research paper on article 13

Analysing the Ambit and Meaning of Article 13: How Did the Judiciary Interpret It?

Article 13 reserve and preserve the fundamental rights of the citizen, protecting from laws that may otherwise infringe upon our freedom. Article 13 requires that all amendments and laws passed by the Parliament are tested based on their validity under the Indian Constitution. Highlighting the transformative character of the Constitution, Anamika Mishra decodes Article 13, peeling it Clause by Clause. The underlying theme of the article also reflects on judicial review and its affect on interpreting Article 13.

By Anamika Mishra, currently pursuing law from Faculty of Law, Delhi University.

Introduction

In the Second Treatises of government , John Locke wrote that the contract between the government and ‘men’ works only if the sovereign protects all men and their property in exchange for rights.

Further, in Chapter XVIII under Section 201 and 202 of the book, he states that if the government or sovereign uses such power to pass arbitrary and irregular commands, they will be treated like ‘any other man who by force invades the right of another’. Therefore, ‘men’ are well within their rights to question the government’s powers if they transgress one’s liberty and freedom. This means that citizens, first as humans, have the right to their legal rights by the sheer dint of being human.

The Indian Constitution provides for a similar contractual agreement between the State and the citizen. Therefore, if any legislation inflicts upon a person’s constitutional rights mentioned in Part III of the Constitution, they can approach the judiciary under Article 226 and 32.

In L. Chandra Kumar v. Union of India (1997), the Supreme Court recognised the power of the High Courts under Article 226 and Article 227 of the Constitution. Additionally, in Indira Nehru Gandhi vs Shri Raj Narain & Anr case (1975), the Court affirmed that judicial review is part of the basic structure of the Constitution.

The Constitution allows the Indian judiciary to assess such legislations and strike them down if considered void or unconstitutional.

Similarly, discussing Article 13 of the Indian Constitution becomes crucial to realise Locke’s words completely. Article 13 aids the court and citizens to keep the powers of the legislature under preview. Article 13 of the Indian Constitution describes the means for judicial review.

It enjoins a duty on the Indian State to respect and implement the fundamental right. And at the same time, it confers a power on the courts to declare a law or an act void if it infringes the fundamental rights.

This piece aims to peruse Article 13 and its Clauses while also understanding how the courts’ interpretations shaped how Article 13 is understood today. This piece will explain Article 13, Clause by Clause, and its significance as read by the Indian judiciary. It will also emphasise the importance of judicial review vis-a-vis Article 13.

What Is Article 13? Construing the Clauses Vis-à-Vis Precedents

Article 13 is the guardian of Rights mentioned in Part III of our Constitution. Clause (1) of the said Article emphasises that all inconsistent existing laws become void from the commencement of the Constitution.

Article 13 (1) was first interpreted by the Supreme Court in adjudicating whether Article 13 had any retrospective effect as far as laws inconsistent with the fundamental rights were concerned.

In Keshavan Madhava Menon v The State Of Bombay (1951), a seven-judge Bench heard the appeal of a petitioner prosecuted under the Indian Press (Emergency Powers) Act. Part of the appeal posed if Article 13 (1) of the Indian Constitution could ‘declare all laws inconsistent with the fundamental rights to be void as if they had never been passed and existed’ or void ab initio .

The Court ordered that Article 13(1) does not make existing laws inconsistent with the fundamental rights, or void ab initio , for all purposes. But Article 13 makes such laws’ ineffectual and void’ prospectively based on its exercise of fundamental rights on and after the commencement of the Constitution.

Justice Das, on behalf of the bench (barring the dissent Justice Fazl Ali), observed,

“There is no fundamental right that a person cannot be prosecuted and punished for an offence committed before the Constitution came into force. So far as past acts are concerned, the law exists.”

Therefore, if a law becomes void from the applicability of the Constitution, as it is inconsistent with the rights imbibed in part III, it will still apply to citizens and non-citizens who committed an offence under the said law.

Do Non-Citizens have Access to Article 13(2)?

Article 13(2) of the Indian Constitution says that the State must not make laws that are not in ‘consonance’ with the Constitution. And if the law drafted intervened with an individual’s fundamental rights, the said law will become void to the extent of the contravention. This is an express ground for judicial review after legislation.

The State Of Gujarat And Another v. Shri Ambica Mills Ltd. is one of the many cases that add to the conundrum of interpreting Article 13(2). For some context, in 1961, the State of Gujarat had enacted the Bombay Welfare Fund (Gujarat Extension and Amendment Act) following the bifurcation of the State of Bombay in May 1960.

The Amendment Act made several changes in the Bombay Welfare Fund Act 1953. The respondent, a company registered under the Companies Act (1956), raised ‘several contentions’. One of them posed that specific provisions of the Amendment Act ‘violated the fundamental right of citizen employers and employees under Article 19 (1)(f)’. Hence, the Act was not authorised under law and void under Article 13(2).

Among other things, t he Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court also had to answer if ‘Ambika Mill’, a non-citizen, could claim the law to be void or non-est based on Article 13(2).

On behalf of the Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court, Justice Mathew observed that with the advent of the Constitution of India, special rights were given only to citizens, which render them protection against a post unconstitutional law.

But these provisions, although unconstitutional for the citizen, were not non-est for non-citizens like the employer in this case. The Court also observed with respect to Article 13(1), as interpreted by the Keshavan Madhava case, the word ‘void’ would not apply for non-citizen from pre-constitution laws.

With respect to Article 13 (2), the Court observed,

“Therefore, when article 13(2) uses the expression ‘void’, it can only mean void as against persons whose fundamental rights are taken away or abridged by law. The law might be ‘still-born’ so far as the persons, entities or denominations whose fundamental rights are taken away or abridged. Still, there is no reason why the law should be void or ‘still-born’ as against those who have no fundamental rights (meaning non-citizens).”

Do Personal Laws Fall under the Ambit of Article 13(3)?

Article 13(3)(a) includes any law including ordinance, order, bye-laws, rule, regulations, notification, custom or usage having in the territory of India the force of law. In a nutshell, the Clause is not exhaustive and shall contain all those laws that violate fundamental rights.

Article 13(3)(b) includes laws passed or made by the legislature or other competent authority in the territory of India before the commencement of this Constitution and not previously repealed. It means the same thing as ‘existing law’ defined in Article 372 of the Indian Constitution.

Comprehensively and with a combined reading of both Clauses (2) and (3) (a) of Article 13, Clause (2) states that the State shall not make any law that violates the fundamental right of the individual. Clause (3) (a) states law includes custom and usage. The issue is custom and usage in a territory cannot be made by the legislature thereof. Then how is it included in the inclusive definition of law?

But here is where the language of the statutes is interpreted differently. And even the interpretation, in some ways, remains inconsistent.

In State of Bombay v. Narasu Appa Mali (1951) , the Bombay High Court had to decide the validity of the Bombay Prevention of Hindu Bigamous Marriages Act 1946. The Court answered whether personal laws could be interpreted as ‘laws in force’ as mentioned under Article 13(3)(a).

Hon’ble. Justice M.C. Chagla felt that Article 13 (3) (a) uses the expression ‘law’ and not ‘personal law’. The issue was whether personal law should be included in Article 13 (3) (a) or Article 13 (3) (b). The former includes statutory law, and the latter is far wider, including all law enforced after 1950. The Court held:

“the expression “personal law” is not used in Article 13 because, in any opinion, the framers of the Constitution wanted to leave the personal laws outside the ambit of Part III of the Constitution. They must have been aware that these personal laws needed to be reformed in many material particulars, and in fact they wanted to abolish these different personal laws and to evolve one common code. Yet they did not wish that the provisions of the personal laws should be challenged by reason of the fundamental rights guaranteed in Part III of the Constitution and so they did not intend to include these personal laws within the definition of the expression’ laws in force’.”

The Court, in this case, opined that personal laws could not be part of the inclusive definition of ‘law’ under Article 13.

However, in Ahmedabad Women’s Action Group v. Union of India (1997 ) , the Supreme Court held that if religious personal laws are a part of the codified laws by the legislature, then the codification must be for the fundamental rights.

The quandary that begins from Narasu judgement continues to loom in the Triple Talaq judgement and even after that—further confusing the ambit and definition of law and ‘law in force’ in Article 13(3)(a) and (b).

In 2017, in Shayara Bano v. Union of India And Ors. (also called Triple Talaq judgement) the Hon’ble Supreme Court had an opportunity to observe the inclusion of personal laws in Article 13. But the Court believed that since Shariat law is a statutory law codified by the central legislative assembly, the rights with Muslim men to pronounce triple talaq and get divorced is arbitrary and unreasonable.

Justice Fali Nariman and J. Lalit were of the opinion that the 1937 Act fell under the expression ‘law in force’ under Article 13(3)(b). And therefore, the Triple Talaq law was pronounced inconsistent with the Indian Constitution. Justice Nariman also doubted the interpretation of Narusu Judgement that drew a difference between the two kinds of laws.

In 2018, Indian Young Lawyers Association v. The State Of Kerala , also called the Sabarimala Case, dealt with the same question. The Court, in this case, said that the ‘individual’ is at the heart of the Indian Constitution, and as far as any law affected the individual, it could fall under Article 13(3). The Court observed:

“As per Article 13(3)(a) of the Constitution, “law” includes custom or usage, and would have the force of law.”

The Court had said that prohibiting women of 10-50 years of age in the Sabarimala Temple under a custom is not reasonable or ‘universal’. And all valid customs must be ‘reasonable, certain and continous’.

Looking at Article 13 vis-à-vis the Basic Structure Doctrine

On one side, Article 13(2) of the Indian Constitution says that the Parliament cannot make a law that takes away or abridges fundamental rights. On the other, Article 368 gives the Parliament the power to amend the fundamental rights by a special majority in the Parliament.

In I. C. Golaknath & Ors vs the State Of Punjab , the Court dealt with whether exercising power under Article 368 can nullify the effects of Article 13 of the Indian Constitution; and whether Parliament had the power to amend Part III of the Constitution.

In its order, the majority Bench of six to seven held that every constitutional amendment also partakes the same features as a normal statute. Therefore, it is covered under Article 13 (3) (a).

Once it is covered, the limitation of Article 13 (2) comes into the picture, which states that ‘the State shall not make any law which takes away or abridges the rights’. Then no such amendment could be made that abridges any part of the Constitution.

