how to write nursing research paper

Writing a Nursing Research Paper that Meets Professor's Requirements

As a nursing student, you will spend much time researching, reading, and writing papers. Many students find the entire process of writing research papers challenging.

Imagine on top of spending many hours in clinical practice shifts only to find yourself sparing more time researching and writing, not to mention the overwhelming information condensed in a few hours of in-class lecture sessions. Working shifts and studying while having family duties and obligations worsens it, and when done in a rush, you end up with subpar papers and average grades.

Even though many student nurses find writing research papers tricky and daunting, you can write a perfect paper that ticks all the checkboxes your professor uses to mark them and be sure to get an A+ grade on your nursing paper.

Our expert nursing research writers, who have written thousands of BSN, MSN, DNP, and Ph.D. papers, have compiled this comprehensive guide to help you write a strong nursing research paper that leaves a lasting impression on your professor.

Having marked many papers and supervised many theses, capstone projects, and dissertations, you can trust that the information herein is valuable and timely in your pursuit of nursing career success.

What is a Nursing Research Paper?

A nursing research paper is a scholarly and thesis-driven paper that a nursing student (at ADN, BSN, MSN, DNP, or Ph.D. level) writes to comprehensively explore a specific nursing research topic either of their choice or one that the professor assigns.

To write a perfect research paper, the student has to provide concrete, reliable, and trustworthy evidence. In most cases, even professionals such as RNs undertaking clinical practice, nursing education training, clinical studies and evaluations, and nursing research can also write research papers published in journals or conferences to advance and disseminate nursing knowledge. The typical length of most nursing papers ranges from 5 pages to 20 pages, depending mainly on the complexity of the subject, the word count limits, and the requirements. Nurses and nursing students write research papers to share their insights as they learn more about nursing processes and practices. Nursing research papers are used to: document research, organize information, advance nursing scholarship, and improve the writing skills of nurses. Students in the USA, Australia, Japan, and Canada write their research papers in the American Psychological Association (APA) format, while those in Australia and the UK write them in Harvard formats. The research papers fall under three main categories:

• Analytical research papers. These papers present an analysis of the topic using evidence, facts, and examples.
• Argumentative research papers. These research papers are analytical but with a twist where the writer uses evidence to reinforce their opinion and persuade the reader.
• Expository research papers. This category of nursing research papers explains the subject matter using credible evidence such as examples, facts, statistics, and other pieces of evidence.

Structure and Format of a Nursing Research Paper

A simple nursing research paper, especially an expository or informative type, can have 5 paragraphs, like a typical essay. However, longer research papers have additional sections.

Scientific Nursing Research Paper Structure

Here is a breakdown of how a well-formatted and scientific nursing research paper should look like.

• Title Page. The title page comprises the research paper title, details of the student or professional writer, course details, details of the school or institution, and the date. The cover page is the first contact point with the reader. It is brief.
• Abstract. The abstract summarizes the nursing research paper. It is 200-250 words long and should be focused on what the reader expects. It is a condensed version of the paper, which is critical to help professors know what your paper is about. It should not have acronyms. Note that the word count of the abstract is not considered part of the research paper.
• The Introduction. The introduction should have an attention-getter or a hook that can be a statement, statistic, or fact. It should be 10% of the entire word count. It also has background information that details the nursing issue or topic you are exploring. It also comprises a well-thought-out thesis statement related to the topic. If you have a long paper, ensure that your problem and purpose statements are part of the introduction. It should also list your PICOT question .
• Literature Review. This is a critical section of the research paper. Here, you should explore other nursing scholars' thoughts and scholarly findings. Focus on peer-reviewed scholarly articles that address the same issue as your thesis statement or topic. Explore your topic's theories, theoretical frameworks, and other facts. Do it so well that your professor marvels at your research, organization, and writing prowess. Consider the levels of evidence as you choose selection criteria for the papers to include in your nursing literature review.
• Research Methodology. This section of the research paper details the data collection methods, such as ethnographic studies, secondary data collection, literature review, quasi-experimental research, correlational studies, descriptive research, ethnography, phenomenology, grounded theory, meta-analyses, systematic reviews, or experiments. Ensure that you state and give a rationale for your research design (qualitative, quantitative, or mixed-methods). If you are writing a quantitative paper, explain how you tested the hypotheses. Also, report the sampling frame and the sampling strategy.
• Results and Discussion. This section of the paper presents the findings. You can use visual aids such as charts and graphs for a quantitative research paper. If you are writing a qualitative research paper, present the evidence chronologically. When presenting the findings, avoid making definitive facts. Instead, ensure that the results suggest something is true or false, even when testing a hypothesis.
• Conclusion and Recommendations. The conclusion should be 10% of the entire word count. You should restate the thesis and give a summary of your entire paper. Explore the recommendations for future research on the topic.
• Ensure that your reference list is arranged alphabetically. The list should adhere to the formatting requirements (Harvard, ASA, or APA formats). Only use scholarly peer-reviewed references.

Format for a General Nursing Research Paper

If you are writing a non-scientific nursing research paper, you will only have three sections as follows:

• Introduction. The introduction paragraph should introduce the topic by providing an attention-getter, background information, and a thesis statement.
• Body of the paper . The body paragraphs should have strong topic sentences, supporting details (examples, evidence, and explanation), and concluding sentences. It should also portray a good use of transition words. You should analyze the topic and use evidence to support the arguments, and give enough explanation. Use in-text citations within the body paragraphs.
• Conclusion. End the paper by recapping the main points, reasserting the thesis statement, and signaling the end of the paper to give your readers good closure.

An excellent nursing research paper follows this structure as long as it is not research-based. The three-part approach is super recommended if you did not conduct any study. In most cases, when assigned to write those 5-12 pages of nursing school research papers, you will be using this format.

So, what are the steps for writing a good nursing research paper? Let’s find out in the next section.

The 6 Main Steps for Writing a Nursing Research Paper

Writing assignments are an essential training aspect for nursing students. No wonder professors will stress that you write essays, discussion posts, responses, or proposals well. They are doing so to prepare you for research roles somewhere in your nursing career.

According to our most successful research paper writers, writing a top-grade research paper involves decoding the instructions, selecting a good topic, planning, researching, writing, and polishing the paper.

Here is a breakdown of each step for clarity and deeper understanding.

Step #1: Understand the Prompt or Instructions

You can only perfect what you know! Therefore, you can begin the research writing process by reading, analyzing, and understanding the instructions. It is an essential pre-writing stage process where you carefully read the instructions.

Although it sounds obvious, most nursing students who write off-topic and subpar research papers jump into writing without reading to understand the instructions.

You need to skim through the instructions on the first attempt, then read keenly and critically as you take note of the scope of the assignment, the topic, and other things you must fulfill in the paper. Take note of the:

• The number of words.
• Type of research paper (argumentative, analytical, exploratory, or persuasive).
• The structure of the paper (thesis-driven or research/study-based (scientific) research paper.
• The deadline.
• Whether you need to draft an outline.
• Reading materials.
• Whether you need external sources.
• Which sources to use and how many?
• The theoretical constructions or conceptual frameworks.
• The age limit of the scholarly sources.

If you need further clarification, ensure that you ask your peers, professor, or a professional writer in time.

Step #2: Select a Good Nursing Research Topic

Compared to average students, top nursing students always remember to select a research topic they are comfortable handling. When you are confident with a topic, you can develop it without procrastinating.

Sometimes you are given a list of nursing research paper topics, issues, and ideas to consider. Other times, you come up with the topic and consult your professor/educator for approval.  

Choose topics related to patient safety, nursing processes, nurse staffing, nursing policies, nurse privileges, nursing legislations, nursing ethics, mental health, health promotion, chronic disease management, healthcare systems, health informatics, changes in healthcare, and working conditions.

Choose any nursing topic that resonates with your specialization interests. It should be manageable, relevant, and explorable.

Related Readings:

• Nursing informatics research topics
• Capstone project ideas and topics for BSN, MSN, and DNP students
• Mental health nursing topics
• Epidemiology nursing topics
• List of the best nursing research paper topics
• Evidence-based nursing topics and ideas
• Nursing ethical dilemmas

Step #3: Plan your Paper

Create a thesis statement for your research paper if it is thesis-driven rather than study-based or scientific (experimental). After writing the thesis, like any of our nursing assignment slayers, write a good outline using Roman numbers and numbers.

List the ideas you wish to have in your paper in chronological order, starting with the introduction, body, and concluding paragraphs. As you outline, do some preliminary research so that you develop arguments the right way.

Include the in-text citations in your nursing research paper outline to simplify the writing process.

Step #4: Research and Organize Resources

Doing in-depth research as you refine the draft would be appropriate because you know what you want the paper to look like. Use scholarly nursing databases for research and limit yourself to topic-related scholarly articles published within the last 5 years.

You can read the abstracts of the articles to determine if they are fit to use in your paper. If you find the best articles, list them using online citation management tools such as RefWorks, Zotero, EndNote, Citefast, or any of your choice.

Ensure to list them in the most appropriate formatting styles. Take notes and list the points and ideas in your outline. Do your research meticulously and ensure that you organize the process to avoid any confusion.

Step #5: Write the First Draft

With the research, synthesis, and outline, you are now left with the chance to put rubber on the road. Use the Pomodoro technique, where you spend stretches of 25 minutes of focused work and have minor 5-minute breaks.

Ensure you cover as much ground in your research paper as possible before three-quarters of the deadline. When writing the paper, and considering that you have the outline, you can start chronologically from the introduction to the appendices.

Most research paper writing pros prefer working on the body section and conclusion before writing the introduction and finalizing the abstract. Whatever works best for you, adopt it. When writing the first draft, focus on piecing together the information rather than perfection.

Ensure you research lightly as you write and assert your voice while giving the right in-text citations for every idea you paraphrase from a source to avoid plagiarism. Each body paragraph should only have one idea.

Step #6: Edit, Proofread, and Polish the Paper

The final step towards completing your nursing research paper is ensuring everything is in its rightful place. A polished research paper scores 90% and above, which is an A. Begin by reading the paper aloud to identify areas that do not make sense.

If there is a need, do not hesitate to rewrite an entire section so that you have the right flow of information.

Check the grammatical, spelling, and syntax errors and make necessary corrections. You should also check the tenses used in the paper. If you feel like polishing the essay is too much work, you are better off hiring a nursing paper proofreader/editor.

When you receive feedback from your educator or professor, address the changes and resend the paper for grading.

Related Reading: How to write an evidence-based nursing paper.

Valuable Tips to Consider as You Write Your Nursing Research Paper

Nursing schools and educators have their standards and guidelines for writing a research paper. Therefore, ensure that before everything else, you familiarize yourself and adhere to these instructions, which include word count and citation styles.

Do not assume anything when writing a paper. You should also access and understand suggestions from your school’s writing lab. Apart from these essential tips, also ensure that you follow the insights we give below:

• Write your paper using a formal tone. Do not use passive voice when writing the paper. Instead, use active voice.
• Your paper should have a good organization from the introduction to the conclusion.
• Whenever you borrow ideas from a scholarly source, ensure you cite them correctly.
• Have a well-thought-out thesis statement that clarifies your arguments.
• Create a complete outline during the early stages of writing. It gives you a roadmap to follow as you write the paper. Organize the ideas chronologically based on their strength and weaknesses.
• Have a plan and schedule to trace your progress with the paper.
• If you have a more extended deadline, contribute to your research paper daily.
• When writing the paper, start with the body, the conclusion, and the introduction last.
• If you are writing a study-based research paper, include the literature review, methodology, discussion, and conclusion sections per the IMRAD format. A general nursing research paper follows the essay structure: introduction, body section, and conclusion.
• Use peer-reviewed scholarly sources from CINAHL, PubMed, Nursing Reference Center, Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, and other nursing research databases with peer-reviewed articles. Credible sources mean your research paper has rigor since you have strong points.
• Proofread and edit the paper thoroughly to remove any mistakes to signal your seriousness to your professor. If possible, use professional editing services.
• Have a compelling conclusion that is elaborate, clear, and concise.
• Read your paper aloud to identify mistakes.
• Revise the paper, and do not fear rewriting an entire section.

When writing a research paper, adhere to the writing conventions. You should also read well and understand how to communicate through academic writing effectively. Your paper should document evidence that supports your arguments and topic.

Write concisely, coherently, and accurately. It is not all in vain; you are training for your future role as a nurse when you will write conference papers, white papers, essays, policy documents, letters, blog posts, and professional nursing articles.

Checklist for a Great Research Paper in Nursing

Now that you have written your paper, you must align a few things to make it the best your professor will read. Most nursing classes, especially at the graduate levels (MSN, DNP, and Ph.D. levels), have small class sizes, and the professors spend time reading the papers from start to end. This means that you should leave nothing to chance.

Nursing research asserts professional identity, ensures accountability in nursing decision-making, and expands nursing practice. You have to be meticulous when writing a research paper in nursing.

A good research paper demonstrates a complete understanding of nursing knowledge, topic exploration, advanced organization, proper formatting, and mature academic writing skills. The following checklist enlists some main aspects to countercheck before hitting the submit button.

• Have I followed all the instructions outlined in the assignment prompt or rubric?
• Does my paper have the right title page?
• Does the paper have a written title that resonates with the thesis and the research question?
• Is the introduction presenting an attention grabber, background information, and a signpost of the ideas in the paper?
• Is the thesis statement well-thought-out, clear, concise, and elaborate?
• Is the problem statement clearly stated?
• If it is a PICOT-based research paper, is the PICO question well-outlined?
• Does the paper touch well on the nursing issue that the topic needs it to address?
• Is there a logical flow of the paragraphs?
• Are the words in each paragraph balanced?
• Does the paper have correctly formatted headings and subheadings?
• Are the in-text citations done correctly and consistently?
• Does every paragraph in the body of the paper build on the thesis?
• Does the paper demonstrate a mature choice of words and uses nursing lingo?
• Is the literature review section comprehensive? Does it have a theoretical and conceptual framework or constructs?
• Are the data and information presented in the literature review current?
• Has the methodology section listed the sample, sampling strategy, data collection and analyses, and rationale for each?
• Does the discussion section interlink the concepts from the literature review with the findings?
• Does the conclusion offer good closure to the readers? Does it restate the thesis? Does it summarize the recommendations?
• Is the entire paper formatted correctly? Does it follow the formatting guidelines?
• Is the paper devoid of spelling, syntax, and mechanical mistakes?

If your answer to all these questions is a resounding YES, you are sure it will fetch your professor a good grade. Our nursing writers, most of whom are alumni from top nursing universities and colleges such as Chamberlain, Capella, Herzing, Vanderbilt, SFU, Rutgers, Yale, Duke, NYU, UCLA, University of Pennsylvania, University of Toronto, McGill, Ottawa, Queens, and other best colleges in the USA, UK, Canada, and many other places. Besides, they are nursing educators in different capacities, and a couple are nursing professors with big titles; you can trust the checklist to guarantee you an excellent grade.

Where to Get Help When Writing Research Paper

As a nursing student, writing a research paper is something you will most likely enjoy doing. However, unforeseen things happen, prompting you to search the internet for sites to help you do your nursing research paper. NurseMyGrade.com is one such place to pay a nursing writer to do your paper.

Expect a paper that meets all the requirements, is written by a human rather than AI software, and is uniquely tailored to your requirements.  Our rates are affordable, and our writers cover diverse fields. Apart from offering advice about research, writing, and formatting papers, we have resourceful writers whom we allow you to communicate directly with via our platform.

We also maintain high levels of secrecy because we care more about your privacy and confidentiality of your details. Not even your professor can tell you got help from our website because we advise on specific strategies to use the paper. We have assisted students in various levels of nursing education with their writing, and we can do yours too.

Get affordable, well-researched, formatted, and organized nursing research papers done for you today by filling out the order form. Nursing research papers are a chance to stand out. Let our professionals help you achieve your nursing school goals.

Struggling with

Related Articles

How to Write a Nursing Reflective Essay (Guide for Nurse Students)

Exciting Debate Topics for Nursing and Medical Papers

How to Write a Nursing Interview Essay

NurseMyGrades is being relied upon by thousands of students worldwide to ace their nursing studies. We offer high quality sample papers that help students in their revision as well as helping them remain abreast of what is expected of them.

📕 Studying HQ

A comprehensive guide to writing a nursing research paper, rachel r.n..

• March 7, 2024
• How to Guides

Writing a nursing research paper is an essential skill for nursing students and professionals alike. It serves as a platform to contribute to the ever-expanding body of knowledge in the field, fostering evidence-based practice and promoting advancements in healthcare. This comprehensive guide aims to provide step-by-step instructions on how to craft a well-structured and impactful nursing research paper.

Are You Working on Research Paper?

Feel free to let our professional writers help you

What You'll Learn

The Research Process

Here are the steps to writing a research nursing paper

1. Choosing a Relevant Topic

Selecting a pertinent and engaging topic is the first crucial step in writing a nursing research paper. Consider the following factors when choosing a topic:

• Personal Interest : Opt for a subject that sparks your interest or relates to your clinical experiences. For example, if you have a passion for pediatric nursing, you might choose a topic related to childhood obesity interventions.
• Relevance : Ensure the topic addresses current issues or gaps in knowledge within the nursing field. This could involve exploring emerging healthcare technologies, examining disparities in healthcare access, or evaluating the effectiveness of nursing interventions in specific patient populations.
• Feasibility: Assess the availability of resources and data needed to conduct a thorough investigation. Consider factors such as access to patient populations , research facilities, and funding opportunities when evaluating the feasibility of your chosen topic.

2. Conducting a Literature Review:

Before delving into your research, it is essential to review existing literature to identify gaps and establish the context for your study.

• Utilize academic databases: Search platforms like PubMed, CINAHL, and others to gather relevant articles.
• Critically analyze literature: Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of previous studies to identify areas for further exploration. Look for patterns, inconsistencies, or gaps in the existing research that your study can address.
• Synthesize findings: Summarize key themes, methodologies, and gaps in the literature to guide your research question. This synthesis serves as the foundation for framing the significance of your study within the broader context of nursing research.

3. Formulating a Clear Research Question or Hypothesis:

A well-defined research question or hypothesis provides direction for your study and guides the development of your nursing research paper.

Clarity and specificity: Clearly state the problem you aim to address and be specific in your research question or hypothesis. For instance, if your topic revolves around improving patient adherence to medication regimens, your research question might be, “What factors influence medication adherence among patients with chronic illnesses?”

Align with literature: Ensure your research question builds upon existing knowledge and addresses identified gaps. Reference the findings from your literature review to demonstrate the relevance of your study and its potential contributions to the field.

4. Designing the Research Methodology:

Selecting an appropriate research methodology is crucial to gather valid and reliable data. Consider methodologies such as:

a. Quantitative or qualitative: Decide whether your study will involve quantitative measurements, qualitative analysis, or a combination of both. If your research question involves exploring patient experiences, qualitative methods such as interviews or focus groups may be appropriate.

b. Sampling: Define your target population and choose a representative sample size. Consider factors like age, gender, and medical history that align with your research objectives.

c. Data collection: Outline the methods and tools you will use to collect data, ensuring they align with your research question. Whether it’s surveys, interviews, observations, or a review of medical records, justify your choices based on the nature of your study.

5. Ethical Considerations:

Nursing research must adhere to ethical standards to protect participants and maintain the integrity of the study.

Informed consent: Clearly explain the study to participants and obtain their informed consent. Clearly outline the purpose, procedures, potential risks, and benefits of participation.

Confidentiality: Ensure the privacy and anonymity of participants throughout the research process. Safeguarding their identities and sensitive information is crucial to maintain trust and ethical standards.

6. Data Analysis and Interpretation:

Once data collection is complete, analyze the information using appropriate statistical or qualitative methods. a. Statistical analysis: Use statistical software to analyze quantitative data and draw meaningful conclusions. b. Thematic analysis: Identify themes and patterns in qualitative data, providing rich insights into your research question.

7. Writing the Nursing Research Paper:

Structure your paper following the typical components of a scientific research paper.

In nursing research papers, we usually use APA or Harvard formats because they are scientific. The title page is super important because it helps your professor quickly understand your paper. If it’s not done well, you might lose marks. T he title page , also called the cover page, should have your paper’s title, your names, course code and name, university names, your professor’s name, and the date of submission. Check out our examples to see how to set up this important part of your research paper.

The abstract is a short summary of your nursing research paper. It’s important, just like the title page, because it gives readers a quick overview. Keep it short, around 200-250 words, and focus on the main points. Don’t use acronyms or citations. Follow the guidelines for APA or Harvard formatting. It doesn’t count in the word limit unless the Rubric says it does. Include the purpose, contents, results, conclusions, and recommendations.

Introduction

The introduction is the first part of your nursing research paper, taking up about 10% of the word count. Start with an interesting hook for your topic. Provide background information, talk about the nursing issue, and state the main aim or thesis. Clearly outline what your paper will cover, and if it’s a PICO research paper, introduce the PICOT question here.

Literature Review

This section explores what other nursing scholars have said about your thesis statement or topic. Look at various sources about nursing theory, frameworks, and concepts. Develop your paragraphs well, cite ideas, and approach this section critically. For example, if your paper is about managing obesity, you can discuss how the Theory of Planned Behavior is used in interventions. Show good research, organization, and writing skills.

Research Methodology

Here, explain the methods you used to collect data, like qualitative, quantitative, or mixed-methods approaches. For qualitative research in nursing, consider ethnography, historical research, phenomenology, symbiotic interactionism, or grounded theory. Quantitative research involves crunching numbers. If you used secondary sources, mention them and explain your inclusion/exclusion criteria. If it’s a statistical paper, detail your analyses and the tools used (like R or SPSS).

Results and Discussion

Present your findings in this section without making definitive statements. The results should suggest whether something is true or not, especially when testing hypotheses. Discuss your findings using concepts and information from your literature review. Mention any limitations and include graphs, tables, or concept maps.

Conclusions and Recommendations

Summarize the research problem, methodology, and findings. Restate the thesis differently from the introduction. This part should be about 10% of the total word count. Connect your findings to the literature review and suggest future research directions.

Organize your references alphabetically in A-Z format following APA or Harvard guidelines. Make sure each reference is scholarly and used in your paper. Include links if needed. Double-check everything to meet the Rubric requirements.

8. Revision and Peer Review:

Before submitting your nursing research paper, thoroughly review and revise the content for clarity, coherence, and accuracy. Share your draft with peers, mentors, or colleagues to gather constructive feedback. Address any feedback received and revise your paper for clarity, grammar, and style.

9. Submission and Publication:

Once satisfied with the final draft, submit your nursing research paper to a reputable journal or conference for peer review and potential publication.

Source Links

https://writersperhour.com/blog/term-paper-vs-research-paper

50 Potential Nursing Research Topics

• The impact of nurse-patient communication on patient satisfaction and outcomes.
• Exploring the effectiveness of telehealth in nursing care delivery.
• Assessing the prevalence and management of nurse burnout in different healthcare settings.
• The role of advanced practice nurses in improving primary care access and outcomes.
• Examining the effectiveness of simulation-based training in nursing education.
• Investigating the influence of cultural competence on patient care and health disparities.
• Exploring the use of artificial intelligence in nursing practice and patient care.
• Assessing the impact of nurse-led interventions on chronic disease management.
• Examining the challenges and opportunities of transitioning from paper to electronic health records in nursing.
• The role of mindfulness-based interventions in reducing stress among nursing professionals.
• Investigating the relationship between nurse staffing levels and patient outcomes.
• Assessing the effectiveness of pain management protocols in postoperative care.
• Exploring the experiences and challenges of male nurses in the nursing profession.
• The impact of continuing education on nursing practice and patient outcomes.
• Examining the role of nurses in promoting vaccination and preventing infectious diseases.
• Investigating the factors influencing nurse retention and turnover in healthcare organizations.
• The effectiveness of nursing interventions in managing patients with mental health disorders.
• Exploring the role of nurses in promoting healthy lifestyles and preventing chronic diseases.
• Assessing the implementation and outcomes of evidence-based practice in nursing.
• Investigating the ethical challenges in end-of-life care decision-making by nurses.
• The role of nursing in addressing the opioid epidemic and substance abuse.
• Examining the impact of nurse-led clinics on community health and access to care.
• Assessing the effectiveness of nurse-managed programs in improving maternal and child health.
• Exploring the perceptions and experiences of patients receiving care from nurse practitioners.
• Investigating the effectiveness of nurse-led interventions in preventing hospital-acquired infections.
• The impact of interprofessional collaboration on patient outcomes in healthcare.
• Examining the relationship between nurse leadership styles and organizational culture.
• Assessing the effectiveness of nursing interventions in reducing falls among elderly patients.
• Exploring the challenges and opportunities of nursing care in rural and underserved communities.
• Investigating the role of nursing in promoting mental health and well-being.
• The impact of technology on communication and collaboration among nursing teams.
• Assessing the knowledge and attitudes of nurses towards LGBTQ+ patients in healthcare.
• Examining the role of nursing in disaster preparedness and response.
• Investigating the effectiveness of nursing interventions in preventing pressure ulcers.
• Exploring the impact of nurse empowerment on patient safety and quality of care.
• Assessing the use of patient-centered care models in nursing practice.
• The role of nursing in addressing health disparities among diverse populations.
• Examining the impact of nurse-led health promotion programs in schools.
• Investigating the role of nurses in promoting ethical decision-making in healthcare.
• Assessing the effectiveness of nursing interventions in managing chronic pain.
• Exploring the impact of nurse-led education programs on patient outcomes.
• The role of nursing in addressing the mental health needs of pediatric patients.
• Examining the effectiveness of nurse-managed transitional care programs.
• Assessing the impact of cultural competence training on nursing practice.
• Investigating the relationship between nurse staffing ratios and medication errors.
• The role of nursing in promoting a culture of safety in healthcare organizations.
• Exploring the experiences of immigrant nurses in the healthcare workforce.
• Assessing the impact of nurse-led interventions in promoting healthy aging.
• Examining the effectiveness of nursing interventions in preventing hospital readmissions.
• Investigating the role of nursing in promoting health equity and social justice.

Start by filling this short order form order.studyinghq.com

And then follow the progressive flow. 

Having an issue, chat with us here

Cathy, CS. 

New Concept ? Let a subject expert write your paper for You​

Have a subject expert write for you now, have a subject expert finish your paper for you, edit my paper for me, have an expert write your dissertation's chapter, popular topics.

Business StudyingHq Essay Topics and Ideas How to Guides Samples

• Nursing Solutions
• Study Guides
• Free Study Database for Essays
• Privacy Policy
• Writing Service 
• Discounts / Offers 

Study Hub: 

• Studying Blog
• Topic Ideas 
• Business Studying 
• Nursing Studying 
• Literature and English Studying

Writing Tools  

• Citation Generator
• Topic Generator
• Paraphrasing Tool
• Conclusion Maker
• Research Title Generator
• Thesis Statement Generator
• Summarizing Tool
• Terms and Conditions
• Confidentiality Policy
• Cookies Policy
• Refund and Revision Policy

Our samples and other types of content are meant for research and reference purposes only. We are strongly against plagiarism and academic dishonesty. 

Contact Us:

📧 [email protected]

📞 +15512677917

2012-2024 © studyinghq.com. All rights reserved

Writing clinical articles: A step-by-step guide for nurses

Focus on your audience and narrow your topic. .

Editor’s note: Dissemination 101 is a series designed to help nurses share their expertise. To read other articles in the series, visit myamericannurse.com/category/dissemination-101 . 

