Structure of research papers

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Research papers do not all have the same format, but it is common to structure the paper (or thesis) in the following way:

• Title Page
• Table of Contents
• Abstract

1. Introduction
   1. Description of the educational issue under study (why is it important)
   2. Brief outline of the research
2. Literature Review
   1. review of literature (broken into sections if appropriate)
   2. summary of previous research on this project (if any)
   3. summary of background and why there is a need for this study
3. Methods
   1. research question/hypothesis
   2. description of the subjects (students) including the total number "(N=XX)" and how selected
   3. description of the instruments (surveys, tests, interview protocols) used
   4. description of the sequence of events for subjects
4. Results
   1. descriptive data on subjects
   2. pre-test analysis (if any)
   3. quantitative analysis (if any)
   4. qualitative analysis (if any)
   5. summary of results
5. Conclusion
   1. restatement of the problem
   2. interpretation of the results
   3. implications
   4. future research

• Acknowledgments (Optional - a chance to thank the people who helped you - students, family, instructors etc)
• References (create a list of all sources in (APA Style)
• Appendices (usually lettered Appendix A, B, C...)

Notes on Formats

• Double spaced text is the norm (although single spacing is acceptable) quotes and captions are always single spaced.
• Number the entire paper after the abstract including Appendices (do not number the title page or abstract)
• Occasionally people add a dedication page after the title page
• All tables should be labeled "Table #" and all other items (images, excerpts, graphs etc) are labeled as "Figure #"
  • using a number scheme based on the chapter is encouraged (e.g. Table 2.1 in chapter 2).

CSUN Thesis Guidelines

The official CSUN guidelines for thesis also include the following:

• Times New Roman font size 10 or 12
• left margin, one and one-half inches wide;
• the top, right and bottom margins, one inch wide.