One of the graduation requirements: Having a research paper based on dissertation published or have obtained an acceptance of publication by a peer reviewed journal or conference proceeding Climb to success Begin No return Dream big Reach the top Success

1. Writing a research
article
Dr. Poonsri Vate-U-Lan
the Research Seminar Workshop 1/2017 by Graduate School of eLearning,
Ph.D. in eLearning Methodology Program
ABAC CITY CAMPUS, ZEN Department Store@CentralWorld
Thursday Nov 23, 2017

2. Outlines
• One of the graduation
requirements: Having a research
paper based on dissertation
published or have obtained an
acceptance of publication by a
peer reviewed journal or
conference proceeding
• Climb to success
• Begin
• No return
• Dream big
• Reach the top
• Success
2

3. Definition of a research article
• A research article reports the results of original research,
assesses its contribution to the body of knowledge in a given
area, and is published in a peer-reviewed scholarly journal.
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4. 4

5. Structure
• Title, abstract and Introduction
• Literature review
• Methodology
• Findings
• Conclusions
• Limitations and future studies
• References and appendices
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6. Title Pattern
• 1st - Question. List a research question as a title. Example:
Does Facebook use really cause narcissism?
• 2nd – Summary. Summarize the study in one sentence.
Example: Analysis of the relationship between Facebook use
and narcissism.
• 3rd – Double tittle with a colon. Use 2 separate tittles with a
colon. Facebook and Narcissism: An analysis of Heavy
Facebook users.
• 4th – Attention grabbing and creative titles that mostly use
the active voice. Examples: Don’t call me a narcissist: A closer
look into heavy Facebook users.
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7. Abstract: a paragraph-long summary
of a paper or a conclusions section
• Objective (1 sentence)
• Research process (1 sentence)
• 2 most important findings (1 or 2 sentences)
• Conclusion (1 sentence)
• Example: This study was conducted to close the literature gap and promote cross-
cultural understandings among social media users (OBJECTIVE). A content analysis
was conducted on 4,000 tweets posted by 200 college students in Japan and the USA
(METHOD). The results showed that Japanese college students post more self-related
messages and ask fewer questions compared to American college students. It was
also found that tweets that refer to TV are more common in Japan, whereas sports
and news tweets stand out in the USA (FINDINGS). The evidence from this study
suggests that there is a subtle and complicated relationship between culture and
Twitter use (CONCLUSION).
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8. Abstract of a research article
• Single paragraph, and concise
• As a summary of work done, it is always written in past tense
• An abstract should stand on its own, and not refer to any other part of
the paper such as a figure or table
• Focus on summarizing results - limit background information to a
sentence or two, if absolutely necessary
• What you report in an abstract must be consistent not repeat or
duplicate with the contents reported in the paper
• Correct spelling, clarity of sentences and phrases, and proper
reporting of quantities (proper units, significant figures) are just as
important in an abstract as they are anywhere else
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9. Background
Importance of the topic
Problem statement
Research purpose
Outline of the paper
INTRODUCTION:
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10. Background: (Things that already
know)
• Interest in …. has been growing in recent years
• Recently it was found that …….
• …. has been increasingly used by various …
• There is a growing body of evidence supporting …..’s
• The New York Times reports that …
• Currently/nowadays/at the time of this writing there are …
• A number of studies looked at the relationship between…
• The question of … caused much debate in the discipline
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11. Importance: (Why the topic is
important?)
• A number of studies suggest that ….. is one of the most
important aspects of …
• ….remains one of the most hotly debated topics in the area of
• Understanding… is crucial/pivotal/vital/critical/ in order to..
• Recent developments, particularly…. makes this topic…
• Having this information will be very
advantageous/valuable/useful for … because …
• This is the first study/one of the first studies that addresses…
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12. Problem statement
(What the researcher does not know and need to
know / Current & Potential Problems) (1/3)
• Literature Gap
• To the best of our knowledge, there are no studies available in the area of….
• So far only few studies investigated ….
• Previous studies failed to address…
• A limited body of literature addressed the needs of…
• Too little attention has been paid to
• Need for timely information
• …. mentioned that there are more studies needed in the area of…
• Most of what we know about … is from the 60’s.
• Conflicting findings in the literature
• There are conflicting findings in the literature as.. 12