Although the Court in the Golaknath case held that the Parliament had no power to amend Part III of the Indian Constitution, the Parliament responded by enacting the Twenty-fourth Constitutional Amendment. Using which the Parliament inserted a new Clause to Article 13; Article 13(4).

Article 13 (4) read:

“Nothing in this article shall apply to any amendment of this Constitution made under Article 368 Right of Equality”

The Validity of the Twenty-Fourth Amendment was further challenged in Kesavananda Bharati v. State Of Kerala And Anr (1973). In which a majority Bench of 7 to 6 overruled the Golak Nath case.

The Hon’ble Court held that the power to amend was prior to the Twenty-Fourth Amendment (Article 368). It further observed:

“The Amendment just made it explicit and declaratory. The term “Amendment” per se postulates that the original Constitution must survive with its basic features”.

Hence, the basic features were enumerated by J. Sikhri, which, however, was not exhaustive. These Basic Features, if touched upon, will declare the law or the Act to be void and accordingly unconstitutional.

The meaning of Article 13 may appear to be simple at first glance, but over the years, its purpose and definition have undergone several interpretations. Article 13 and its ambit have developed with every case that discussed its implications on both pre-and post-colonial laws. It has been vital for our Constitution as it successfully made several repressive laws void, and in some cases, inoperative.

Further, it is essential to remember that the legislature cannot encroach upon judicial review under Article 368. It is an inherent and implied limitation on the legislature’s power of constitutional amendment

This piece has also implicitly applied the importance of judicial review, responsible for clearly reading Article 13 to shield fundamental rights. Although the case laws interpreting Article 13 has been inconsistent, it does answer some important questions.

6 thoughts on “Analysing the Ambit and Meaning of Article 13: How Did the Judiciary Interpret It?”

It is very speaking article on the Article 13, I liked the way authored traced it’s developments. I’m thrilled to write these words here. The sense of pleasure after reading such a good article motivated me to write review. It is digestable and awesomely written piece. Thanks and my wishes

Thank you Chandra Pal. Please is all mine. 🙂

Fundamental rights should not carry exceptions. We can see usa constitution that usa fundamental rights dose not have any exceptions.

Very informative thanks ?

does a legislative judgement by a court come under the phrase “law” under article 13?

Analyze article 13 with context of judicial decision

Indian Legal Solution

Article 13 of the indian constitution.

Author: Nishtha Mittal , AMITY LAW SCHOOL DELHI affiliated to GGSIPU

INTRODUCTION

As it is rightly said, “ Rights are nothing if not duly protected or enforced ” similarly fundamental rights are mere constitutional rights if not endowed with supremacy over other constitutional rights and laws.

The constitution of India [1] is known as ‘compilation of various documents’ from around the world. It is known to be the most bulky and voluminous document governing the largest democracy of the world. The drafting committee suggested for such rights to be incorporated in the document that shall form the basis of the constitution. The idea of such rights was that they cannot be abridged in any circumstances and were henceforth called ‘Fundamental Rights [2] ‘ which are found in Part III of the constitution.

To establish supremacy of such rights [3] , Article-13 [4] came into being. We shall learn the meaning and examine the scope of application of Article-13 in this article.

2. CONSTITUTIONAL DEBATE (Summary)

Constituent assembly debates held on 25 th , 26 th and 29 th November, 1948 resulted in formation of a draft constitution which provided for Article-8 (parallel to current day Article-13). Article 8 was similar to Article 13 of present day constitution in most aspects except-

It provides for an exception to clause (2) of the constitution, stating that this clause shall not apply any law that may be made by the legislature for removal of inequality or any disparity arising out of any existing law.
It also did not define the term ‘law in force’ in clause (3) of the article. However, the chairman of the committee clarified this situation by defining ‘laws’ and ‘law in force’ in first amendment.
The inclusion of ‘custom and usage’ in the term law was debated stating that it would give power to state to make custom rather than the people but this argument was rejected by the chairman of the committee.

3. MEANING OF ARTICLE-13 [5]

We shall discuss the exact provision that seeks to secure the ascendance of fundamental rights [6] mentioned in part III of the constitution. Article-13 states that:

All the laws enacted before the commencement of constitution and in force currently if inconsistent with the provisions of this section shall be void to the extent of the inconsistency [7] ;
All the laws enacted by the states in derogation of the fundamental rights or this clause shall be void to the extent of the inconsistency;
The term ‘ law ’ under this section includes any law, by-law [8] , order [9] , ordinance, rule, regulation, notification [10] , custom or usage [11] as enacted in the Indian territory; and
The ‘ laws in force ‘ include any law enacted by the legislature or any other competent authority irrespective of its operation as a whole or in part, but it should not have been repealed by the authorities.
This clause acts as a saving clause for the amendments made in Article-368 of the constitution on which, provision of this section do not apply. [12]

4. JUDICIAL REVIEW

Judicial review is a power conferred upon the judicial system of the country to review any law or statute and pronounce upon its constitutionality. It is the part of basic structure doctrine and is indispensable part of judiciary as well. Article 13 confers this power of judicial review upon the courts if the law under scrutiny violates any provision of part III. Thus the same can be declared as ultra-vires and unenforceable thereon. To establish the supremacy of the constitution and not the legislature, one must adhere to article 13 which was incorporated in the constitution with a similar object. [13]

5. SCOPE or AMBIT

In this part of the article, we shall examine the scope of clauses (1) and (2) of Article 13 discussing which enactments shall be considered as inconsistent with the fundamental rights of the constitution guaranteed in Part III.

5.1 Laws inconsistent with Part III [14]

As seen in the above section, we can classify the laws governed by Article-13 into two parts:

‘Laws existing’ ( before or since the commencement of the constitution)- this part states that any such law will become void if it violates any fundamental right despite of being incorporated before the incorporation of fundamental rights in the constitution. Such law shall be declared as unenforceable or non-est by the competent courts before which it shall remain in force as any other law.
‘Future laws’ – this part talks about any future laws that maybe made by the competent authority or the legislature and acts as a restriction on such authority to make laws that are derogatory towards part III. It ensues a duty upon the legislature to keep in mind the existing fundamental rights and make laws accordingly. If not, such law shall be declared void and unenforceable by the court of law and shall thereon have no legal effect.

5.2 Void to the extent of inconsistency (meaning)

‘Void to the extent of inconsistency’ suggests that the laws in violation of fundamental rights are not declared to be void in toto [15] but only that part of such law is void that is not in accordance with part III. Other part of the law shall remain intact and valid in its operation. Thus the Doctrine of Severability applies in this situation which shall be discussed in later section of this article.

Doctrine of severability [16] : When a statute is declared to be unconstitutional as a result of inconsistency with fundamental rights, we shall apply the test of severability to analyze whether whole or any part of such statue shall be declared as void. If the inconsistent part is separable from the valid part to such an extent that it does not harm the substantiality of the law, such part shall be declared void and other part of law shall be valid. But if the inconsistent part is such that it cannot be separated from the law without changing the purpose, then such law as a whole shall be held to be void and unenforceable despite some part being valid [17] . Following are some instances of application of the doctrine by the apex court in some landmark judgements:

The test that whether the void part is separable or not was examined in the case of R.M.D.C. v. Union of India [20] where apex court held that the provisions of the act in question were severable in nature stating the ‘Intention of legislature’ as a test. Whether the legislature knew about the void part while drafting the statute or not gives one an idea about the same.
A.K Gopalan v. State [18] observed that since section-14 of the preventive detention act, 1950 is separable from the main act without altering its purpose, it can be declared void without questioning the validity of the whole act. A similar judgement was delivered in the case of State of Bombay v. Balsara [19] .

Doctrine of eclipse [21] : The status given to the existing laws upon inconsistency is not of void-ab-initio [22] but merely void or unenforceable. That is to say that such laws cannot said to void since their inception as at that time their was no application of Article 13 thus at the time they were as valid as any other law. Some following judgements establish the doctrine:

Bhikaji v. State of M.P. [23] where an amendment authorized the state government to make up the entire transport business to the exclusion of motor operators thus was repugnant to Article 19(1)(g) [24] of the constitution. However restriction to the above freedom gave state enough powers to monopolize any business thus supreme court held that the purpose of the amendment was to clarify the provision. Thus law was merely eclipsed by fundamental right protection and amendment removed such eclipse.
Deepchand v. State of Uttar Pradesh [25] decided upon the question that whether the doctrine applied on post constitutional laws stating that the doctrine does not cover such laws because these laws are void-ab-initio thus no subsequent amendment could remove its eclipse as it was made after the inception of Article 13. However this judgement was overruled in the case of State of Gujarat v. Ambika Mills [26] . Thus final situation being that this doctrine is applicable to both pre and post constitutional laws equally.

Doctrine of waiver [27] : This doctrine states that no person can waive his fundamental rights enshrined in part III of the constitution that is nobody can give up his fundamental right voluntarily or otherwise [28] .

Doctrine of lifting veil [29] – this doctrine tests the constitutional validity of any law allegedly violating fundamental rights by ascertaining its true nature and impact considering preamble, circumstances in which it was enacted and previous history if any. This is done to scrutinize the act to the core examining its pros and cons to cure or give remedy to the situation arising out of such alleged violation. [30]

5.3 Effect of inconsistency

The effect of such inconsistency shall not be retrospective in nature that is it does not give any type of ex-post facto effect to the application of fundamental rights [31] . Thus any type of closed cases or actions that have been concluded in the past won’t have any effect of such inconsistency with fundamental rights [32] . It only applies to existing and future laws violating part III.

Similarly, as it was held in Abdul Khader v. the State of Mysore [33] , legal proceedings that were decided finally and disposed of in the past, before the enactment of this provision shall not be declared void on the ground of its inconsistency. This inconsistency is only prospective in nature thus apply on laws that can currently impact the rights of the citizens.

6. MEANING OF ‘LAW’ & ‘LAW IN FORCE’

As discussed above, the ‘ laws in force ‘ suggest all the pre-constitutional or post-constitutional laws that are existing in nature as discussed in clause (1).

The ‘Laws’ as mentioned in this article has a very wide interpretation. It’s an inclusive definition including wider connotation of the term ‘law’. It is said to include legislation and other enactments as usual, and also administrative orders by executive authorities. But it does not include [34] :-

Any governmental directions or instructions [35] ;
Departmental order;
Procedure established by law [36] ;
Personal laws [37] .

