Writing a research paper

The value of research and the career of a university lecturer depend heavily on the success in publishing
scientific papers. This article reviews the guidelines for writing and submitting research papers. The
three most important success criteria in publishing are as follows: the paper describes a good research,
it is written according to the traditions of scientific writing and submitted to the right journal. The “right”
journal publishes papers similar to yours. It is effectual to follow the usual structure of scientific papers:
introduction, methods, results, discussion, and conclusion. Introduction gives the review of the
literature studying your problem and leads to the aim and the hypothesis of your research. The methods
part contains the description of the research in detail, which enables the reader to do the research over
again. Results are usually given in tables and graphs. Discussion includes the analyses of the data
received to find support or reject the hypothesis raised in introduction. The inferences are compared
with the findings of other researchers and shortcomings and/or tasks for further research are pointed
out. It is important to avoid plagiarism in the manuscript and to consider the copyright law. The
manuscript is sent to the editor of the selected journal together with a letter explaining why the journal
was chosen and who is the contributing author. In about three months, the editor sends the reviews of
the manuscript to the contributing author. The reviews are free support and advice in doing research
and writing papers. If not rejected, the manuscript will be revised by the authors and published. Even
the published papers contain shortcomings, which do not harm their contribution to science. The article
has one table and the list of references in ten entrees. Introduction Teaching in the universities has to be
science-based. Therefore lecturers and professors are evaluated according to their success in publishing
scientific papers. There is a proverb “publish or perish” in universities and colleges. The aim of this
article is to deliver some essential ideas for writing to scientific journals. The problems of selecting the
journal, writing the paper, and submitting it to a journal are discussed. A good research is a basis for
successful publishing but the research methodology is not treated in the article. There are different
types of papers: a) b) c) d) e) the reports of empirical studies, the description and analysis of a case
study, the review articles, which include meta-analysis of previous research, the theoretical articles to
develop theory, and the methodological articles to develop research methods (Publication manual …
2003). The two first types of papers are considered first of all although the ideas below are applicable to
the other types of papers as well. It is difficult for a young researcher to write and submit his/her paper.
S/he is thinking that the research or the manuscript is not good enough for publishing. Perfect papers
are never published because there are no perfect paper. Good papers are published. These papers put
the scientific discussion in the field forward (Day 2006). You should not be afraid of rejection. Reviewing
of your manuscript gives you invaluable information about the research in your field and about writing
research papers. Publishing in valued journals and collections is an inevitable part of your career as a
university lecturer. Let us look at some success criteria in publishing. 1. The paper describes a good
research. The research uses current ideas and methods appropriately. It is grounded in theory and adds
something to it. Good research is rigorous, systematic and very focused (Day 2006). You should discuss
one problem in one paper, although there can be different approaches to the problem in your paper.
Large samples of subjects facilitate the acceptance of your manuscript. 2. You answer the question why
your paper is important. The importance can be in wider principles, which emerged from your research.
You can describe how people can use the findings of your research and how other researchers can
develop the work further. Papers on popular topics (gender, collectivism, narcotics, etc.) are easier to
publish (Toomela 2003). A good paper arouses the interest of readers. 3. You have been reading the
best papers in your research field and you give an overview of the contemporary trends in the field. Your
paper will be published if it adds something to the international discussion in the field. You can
contribute to the discussion if you know the current state of affairs. 4. The paper is written according to
the traditions of scientific writing. Scientists are accustomed to read the papers with traditional
elements, structure and style. If you violate these traditions, then your paper is difficult to understand
and editors are eager to reject such manuscripts. The most thorough presentation of these traditions is
published by the American Psychological Association (Publication manual … 2003). Below we will discuss
the writing and submitting of manuscripts. However, we begin with selecting the appropriate journal.
Selecting the journal Most papers are rejected because they have been sent to the wrong journal.
Papers are not badly written and/or the described research is not of low quality but the papers do not
suit the objectives of the journal. We need to orient ourselves to the needs of the readers and to the
journal policies (Samuels S. J. 1991). The aims of a journal can be found on its web page or editorials
published in the first or last issue in a volume. Journals’ web sites usually give the following information:
a) b) c) d) editors, indexing in databases, forthcoming thematic issues, aims and the content of the
journal, recommended style of writing, copyright issues of the papers,