13. Problem statement
(What the researcher does not know and need to
know / Current & Potential Problems) (2/3)
• The findings are not consistent…
• Public interest & a recent problem (e.g. security breach, international crisis, increasing health issues, increasing
rate/cost of something, business failures, etc.)
• Currently most social media users face the problem of…
• Many people suffer from Internet addiction and this is…
• After the recent economic recession, companies need a better way to utilize their resources by ….
• Nowadays many students drop out because…
• Policy makers may face the issue of … everyday
• Not having this information causes inefficiency, ineffectiveness, a challenge, a dilemma
• Majority of marketers report issues with their ROI on …
• Most people are uneducated in the area of…
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14. Problem statement
(What the researcher does not know and need to
know / Current & Potential Problems) (3/3)
• In this situation, people may have the dilemma of ….
• Not knowing/understanding/assessing/investigating … may be detrimental/disadvantageous… or may cause
• During this critical time/the transition period, not having this information causes time/money/waste of
resources/misunderstanding/other issues especially…
• A blurred concept, something difficult to understand, something has not been explained well
• ….necessary for better understanding of
• ….is impossible without further understanding of…
• There has been an inconclusive debate on…
• Limited research exists to draw any firm conclusions regarding
• Something difficult to predict
• Currently it is difficult to predict…
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15. Objective
(To solve the problem listed above) (½)
• The purpose/aim/goal/objective of this study is…
• This paper/study/article/research aims to…
• This study is an attempt to …
• A survey/experiment/literature review was conducted to…
• The researchers hope to identify/clarify/pinpoint …. after
analyzing..
• Author would like to close the literature gap and contribute to the
body of literature by …
• The findings will help/assist/benefit/support …
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16. Objective
(To solve the problem listed above) (2/2)
• The results of this study will be of particular interest to…
• Practitioners/policy makers/managers/institutions may benefit
from the findings of this study by…
• Scholars/researchers/field workers/students can better
understand …
• The findings will add significantly to our understanding of…
• Having this information is likely to improve/ amend society/social
life/the current business environment/etc.
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17. Style of an introduction
• Use past tense except when referring to established facts. After
all, the paper will be submitted after all of the work is completed.
• Organize your ideas, making one major point with each
paragraph.
• Present background information only as needed in order support
a position. The reader does not want to read everything you
know about a subject.
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18. Literature review
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19. Concepts/Keywords/definitions/
constructs (if applicable)
• According to Merriam Webster, flow is defined …
• In his seminal book on creativity, Cahill (2017) refers to flow
as…
• Rosenberg (2013) was the first psychologist to coin the term
flow which means…
• Several authors argued that flow is likely to be caused by …
• A comprehensive review of flow studies was conducted by ..
who stated…
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20. Theoretical Framework:
Theories/models/processes/effects
(if applicable)
• According to flow theory…
• The basic premises/prepositions/assumptions of flow theory are
• The elaboration likelihood model suggests/posits/postulates that
• Proponents of game theory suggest that …
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21. Psychological, sociological, demographic,
cultural, biological (neural), economical,
philosophical and critical approaches to a
topic (if applicable)
• Understanding “flow” has certain sociological implications
• Young males reportedly experience flow more frequently and
• The experience of flow has been known to vary culture to culture
• Recent neurobiological findings suggest that flow is related to
• The concept of flow can be better understood when contrasted
with Descartes’ writings on consciousness.
• Critics argue that there is no such stage like “flow” because…
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22. Detailed background information about the
topic (facts & figures, history, people,
media coverage, trends, books on the
topic, etc.)
• Emmanuel Kant was one of the first scholars to point out
• Japan’s Westernization started when Commodore Perry…
• In his book on modern dance … states that
• According to Aristotle/Karl Marx/Charles Darwin/Adam Smith ….
(try to find the earliest scholar/idea related to your topic)
• The government figures show that…
• The use of … has been growing rapidly as illustrated in..
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23. Past studies similar to this study
• Past research (direct)
• There is a rapidly growing literature on flow theory. … found that
• A significant number of flow studies contributed to the literature so far. … Indicated that
• Similarly/along the same lines/by the same token, … observed that …
• Past research (Indirect)
• Cognition scholars also foraged/delved into the area of playing games and flow.
• Along with flow, researchers identified seven additional cognitive stages:
• Further research on… has supplied ample evidence that…
• Contrary to the past findings, recently it was discovered that
• On the other hand, there have been conflicting views regarding the stages of flow.
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24. Hypotheses and/or Questions
• Based on a review of both empirical and conceptual literature,
the researcher poses the following research
questions/hypothesize that
• In view of the aforementioned discussion of the literature, the
researcher poses the following questions/hypothesize that
• Based on both the existing literature and the theoretical
background, the researcher poses the following hypotheses
regarding
• On these grounds the researcher argues that
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25. Methodology
(DATA COLLECTION PROCESS)
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26. Sample: What, Who, Why
• The sample consisted of (sample size, gender, avg. age,
socioeconomic info, etc).…. This particular group of … selected
because they are highly representative of…
• A total of/A sample of …. participated/were recruited/were
included in the study
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27. Data Collection:
What, When, Where, Who, How
• The participants were contacted using convenience sampling
and given the option of completing the web-based questionnaire
in exchange for class credit. Most of the participants took this
survey as part of their classes taught by the principal
investigator at a computer lab, so the response rate was 100%.
• The data collection took place in May of 2013, and students
from various demographics (e.g., major, gender, year at the
school, etc.) participated in the study.