• Writing for publication allows you to contribute to nursing practice and help build nursing and healthcare knowledge.
• Taking a step-by-step approach to writing a clinical article can help increase the chances for acceptance.

Are you thinking about writing a clinical article for publication? You can write for a general interest nursing journal that addresses a broad audience or a specialty journal that caters to nurses focused on caring for a specific patient population (for example, oncology or wound care). Most clinical articles published in general interest journals aim to help nurses understand the clinical presentation and progression of a disease or health issue and the subsequent care for a specific patient population.

To increase your chances of article acceptance for publication, take a step-by-step approach, as recommended by Mee.

Start with what you know

Write about what you’re most familiar with. Are you working on a hemodialysis unit and recently managed a patient who experienced a cardiovascular event? Then consider writing about managing cardiovascular emergencies in this patient population. Are you an endoscopy nurse who works with patients receiving endoscopic retrograde cho­lan­giopancreatography? Focus your article on the nursing implications of caring for patients after this test.

Strive to keep your topic focused so you can control manuscript length and ensure you deliver relevant content to the reader. For example, an article about caring for patients with pancreatic disorders is too broad. A narrower-focus article might cover cystic fibrosis, specifically on the impact of this condition on health-related quality of life. You can narrow the topic further by a concentrating on adolescents.

Solo vs. team writing

Are you going to write alone or with a team? Pros and cons exist for each. When writing alone, you may have better control of your timeline and content. However, compared to writing with a team, you might miss an opportunity to present a more diverse perspective of the topic. Another advantage of writing with a team includes having more access to resources, including a network of colleagues to interview. With a team, you can distribute the work among the authors and even have more proofreaders. However, delays may arise if one team member lags behind schedule or conflict emerges within the group. When writing with a team, establish authorship early in the process. The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors developed a set of four criteria to establish authorship: authors should make substantial contributions to the manuscript, draft or revise it, have final approval of the published version, and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Journal selection

Before selecting a journal, establish your intended audience. For example, are you writing for staff nurses, clinical nurse specialists, nurse practitioners, or nurse midwives? Write for the selected audience, keeping in mind what they already know about the topic.

Now you can narrow your journal choices to those that are a good match for your topic and intended audience. You can expect immediate rejection if your manuscript doesn’t match a journal’s purpose and readership. Read at least three to four issues, and explore the table of contents for similar articles related to your topic. An article on a disease or condition similar to your topic doesn’t necessarily make yours ineligible for publication. Your topic may have a different focus.

After you select the target journal, carefully read the author guidelines, which usually can be found on the journal’s website. Follow directions for formatting the manuscript, and comply with page or word limitations. Consider querying the journal editor before submitting your manuscript (in fact, many journals require this step). Querying can help ensure your topic is appropriate for the journal. In addition, the editor may provide feedback to help you focus the manuscript accordingly before submission.

Article type

Elements of a clinical review article.

Clinical review articles typically include the following sections:

• Etiology. The cause or origin of the disease.
• Pathophysiology. The pathologic and physiologic processes associated with the disease.
• Epidemiology. Discussion of disease frequency (number of new cases in a given population) or prevalence (number of cases present at a point in time).
• Clinical presentation. What are the signs and symptoms of the disease?
• Diagnostics. This includes relevant tests and normal and abnormal laboratory values.
• Treatment and interventions. Depending on the journal guidelines, this section might include medications, medical and nursing procedures, and key nursing considerations.
• Patient education. This section focuses on key points for patient education. If your article discusses best practices in your setting, consider including a patient education handout that can be incorporated into any organization.
• Nursing implications. Includes the nursing process from assessment to interventions and outcomes. Some journals want a separate section devoted to nursing implications.

Case studies 

Most nurses are familiar with case studies, first from learning how to write them in nursing school and then in clinical practice when reading progress notes. If you’re a novice writer, you’ll find reading case studies in journals to be helpful.

Published case studies can evolve from real case reports or be a simulated, fictional case. If you choose to write about a real case, obtain permission from the patient and your organization. Although the patient’s identity will be concealed in your article, you may run the risk of readers identifying the patient. Also, don’t choose a case that’s so rare that the reader may never encounter such a situation.

Case studies typically begin with the patient’s health history followed by a discussion of the common clinical presentation, pathophysiology, nursing process, psychosocial considerations, and treatments. Keep in mind that you’re using the case to teach readers, not merely reporting what you experienced.

How-to articles 

How-to articles focus on teaching a skill, procedure, or intervention. For example, caring for patients with a colostomy, proning patients with COVID-19 who haven’t been intubated, or attending to patients after cardiac catheterization. When writing a how-to article, focus on what’s most meaningful to nurses who provide direct care, such as patient and family education, and cite evidence-based recommendations.

Do your research

A fundamental motto for writing is “Read. Read. Read. Write. Write. Write.” In other words, do your research. When you read a wide range of literature on your topic, including relevant nursing models or theories, and access key databases, you’ll soon be ready to write. Organize your notes (paper or digital) and maintain a complete and accurate account of your references, which should be as current as possible.

Create an outline

Use an outline to organize your thoughts and help you stick to one main focus or purpose that’s appropriate for the intended audience. At this stage, you’ll also want to consider what information can be best covered in tables or figures rather than in text. For example, you can create a table that lists signs and symptoms in column one and related pathophysiology in column two. Such a table can effectively present a large amount of information that doesn’t need to be repeated in the text of the article.

Writing and editing

Knowing where to start can be daunting. Consider starting on the section you know best or one for which you have the most information to help build your confidence and spur development of other sections. Other writing tips that can enhance the chances your article will be accepted for publication and engage readers include the following:

• Passive: The patient’s medications were reviewed by the nurse before discharge.
• Active: The nurse reviewed the medications with the patient before discharge.
• Cite relevant references. Support statistics and practice guidelines with appropriate recent references. Follow the journal’s author guidelines for number of references and style.

After completing your manuscript, let a day or two pass and then read it again and start editing. Note that your overall goal during editing is to make the manuscript concise and meaningful for the reader. Check that it aligns with the journal’s author guidelines and requirements. Ask colleagues (including an expert, novice, or someone who’s not familiar with your topic) to read your manuscript, and request their honest feedback. Review tables, figures, and other graphics to ensure they provide relevant information and that they adhere to the journal’s author guidelines. Consider including a box with key points, such as nursing implications.

Follow the journal’s article submission guidelines. Some journals request submission through an author portal that requires you to create an author account, while others prefer to receive submissions via email. Most journals require that you attach a cover letter, sign copyright release and conflict-of-interest forms, and submit information about all authors.

Advance nursing practice and science

When you publish, you contribute to nursing practice and help build nursing and healthcare knowledge by providing guidance for practitioners and future researchers. Regardless of the type of article, include implications for nursing practice and, when appropriate, education, policy, and research. Writing involves hard work, but it’s rewarding and a great way to build your credentials.

Rhoda Redulla is director of nursing excellence and Magnet Recognition at NewYork-Presbyterian in New York, New York, associate editor of Gastroenterology Nursing Journal, and author of Fast Facts for Making the Most of Your Career in Nursing . 

Eldh AC, Almost J, DeCorby-Watson K, et al Clinical interventions, implementation interventions, and the potential greyness in between – a discussion paper. BMC Health Serv Res. 2017;17(1):16. doi:10.1186/s12913-016-1958-5

International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Defining the role of authors and contributors.

Mee C. Writing the clinical article. In: Saver C ed. Anatomy of Writing for Publication for Nurses. 4th ed. Indianapolis, IN: Sigma; 2021.

Morton P, Ketefian S, Redman R. Writing the research report. In: Saver C, ed. Anatomy of Writing for Publication for Nurses. 4th ed. Indianapolis, IN: Sigma; 2021.

Oermann MH, Ingles TM. Writing manuscripts about quality improvement: Squire 2.0 and beyond. Health. April 30, 2019.

Roush K. What types of articles to write. Am J Nurs. 2017;117(5):68-71. doi:10.1097/01.NAJ.0000516278.97098.02

2 Comments . Leave new

I could have used this when I was writing articles years ago. Excellent resource

Thank you for this helpful article. I believe that when we publish good articles, we help healthcare providers to give a high quality of care to patients. I encourage all knowledgeable healthcare to write and publish many articles in order to help others for the betterment of patients. Thank you

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Post Comment

NurseLine Newsletter

• First Name *
• Last Name *
• Hidden Referrer

*By submitting your e-mail, you are opting in to receiving information from Healthcom Media and Affiliates. The details, including your email address/mobile number, may be used to keep you informed about future products and services.

Test Your Knowledge

Recent posts.

Collaboration: The key to patient care success

Health workers fear it’s profits before protection as CDC revisits airborne transmission

Why COVID-19 patients who could most benefit from Paxlovid still aren’t getting it

Human touch

Leadership style matters

My old stethoscope

Nurse referrals to pharmacy

Lived experience

The nurse’s role in advance care planning

High school nurse camp

The transformational role of charge nurses in the post-pandemic era

Health Care Workers Push for Their Own Confidential Mental Health Treatment

Do We Simply Not Care About Old People?

Healthcare’s role in reducing gun violence

Early Release: Nurses and firearm safety

• Visit Nurse.com on Facebook
• Visit Nurse.com on YouTube
• Visit Nurse.com on Instagram
• Visit Nurse.com on LinkedIn

Nurse.com by Relias . © Relias LLC 2024. All Rights Reserved.

How to Write a Quality Nursing Research Paper: A Comprehensive Guide

Nursing research papers play a vital role in advancing the field of healthcare and providing evidence-based practices . Whether you are a nursing student embarking on your first research paper or a seasoned professional seeking to contribute to the existing body of knowledge, understanding the process of writing a quality research paper is essential. In this comprehensive guide, we will walk you through the key steps and strategies to help you craft a well-structured and impactful nursing research paper.

1. Selecting a Topic for your Nursing Research Paper

Choosing the right research topic is crucial for a successful nursing research paper. A well-chosen topic not only reflects your interests but also addresses a significant healthcare issue. Consider selecting a topic that is specific, relevant, and feasible within the given time frame and available resources. Conduct a thorough literature review to explore existing knowledge gaps and identify areas for further investigation. Engage in discussions with mentors, colleagues, and healthcare professionals to gain insights and refine your research topic.

2. Developing a Research Question and Hypothesis

Once you have chosen a research topic for your nursing research paper, narrow it down and develop a clear research question. Your research question should be focused, specific, and answerable through empirical evidence . It serves as the foundation for your research and guides the entire study. Additionally, formulate a hypothesis that provides a tentative answer to your research question. The hypothesis should be concise, measurable, and based on existing knowledge or theories. Crafting a well-defined research question and hypothesis is essential for maintaining a clear direction throughout the research process.

3. Conducting a Literature Review

A comprehensive literature review is a cornerstone of a high-quality nursing research paper. It helps you understand the existing body of knowledge, identify research gaps, and provide a theoretical foundation for your study. Utilize academic databases, journals, and reputable sources to gather relevant literature. Analyze and critically evaluate the literature to support your research question and develop a theoretical framework for your study. Organize the literature review based on themes or concepts to present a coherent and logical flow of information. This review also helps you identify methodologies and tools used in similar studies, which can guide your research design and data collection.

4. Designing the Study

The research design is a crucial aspect of any nursing research paper. It determines the methodology, data collection, and analysis techniques. Consider whether your study will be qualitative or quantitative, observational or experimental, and identify the appropriate sample size and sampling method. Ensure ethical considerations and address any potential biases or confounding variables. Select and justify the most appropriate research design that aligns with your research question, available resources, and ethical standards. Consult with experts in research methodology if needed to ensure the robustness and validity of your study.

5. Collecting and Analyzing Data

Collecting reliable and valid data is vital in nursing research. Depending on your research design, employ appropriate data collection methods such as surveys, interviews, observations, or secondary data analysis. Develop data collection instruments that are reliable, valid, and aligned with your research objectives. Ensure proper documentation and standardization of data collection procedures to maintain consistency. After data collection, analyze the data using suitable statistical or qualitative analysis techniques, based on your research design and research question. Apply appropriate statistical tests, interpret the results, and derive meaningful conclusions. If using qualitative methods, employ coding and thematic analysis to identify patterns and themes within the data.

6. Interpreting and Presenting Findings

Interpretation and presentation of research findings are essential to communicate the significance of your study. Analyze your data, interpret the results, and discuss their implications in the context of existing literature. Address any limitations or potential biases that may have influenced the results. Use clear and concise language, tables, figures, and charts to present your findings effectively. Ensure that your conclusions are supported by evidence and aligned with your research question and hypothesis. Discuss the implications of your findings for clinical practice, policy, or further research. This section showcases your ability to critically analyze and synthesize information and contributes to the overall impact of your research.

7. Writing the Research Paper

Writing a nursing research paper requires a structured and organized approach. Start with an abstract that summarizes your study concisely, including the research question, methods, findings, and implications. Structure your paper into sections such as introduction, literature review, methodology, results, discussion, and conclusion. Use appropriate headings and subheadings to enhance readability and facilitate easy navigation. Write in a clear, concise, and scholarly manner, adhering to the guidelines provided by your institution or target journal. Provide relevant citations and references to acknowledge the work of others and support your arguments. Revise and edit your paper multiple times to refine your language, ensure logical flow, and eliminate any grammatical or typographical errors.

8. Revising and Editing

Revision and editing are essential to ensure the quality and clarity of your nursing research paper. Review your paper for logical flow, coherence, grammar, and spelling errors. Seek feedback from mentors, colleagues, or writing centers to get a fresh perspective on your work. Consider their suggestions and make necessary revisions to strengthen your arguments and improve the overall quality of your paper. Pay attention to the organization of ideas, clarity of language, and consistency of formatting. Edit your paper for clarity, conciseness, and adherence to the guidelines. Take breaks between revisions to maintain a fresh perspective and identify any areas that may require further improvement.

Writing a quality nursing research paper requires careful planning, meticulous execution, and effective communication of your findings. By following the steps outlined in this comprehensive guide, you can navigate through the research process with confidence. Remember to choose a compelling topic, conduct a thorough literature review, design your study carefully, collect and analyze data rigorously, and present your findings in a clear and concise manner.

With these strategies, you can contribute to the advancement of nursing knowledge, inform evidence-based practices, and make a meaningful impact in the field of healthcare . Writing a high-quality nursing research paper is a rewarding experience that allows you to contribute to the ever-evolving field of nursing and improve patient outcomes.

Nursing Assignment Help

Are you a nursing student struggling with your research paper or other assignments? Look no further! We at Nursing Research Help offer comprehensive assignment help services tailored specifically for nursing students. Our team of experienced professionals understands the unique challenges faced by nursing students and is equipped to provide the support and guidance you need. Whether you need assistance with topic selection, literature review, research design, data analysis, or writing and editing your paper, we’ve got you covered.

Our services are designed to help you excel academically and submit high-quality assignments that meet the rigorous standards of nursing education. With our expertise and personalized approach, you can save time, reduce stress, and achieve the academic success you deserve. Don’t let assignments hold you back—take advantage of our specialized assignment help services and embark on a successful nursing career with confidence. Contact us today to learn more about how we can assist you in your academic journey.

You might also like

Nursingresearchhelp.com is the fastest, easiest and most reliable way to have content written for your website. You’ll be able to post a project and 1000s of freelance writers from across the globe will have instant access to write your content quickly, professionally, and affordably.

QUICK LINKS

• HOW IT WORKS
• OUR SERVICES
• TERMS OF USE

[email protected]

Call/Text: +1 608 912 3884

How to Write an EBP Nursing Research Paper – Helpful Guide for APA Nursing Research Papers [+ 6 Examples & Outline]

• Rachel Rachel
• August 12, 2022
• Nursing Writing Guides

Writing an evidence-based practice nursing research paper is a structured process that requires extensive research and the help of the right tools and guidance. An EBP nursing research paper has different components requiring systematic research, writing, and editing.

In this guide, we provide a structured approach on how to write an effective EBP Nursing Research Paper . 

How to Write an EBP Nursing Research Paper – Step By Step Guide for APA Nursing Research Papers

When writing an EBP paper, it is important to consider the components of an effective nursing research paper. Here are the different elements of an EBP paper and how to write each one.

Introduction

In an introduction, you should briefly overview the topic you will discuss. This will help your instructor understand the main points of your paper.

How do you write an introduction for an EBP Research Paper in Nursing?

The introduction should be brief, but it should provide enough information to orient readers to the topic and to guide them through the rest of the paper. It should also introduce key concepts and explain what will come.

When writing your introduction, make sure it;

• Defines the problem; it answers the question
• Patient/Problem: What problems does the patient group have? What needs to be solved?
• Intervention: What intervention is being considered or evaluated? Cite appropriate literature.
• Comparison: What other interventions are possible? Cite appropriate literature.
• Outcome: What is the intended outcome of the research question?
• Introduces the key concept, thus providing a transition to the next section, which reveals that the target population
• Clearly states the purpose of the report
• Identifies the target population.
• Relates to the significance of the problem
• also relates to the significance of the problem  

You should include a clear statement of the research problem at the beginning or end of the introduction. This research problem can also be used to generate the research question used to conduct the research itself.

Here’s an EBP nursing Research paper example;

(1) Root caries is a disease of humans, which manifests as lesions on the root surfaces of teeth producing loss of the natural tooth structure.  (2) The lesions progress to deeper and deeper levels of the root as well as spreading laterally to enwrap it.  (3) Ultimately a lesion can progress to involve the pulp, threatening the viability of the tooth resulting in pain and eventual tooth loss.  (4) When located between the teeth, the lesions are difficult to acess and therefore difficult to excise and restore.  (5) In otherwise healthy, North American populations, root caries lesions increase with age. (6) This report sets out to provide evidence-based guidelines on the prevention of root caries for Toronto Public Helath staff on the best available evidence. https://www.una.edu/writingcenter/docs/Writing-Resource

EBP Literature Review

The literature review is one of the most important sections of an EBP paper. It should provide a detailed overview of the studies conducted on your topic. You should also include any relevant quotes from these studies.

When writing an effective EBP literature review, it is important to keep in mind the following tips:

• Take the time to read all the articles you cite in your review. This will help you understand the literature better and contextualize it.
• Be sure to cite your sources correctly. For example, include the author’s last name and publication year in your citations if you use a journal article.
• Be concise in your writing. A literature review should not exceed 10 pages in length. Try to focus on key points and highlight why they are important.
• Use analytical techniques to help you evaluate the literature. For example, consider using qualitative or quantitative methods to analyze data.
• Make sure that your writing is accessible to a broad audience. If your research is technical, explain clearly how it was conducted and what it suggests.

Methodology

The methods section should describe how you researched the topic you are writing about. You should include details about the study you chose to utilize and any statistical analysis you performed.

How to write a methodology in an EBP Nursing Research Paper

Instead of collecting data through surveys, interviews, or clinical records, as in a quantitative or qualitative study, the data you collect is the literature produced on your topic.

Remember, the research you obtain is evidence like quantitative or qualitative data. But what evidence do you select to analyze?

It can be difficult to select evidence. Don’t just go with sources that work well for you, as it will only serve to discredit your own ideas. Consider assessing the dependability of the source, ensuring you have different viewpoints when considering a change in practice.

• What database did you search?
• Which search terms did you use, and how many total articles came up with those searches?
• If the search yielded few or fewer results, that may be because the search was too narrow.

The author considers many factors when evaluating sources. Here’s how to evaluate sources for your nursing research Papers

• Assess how trustworthy is the source, how accurate is it, and whether the source has a bias.
• The credibility of study material – is the study/journal credible and original? You can find research in scholarly journals rather than general reading material.
• Validity: Does the study measure what it says it measures? What demographic sample did the study use? A study may be invalid or inaccurate if it does not produce an accurate margin of error.
• The same test needs to be done to get a true sense of reliability and yield the same results. The test needs to end when the results have been favorable. The results of the study are valid. The report suggests high levels of consistency and validity.

Here’s How to write a Critical Analysis in Nursing

The results and discussion section should provide a detailed analysis of your findings. Discuss the implications of findings and how policymakers can use them.

Your findings will be an analysis, possibly including a chart or table. You should present the studies you selected as the most appropriate sources for studying your problem and instituting your proposed change.

Be sure to compare the following aspects of each study:

• Demographics, pools, and samples
• Methods of discovery and analysis
• Results and limitations

Remember that these studies are supposed to be the most reliable and valid ones for answering the problem you found or the practice you wish to change. Your findings should lay the groundwork for making this argument in your discussion section.

Discussion: Conclusion and Recommendations

The conclusion section should summarize everything that has been discussed in the paper. It should provide a summary of your findings, and make any recommendations that you have for policymakers. Be Sure to:

• Argue that the findings lead to the specific change in practice you identified in your introduction.
• Suggest a strategy for implementation. Will the change you recommend (which these studies probably also recommend) work in your situation? Why? What changes might be needed?

Here’s a video guide

Here are a few key points to remember when writing your conclusion for an EBP Research Paper. First, combine all the information and data you’ve gathered throughout your paper.

Second, be sure to summarize the findings of your study and what they mean for nursing practice . Finally, be sure to provide recommendations for future research in this area.

History of Evidence-based Practice

The history of evidence-based practice (EBP) can be traced back to the early 1990s, when the Institute of Medicine published “To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System” which called for more use of evidence in health care decision making.

In 1992, the National Academies Press published “Principles of Evidence-Based Practice” which was a synthesis of work from multiple organizations and aimed to provide guidance on how to use evidence to improve patient care.

Since then, EBP has evolved into an increasingly popular approach to nursing practice. Today, EBP is used by nurses at all levels of education and experience, and it is becoming more integral to the way nurses deliver care. There are many reasons why EBP has become such an important tool in nursing practice, and this article will discuss some of them.

First, EBP helps nurses make informed decisions about patient care. Nurses need reliable information to provide quality care for their patients, and EBP provides that information by providing systematic reviews of research studies. Systematic reviews are a type of scientific literature review that systematically assess the quality and applicability of research studies in order to provide recommendations for clinical practice.

Steps of the EBP process

There are five steps in the Evidence-based Practice process:

Evidence-Based Practice involves the following six steps:

• Assess the need for change: Formulate the research question based on the inadequacies of current practice.-  Identification of a problem or issue. Nurses should identify problems they see in their clinical practice and believe could benefit from intervention. For example, nurses may want to investigate whether patients who experience poor patient-centered outcomes after surgery have different factors, such as pain medication use or depression, that need to be addressed.
• Locate the best evidence: Obtain sources and assess their credibility and relevancy to the research question. Locate the best evidence & Synthesize evidence: Assessment of the current state of knowledge. To determine which interventions are likely to be effective, nurses should review the evidence on the effectiveness of interventions. This evidence can come from studies that have been conducted on interventions, from reviews of existing studies, or from clinical guidelines .
• Synthesize evidence: Compare and contrast the available sources to find similarities and differences in the various approaches taken. Determination of what interventions are likely to be effective. To determine which interventions are likely to be effective, nurses should consider the following factors: 1) the target population for the intervention; 2) the severity of the problem orissue; 3) the feasibility of implementing the intervention; and 4) the cost of the intervention.
• Design the change: Apply the synthesized evidence to create a change in practice that reflects the new understanding. Selection and implementation of interventions. Nurses should select interventions that are likely to be effective for their target population, based on the factors listed in Step 3. They should then implement the interventions in a way that is feasible and affordable.
• Implement and evaluate: Apply the necessary changes and assess the changes to acquire new evidence. Evaluation of outcomes. After implementing interventions, nurses should evaluate their outcomes to determine their effectiveness. This evaluation can be done in several ways, such as through surveys or focus groups.
• Integrate and maintain changes: Reassess based on new evidence to continue improvement.

Nurses can use these steps to guide their EBP research in a number of ways. For example, they may want to investigate which interventions are most likely to be effective for a particular target population or problem, or they may want to determine which interventions are the most feasible and affordable to implement.

As you continue, nursingstudy.org/  has the top and most qualified writers to help with any of your assignments. All you need to do is  place an order  with us.

Find out more on  How to write DNP capstone project Methodology Chapter ,  How to write a DNP Capstone Project Literature Review ,  How to write a DNP capstone project chapter 1 – Introduction , and  DNP Capstone project Abstract Examples [Outline & How-to]

Evidence Based Research Paper topics in Nursing

List of twenty Evidence Based Research Paper topics in nursing to write about

• Effectiveness of interventions for preventing falls in the elderly
• A pilot study of the efficacy of a home-based intervention to reduce falls in older adults
• Evaluating the effectiveness of a community-wide fall prevention intervention for older adults
• The impact of diabetes on balance and falls in older adults
• The effect of social isolation on falls in older adults
• The influence of ethnicity on falls in older adults
• Assessment and management of postural instability in the elderly
• Trends in hip fracture rates among older adults in the United States over time
• Reducing the risk factors for institutionalization among elders with Alzheimer’s disease
• Promoting healthy sleep habits among elders with dementia
• Assessing and managing sleep disturbances in elders with dementia
• Effects of exercise interventions on balance, mobility, and safety in seniors
• Rehabilitation after stroke: Targeting fall prevention
• The Effect of Nurse-Family Partnership on maternal and child health outcomes
• The Relationship of Depression to Nursing Home Use and Mortality
• Factors Influencing Patient Compliance with Diabetes Management Guidelines
• Contributions of Breastfeeding to Infant and Young Child Nutrition
• Role of the nurse in community-acquired pneumonia prevention
• Effectiveness of home health aide services on elder quality of life
• Impact of Acute Care Hospitals on the Nation’s Health

Plan of the EBP Research Paper

Writing an EBP research paper can be daunting, but it can be much easier with a plan. This guide will provide you with the essential steps you need to take to produce high-quality research papers. First, you will need to identify the problem you are researching. Next, identify the population most likely to experience the problem and/or share its consequences.

Finally, using evidence-based practices as your guide, develop a plan of action that will address the problem.

Read more on How to Format a CV for a Nursing Position Examples

Identify the Problem

The first step in writing an EBP research paper is to identify the problem you are researching. This can be difficult, as the problem may be subtle or complex. However, you can use rigorous research methods to identify the problem and its consequences.

Once you have identified the problem, you must identify the population most likely to experience it and/or share its consequences. This can be a difficult task, as it may be difficult to differentiate between those affected by the problem and those not. However, by using reliable sources of information, you can develop a profile of the population that will help you identify which groups are most at risk.

Once you have identified the population most likely to experience the problem, you to develop a plan of action to address it. This action plan should be based on evidence-based practices, ensuring that your proposal is effective and efficient.

Find out more on Nursing Essay Thesis Statement [+How to & Examples]

Develop a Plan of Action

The next step in writing an EBP research paper is to develop a plan of action. This action plan should be based on the evidence you have gathered and the population you have identified as most at risk.

Your action plan should include specific objectives, targets, timelines, and budgetary constraints. It should also include measures to resolve the problem, including benchmarks and measurements.

Finally, your action plan should be evaluated and revised based on stakeholder feedback. This feedback will help you ensure that your proposal is effective and efficient.

Writing an EBP research paper can be daunting, but it can be much easier with a plan. This guide will provide you with the essential steps you need to take to produce high-quality research papers. First, you will need to identify the problem you are researching. Next, identify the population most likely to experience the problem and/or share its consequences. Finally, using evidence-based practices as your guide, develop a plan of action that will address the issue.

