Typical components of a scholarly research report
Journal articles are used widely by the scientists in their work for various reasons which include; creating awareness, teaching, and conducting research work. Over the last three decades, the number of journal articles read has significantly increased due to the steady increase in the publication of a journal article and the need for updates (Tenopir and King 32). However, other studies have revealed that the average reading time has gone down from 48 minutes for one article in 1977 to 34 minutes in 2005. Therefore this paper seeks to describe the components of a scholarly research report in the sequence they appear in a journal article.
The first component of the research report in a journal article is the introduction. The opening statement in the introduction should capture the attention of the reader through the use of alarming facts, odd facts, or the use of intellectual quotations. The introduction has the literature review which cites other works related to the article in the journal. Finally, the introduction part is summarized by the thesis statement which indicates the position of the author of the article and gives a general overview of the research topic (American Psychological Association 13).
The second component of the research report in the journal article consists of the methodology. This section explains the method that was used to carry out the research. It also goes further to give the detail of the research method and how the information was obtained (American Psychological Association 22).
The third component of the research paper in the journal is the results section. This highlights the results of the finding of the research that was carried out (American Psychological Association 30).
The fourth component of the research report in the journal paper is the discussion. This part analyses the finding of the research where it goes further to explain the results that were obtained during the study (Sandusky and Tenopir 25)
Then, the research report in a journal article has the conclusion which summarizes the view of the author. It also goes further to give a possible solution to the problem in the study (Sandusky and Tenopir 30).
Finally, the research report has a list of sources that were used to conduct the research work. In particular, it is known as the works cited (Sandusky and Tenopir 35).
Research problem as a center of quality scholarly research
Scientists have had a difficult time since many research works have been left pending. Research has been a continuous process that starts with the problem and then finally ends with the solution to the problem. Consequently, in the research work, there must be a statement of the problem which is the hub around which the whole research rotates. Therefore this paper seeks to describe a research problem and it goes further to describe why it is the center of quality scholarly research. This paper also highlights where the research problem originates (Tenopir & King 23).
The research problem is described as the situation which makes the researcher feel confused, ill at ease, or apprehensive. Therefore this situation leads to searching for a possible solution to the problem.
The research problem is the center of quality scholarly research since all research work has a particular statement of the problem which is investigated through conducting the study. After a thorough analysis is carried out by conducting the research work, the possible solution to the statement of the problem is provided. Hence every research work must be induced by a particular problem (Tenopir & King 23).
The research problem can also be considered the center of the research because it gives direction to the researcher. With a clear problem stated, the researcher cannot get derailed from what he intended to find. This is unlike one who would set up to investigate a certain topic without a clearly stated problem. The latter is very likely to end up with very little of almost everything. No specific problem will have been solved.
A research problem may originate from the curiosity of the researcher. The researcher would like to know much about a given phenomenon. As a result, the researcher may conduct a comprehensive study of the problem to find a lasting solution.
Works Cited
American Psychological Association.. Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author, 2001. Print.
Sandusky, Robert, and Carol Tenopir.” Finding and using journal article components: Impacts of disaggregation on teaching and research practice”. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 59.6 (2008): 970-982. Print.
Tenopir, Carol, and Dickson King. Towards Electronic Journals: Realities for Scientists, Librarians, and Publishers. Washington, D.C.: Special Libraries Association, 2000. Print.