Recommendation for the Main Structure of Your Research Paper

Paper Title

Introduction (Conceived as an ABSTRACT of the whole paper)

• Brief background to situate your research

• The puzzle: Formulate your research question clearly (why, how, etc.)

• A pithy statement of your thesis, i.e. the main argument (as your proposed answer to your

research question)

• Introduce the main cases you will be using for comparison and analysis

• (The methods and sources of data you rely on)

The main body

• Literature review: Read existing academic work that are relevant to your research, what do

they say about your question? Do you agree or disagree with them? How would you critique,

refine, or integrate them? Note that you should give citation of the work you review

o You may use any widely accepted citation style such as APA, MLA, Chicago; yet you

must use it consistently throughout the paper

• Propose your own argument for the research question based on the literature review above,

and elaborate it.

o Using quantitative (e.g. WHO, IHME, CDC, UNICEF, WB datasets, or national and

subnational statistics) and/or qualitative (secondary evidence in journal articles,

academic book chapters, interviews on newspapers, archives) evidences, demonstrate

how your sources/cases help you answer the research question with your proposed

argument.

• It’d be best if you could also consider some counter-arguments to your own thesis and

further defend your own argument

o In fact, you can identify most counter-arguments in the literature review process.

Therefore, this step is perceived equivalent as explaining why you think your

argument is valid, more reasonable, or more appropriate than the alternative

arguments/explanations in existing literature.

Conclusion

• Reiterate your argument

• Highlight the significance or contribution of your research project

• Acknowledge of research limitation

References/Bibliography

• Use one citation style consistently (APA, MLA, Chicago: You may refer to the Seagull

Handbook of your first-year DSEM class or google their specific formats online)