Steps of Writing an EBP Research Paper in Nursing

1. Determine the purpose of your EBP study. 2. Choose a relevant population or setting. 3. Identify the specific question you wish to answer. 4. Collect and analyze data. 5. Construct a hypothesis or theory based on your findings. 6. Write a conclusion that supports your thesis statement. 7. Offer suggestions for future research on evidence-based practice in nursing.

EBP Research Paper Literature Review Writing- Evidence-Based Practice (EBP)

Evidence-based practice (EBP) is an approach to nursing that focuses on using evidence to guide clinical decisions. EBP is effective in improving patient outcomes and reducing healthcare costs. To write an effective EBP literature review, it is important to understand the concepts of evidence and research.

The following section will provide a brief overview of the concept of evidence and its role in EBP. After this, the section will outline the different types of research used in EBP and discuss how to select appropriate research for your paper. Finally, the section will provide tips for writing an effective literature review.

You might be interested in Nursing Case Study Analysis [10 Examples & How-To Guides]

What is Evidence?

Evidence is information that supports a belief or theory. It can come from either personal experience or empirical research. Personal experience includes things like doctor’s orders or patient statements. Empirical research includes studies that use scientific methods to collect data about a particular topic.

Why Use Evidence in Nursing?

There are many reasons why using evidence in nursing is important. First, it can help improve patient outcomes. For example, using evidence-based practices when caring for patients with diabetes can help control their blood sugar levels and reduce the risk of complications.

Second, using evidence can reduce healthcare costs. For example, using evidence-based interventions when caring for patients with heart disease can help reduce the risk of death and hospitalization.

Finally, using evidence can help nurses make better decisions. For example, when caring for a patient with cancer, it is important to use evidence-based treatments that are effective in reducing the risk of cancer recurrence.

What Types of Research is Used in EBP?

There are many different types of research used in EBP. The following section will outline the different types of research and discuss how to select appropriate research for your paper.

• Clinical trials: Clinical trials are experiments that are designed to test the effectiveness of a new treatment or intervention. Clinical trials can be conducted in hospitals or clinics.
• Evaluation studies: Evaluation studies compare the outcomes of two or more treatments or interventions. Evaluation studies can be conducted in hospitals or clinics.
• Observational studies: Observational studies collect data about how people behave without Intervention. Observational studies can be conducted at home, work, or anywhere people gather data.

How to Select Appropriate Research for Your Paper

When selecting research for your EBP paper, it is important to consider the topic you are writing about and the audience you are writing for. The following tips can help you select appropriate research for your paper.

• First, consider the topic you are writing about. If you are writing about a new treatment or intervention, it is important to use clinical trials. Clinical trials are experiments that are designed to test the effectiveness of a new treatment or intervention.
• If you are writing about an existing treatment or intervention, it is important to use observational studies. Observational studies are studies that collect data about how people behave without Intervention. These studies can be conducted at home, work, or anywhere else people gather data.
• Second, consider the audience you are writing for. If you are writing for a healthcare provider, using evidence-based practices that effectively improve patient outcomes and reduce healthcare costs is essential. If you are writing for a patient or their family, using understandable and relatable information is essential.
• Finally, always check the credibility of any sources used in your paper. Credible sources will typically have references that can be verified.

Using credible sources for Evidence-based practice paper

Evidence-based practice (EBP) is a nursing research methodology that draws on published, peer-reviewed scientific studies to develop rationales for and recommendations for patient care.

• It is important to use credible sources to write an EBP paper that is both credible and useful. Credible sources have been examined by experts in the field and found to be reliable. To identify credible sources, it is helpful first to understand what constitutes evidence-based practice.
• The five types of evidence considered most important in EBP are randomized clinical trials (RCTs), systematic reviews, meta-analyses, case reports, and expert opinion.
• When using any of these types of evidence, it is important to ensure the study was conducted according to strict methodological standards.
• For example, RCTs must be blinded (i.e., the participants and investigators should not know which group is receiving the treatment being studied). Furthermore, all data collected during an RCT must be reported accurately and completely.
• Once you have identified a study as credible, the next step is to determine whether the study’s findings are relevant to your topic. It is important to note that not all studies that qualify as evidence-based practice apply to every topic.
• For example, a study that explores the use of acupuncture as a treatment for chronic neck pain would not apply to writing an EBP paper on the use of epidural analgesia in childbirth.
• Finally, it is important to consider the implications of the study’s findings when writing an EBP paper.
• For example, if a study found that a particular treatment was ineffective, it is important to discuss why this might be the case and what can be done to address the issue.

What are the 5 A’s in evidence-based practice?

Evidence-based practice is a healthcare approach that is based on the use of evidence from research studies to make decisions about care. Here are the A’s in evidence-based practice:

• Anchor: The anchor for your paper should be a specific and meaningful study that provides the basis for your argument.
• Background: State the purpose of your paper, including why you are studying the issue.
• Methods: Describe how you conducted your study and collected the data.
• Results: Discuss the findings of your study in detail, including any relevant conclusions.
• Discussion: Explain how this information can be used to improve patient care.

How do nurses write evidence based practice papers?

There are a few key steps that nurses should take when writing evidence based practice papers, including conducting research, analyzing data, and writing effective conclusions.

Here are more specific tips on how to go about each of these steps:

1. Conduct Research: The first step in writing an evidence-based practice paper is to conduct research. This means gathering information from reliable sources to support your arguments. You can find information on different types of research in the library, online databases, and journals. When selecting sources, be sure to select studies that are relevant to your topic and that you can trust.

2. Analyze Data: After you have gathered your data, it is important to analyze it carefully. This means looking at the data from different perspectives and using logic and reasoning to arrive at a conclusion. Be sure to state your findings clearly and concisely so that others can understand them.

3. Write Effective Conclusions: The final step in writing an evidence-based practice paper is to write effective conclusions. This section should summarize your findings and include any recommendations that you have for improving patient care. Remember to support your recommendations with credible evidence.

Working On an Assignment With Similar Concepts Or Instructions? ​

A Page will cost you $12, however, this varies with your deadline. 

We have a team of expert nursing writers ready to help with your nursing assignments. They will save you time, and improve your grades. 

Whatever your goals are, expect plagiarism-free works, on-time delivery, and 24/7 support from us.  

Here is your 15% off to get started.  Simply:

• Place your order ( Place Order ) 
• Click on Enter Promo Code after adding your instructions  
• Insert your code –  Get20

All the Best, 

Have a subject expert Write for You Now

Have a subject expert finish your paper for you, edit my paper for me, have an expert write your dissertation's chapter, what you'll learn.

Working On A Paper On This Topic?

Use our nursing writing service and save your time. We guarantee high quality, on-time delivery, and 100% confidentiality.

• Nursing Careers
• Nursing Paper Solutions
• Nursing Theories
• Nursing Topics and Ideas

Related Posts

• How to become a Hospice Nurse
• How to Become a Labor and Delivery Nurse
• Role of an Intensive Care Unit Nurse: How to Become, Role and Requirements

Important Links

Knowledge base, paper examples, nursing writing services.

Nursingstudy.org helps students cope with college assignments and write papers on various topics. We deal with academic writing, creative writing, and non-word assignments.

All the materials from our website should be used with proper references. All the work should be used per the appropriate policies and applicable laws.

Our samples and other types of content are meant for research and reference purposes only. We are strongly against plagiarism and academic dishonesty.

Phone: +1 628 261 0844

Mail: [email protected]

We Accept: 

@2015-2024, Nursingstudy.org 

OASIS: Writing Center

Common assignments: writing in nursing.

Although there may be some differences in writing expectations between disciplines, all writers of scholarly work are required to follow basic writing standards such as writing clear, concise, and grammatically correct sentences; using proper punctuation; demonstrating critical thought; and, in all Walden programs, using APA style. When writing in nursing, however, students must also be familiar with the goals of the discipline and discipline-specific writing expectations.

Nurses are primarily concerned about providing quality care to patients and their families, and this demands both technical knowledge and the appropriate expression of ideas (“Writing in nursing,” n.d). As a result, nursing students are expected to learn how to present information succinctly, and even though they may often use technical medical terminology (“Writing in nursing,” n.d.), their work should be accessible to anyone who may read it. Among many goals, writers within this discipline are required to:

• Document knowledge/research
• Demonstrate critical thinking
• Express creative ideas
• Explore nursing literature
• Demonstrate understanding of learning activities. (Wagner, n.d., para. 2)

Given this broad set of objectives, nursing students would benefit from learning how to write diverse literature, including scholarly reports, reviews, articles, and so on. They should aim to write work that can be used in both the research and clinical aspects of the discipline. Walden instructors often ask nursing students to write position and reflective papers, critique articles, gather and analyze data, respond to case studies, and work collaboratively on a project. Although there may be differences between the writing expectations within the classroom and those in the workplace, the standards noted below, though more common in scholarly writing, require skills that are transferrable to the work setting.

Because one cannot say everything there is to say about a particular subject, writers present their work from a particular perspective. For instance, one might choose to examine the shortage of nurses from a public policy perspective. One’s particular contribution, position, argument, or viewpoint is commonly referred to as the thesis and, according to Gerring et al. (2004), a good thesis is one that is “new, true, and significant” (p. 2). To strengthen a thesis, one might consider presenting an argument that goes against what is currently accepted within the field while carefully addressing counterarguments and adequately explaining why the issue under consideration matters (Gerring et al., 2004). The thesis is particularly important because readers want to know whether the writer has something new or worthwhile to say about the topic. Thus, as you review the literature, before writing, it is important to find gaps and creative linkages between viewpoints with the goal of contributing innovative ideas to an ongoing discussion. For a contribution to be worthwhile you must read the literature carefully and without bias; doing this will enable you to identify some of the subtle differences in the viewpoints presented by different authors and help you to better identify the gaps in the literature. Because the thesis is essentially the heart of your discussion, it is important that it is argued objectively and persuasively.

With the goal of providing high quality care, the healthcare industry places a premium on rigorous research as the foundation for evidence-based practices. Thus, students are expected to keep up with the most current research in their field and support the assertions they make in their work with evidence from the literature. Nursing students also must learn how to evaluate evidence in nursing literature and identify the studies that answer specific clinical questions (Oermann & Hays, 2011). Writers are also expected to critically analyze and evaluate studies and assess whether findings can be used in clinical practice (Beyea & Slattery, 2006). (Some useful and credible sources include journal articles, other peer-reviewed sources, and authoritative sources that might be found on the web. If you need help finding credible sources contact a librarian.)

Like other APA style papers, research papers in nursing should follow the following format: title, abstract, introduction, literature review, method, results, discussion, references, and appendices (see APA 7, Sections 2.16-2.25). Note that the presentation follows a certain logic: In the introduction one presents the issue under consideration; in the literature review, one presents what is already known about the topic (thus providing a context for the discussion), identifies gaps, and presents one’s approach; in the methods section, one would then identify the method used to gather data; and in the results and discussion sections, one then presents and explains the results in an objective manner, noting the limitations of the study (Dartmouth Writing Program, 2005). Note that not all papers need to be written in this manner; for guidance on the formatting of a basic course paper, see the appropriate template on our website.

In their research, nursing researchers use quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods. In quantitative studies, researchers rely primarily on quantifiable data; in qualitative studies, they use data from interviews or other types of narrative analyses; and in mixed methods studies, they use both qualitative and quantitative approaches. A researcher should be able to pose a researchable question and identify an appropriate research method. Whatever method the researcher chooses, the research must be carried out in an objective and scientific manner, free from bias. Keep in mind that your method will have an impact on the credibility of your work, so it is important that your methods are rigorous. Walden offers a series of research methods courses to help students become familiar with the various research methods.

Instructors expect students to master the content of the discipline and use discipline- appropriate language in their writing. In practice, nurses may be required to become familiar with standardized nursing language as it has been found to lead to the following:

• better communication among nurses and other health care providers,
• increased visibility of nursing interventions,
• improved patient care,
• enhanced data collection to evaluate nursing care outcomes,
• greater adherence to standards of care, and
• facilitated assessment of nursing competency. (Rutherford, 2008)

Like successful writers in other disciplines and in preparation for diverse roles within their fields, in their writing nursing students should demonstrate that they (a) have cultivated the thinking skills that are useful in their discipline, (b) are able to communicate professionally, and (c) can incorporate the language of the field in their work appropriately (Colorado State University, 2011).

If you have content-specific questions, be sure to ask your instructor. The Writing Center is available to help you present your ideas as effectively as possible.

Beyea, S. C., & Slattery, M. J. (2006). Evidence-based practice in nursing: A guide to successful implementation . http://www.hcmarketplace.com/supplemental/3737_browse.pdf

Colorado State University. (2011). Why assign WID tasks? http://wac.colostate.edu/intro/com6a1.cfm

Dartmouth Writing Program. (2005). Writing in the social sciences . http://www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/materials/student/soc_sciences/write.shtml

Rutherford, M. (2008). Standardized nursing language: What does it mean for nursing practice? [Abstract]. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing , 13 (1). http://ojin.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ThePracticeofProfessionalNursing/Health-IT/StandardizedNursingLanguage.html

Wagner, D. (n.d.). Why writing matters in nursing . https://www.svsu.edu/nursing/programs/bsn/programrequirements/whywritingmatters/

Writing in nursing: Examples. (n.d.). http://www.technorhetoric.net/7.2/sectionone/inman/examples.html

Didn't find what you need? Search our website or email us .

Read our website accessibility and accommodation statement .

• Previous Page: Collaborative Writing in Business & Management
• Next Page: Learning Agreements (LAs)
• Office of Student Disability Services

Walden Resources

Departments.

• Academic Residencies
• Academic Skills
• Career Planning and Development
• Customer Care Team
• Field Experience
• Military Services
• Student Success Advising
• Writing Skills

Centers and Offices

• Center for Social Change
• Office of Academic Support and Instructional Services
• Office of Degree Acceleration
• Office of Research and Doctoral Services
• Office of Student Affairs

Student Resources

• Doctoral Writing Assessment
• Form & Style Review
• Quick Answers
• ScholarWorks
• SKIL Courses and Workshops
• Walden Bookstore
• Walden Catalog & Student Handbook
• Student Safety/Title IX
• Legal & Consumer Information
• Website Terms and Conditions
• Cookie Policy
• Accessibility
• Accreditation
• State Authorization
• Net Price Calculator
• Contact Walden

Walden University is a member of Adtalem Global Education, Inc. www.adtalem.com Walden University is certified to operate by SCHEV © 2024 Walden University LLC. All rights reserved.

Writing Tips for Nursing School Students

• Nursing School Writing Types
• Writing a Nursing Essay
• Citations Guide
• Common Writing Mistakes
• Writing Resources

Are you ready to earn your online nursing degree?

Writing is an essential skill nurses should achieve proficiency in early in their career. It is a crucial part of the profession, as nurses need to be able to effectively communicate with patients, families, and other healthcare professionals.

While verbal communication also plays a vital role in nursing, being able to write well builds the nurse’s ability to provide better care.

Being able to accurately detail a patient’s personal history, symptoms, and diagnosis allows for the execution of a precise treatment plan that is clearly communicated to all parties involved, both professional and personal.

From registered nurses to clinical nurses and beyond, being able to communicate effectively and efficiently is a critical soft skill that will help nurses in any role increase their ability to treat their patients.

This guide provides an overview of the types of writing nurses will experience throughout their educational training. Utilize the following tips and tricks to help strengthen your writing skills, which will ultimately help in the development of transferable career skills .

Types of Writing Nurses Will Do in School

Personal statements for nursing school.

Nursing schools want candidates who meet academic and professional requirements. They also want a candidate who demonstrates a sincere passion for patient care and individual connections. You should always craft a personal statement, even when the application doesn’t explicitly require one. Personal statements allow you to describe your goals, characteristics, credentials, volunteer work, and meaningful life experiences. A well-crafted essay can help you stand out among other qualified applicants. And, as with any piece of writing, you must take the time to revise.

In your personal statement, you should portray yourself as determined and empathetic, with characteristics, goals, work ethic, and healthcare philosophy that align with a program’s values. Some nursing schools ask for a general personal statement, while others require a specific prompt. Colleges commonly ask students to describe a hardship they overcame, a difficult task they accomplished, or a professional goal they hope to achieve through the program. Many schools also ask students to detail previous experiences in healthcare. You may decide to write about how you connect with patients or how you provide practical and emotional support to loved ones.

You will also encounter writing prompts during examinations, including standardized tests like the GRE or MCAT, nursing school entrance exams , and course-specific evaluations. You may also take exams to get state licensure or professional certification. In most of these instances, you will need to write one or several long-form essays. Proper planning is key. Though you won’t know what specific prompt the test will require, you can expect certain common topics. You can search online or use study guides to determine which prompts usually appear on each test.

On test day, you should begin by creating an outline that lists three main points in response to the prompt. Using these points, work backwards to write a central thesis to guide the essay’s structure. Review what you’ve written to ensure that the essay actually responds to the prompt at hand. Be sure to leave time to correct spelling, grammar, and stylistic errors.

Research Papers

Like essays, research papers follow a long-form structure. Unlike an essay, which heavily relies on the writer’s point of view, a research paper presents an in-depth investigation of a topic using data, expert opinions, and insights. While an essay evaluates general critical thinking and writing skills, a research paper tests your knowledge, research skills, and original contributions. Research papers also allow you to prove you understand what has been argued and discovered about a topic. Research papers, especially at the graduate and doctoral levels, require independent research and analyses. These papers sometimes take months or years to complete.

To write a successful research paper, you should pick a topic relevant to your interests and the nursing field. Possibilities include elderly care challenges, patient safety and ethics, mental health treatment and regulations in the U.S., and nursing shortages and possible solutions. Whatever your choice, you must plan accordingly. Advanced papers such as dissertations may require funding or help from professors. Research papers often consist of the following sections: abstract, introduction, literature review, methods, results, discussion, conclusion, and references. You should keep this general structure in mind as you prepare notes and outlines.

How Do You Write a Nursing Essay?

In nursing school, essay writing includes academic papers, personal narratives, and professional compositions. You should become familiar with each of the five major forms below. There are many similarities between these essay types, such as an overarching thesis and a supportive, logical structure. You should support claims with factual, statistical, anecdotal, and rhetorical evidence. However, each form requires distinct skills to achieve specific results.

Comparative

Cause and effect, citations guide for nursing students.

Citations allow readers to know where information came from. By citing sources, you avoid plagiarizing or stealing another person’s ideas, research, language, and analyses. Whether intentional or unintentional, plagiarism is one of the most egregious errors one can make. Consequences for plagiarism include automatic course failure, disciplinary actions from the university, and even legal repercussions. You should take special care to ensure you properly cite sources.

American Psychological Association (APA) Style

APA is the most commonly used style among natural scientists, social scientists, educators, and nurses. Like other citation styles, APA emphasizes clarity of font style, font size, spacing, and paragraph structure. APA citations focus on publication date, and in most cases, the date comes right after the author’s name. This order makes the style particularly useful for scientists, who value new research and updates on current findings. For more information on APA style, visit this official website .

(Author and year of publication, page number) “Punishment, then, will tend to become the most hidden part of the penal process” (Foucault, 1977, p. 9).

Chicago Manual of Style (CMS)

CMS (also known as CMOS or, simply, Chicago) features two citation systems, the notes and bibliography, and the author and date. This style is used primarily by historians, who place high importance on a text’s origin. The notes and bibliography include a superscript number with a corresponding footnote or endnote. Scientific professionals use the author and date citation, a generic parenthetical system with similarities to other citation styles. The CMS official website provides additional information, including changes to citation systems in the current edition.

“Punishment, then, will tend to become the most hidden part of the penal process”. 1 1. Michel Foucault, trans. Alan Sheridan, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison (New York: Pantheon Books, 1977), 9.

(Author and year of publication, page number) “Punishment, then, will tend to become the most hidden part of the penal process” (Foucault 1977, 9).

Modern Language Association (MLA) Format

MLA format traces its history to 1951 when it was first published as a thin booklet. Today, MLA is the primary format used by academics and professionals in humanities, English, literature, media studies, and cultural studies. To adapt to the rapid growth of new mediums over the past few decades, MLA updates its citation system. Visit the MLA Style Center for in-depth information on new guidelines and ongoing changes. In general, in text citations consist of author and page number, or just page number if the author’s name appears in the text.

(Author and page number) “Punishment, then, will tend to become the most hidden part of the penal process” (Foucault 9).

Associated Press (AP) Style

Published in 1952, the original AP Stylebook was marketed to journalists and other professionals related to the Associated Press. AP now stands as the go-to style for professionals in business, public relations, media, mass communications, and journalism. AP style prioritizes brevity and accuracy. The style includes specific guidelines regarding technological terms, titles, locations, and abbreviations and acronyms. Unlike the previous styles, AP does not use parenthetical or in-text citations. Rather, writers cite sources directly in the prose. For more information, including style-checking tools and quizzes, visit the Associated Press Stylebook .

In the book, “Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison,” first published in English in 1977, philosopher Michel Foucault argues that “Punishment, then, will tend to become the most hidden part of the penal process”.

Which Style Should Nursing Students Use?

Because nurses rely on scientific terms and information, professionals in the field usually use APA style. Regardless of the purpose and specific genre of your text, you should always strive for concise, objective, and evidenced-based writing. You can expect to learn APA style as soon as you enroll in a major course. However, you should also prepare to learn other styles as part of your academic training. For example, freshman composition classes tend to focus on MLA guidelines.

Common Writing Mistakes Students Make

Active vs. passive voice.

Active and passive voice represent two different ways to present the same piece of information. Active voice focuses on the subject performing an action. For example, the dog bites the boy. This format creates clear, concise, and engaging writing. Using active voice, nurses might write, I administered patient care at 11:00. Passive voice, on the other hand, focuses on the object of the sentence or the action being performed. For example, the boy was bitten by the dog. A passive sentence is usually one that contains the verb “to be.” Using passive voice, you might write, patient care was administered at 11:00.

Professionals in the sciences often use passive voice in their writing to create an objective tone and authorial distance. Passive voice can prioritize specific terms, actions, evidence, or research over the writer’s presence. Additionally, nurses use passive voice because it is usually clear that the reported thoughts, actions, and opinions come from them. However, you must also learn how to use active voice.

Punctuation

There are 14 punctuation marks in the English language, each with multiple and sometimes overlapping uses. Additionally, certain punctuation marks only make sense in highly specific and nuanced grammatical instances. To master punctuation, you must learn through practice, particularly by revising your own writing.

For example, colons and semicolons are often used interchangeably, when they actually serve distinct purposes. Generally used before itemized lists, colons stand in for the phrases “here is what I mean” or “that is to say.” For example, I am bringing three things to the picnic: applesauce, napkins, and lemonade. Semicolons separate two independent clauses connected through topic or meaning. For example, It was below zero; Ricardo wondered if he would freeze to death. Comma splices, which create run on sentences, are another common mistake. You can identify a comma splice by learning the differences between an independent and dependent clause.

Grammar refers to the rules of a particular language system. Grammar determines how users can structure words and form sentences with coherent meaning. Aspects include syntax (the arrangement of words to convey their mutual relations in a sentence) and semantics (how individual words and word groups are understood). Unless you major in writing, literature, etymology, or another related field, you generally won’t examine English grammar deeply. Through years of cognitive development and practice, native users implicitly understand how to effectively employ the language.

Distinct grammatical systems exist for each language and, sometimes, even within a single language. For example, African American Vernacular English uses different syntactic rules than General American English. You should learn grammatical terms and definitions. Common errors include subject/verb agreement, sentence fragments, dangling modifiers, and vague or incorrect pronoun usage. Hasty writers can also misuse phonetically similar words (your/you’re, its/it’s, and there/their/they’re).

Writing Resources for Nursing Students

Apa style central, reviewed by:.

Shrilekha Deshaies, MSN, RN

Shri Deshaies is a nurse educator with over 20 years of experience teaching in hospital, nursing school, and community settings. Deshaies’ clinical area of expertise is critical care nursing and she is a certified critical care nurse. She has worked in various surgical ICUs throughout her career, including cardiovascular, trauma, and neurosurgery.

Shri Deshaies is a paid member of our Healthcare Review Partner Network. Learn more about our review partners here .

Page last reviewed November 30, 2021

Whether you’re looking to get your pre-licensure degree or taking the next step in your career, the education you need could be more affordable than you think. Find the right nursing program for you.

You might be interested in

HESI vs. TEAS Exam: The Differences Explained

Nursing schools use entrance exams to make admissions decisions. Learn about the differences between the HESI vs. TEAS exams.

10 Nursing Schools That Don’t Require TEAS or HESI Exam

For Chiefs’ RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Nursing Runs in the Family

A Complete Guide To Writing Nursing Paper For Medical Students

Medical students have to endure countless hardships during their tenure in the college. Among them, the difficult one is writing a nursing paper on a topic related to their field. It’s not just about composing words after going through the research. It relates to their future learning and demonstrating professionalism in their nursing career.

Don’t worry if this explanation seems daunting or a deal-breaker! Today, we will embark on a journey to understand this topic deeply from within. We will learn why these nursing topics are so complicated and how we can write them without any trouble. Furthermore, we will discuss the importance of evidence-based practice for nursing students. The bonus will be the medical topics that are sure to broaden the extent of your knowledge. Without further ado, let’s get ready!

Table of Contents

What Is a Nursing Paper? (What’s All The Fuss About)

A nursing paper is an assignment given to medical students to develop their understanding of clinical practices. They go through the topic under the strict guidelines from the American School of Nursing & Allied Health. By doing this, they collect vital information related to this field and equip themselves with practical knowledge prior to starting a professional career.

Since it’s a critical care profession that revolves around saving human lives, therefore it requires mistake-free decision-making. Every nursing professional must be equipped with nerves of steel because they cannot perform their job without it. Nursing assignments tend to challenge the student’s comfort zone and take them out of it. That’s why these learners require nursing paper writing service to complete their assignments appropriately.

Different Types of Nursing Papers

There are different types of nursing papers for medical students depending on the discipline they choose. Like medical science that has various branches, similarly, nursing has many types that are explained below.

• Pediatric Nursing
• Geriatric Nursing
• Medical Nursing
• Nephrology Nursing
• Hepatology Nursing
• Ophthalmology Nursing
• Endocrinology Nursing
• Neurology Nursing
• Psychiatric Nursing
• Orthopedic Nursing
• Pulmonology Nursing
• Oncology Nursing
• Radiology Nursing
• Dental Nursing
• Emergency Nursing
• Dermatology Nursing

How to Write a Nursing Research Paper?

It’s not easy to write a nursing paper without appropriate professional tips . Each word of nursing students is critically examined with a critical eye. They need to understand the subject and patient care that will be provided later in their profession. 

Let’s start learning the basics of writing a nursing assignment from scratch. It will be the best guide you’ll ever get in your career.

Understand the Prompt and Requirements

The first step that every student overlooks is not understanding the assignment prompt. A half-hearted look at the essay prompt is bad for your grades. If a student doesn’t understand or read what the assignment or their professor wants from them, it’s impossible to make it as required from them.

Secondly, every assignment has some requirements, such as making it on a specific disease or patient type. Similarly, your professor might want to assess your knowledge on the latest nursing guidelines or new major breakthroughs in patient care, etc. Here’s how you can improve your practices by following these steps:

• Don’t just read your prompt but chew on it. Read at least three times to have knowledge from all perspectives.
• Ask your professor promptly before you start your assignment blindly
• Evaluate your skills in comparison with the demands of the topic
• In case where you feel it will overwhelm you, ask your professor to change the subject.
• Many students who have pre-existing phobias such as hemophobia should avoid such topics that discuss blood or anything related to its types. 
• If you’re more interested in patient education than direct patient care, then you should discuss this with your professor to assign you topics related to that discipline.

