International Peer-Reviewed Journal•Open Access•ISSN 2456-8880
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Free learning series · 18 pages

How to Write a Research Paper

From “a curious kid” to “a published researcher”.

A research paper is nothing more than curiosity, organised. Follow Maya — a girl with two plants on a windowsill — as she grows into a published researcher, and learn every part of a real paper in the order you would actually write it. No jargon, no prerequisites, free to read.

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How do you write a research paper?

You write a research paper by answering one clear question in a fixed order: narrow the question, find out what is already known, predict what you expect, describe exactly what you did, report what happened, and then explain what it means. Everything else — the citations, the abstract, the formatting, the peer review — is bookkeeping around those six moves. A paper is curiosity, organised; it is not a literary performance, an opinion essay, or a summary of other people's work.

Which is why writing one is less a question of talent than of following a well-worn sequence — the same sequence used by a school student with two plants on a windowsill and by a doctoral candidate with a laboratory. This free eighteen-page series follows Maya through exactly that sequence, from her first question to a published, peer-reviewed paper.

The short version
1. One answerable question 2. What is already known 3. A hypothesis that can fail 4. A method a stranger could repeat 5. Results, without argument 6. Discussion, with limits named
Write them in this order. Readers will meet them in a different one — see IMRaD.

The eighteen pages

Five parts · ~40 min

Each page takes one idea and shows it happening, with a worked example you can copy into your own draft. Read start to finish, or jump to the section you are stuck on.

Part 1 · Pages 1–4

The Spark

A paper is decided before a word of it is written. These four pages cover the part everyone rushes: turning a vague interest into one question you can actually answer, finding out what is already known about it, and committing to a guess you could be proven wrong about.

Part 2 · Pages 5–8

The Investigation

Evidence is the only thing a paper really contains. Here you learn to write a method a stranger could repeat exactly, to spot the hidden variable that quietly explains your result, to report findings without arguing, and only then to say what they mean.

Part 3 · Pages 9–12

Levelling Up

A school project and a journal article share one skeleton; only the clothes change. This part introduces IMRaD — the structure behind nearly every paper in science and engineering — and the two pieces readers judge you by first: the introduction, and the title and abstract.

Part 4 · Pages 13–15

Doing It Right

What separates a publishable paper from a rejected one is usually not intelligence but integrity and polish: crediting every borrowed idea, naming your own weaknesses before a reviewer finds them, and writing plainly enough to be believed.

Part 5 · Pages 16–18

Into the Real World

Publishing is a process, not a verdict. The last three pages cover choosing a journal, what peer reviewers actually ask, how to answer them without taking it personally, and what happens after your paper has a DOI.

The structure of a research paper (IMRaD)

Nearly every paper in science, engineering and medicine follows one skeleton, known as IMRaD — Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion — wrapped in a title, abstract, keywords, conclusion and reference list. This is the order a reader meets your work in, which is not the order you write it in.

Title & abstract
The whole paper in one line and in 150–250 words: question, method, key result, meaning. Written last, read first.
Introduction
What is known, what is missing, what you asked. Ends with your aim or hypothesis.
Methods
Materials, sample, procedure, instruments, analysis — detailed enough to be repeated exactly.
Results
What happened, in numbers, tables and figures. No interpretation.
Discussion
Meaning, comparison with earlier work, limitations, future work.
References
Every source you actually used, in one consistent style, complete enough to find.

Covered in detail on Page 10; abstracts, titles and keywords on Page 12.

Mistakes first-time authors make

Most rejected manuscripts are not rejected for being unintelligent. They are rejected for a handful of avoidable habits — each far cheaper to fix before submission than after:

  • A question too broad to answer. “The effects of climate change on agriculture” is a career, not a paper.
  • No control, or a hidden variable. If the treated group also got more sunlight, the study measured sunlight.
  • Interpretation smuggled into the results. Save meaning for the discussion; the reader wants the numbers unspun.
  • Claims larger than the data. Fifty samples in one city prove nothing about a country.
  • Copy-paste from sources. Paraphrase, cite, and run a similarity check before you submit.
  • Ignoring the journal's template. Formatting is the cheapest respect you can pay an editor — and the easiest desk rejection to avoid.

Writing your first paper? Read the eighteen pages in order — about forty minutes — then draft yours alongside the IRE Journals author guidelines. Everyone who has ever published has been exactly where you are now.

Start at Page 1 — The Spark →

Frequently asked questions

How long should a research paper be?

Most journal papers run 3,000–6,000 words, or roughly 6–12 printed pages including figures and references. Length follows what the study needs, not a target; a short, complete paper always beats a padded one.

Which section should I write first?

Methods, then results — they are the factual record and the easiest to write. Then discussion, then introduction, and the title and abstract last, once you know what the paper actually says.

Can a student publish a research paper?

Yes. Undergraduate and postgraduate students publish in peer-reviewed journals every month. What matters is a clear question, a sound method and honest reporting — not your title or your institution.

How long does peer review take?

It varies by journal, from a couple of weeks to several months. Expect at least one round of revisions; being asked to revise is the normal path to acceptance, not a rejection.

Do I need to read papers before writing one?

It is the fastest shortcut there is. Our companion series, How to Read a Research Paper, teaches the three-pass technique so you can judge a paper's method in minutes and absorb the conventions you are about to write in.

Part of the Research Skills path · Series 2 How to Read a Research Paper Before you write one, learn to read them. Eighteen pages on the smart reading order, the three-pass technique, judging methods and turning many papers into one clear picture.
Open the reading series →