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28. Sampling method choice, sample choice,
Analysis method choice: What, How, Why,
Stages of Data collection
• As a first step/Prior to data collection/During the first phase..
• After the respondents completed…/ the sample items were…
• Finally/In the third stage/ Followed by the procedure…
• This particular sample/sampling method was chosen because
• The focus group method was adopted/preferred/chosen to
ensure produce insights into/gain in-depth
understanding/facilitate rapid data collection.
• This study adopted the … method because (past study/author)
stated that the most appropriate way to measure …
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29. Measurement tools, stimuli,
procedure: What, How, Why
• The survey questionnaire consisted of 20 multiple-choice items
that were adopted from (author/study).
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30. Findings
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31. Findings/Statistical analyses/ analysis
procedures/steps
• To answer the first research question/hypothesis, ….
• As a first step of data analysis, the principal investigator …
• The preliminary analysis has yielded results that …
• Respondents/participants/subjects who … reported/stated/indicated/answered that…
• Regarding question 1/ in response to question 1/ When asked about … most
respondents/subjects/participants reported/stated/indicated that …
• As shown in/presented in/can be seen in Table 1/Figure 1/Graph 1 …
• The figure/table/graph/chart below/above illustrates/demonstrates/shows … the
summary/characteristics/distribution of…
• A content analysis/an independent t-test/a simple linear regression was
performed/conducted to …
• A number of themes/categories/findings/ emerged from the analysis…
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32. Elaborate on findings/ Mention findings
other than hypotheses and research
questions
• Surprisingly/unexpectedly/interestingly/contrary to past findings,
the analysis has also yielded results that …
• Further evidence supporting…/Further analysis of … /
Furthermore, additional analysis has indicated …
• In addition to the findings above, the analysis/data/survey
results/participants indicated that …
• Some further/additional/numerical analysis also implicated
that…
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33. Hypotheses rejected or accepted
• Thus, therefore, in light of these findings Hypothesis 1 accepted:
subjects who have…
• No significant differences were found between… thus…
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34. Research questions answered or
unanswered
• These findings/results relate to/answer/address/present answers
to the first research question…
• These findings/results raise/pose another research question…
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35. Conclusions
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36. Restate the purpose
• This study was conducted to address/draw upon …
• The objective of the current study was …
• This study provides an extensive overview of…
• This study was inspired by …
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37. Summarize the procedure
• To understand the effects of … this study/author/we/the principal
investigator surveyed…
• A cross-sectional study was performed where…
• The present study assessed the claims that …
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38. List major findings/answers to
research questions/hypotheses
• The results implied/indicated/showed/suggested that …
• This study/paper/research has found/shown that
• This study/paper/research/work failed to disclose/provide any
significant relationship between
• The following conclusions can be drawn/made/obtained/inferred
based on …
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39. Elaborate on each major finding
• …. stood out as a major …
• Similar to/contrary to past findings the results of the present study …
• In terms of/when it comes to …
• The in-depth analysis/a closer look at the data also suggested that…
• The most important/significant/noteworthy finding, contribution to the
literature …
• Surprisingly/unexpectly/apart from … the researcher discovered…
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40. Explain the results/Provide
precautions
• These differences/results/abnormalities may be tied to/due to/be
regarded as/may explain..
• As a result of/due to the fact that/driven by/on the basis of … the
researcher can speculate/postulate/assume
• It is quite probable that … contributed to the positive effect of
• These results should be taken with a pinch of salt/one should be
careful to generalize..
• On the other hand, it would be ill-advised to ..,
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41. Talk about implications
• Overall, findings of this study lent/provided/thus support to/for
the view/argument/notion that
• In sum/when put together/to summarize the results
confirmed/provided confirmatory evidence/lent support to/offered
evidence/failed to detect …
• The results have significant implications for
• On these grounds, one can presume/expect/argue that
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42. Mention how the findings will be
useful
• This paper/study/research has added to the growing body of
literature/evidence suggesting
• (Go back to the problem statement section and cite them
again)… these results can be utilized by marketing practitioners
in a way that…
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43. Limitations/Future Studies
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44. Shortcomings of the study
• The present study has a number of shortcomings.
• The sample size of this study is too small to make any
generalizations about …
• The sample consisted of only …
• The scope of the study was only limited to
• This study failed to control
• Some of the weaknesses of the current study can be listed as
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45. Mention Potential future studies
based on the limitations
• future studies with larger samples and complex study designs
are needed to confirm
• Future studies must address/control for …
• More research is needed …
• The topic of … can be better understood when … incorporated
• It would be interesting/desirable to investigate (different aspects
(cross-cultural, longitudinal, cross-gender/ etc.)
• The findings should be replicated in larger samples…
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46. References
• Follow the instruction of the journal strictly.
• Using reference managers such as Endnote, Mendeley, Zotero
or Docear
• Supplementary material at the end of a book, article, document,
or other text, usually of an explanatory, statistical, or
bibliographic nature.
Appendices
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47. Bibliography
Association of Teachers and Researchers in Asia. (2017).
Structure. Retrieved October 17, 2017, from
https://atera.org/structure
Baker, R. J., Brizee, A., & Velázquez, A. (2013). Purdue OWL:
Research Papers. Retrieved October 17, 2017, from
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/658/01/
Caprette, D. (2016). How to write a research paper. Retrieved
October 17, 2017, from
http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~bioslabs/tools/report/reportform.html
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