Understanding the requirements also helps your professor to make an accurate judgment about your work. Since your task is about how you’ll cope with real-world pressure when helping or caring for patients, you must demonstrate your best skills at your subject. 

Choose a Nursing Research Paper Topic

The second step is choosing a topic that helps you present your stance on a subject. Whether it’s a topic you’ve been given or choose, it has to justify your skills and capabilities as a certified nurse or medical practitioner. Your subject should be broad and can accommodate new research or findings to modify guidelines or challenge the existing ones.

In picking a topic, students must remember to do this process by targeting a niche that helps them navigate in one direction rather than all over the place. Subject selection is difficult if you’re doing it on your own, especially for new students. It’s a time-consuming one. To overcome your shortcomings in this part, you should brainstorm for the topics that excite not only you but also your audience.

Secondly, for subject selection, you can explore new books, medical journals or articles related to nursing and patient care. Since patient care is a discipline that’s evolving continuously, therefore choosing a topic that talks about best nursing practices may take the crown. Here we will present an example of a topic related to nursing that may help you in this process:

Nursing care in Type-1 Diabetics

Having a topic that has plenty of research available will help you broaden your investigation into a multi-faceted one. If you choose a topic that can only accommodate narrow or single-sided research, it’s better to choose a new one. Your subject is your hallmark so you must choose one that helps you expand your knowledge base and skill set. After the selection of the topic, you should move on to the research section.

Start Your Investigation

Research in nursing paper is pivotal to your success. To start your investigation into your topic, you must take a deep dive into reading books to gather credible sources. A research can be divided into two or three sections depending on the nature of the investigation and requirements. Here we will discuss the research methods that students will employ in making their nursing papers .

Research Methods For Nursing Papers

The first step for students is to gather primary sources of research methods. This part includes reading books, journals, and articles directly related to your topic and its outcomes. Since it’s the most valuable part of your investigation, you should give it ample time for appropriate evidence collection. Primary research sources are the ones that are written by doctors or physicians, medical experts etc. Adding these pieces of evidence makes your assignment paper strong and authentic.

In cases where it’s impossible to acquire primary data, you may gather secondary research sources. Secondary sources or evidence is the one that is based on primary evidence, reviews, interviews and expert’s opinion are its examples.

Sometimes your topic requires you to add secondary evidence to support primary research or evidence. This is known as consolidating your arguments in academic practices. So it’s essential to add both research sources in your nursing paper.

For higher education in nursing subjects where they are working alongside medical professionals, adding tertiary sources of research is a plus. Your three-way research supports your arguments and covers all the logic to strengthen your stance on the subject.

After you collect primary, secondary and tertiary sources of research, organize them according to their category. This way you’ll know where to use these evidences and understand their effective usage.

Develop Your Thesis Statement

Researching provides you with ground for developing your thesis statement . Your thesis sentence is your short research-based answer on your research question. Without doing a good research, you won’t be able to compose it. After having sufficient information, you may narrow down the answer into a few lines. Your entire paper will be based on it. In making a thesis statement, do remember the following points:

• It should be between one or a maximum two lines
• Make it using persuasive words so your readers can grab the core idea without going through the entire content
• Place your thesis statement in the introduction paragraph
• Your entire paper must be based on your premise statement. Every argument and evidence should point to it.

After developing a thesis statement, you may start working on your paper’s content. A thesis sentence example may look like this if you’re working on your nursing paper.

“IDF (International Diabetes Federation) and ADA (American Diabetes Association) both agree that Type-2 Diabetics have three-fold risk of developing “Nephropathy” within five years of diagnosis”.

By following the above example, you can easily make a premise statement for your paper.

Write the Introduction Paragraph

The introduction part is where you need to make a difference. It’s the first writing part of your paper that will be seen and read by your professors and peers. Therefore, it must be good and thought-provoking. A nursing essay’s introduction contains three parts, a hook sentence, background information and a thesis statement. These parts of the intro’s outline are essential and help you present your opinion on the topic.

A hook sentence is the first sentence at the start of the paper and captures your reader’s attention quickly. It can be a quote, fact, historical information or thought-provoking statement. Its primary job is to make your readers stay on the page so they feel excited about the information you added in the paper.

Background information is where you provide information related to your topic’s history. Here you must inform your audience about the existence of the problem and the need for a solution. With historical context, it’s easy for your readers to understand the issue and show interest in finding its solution.

The last part is a thesis statement that we already talked about and it will be placed after providing a background to your readers. Let’s have a look at a nursing paper introduction example on “Diabetes”.

“According to the IDF (International Diabetes Federation) 90% of diabetics are suffering from CKD (Chronic Kidney Disease). From 1812 diabetes was classified as a disease but there was no information available related to its treatment and onset. In 1979 the classification and its mechanism was understood by physicians in America and the UK. Now diabetes is the leading cause of ESRD (End Stage Renal Disease) around the world with more than 10 million deaths every year”.

Add Your Arguments in Body Paragraph(s)

The body part is where you must add your arguments and its supporting evidence. Your academic challenges start here and end here. An immaculate body paragraph guarantees your dominance over the subject under discussion. Medical students need to structure their papers in a specific, organized form that helps them convey their opinions.

Academic learners may start the body paragraph of their nursing assignment with a topic sentence that summarizes the entire content in one line. By reading this sentence, your audience knows what’s inside the paragraph and its content.

Key Points to Remember while composing body section

• Topic sentence should start your paragraph and must be relatable to your thesis statement.
• After writing this sentence, break it down and explain each point with evidence.
• Evidence that you’ve collected from books, journals, articles or online videos must be mentioned here. You must back your argument with this evidence collected from the sources mentioned above.
• Presenting evidence is not as important as analyzing it and proving your point. You might want to challenge the findings. Hence you must present your analysis on it.
• If you have plenty of evidence, add them one by one and comment on them similarly.
• Use transitions to connect two different ideas or continuation of your narrative.

Have a look at a mock example of a nursing research paper for a better understanding:

“Since the 1960s diabetes has caused a rapid increase in mortality and comorbidity in patients. On average, diabetics live 15 to 20 years less than non-diabetics. ADA (American Diabetes Association) conducted a study in 2001 that provides mean results that prove Diabetics live 8 years less than non-diabetics. Diabetes is the biggest reason for MI (Myocardial Infarction) and ACD (Acute Coronary Disease).

Moreover, Diabetes costs American insurance companies more than 25$ Billion every year in treatments. With continuous evolution in diagnostics and biotechnology in detecting early onset, diabetes is spreading rapidly. IDF (International Diabetes Federation) has predicted that by 2030, there will be a 12% increase in patients suffering from diabetes.

While many healthcare governing bodies like WHO, IDF, EASD and ADA are doing their best, it’s still not enough. UKPDS and ADVANCE-ON studies have shown quantitative results in which the majority of diabetics have no or less information regarding their disease. These results highlight the importance and value a “Diabetes Educator” can play in spreading valuable information to patients.

The benefits of a medical check-up with your physician are important, but a home visit by a diabetes educator can help in overcoming this pandemic. In France, it’s mandatory for patients to have a weekly home appointment with an educator. That’s a primary reason France has seen a 13% decline in hospitalization of diabetics in 2013.

Based on the above discussion, we can safely conclude that Diabetes is a global pandemic. Healthcare bodies are doing their best to curb its damages by issuing new guidelines and approval of new medicines such as “Semaglutide” , “DPP4” inhibitors and “Sulfonylureas”.  Along with physicians, diabetes educators can prevent the severity and further complications of this disease.

Add a Conclusion

A conclusion summarizes the paper’s discussion in one paragraph by a few techniques that we will mention here. To start a nursing assignment’s conclusion, you must restate your thesis statement and provide a connection between the intro, body and its ending. 

Secondly, a summary of the main discussion provides your audience with an overview of the entire story. Even if they missed an important point of the topic, they can read it in the summary of the main points. A conclusion provides you an opportunity for a last chance to persuade your readers and convince them of your stance. 

Common mistakes that might make your concluding paragraph powerless are mentioned below:

• Using repetitive words, same as used in the above paragraphs.
• Don’t force your audience but persuade them through evidence and their significance.
• Use new words but don’t change your narrative because changing the narrative will also change the context.
• A closing statement should not be your thesis statement but your personal opinion based on your research. Avoid repetition in making this part redundant.

An example of a mock conclusion

“In this paper we have seen multiple results that point to premature deaths in diabetics regardless of the medication used. Diabetes does result in complications like nephropathy, retinopathy, neuropathy, macro and micro vascular complications. Role of primary care physicians, endocrinologists and diabetes educators is more important than anyone else. By making mandatory home visits, diabetes educators can help in managing diabetes and informing patients on the consequences of this disease.” 

Student attendants can follow this example and effortlessly write amazing research in nursing paper.

Choosing Appropriate Citation Style

The last part of writing a nursing research paper is choosing the appropriate citation style. This format style guides you on how to cite sources you’ve collected in APA or MLA. The most commonly used citation format is APA (American Psychological Association) and then MLA (Modern Language Association).

Nursing Papers Unveiled: Impact and Significance

Students need to understand the academic importance of nursing papers. These assignments played a significant role in their medical understanding and development of professionalism. Let’s discuss this topic thoroughly:

Importance of Nursing Papers in Student’s Life

Medical assignments are the most important factor in a student’s life. They help develop thoughts and provide opportunities to research and understand disease and its treatment. An assignment for medical nursing students plays the following role in their lives.

• Providing hands-on experience in understanding the subject matter from a practitioner’s point of view.
• It provides them with in-depth information on a particular topic and lets them brainstorm.
• Promotes medical knowledge that will be pivotal in their clinical practices and patient care.
• Enhancing problem solutions without wasting time.
• Understanding the critical needs of patients and managing them appropriately.
• Preparing students beforehand so they perform better in real-world or healthcare practice.
• Finding better treatment prophylaxis and helping in the continual improvement of medical care.
• Working with Medical Specialists and learning from their experiences

These are some of the important roles these medical assignments play in students’ lives.

Exploring Trending Nursing Paper Topics

If you’re searching for the best subjects for your nursing assignment, end your search here. Thoroughly check this list and choose any one of your likings that fulfills the criteria.

20+ Interesting Nursing Paper Topics

• Managing patients in an oncology ward
• Treatment for ACS (Acute Coronary Syndrome)
• How to care for a first-degree burn patient?
• Metabolic acidosis in CKD (Chronic Kidney Disease) patients
• Five basic rules of blood transfusion
• Treatment prophylaxis for skin lesions
• Protocols for Covid-19 patients
• Use of PPE (Personal Protection Equipment) in medical facility
• Fundamentals of Dialysis Center
• DKA (Diabetic Ketoacidosis) and its protocols of treatment
• Snake bites and use of anti-venom in standing urgent care and medical emergency
• Food poisoning and its treatment
• Supervision of cannabis usage in patients suffering from cancer
• Managing patient care in remote areas
• AIDS and patient care
• Orthopedic patient care and mobility issues
• Misuse of drugs by medical staff
• Responsibilities of nursing staff
• Sexual relationships between nurses 
• Clinical malpractices and how to avoid it
• Inaccurate physician’s assessment and tackling it 
• Rapid plasma glucose checkup
• Treating patients of STD (Sexual Transmitted Disease)
• Needs of rape victims in a healthcare facility
• Psychological support to patients 

Check this out, we have written 200 Nursing topics to help you better understand.

These carefully curated topics will help you find your niche in medical nursing assignments. Help yourself by choosing anyone and make a powerful impact on your class.

Integrating Evidence-Based Practice in Your Paper

It’s vital for students to establish evidence-based practice in nursing papers and create an effective plan to implement them in their work. There are many ways you can achieve the best results by following them:

• Take guidelines from CMDT (Current Medical Treatment & Diagnosis).
• Regularly visit the website of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) for new practice guidelines.
• Apply for membership in the Nursing and Allied Health Resources Section. You can get authentic resources of practice and take notes of them for using them in your assignment.
• Read CDC (Center for Disease Control) and FDA (Food and Drug Administration) guidelines on different disease treatment protocols and latest trials.

You can easily apply evidence-based practice in nursing papers by visiting these sources.

Nurturing Ideas: Crafting Pediatric Nursing Papers

Pediatrics is a field of medical science that deals with treating diseases that affect children up to the age of 16 years. It’s the same as treating general patients who are adults but treatment protocols here change due to the less potent immune systems of children and neonates. Similarly, pediatric nursing papers are the backbone of innovation and new drug introduction. Nursing students who like to practice in the pediatric department need to work twice as hard as in the general medicine department.

Additionally, pediatric nursing papers present new challenges, and students must be able to withstand them. A small mistake can have catastrophic outcomes. Hence students are required to do 6 months of supervision work with trained nurses before they are allowed to practice alone.

Guide to Geriatric Nursing Papers

Similar to pediatrics, geriatrics nursing papers are equally challenging. In medical science, geriatrics deals with patients older than 60 or 65 years. These patients require special care because of their age and vulnerability to getting sick quickly due to weaker immune systems.

To make geriatric nursing papers with absolutely no mistakes, students must spend a few hours in this speciality. Students may take notes from their ward visits, review each case and brainstorm for the best treatment and care solutions. Students are more likely to adopt best practices by doing this every day.

Ethics in Nursing Papers: Navigating Moral Dilemmas

Composing medical assignments challenges your skills and knowledge and offers a view for moral perspectives. There are many ethical considerations in nursing papers that students must adhere to. These reservations include the following points:

• Always use scientific data from reputable sources.
• Never claim anything without properly identifying the nature and results of the research.
• Only use sources after getting prior authorization to use them in your nursing paper.
• Patient care always comes first, regardless of the nature or conflicts in medical treatment.
• Always acquiring and using patient data with signed and attested papers for research purposes and informing them of all the intricacies.
• Never copy data or details of other students’ work to use in your research paper unless your professor allows it.

Nursing learners must adhere to these ethical considerations in nursing papers. Following these principles and moralities serve their profession well and make them honest in their work.

Avoid These Mistakes While Writing Your Research Paper on Nursing

Students make many mistakes when they start a research paper on nursing. Some of the common ones are mentioned below:

• Using irrelevant data
• Not doing thorough research
• Not having enough understanding of the disease
• Making assumptions on disease prognosis without evidence
• Using proprietary research without authorization
• Selecting a topic out of discipline or nature of scope
• Using plagiarized content
• Adding disputed research with dubious record
• Non-adherence to academic rules and guidelines provided by your professor

Abstract Writing for Nursing Papers

An abstract is your summary of the entire research, it’s a concise 300 to 600 words section. Nursing paper abstracts are sometimes lengthier than typical research papers. Here is an example of this section:

“Diabetes causes various types of disease that range from macro and micro vascular ones to metabolic. This research paper has acquired data from IDF and EASD and came to a conclusion that more than 80% of patients suffer premature deaths and renal failures. The data acquisition method is quantitative with retrospective diagnosis and diagnostic tests such as eGFR, Random Blood Serum and Fasting Blood Serum Testing kits in use. Majority of the patients have elevated serum glucose level 240 mg/dl or above. eGFR of 92% patients was between 60ml/min that puts them on stage 3 CKD. It’s evident that diabetes causes mortality and renal failure.”

It’s hard for students to compose nursing paper abstracts from scratch. This mock example will help them in the long term.

Perfecting Your Nursing Paper: Editing and Proofreading

Editing and proofreading is the last thing you must consider when making last-minute changes to your content. Polishing your nursing paper helps you present your opinion clearly and concisely without vague statements.

Writing a nursing paper is only possible when students know all the medical details of this profession. Our guide provides you with sufficient medical details related to this subject. Read it carefully, and you’ll be able to create amazing assignments for medical class. This expert’s guide helps to overcome the gaps in this field by allowing students to jump-start the learning process.

Order Original Papers & Essays

Your First Custom Paper Sample is on Us!

Timely Deliveries

No Plagiarism & AI

100% Refund

Calculate Your Order Price

Related blogs.

Connections with Writers and support

Privacy and Confidentiality Guarantee

Average Quality Score

Nursing: How to Write a Literature Review

• Traditional or Narrative Literature Review

Getting started

1. start with your research question, 2. search the literature, 3. read & evaluate, 4. finalize results, 5. write & revise, brainfuse online tutoring and writing review.

• RESEARCH HELP

The best way to approach your literature review is to break it down into steps.  Remember, research is an iterative process, not a linear one.  You will revisit steps and revise along the way.  Get started with the handout, information, and tips from various university Writing Centers below that provides an excellent overview.  Then move on to the specific steps recommended on this page.

• UNC- Chapel Hill Writing Center Literature Review Handout, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
• University of Wisconsin-Madison Writing Center Learn how to write a review of literature, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
• University of Toronto-- Writing Advice The Literature Review: A few tips on conducting it, from the University of Toronto.
• Begin with a topic.
• Understand the topic. 
• Familiarize yourself with the terminology.  Note what words are being used and keep track of these for use as database search keywords. 
• See what research has been done on this topic before you commit to the topic.  Review articles can be helpful to understand what research has been done .
• Develop your research question.  (see handout below)
• How comprehensive should it be? 
• Is it for a course assignment or a dissertation? 
• How many years should it cover?
• Developing a good nursing research question Handout. Reviews PICO method and provides search tips.

Your next step is to construct a search strategy and then locate & retrieve articles.

•  There are often 2-4 key concepts in a research question.
• Search for primary sources (original research articles.)
• These are based on the key concepts in your research question.
• Remember to consider synonyms and related terms.
• Which databases to search?
• What limiters should be applied (peer-reviewed, publication date, geographic location, etc.)?

Review articles (secondary sources)

Use to identify literature on your topic, the way you would use a bibliography.  Then locate and retrieve the original studies discussed in the review article. Review articles are considered secondary sources.

• Once you have some relevant articles, review reference lists to see if there are any useful articles.
• Which articles were written later and have cited some of your useful articles?  Are these, in turn, articles that will be useful to you? 
• Keep track of what terms you used and what databases you searched. 
• Use database tools such as save search history in EBSCO to help.
• Keep track of the citations for the articles you will be using in your literature review. 
• Use RefWorks or another method of tracking this information. 
• Database Search Strategy Worksheet Handout. How to construct a search.
• TUTORIAL: How to do a search based on your research question This is a self-paced, interactive tutorial that reviews how to construct and perform a database search in CINAHL.

The next step is to read, review, and understand the articles.

• Start by reviewing abstracts. 
• Make sure you are selecting primary sources (original research articles).
• Note any keywords authors report using when searching for prior studies.
• You will need to evaluate and critique them and write a synthesis related to your research question.
• Consider using a matrix to organize and compare and contrast the articles . 
• Which authors are conducting research in this area?  Search by author.  
• Are there certain authors’ whose work is cited in many of your articles?  Did they write an early, seminal article that is often cited?
• Searching is a cyclical process where you will run searches, review results, modify searches, run again, review again, etc. 
• Critique articles.  Keep or exclude based on whether they are relevant to your research question.
• When you have done a thorough search using several databases plus Google Scholar, using appropriate keywords or subject terms, plus author’s names, and you begin to find the same articles over and over.
• Remember to consider the scope of your project and the length of your paper.  A dissertation will have a more exhaustive literature review than an 8 page paper, for example.
• What are common findings among each group or where do they disagree? 
• Identify common themes. Identify controversial or problematic areas in the research. 
• Use your matrix to organize this.
• Once you have read and re-read your articles and organized your findings, you are ready to begin the process of writing the literature review.

2. Synthesize.  (see handout below)

• Include a synthesis of the articles you have chosen for your literature review.
• A literature review is NOT a list or a summary of what has been written on a particular topic. 
• It analyzes the articles in terms of how they relate to your research question. 
• While reading, look for similarities and differences (compare and contrast) among the articles.  You will create your synthesis from this.
• Synthesis Examples Handout. Sample excerpts that illustrate synthesis.

Regis Online students have access to Brainfuse. Brainfuse is an online tutoring service available through a link in Moodle. Meet with a tutor in a live session or submit your paper for review.

• Brainfuse Tutoring and Writing Assistance for Regis Online Students by Tricia Reinhart Last Updated Oct 26, 2023 81 views this year
• << Previous: Traditional or Narrative Literature Review
• Next: eBooks >>
• Last Updated: Feb 21, 2024 12:05 PM
• URL: https://libguides.regiscollege.edu/nursing_litreview

How to do Research on Nursing

Selected Subject Headings

Listed below is a sample of a few broad Library of Congress subject headings—made up of one word or more representing concepts under which all library holdings are divided and subdivided by subject—which you can search under and use as subject terms when searching online library catalogs for preliminary and/or additional research, such as books, audio and video recordings, and other references, related to your research paper topic. When researching materials on your topic, subject heading searching may be more productive than searching using simple keywords. However, keyword searching when using the right search method (Boolean, etc.) and combination of words can be equally effective in finding materials more closely relevant to the topic of your research paper.

Academic Writing, Editing, Proofreading, And Problem Solving Services

Get 10% off with 24start discount code, suggested research topics in nursing.

• Children—Surgery—Nursing
• Disaster Nursing
• Geriatric Nursing
• Nurses—Attitudes
• Nursing Care Plans
• School Nursing
• Visiting Nurses

Selected Keyword Search Strategies and Guides

Most online library indexes and abstracts and full-text article databases offer basic and advanced “keyword” searching of virtually every subject. In this case, combine keyword terms that best define your thesis question or topic using the Boolean search method (employing “and” or “or”) to find resources most suitable for your research paper.

If your research paper topic is “the critical shortage of registered nurses in the United States,” for example, enter “shortage” and “nurses” with “and” on the same line to locate sources directly compatible with the primary focus of your paper. To find research on more specific aspects of your topic, from your list of keywords that you developed alternate with one new keyword at a time (for example, “shortage and nurses and challenges,” “shortage and nurses and demand,” “shortage and nurses and recruitment,” “shortage and nurses and remedies,” “shortage and nurses and retention,” etc.).

For additional help with keyword searching, navigation or user guides for online indexes and databases by many leading providers—including Cambridge Scientific Abstracts, EBSCO, H.W. Wilson, OCLC, Ovid Technologies, ProQuest, and Thomson Gale—are posted with direct links on library Web sites to guides providing specific instruction to using whichever database you want to search. They provide additional guidance on how to customize and maximize your searching, including advanced searching techniques and grouping of words and phrases using the Boolean search method—of your topic, of bibliographic records, and of full-text articles, and other documents related to your research paper.

Selected Source and Subject Guides

Guide to Libraries and Information Sources in Medicine and Health Care , 3rd ed., edited by Peter Dale, 209 pages (London: British Library, 2002)

Information Sources for Nursing: A Guide , edited by Judith S. Shockley, 148 pages (New York: National League for Nursing, 1988)

Introduction to Reference Sources in the Health Sciences , 5th ed., edited by Jeffrey T. Huber, Jo Anne Boorkman, and Jean Blackwell (New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers, 2008)

In addition to these sources of research, most college and university libraries offer online subject guides arranged by subject on the library’s Web page; others also list searchable course-related “LibGuides” by subject. Each guide lists more recommended published and Web sources—including books and references, journal, newspaper and magazines indexes, full-text article databases, Web sites, and even research tutorials—you can access to expand your research on more specific issues and relevant to the subject of your research paper.

Selected Books and References

Mosby’s Medical, Nursing and Allied Health Dictionary , 8th ed., 2,137 pages (St. Louis, Mo.: Mosby, 2009)

This fully revised, eighth-edition nursing dictionary provides detailed definitions with more than 2,300 color illustrations on more than 6,000 key medical terms. Alphabetically arranged entries offer practical reference information on such things as the human anatomy, major diseases, disorders, procedures, and drug therapies.

Encyclopedias

The A to Z of Infectious Diseases: A Concise Encyclopedia , 3rd ed., by Carol Turkington and Bonnie Lee Ashby, M.D., 412 pages (New York: Checkmark Books, 2007)

This easy-to-understand encyclopedia is written in plain language for laypeople and nonhealth care professionals. It covers a wide range of infectious diseases and their causes. More than 600 entries discuss common diseases in detail, including their symptoms, prevention, drug therapies, and medical treatment. Written by medical writer Carol Turkington and physician Bonnie Lee Ashby, this fully revised and updated third edition covers childhood diseases, food-borne diseases, and many others. Six appendixes offer more information regarding drug treatments and known side effects, guidelines for home remedies for disinfection, a directory of health organizations complete with names and addresses, medical hot lines, health publications, and infectious disease Web sites. An extensive bibliography rounds out this title.

Encyclopedia of Bioethics , 3rd ed., edited by Stephen G. Post, 5 vols., 3,000 pages (New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2003)

This five-volume revised edition provides informative articles about all aspects of health care ethics of modern medicine, science, and technology. Some 460 in-depth articles cover a wide range of complex issues facing health care professionals today, including abortion, animal research, death and dying, fertility and reproduction, genetics, organ donation and transplant, public health, mental health, and much more.

Encyclopedia of Nursing Research , Second Edition, edited by Joyce J. Fitzpatrick and Meredith Wallace, 832 pages (New York: Springer Publishing Co., 2005)

Written by 200 contributing experts, this revised encyclopedia describes and explains key terms and concepts in nursing research. Entries cover a wide range of topics, from nursing care, nursing education, and nursing services to cultural, historical, and philosophical issues, key nursing organizations, and publications extensively cross-referenced to help readers find information.

The Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine , 3rd ed., edited by Jacqueline L. Longe, 5 vols., 3,956 pages (Detroit, Mich.: Gale Group, 2006)

An encyclopedia suitable for doctors, nurses, health care workers, and nonprofessionals, offering in-depth coverage and easy-to-read articles on 1,750 medical topics such as diseases, disorders, tests, and treatments on major and minor medical issues. This revised third edition features more than 200 new entries and 300 fully updated articles. Articles range from one to 10 pages in length. Besides a short glossary of terms, each article includes a list of additional references, including articles, books, tapes, Web sites, and associations with contact information.

Guides and Manuals

Magill’s Medical Guide , 4th ed., edited by Anne Chang, M.D., et al., 5 vols., 3,206 pages (Pasadena, Calif.: Salem Press, 2004)

This five-volume, revised fourth edition provides 1,017 articles on a wide range of medical topics, including 58 new topics and 37 newly commissioned and updated essays. Essays ranging from 500 to 3,000 words address a myriad of important and emerging health subjects, including AIDS, anthrax, botox, cloning, fetal surgery, and gene therapy.

The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy , 18th ed., edited by Mark H. Beers and Robert S. Porter, 2,992 pages (N.J.: Merck Publishing Group, 2007)

Classic print reference for physicians, residents, and nurses, also available in electronic form, offering information about the diagnosis and treatment of common human diseases, disorders, and injuries, including symptoms and recommended treatments, arranged by etiology, organ system, or specialty.

Selected Full-Text Article Databases

General, multidisciplinary database and good source of information with full-text articles from scholarly journals—more than 3,000 publications in all academic disciplines—from 1990 to the present.

Clinical Pharmacology  (Tampa, Fla.: Gold Standard Inc./EBSCO Publishing EBSCOHost)

Offers current and concise clinical drug monographs for all U.S. prescription drugs, hard-to-find herbal and nutritional supplements, new and investigational drugs, and over-the-counter products.