8. AMENDMENTS as LAWS?

Amendments under article 368 of the constitution are excluded from the scope of the term ‘law’ as provided in clause (4) [38] . This clause was added to the Article after a lot of contemplation. We shall examine the precedents involved in enactment of this clause that was added to the article in 24 th amendment. While examining the above quotient, we should also conclude whether amendment made under article 368 form a part of ‘law’ as stated by above clause:

Shankari prasad v. Union of India [39]

Apex court in this landmark judgement held that, law does not include any amendment made by the legislature under article 368 thus in pursuance of its constitutional power. The article only applies to the laws made by legislature in exercise of its legislative power only. This interpretation was followed in the case of Sajjan singh v. State of Rajasthan [40] .

Golaknath v. State of Punjab [41]

This case overruled the above judgement and established a new rule that every enactment including legislative and constitutional enactments are covered under the ambit of this provision. Thus including every branch of law whether governed by constitution or statutes. This was in pursuance of the principles of natural justice as if any amendment abridged fundamental rights, it would act as an escape vault for the authorities to violate part III. However, the decision was criticized and the final position of this issue that whether amendment under article 368 come under purview of ‘law’ was settled in the case of Keshvanand Bharti v. State of Kerala 1973 that overruled this case.

In contradiction of this judgement, Article-13 was amended [42] and clause (4) was added to the provision exempting such amendments made under article 368 from the application of Article-13.

9. EXCEPTIONS AS TO APPLICATION

The scope of Application of this article is limited like any other article in the constitution. There are certain exceptions to the provision of Article 13 that are mentioned as follows:

Article 31A [43] – this article provides for acquisition of property by the state, amalgamation of the corporates and modifications of lease of mining and other rights of personnel involved in such corporations.
Article 31B [44] – all the acts and regulations passed under ninth schedule of the constitution were valid initially, but now they are only declared as valid if they are preserving the basic structure of the constitution [45] .
Article 31C [46] – no law that seeks to enforce the provisions of article 39 (a) and (b) shall be declared as unconstitutional on the ground of inconsistency with the fundamental rights.
Article 33- since the scope of Application of fundamental rights in this article rests with the parliament, that is to decide its application in armed forces governed by martial law, article 13 is not of much usage here.

10. CONCLUSION

To conclude this article, we can say that the framers of the constitution had a clear perception of part III in their minds thus to protect the same, Article 13 was brought into being.

Article 13 is a regulating provision conferring no right of its own but acting as a supplementary provision that exists only to protect the infringement of part III. It acts as a warning to legislature and maintains a system of checks and balances as it provides the power of judicial review to the courts. In a democratic country like ours, it is necessary to ensure no organ of the state abuse the powers conferred to it by the constitution as it is the supreme law of the land. Article 13 fulfills dual objective of regulation and acting as teeth of fundamental rights in interest of citizens of India.

It is worth noting that Article 13 not only differentiates between state and other laws, but also clearly specifies the field of application. Though the wordings in this article are concise in nature, still the Article implicitly manages to lay several doctrines to clarify any contingency that arises. Thus we can say that it is as a backbone of constitution as are the fundamental rights as these rights would have been abridged a numerous times if Article 13 would not have been in existence.

[1] The Constitution of India 1949.

[2] Via objective resolution passed on 22 nd January, 1947.

[3] Jain M.P., THE INDIAN CONSTITUTIONAL LAW, 6 th Edition, p 905.

[4] INDIAN CONSTITUTION, Art. 13.

[6] Renu v. District and sessions judge, Tis Hazari, AIR 2014 SC 2175.

[7] https://indiankanoon.org/doc/134715/.

[8] Tahir v. District Board, AIR 1954 SC 630.

[9] Madhubhai Amathalal Gandhi v. Union of India, AIR 1961 SC 21.

[10] Madhubhai Amathalal Gandhi v. Union of India, AIR 1961 SC 21.

[11] Sant Ram v. Labh Singh, AIR 1965 SC 314.

[12] Inserted by amendment act no. 24, 1971.

[13] Chief Justice Kania in A.K.Gopalan vs state of Madras, AIR 1950 SC 27.

[14] Supra note 7.

[15] In totality.

[16] Jain M.P., THE INDIAN CONSTITUTIONAL LAW, 54 th Edition, p.77-78.

[17] Romesh Thapar v. State of Madras AIR 1950 SC 124.

[18] AIR 1950 SC 27.

[19] AIR 1951 SC 318.

[20] AIR 1957 SC 628.

[21] Jain M.P., THE INDIAN CONSTITUTIONAL LAW, 54 th Edition, p.78-80.

[22] Void from its institution.

[23] AIR 1955 SC 781.

[24] Freedom of business, profession and trade.

[25] AIR 1959 SC 648.

[26] AIR 1974 SC 1300.

[27] Jain M.P., THE INDIAN CONSTITUTIONAL LAW, 54 th Edition, p.80-81.

[28] Behram v. AIR, 1955 SC 146.

[29] Jain M.P., THE INDIAN CONSTITUTIONAL LAW, 54 th Edition, p.81.

[30] State of Tamil Nadu v. R. Shyam sundar, AIR 2011 SC 3470.

[31] Jain M.P., THE INDIAN CONSTITUTIONAL LAW, 54 th Edition, p.76.

[32] Keshavan Madhavan Menon v. State of Bombay, AIR 1951 SC 128.

[33] AIR 1953 SC 355.

[34] Jain M.P., THE INDIAN CONSTITUTIONAL LAW, 54th Edition, p.81.

[35] Jeshingbhai v. Emperor AIR 1959 SC 249.

[36] INDIAN CONSTITUTION, Article 21.

[37] Bhan ram v. Bajinath AIR 1962 SC 1476, Ahmadabad Women Action Group v. Union of India, AIR 1977.

[38] Article-13.

[39] AIR 1951 SC 458.

[40] AIR 1965 SC 845.

[41] AIR 1967 SC 1643.

[42] 24 th Amendment act, 1971.

[43] Inserted by 1 st amendment act.

[45] .R. Coelho v. State of Tamil Nadu, AIR 2007.

[46] Inserted by 21 st amendment act.

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What is Article 13 of the Indian Constitution?

ARTICLE 13 deals with the laws inconsistent with or in derogation of the fundamental rights.

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13.1 Formatting a Research Paper

Learning objectives.

Identify the major components of a research paper written using American Psychological Association (APA) style.
Apply general APA style and formatting conventions in a research paper.

In this chapter, you will learn how to use APA style , the documentation and formatting style followed by the American Psychological Association, as well as MLA style , from the Modern Language Association. There are a few major formatting styles used in academic texts, including AMA, Chicago, and Turabian:

AMA (American Medical Association) for medicine, health, and biological sciences
APA (American Psychological Association) for education, psychology, and the social sciences
Chicago—a common style used in everyday publications like magazines, newspapers, and books
MLA (Modern Language Association) for English, literature, arts, and humanities
Turabian—another common style designed for its universal application across all subjects and disciplines

While all the formatting and citation styles have their own use and applications, in this chapter we focus our attention on the two styles you are most likely to use in your academic studies: APA and MLA.

If you find that the rules of proper source documentation are difficult to keep straight, you are not alone. Writing a good research paper is, in and of itself, a major intellectual challenge. Having to follow detailed citation and formatting guidelines as well may seem like just one more task to add to an already-too-long list of requirements.

Following these guidelines, however, serves several important purposes. First, it signals to your readers that your paper should be taken seriously as a student’s contribution to a given academic or professional field; it is the literary equivalent of wearing a tailored suit to a job interview. Second, it shows that you respect other people’s work enough to give them proper credit for it. Finally, it helps your reader find additional materials if he or she wishes to learn more about your topic.

Furthermore, producing a letter-perfect APA-style paper need not be burdensome. Yes, it requires careful attention to detail. However, you can simplify the process if you keep these broad guidelines in mind:

Work ahead whenever you can. Chapter 11 “Writing from Research: What Will I Learn?” includes tips for keeping track of your sources early in the research process, which will save time later on.
Get it right the first time. Apply APA guidelines as you write, so you will not have much to correct during the editing stage. Again, putting in a little extra time early on can save time later.
Use the resources available to you. In addition to the guidelines provided in this chapter, you may wish to consult the APA website at http://www.apa.org or the Purdue University Online Writing lab at http://owl.english.purdue.edu , which regularly updates its online style guidelines.

General Formatting Guidelines

This chapter provides detailed guidelines for using the citation and formatting conventions developed by the American Psychological Association, or APA. Writers in disciplines as diverse as astrophysics, biology, psychology, and education follow APA style. The major components of a paper written in APA style are listed in the following box.

These are the major components of an APA-style paper:

Body, which includes the following:

Headings and, if necessary, subheadings to organize the content
In-text citations of research sources
References page

All these components must be saved in one document, not as separate documents.

The title page of your paper includes the following information:

Title of the paper
Author’s name
Name of the institution with which the author is affiliated
Header at the top of the page with the paper title (in capital letters) and the page number (If the title is lengthy, you may use a shortened form of it in the header.)

List the first three elements in the order given in the previous list, centered about one third of the way down from the top of the page. Use the headers and footers tool of your word-processing program to add the header, with the title text at the left and the page number in the upper-right corner. Your title page should look like the following example.

Beyond the Hype: Evaluating Low-Carb Diets cover page

The next page of your paper provides an abstract , or brief summary of your findings. An abstract does not need to be provided in every paper, but an abstract should be used in papers that include a hypothesis. A good abstract is concise—about one hundred fifty to two hundred fifty words—and is written in an objective, impersonal style. Your writing voice will not be as apparent here as in the body of your paper. When writing the abstract, take a just-the-facts approach, and summarize your research question and your findings in a few sentences.

In Chapter 12 “Writing a Research Paper” , you read a paper written by a student named Jorge, who researched the effectiveness of low-carbohydrate diets. Read Jorge’s abstract. Note how it sums up the major ideas in his paper without going into excessive detail.

Write an abstract summarizing your paper. Briefly introduce the topic, state your findings, and sum up what conclusions you can draw from your research. Use the word count feature of your word-processing program to make sure your abstract does not exceed one hundred fifty words.

Depending on your field of study, you may sometimes write research papers that present extensive primary research, such as your own experiment or survey. In your abstract, summarize your research question and your findings, and briefly indicate how your study relates to prior research in the field.

