How to include sections in a Research Article

In order to write a research article, writers need to include not only the introduction and methods sections, but also the results, discussion and conclusions sections. According to Pintos and Crimi (2010), results and discussion sections tend to be descriptive in nature. The main difference is that the results section presents the main findings of the research, whereas the discussion section interprets meanings.

However, these central requirements are not met in the same way, because they have been written following different conventions. An educational paper could follow the American Psychological Association (APA) rules, though a medicine article may be written following the Vancouver system since it establishes the standards required for the field of medicine.

Along this present article, a comparative analysis of two articles will be carried. One of the papers belongs to the field of education and the other to the field of medicine. Precisely, their results, discussions and conclusions sections will be analyzed in detail. They will be compared and contrasted following APA conventions.

The results section should be objective, since it should present only the findings of the research. The article on the educational field presents data divided among several subheadings such as journal popularity, journal importance, journal prestige and overall ranking (Elbeck & Mandernach, 2009). On the contrary, the medicine article contains two subtitles named preliminary analysis and changes in depression and health (Bessiére et al., 2010).

In both articles, the simple past tense is used since the outcomes that are related to the gaps of the paper are described. An example of this issue could be “experimental action with in-links data returned valuation fluctuations of up to 10 % over a 48-hour period…” (Elbeck & Mandernach, 2009, p.6). Another sample in the medicine paper is “those who were more depressed at the time of the first questionnaire were more likely to use the internet for escape and to obtain health resources…” (Preliminary analysis, ¶ 3).

Results’ data was not only summarized by the use of text, but also tables were taken into account. In both articles, tables were used to state specific data obtained along the research. Tables were added to present a large amount of information in a reduced and clarified space. If authors make use of tables, they could present a large proportion of information in a small amount of space.

The educational article contains six tables which are numbered as table 1, table 2 up to table 6. Each table has an individual title which is italized and presented with each word capitalized (with the exception of and, of, for, etc) (Pintos & Crimi, 2010). “Journal Rankings by Editors’ Perception of Prestige” (Elbeck & Mandernach, 2009) is a proper example of this issue.

The medicine article has four tables and they are also numbered including the word table and its number. All the tables contain individual titles, though they are not italized and word-capitalized. One example could be “Predicting later depression from prior uses of the internet, controlling for demographics and earlier levels of depression” (Bessiére et al., 2010).

According to the American Psychological Association (2007), vertical lines should not be used in tables, only horizontal lines can be included to separate information and make it clearer for the readers (Pintos & Crimi, 2010). As the articles analyzed do not contain horizontal lines, they tend to respect APA rules. Besides, all the information presented in the tables is also referenced in the text of the paper.

Elbeck and Mandernach (2009) indicate specific notes using lowercase letters below the tables. These notes are probably included to make a particular item in the table easier to be understood. Readers may use notes to understand troublesome data within the article. The medicine article does not contain notes to clarify meanings, but a proper title to indicate what the table consists of.

The discussion section is designed to interpret the data obtained by research. It interprets the outcomes (Pintos & Crimi, 2010). The educational article does not include the conclusions together with the discussion section. On the contrary, the medicine article does not present the conclusion section within the discussions. In fact, the conclusion is a subtitle of the discussions’ section, as a part of the interpretation of the results.

Elbeck and Mandernach (2009) expand the information presented in the results section. Data is interpreted and analyzed in detail, using the present tenses. One example of this issue is the following: “The 90th percentile contains five journals, each with over 4.85 % share of all CML journal links” (p.13).

In order to describe possibility and advice, the modals may, will and should need to be included. The medicine article makes use of modals in a higher proportion than the educational article. These modals tend to be chosen in order to express probability. An example of the use of modals is the next reference: “Another possible source of depression may come about when people use online health support groups” (Discussion, ¶ 3).

The open sentence of the medicine paper appears to state the goals of the study in order to remind the reader of the aim of the research. On the contrary, the educational article divides the information using subtitles such as journal importance. These subtitles are the same that those included in the results’ section.

In both cases, the limitations of the study are included above the conclusions section. Elbeck and Mandernach (2009) stated the limitations as another section following the results section. However, Bessiére et al. (2010) presented the limitations of the study together with the results section.

The conclusion section restates the main points of the article. This section also suggests why the paper was worth reading. The recommendations are also included in this section. For instance, Elbeck and Mandernach (2009) suggested “We hope this study will encourage like-minded scholars to design and publish rigorous studies…” (p.15).

Along this paper, the results, discussions and conclusions sections were analyzed and compared using two research articles. Both papers present data in an organized way, respecting the order and presentation of the above sections. In general, both articles seem to respect academic conventions, though the educational papers appear to follow APA rules and the medicine paper the Vancouver system.




References

Bessière, K. et al. (2010). Effects of Internet Use on Health and Depression: A Longitudinal Study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 12 (1).

Elbeck, M., & Mandernach, B. J. (2009). Journals for Computer- Mediated Learning: Publications for Computer of Value for the Outline Educator. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 10 (3).

Pintos, V., & Crimi, Y. (2010). Unit 3: The Research Article: results, discussions, and conclusions. Universidad CAECE: Buenos Aires, Argentina. Retrieved April 26, 2010, from http://caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar/mod/resource/view.php?id=4692