Usually weakest part of Bachelor dissertation. Covers what went well and what has caused problems. Critical evaluation of own work in order to do it better next time. Required for final year project. Provides next set of research questions.
Degree
Notes from my degree course
Conclusions
How evidence supports, or not, the tested hypothesis. In mathematics we can formally prove things, in other areas we can state the body of evidence supports the theory.
Contribution to knowledge
Presentation of research work and detailed discussion of what has been done. Includes ideas, concepts, tested hypothesis and evidence that conclusion is based on.
Related work
This is the literature review. Outlines what others have done – current knowledge in area.
Introduction
Brief overview of subject area & context for research. Takes reader from current level of knowledge to be able to follow rest of paper. More comprehensive introduction required if target audience is more general reader.
Keywords
Some publishers require the selection of keywords from a specified list so they can catalogue the paper appropriately, this is less common now due to the availability of full text search engines.
Abstract
Brief but comprehensive summary/overview of entire paper. Describes: topic of research hypothesis being tested results of test conclusions drawn Rest of paper fills out details.
Title & Author information
Usually includes all contributors to paper. Many etiquettes/guidelines covering who to include and in what order. Very between publications and subject areas. Usually first is lead author who has made significant contribution. Also common for many journals to list authors alphabetically. Student papers often list supervisor.
What Does a Paper Look Like?
Structure varies to some extent, review of previous work can vary, key elements always the same: Title & Author information Abstract Keywords Introduction Related work Contribution to knowledge Conclusions Evaluation and future work Acknowledgements References
The Process
Basic cycle is as follows: Read some papers Write literature review Do research Write it up Submit to journal or conference Peer review Acceptance & publication, or rejection (90% in some cases – revise & resubmit) Others read the paper Repeat process