Expanded Academic ASAP  (Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale InfoTrac, 1980– )

Indexes more than 8.5 million articles, with access to some full-text articles, in many academic disciplines, including nursing. Indexes up to 3,000 scholarly journals, as well as magazines, and newspapers.

Health and Wellness Resource Center  (Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale InfoTrac, 1980– )

Offers indexing and full-text articles on health and medicine, including encyclopedias, directories, medical dictionaries, periodicals, newspapers, pamphlets, and Web links. Similar in scope to Health Reference Center—Academic.

Health Periodicals Database  (Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale Group, 1976– )

Containing a wealth of information on health, fitness, nutrition, and specialized medical topics, this electronic database, delivered on the Web via Thomson DIALOG, features citations and abstracts and full-text articles from 130 consumer health periodicals and 110 core health publications, as well as professional medical journals and pamphlets from medical associations. Covers the gamut of health science topics, including AIDS, biotechnology, cardiovascular disease, dieting, drug abuse, environment and public health, gerontology, health care costs, medical ethics, mental health, occupational health and safety, sports medicine, and toxicology.

Health Reference Center—Academic  (Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale InfoTrac, 1980– )

Provides timely and reliable indexing of medical, nursing, and current health issues published in more than 200 medical journals and consumer health magazines. Contains full-text articles from 150 periodicals and six medical reference books, including the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons Complete Home Medical Guide and the Consumer Health Information Source Book. Also indexes 1,500 general interest titles and more than 500 pamphlets. Coverage of magazines and newspapers is nearly identical to that of Health and Wellness Resource Center.

Health Source: Consumer Edition  (Ipswich, Mass.: EBSCO Publishing, EBSCOHost, indexing/abstracting: 1984– , full text: 1990– )

Good source of information on general health topics and health sciences that indexes and abstracts some 180 professional health care publications, with full-text for 300 journals and more than 1,000 health pamphlets.

Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition  (Ipswich, Mass.: EBSCO Publishing, EBSCOHost, indexing: 1960s– , full text: 1975– )

Abstracts and indexes 822 journals and 542 full-text articles in nursing and allied health fields, including 441 peer-reviewed journals on many medical disciplines.

LexisNexis Academic Universe  (Dayton, Ohio: LexisNexis, 1970– )

Up-to-date electronic database that indexes more than 5,600 sources on a myriad of subjects, including news and current events, and provides access to full-text articles on many medical topics and related fields.

Nursing & Allied Health Collection  (Ipswich, Mass.: EBSCO Publishing, EBSCOHost, 1985– )

Updated monthly, this online database provides access to full-text articles from almost 100 nursing, biomedicine, consumer health, health sciences, and allied health journals covering all disciplines with cover-to-cover PDF files available for most journals.

ProQuest Nursing Journals  (Ann Arbor, Mich.: ProQuest, 1986– )

This searchable database indexes 287 nursing and allied health periodicals, offering full text and images from such journals as Nursing, Nursing Management, Nursing Economics, Nursing Forum, RN, Journal of Nursing Education, Nurse Practitioner, Nurse Researcher, and Nursing Diagnosis. Other publications covered include Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, American Journal of Sports Medicine, Occupational Therapy International, Physical Therapy, and Patient Care Management. Some journals are similar to those indexed in CINAHL.

ProQuest Research Library  (Ann Arbor, Mich.: ProQuest/UMI, indexing: 1971– , full text: 1986– )

Complete access to citations and abstracts with full text to more than 2,500 academic journals and popular magazines, many in medicine and health sciences.

PubMed  (Bethesda, Md.: U.S. National Library of Medicine, 1960s– )

A service of the National Library of Medicine, PubMed provides access to more than 11 million MEDLINE citations and additional life science journals. PubMed includes links to many sites providing full text articles and other related resources.

ScienceDirect  (Burlington, Mass.: Elsevier, Inc., backfiles: 1823– , full text: 1995– )

Multidisciplinary collection, emphasizing medicine, science, and technology, that provides access to more than 2,500 peer-reviewed journals, 735 of them in full-text format, from 1995 to the present, plus more than 10,000 books and references. Subjects include biochemistry, biological sciences, chemistry, clinical medicine, microbiology and immunology, neurosciences, pharmacology and toxicology, physics, and social sciences.

SPORTDiscus  (Ottawa, Canada: Sport Information Resource Centre, 1949– ) Leading sport, fitness, and sports medicine bibliographic CD-ROM and online database offering more than 700,000 citations and abstracts to serial and monographic literature, with links to full-text articles, covering all aspects, including recreation, exercise physiology, sports medicine, coaching, physical fitness, the psychology, history, and sociology of sport, training, and conditioning.

Springerlink  (New York: Springer, 1996– )

Provides online access to the complete contents of more than 1,200 peer-reviewed journals, covering a wide array of subjects, including medicine, science, and technology; also available as a book series by Springer.

Wiley Interscience Journals  (Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, 1997– )

Contains abstracts, tables of contents, and more than 3 million full-text articles from more than 1,450 journals published by Wiley Interscience and Blackwell Publishing, including 360 current titles on such subjects as chemistry, life sciences, medicine, and social sciences.

Selected Periodicals

AJN: American Journal of Nursing  (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1900– , monthly)

The oldest nursing journal in the world, this peer-reviewed monthly journal provides in-depth coverage of the nursing profession and issues related to the education and practice of nursing. Each issues contains clinical and evidence-based news, analysis, and commentary and research reports discussing practical applications in acute care, critical care, long-term care, primary care, and rehabilitation.

Critical Care Nursing Quarterly  (Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1973– , quarterly)

This topical quarterly journal focuses on current clinical procedures in critical care. Coverage includes the latest developments, strategies, and techniques in intensive and critical care, patient management, and pharmacological and technological advances. Also available in electronic form, full-text articles of past issues of Critical Care Nursing Quarterly are available through InfoTrac’s Health and Wellness Reference Center (1996– ) and EBSCOHost’s Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition (1999– ), among others.

Journal of Advanced Nursing  (Oxford and Boston: Blackwell Scientific Publications, 1994– , monthly)

Published monthly, this scholarly journal is dedicated to exploring the critical global challenges and nature of nursing in all fields of health care, including all aspects of nursing care, nursing education, management, and research. Articles in each issue mostly reflect “the diversity, quality and internationalism of nursing” including new advancements and developments, and scientific and philosophical theories. Past editions and articles are indexed and abstracted in such leading references as Applied Social Science Index and Abstracts, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Current Contents, MEDLINE, and Social Sciences Citation Index.

Selected Web Sites

ANA: The American Nurses Association  ( https://www.nursingworld.org/ )

Representing more than 2.9 million registered nurses nationwide, the American Nurses Association’s Web site offers useful information and resources of interest to professional nurses and nursing students, including news, information, and position papers on nursing, nursing ethics, and nursing careers.

Free Medical Journals List  ( http://www.freemedicaljournals.com/ )

Offers free access to a wide assortment of medical journals on the Web, sorted alphabetically by name or by specialty.

Medscape  (WebMD, 1994– ) ( http://www.medscape.com/ )

An online journal of health news for health care professionals featuring full-text articles covering such areas as cardiology, family medicine, pulmonary medicine, and radiology, access to the online information database MEDLINE, and a medical dictionary.

Nursing Center—Journal Articles  ( http://www.nursingcenter.com/lnc/journalindex )

Contains articles from nearly 40 trusted nursing journals, including AJN and Nursing 2004, available in both HTML and .PDF formats.

Nursing Journals  ( http://libguides.asu.edu/cat.php?cid=1492 )

Lists a variety of journals with direct links, related to the profession of nursing.

Virtual Nursing Center  (Martindale’s Health Science Guide) ( http://www.martindalecenter.com/Nursing.html )

Virtual reference center featuring case studies, continuing education materials, medical dictionaries and glossaries, online nursing journals, and more.

Careers in Nursing

Health Science Career Cluster  ( http://career.iresearchnet.com/career-clusters/health-science-career-cluster/ )

The health science field has become one of the largest of the career clusters. Approximately 14 million people were employed in some aspect of the U.S. health care system in 2006, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Health care workers are employed as physicians, nurses, nursing aides, technicians, technologists, therapists, and in a host of other occupations.

Human Services  Career Cluster  ( http://career.iresearchnet.com/career-clusters/human-services-career-cluster/ )

The human services career cluster contains jobs that deal with families and human needs. Human services workers help people manage the many mental, emotional, and practical demands of everyday life, such as finding a home, securing child care, deciding on a career, or arranging funeral services for loved ones. They also help people deal with the unexpected, such as terminal illness, natural disasters, or addiction and recovery. Work in this area can also involve physical improvements and needs, such as helping someone achieve weight loss or providing massage therapy for health and relaxation. Regardless of the specific area in which they work, all human services share a genuine interest in helping people.

Health Care Career Field  ( http://career.iresearchnet.com/career-fields/health-care-career-field/ )

The origins of medicine began with prehistoric people who believed that diseases were derived from supernatural powers. To destroy the evil spirits, they performed trephining, which involved cutting a hole in the victim’s skull to release the spirit. Skulls have been found in which the trephine hole has healed, demonstrating that people did survive the ritual, although it may be assumed that trephining did little to help the afflicted person. The first doctors, known as medicine men, also used herbal concoctions, ritual dances, and incantations to heal their patients.

ORDER HIGH QUALITY CUSTOM PAPER

Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

List of Nursing Resources on the Purdue OWL

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

These resources will help you write on the job and in the classes you will take to become a nurse.

"Writing as a Professional Nurse" provides three general, though important, rules working nurses should keep in mind while writing reports and charts and while communicating with doctors and patients.

"Writing in the Field" discusses three examples of writing tasks nurses perform: flowcharts, careplans, and narratives.

"List of Nursing Resources" provides links to Purdue OWL resources that both nurses and nursing students might find helpful while writing for work or school. Each link provides a brief description of the resource and how and why it will help nurses and students with their writing tasks.

As a nursing student, you will write different types of texts, such as research papers and group presentations. All of this writing has common characteristics: to be concise, evidence-based, supported by credible and appropriate research, to be professional, and to follow APA style. This section offers resources that are designed to help nursing students with these and other writing concerns.

American Psychological Association (APA)

APA Style Workshop

APA Citation Rules

APA is used in scientific and social scientific disciplines, including nursing, and standardizes research and citation formats. These links provide information for APA style, with the first link offering an overview of APA style and the second providing specific APA rules and sample APA papers.

APA Paper Sample

This sample shows you how to write and format a nursing research paper in APA.

The Rhetorical Situation

This PowerPoint presentation will help you understand the importance of the context in which you write. There are many factors that influence your writing: you, the writer; your purpose; your audience; your context; and the culture surrounding the context. For example, you will write differently for your professors than you will for your patients. Their varying education levels and different situations, or context, will cause you to use different language and present your topic differently.

Audience Analysis

This resource will help you with one important part of the rhetorical situation: analyzing your audience and tailoring your writing to fit your audience’s needs. There is also a handout available on this page with a chart to help you with your audience analysis.

Writing Scientific Abstracts

This PowerPoint presentation discusses the importance of writing abstracts and offers tools on how to write them. Abstracts allow you to present information in a clear, concise manner and are part of writing in APA style.

Conducting Primary Research

Primary research is an important component while writing as a nursing student. It allows you to support your argument, or thesis statement, with evidence; this, in turn, creates ethos, or credibility, for you as an author. This link offers many resources about primary research, including how to get started and how to conduct the various kinds of primary research.

Conducting an Interview

This PowerPoint presentation discusses the steps involved in conducting an interview as part of primary research. You may be asked to conduct an interview with clinical nurses, patients, or physicians as part of a writing assignment or research paper. Consult this PowerPoint before contacting your interviewee because it offers tips for how to contact him or her.

Database Research Tutorial from the Purdue Library

Engaging in secondary research, or research that is gathered from existing research performed and published by another author, is an essential part of writing as a nursing student. Using databases is one way to collect information, and this resource links to the Purdue Library’s tutorial on how to use databases.

Searching the World Wide Web

The Internet is a convenient and useful way to gather information; however, nursing professors expect their students to perform research that goes beyond a Google search. This PowerPoint presentation offers strategies for conducting Internet research, and it explains components of using the Internet you may not be familiar with, for example, the visible and invisible web. Use this PowerPoint presentation in conjunction with the database research tutorial for a good overview of how to conduct Internet research.

Evaluating Sources of Information

Not all sources of information are credible or reliable, and it is your job as a nursing student to be able to tell the difference. This resource offers different ways to decipher whether or not a source is credible.

Documenting Electronic Sources

When conducting secondary research, you might come across credible electronic sources that you would like to integrate into your writing. Documenting these sources properly is important because it builds your credibility as a writer, and it shows your readers, i.e., your nursing professors, that you have followed APA guidelines. This resource provides information and links to other resources that will help you properly document electronic sources.

Annotated Bibliographies

Annotated bibliographies, a summary and/or evaluation of sources, can help you organize your research. This resource explains the purpose of annotated bibliographies and provides examples. There are examples for APA, MLA, and CMS on this page; be sure to follow the APA format, as each citation style differs.

Thesis: Establishing an Argument

This page explains the importance of a thesis and how you can create an effective statement. Thesis statements are important to your writing because they control the paper’s overall purpose. These statements are especially important for you as a nursing student because writing in nursing should be logical, organized, concise, and clear; having a strong thesis will help you achieve this type of writing.

Grammar, Mechanics, and a Brief Discussion about Revision

The Grammar and Mechanics section on the OWL will help you learn how to use correct language. Using correct grammar will help your ethos, i.e., it will build your credibility, and it makes your writing appear more professional. One way to help improve your grammar is by reviewing the pages within the grammar and mechanics section and by completing the grammar and mechanics exercises. Another way to help correct grammar mistakes is by revising your writing. You can fix most of your grammar errors by reading your paper aloud before you turn it into your professor. Reading your paper aloud also offers you a chance to hear your writing, and you may find that some of the ideas you thought were clear are not as clear or organized as you hoped they would be.

Designing an Effective PowerPoint Presentation

PowerPoint presentations are a useful tool to use when delivering individual or group presentations. This PowerPoint presentation defines the basic elements of a PowerPoint slideshow and discusses how you can use these elements in effective and professional ways.

Personal Statements

Personal statements are an important part of the application process for nursing school. This section of resources offers writing samples and information that will help guide you while writing the personal statement. While using these resources and writing your statement, keep in mind the specific application for which you writing, as different nursing schools ask for different types of personal statements, i.e., the applications may ask you to respond to different types of questions.

Résumés and Cover Letters

Résumés and cover letters are important documents traditionally created toward the end of your nursing education, though it never hurts to start creating them during the start of your education. Use these resources to help you create your résumé and cover letter. You also might find it useful to consult the rhetorical situation and audience analysis resources, as these resources will help you understand the context in which and for which you will create your résumé and cover letter. Links to commonly used databases and sites: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/PubMed http://www.apastyle.org/manual/whats-new.aspx http://www.apastyle.org/ Databases available through the Purdue Library website: Academic Search Premier Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition MEDLINE CINAHL

How to Write Research Nursing Papers: A Complete Guide

Introduction

At GoodAcademic, we understand the importance of high-quality nursing papers. Our team of experienced writers is dedicated to providing top-notch nursing papers that are thoroughly researched and well-written. In this article, we will explore the importance of nursing papers and how our services can help you succeed in your academic endeavors.

Why Nursing Papers Are Important

Nursing papers play a crucial role in the academic success of nursing students. These papers not only demonstrate a student’s understanding of the course material but also showcase their ability to apply it in real-world scenarios. Nursing papers can take many forms, such as research papers, case studies, and essays, but they all share the same goal of evaluating a student’s knowledge and skills.

Nursing papers are also essential for career development. Aspiring nurses must demonstrate their proficiency in academic writing to stand out in the competitive job market. This is particularly true for those who wish to pursue graduate-level education in nursing. Writing a high-quality nursing paper is a testament to a student’s dedication to the field and can open doors to new opportunities.

GoodAcademic offers a wide range of writing services to meet the needs of nursing students at different academic levels. We have a team of experienced nursing writers who can handle different types of nursing papers, including research papers, case studies, essays, annotated bibliographies, literature reviews, and more.

Our writers are highly qualified and experienced in different nursing areas. They hold advanced degrees in nursing, have professional experience, and are trained in academic writing. Our writers can handle different nursing topics, including critical care, gerontology, pediatrics, mental health, and more. We ensure that our writers are up-to-date with the latest nursing research, trends, and practices to provide high-quality papers.

Our Services

We offer a wide range of nursing paper writing services to meet the unique needs of our clients. Our team of experienced writers has a deep understanding of nursing coursework and can provide high-quality papers in a variety of formats.

• Research Papers: Our team can help you conduct in-depth research on a nursing topic and write a well-structured and researched research paper. We will use the most current sources available to ensure your paper is up-to-date and relevant.
• Case Studies: Our writers are experienced in analyzing complex nursing cases and developing well-written and insightful case studies. We will provide a detailed analysis of the case, highlighting key issues and solutions.
• Essays: Our writers can help you craft a well-written and thought-provoking nursing essay. We will ensure your essay is organized, easy to read, and effectively communicates your ideas.

At our company, we understand the importance of high-quality nursing papers. Our team of experienced writers is dedicated to providing top-notch nursing papers that are thoroughly researched and well-written. We offer a wide range of nursing paper writing services to meet the unique needs of our clients. If you are a nursing student or professional looking for high-quality nursing papers , look no further than our company. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you succeed in your academic and professional endeavors.

Are you struggling with your paper? Let us handle it - WE ARE EXPERTS!

Get started

Starts at $9 /page

Recent Customer Feedback

See more customer feedback.., how our paper writing service works.

It's very simple!

Complete the order form by providing as much information as possible, and then click the submit button.

Select your preferred writer for the project, or let us assign the best writer for you.

Allocate funds to your wallet. You can release these funds to the writer incrementally, after each section is completed and meets your expected quality.

Download the finished work. Review the paper and request free edits if needed. Optionally, rate the writer and leave a review.

This website is intended for healthcare professionals

• { $refs.search.focus(); })" aria-controls="searchpanel" :aria-expanded="open" class="hidden lg:inline-flex justify-end text-gray-800 hover:text-primary py-2 px-4 lg:px-0 items-center text-base font-medium"> Search

Search menu

Barker J, Linsley P, Kane R, 3rd edn. London: Sage; 2016

Ethical guidelines for educational research. 2018; https://tinyurl.com/c84jm5rt

Bowling A Research methods in health, 4th edn. Maidenhead: Open University Press/McGraw-Hill Education; 2014

Gliner JA, Morgan GAMahwah (NJ): Lawrence Erlbaum Associates; 2000

Critical Skills Appraisal Programme checklists. 2021; https://casp-uk.net/casp-tools-checklists

Cresswell J, 4th edn. London: Sage; 2013

Grainger A Principles of temperature monitoring. Nurs Stand. 2013; 27:(50)48-55 https://doi.org/10.7748/ns2013.08.27.50.48.e7242

Jupp VLondon: Sage; 2006

Continuing professional development (CPD). 2021; http://www.hcpc-uk.org/cpd

London: NHS England; 2017 http://www.hee.nhs.uk/our-work/advanced-clinical-practice

Kennedy M, Burnett E Hand hygiene knowledge and attitudes: comparisons between student nurses. Journal of Infection Prevention. 2011; 12:(6)246-250 https://doi.org/10.1177/1757177411411124

Lindsay-Smith G, O'Sullivan G, Eime R, Harvey J, van Ufflen JGZ A mixed methods case study exploring the impact of membership of a multi-activity, multi-centre community group on the social wellbeing of older adults. BMC Geriatrics. 2018; 18 https://bmcgeriatr.biomedcentral.com/track/pdf/10.1186/s12877-018-0913-1.pdf

Morse JM, Pooler C, Vann-Ward T Awaiting diagnosis of breast cancer: strategies of enduring for preserving self. Oncology Nursing Forum. 2014; 41:(4)350-359 https://doi.org/10.1188/14.ONF.350-359

Revalidation. 2019; http://revalidation.nmc.org.uk

Parahoo K Nursing research, principles, processes and issues, 3rd edn. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan; 2014

Polit DF, Beck CT Nursing research, 10th edn. Philadelphia (PA): Wolters Kluwer; 2017

Critiquing a published healthcare research paper

Angela Grainger

Nurse Lecturer/Scholarship Lead, BPP University, and editorial board member

View articles · Email Angela

Research is defined as a ‘systematic inquiry using orderly disciplined methods to answer questions or to solve problems' ( Polit and Beck, 2017 :743). Research requires academic discipline coupled with specific research competencies so that an appropriate study is designed and conducted, leading to the drawing of relevant conclusions relating to the explicit aim/s of the study.

Relevance of research to nursing and health care

For those embarking on a higher degree such as a master's, taught doctorate, or a doctor of philosophy, the relationship between research, knowledge production and knowledge utilisation becomes clear during their research tuition and guidance from their research supervisor. But why should other busy practitioners juggling a work/home life balance find time to be interested in healthcare research? The answer lies in the relationship between the outcomes of research and its relationship to the determination of evidence-based practice (EBP).

The Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) and the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) require registered practitioners to keep their knowledge and skills up to date. This requirement incorporates being aware of the current EBP relevant to the registrant's field of practice, and to consider its application in relation to the decisions made in the delivery of patient care.

Advanced clinical practitioners (ACPs) are required to be involved in aspects of research activities ( Health Education England, 2017 ). It is for this reason that practitioners need to know how EBP is influenced by research findings and, moreover, need to be able to read and interpret a research study that relates to a particular evidence base. Reading professional peer-reviewed journals that have an impact factor (the yearly average number of citations of papers published in a previous 2-year period in a given journal is calculated by a scientometric index giving an impact factor) is evidence of continuing professional development (CPD).

CPD fulfils part of the HCPC's and the NMC's required professional revalidation process ( HCPC, 2021 ; NMC, 2019 ). For CPD in relation to revalidation, practitioners can give the publication details of a research paper, along with a critique of that paper, highlighting the relevance of the paper's findings to the registrant's field of practice.

Defining evidence-based practice

According to Barker et al (2016:4.1) EBP is the integration of research evidence and knowledge to current clinical practice and is to be used at a local level to ensure that patients receive the best quality care available. Because patients are at the receiving end of EBP it is important that the research evidence is credible. This is why a research study has to be designed and undertaken rigorously in accordance with academic and scientific discipline.

The elements of EBP

EBP comprises three elements ( Figure 1 ). The key element is research evidence, followed by the expert knowledge and professional opinion of the practitioner, which is important especially when there is no research evidence—for example, the most appropriate way to assist a patient out of bed, or perform a bed bath. Last, but in no way of least importance, is the patient's preference for a particular procedure. An example of this is the continued use of thermal screening dots for measuring a child's temperature on the forehead, or in the armpit because children find these options more acceptable than other temperature measuring devices, which, it is argued, might give a more accurate reading ( Grainger, 2013 ).

Understanding key research principles

To interpret a published research study requires an understanding of key research principles. Research authors use specific research terms in their publications to describe and to explain what they have done and why. So without an awareness of the research principles underpinning the study, how can readers know if what they are reading is credible?

Validity and reliability have long been the two pillars on which the quality of a research study has been judged ( Gliner and Morgan, 2000 ). Validity refers to how accurately a method measures what it is intended to measure. If a research study has a high validity, it means that it produces results that correspond to real properties, characteristics, and variations in the part of the physical or social world that is being studied ( Jupp, 2006 ).

Reliability is the extent to which a measuring instrument, for example, a survey using closed questions, gives the same consistent results when that survey is repeated. The measurement is considered reliable if the same result can be consistently achieved by using the same methods under the same circumstances ( Parahoo, 2014 ).

The research topic is known as the phenomenon in a singular sense, or phenomena if what is to be researched is plural. It is a key principle of research that it is the nature of the phenomenon, in association with the study's explicit research aim/s, that determines the research design. The research design refers to the overall structure or plan of the research ( Bowling, 2014 :166).

Methodology means the philosophy underpinning how the research will be conducted. It is essential for the study's research design that an appropriate methodology for the conduct and execution of the study is selected, otherwise the research will not meet the requirements of being valid and reliable. The research methods will include the design for data sampling, how recruitment into the study will be undertaken, the method/s used for the actual data collection, and the subsequent data analysis from which conclusions will be drawn (see Figure 2 ).

Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods studies

A quantitative methodology is where the phenomenon lends itself to an investigation of data that can be numerically analysed using an appropriate statistical test/s. Quantitative research rests on the philosophical view that science has to be neutral and value-free, which is why precise measurement instruments are required ( Box 1 ). Quantitative research is influenced by the physical sciences such as mathematics, physics, and chemistry. The purpose of quantitative studies is to identify whether there are any causal relationships between variables present in the phenomenon. In short, a variable is an attribute that can vary and take on different values, such as the body temperature or the heart rate ( Polit and Beck, 2017 :748).

Quantitative studies can sometimes have a hypothesis. A hypothesis is a prediction of the study's outcome, and the aim of the study is to show either that the hypothesis is demonstrated as proven, or that it is not proven. Often a hypothesis is about a predicted relationship between variables. There are two types of variables, independent and dependent. An independent variable causes a change in the specific phenomenon being studied, while a dependent variable is the change in that phenomenon. The first example in Box 1 might help to clarify the difference.

An example of a hypothesis would be that older people who have a history of falls have a reduction in the incidence of falls due to exercise therapy. The causal relationship is between the independent variable— the exercise therapy—and the dependent variable—a falls reduction.

A qualitative methodology aims to explore a phenomenon with the aim of understanding the experience of the phenomenon from the perspective of those affected by it. Qualitative research is influenced by the social and not the physical sciences. Concepts and themes arise from the researcher/s interpretation of the data gained from observations and interviews. The collected data are non-numerical and this is the distinction from a quantitative study. The data collected are coded in accordance with the type of method being used in the research study, for example, discourse analysis; phenomenology; grounded theory. The researcher identifies themes from the data descriptions, and from the data analysis a theoretical understanding is seen to emerge.

A qualitative methodology rests on the philosophical view that science cannot be neutral and value-free because the researcher and the participants are part of the world that the research study aims to explore.

Unlike quantitative studies, the results of which can often be generalised due to the preciseness of the measuring instruments, qualitative studies are not usually generalisable. However, knowledge comparisons can be made between studies that have some similarity of focus. For example, the uncovering of causative or aggravating factors leading to the experiences of pain management for oncology patients, and for patients who have rheumatoid arthritis, or another long-term health problem for which pain is a characteristic feature. The validity of a qualitative study relates to the accurate representation of the data collected and analysed, and which shows that data has been saturated, meaning no new data or analysed findings are forthcoming. This is demonstrated in a clear data audit trail, and the study's findings are therefore seen as credible (see the second example in Box 1 ).