Margins, Pagination, and Headings

APA style requirements also address specific formatting concerns, such as margins, pagination, and heading styles, within the body of the paper. Review the following APA guidelines.

Use these general guidelines to format the paper:

Set the top, bottom, and side margins of your paper at 1 inch.
Use double-spaced text throughout your paper.
Use a standard font, such as Times New Roman or Arial, in a legible size (10- to 12-point).
Use continuous pagination throughout the paper, including the title page and the references section. Page numbers appear flush right within your header.
Section headings and subsection headings within the body of your paper use different types of formatting depending on the level of information you are presenting. Additional details from Jorge’s paper are provided.

Begin formatting the final draft of your paper according to APA guidelines. You may work with an existing document or set up a new document if you choose. Include the following:

Your title page
The abstract you created in Note 13.8 “Exercise 1”
Correct headers and page numbers for your title page and abstract

APA style uses section headings to organize information, making it easy for the reader to follow the writer’s train of thought and to know immediately what major topics are covered. Depending on the length and complexity of the paper, its major sections may also be divided into subsections, sub-subsections, and so on. These smaller sections, in turn, use different heading styles to indicate different levels of information. In essence, you are using headings to create a hierarchy of information.

The following heading styles used in APA formatting are listed in order of greatest to least importance:

Section headings use centered, boldface type. Headings use title case, with important words in the heading capitalized.
Subsection headings use left-aligned, boldface type. Headings use title case.
The third level uses left-aligned, indented, boldface type. Headings use a capital letter only for the first word, and they end in a period.
The fourth level follows the same style used for the previous level, but the headings are boldfaced and italicized.
The fifth level follows the same style used for the previous level, but the headings are italicized and not boldfaced.

Visually, the hierarchy of information is organized as indicated in Table 13.1 “Section Headings” .

Table 13.1 Section Headings

A college research paper may not use all the heading levels shown in Table 13.1 “Section Headings” , but you are likely to encounter them in academic journal articles that use APA style. For a brief paper, you may find that level 1 headings suffice. Longer or more complex papers may need level 2 headings or other lower-level headings to organize information clearly. Use your outline to craft your major section headings and determine whether any subtopics are substantial enough to require additional levels of headings.

Working with the document you developed in Note 13.11 “Exercise 2” , begin setting up the heading structure of the final draft of your research paper according to APA guidelines. Include your title and at least two to three major section headings, and follow the formatting guidelines provided above. If your major sections should be broken into subsections, add those headings as well. Use your outline to help you.

Because Jorge used only level 1 headings, his Exercise 3 would look like the following:

Citation Guidelines

In-text citations.

Throughout the body of your paper, include a citation whenever you quote or paraphrase material from your research sources. As you learned in Chapter 11 “Writing from Research: What Will I Learn?” , the purpose of citations is twofold: to give credit to others for their ideas and to allow your reader to follow up and learn more about the topic if desired. Your in-text citations provide basic information about your source; each source you cite will have a longer entry in the references section that provides more detailed information.

In-text citations must provide the name of the author or authors and the year the source was published. (When a given source does not list an individual author, you may provide the source title or the name of the organization that published the material instead.) When directly quoting a source, it is also required that you include the page number where the quote appears in your citation.

This information may be included within the sentence or in a parenthetical reference at the end of the sentence, as in these examples.

Epstein (2010) points out that “junk food cannot be considered addictive in the same way that we think of psychoactive drugs as addictive” (p. 137).

Here, the writer names the source author when introducing the quote and provides the publication date in parentheses after the author’s name. The page number appears in parentheses after the closing quotation marks and before the period that ends the sentence.

Addiction researchers caution that “junk food cannot be considered addictive in the same way that we think of psychoactive drugs as addictive” (Epstein, 2010, p. 137).

Here, the writer provides a parenthetical citation at the end of the sentence that includes the author’s name, the year of publication, and the page number separated by commas. Again, the parenthetical citation is placed after the closing quotation marks and before the period at the end of the sentence.

As noted in the book Junk Food, Junk Science (Epstein, 2010, p. 137), “junk food cannot be considered addictive in the same way that we think of psychoactive drugs as addictive.”

Here, the writer chose to mention the source title in the sentence (an optional piece of information to include) and followed the title with a parenthetical citation. Note that the parenthetical citation is placed before the comma that signals the end of the introductory phrase.

David Epstein’s book Junk Food, Junk Science (2010) pointed out that “junk food cannot be considered addictive in the same way that we think of psychoactive drugs as addictive” (p. 137).

Another variation is to introduce the author and the source title in your sentence and include the publication date and page number in parentheses within the sentence or at the end of the sentence. As long as you have included the essential information, you can choose the option that works best for that particular sentence and source.

Citing a book with a single author is usually a straightforward task. Of course, your research may require that you cite many other types of sources, such as books or articles with more than one author or sources with no individual author listed. You may also need to cite sources available in both print and online and nonprint sources, such as websites and personal interviews. Chapter 13 “APA and MLA Documentation and Formatting” , Section 13.2 “Citing and Referencing Techniques” and Section 13.3 “Creating a References Section” provide extensive guidelines for citing a variety of source types.

Writing at Work

APA is just one of several different styles with its own guidelines for documentation, formatting, and language usage. Depending on your field of interest, you may be exposed to additional styles, such as the following:

MLA style. Determined by the Modern Languages Association and used for papers in literature, languages, and other disciplines in the humanities.
Chicago style. Outlined in the Chicago Manual of Style and sometimes used for papers in the humanities and the sciences; many professional organizations use this style for publications as well.
Associated Press (AP) style. Used by professional journalists.

References List

The brief citations included in the body of your paper correspond to the more detailed citations provided at the end of the paper in the references section. In-text citations provide basic information—the author’s name, the publication date, and the page number if necessary—while the references section provides more extensive bibliographical information. Again, this information allows your reader to follow up on the sources you cited and do additional reading about the topic if desired.

The specific format of entries in the list of references varies slightly for different source types, but the entries generally include the following information:

The name(s) of the author(s) or institution that wrote the source
The year of publication and, where applicable, the exact date of publication
The full title of the source
For books, the city of publication
For articles or essays, the name of the periodical or book in which the article or essay appears
For magazine and journal articles, the volume number, issue number, and pages where the article appears
For sources on the web, the URL where the source is located

The references page is double spaced and lists entries in alphabetical order by the author’s last name. If an entry continues for more than one line, the second line and each subsequent line are indented five spaces. Review the following example. ( Chapter 13 “APA and MLA Documentation and Formatting” , Section 13.3 “Creating a References Section” provides extensive guidelines for formatting reference entries for different types of sources.)

In APA style, book and article titles are formatted in sentence case, not title case. Sentence case means that only the first word is capitalized, along with any proper nouns.

Key Takeaways

Following proper citation and formatting guidelines helps writers ensure that their work will be taken seriously, give proper credit to other authors for their work, and provide valuable information to readers.
Working ahead and taking care to cite sources correctly the first time are ways writers can save time during the editing stage of writing a research paper.
APA papers usually include an abstract that concisely summarizes the paper.
APA papers use a specific headings structure to provide a clear hierarchy of information.
In APA papers, in-text citations usually include the name(s) of the author(s) and the year of publication.
In-text citations correspond to entries in the references section, which provide detailed bibliographical information about a source.

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v.13(Suppl 1); 2019 Apr

Writing the title and abstract for a research paper: Being concise, precise, and meticulous is the key

Milind s. tullu.

Department of Pediatrics, Seth G.S. Medical College and KEM Hospital, Parel, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

This article deals with formulating a suitable title and an appropriate abstract for an original research paper. The “title” and the “abstract” are the “initial impressions” of a research article, and hence they need to be drafted correctly, accurately, carefully, and meticulously. Often both of these are drafted after the full manuscript is ready. Most readers read only the title and the abstract of a research paper and very few will go on to read the full paper. The title and the abstract are the most important parts of a research paper and should be pleasant to read. The “title” should be descriptive, direct, accurate, appropriate, interesting, concise, precise, unique, and should not be misleading. The “abstract” needs to be simple, specific, clear, unbiased, honest, concise, precise, stand-alone, complete, scholarly, (preferably) structured, and should not be misrepresentative. The abstract should be consistent with the main text of the paper, especially after a revision is made to the paper and should include the key message prominently. It is very important to include the most important words and terms (the “keywords”) in the title and the abstract for appropriate indexing purpose and for retrieval from the search engines and scientific databases. Such keywords should be listed after the abstract. One must adhere to the instructions laid down by the target journal with regard to the style and number of words permitted for the title and the abstract.

Introduction

This article deals with drafting a suitable “title” and an appropriate “abstract” for an original research paper. Because the “title” and the “abstract” are the “initial impressions” or the “face” of a research article, they need to be drafted correctly, accurately, carefully, meticulously, and consume time and energy.[ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 ] Often, these are drafted after the complete manuscript draft is ready.[ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 9 , 10 , 11 ] Most readers will read only the title and the abstract of a published research paper, and very few “interested ones” (especially, if the paper is of use to them) will go on to read the full paper.[ 1 , 2 ] One must remember to adhere to the instructions laid down by the “target journal” (the journal for which the author is writing) regarding the style and number of words permitted for the title and the abstract.[ 2 , 4 , 5 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 12 ] Both the title and the abstract are the most important parts of a research paper – for editors (to decide whether to process the paper for further review), for reviewers (to get an initial impression of the paper), and for the readers (as these may be the only parts of the paper available freely and hence, read widely).[ 4 , 8 , 12 ] It may be worth for the novice author to browse through titles and abstracts of several prominent journals (and their target journal as well) to learn more about the wording and styles of the titles and abstracts, as well as the aims and scope of the particular journal.[ 5 , 7 , 9 , 13 ]

The details of the title are discussed under the subheadings of importance, types, drafting, and checklist.

