The Biggest Mistakes Students Make in Writing Research Papers

After helping a number of undergraduates with research papers, projects, and Capstone design, here are a few of my observations about their biggest mistakes. First, I’ll begin with an overview of doing good research and writing good papers. But if you’re in a hurry, you can skip ahead to the biggest mistakes I’ve noticed.

What a Research Paper Does

A research paper should:

1. Present a problem, research question, or hypothesis that you are seeking an answer to.
2. Cite relevant sources that provide background about the problem or the current landscape surrounding it. These references can also include existing or possible solutions.
3. Include the design of an experiment or project. In rare cases, a theoretical design alone may suffice, but in practice, each design should be implemented to some extent. We need something “real” to demonstrate.
4. DATA, DATA, DATA! Data (of some kind) must absolutely be collected and analyzed in some way. Without this step, you only have a cool project, but there is no scientific backing that would justify sharing your findings with the scientific community.
5. The data must be analyzed in some way and conclusions or implications drawn from the results.
6. References must be accurately cited. Abbreviations such as “et. al” work in the paper body, but not in the References section. Also, always provide a DOI (Document Object Identifier) whenever possible.

What a Research Paper Should Look Like

For the most part, research papers (in the sciences) follow this pattern:

1. Before the paper body
   1. Title (catchy but accurate)
   2. Abstract (not just a summary, but a highlight of the problem, your methods, and the results)
2. Paper body
   1. Introduction (introduce the problem, your question, or the need for this work)
   2. Related Research (present a clear background of the problem, alternative solutions, etc)
   3. Methods (clearly describe your design, build, model, etc, in full paragraphs not just lists. Also include your data collection method, and your data analysis method)
   4. Results (present the results of your analysis and various conclusions or implications we may draw from them)
   5. Conclusion (wrap up the work, include limitations of the study and future research opportunities as a result of the study)
3. After the paper body
   1. References (see below)

Biggest Mistakes

1. Letting ChatGPT write for you, or give you “references” -> Always write your own paragraphs and sentences. Always double-check your references. There are many good references that ChatGPT can’t find or doesn’t know about -> don’t neglect a Scopus search.
2. Writing Methods or Results sections as bullet-pointed lists. This is what tables are for. These sections are for full paragraphs.
3. Including Figures, Tables, or new References in the Conclusion.
4. Not including enough references in the Related Research section.
5. Providing way too much (and unrelated) information (and too many references) in the Introduction - this is what the Related Research section is for.
6. Not listing study Limitations nor Future Directions in the Conclusion.
7. Not following the paper format provided by the Academic Society or Journal.
8. Not following the paper’s correct citation format (usually outlined in the template). Societies do not all accept MLA, APA, nor IEEE format for citations. Some want a modified form. Always check what the template says.