Box 1.Research study examples

• An example of a quantitative research study Kennedy and Burnett (2011) conducted a survey to determine whether there were any discernible differences in knowledge and attitudes between second- and third-year pre-registration nursing students toward hand-hygiene practices. The collected data and its subsequent analysis is presented in numerical tables and graphs, but these are supported by text explaining the research findings and how these were ascertained. For full details, see 10.1177/1757177411411124
• 2. An example of a qualitative research study Morse et al (2014) undertook an exploratory study to see what coping strategies were used by women awaiting a possible diagnosis of breast cancer. Direct quotes from the study participants appeared in the writing up of the research because it is a requirement of qualitative research that there be a transparent data audit trail. The research showed two things, both essential requirements of qualitative research. First, how the collected data were saturated to ensure that no data had been left inadequately explored, or that the data coding had been prematurely closed and, second, having captured the breadth and depth of the data findings, the researchers showed how the direct quotes were thematically coded to reveal the women's coping strategies. For full details, see 10.1188/14.ONF.350-359
• 3. An example of a mixed-methods study Lindsay-Smith et al (2018) investigated and explored the impact on elderly people's social wellbeing when they were members of a community that provided multi-activities. The study combined a quantitative survey that recorded participants' sociodemographic characteristics and measured participation in activities with a focus group study to gauge participants' perceptions of the benefits of taking part in the activities. For full details, see https://bmcgeriatr.biomedcentral.com/track/pdf/10.1186/s12877-018-0913-1.pdf

Sometimes a study cannot meet its stated research aims by using solely a quantitative or a qualitative methodology, so a mixed-methods approach combining both quantitative and qualitative methods for the collection and analysis of data are used. Cresswell (2013) explains that, depending on the aim and purpose of the study, it is possible to collect either the quantitative data first and analyse these, followed by the qualitative data and their analysis. This is an explanatory/exploratory sequence. Or the qualitative data may be collected first and analysed, followed by the quantitative; an exploratory/explanatory process. Whichever approach is used, the cumulative data analyses have to be synthesised to give a clear picture of the overall findings ( Box 1 ).

The issue of bias

Bias is a negative feature of research because it relates to either an error in the conceptualisation of the study due to the researcher/s adopting a skewed or idiosyncratic perspective, or to errors in the data analysis. Bias will affect the validity and reliability of a study, so it is important that any bias is eliminated in quantitative studies, or minimised and accounted for in qualitative studies.

Scientific and ethical approval

It should be noted that, before any research study proceeds, the research proposal for that study must have been reviewed and agreed to by a scientific and ethics committee. The purpose of a scientific and ethics committee is to see that those recruited into a study are not harmed or damaged, and that the study will contribute to the advancement of knowledge. The committee pays particular attention to whether any bias might have been introduced to a study. The researchers will have detailed the reason why the study is required, the explicit aim/s and purpose of the study, the methodology of the study, and its subsequent design, including the chosen research methods for the collection of the data (sampling and study recruitment), and what method/s will be used for data analysis.

A literature review is undertaken and the established (published) international literature on the research topic is summarised to highlight what is already known on the topic and/or to show any topic gaps that have not yet been researched. The British Educational Research Association (BERA) (2018) also gives guidance for research proposals that are deemed to be educational evaluation studies, including ‘close-practice’ research studies. Any ethical issues such as how people will be recruited into the study, the gaining of informed voluntary consent, any conflict of interest between the researcher/s and the proposed research topic, and whether the research is being funded or financially supported by a particular source will also have been considered.

Critiquing a published research paper

It is important to remember that a published paper is not the research report. It is a sample of the research report. The research author/s are presenting their research findings as a succinct summary. Only a passing mention might be made that ethical approval and voluntary informed consent were obtained. However, readers can be assured that all publications in leading journals with a good reputation are subject to an external peer review process. Any concerns about a paper's content will have been ironed out prior to publication.

It will be apparent that there are several particular research designs. The Critical Skills Appraisal Programme (CASP) provides online information to help the interpretation of each type of study, and does this by providing questions to help the reader consider and critique the paper ( CASP, 2021 ).

General points for critiquing a paper include the following:

• The paper should be readable and have explicit statements on the purpose of the research, its chosen methodology and design
• Read the paper thoroughly to get a feel for what the paper is saying
• Consider what the researcher/s says about any ethical issues and how these have been handled
• Look at how the data were collected and analysed. Are the explanations for these aspects clear? In a quantitative study, are any graphs or charts easy to understand and is there supporting text to aid the interpretation of the data? In a qualitative study, are direct quotes from the research participants included, and do the researcher/s show how data collected from interviews and observations were coded into data categories and themes?
• In a mixed-method study, how are the quantitative and qualitative analyses synthesised?
• Do the conclusions seem to fit the handling of the data's analysis?
• An important test of validity is whether the study's title relates well to the content of the paper and, conversely, whether the content reflect a corresponding match to the study's title.

Finally, remember that the research study could have been conducted using a different methodological design provided the research aims would still have been met, but a critique of the paper relates to what has been published and not what otherwise might have been done.

• Scroll to top
• Dark Light Dark Light

How to Write the Nursing Research Methodology Section

• Author Jermaine Huey
• Published November 29, 2023

Nursing research methodology is a crucial component of any nursing research paper. It involves the methods used to conduct the study, including research design, data collection, and ethical considerations . In this article, we will provide a step-by-step guide to help you write an effective nursing research methodology section.

At NursingWriters.net, we understand the challenges that busy nurses face in their academic programs. Our nursing writing service is designed to empower nurses in BSN, MSN, and DNP programs, providing expert guidance on various writing and comprehension challenges they may encounter.

Key Takeaways:

• Writing a nursing research methodology section is essential for the validity and reliability of the study.
• Choosing a relevant and manageable topic is crucial for a successful nursing research paper.
• Conducting a comprehensive literature review helps identify existing knowledge and research gaps in the field.
• Developing a clear research question and objectives guides the study and refines the research approach.
• Designing and conducting the study involves selecting the appropriate research design, collecting and analyzing data, and addressing ethical considerations .

Selecting a Relevant and Manageable Topic

Choosing the right topic is essential when it comes to writing a successful nursing research paper. To ensure that your research is relevant and contributes to the field of nursing, it is important to select a topic that aligns with current trends or addresses gaps in knowledge. By conducting a thorough literature review, you can identify areas that require further exploration or offer opportunities for innovative research.

When selecting a topic, it is crucial to consider the manageability of the research within the given timeframe and available resources. You want to choose a topic that is achievable and can be effectively researched and analyzed. Taking into account the scope of the project and your available time and resources will help ensure that your research is feasible.

Here are some tips to help you select a relevant and manageable nursing research topic:

• Stay updated with current trends and issues in the nursing field
• Identify gaps in existing literature or areas that require further exploration
• Consider your own interests and passion within the field of nursing
• Consult with mentors or colleagues for guidance and feedback

By following these steps, you can select a nursing research topic that is both relevant and manageable, setting the foundation for a successful research paper.

Relevant and Manageable Topic Example

“The Impact of Nurse-to-Patient Ratios on Patient Outcomes in Intensive Care Units”

This research topic addresses a current trend and important issue in the nursing field – the impact of nurse-to-patient ratios on patient outcomes. By selecting this topic, the researcher can contribute valuable insights to the ongoing discussion surrounding proper staffing in intensive care units. The topic is manageable within the given resources and timeframe, allowing for thorough research and analysis.

In Conclusion

Selecting a relevant and manageable nursing research topic is crucial for the success of your research paper. By choosing a topic that aligns with current trends, addresses gaps in knowledge, and is manageable within your available resources and time, you can ensure that your research is meaningful and impactful. Remember to seek guidance from mentors or colleagues for feedback during the topic selection process. With a well-selected topic, you can embark on a research journey that contributes to the field of nursing and enhances patient care.

• Nursing Research: Generating and Assessing Evidence for Nursing Practice by Denise F. Polit and Cheryl Tatano Beck
• Reading, Understanding, and Applying Nursing Research by James A. Fain
• Evidence-Based Practice in Nursing and Healthcare: A Guide to Best Practice by Bernadette Mazurek Melnyk and Ellen Fineout-Overholt

Gathering and Evaluating Relevant Literature in Nursing Research

One of the fundamental steps in conducting nursing research is conducting a comprehensive literature review. This process involves gathering and critically evaluating relevant studies and scholarly sources related to the research topic.

During the literature review, researchers should utilize databases, scholarly journals, and reputable sources to identify existing knowledge on the topic. By analyzing and critically evaluating these studies, researchers can gain insights into the strengths, weaknesses, and gaps in the current literature.

The literature review serves several purposes in nursing research. Firstly, it helps researchers build a strong theoretical foundation for their study by examining the existing body of knowledge. Secondly, it enables researchers to identify research opportunities and gaps in the literature that their study can address. Lastly, the literature review provides context and supports the rationale for the research question and objectives.

Key Steps for Conducting a Literature Review in Nursing Research

• Identify relevant databases and scholarly journals in the nursing field
• Develop search strategies using relevant keywords and search terms
• Screen and select studies based on inclusion and exclusion criteria
• Analyze and critically evaluate selected studies for their methodologies, findings, and limitations
• Synthesize the findings from the literature review to identify research gaps and opportunities

“A comprehensive literature review is crucial for understanding the current state of knowledge in a particular research area and identifying gaps that need further exploration.” – Dr. Jane Thompson, Nursing Researcher

The table above provides an example of how researchers can present key studies in the literature review section. By summarizing the study, methodology, and findings, researchers can demonstrate their understanding of the current literature and highlight relevant studies that contribute to the research objectives .

Developing a Clear Research Question and Objectives

Developing a clear research question and objectives is crucial in nursing research. The research question should address a specific problem or knowledge gap in the nursing field, guiding the study and serving as the basis for the research objectives . By formulating a well-defined research question, nurses can focus their efforts on conducting meaningful research that contributes to evidence-based practice and enhances patient care.

When developing a research question, it is important to consider the relevance and feasibility of the topic. The question should be specific enough to provide clear direction for the study, but broad enough to allow for meaningful exploration of the topic. Seeking input from mentors or colleagues can provide valuable feedback and help refine the research approach.

Once the research question is established, it is essential to define clear research objectives . These objectives should be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART). They serve as actionable steps to achieve the research goal and provide a framework for the research design and data collection process. Clear research objectives facilitate a focused and systematic approach to data analysis and interpretation.

Key Considerations:

• Identify a specific problem or knowledge gap in the nursing field
• Formulate a well-defined research question that guides the study
• Develop clear and specific research objectives
• Seek input from mentors or colleagues for valuable feedback

Developing a clear research question and objectives is the foundation of a successful nursing research study. It helps researchers stay focused, ensures the study’s relevance and applicability to nursing practice, and contributes to the existing body of knowledge in the field.

Designing and Conducting the Study

Once the research question and objectives are in place, it is important to design the study accordingly. The research design in nursing plays a critical role in determining the validity and reliability of the study’s findings. It provides a framework for data collection and analysis, allowing researchers to draw meaningful conclusions.

When considering the research design, it is essential to select a method that aligns with the research goals and objectives. Common research designs in nursing include experimental designs, observational studies, and qualitative research methods. Each design has its strengths and limitations, so it is crucial to choose the most appropriate one for the research question at hand.

After finalizing the research design, attention should be given to the data collection methods . The data collection methods in nursing research can include surveys, interviews, observations, and document analysis, among others. Researchers must carefully select the most suitable methods to gather accurate and reliable data. Ethical considerations , such as obtaining informed consent and ensuring participant confidentiality, should also guide the data collection process.

Once the data is collected, researchers must analyze it using appropriate statistical techniques or qualitative analysis methods. This analysis will provide insights into the research question and objectives, helping to answer them in a meaningful way. The analysis should be conducted systematically and rigorously, ensuring the credibility and validity of the findings.

Structuring and Writing the Paper

The structure of a nursing research paper is essential for effectively communicating the study’s findings. A well-organized paper allows readers to easily navigate through the content and understand the research process. The paper should include the following sections:

• Introduction: This section provides background information on the topic and states the research question and objectives. It sets the stage for the study and gives readers an understanding of the research context.
• Methodology: The methodology section describes the study design, participants, data collection procedures, and analysis methods. It should be detailed enough for other researchers to replicate the study if needed.
• Results: Present the findings of the study clearly and concisely. Utilize appropriate tables, graphs, or qualitative data extracts to support the findings. Avoid interpretation or discussion in this section.
• Discussion: Interpret and discuss the results in the context of existing literature. Analyze the implications of the findings and their significance for the nursing field. Discuss any limitations of the study and suggest directions for future research.
• Conclusion: Summarize the key findings of the study and provide recommendations for future research or clinical practice. Restate the research question and objectives to reinforce the study’s focus.

Organizing research findings is crucial to ensuring a coherent and logical flow throughout the paper. Consider using subheadings within each section to further structure the content. This allows readers to quickly locate specific information within the paper and enhances readability.

When writing the methodology section , provide sufficient detail to ensure transparency and reproducibility of the study. Describe the study design, including any randomization or control groups. Specify the number and characteristics of the participants, along with any inclusion or exclusion criteria. Detail the data collection procedures, such as surveys, interviews, or observations. Explain how the data was analyzed, including any statistical tests or qualitative analysis methods used.

Remember to cite all relevant sources and include a reference list at the end of the paper. This gives credit to the original authors and allows readers to further explore the topic. Formatting the paper according to the required citation style (APA, MLA, etc.) is important to maintain consistency and professionalism.

Table: Elements of a Nursing Research Paper

By following a well-structured approach and organizing research findings effectively, nursing researchers can create papers that are informative, cohesive, and impactful.

Ethical Considerations in Nursing Research

When conducting nursing research, it is essential to address ethical considerations to ensure the protection of participant rights , informed consent , and data confidentiality. Ethical guidelines play a vital role in maintaining the integrity and credibility of research studies.

Participant rights are of utmost importance in nursing research. Researchers must prioritize the well-being and privacy of study participants. This includes obtaining informed consent , ensuring voluntary participation, and protecting the confidentiality of personal information. Respecting these rights is crucial for maintaining ethical standards and fostering trust between researchers and participants.

Informed consent is a fundamental ethical principle in research. It involves providing participants with comprehensive information about the study’s purpose, procedures, risks, benefits, and their rights. Researchers must obtain voluntary, informed consent from participants before their involvement in the study. This ensures that participants are fully aware of what their participation entails and that they have the freedom to withdraw at any time.

Data protection is another key ethical consideration in nursing research. Researchers must take measures to protect the confidentiality and privacy of participant data. This includes storing data securely, ensuring only authorized personnel have access, and anonymizing data during analysis and reporting. By safeguarding participant information, researchers uphold the ethical principles of respect, beneficence, and justice.

Data Analysis in Nursing Research

Data analysis plays a crucial role in nursing research, as it allows researchers to make sense of the collected data and draw meaningful conclusions. In nursing, data analysis methods can vary depending on the nature of the study. Quantitative research often involves statistical analysis techniques, while qualitative research employs methods such as thematic analysis or content analysis.

Statistical analysis involves the use of statistical tests and tools to examine relationships between variables, determine the significance of findings, and identify patterns or trends in the data. It enables researchers to quantify and summarize data, providing a basis for making evidence-based decisions and recommendations. Statistical analysis also helps to validate research hypotheses and answer research questions.

“Data analysis is not just about crunching numbers; it is about uncovering meaningful insights that can inform nursing practice and improve patient outcomes.”

Qualitative analysis , on the other hand, involves a more interpretive approach to data analysis. It focuses on understanding the subjective experiences and meanings attributed to phenomena by individuals. Qualitative analysis methods often include coding and thematic analysis, where researchers identify patterns, themes, and categories in the data. This allows for a deeper exploration of complex phenomena and provides rich descriptions and narratives that contribute to a comprehensive understanding of nursing practice.

Regardless of the data analysis methods used, it is important for researchers to be rigorous and transparent in their approach. This includes clearly documenting the steps taken in the analysis, ensuring data quality and accuracy, and reporting findings in a clear and concise manner. By conducting robust data analysis, nursing researchers can contribute to the body of knowledge in the field and drive evidence-based practice forward.

Incorporating Nursing Theory and Evidence-Based Practice

In nursing research, the incorporation of nursing theory and evidence-based practice is essential for advancing the field and providing high-quality patient care. Nursing theory provides a theoretical foundation that guides research and practice, while evidence-based practice ensures that nursing interventions are based on the best available evidence. By incorporating nursing theory and evidence-based practice, researchers can enhance the theoretical and practical implications of their research.

Nursing theory serves as a framework for understanding and addressing complex nursing phenomena. It provides a systematic and organized way of thinking about nursing practice, education, and research. By drawing on nursing theories, researchers can develop a theoretical foundation for their studies and explore the relationships between different variables. This allows for a deeper understanding of the phenomena under investigation and enhances the validity and applicability of the research findings .

Furthermore, evidence-based practice ensures that nursing interventions are based on the best available evidence from research, clinical expertise, and patient preferences. By integrating research evidence into practice, nurses can provide the most effective and efficient care to their patients. Evidence-based practice also promotes the use of standardized and validated interventions, which improves the consistency and quality of patient care across different healthcare settings.

The incorporation of nursing theory and evidence-based practice has several implications for nursing research. Firstly, it allows researchers to generate new knowledge that is grounded in both theory and empirical evidence. This strengthens the overall body of nursing knowledge and contributes to the ongoing development of the profession. Secondly, it promotes the translation of research findings into practice, ensuring that evidence-based interventions are implemented to improve patient outcomes. Finally, it empowers nurses to critically evaluate and apply research findings in their clinical practice, enhancing their ability to provide safe and effective care.

In summary, nursing research should incorporate nursing theory and evidence-based practice to advance the field and improve patient care. By drawing on nursing theories, researchers can develop a theoretical foundation for their studies and explore the relationships between variables. Integrating evidence-based practice ensures that nursing interventions are based on the best available evidence, promoting high-quality and standardized care. The incorporation of nursing theory and evidence-based practice strengthens the theoretical and practical implications of nursing research, contributing to the development of the profession and enhancing patient outcomes.

Collaboration and Peer Review in Nursing Research

Collaboration and peer review play a critical role in ensuring the quality and validity of nursing research. By seeking feedback and input from mentors, colleagues, and experts in the field, researchers can improve the overall rigor and impact of their studies. Collaboration allows for diverse perspectives and insights, fostering innovation and pushing the boundaries of nursing knowledge. It encourages interdisciplinary collaboration , bringing together professionals from different backgrounds to address complex healthcare challenges.

Peer review , on the other hand, provides an essential mechanism for critical evaluation and validation of research findings. Experts in the field review the research methods, data analysis, and interpretation of results to ensure accuracy and reliability. This process helps to identify any potential biases, flaws, or limitations in the research, ultimately enhancing the credibility and trustworthiness of the study. By subjecting research to peer review , the nursing community can maintain high standards of quality and contribute to evidence-based practice.

Feedback, whether through collaboration or peer review, is invaluable in refining research and improving its overall quality. It allows researchers to address gaps or weaknesses in their methodology, consider alternative perspectives, and explore areas for further investigation. Constructive feedback fosters growth and empowers researchers to produce more robust and impactful studies that address the complex healthcare challenges of today and tomorrow.

The Benefits of Collaboration and Peer Review in Nursing Research

Collaboration and peer review offer numerous benefits to nursing research. These include:

• Enhanced research quality: Collaboration and peer review help identify and address any methodological flaws, ensuring the research is of the highest quality.
• Validation: Peer review provides a stamp of approval from experts in the field, validating the research and increasing its credibility.
• Diverse perspectives: Collaboration allows for different viewpoints and ideas, fostering innovation and ensuring a comprehensive understanding of complex healthcare issues.
• Networking opportunities: Collaborating with other researchers and receiving feedback from experts can open doors to new collaborations, research projects, and career opportunities.
• Professional development: Engaging in collaboration and peer review can enhance researchers’ skills in critical thinking, writing, and data analysis, contributing to their professional growth.

In conclusion, collaboration and peer review are integral to nursing research. By embracing these practices, researchers can enhance the quality and impact of their studies, pushing the boundaries of nursing knowledge and contributing to evidence-based practice.

Nursing Assignment Help for Research Papers

Writing a nursing research paper can be a challenging task, especially when it comes to the methodology section. This is where nursing assignment help services can provide valuable assistance. At NursingWriters.net, we offer expert guidance and support to nursing students and researchers, helping them navigate the complexities of research methodology.

Our team of experienced writers and researchers understands the unique requirements of nursing research papers. Whether you need help selecting a research topic, conducting a literature review, or designing and conducting your study, our experts are here to assist you at every step of the process. We provide tailored assistance based on your specific writing and comprehension challenges, ensuring that you excel in your studies and produce high-quality research papers.

By availing our nursing assignment help services, you can benefit from the knowledge and expertise of our team. Our experts have years of experience in the nursing field and are well-versed in the latest research methodologies and best practices. They can provide valuable insights, feedback, and guidance to help you enhance the quality and success of your research endeavors. Whether you need assistance with research paper writing, data analysis, or incorporating nursing theory, our experts are here to support you.

So, why struggle with your nursing research paper when you can get expert assistance? Contact NursingWriters.net today and take advantage of our nursing assignment help services. Our team is committed to helping you excel in your studies and make a meaningful contribution to the nursing field.

In conclusion, the nursing research methodology section is a crucial component of any nursing research paper. It provides a detailed explanation of the methods used to conduct the study, ensuring the validity and reliability of the findings.

Throughout this article, we have provided a step-by-step guide on how to write an effective nursing research methodology section. We discussed the importance of selecting a relevant and manageable topic, conducting a thorough literature review, developing clear research questions and objectives, designing and conducting the study, and structuring and writing the paper.

Ethical considerations, data analysis, and the incorporation of nursing theory and evidence-based practice were also highlighted. Additionally, we emphasized the significance of collaboration and peer review in enhancing the quality and rigor of nursing research. By following these guidelines, nursing students and researchers can navigate the complexities of research methodology and contribute to evidence-based practice in the nursing field.

Looking ahead, future implications of nursing research methodology include further advancements in research design and data analysis techniques, as well as the incorporation of emerging technologies. As the nursing field continues to evolve, it is crucial for researchers to stay updated with the latest methodologies and contribute to evidence-based practice to enhance patient care.

How do I write the nursing research methodology section?

To write the nursing research methodology section, you need to provide a detailed explanation of the methods used in the study, including the research design, data collection methods , and ethical considerations.

How do I select a relevant and manageable topic for my nursing research paper?

To select a relevant and manageable topic for your nursing research paper, it is important to choose a topic that aligns with current trends or gaps in knowledge in the nursing field.

How do I conduct a literature review for my nursing research?

To conduct a literature review for your nursing research, you need to utilize databases, scholarly journals, and reputable sources to gather relevant literature. Analyzing and critically evaluating the studies will provide insights into the strengths, weaknesses, and potential research opportunities in the field.

How do I develop a clear research question and objectives?

To develop a clear research question and objectives, you need to address a specific problem or knowledge gap in the nursing field. Seek input from mentors or colleagues to refine your research approach.

How do I design and conduct the study for my nursing research?

To design and conduct the study for your nursing research, you need to consider the appropriate research design, determine the data collection methods, and ensure ethical considerations are addressed.

How do I structure and write my nursing research paper?

To structure and write your nursing research paper, you need to include an introduction, methodology section, findings, and discussion. Present the data clearly and concisely using appropriate visuals. Conclude with a summary of key findings and recommendations for future research.

What are the ethical considerations in nursing research?

Ethical considerations in nursing research include participant rights, confidentiality, informed consent, and data protection . These should be addressed in the methodology section of the research paper.

How do I analyze the data for my nursing research?

To analyze the data for your nursing research, you need to apply appropriate analytical tools and techniques, depending on the nature of the study. This can involve statistical analysis or qualitative analysis methods.

Why is it important to incorporate nursing theory and evidence-based practice?

Incorporating nursing theory and evidence-based practice strengthens the theoretical foundation of the research and enhances the practical implications for nursing practice. It adds credibility and relevance to the research.

Why is collaboration and peer review important in nursing research?

Collaboration and peer review enhance the quality and rigor of nursing research. Seeking feedback from mentors, colleagues, and experts in the field allows for diverse perspectives and critical evaluation, ensuring accuracy and validity.

How can nursing assignment help services assist with research papers?

Nursing assignment help services provide expert guidance and assistance in navigating the complexities of research methodology. They can offer tailored support for writing and comprehension challenges, enhancing the quality and success of nursing research endeavors.

Jermaine Huey

We use cookies to give you the best experience. Cookie Policy

• Log in ▼
• Our Guarantees
• Our Services
• How it Works

How to Write a Nursing Paper Complete Guide

Whether at the end or in the middle of a nursing course, students will be required to write a nursing paper and broaden their practical skills by diving into several research sources and conducting their research. Writing a nursing term paper is not a cakewalk since it entails supporting the thesis with arguments, statistics, proper referencing, etc. However, with a complete guide on how to write a nursing paper. You are good to go.

What is a nursing research paper?

A nursing paper is a thesis-driven academic paper written on a specific topic given by the instructor, or sometimes it can be a student’s choice. As a nursing student, you must write nursing papers by providing supporting evidence on a given topic.

Nurses doing their practicum, doing their nursing courses, nursing methodology, or evaluation will sometimes be required to write a nursing paper. Writing a nursing paper includes systematic research to showcase given statistics, look into nursing theories and come up with conclusions. A nursing paper can vary from 5 pages onwards.

How to write outstanding Nursing Papers

The essence of nursing in the healthcare field is vital that research is required since it inherently betters the nursing field and improves healthcare services. Here is a step-by-step guide and no steps skipped process on how to write a nursing research paper .

Choosing a Topic for the Nursing Paper

The first step toward writing an outstanding term paper is choosing a nursing paper topic. The instructor will provide a nursing student with several topics to select from in most cases. If you don’t like or have no interest in the provided topics, you can opt for your nursing paper topic. It should be related to the specific nursing topic in your particular nursing area of specialization.

Most importantly, you should find a nursing paper topic that you deem interesting or one you are always deeply concerned about. Explore the topic you would like to write about and weigh if the theoretical knowledge is available and you have the necessary skills to write a nursing paper.

Topic Relevancy Matters

The relevancy of your topic to the specific course is just as crucial as your interest in the desired topic. You should select a topic that has been analyzed severally in the past, and that way, it will be easier to find relevant, credible, and up-to-date references. You should introduce some freshness into the area in the same line as your readers should be 100% original and not just copy-pasted from other publications. To master this, you should research some reputable sources and develop distinct viewpoints and perspectives on the point.

Always be mindful of the number of sources available, and they must be credible and relevant. The nursing paper shouldn’t be too broad and make it challenging for you to cover all the crucial points or structure the paper well. Conversely, if the nursing paper topic is too narrow, you will find it challenging to expound on the research later. So to be on the safer side, you should first consider the topic’s relevance and look for contemporary issues surrounding the topic.

Deriving from the tips listed above. Some of the best examples of nursing paper topics

• The issue of racism inside the healthcare system.
• Disorders of sleep in women
• Innovations in EBP Nursing
• Why Quantitative Studies Are Never Sufficient
• Professional nursing functions
• Guidelines for the fundamental treatment of catastrophe victims
• Changes and limitations of the sensory system in older adults: nursing care approaches
• Instruction for EBP
• Evaluate the effectiveness of meditative therapy for individuals with cognitive development impairment
• Misunderstandings Regarding Evidence-Based Practices Among Nurses
• EBP Ability
• Critical care nursing administration
• Examining the effects of telephone care during postnatal therapy
• Using machine learning to detect dementia in older adults: an evaluation of its effectiveness and precision
• Works of nursing theorists
• Bias towards women in the nursing profession
• Establishing a medical practice
• Between occupation and service to others
• Recommendations Based on Evidence in Primary Care
• Quantitative Studies and Sampling
• Protocol standard for the treatment of adult headaches.
• Nursing professionals
• Evaluation Methodologies in Evidence-Based Nursing Practice
• Guidelines for basic gynecological education
• The parenting experience of women: attachment and mother-child bonding
• Healthcare contract constraints
• Morality and homelessness treatment
• EBP and Administration
• History of eating disorder treatment and current treatment analysis
• Pathogenesis, immunology, and therapy of HHV6
• Difficulties for New Nurses Regarding EBP
• Social Work and the Health Promotion Specialist’s Function
• The evolution of nursing in the 20th and 21st centuries.
• Qualitative, Quantitative, or Mixed: Nursing’s Preferred Research Method

Look for reliable sources for Nursing essay writing

After selecting the nursing paper, it is time to look for relevant, credible, and up-to-date sources to help you fully explore different perspectives on your topic. you can use the library or the internet to find these sources. ensure you do your due diligence and get information from reliable and credible websites with online sources., today there are many irrelevant and unreliable websites, and you don’t want to risk your academic future. to avoid any self-doubt, use academic journals and specialized directories. look for:.