Importance of the title

When a reader browses through the table of contents of a journal issue (hard copy or on website), the title is the “ first detail” or “face” of the paper that is read.[ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 13 ] Hence, it needs to be simple, direct, accurate, appropriate, specific, functional, interesting, attractive/appealing, concise/brief, precise/focused, unambiguous, memorable, captivating, informative (enough to encourage the reader to read further), unique, catchy, and it should not be misleading.[ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 9 , 12 ] It should have “just enough details” to arouse the interest and curiosity of the reader so that the reader then goes ahead with studying the abstract and then (if still interested) the full paper.[ 1 , 2 , 4 , 13 ] Journal websites, electronic databases, and search engines use the words in the title and abstract (the “keywords”) to retrieve a particular paper during a search; hence, the importance of these words in accessing the paper by the readers has been emphasized.[ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 12 , 14 ] Such important words (or keywords) should be arranged in appropriate order of importance as per the context of the paper and should be placed at the beginning of the title (rather than the later part of the title, as some search engines like Google may just display only the first six to seven words of the title).[ 3 , 5 , 12 ] Whimsical, amusing, or clever titles, though initially appealing, may be missed or misread by the busy reader and very short titles may miss the essential scientific words (the “keywords”) used by the indexing agencies to catch and categorize the paper.[ 1 , 3 , 4 , 9 ] Also, amusing or hilarious titles may be taken less seriously by the readers and may be cited less often.[ 4 , 15 ] An excessively long or complicated title may put off the readers.[ 3 , 9 ] It may be a good idea to draft the title after the main body of the text and the abstract are drafted.[ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]

Types of titles

Titles can be descriptive, declarative, or interrogative. They can also be classified as nominal, compound, or full-sentence titles.

Descriptive or neutral title

This has the essential elements of the research theme, that is, the patients/subjects, design, interventions, comparisons/control, and outcome, but does not reveal the main result or the conclusion.[ 3 , 4 , 12 , 16 ] Such a title allows the reader to interpret the findings of the research paper in an impartial manner and with an open mind.[ 3 ] These titles also give complete information about the contents of the article, have several keywords (thus increasing the visibility of the article in search engines), and have increased chances of being read and (then) being cited as well.[ 4 ] Hence, such descriptive titles giving a glimpse of the paper are generally preferred.[ 4 , 16 ]

Declarative title

This title states the main finding of the study in the title itself; it reduces the curiosity of the reader, may point toward a bias on the part of the author, and hence is best avoided.[ 3 , 4 , 12 , 16 ]

Interrogative title

This is the one which has a query or the research question in the title.[ 3 , 4 , 16 ] Though a query in the title has the ability to sensationalize the topic, and has more downloads (but less citations), it can be distracting to the reader and is again best avoided for a research article (but can, at times, be used for a review article).[ 3 , 6 , 16 , 17 ]

From a sentence construct point of view, titles may be nominal (capturing only the main theme of the study), compound (with subtitles to provide additional relevant information such as context, design, location/country, temporal aspect, sample size, importance, and a provocative or a literary; for example, see the title of this review), or full-sentence titles (which are longer and indicate an added degree of certainty of the results).[ 4 , 6 , 9 , 16 ] Any of these constructs may be used depending on the type of article, the key message, and the author's preference or judgement.[ 4 ]

Drafting a suitable title

A stepwise process can be followed to draft the appropriate title. The author should describe the paper in about three sentences, avoiding the results and ensuring that these sentences contain important scientific words/keywords that describe the main contents and subject of the paper.[ 1 , 4 , 6 , 12 ] Then the author should join the sentences to form a single sentence, shorten the length (by removing redundant words or adjectives or phrases), and finally edit the title (thus drafted) to make it more accurate, concise (about 10–15 words), and precise.[ 1 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 9 ] Some journals require that the study design be included in the title, and this may be placed (using a colon) after the primary title.[ 2 , 3 , 4 , 14 ] The title should try to incorporate the Patients, Interventions, Comparisons and Outcome (PICO).[ 3 ] The place of the study may be included in the title (if absolutely necessary), that is, if the patient characteristics (such as study population, socioeconomic conditions, or cultural practices) are expected to vary as per the country (or the place of the study) and have a bearing on the possible outcomes.[ 3 , 6 ] Lengthy titles can be boring and appear unfocused, whereas very short titles may not be representative of the contents of the article; hence, optimum length is required to ensure that the title explains the main theme and content of the manuscript.[ 4 , 5 , 9 ] Abbreviations (except the standard or commonly interpreted ones such as HIV, AIDS, DNA, RNA, CDC, FDA, ECG, and EEG) or acronyms should be avoided in the title, as a reader not familiar with them may skip such an article and nonstandard abbreviations may create problems in indexing the article.[ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 9 , 12 ] Also, too much of technical jargon or chemical formulas in the title may confuse the readers and the article may be skipped by them.[ 4 , 9 ] Numerical values of various parameters (stating study period or sample size) should also be avoided in the titles (unless deemed extremely essential).[ 4 ] It may be worthwhile to take an opinion from a impartial colleague before finalizing the title.[ 4 , 5 , 6 ] Thus, multiple factors (which are, at times, a bit conflicting or contrasting) need to be considered while formulating a title, and hence this should not be done in a hurry.[ 4 , 6 ] Many journals ask the authors to draft a “short title” or “running head” or “running title” for printing in the header or footer of the printed paper.[ 3 , 12 ] This is an abridged version of the main title of up to 40–50 characters, may have standard abbreviations, and helps the reader to navigate through the paper.[ 3 , 12 , 14 ]

Checklist for a good title

Table 1 gives a checklist/useful tips for drafting a good title for a research paper.[ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 12 ] Table 2 presents some of the titles used by the author of this article in his earlier research papers, and the appropriateness of the titles has been commented upon. As an individual exercise, the reader may try to improvise upon the titles (further) after reading the corresponding abstract and full paper.

Checklist/useful tips for drafting a good title for a research paper

Some titles used by author of this article in his earlier publications and remark/comment on their appropriateness

The Abstract

The details of the abstract are discussed under the subheadings of importance, types, drafting, and checklist.

Importance of the abstract

The abstract is a summary or synopsis of the full research paper and also needs to have similar characteristics like the title. It needs to be simple, direct, specific, functional, clear, unbiased, honest, concise, precise, self-sufficient, complete, comprehensive, scholarly, balanced, and should not be misleading.[ 1 , 2 , 3 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 13 , 17 ] Writing an abstract is to extract and summarize (AB – absolutely, STR – straightforward, ACT – actual data presentation and interpretation).[ 17 ] The title and abstracts are the only sections of the research paper that are often freely available to the readers on the journal websites, search engines, and in many abstracting agencies/databases, whereas the full paper may attract a payment per view or a fee for downloading the pdf copy.[ 1 , 2 , 3 , 7 , 8 , 10 , 11 , 13 , 14 ] The abstract is an independent and stand-alone (that is, well understood without reading the full paper) section of the manuscript and is used by the editor to decide the fate of the article and to choose appropriate reviewers.[ 2 , 7 , 10 , 12 , 13 ] Even the reviewers are initially supplied only with the title and the abstract before they agree to review the full manuscript.[ 7 , 13 ] This is the second most commonly read part of the manuscript, and therefore it should reflect the contents of the main text of the paper accurately and thus act as a “real trailer” of the full article.[ 2 , 7 , 11 ] The readers will go through the full paper only if they find the abstract interesting and relevant to their practice; else they may skip the paper if the abstract is unimpressive.[ 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 13 ] The abstract needs to highlight the selling point of the manuscript and succeed in luring the reader to read the complete paper.[ 3 , 7 ] The title and the abstract should be constructed using keywords (key terms/important words) from all the sections of the main text.[ 12 ] Abstracts are also used for submitting research papers to a conference for consideration for presentation (as oral paper or poster).[ 9 , 13 , 17 ] Grammatical and typographic errors reflect poorly on the quality of the abstract, may indicate carelessness/casual attitude on part of the author, and hence should be avoided at all times.[ 9 ]

Types of abstracts

The abstracts can be structured or unstructured. They can also be classified as descriptive or informative abstracts.

Structured and unstructured abstracts

Structured abstracts are followed by most journals, are more informative, and include specific subheadings/subsections under which the abstract needs to be composed.[ 1 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 13 , 17 , 18 ] These subheadings usually include context/background, objectives, design, setting, participants, interventions, main outcome measures, results, and conclusions.[ 1 ] Some journals stick to the standard IMRAD format for the structure of the abstracts, and the subheadings would include Introduction/Background, Methods, Results, And (instead of Discussion) the Conclusion/s.[ 1 , 2 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 17 , 18 ] Structured abstracts are more elaborate, informative, easy to read, recall, and peer-review, and hence are preferred; however, they consume more space and can have same limitations as an unstructured abstract.[ 7 , 9 , 18 ] The structured abstracts are (possibly) better understood by the reviewers and readers. Anyway, the choice of the type of the abstract and the subheadings of a structured abstract depend on the particular journal style and is not left to the author's wish.[ 7 , 10 , 12 ] Separate subheadings may be necessary for reporting meta-analysis, educational research, quality improvement work, review, or case study.[ 1 ] Clinical trial abstracts need to include the essential items mentioned in the CONSORT (Consolidated Standards Of Reporting Trials) guidelines.[ 7 , 9 , 14 , 19 ] Similar guidelines exist for various other types of studies, including observational studies and for studies of diagnostic accuracy.[ 20 , 21 ] A useful resource for the above guidelines is available at www.equator-network.org (Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparency Of health Research). Unstructured (or non-structured) abstracts are free-flowing, do not have predefined subheadings, and are commonly used for papers that (usually) do not describe original research.[ 1 , 7 , 9 , 10 ]

The four-point structured abstract: This has the following elements which need to be properly balanced with regard to the content/matter under each subheading:[ 9 ]

Background and/or Objectives: This states why the work was undertaken and is usually written in just a couple of sentences.[ 3 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 12 , 13 ] The hypothesis/study question and the major objectives are also stated under this subheading.[ 3 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 12 , 13 ]

Methods: This subsection is the longest, states what was done, and gives essential details of the study design, setting, participants, blinding, sample size, sampling method, intervention/s, duration and follow-up, research instruments, main outcome measures, parameters evaluated, and how the outcomes were assessed or analyzed.[ 3 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 17 ]

Results/Observations/Findings: This subheading states what was found, is longer, is difficult to draft, and needs to mention important details including the number of study participants, results of analysis (of primary and secondary objectives), and include actual data (numbers, mean, median, standard deviation, “P” values, 95% confidence intervals, effect sizes, relative risks, odds ratio, etc.).[ 3 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 17 ]

Conclusions: The take-home message (the “so what” of the paper) and other significant/important findings should be stated here, considering the interpretation of the research question/hypothesis and results put together (without overinterpreting the findings) and may also include the author's views on the implications of the study.[ 3 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 17 ]

