GEO 4251

With some variation among the different disciplines, most scholarly articles of original research follow the IMRaD model, which consists of the following components:

Introduction

• Literature Review
• Statement of Problem or Research Topic
• Plan to Solve the Problem or Thesis of Argument

Method & Results*

• How Research was Done
• Data
• What Answers were Found

Discussion

• Interpretation of Results
• Limitations of the Study
• Implications for the Field

This form is obvious in scientific studies, where the methods are clearly defined and described, and data is often presented in tables or graphs for analysis. Many scholarly articles will also include an Abstract, a Conclusion, and a Bibliography.

*In other fields, such as history, the method and results may be embedded in a narrative, perhaps describing and interpreting events from archival sources. In this case, the technique is the selection of archival sources and how they were interpreted, while the results are the interpretation and resultant story. Similarly, in other humanities fields, like English, a scholarly work will not include an explicit methods or results section. Still, some of the text will ground the author's perspective in related theory (methods). The subsequent portion will consist of an extensive analysis supporting the author's argument, including close readings of primary texts supported by the incorporation of secondary sources (results). Such studies in the humanities are typically broken into sub-sections that are organized topically.

In full-length books, this general pattern might be followed throughout the book, within each chapter, or both.