A research paper is an original paper usually prepared as part of the academic requirements.
Research papers are scholarly writings that provide analysis, explanation, and argument based on deep and independent research. Research papers are designed to assess the student’s writing skills and academic research abilities, understanding and internalization of the studied material,  their preparation involves a lot of time and effort, the quality and grade of the  research paper is reflected in the final grade of course as well as the degree, hence the great importance!

Although research papers have specific goals and guidelines according to the educational institution or according to the topic in which they are written, the general process and format are the same.

Below is a suggested structure for a reasearch paper :

1. 1. Abstract
   2. Introduction
   3. Literature review
   4. Methods
   5. Results / Findings
   6. Discussion and conclusions
   7. References
      
      Below is an explanation of each of the steps:

1. Abstract– defining the main part of the work and presenting its importance. A short and informative summary that is a necessary background. Summary of the content of the work. A quality introduction is one that succinctly summarizes the research and describes the arguments well and attracts the reader to continue reading.
2. Introduction– a chapter written at the end of the work, this chapter contains a summary of each of the research chapters and presents the research papers work in a concentrated way, contains as a paragraph about each chapter.
3. Literature review– in the research paper, as in any academic research work – a literature review is a review of the sources used in the research, use such as establishing and learning. Academic sources are articles, books, journals that are published and updated from time to time. These articles are for example on Google Scholar – a search engine designed for this purpose. A quality literature review is one that contains an adequate amount of articles, recent publication dates, articles published in reputable journals, articles that have been cited a large number of times, the authors of which are students and graduates of leading universities in the world ranking (an accepted site for ranking universities in the world is Shanghai ).
4. Methods – description of the method(s) used in the work for the purpose of drawing conclusions. Example methods: tests from the world of statistical statistics such as linear regression and analysis of variance, advanced methods such as event studies. In this chapter, 3 main parts are presented: 
   4.1 Research tool – the means used to collect the data (example: questionnaire, interview, existing database)
   4.2 Study design – the way in which the data collection was carried out.
   4.3 Participants– description of the subjects (data), method of collection, sample size and other characteristics
5. Results / Findings– presentation of descriptive statistics of the sample, presentation of the statistical models and their application. Quantitative and numerical analysis is evident in this chapter.
6. Discussion and conclusions – a chapter that refers to the previous one, details in detail the results obtained and their meaning, the chapter contains answers to the research questions as well as confirmation / refutation of the research hypotheses, finally the chapter closes with conclusions.
7. References – an ordered list of all the sources used in the work according to APA rules / MLA / Harvard etc.

Sample works can be found in the project and sample works are part of the academic requirements.

Need help with your research paper? Academax is here to help you write an excellent review, after experience writing literature reviews in economics, social sciences, humanities, sciences, medicine and many other fields. We know how to find the best sources (even paid ones) to bring the best outcome for you!