The eight-point structured abstract: This has the following eight subheadings – Objectives, Study Design, Study Setting, Participants/Patients, Methods/Intervention, Outcome Measures, Results, and Conclusions.[ 3 , 9 , 18 ] The instructions to authors given by the particular journal state whether they use the four- or eight-point abstract or variants thereof.[ 3 , 14 ]

Descriptive and Informative abstracts

Descriptive abstracts are short (75–150 words), only portray what the paper contains without providing any more details; the reader has to read the full paper to know about its contents and are rarely used for original research papers.[ 7 , 10 ] These are used for case reports, reviews, opinions, and so on.[ 7 , 10 ] Informative abstracts (which may be structured or unstructured as described above) give a complete detailed summary of the article contents and truly reflect the actual research done.[ 7 , 10 ]

Drafting a suitable abstract

It is important to religiously stick to the instructions to authors (format, word limit, font size/style, and subheadings) provided by the journal for which the abstract and the paper are being written.[ 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 13 ] Most journals allow 200–300 words for formulating the abstract and it is wise to restrict oneself to this word limit.[ 1 , 2 , 3 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 22 ] Though some authors prefer to draft the abstract initially, followed by the main text of the paper, it is recommended to draft the abstract in the end to maintain accuracy and conformity with the main text of the paper (thus maintaining an easy linkage/alignment with title, on one hand, and the introduction section of the main text, on the other hand).[ 2 , 7 , 9 , 10 , 11 ] The authors should check the subheadings (of the structured abstract) permitted by the target journal, use phrases rather than sentences to draft the content of the abstract, and avoid passive voice.[ 1 , 7 , 9 , 12 ] Next, the authors need to get rid of redundant words and edit the abstract (extensively) to the correct word count permitted (every word in the abstract “counts”!).[ 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 13 ] It is important to ensure that the key message, focus, and novelty of the paper are not compromised; the rationale of the study and the basis of the conclusions are clear; and that the abstract is consistent with the main text of the paper.[ 1 , 2 , 3 , 7 , 9 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 17 , 22 ] This is especially important while submitting a revision of the paper (modified after addressing the reviewer's comments), as the changes made in the main (revised) text of the paper need to be reflected in the (revised) abstract as well.[ 2 , 10 , 12 , 14 , 22 ] Abbreviations should be avoided in an abstract, unless they are conventionally accepted or standard; references, tables, or figures should not be cited in the abstract.[ 7 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 13 ] It may be worthwhile not to rush with the abstract and to get an opinion by an impartial colleague on the content of the abstract; and if possible, the full paper (an “informal” peer-review).[ 1 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 11 , 17 ] Appropriate “Keywords” (three to ten words or phrases) should follow the abstract and should be preferably chosen from the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) list of the U.S. National Library of Medicine ( https://meshb.nlm.nih.gov/search ) and are used for indexing purposes.[ 2 , 3 , 11 , 12 ] These keywords need to be different from the words in the main title (the title words are automatically used for indexing the article) and can be variants of the terms/phrases used in the title, or words from the abstract and the main text.[ 3 , 12 ] The ICMJE (International Committee of Medical Journal Editors; http://www.icmje.org/ ) also recommends publishing the clinical trial registration number at the end of the abstract.[ 7 , 14 ]

Checklist for a good abstract

Table 3 gives a checklist/useful tips for formulating a good abstract for a research paper.[ 1 , 2 , 3 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 17 , 22 ]

Checklist/useful tips for formulating a good abstract for a research paper

Concluding Remarks

This review article has given a detailed account of the importance and types of titles and abstracts. It has also attempted to give useful hints for drafting an appropriate title and a complete abstract for a research paper. It is hoped that this review will help the authors in their career in medical writing.

Financial support and sponsorship

Conflicts of interest.

There are no conflicts of interest.

Acknowledgement

The author thanks Dr. Hemant Deshmukh - Dean, Seth G.S. Medical College & KEM Hospital, for granting permission to publish this manuscript.

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Home » Research Paper – Structure, Examples and Writing Guide

Research Paper – Structure, Examples and Writing Guide

Table of Contents

Research Paper

Definition:

Research Paper is a written document that presents the author’s original research, analysis, and interpretation of a specific topic or issue.

It is typically based on Empirical Evidence, and may involve qualitative or quantitative research methods, or a combination of both. The purpose of a research paper is to contribute new knowledge or insights to a particular field of study, and to demonstrate the author’s understanding of the existing literature and theories related to the topic.

Structure of Research Paper

The structure of a research paper typically follows a standard format, consisting of several sections that convey specific information about the research study. The following is a detailed explanation of the structure of a research paper:

The title page contains the title of the paper, the name(s) of the author(s), and the affiliation(s) of the author(s). It also includes the date of submission and possibly, the name of the journal or conference where the paper is to be published.

The abstract is a brief summary of the research paper, typically ranging from 100 to 250 words. It should include the research question, the methods used, the key findings, and the implications of the results. The abstract should be written in a concise and clear manner to allow readers to quickly grasp the essence of the research.

Introduction

The introduction section of a research paper provides background information about the research problem, the research question, and the research objectives. It also outlines the significance of the research, the research gap that it aims to fill, and the approach taken to address the research question. Finally, the introduction section ends with a clear statement of the research hypothesis or research question.

Literature Review

The literature review section of a research paper provides an overview of the existing literature on the topic of study. It includes a critical analysis and synthesis of the literature, highlighting the key concepts, themes, and debates. The literature review should also demonstrate the research gap and how the current study seeks to address it.

The methods section of a research paper describes the research design, the sample selection, the data collection and analysis procedures, and the statistical methods used to analyze the data. This section should provide sufficient detail for other researchers to replicate the study.

The results section presents the findings of the research, using tables, graphs, and figures to illustrate the data. The findings should be presented in a clear and concise manner, with reference to the research question and hypothesis.

The discussion section of a research paper interprets the findings and discusses their implications for the research question, the literature review, and the field of study. It should also address the limitations of the study and suggest future research directions.

The conclusion section summarizes the main findings of the study, restates the research question and hypothesis, and provides a final reflection on the significance of the research.

The references section provides a list of all the sources cited in the paper, following a specific citation style such as APA, MLA or Chicago.

How to Write Research Paper

You can write Research Paper by the following guide:

Choose a Topic: The first step is to select a topic that interests you and is relevant to your field of study. Brainstorm ideas and narrow down to a research question that is specific and researchable.
Conduct a Literature Review: The literature review helps you identify the gap in the existing research and provides a basis for your research question. It also helps you to develop a theoretical framework and research hypothesis.
Develop a Thesis Statement : The thesis statement is the main argument of your research paper. It should be clear, concise and specific to your research question.
Plan your Research: Develop a research plan that outlines the methods, data sources, and data analysis procedures. This will help you to collect and analyze data effectively.
Collect and Analyze Data: Collect data using various methods such as surveys, interviews, observations, or experiments. Analyze data using statistical tools or other qualitative methods.
Organize your Paper : Organize your paper into sections such as Introduction, Literature Review, Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusion. Ensure that each section is coherent and follows a logical flow.
Write your Paper : Start by writing the introduction, followed by the literature review, methods, results, discussion, and conclusion. Ensure that your writing is clear, concise, and follows the required formatting and citation styles.
Edit and Proofread your Paper: Review your paper for grammar and spelling errors, and ensure that it is well-structured and easy to read. Ask someone else to review your paper to get feedback and suggestions for improvement.
Cite your Sources: Ensure that you properly cite all sources used in your research paper. This is essential for giving credit to the original authors and avoiding plagiarism.

Research Paper Example

Note : The below example research paper is for illustrative purposes only and is not an actual research paper. Actual research papers may have different structures, contents, and formats depending on the field of study, research question, data collection and analysis methods, and other factors. Students should always consult with their professors or supervisors for specific guidelines and expectations for their research papers.

Research Paper Example sample for Students:

Title: The Impact of Social Media on Mental Health among Young Adults

Abstract: This study aims to investigate the impact of social media use on the mental health of young adults. A literature review was conducted to examine the existing research on the topic. A survey was then administered to 200 university students to collect data on their social media use, mental health status, and perceived impact of social media on their mental health. The results showed that social media use is positively associated with depression, anxiety, and stress. The study also found that social comparison, cyberbullying, and FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) are significant predictors of mental health problems among young adults.

Introduction: Social media has become an integral part of modern life, particularly among young adults. While social media has many benefits, including increased communication and social connectivity, it has also been associated with negative outcomes, such as addiction, cyberbullying, and mental health problems. This study aims to investigate the impact of social media use on the mental health of young adults.

Literature Review: The literature review highlights the existing research on the impact of social media use on mental health. The review shows that social media use is associated with depression, anxiety, stress, and other mental health problems. The review also identifies the factors that contribute to the negative impact of social media, including social comparison, cyberbullying, and FOMO.

Methods : A survey was administered to 200 university students to collect data on their social media use, mental health status, and perceived impact of social media on their mental health. The survey included questions on social media use, mental health status (measured using the DASS-21), and perceived impact of social media on their mental health. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and regression analysis.

Results : The results showed that social media use is positively associated with depression, anxiety, and stress. The study also found that social comparison, cyberbullying, and FOMO are significant predictors of mental health problems among young adults.

Discussion : The study’s findings suggest that social media use has a negative impact on the mental health of young adults. The study highlights the need for interventions that address the factors contributing to the negative impact of social media, such as social comparison, cyberbullying, and FOMO.

Conclusion : In conclusion, social media use has a significant impact on the mental health of young adults. The study’s findings underscore the need for interventions that promote healthy social media use and address the negative outcomes associated with social media use. Future research can explore the effectiveness of interventions aimed at reducing the negative impact of social media on mental health. Additionally, longitudinal studies can investigate the long-term effects of social media use on mental health.

Limitations : The study has some limitations, including the use of self-report measures and a cross-sectional design. The use of self-report measures may result in biased responses, and a cross-sectional design limits the ability to establish causality.

Implications: The study’s findings have implications for mental health professionals, educators, and policymakers. Mental health professionals can use the findings to develop interventions that address the negative impact of social media use on mental health. Educators can incorporate social media literacy into their curriculum to promote healthy social media use among young adults. Policymakers can use the findings to develop policies that protect young adults from the negative outcomes associated with social media use.

