16
          
        
        
          5.
        
        
          RESEARCH PROJECT PAPER
        
        
          After completing a research project, scientists write a report or paper explaining
        
        
          their work.
        
        
          A
        
        
          
            research paper
          
        
        
          explains the work and the conclusions of the project.
        
        
          4
        
        
          objective (
        
        
          n
        
        
          )
        
        
          :
        
        
          representing facts
        
        
          without personal feelings or
        
        
          opinions
        
        
          Remember
        
        
          14.
        
        
          Explain the two main characteristics of a research paper.
        
        
          A research paper must be:
        
        
          ❚
        
        
          
            Objective
          
        
        
          4
        
        
          . Papers have to be truthful, without manipulating the results. If a
        
        
          hypothesis is wrong, this is not a failure: it is an opportunity for suggesting new
        
        
          lines of research to solve the question.
        
        
          ❚
        
        
          
            Precise
          
        
        
          . The methods used and the results obtained have to be explained clearly
        
        
          so that the same results are obtained when the work is repeated.
        
        
          A research paper has the following sections: title page, index, summary,
        
        
          introduction, methodology, results, conclusion and bibliography.
        
        
          5.1.
        
        
          Title page
        
        
          The title page includes a brief, clear
        
        
          
            title
          
        
        
          that describes the objective of the research
        
        
          precisely. It also has the
        
        
          
            names
          
        
        
          of the authors in alphabetical order. Sometimes the
        
        
          
            date
          
        
        
          of the paper is included.
        
        
          Images always make a title page more attractive, but remember, the important
        
        
          thing is the content.
        
        
          5.2.
        
        
          Index
        
        
          The index lists the
        
        
          
            sections
          
        
        
          in the research paper, with the
        
        
          
            page numbers
          
        
        
          for
        
        
          the reader to find the section they want. A more detailed index also includes
        
        
          
            subsections
          
        
        
          with the corresponding page numbers.
        
        
          5.3.
        
        
          Summary
        
        
          The summary describes the core content of the research paper, with the most
        
        
          important information. A summary is not an introduction and should not be more
        
        
          than 15 or 20 lines long.
        
        
          In the summary for our project about beans, we will explain that we planted bean
        
        
          seeds with different amounts of water to see which conditions were best for
        
        
          germination and growth. The experiments carried out to test our hypothesis are
        
        
          listed without details.
        
        
          
            Title page and index