also be advisable to describe the use of LLMs in implementing the method (if this corresponds to an important, original, or non-standard component of the approach). Second, authors are responsible for the entire content of the paper, including all text and figures, so while authors are welcome to use any tool they wish for writing the paper, they must ensure that all text is correct and original.

Double-blind reviewing:   All submissions must be anonymized and may not contain any identifying information that may violate the double-blind reviewing policy.  This policy applies to any supplementary or linked material as well, including code.  If you are including links to any external material, it is your responsibility to guarantee anonymous browsing.  Please do not include acknowledgements at submission time. If you need to cite one of your own papers, you should do so with adequate anonymization to preserve double-blind reviewing.  For instance, write “In the previous work of Smith et al. [1]…” rather than “In our previous work [1]...”). If you need to cite one of your own papers that is in submission to NeurIPS and not available as a non-anonymous preprint, then include a copy of the cited anonymized submission in the supplementary material and write “Anonymous et al. [1] concurrently show...”). Any papers found to be violating this policy will be rejected.

OpenReview: We are using OpenReview to manage submissions. The reviews and author responses will not be public initially (but may be made public later, see below). As in previous years, submissions under review will be visible only to their assigned program committee. We will not be soliciting comments from the general public during the reviewing process. Anyone who plans to submit a paper as an author or a co-author will need to create (or update) their OpenReview profile by the full paper submission deadline. Your OpenReview profile can be edited by logging in and clicking on your name in https://openreview.net/ . This takes you to a URL "https://openreview.net/profile?id=~[Firstname]_[Lastname][n]" where the last part is your profile name, e.g., ~Wei_Zhang1. The OpenReview profiles must be up to date, with all publications by the authors, and their current affiliations. The easiest way to import publications is through DBLP but it is not required, see FAQ . Submissions without updated OpenReview profiles will be desk rejected. The information entered in the profile is critical for ensuring that conflicts of interest and reviewer matching are handled properly. Because of the rapid growth of NeurIPS, we request that all authors help with reviewing papers, if asked to do so. We need everyone’s help in maintaining the high scientific quality of NeurIPS.  

Please be aware that OpenReview has a moderation policy for newly created profiles: New profiles created without an institutional email will go through a moderation process that can take up to two weeks. New profiles created with an institutional email will be activated automatically.

Venue home page: https://openreview.net/group?id=NeurIPS.cc/2024/Conference

If you have any questions, please refer to the FAQ: https://openreview.net/faq

Abstract Submission: There is a mandatory abstract submission deadline on May 15, 2024, six days before full paper submissions are due. While it will be possible to edit the title and abstract until the full paper submission deadline, submissions with “placeholder” abstracts that are rewritten for the full submission risk being removed without consideration. This includes titles and abstracts that either provide little or no semantic information (e.g., "We provide a new semi-supervised learning method.") or describe a substantively different claimed contribution.  The author list cannot be changed after the abstract deadline. After that, authors may be reordered, but any additions or removals must be justified in writing and approved on a case-by-case basis by the program chairs only in exceptional circumstances. 

Ethics review: Reviewers and ACs may flag submissions for ethics review . Flagged submissions will be sent to an ethics review committee for comments. Comments from ethics reviewers will be considered by the primary reviewers and AC as part of their deliberation. They will also be visible to authors, who will have an opportunity to respond.  Ethics reviewers do not have the authority to reject papers, but in extreme cases papers may be rejected by the program chairs on ethical grounds, regardless of scientific quality or contribution.  

Preprints: The existence of non-anonymous preprints (on arXiv or other online repositories, personal websites, social media) will not result in rejection. If you choose to use the NeurIPS style for the preprint version, you must use the “preprint” option rather than the “final” option. Reviewers will be instructed not to actively look for such preprints, but encountering them will not constitute a conflict of interest. Authors may submit anonymized work to NeurIPS that is already available as a preprint (e.g., on arXiv) without citing it. Note that public versions of the submission should not say "Under review at NeurIPS" or similar.

Dual submissions: Submissions that are substantially similar to papers that the authors have previously published or submitted in parallel to other peer-reviewed venues with proceedings or journals may not be submitted to NeurIPS. Papers previously presented at workshops are permitted, so long as they did not appear in a conference proceedings (e.g., CVPRW proceedings), a journal or a book.  NeurIPS coordinates with other conferences to identify dual submissions.  The NeurIPS policy on dual submissions applies for the entire duration of the reviewing process.  Slicing contributions too thinly is discouraged.  The reviewing process will treat any other submission by an overlapping set of authors as prior work. If publishing one would render the other too incremental, both may be rejected.

Anti-collusion: NeurIPS does not tolerate any collusion whereby authors secretly cooperate with reviewers, ACs or SACs to obtain favorable reviews. 

Author responses:   Authors will have one week to view and respond to initial reviews. Author responses may not contain any identifying information that may violate the double-blind reviewing policy. Authors may not submit revisions of their paper or supplemental material, but may post their responses as a discussion in OpenReview. This is to reduce the burden on authors to have to revise their paper in a rush during the short rebuttal period.

After the initial response period, authors will be able to respond to any further reviewer/AC questions and comments by posting on the submission’s forum page. The program chairs reserve the right to solicit additional reviews after the initial author response period.  These reviews will become visible to the authors as they are added to OpenReview, and authors will have a chance to respond to them.

After the notification deadline, accepted and opted-in rejected papers will be made public and open for non-anonymous public commenting. Their anonymous reviews, meta-reviews, author responses and reviewer responses will also be made public. Authors of rejected papers will have two weeks after the notification deadline to opt in to make their deanonymized rejected papers public in OpenReview.  These papers are not counted as NeurIPS publications and will be shown as rejected in OpenReview.

Publication of accepted submissions:   Reviews, meta-reviews, and any discussion with the authors will be made public for accepted papers (but reviewer, area chair, and senior area chair identities will remain anonymous). Camera-ready papers will be due in advance of the conference. All camera-ready papers must include a funding disclosure . We strongly encourage accompanying code and data to be submitted with accepted papers when appropriate, as per the code submission policy . Authors will be allowed to make minor changes for a short period of time after the conference.

Contemporaneous Work: For the purpose of the reviewing process, papers that appeared online within two months of a submission will generally be considered "contemporaneous" in the sense that the submission will not be rejected on the basis of the comparison to contemporaneous work. Authors are still expected to cite and discuss contemporaneous work and perform empirical comparisons to the degree feasible. Any paper that influenced the submission is considered prior work and must be cited and discussed as such. Submissions that are very similar to contemporaneous work will undergo additional scrutiny to prevent cases of plagiarism and missing credit to prior work.

Plagiarism is prohibited by the NeurIPS Code of Conduct .

Other Tracks: Similarly to earlier years, we will host multiple tracks, such as datasets, competitions, tutorials as well as workshops, in addition to the main track for which this call for papers is intended. See the conference homepage for updates and calls for participation in these tracks. 

Experiments: As in past years, the program chairs will be measuring the quality and effectiveness of the review process via randomized controlled experiments. All experiments are independently reviewed and approved by an Institutional Review Board (IRB).

Financial Aid: Each paper may designate up to one (1) NeurIPS.cc account email address of a corresponding student author who confirms that they would need the support to attend the conference, and agrees to volunteer if they get selected. To be considered for Financial the student will also need to fill out the Financial Aid application when it becomes available.