References :

Twenge, J. M., & Campbell, W. K. (2019). Associations between screen time and lower psychological well-being among children and adolescents: Evidence from a population-based study. Preventive medicine reports, 15, 100918.
Primack, B. A., Shensa, A., Escobar-Viera, C. G., Barrett, E. L., Sidani, J. E., Colditz, J. B., … & James, A. E. (2017). Use of multiple social media platforms and symptoms of depression and anxiety: A nationally-representative study among US young adults. Computers in Human Behavior, 69, 1-9.
Van der Meer, T. G., & Verhoeven, J. W. (2017). Social media and its impact on academic performance of students. Journal of Information Technology Education: Research, 16, 383-398.

Appendix : The survey used in this study is provided below.

Social Media and Mental Health Survey

How often do you use social media per day?
Less than 30 minutes
30 minutes to 1 hour
1 to 2 hours
2 to 4 hours
More than 4 hours
Which social media platforms do you use?
Others (Please specify)
How often do you experience the following on social media?
Social comparison (comparing yourself to others)
Cyberbullying
Fear of Missing Out (FOMO)
Have you ever experienced any of the following mental health problems in the past month?
Do you think social media use has a positive or negative impact on your mental health?
Very positive
Somewhat positive
Somewhat negative
Very negative
In your opinion, which factors contribute to the negative impact of social media on mental health?
Social comparison
In your opinion, what interventions could be effective in reducing the negative impact of social media on mental health?
Education on healthy social media use
Counseling for mental health problems caused by social media
Social media detox programs
Regulation of social media use

Thank you for your participation!

Applications of Research Paper

Research papers have several applications in various fields, including:

Advancing knowledge: Research papers contribute to the advancement of knowledge by generating new insights, theories, and findings that can inform future research and practice. They help to answer important questions, clarify existing knowledge, and identify areas that require further investigation.
Informing policy: Research papers can inform policy decisions by providing evidence-based recommendations for policymakers. They can help to identify gaps in current policies, evaluate the effectiveness of interventions, and inform the development of new policies and regulations.
Improving practice: Research papers can improve practice by providing evidence-based guidance for professionals in various fields, including medicine, education, business, and psychology. They can inform the development of best practices, guidelines, and standards of care that can improve outcomes for individuals and organizations.
Educating students : Research papers are often used as teaching tools in universities and colleges to educate students about research methods, data analysis, and academic writing. They help students to develop critical thinking skills, research skills, and communication skills that are essential for success in many careers.
Fostering collaboration: Research papers can foster collaboration among researchers, practitioners, and policymakers by providing a platform for sharing knowledge and ideas. They can facilitate interdisciplinary collaborations and partnerships that can lead to innovative solutions to complex problems.

When to Write Research Paper

Research papers are typically written when a person has completed a research project or when they have conducted a study and have obtained data or findings that they want to share with the academic or professional community. Research papers are usually written in academic settings, such as universities, but they can also be written in professional settings, such as research organizations, government agencies, or private companies.

Here are some common situations where a person might need to write a research paper:

For academic purposes: Students in universities and colleges are often required to write research papers as part of their coursework, particularly in the social sciences, natural sciences, and humanities. Writing research papers helps students to develop research skills, critical thinking skills, and academic writing skills.
For publication: Researchers often write research papers to publish their findings in academic journals or to present their work at academic conferences. Publishing research papers is an important way to disseminate research findings to the academic community and to establish oneself as an expert in a particular field.
To inform policy or practice : Researchers may write research papers to inform policy decisions or to improve practice in various fields. Research findings can be used to inform the development of policies, guidelines, and best practices that can improve outcomes for individuals and organizations.
To share new insights or ideas: Researchers may write research papers to share new insights or ideas with the academic or professional community. They may present new theories, propose new research methods, or challenge existing paradigms in their field.

Purpose of Research Paper

The purpose of a research paper is to present the results of a study or investigation in a clear, concise, and structured manner. Research papers are written to communicate new knowledge, ideas, or findings to a specific audience, such as researchers, scholars, practitioners, or policymakers. The primary purposes of a research paper are:

To contribute to the body of knowledge : Research papers aim to add new knowledge or insights to a particular field or discipline. They do this by reporting the results of empirical studies, reviewing and synthesizing existing literature, proposing new theories, or providing new perspectives on a topic.
To inform or persuade: Research papers are written to inform or persuade the reader about a particular issue, topic, or phenomenon. They present evidence and arguments to support their claims and seek to persuade the reader of the validity of their findings or recommendations.
To advance the field: Research papers seek to advance the field or discipline by identifying gaps in knowledge, proposing new research questions or approaches, or challenging existing assumptions or paradigms. They aim to contribute to ongoing debates and discussions within a field and to stimulate further research and inquiry.
To demonstrate research skills: Research papers demonstrate the author’s research skills, including their ability to design and conduct a study, collect and analyze data, and interpret and communicate findings. They also demonstrate the author’s ability to critically evaluate existing literature, synthesize information from multiple sources, and write in a clear and structured manner.

Characteristics of Research Paper

Research papers have several characteristics that distinguish them from other forms of academic or professional writing. Here are some common characteristics of research papers:

Evidence-based: Research papers are based on empirical evidence, which is collected through rigorous research methods such as experiments, surveys, observations, or interviews. They rely on objective data and facts to support their claims and conclusions.
Structured and organized: Research papers have a clear and logical structure, with sections such as introduction, literature review, methods, results, discussion, and conclusion. They are organized in a way that helps the reader to follow the argument and understand the findings.
Formal and objective: Research papers are written in a formal and objective tone, with an emphasis on clarity, precision, and accuracy. They avoid subjective language or personal opinions and instead rely on objective data and analysis to support their arguments.
Citations and references: Research papers include citations and references to acknowledge the sources of information and ideas used in the paper. They use a specific citation style, such as APA, MLA, or Chicago, to ensure consistency and accuracy.
Peer-reviewed: Research papers are often peer-reviewed, which means they are evaluated by other experts in the field before they are published. Peer-review ensures that the research is of high quality, meets ethical standards, and contributes to the advancement of knowledge in the field.
Objective and unbiased: Research papers strive to be objective and unbiased in their presentation of the findings. They avoid personal biases or preconceptions and instead rely on the data and analysis to draw conclusions.

Advantages of Research Paper

Research papers have many advantages, both for the individual researcher and for the broader academic and professional community. Here are some advantages of research papers:

Contribution to knowledge: Research papers contribute to the body of knowledge in a particular field or discipline. They add new information, insights, and perspectives to existing literature and help advance the understanding of a particular phenomenon or issue.
Opportunity for intellectual growth: Research papers provide an opportunity for intellectual growth for the researcher. They require critical thinking, problem-solving, and creativity, which can help develop the researcher’s skills and knowledge.
Career advancement: Research papers can help advance the researcher’s career by demonstrating their expertise and contributions to the field. They can also lead to new research opportunities, collaborations, and funding.
Academic recognition: Research papers can lead to academic recognition in the form of awards, grants, or invitations to speak at conferences or events. They can also contribute to the researcher’s reputation and standing in the field.
Impact on policy and practice: Research papers can have a significant impact on policy and practice. They can inform policy decisions, guide practice, and lead to changes in laws, regulations, or procedures.
Advancement of society: Research papers can contribute to the advancement of society by addressing important issues, identifying solutions to problems, and promoting social justice and equality.

Limitations of Research Paper

Research papers also have some limitations that should be considered when interpreting their findings or implications. Here are some common limitations of research papers:

Limited generalizability: Research findings may not be generalizable to other populations, settings, or contexts. Studies often use specific samples or conditions that may not reflect the broader population or real-world situations.
Potential for bias : Research papers may be biased due to factors such as sample selection, measurement errors, or researcher biases. It is important to evaluate the quality of the research design and methods used to ensure that the findings are valid and reliable.
Ethical concerns: Research papers may raise ethical concerns, such as the use of vulnerable populations or invasive procedures. Researchers must adhere to ethical guidelines and obtain informed consent from participants to ensure that the research is conducted in a responsible and respectful manner.
Limitations of methodology: Research papers may be limited by the methodology used to collect and analyze data. For example, certain research methods may not capture the complexity or nuance of a particular phenomenon, or may not be appropriate for certain research questions.
Publication bias: Research papers may be subject to publication bias, where positive or significant findings are more likely to be published than negative or non-significant findings. This can skew the overall findings of a particular area of research.
Time and resource constraints: Research papers may be limited by time and resource constraints, which can affect the quality and scope of the research. Researchers may not have access to certain data or resources, or may be unable to conduct long-term studies due to practical limitations.

About the author

Muhammad Hassan

Researcher, Academic Writer, Web developer

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Research paper

How to Write a Research Paper | A Beginner's Guide

A research paper is a piece of academic writing that provides analysis, interpretation, and argument based on in-depth independent research.

Research papers are similar to academic essays , but they are usually longer and more detailed assignments, designed to assess not only your writing skills but also your skills in scholarly research. Writing a research paper requires you to demonstrate a strong knowledge of your topic, engage with a variety of sources, and make an original contribution to the debate.

This step-by-step guide takes you through the entire writing process, from understanding your assignment to proofreading your final draft.

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Understand the assignment, choose a research paper topic, conduct preliminary research, develop a thesis statement, create a research paper outline, write a first draft of the research paper, write the introduction, write a compelling body of text, write the conclusion, the second draft, the revision process, research paper checklist, free lecture slides.

Completing a research paper successfully means accomplishing the specific tasks set out for you. Before you start, make sure you thoroughly understanding the assignment task sheet:

Read it carefully, looking for anything confusing you might need to clarify with your professor.
Identify the assignment goal, deadline, length specifications, formatting, and submission method.
Make a bulleted list of the key points, then go back and cross completed items off as you’re writing.

Carefully consider your timeframe and word limit: be realistic, and plan enough time to research, write, and edit.

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The AI-powered Citation Checker helps you avoid common mistakes such as:

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There are many ways to generate an idea for a research paper, from brainstorming with pen and paper to talking it through with a fellow student or professor.

You can try free writing, which involves taking a broad topic and writing continuously for two or three minutes to identify absolutely anything relevant that could be interesting.

You can also gain inspiration from other research. The discussion or recommendations sections of research papers often include ideas for other specific topics that require further examination.

Once you have a broad subject area, narrow it down to choose a topic that interests you, m eets the criteria of your assignment, and i s possible to research. Aim for ideas that are both original and specific:

A paper following the chronology of World War II would not be original or specific enough.
A paper on the experience of Danish citizens living close to the German border during World War II would be specific and could be original enough.