• academic periodicals specializing in Nursing, Healthcare, Medicine, and other sub-fields; websites ending in.gov or.edu since they are pertinent and can be used for academic purposes;
• general and specialized databases as well as digital libraries.

There are numerous websites and databases dedicated to nursing and medical-related issues. The most popular among them include:

• CINAHL Plus – an online database including useful nursing and related health resources;
• Nursing Reference Center Plus Is a database containing credible, evidence-based information about nursing practice;
• Cochrane Library — an online library containing medical evidence that can be used to inform clinical treatment decisions;
• PubMed is an online service that is part of the National Library of Medicine; it includes vital citations and more books and databases connected to nursing and other life sciences.
• MEDLINE is a bibliographic database including scholarly publications in several medical disciplines, such as veterinary healthcare administration and nursing.

Planning and Preparing for nursing papers

After you have selected the preferred nursing paper topic and found a relevant, credible nursing paper, you already have a rough idea of what your nursing paper is going to look like. But you might not know where to start or go. To make everything more manageable, you need to have a prewriting practice that will help you articulate the main points of your nursing paper and come up with new ideas for your nursing paper to write an outstanding nursing paper.

Brainstorming

The pre-writing practice should be centered around the information you have garnered on the given topic and other related issues. That is why it is crucial to initiate the writing process and gain the knowledge pertinent to the nursing paper topic before you begin writing the key points. Next, you should practice brainstorming techniques. Brainstorming includes jotting down all the key points pertinent to the topic in your mind.

Freewriting

Another crucial tip is to practice a strategy called freewriting. Freewriting is all bout jotting down in the form of sentence lists. This will help you expound on the initial ideas and create new viewpoints on which you might further explore the idea.

Mind-Mapping

You can also use “mind-mapping”. You should create a visual presentation of your nursing paper. The mind mapping strategy will help you visualize your nursing pape ideas. You have to select the more leading ideas. Then on the key points, list down the supporting point you will use to support the main ideas.

Now that you have the ideas and the key points listed on the selected topic, it is time to create an outline of your nursing paper. An outline will help you structure all the parts of your paper and make it sound logical and professional. The nursing paper outline is centered around your topic, and the thesis statement also includes a list of the key points you intend to discuss in your nursing paper. You should also review the key points further and make sure it touches all the crucial points.

Nursing Papers outline

If you intend to obtain the highest grades on your nursing paper, you must follow a given format or structure. Go through your instructor’s instructions and stick to the provided instructions. In most cases, a nurse’s paper should be written according to the American Psychological Association (APA). In the APA format, it defines structure.

The APA format typically contains the title page. The abstract, main body, and reference list. Your nursing paper should be in Time New Roman and font 12. The in-text citations must have the author-date format. In these cases, you can include the page number if you insert the citation directly from a publication or an online source.

As mentioned earlier, the structure of your nursing paper should help you develop an outline. If your instructor provides some additional instructions, be sure to follow them, a typical Structure of Nursing Papers in APA contains the following.

The title page must have the running head, the name of the nursing paper, the student’s name, and the affiliated school or college.

Your abstract should be on a separate page. The title should be “abstract” and unsorted in the center. The main role of the abstract should contain the key points of your nursing paper and highlight the value you are adding to the existing knowledge and your interpretations of the findings.

The main body of the nursing paper has the introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusions. The primary function of the introductory paragraph is to provide a background of the nursing paper and explain the problem your paper aims to solve. Your introduction must have a thesis statement which is usually the last part of the introduction that sums up the main argument of the nursing paper.

Next, the main body paragraphs should detail the arguments mentioned in the introduction and the abstract. Make sure to support your arguments with evidence, statistics, facts, and even real-life examples, not forgetting your evaluation of the issue.

In your conclusion, summarize all the disused points in the preceding paragraphs and again highlight the thesis statement. Remember, you should not add any new information in the conclusion section.

Reference Page

The reference page should be on a separate page. The title page should be titled References and be structured as per the APA referencing style guide.

Proofreading and edit

After you finish writing a nursing paper, next, you edit and proofread your paper. You will have to check punctuation and grammar issues a these are the most common needs you are likely to make when writing nursing papers. Thanks to technology, it has become easier to check grammar mistakes by using tools such as Grammarly that will help you perfect the grammar used on your nursing paper.

Use tools such as Copyscape and Turnitin to check for plagiarism since you don’t want to be penalized due to plagiarism problems with your paper.

After checking for grammar and punctuation, look for the choice of words in your nursing paper, as academic papers must have an official and academic tone. Avoid contractions and idioms in academic language. You can also solicit help from a friend or an expert to help you detect mistakes in your nursing papers. An extra eye looking into your paper will help you discover your writing weaknesses and work on improving them in due course.

How to Write the Best Introduction

The introduction of a nursing paper is crucial since the introduction will determine id the reader keeps on reading the rest of the nursing paper or not. As they say, first impressions matter a lot. A compelling introductory paragraph allows you to make an excellent first impression. A poorly written introduction confuses and puts off the reader.

To understand how to write a compelling introduction, you have to understand the critical aspects of your introduction. It must contain the following aspects.

• Must be attention-grabbing
• Contain the thesis statement
• Introduce the nursing paper topic
• Highlight the key points of the paper
• Explain the problem your paper aims to solve.

Steps for writing the best introduction for a nursing research paper

1. Introducing the topic

When you begin your nursing paper, you must inform the reader about the topic and what you will discuss. You have to make your nursing paper introduction captivating to the readers interested in reading. You can begin by including a quotation, statistic, or a thought-provoking question.

2. Set the foundation

Each paper has its background setting. For instance, if you are writing a research paper, you need to offer a synopsis of the existing research on the topic and give insight into what your paper brings. You need to look at the problems and the missing gap in the preexisting research and fill them.

If you are writing an argumentative nursing paper , you have to trim it down to the title and offer insight into the topic to provide content. Avoid overloading the introduction with unnecessary details.

3. State the research problem

Your introduction should help convince the reader that your paper will address the research question. Demonstrate how your nursing paper will solve the research problems and address the questions you have not addressed in the existing research.

4. Thesis statement

You need to specify the primary goal of the research. You can use it as a thesis statement or throw in a research question with a paper. Your thesis statement should not be more than two sentences.

Tips for Writing Nursing Papers

These tips will come in handy if you want to navigate the process of writing a nursing paper quickly. In this simple but comprehensive list, you will learn the practical tips that will help you nail your nursing paper. Several nursing paper experts have verified these tips, and you should take them as the gospel.

Select a good nursing topic

Most nursing students disregard the importance of selecting a topic that excites or satisfies them. As a result, they struggle with developing a topic chosen for its reason. If you are free to choose the topic, select a topic that you find interesting. If you are interested in geriatric medicine, select topics such as falls or the management of an aging population.

Other possible topics include safety of patients, nurse training, nurse credentials, nursing state laws and regulations, morality, mental health treatment, healthcare informatics, and healthcare transformations.

As this is an advanced paper with a lengthy format, ensure that your nursing topic is supported by data or has been debated in science publications.

Carefully Read paper instructions

When beginning to write the paper, it is essential to comprehend the basis upon which you are to write it from the perspective of an external marker, your professor, or your instructor/teacher. Neglecting this stage is similar to beginning a mountain climb without the proper equipment. You will lose significant points or make tiny omissions that affect your grade.

Spending time reviewing the instructions will assist you in:

• Determine the ages of the scholarly sources that are permitted.
• Recognize and read other items necessary to complete the document related to the instructions.
• Understand the deadline to plan the entire process
• You will be able to develop an outline for a research paper if you learn how to organize your document.
• Help you restrict the scope of the paper because you are aware of the required number of words or pages.
• Select the appropriate theoretical or conceptual frameworks to apply throughout the paper.
• Evaluate if you are required to use the specified sources or if you can also conduct your research.

Understand the topic you will be writing. Even if it is a research paper on a case study, you will know what components of the case study to discuss.

Before selecting a nursing paper topic or making significant progress, get clarification if you discover you do not understand the directions.

Plan your nursing paper

Nursing papers can be analytical, argumentative, or explanatory. According to the American Psychological Association (APA) style, they are consistently formatted. To complete a nursing project, you must display an exceptional command of knowledge, research skills, persuasion, and organization. This is only possible with sufficient planning.

Take the time to familiarize yourself with the nursing paper guidelines after receiving the project via the internet, email, or your institution’s method. Then, after determining the topic and word count, devote time to planning the paper. In most instances, this is where you will outline the structure of your paper to decide the primary sections and how to approach the topic.

Organize your nursing paper

Following the selection process, but the sources into a folder and use citation management tools to keep track of them. The following step is to organize your research paper’s bibliography using the information from step one. The bibliography must meet all of the guidelines for a standard research paper.

You can also save your favorite websites to your browser’s bookmarks. There are even better options for linking your sources, such as citation management systems or a digital bibliography. To give yourself the best opportunity to read, comprehend, criticize, and present ideas, it is imperative that you begin writing your paper as soon as you have completed your research. In the beginning, you should write a thesis statement for your nursing paper.

The outline should serve as a guide for your paper’s writing process. You can use it to help you organize your paper’s flow and convey important ideas and parts. If you can, use the Pomodoro approach to complete your paper, in which you finish sections and take a break before moving on to the next piece.

Begin researching and writing early

When writing a nursing paper for a nursing program, do not wait until the last minute; this increases your chances of failing. Begin your research as soon as possible to ensure that your paper will be a success.

Find credible sources in the scholarly nursing databases and sift through the data as needed. As you research, you would have already or somehow, along the road, developed your thesis statement. You can then choose from a variety of academic sources. Do not fear seeking information from Gray search on Google or Wikipedia.

You can use these sources to expand your knowledge and better understand topics, but you are not allowed to credit some of them when writing. You can learn a lot about a topic by looking at available sources, finding keywords to use in your research, and getting a sense of the sheer volume of knowledge. However, the sources you utilize in your paper should be relevant, credible, and reliable.

Use Citations tools

Use citation management programs like Zotero, EndNote, Legacy, and RefWorks to keep track of your citations.

Several tools might help you arrange your citation database. As a bonus, you can ensure that the citation style is correct because they offer AMA, APA, ASA, or Harvard formatting options.

With such tools, you can create bibliographies and paste them into your research paper once you’ve finished it. Avoiding intentional plagiarism is easier when you write first and cite later. A citation is much more likely to be lost when using the latter method. You’ll also find that quoting while writing helps keep your thoughts flowing and critically examine your reporting data.

Proofread and edit nursing paper

You should first congratulate yourself on finishing your paper. An excellent job, but you are still in the woods. You must make sure your nursing paper complies with all established standards. It’s always a good idea to edit your work before submitting it.

Look at the structure, organization, length, and wording of the text before beginning nursing paper editing. Look at your thesis and how you’ve developed it in your paper. Is it necessary to adjust it? Make changes to your introduction and conclusion if you think it’s necessary. Using our nursing paper checklist, you can ensure that everything is in order.

You can hire a nursing research paper editor to review your paper’s instructions and requirements. The editor will make any necessary adjustments if necessary. They are also capable of doing a thorough proofreading job. Nursing paper writing experts from Online Nursing Papers can always help you if you need someone to integrate the changes.

The Bottom Line

If you have followed this blog up to this point, you are already an expert on writing nursing papers. You need to choose a suitable nursing paper topic, look for credible and relevant nursing sources, use a nursing paper outline and proofread your paper before submission. These are just some crucial steps that will help you nail your nursing papers.

Why We Are the Best

• 100% non-plagiarized Papers
• Dedicated nursing and healthcare writers
• 24/7 /365 Service Available
• Affordable Prices
• Money-back and Privacy guarantees
• Unlimited Amendments upon request
• Satisfaction guarantee

• Online Nursing Assignment Help
• Nursing Assignment Help
• Nursing Dissertation Writing Services
• Nursing Capstone Project Writing Services
• Best Nursing Essay Writing Company
• Best Online Nursing Assignment Help
• Nursing Term Paper Writing Services
• Nursing Report Writing Services
• Nursing Annotated Bibliography by Professional
• Nursing Essay Assignments
• Nursing Assignment Writing
• Nursing Case Study Writing Services
• Nursing Coursework Writing
• Online Nursing Research Paper writing service
• PICO Question Examples
• Nursing Thesis Writing Services
• Nursing Research Paper Writing Services
• Nursing Presentation Writing
• Terms and Conditions
• Epidemiology assignment help
• Write my nursing dissertation for Me
• Nursing Essay Writing Service

The Best Online Nursing Paper Writing Service.

How to Write a Nursing Research Paper: Best Guide

• December 8, 2022

Table of Contents

In academia, research paper essentially seeks to establish whether you have a solid grasp on the course content, and can identify gaps in existing studies. In addition to the coming up with a research topic you must also understand the important mechanics involved in compiling a research paper.

The guide provides you with the essential skills on how to write a winning nursing research paper. The important points of consideration in this case will be:

• Coming up with a research topic

Collaboration with your instructor

• Handling research effectively
• Getting the research proposal approved
• Data collection and presentation
• Key Takeaways

Get A Nursing Research Paper.

We provide A+ solutions and ensure A+ academic grades.

Coming up with a Nursing Research Topic

Starting point.

When coming up with a research topic, it is crucial to understand what a nursing research paper is. The most important question that you will need to answer before you embark on your research is do you have to write papers in nursing school? The answer is a bold yes and a nursing paper entails and essential paper of your course. A nursing paper is part of any nursing program seeking to evaluate your skills in synthesizing existing knowledge and using it for innovation to further understanding. Therefore, before you complete any nursing program, you will be required to complete a nursing research paper that has to be approved by a panel in your institution. There are numerous nursing research paper topics that are available online. However, there is a need to be creative in order to stand out from the rest of the students. Any topic worth the salt should be unique and demonstrate your analytical skills while at the same time seeking to fill gaps in existing studies.

Resources of a Nursing Research Paper at your Disposal

Although there are numerous nursing research paper topics at your disposal, you should consider the resources at hand. There is a need to conduct a simulation of all the processes involved in conducting the study and ensure that you can proceed with it to completion. Some of the research paper topics nursing students select are brilliant but otherwise too complex. As a result, you can be compelled to abandon a topic prematurely because you lack financial and academic resources.

Get a custom written, paper or essay just for you in as little as 3hrs.

Our Qualified A++ writers are always online to assist you.

Your instructor can provide you with valuable information when writing a nursing research paper. There instances when you can have a brilliant idea but then lack effective words to convey your message. Therefore, it is always crucial to ensure that you actively work together with the instructor to ensure that you are progressing in the correct direction. Mostly, the instructor might require you to come up with three topics that you feel you can handle effectively. After that, they will assist in one that poses a clear and concise research question.

Handling a Nursing Research Paper Effectively

The research paper often begins with a proposal that has to be approved by the instructor before one can proceed. The structure of a nursing research paper has its foundation in the proposal. The proposal often consists of three chapters:

Chapter One: Introduction

Chapter two: literature review.

• Chapter Three: Research Methodology

In this section, you are expected to clearly identify and defend an existing problem in the nursing field that you seek to address. The nursing research paper outline often begins with the introduction which contains several subsections such as:

• Background information
• Justification of the study
• Problem statement
• Research objectives
• Research questions
• Research hypothesis

These sections provide the instructor with a clear picture of the intentions of the researcher. You should have them in both your proposal and the final research.

The literature review part is where you indicate what past studies address concerning the research topic. When you look at any nursing research paper outline, you will realize that in the literature review section there are a lot of references to previous studies.

Therefore, when addressing this section you should ensure that you consider online research papers so avoid repeating a study that has already been done. The literature review section should essentially respond to the objectives you mentioned in the introductory part. Also you need to demonstrate that there is a gap in literature that can be answered with the identified research questions.

Chapter 3: Research Methodology

The research methodology part covers the actually study where you go out in the field and collect data. When you go over various instructions on how to write a nursing research paper, you will realize that the research methodology part either involves a quantitative, qualitative or both styles combined. Online nursing research papers can give you a rough idea on the way to approach the different research methodologies. The qualitative approach is all about collecting opinions while the quantitative strategy deals with numerical data.

When writing a proposal you will only need to do a write up to chapter three. However, when doing the final write up you have to proceed to the other chapters that will be addressed in the next section of the paper.

Getting the Nursing Research Paper Proposal Approved

The nursing research paper outline dictates that you have to get you proposal approved before you proceed to the next section. There are dozens of nursing topics for research papers online. However, you will need to filter them out and only consider updated studies.

One way to find relevant topics is to consult peer reviewed articles in scholarly sites. Merely entering keywords in a search engine is not enough. You will need to do an effective online research. The research paper topics nursing students present are expected to demonstrate analytical skills and understanding of recent studies in the field. Therefore, if you want to increase the chances of your proposal being accepted you need to conduct conclusive study on current affairs.

Data Collection, Analysis and Presentation of the Nursing Research Paper

Data collection and presentation is the most tasking part of writing a nursing research paper . You might probably want to take a look at a good nursing research paper example for guidelines. Such examples are available in reputable online journals that have been peer reviewed. You can start by entering the key words “nursing paper examples” to get an idea of what is expected. The data collection essentially depends on the research methodology selected. There are currently programs such as SPSS (statistical package for social sciences) that assist in the analysis of quantitative data.

There are also programs that analyze qualitative data. Therefore, it is crucial that you have a rough idea of the crucial aspects entailing the writing of a nursing research paper. You do not have to be worried because all you need to follow are the important guidelines.

Key Takeaways of the Structure of a Nursing Research Paper

Your objective as a nursing student should be to get your nursing research topic published in a peer reviewed journal. Although it is not an easy feat, you can achieve it by following the necessary channels. There are students that have won grants and scholarships merely because they placed an extra effort when undertaking their studies.

For instance, you need to be meticulous and careful when collecting, analyzing, and presenting data. This is because you might be required to appear before a panel and defend your nursing research paper.

Nursing is essentially a practical course and you will need to apply what you have learned in class in real life situations. Therefore, before you submit your paper ensure that you have gone through it several times and perhaps given to a peer to help you removing some common mistakes that students make.

Spelling mistakes and grammatical errors might cost you crucial points. Furthermore, ensure that in your presentation and data analysis you come up with an approach that provides the evaluating panel with an easy task.

As you have probably noticed writing a nursing research paper is an easy undertaking as long as you understand the key requirements and follow guidelines. Since it is a crucial requirement in completing your course and graduating, you should give it the priority it deserves.

Nursing is an essential career in the health care field because the practitioners mostly interact directly with the patients. Therefore, institutions demand that learners be serious with their studies and that they conduct their research projects with integrity.

You will also find it rewarding when your research paper has been approved and perhaps published because it adds knowledge in the nursing field.

This nursing research paper guide has been prepared by considering the essential requirements that examiners look for in various nursing fields. Nursing is wide and consider various careers. However, the most important consideration is the provision of primary care for patients while at the same time collaborating with other practitioners to improve the quality of life of patients. Therefore, when conducting a study your focus should be on working together with other health care workers with the aim of assisting patients to have the best experienced while they are hospitalized.

You can easily find nursing research topics online but always ensure that the one you choose adds knowledge and understanding to the field, while at the same time assuring you a successful academic experience and a promising professional life.

Do you Need a nursing assignment, paper or essay help ?

Get an plagiarism free paper on How to Write a Nursing Research Paper: Best Guide or any other topic and enjoy top notch delivery with pocket friendly prices

Order a paper

Nurses play an important role in the healthcare industry. They are the ones that take care of the patients, administer medicines, keep a check on their vitals, and communicate with the doctors regarding the health of the patients. If you have chosen this noble profession you are going to become the backbone of the healthcare industry and have invested a lot in your education, especially with nursing research paper.

Nursing is a highly demanding career involving many roles and responsibilities. If you are pursuing a degree in nursing you will have to put in a lot of time and effort. As a part of your curriculum, you will have to submit a large number of projects and assignments including reports, thesis, essays, etc. You will also have to write a nursing research paper for each of your classes.

Writing a research paper helps you learn how to organize information, document research, manage your time and write professionally. Nurses need to learn how to communicate effectively while writing as they have to document a patient’s medical history.

A nursing research paper like any other research paper is used to assess your knowledge, research capabilities, and analytical skills. It can be argumentative, expository, or analytical and consists of an introduction, the body of the paper, and a conclusion.

Introduction of a Nursing Research Paper

The introduction of a research paper is important as a good introduction will encourage the reader to continue to the main parts of the research paper. A well-written introduction gives you the chance to make a good first impression. If the introduction is disorganized and filled with errors, the reader will feel disoriented and confused. 

Read on to find out how to write the best introduction for a nursing assessment research paper.

Before learning how to write an introduction, you need to understand what the introduction of your paper should accomplish. The introduction of your nursing research paper should fulfill the following responsibilities

• Grab the attention of your reader
• Introduce the topic
• State the theses
• Explain the relevance of the study
• Outline the main points of the research

Steps for writing the best introduction for a nursing research paper

1. Introducing the topic

When you start by introducing the topic of your research paper you need to tell your readers what the topic is and how it is important. You need to make your readers interested so that they are hooked to your paper. You can engage your audience by opening the introduction with a compelling story or a thought-provoking question. You can also include a quotation, a statistic, or an anecdote.

Though grabbing the attention is important, do not forget to convey the relevance of the topic while trying to make the introduction appear catchy. A simple way to emphasize the importance of your research is to highlight the benefits it has. This way the reader focuses on the positives of the research. 

2. Setting the background

The background will differ depending upon the nature of the research paper. If your research paper is empirical then you can provide an overview of relevant research already done on the topic and establish how your research differs from them.

While doing so you can also state the limitations or gaps in the previous research that you plan on filling. You can refer to the available literature for this but should refrain from the formal literature review in the introduction section. This will show your awareness of previous research as well. 

On the other hand, if your research paper is argumentative, you can just narrow down your topic and provide a general background to set the context. Remember this is only the introduction and if your paper needs more background information you can include it in the main body of the paper. 

3. Stating the research problem

The next step is establishing your research problem. You need to convince the reader how your work helps to address the research question. You can demonstrate how your research can fill gaps or limitations of any previous work on the same topic. The contribution your work can bring to the existing knowledge on the subject can be pointed out here. 

4. Specifying the objectives of the paper

Now you specify what you intend to achieve as a result of the research. You can either present a thesis statement or propose a research question with a hypothesis. A thesis statement should not be of more than one to two sentences and should only state your position on the topic with any specific arguments. 

5. Outlining the structure of the paper

The last part of the introduction is reserved for giving a brief overview of the research paper. Describing the structure of the paper makes it easier for the reader to understand the flow. You can also highlight the important points that you intend to make in the paper. If your paper strays away from the usual structure of introduction, body, and conclusion, providing an outline becomes important.

6. Citing the sources

If you have referred to any literature in the introduction section make sure to cite all the sources correctly. Missing out on giving credit or wrongly citing a source can land you in trouble. You can use the referencing style followed by your institute or any academically approved referencing style such as Chicago, APA, MLA, Harvard, etc.  TutorBin can provide you access to professionals who are experts in writing nursing research papers.

Though the introduction is at the beginning of every research, you can write it at the end or revisit it after completing the paper. This will make it more compelling and will be easier for you to write. 

Nursing paper help with TutorBin

Still, struggling with writing the perfect introduction for your nursing research paper? Just get in touch with TutorBin for high-quality assignment help with your research paper. These experts can write a brilliant introduction for your research paper on a variety of topics. The research writing service offered by TutorBin is sure to get you good grades, save time, and will fit your budget. 

• E- Learning
• Online Learning

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked*

Comment * NEXT

Save my name and email in this browser for the next time I comment.

You May Also Like

10 Simple Python Projects for Beginners to Build Confidence

From Zero to Hero: Learning Python Through Online Resources

Real-World Java Projects to Enhance Your Portfolio and Skills

Challenges of Doing Calculus Homework & How You Can Overcome It? 

Math Homework Help- Guidance to Excel in Math Learning

Online homework help, get homework help.

Get Answer within 15-30 minutes

Check out our free tool Math Problem Solver

About tutorbin, what do we do.

We offer an array of online homework help and other services for our students and tutors to choose from based on their needs and expertise. As an integrated platform for both tutors and students, we provide real time sessions, online assignment and homework help and project work assistance.

Who are we?

TutorBin is an integrated online homework help and tutoring platform serving as a one stop solution for students and online tutors. Students benefit from the experience and domain knowledge of global subject matter experts.

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

• View all journals
• My Account Login
• Explore content
• About the journal
• Publish with us
• Sign up for alerts
• Open access
• Published: 26 March 2024

Predicting and improving complex beer flavor through machine learning

• Michiel Schreurs   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-9449-5619 1 , 2 , 3   na1 ,
• Supinya Piampongsant 1 , 2 , 3   na1 ,
• Miguel Roncoroni   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-7461-1427 1 , 2 , 3   na1 ,
• Lloyd Cool   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-9936-3124 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ,
• Beatriz Herrera-Malaver   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-5096-9974 1 , 2 , 3 ,
• Christophe Vanderaa   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-7443-5427 4 ,
• Florian A. Theßeling 1 , 2 , 3 ,
• Łukasz Kreft   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-7620-4657 5 ,
• Alexander Botzki   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-6691-4233 5 ,
• Philippe Malcorps 6 ,
• Luk Daenen 6 ,
• Tom Wenseleers   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-1434-861X 4 &
• Kevin J. Verstrepen   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-3077-6219 1 , 2 , 3  

Nature Communications volume  15 , Article number:  2368 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

41k Accesses

778 Altmetric

Metrics details

• Chemical engineering
• Gas chromatography
• Machine learning
• Metabolomics
• Taste receptors

The perception and appreciation of food flavor depends on many interacting chemical compounds and external factors, and therefore proves challenging to understand and predict. Here, we combine extensive chemical and sensory analyses of 250 different beers to train machine learning models that allow predicting flavor and consumer appreciation. For each beer, we measure over 200 chemical properties, perform quantitative descriptive sensory analysis with a trained tasting panel and map data from over 180,000 consumer reviews to train 10 different machine learning models. The best-performing algorithm, Gradient Boosting, yields models that significantly outperform predictions based on conventional statistics and accurately predict complex food features and consumer appreciation from chemical profiles. Model dissection allows identifying specific and unexpected compounds as drivers of beer flavor and appreciation. Adding these compounds results in variants of commercial alcoholic and non-alcoholic beers with improved consumer appreciation. Together, our study reveals how big data and machine learning uncover complex links between food chemistry, flavor and consumer perception, and lays the foundation to develop novel, tailored foods with superior flavors.

