Writing an academic paper can be extremely hard and stressful for students. It is tough to achieve a high mark on such papers, although not impossible. However, you will only make life harder for yourself by not incorporating these essential components of any academic research paper into your work, and thus drastically decrease your chances of scoring highly. This article will discuss these pivotal components of any academic research paper that you need to ensure are included in your own writing.

Structure

The structure of your academic essay will differ compared to the usual essay you may have written during college. With your usually essay, you almost always had just an introduction, main body and a conclusion. However, for an academic essay, things are different. There are many different sections and they are as follows:

• Introduction: The introduction states the thesis hypothesis, which is what you will be aiming to prove throughout your work.
• Literature Review: The review section goes through the most significant academic literature that has been published in regards to your topic.
• Methodology: The methodology analyses the method you will be using for your research. For example, you will be answering questions such as why you chose this method, why you feel it is effective and any improvements that could be made to it.
• Results: This is where you detail the results that you have obtained
• Discussion: You will have a lengthy and in depth discussion about the results of your academic research. Again, just like the methodology section, you will need to perform an analysis on your results by answering questions such as the impact of these results, whether or not they prove your thesis statement and if you expected these results.
• Conclusion: The conclusion is a summarization of your research and the key results of your research.

You need to ensure that, when writing an academic paper, you strictly follow this structure, as it is the standard accepted form within academia. If you deviate from this, then you risk being marked down and perhaps not even being able to submit your work. In regards to references, any work that is not your own need to be full referenced in the bibliography section of your paper.

If you follow our guide to the essential components of an academic research paper, then you should have little problem in attaining a high mark for your work. Ensure you reference diligently and follow the set structure.