Note any discussions that seem important to the topic, and try to find an issue that you can focus your paper around. Use a variety of sources , including journals, books, and reliable websites, to ensure you do not miss anything glaring.

Do not only verify the ideas you have in mind, but look for sources that contradict your point of view.

Is there anything people seem to overlook in the sources you research?
Are there any heated debates you can address?
Do you have a unique take on your topic?
Have there been some recent developments that build on the extant research?

In this stage, you might find it helpful to formulate some research questions to help guide you. To write research questions, try to finish the following sentence: “I want to know how/what/why…”

A thesis statement is a statement of your central argument — it establishes the purpose and position of your paper. If you started with a research question, the thesis statement should answer it. It should also show what evidence and reasoning you’ll use to support that answer.

The thesis statement should be concise, contentious, and coherent. That means it should briefly summarize your argument in a sentence or two, make a claim that requires further evidence or analysis, and make a coherent point that relates to every part of the paper.

You will probably revise and refine the thesis statement as you do more research, but it can serve as a guide throughout the writing process. Every paragraph should aim to support and develop this central claim.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

A research paper outline is essentially a list of the key topics, arguments, and evidence you want to include, divided into sections with headings so that you know roughly what the paper will look like before you start writing.

A structure outline can help make the writing process much more efficient, so it’s worth dedicating some time to create one.

Your first draft won’t be perfect — you can polish later on. Your priorities at this stage are as follows:

Maintaining forward momentum — write now, perfect later.
Paying attention to clear organization and logical ordering of paragraphs and sentences, which will help when you come to the second draft.
Expressing your ideas as clearly as possible, so you know what you were trying to say when you come back to the text.

You do not need to start by writing the introduction. Begin where it feels most natural for you — some prefer to finish the most difficult sections first, while others choose to start with the easiest part. If you created an outline, use it as a map while you work.

Do not delete large sections of text. If you begin to dislike something you have written or find it doesn’t quite fit, move it to a different document, but don’t lose it completely — you never know if it might come in useful later.

Paragraph structure

Paragraphs are the basic building blocks of research papers. Each one should focus on a single claim or idea that helps to establish the overall argument or purpose of the paper.

Example paragraph

George Orwell’s 1946 essay “Politics and the English Language” has had an enduring impact on thought about the relationship between politics and language. This impact is particularly obvious in light of the various critical review articles that have recently referenced the essay. For example, consider Mark Falcoff’s 2009 article in The National Review Online, “The Perversion of Language; or, Orwell Revisited,” in which he analyzes several common words (“activist,” “civil-rights leader,” “diversity,” and more). Falcoff’s close analysis of the ambiguity built into political language intentionally mirrors Orwell’s own point-by-point analysis of the political language of his day. Even 63 years after its publication, Orwell’s essay is emulated by contemporary thinkers.

Citing sources

It’s also important to keep track of citations at this stage to avoid accidental plagiarism . Each time you use a source, make sure to take note of where the information came from.

You can use our free citation generators to automatically create citations and save your reference list as you go.

APA Citation Generator MLA Citation Generator

The research paper introduction should address three questions: What, why, and how? After finishing the introduction, the reader should know what the paper is about, why it is worth reading, and how you’ll build your arguments.

What? Be specific about the topic of the paper, introduce the background, and define key terms or concepts.

Why? This is the most important, but also the most difficult, part of the introduction. Try to provide brief answers to the following questions: What new material or insight are you offering? What important issues does your essay help define or answer?

How? To let the reader know what to expect from the rest of the paper, the introduction should include a “map” of what will be discussed, briefly presenting the key elements of the paper in chronological order.

The major struggle faced by most writers is how to organize the information presented in the paper, which is one reason an outline is so useful. However, remember that the outline is only a guide and, when writing, you can be flexible with the order in which the information and arguments are presented.

One way to stay on track is to use your thesis statement and topic sentences . Check:

topic sentences against the thesis statement;
topic sentences against each other, for similarities and logical ordering;
and each sentence against the topic sentence of that paragraph.

Be aware of paragraphs that seem to cover the same things. If two paragraphs discuss something similar, they must approach that topic in different ways. Aim to create smooth transitions between sentences, paragraphs, and sections.

The research paper conclusion is designed to help your reader out of the paper’s argument, giving them a sense of finality.

Trace the course of the paper, emphasizing how it all comes together to prove your thesis statement. Give the paper a sense of finality by making sure the reader understands how you’ve settled the issues raised in the introduction.

You might also discuss the more general consequences of the argument, outline what the paper offers to future students of the topic, and suggest any questions the paper’s argument raises but cannot or does not try to answer.

You should not :

Offer new arguments or essential information
Take up any more space than necessary
Begin with stock phrases that signal you are ending the paper (e.g. “In conclusion”)

There are four main considerations when it comes to the second draft.

Check how your vision of the paper lines up with the first draft and, more importantly, that your paper still answers the assignment.
Identify any assumptions that might require (more substantial) justification, keeping your reader’s perspective foremost in mind. Remove these points if you cannot substantiate them further.
Be open to rearranging your ideas. Check whether any sections feel out of place and whether your ideas could be better organized.
If you find that old ideas do not fit as well as you anticipated, you should cut them out or condense them. You might also find that new and well-suited ideas occurred to you during the writing of the first draft — now is the time to make them part of the paper.

The goal during the revision and proofreading process is to ensure you have completed all the necessary tasks and that the paper is as well-articulated as possible. You can speed up the proofreading process by using the AI proofreader .

Global concerns

Confirm that your paper completes every task specified in your assignment sheet.
Check for logical organization and flow of paragraphs.
Check paragraphs against the introduction and thesis statement.

Fine-grained details

Check the content of each paragraph, making sure that:

each sentence helps support the topic sentence.
no unnecessary or irrelevant information is present.
all technical terms your audience might not know are identified.

Next, think about sentence structure , grammatical errors, and formatting . Check that you have correctly used transition words and phrases to show the connections between your ideas. Look for typos, cut unnecessary words, and check for consistency in aspects such as heading formatting and spellings .

Finally, you need to make sure your paper is correctly formatted according to the rules of the citation style you are using. For example, you might need to include an MLA heading or create an APA title page .

Scribbr’s professional editors can help with the revision process with our award-winning proofreading services.

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Checklist: Research paper

I have followed all instructions in the assignment sheet.

My introduction presents my topic in an engaging way and provides necessary background information.

My introduction presents a clear, focused research problem and/or thesis statement .

My paper is logically organized using paragraphs and (if relevant) section headings .

Each paragraph is clearly focused on one central idea, expressed in a clear topic sentence .

Each paragraph is relevant to my research problem or thesis statement.

I have used appropriate transitions to clarify the connections between sections, paragraphs, and sentences.

My conclusion provides a concise answer to the research question or emphasizes how the thesis has been supported.

My conclusion shows how my research has contributed to knowledge or understanding of my topic.

My conclusion does not present any new points or information essential to my argument.

I have provided an in-text citation every time I refer to ideas or information from a source.

I have included a reference list at the end of my paper, consistently formatted according to a specific citation style .

I have thoroughly revised my paper and addressed any feedback from my professor or supervisor.

I have followed all formatting guidelines (page numbers, headers, spacing, etc.).

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COMMENTS

Analysing the Ambit & Meaning of Article 13 (with case laws)
Article 13 of the Indian Constitution describes the means for judicial review. It enjoins a duty on the Indian State to respect and implement the fundamental right. And at the same time, it confers a power on the courts to declare a law or an act void if it infringes the fundamental rights.
Article 13 of the Indian Constitution
And to keep the belief of people in the State, Articles 12 and 13 were introduced. Article 12 gives the definition of state and tells about the responsibility the state has towards people and their fundamental rights whereas Article 13 of the Indian constitution which presents itself in four parts, makes the concept of fundamental rights more powerful and gives it a real effect.
Article 13: A Bête Noire in the Indian Constitution?
This, in turn, makes Article 13 (1) useless and redundant because it refers to pre-constitution laws. If personal laws would have been regarded as laws as enunciated above, Article 13 would not have been necessary in the Indian Constitution. Rather than protecting fundamental rights, Article 13 is becoming a barrier for women in attaining ...
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Article 13 of the Indian Constitution
Article 13 is a regulating provision conferring no right of its own but acting as a supplementary provision that exists only to protect the infringement of part III. It acts as a warning to legislature and maintains a system of checks and balances as it provides the power of judicial review to the courts.
What is Article 13 of the Indian Constitution?
Article 13: 13 (1): All laws in force in the territory of India immediately before the commencement of this Constitution, in so far as they are inconsistent with the provisions of this Part, shall, to the extent of such inconsistency, be void. 13 (2): The State shall not make any law which takes away or abridges the rights conferred by this ...
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13.1 Formatting a Research Paper
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Analysing the Ambit and Meaning of Article 13: How Did the Judiciary Interpret It?

Introduction

What Is Article 13? Construing the Clauses Vis-à-Vis Precedents

Do Non-Citizens have Access to Article 13(2)?

Do Personal Laws Fall under the Ambit of Article 13(3)?

Looking at Article 13 vis-à-vis the Basic Structure Doctrine

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13.1 Formatting a Research Paper

General Formatting Guidelines

Margins, Pagination, and Headings

Citation Guidelines

Writing at Work

References List

Key Takeaways

Writing the title and abstract for a research paper: Being concise, precise, and meticulous is the key

Introduction

Importance of the title

Types of titles

Descriptive or neutral title

Declarative title

Interrogative title

Drafting a suitable title

Checklist for a good title

The Abstract

Importance of the abstract

Types of abstracts

Structured and unstructured abstracts

Descriptive and Informative abstracts

Drafting a suitable abstract

Checklist for a good abstract

Concluding Remarks

Financial support and sponsorship

Acknowledgement

Research Paper – Structure, Examples and Writing Guide

Research Paper

Structure of Research Paper

Introduction

Literature Review

How to Write Research Paper

Research Paper Example

Applications of Research Paper

When to Write Research Paper

Purpose of Research Paper

Characteristics of Research Paper

Advantages of Research Paper

Limitations of Research Paper

About the author

Muhammad Hassan

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Table of contents

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Paragraph structure

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Citing sources

Global concerns

Fine-grained details

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