Similar content being viewed by others

BitterSweet: Building machine learning models for predicting the bitter and sweet taste of small molecules

Rudraksh Tuwani, Somin Wadhwa & Ganesh Bagler

Sensory lexicon and aroma volatiles analysis of brewing malt

Xiaoxia Su, Miao Yu, … Tianyi Du

Predicting odor from molecular structure: a multi-label classification approach

Kushagra Saini & Venkatnarayan Ramanathan

Introduction

Predicting and understanding food perception and appreciation is one of the major challenges in food science. Accurate modeling of food flavor and appreciation could yield important opportunities for both producers and consumers, including quality control, product fingerprinting, counterfeit detection, spoilage detection, and the development of new products and product combinations (food pairing) 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 . Accurate models for flavor and consumer appreciation would contribute greatly to our scientific understanding of how humans perceive and appreciate flavor. Moreover, accurate predictive models would also facilitate and standardize existing food assessment methods and could supplement or replace assessments by trained and consumer tasting panels, which are variable, expensive and time-consuming 7 , 8 , 9 . Lastly, apart from providing objective, quantitative, accurate and contextual information that can help producers, models can also guide consumers in understanding their personal preferences 10 .

Despite the myriad of applications, predicting food flavor and appreciation from its chemical properties remains a largely elusive goal in sensory science, especially for complex food and beverages 11 , 12 . A key obstacle is the immense number of flavor-active chemicals underlying food flavor. Flavor compounds can vary widely in chemical structure and concentration, making them technically challenging and labor-intensive to quantify, even in the face of innovations in metabolomics, such as non-targeted metabolic fingerprinting 13 , 14 . Moreover, sensory analysis is perhaps even more complicated. Flavor perception is highly complex, resulting from hundreds of different molecules interacting at the physiochemical and sensorial level. Sensory perception is often non-linear, characterized by complex and concentration-dependent synergistic and antagonistic effects 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 that are further convoluted by the genetics, environment, culture and psychology of consumers 22 , 23 , 24 . Perceived flavor is therefore difficult to measure, with problems of sensitivity, accuracy, and reproducibility that can only be resolved by gathering sufficiently large datasets 25 . Trained tasting panels are considered the prime source of quality sensory data, but require meticulous training, are low throughput and high cost. Public databases containing consumer reviews of food products could provide a valuable alternative, especially for studying appreciation scores, which do not require formal training 25 . Public databases offer the advantage of amassing large amounts of data, increasing the statistical power to identify potential drivers of appreciation. However, public datasets suffer from biases, including a bias in the volunteers that contribute to the database, as well as confounding factors such as price, cult status and psychological conformity towards previous ratings of the product.

Classical multivariate statistics and machine learning methods have been used to predict flavor of specific compounds by, for example, linking structural properties of a compound to its potential biological activities or linking concentrations of specific compounds to sensory profiles 1 , 26 . Importantly, most previous studies focused on predicting organoleptic properties of single compounds (often based on their chemical structure) 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , thus ignoring the fact that these compounds are present in a complex matrix in food or beverages and excluding complex interactions between compounds. Moreover, the classical statistics commonly used in sensory science 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 require a large sample size and sufficient variance amongst predictors to create accurate models. They are not fit for studying an extensive set of hundreds of interacting flavor compounds, since they are sensitive to outliers, have a high tendency to overfit and are less suited for non-linear and discontinuous relationships 40 .

In this study, we combine extensive chemical analyses and sensory data of a set of different commercial beers with machine learning approaches to develop models that predict taste, smell, mouthfeel and appreciation from compound concentrations. Beer is particularly suited to model the relationship between chemistry, flavor and appreciation. First, beer is a complex product, consisting of thousands of flavor compounds that partake in complex sensory interactions 41 , 42 , 43 . This chemical diversity arises from the raw materials (malt, yeast, hops, water and spices) and biochemical conversions during the brewing process (kilning, mashing, boiling, fermentation, maturation and aging) 44 , 45 . Second, the advent of the internet saw beer consumers embrace online review platforms, such as RateBeer (ZX Ventures, Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV) and BeerAdvocate (Next Glass, inc.). In this way, the beer community provides massive data sets of beer flavor and appreciation scores, creating extraordinarily large sensory databases to complement the analyses of our professional sensory panel. Specifically, we characterize over 200 chemical properties of 250 commercial beers, spread across 22 beer styles, and link these to the descriptive sensory profiling data of a 16-person in-house trained tasting panel and data acquired from over 180,000 public consumer reviews. These unique and extensive datasets enable us to train a suite of machine learning models to predict flavor and appreciation from a beer’s chemical profile. Dissection of the best-performing models allows us to pinpoint specific compounds as potential drivers of beer flavor and appreciation. Follow-up experiments confirm the importance of these compounds and ultimately allow us to significantly improve the flavor and appreciation of selected commercial beers. Together, our study represents a significant step towards understanding complex flavors and reinforces the value of machine learning to develop and refine complex foods. In this way, it represents a stepping stone for further computer-aided food engineering applications 46 .

To generate a comprehensive dataset on beer flavor, we selected 250 commercial Belgian beers across 22 different beer styles (Supplementary Fig.  S1 ). Beers with ≤ 4.2% alcohol by volume (ABV) were classified as non-alcoholic and low-alcoholic. Blonds and Tripels constitute a significant portion of the dataset (12.4% and 11.2%, respectively) reflecting their presence on the Belgian beer market and the heterogeneity of beers within these styles. By contrast, lager beers are less diverse and dominated by a handful of brands. Rare styles such as Brut or Faro make up only a small fraction of the dataset (2% and 1%, respectively) because fewer of these beers are produced and because they are dominated by distinct characteristics in terms of flavor and chemical composition.

Extensive analysis identifies relationships between chemical compounds in beer

For each beer, we measured 226 different chemical properties, including common brewing parameters such as alcohol content, iso-alpha acids, pH, sugar concentration 47 , and over 200 flavor compounds (Methods, Supplementary Table  S1 ). A large portion (37.2%) are terpenoids arising from hopping, responsible for herbal and fruity flavors 16 , 48 . A second major category are yeast metabolites, such as esters and alcohols, that result in fruity and solvent notes 48 , 49 , 50 . Other measured compounds are primarily derived from malt, or other microbes such as non- Saccharomyces yeasts and bacteria (‘wild flora’). Compounds that arise from spices or staling are labeled under ‘Others’. Five attributes (caloric value, total acids and total ester, hop aroma and sulfur compounds) are calculated from multiple individually measured compounds.

As a first step in identifying relationships between chemical properties, we determined correlations between the concentrations of the compounds (Fig.  1 , upper panel, Supplementary Data  1 and 2 , and Supplementary Fig.  S2 . For the sake of clarity, only a subset of the measured compounds is shown in Fig.  1 ). Compounds of the same origin typically show a positive correlation, while absence of correlation hints at parameters varying independently. For example, the hop aroma compounds citronellol, and alpha-terpineol show moderate correlations with each other (Spearman’s rho=0.39 and 0.57), but not with the bittering hop component iso-alpha acids (Spearman’s rho=0.16 and −0.07). This illustrates how brewers can independently modify hop aroma and bitterness by selecting hop varieties and dosage time. If hops are added early in the boiling phase, chemical conversions increase bitterness while aromas evaporate, conversely, late addition of hops preserves aroma but limits bitterness 51 . Similarly, hop-derived iso-alpha acids show a strong anti-correlation with lactic acid and acetic acid, likely reflecting growth inhibition of lactic acid and acetic acid bacteria, or the consequent use of fewer hops in sour beer styles, such as West Flanders ales and Fruit beers, that rely on these bacteria for their distinct flavors 52 . Finally, yeast-derived esters (ethyl acetate, ethyl decanoate, ethyl hexanoate, ethyl octanoate) and alcohols (ethanol, isoamyl alcohol, isobutanol, and glycerol), correlate with Spearman coefficients above 0.5, suggesting that these secondary metabolites are correlated with the yeast genetic background and/or fermentation parameters and may be difficult to influence individually, although the choice of yeast strain may offer some control 53 .

Spearman rank correlations are shown. Descriptors are grouped according to their origin (malt (blue), hops (green), yeast (red), wild flora (yellow), Others (black)), and sensory aspect (aroma, taste, palate, and overall appreciation). Please note that for the chemical compounds, for the sake of clarity, only a subset of the total number of measured compounds is shown, with an emphasis on the key compounds for each source. For more details, see the main text and Methods section. Chemical data can be found in Supplementary Data  1 , correlations between all chemical compounds are depicted in Supplementary Fig.  S2 and correlation values can be found in Supplementary Data  2 . See Supplementary Data  4 for sensory panel assessments and Supplementary Data  5 for correlation values between all sensory descriptors.

Interestingly, different beer styles show distinct patterns for some flavor compounds (Supplementary Fig.  S3 ). These observations agree with expectations for key beer styles, and serve as a control for our measurements. For instance, Stouts generally show high values for color (darker), while hoppy beers contain elevated levels of iso-alpha acids, compounds associated with bitter hop taste. Acetic and lactic acid are not prevalent in most beers, with notable exceptions such as Kriek, Lambic, Faro, West Flanders ales and Flanders Old Brown, which use acid-producing bacteria ( Lactobacillus and Pediococcus ) or unconventional yeast ( Brettanomyces ) 54 , 55 . Glycerol, ethanol and esters show similar distributions across all beer styles, reflecting their common origin as products of yeast metabolism during fermentation 45 , 53 . Finally, low/no-alcohol beers contain low concentrations of glycerol and esters. This is in line with the production process for most of the low/no-alcohol beers in our dataset, which are produced through limiting fermentation or by stripping away alcohol via evaporation or dialysis, with both methods having the unintended side-effect of reducing the amount of flavor compounds in the final beer 56 , 57 .

Besides expected associations, our data also reveals less trivial associations between beer styles and specific parameters. For example, geraniol and citronellol, two monoterpenoids responsible for citrus, floral and rose flavors and characteristic of Citra hops, are found in relatively high amounts in Christmas, Saison, and Brett/co-fermented beers, where they may originate from terpenoid-rich spices such as coriander seeds instead of hops 58 .

Tasting panel assessments reveal sensorial relationships in beer

To assess the sensory profile of each beer, a trained tasting panel evaluated each of the 250 beers for 50 sensory attributes, including different hop, malt and yeast flavors, off-flavors and spices. Panelists used a tasting sheet (Supplementary Data  3 ) to score the different attributes. Panel consistency was evaluated by repeating 12 samples across different sessions and performing ANOVA. In 95% of cases no significant difference was found across sessions ( p  > 0.05), indicating good panel consistency (Supplementary Table  S2 ).

Aroma and taste perception reported by the trained panel are often linked (Fig.  1 , bottom left panel and Supplementary Data  4 and 5 ), with high correlations between hops aroma and taste (Spearman’s rho=0.83). Bitter taste was found to correlate with hop aroma and taste in general (Spearman’s rho=0.80 and 0.69), and particularly with “grassy” noble hops (Spearman’s rho=0.75). Barnyard flavor, most often associated with sour beers, is identified together with stale hops (Spearman’s rho=0.97) that are used in these beers. Lactic and acetic acid, which often co-occur, are correlated (Spearman’s rho=0.66). Interestingly, sweetness and bitterness are anti-correlated (Spearman’s rho = −0.48), confirming the hypothesis that they mask each other 59 , 60 . Beer body is highly correlated with alcohol (Spearman’s rho = 0.79), and overall appreciation is found to correlate with multiple aspects that describe beer mouthfeel (alcohol, carbonation; Spearman’s rho= 0.32, 0.39), as well as with hop and ester aroma intensity (Spearman’s rho=0.39 and 0.35).

Similar to the chemical analyses, sensorial analyses confirmed typical features of specific beer styles (Supplementary Fig.  S4 ). For example, sour beers (Faro, Flanders Old Brown, Fruit beer, Kriek, Lambic, West Flanders ale) were rated acidic, with flavors of both acetic and lactic acid. Hoppy beers were found to be bitter and showed hop-associated aromas like citrus and tropical fruit. Malt taste is most detected among scotch, stout/porters, and strong ales, while low/no-alcohol beers, which often have a reputation for being ‘worty’ (reminiscent of unfermented, sweet malt extract) appear in the middle. Unsurprisingly, hop aromas are most strongly detected among hoppy beers. Like its chemical counterpart (Supplementary Fig.  S3 ), acidity shows a right-skewed distribution, with the most acidic beers being Krieks, Lambics, and West Flanders ales.

Tasting panel assessments of specific flavors correlate with chemical composition

We find that the concentrations of several chemical compounds strongly correlate with specific aroma or taste, as evaluated by the tasting panel (Fig.  2 , Supplementary Fig.  S5 , Supplementary Data  6 ). In some cases, these correlations confirm expectations and serve as a useful control for data quality. For example, iso-alpha acids, the bittering compounds in hops, strongly correlate with bitterness (Spearman’s rho=0.68), while ethanol and glycerol correlate with tasters’ perceptions of alcohol and body, the mouthfeel sensation of fullness (Spearman’s rho=0.82/0.62 and 0.72/0.57 respectively) and darker color from roasted malts is a good indication of malt perception (Spearman’s rho=0.54).

Heatmap colors indicate Spearman’s Rho. Axes are organized according to sensory categories (aroma, taste, mouthfeel, overall), chemical categories and chemical sources in beer (malt (blue), hops (green), yeast (red), wild flora (yellow), Others (black)). See Supplementary Data  6 for all correlation values.

Interestingly, for some relationships between chemical compounds and perceived flavor, correlations are weaker than expected. For example, the rose-smelling phenethyl acetate only weakly correlates with floral aroma. This hints at more complex relationships and interactions between compounds and suggests a need for a more complex model than simple correlations. Lastly, we uncovered unexpected correlations. For instance, the esters ethyl decanoate and ethyl octanoate appear to correlate slightly with hop perception and bitterness, possibly due to their fruity flavor. Iron is anti-correlated with hop aromas and bitterness, most likely because it is also anti-correlated with iso-alpha acids. This could be a sign of metal chelation of hop acids 61 , given that our analyses measure unbound hop acids and total iron content, or could result from the higher iron content in dark and Fruit beers, which typically have less hoppy and bitter flavors 62 .

Public consumer reviews complement expert panel data

To complement and expand the sensory data of our trained tasting panel, we collected 180,000 reviews of our 250 beers from the online consumer review platform RateBeer. This provided numerical scores for beer appearance, aroma, taste, palate, overall quality as well as the average overall score.

Public datasets are known to suffer from biases, such as price, cult status and psychological conformity towards previous ratings of a product. For example, prices correlate with appreciation scores for these online consumer reviews (rho=0.49, Supplementary Fig.  S6 ), but not for our trained tasting panel (rho=0.19). This suggests that prices affect consumer appreciation, which has been reported in wine 63 , while blind tastings are unaffected. Moreover, we observe that some beer styles, like lagers and non-alcoholic beers, generally receive lower scores, reflecting that online reviewers are mostly beer aficionados with a preference for specialty beers over lager beers. In general, we find a modest correlation between our trained panel’s overall appreciation score and the online consumer appreciation scores (Fig.  3 , rho=0.29). Apart from the aforementioned biases in the online datasets, serving temperature, sample freshness and surroundings, which are all tightly controlled during the tasting panel sessions, can vary tremendously across online consumers and can further contribute to (among others, appreciation) differences between the two categories of tasters. Importantly, in contrast to the overall appreciation scores, for many sensory aspects the results from the professional panel correlated well with results obtained from RateBeer reviews. Correlations were highest for features that are relatively easy to recognize even for untrained tasters, like bitterness, sweetness, alcohol and malt aroma (Fig.  3 and below).

RateBeer text mining results can be found in Supplementary Data  7 . Rho values shown are Spearman correlation values, with asterisks indicating significant correlations ( p  < 0.05, two-sided). All p values were smaller than 0.001, except for Esters aroma (0.0553), Esters taste (0.3275), Esters aroma—banana (0.0019), Coriander (0.0508) and Diacetyl (0.0134).

Besides collecting consumer appreciation from these online reviews, we developed automated text analysis tools to gather additional data from review texts (Supplementary Data  7 ). Processing review texts on the RateBeer database yielded comparable results to the scores given by the trained panel for many common sensory aspects, including acidity, bitterness, sweetness, alcohol, malt, and hop tastes (Fig.  3 ). This is in line with what would be expected, since these attributes require less training for accurate assessment and are less influenced by environmental factors such as temperature, serving glass and odors in the environment. Consumer reviews also correlate well with our trained panel for 4-vinyl guaiacol, a compound associated with a very characteristic aroma. By contrast, correlations for more specific aromas like ester, coriander or diacetyl are underrepresented in the online reviews, underscoring the importance of using a trained tasting panel and standardized tasting sheets with explicit factors to be scored for evaluating specific aspects of a beer. Taken together, our results suggest that public reviews are trustworthy for some, but not all, flavor features and can complement or substitute taste panel data for these sensory aspects.

Models can predict beer sensory profiles from chemical data

The rich datasets of chemical analyses, tasting panel assessments and public reviews gathered in the first part of this study provided us with a unique opportunity to develop predictive models that link chemical data to sensorial features. Given the complexity of beer flavor, basic statistical tools such as correlations or linear regression may not always be the most suitable for making accurate predictions. Instead, we applied different machine learning models that can model both simple linear and complex interactive relationships. Specifically, we constructed a set of regression models to predict (a) trained panel scores for beer flavor and quality and (b) public reviews’ appreciation scores from beer chemical profiles. We trained and tested 10 different models (Methods), 3 linear regression-based models (simple linear regression with first-order interactions (LR), lasso regression with first-order interactions (Lasso), partial least squares regressor (PLSR)), 5 decision tree models (AdaBoost regressor (ABR), extra trees (ET), gradient boosting regressor (GBR), random forest (RF) and XGBoost regressor (XGBR)), 1 support vector regression (SVR), and 1 artificial neural network (ANN) model.

To compare the performance of our machine learning models, the dataset was randomly split into a training and test set, stratified by beer style. After a model was trained on data in the training set, its performance was evaluated on its ability to predict the test dataset obtained from multi-output models (based on the coefficient of determination, see Methods). Additionally, individual-attribute models were ranked per descriptor and the average rank was calculated, as proposed by Korneva et al. 64 . Importantly, both ways of evaluating the models’ performance agreed in general. Performance of the different models varied (Table  1 ). It should be noted that all models perform better at predicting RateBeer results than results from our trained tasting panel. One reason could be that sensory data is inherently variable, and this variability is averaged out with the large number of public reviews from RateBeer. Additionally, all tree-based models perform better at predicting taste than aroma. Linear models (LR) performed particularly poorly, with negative R 2 values, due to severe overfitting (training set R 2  = 1). Overfitting is a common issue in linear models with many parameters and limited samples, especially with interaction terms further amplifying the number of parameters. L1 regularization (Lasso) successfully overcomes this overfitting, out-competing multiple tree-based models on the RateBeer dataset. Similarly, the dimensionality reduction of PLSR avoids overfitting and improves performance, to some extent. Still, tree-based models (ABR, ET, GBR, RF and XGBR) show the best performance, out-competing the linear models (LR, Lasso, PLSR) commonly used in sensory science 65 .

GBR models showed the best overall performance in predicting sensory responses from chemical information, with R 2 values up to 0.75 depending on the predicted sensory feature (Supplementary Table  S4 ). The GBR models predict consumer appreciation (RateBeer) better than our trained panel’s appreciation (R 2 value of 0.67 compared to R 2 value of 0.09) (Supplementary Table  S3 and Supplementary Table  S4 ). ANN models showed intermediate performance, likely because neural networks typically perform best with larger datasets 66 . The SVR shows intermediate performance, mostly due to the weak predictions of specific attributes that lower the overall performance (Supplementary Table  S4 ).

Model dissection identifies specific, unexpected compounds as drivers of consumer appreciation

Next, we leveraged our models to infer important contributors to sensory perception and consumer appreciation. Consumer preference is a crucial sensory aspects, because a product that shows low consumer appreciation scores often does not succeed commercially 25 . Additionally, the requirement for a large number of representative evaluators makes consumer trials one of the more costly and time-consuming aspects of product development. Hence, a model for predicting chemical drivers of overall appreciation would be a welcome addition to the available toolbox for food development and optimization.

Since GBR models on our RateBeer dataset showed the best overall performance, we focused on these models. Specifically, we used two approaches to identify important contributors. First, rankings of the most important predictors for each sensorial trait in the GBR models were obtained based on impurity-based feature importance (mean decrease in impurity). High-ranked parameters were hypothesized to be either the true causal chemical properties underlying the trait, to correlate with the actual causal properties, or to take part in sensory interactions affecting the trait 67 (Fig.  4A ). In a second approach, we used SHAP 68 to determine which parameters contributed most to the model for making predictions of consumer appreciation (Fig.  4B ). SHAP calculates parameter contributions to model predictions on a per-sample basis, which can be aggregated into an importance score.

A The impurity-based feature importance (mean deviance in impurity, MDI) calculated from the Gradient Boosting Regression (GBR) model predicting RateBeer appreciation scores. The top 15 highest ranked chemical properties are shown. B SHAP summary plot for the top 15 parameters contributing to our GBR model. Each point on the graph represents a sample from our dataset. The color represents the concentration of that parameter, with bluer colors representing low values and redder colors representing higher values. Greater absolute values on the horizontal axis indicate a higher impact of the parameter on the prediction of the model. C Spearman correlations between the 15 most important chemical properties and consumer overall appreciation. Numbers indicate the Spearman Rho correlation coefficient, and the rank of this correlation compared to all other correlations. The top 15 important compounds were determined using SHAP (panel B).

Both approaches identified ethyl acetate as the most predictive parameter for beer appreciation (Fig.  4 ). Ethyl acetate is the most abundant ester in beer with a typical ‘fruity’, ‘solvent’ and ‘alcoholic’ flavor, but is often considered less important than other esters like isoamyl acetate. The second most important parameter identified by SHAP is ethanol, the most abundant beer compound after water. Apart from directly contributing to beer flavor and mouthfeel, ethanol drastically influences the physical properties of beer, dictating how easily volatile compounds escape the beer matrix to contribute to beer aroma 69 . Importantly, it should also be noted that the importance of ethanol for appreciation is likely inflated by the very low appreciation scores of non-alcoholic beers (Supplementary Fig.  S4 ). Despite not often being considered a driver of beer appreciation, protein level also ranks highly in both approaches, possibly due to its effect on mouthfeel and body 70 . Lactic acid, which contributes to the tart taste of sour beers, is the fourth most important parameter identified by SHAP, possibly due to the generally high appreciation of sour beers in our dataset.

Interestingly, some of the most important predictive parameters for our model are not well-established as beer flavors or are even commonly regarded as being negative for beer quality. For example, our models identify methanethiol and ethyl phenyl acetate, an ester commonly linked to beer staling 71 , as a key factor contributing to beer appreciation. Although there is no doubt that high concentrations of these compounds are considered unpleasant, the positive effects of modest concentrations are not yet known 72 , 73 .

To compare our approach to conventional statistics, we evaluated how well the 15 most important SHAP-derived parameters correlate with consumer appreciation (Fig.  4C ). Interestingly, only 6 of the properties derived by SHAP rank amongst the top 15 most correlated parameters. For some chemical compounds, the correlations are so low that they would have likely been considered unimportant. For example, lactic acid, the fourth most important parameter, shows a bimodal distribution for appreciation, with sour beers forming a separate cluster, that is missed entirely by the Spearman correlation. Additionally, the correlation plots reveal outliers, emphasizing the need for robust analysis tools. Together, this highlights the need for alternative models, like the Gradient Boosting model, that better grasp the complexity of (beer) flavor.

Finally, to observe the relationships between these chemical properties and their predicted targets, partial dependence plots were constructed for the six most important predictors of consumer appreciation 74 , 75 , 76 (Supplementary Fig.  S7 ). One-way partial dependence plots show how a change in concentration affects the predicted appreciation. These plots reveal an important limitation of our models: appreciation predictions remain constant at ever-increasing concentrations. This implies that once a threshold concentration is reached, further increasing the concentration does not affect appreciation. This is false, as it is well-documented that certain compounds become unpleasant at high concentrations, including ethyl acetate (‘nail polish’) 77 and methanethiol (‘sulfury’ and ‘rotten cabbage’) 78 . The inability of our models to grasp that flavor compounds have optimal levels, above which they become negative, is a consequence of working with commercial beer brands where (off-)flavors are rarely too high to negatively impact the product. The two-way partial dependence plots show how changing the concentration of two compounds influences predicted appreciation, visualizing their interactions (Supplementary Fig.  S7 ). In our case, the top 5 parameters are dominated by additive or synergistic interactions, with high concentrations for both compounds resulting in the highest predicted appreciation.

To assess the robustness of our best-performing models and model predictions, we performed 100 iterations of the GBR, RF and ET models. In general, all iterations of the models yielded similar performance (Supplementary Fig.  S8 ). Moreover, the main predictors (including the top predictors ethanol and ethyl acetate) remained virtually the same, especially for GBR and RF. For the iterations of the ET model, we did observe more variation in the top predictors, which is likely a consequence of the model’s inherent random architecture in combination with co-correlations between certain predictors. However, even in this case, several of the top predictors (ethanol and ethyl acetate) remain unchanged, although their rank in importance changes (Supplementary Fig.  S8 ).

Next, we investigated if a combination of RateBeer and trained panel data into one consolidated dataset would lead to stronger models, under the hypothesis that such a model would suffer less from bias in the datasets. A GBR model was trained to predict appreciation on the combined dataset. This model underperformed compared to the RateBeer model, both in the native case and when including a dataset identifier (R 2  = 0.67, 0.26 and 0.42 respectively). For the latter, the dataset identifier is the most important feature (Supplementary Fig.  S9 ), while most of the feature importance remains unchanged, with ethyl acetate and ethanol ranking highest, like in the original model trained only on RateBeer data. It seems that the large variation in the panel dataset introduces noise, weakening the models’ performances and reliability. In addition, it seems reasonable to assume that both datasets are fundamentally different, with the panel dataset obtained by blind tastings by a trained professional panel.

Lastly, we evaluated whether beer style identifiers would further enhance the model’s performance. A GBR model was trained with parameters that explicitly encoded the styles of the samples. This did not improve model performance (R2 = 0.66 with style information vs R2 = 0.67). The most important chemical features are consistent with the model trained without style information (eg. ethanol and ethyl acetate), and with the exception of the most preferred (strong ale) and least preferred (low/no-alcohol) styles, none of the styles were among the most important features (Supplementary Fig.  S9 , Supplementary Table  S5 and S6 ). This is likely due to a combination of style-specific chemical signatures, such as iso-alpha acids and lactic acid, that implicitly convey style information to the original models, as well as the low number of samples belonging to some styles, making it difficult for the model to learn style-specific patterns. Moreover, beer styles are not rigorously defined, with some styles overlapping in features and some beers being misattributed to a specific style, all of which leads to more noise in models that use style parameters.

Model validation

To test if our predictive models give insight into beer appreciation, we set up experiments aimed at improving existing commercial beers. We specifically selected overall appreciation as the trait to be examined because of its complexity and commercial relevance. Beer flavor comprises a complex bouquet rather than single aromas and tastes 53 . Hence, adding a single compound to the extent that a difference is noticeable may lead to an unbalanced, artificial flavor. Therefore, we evaluated the effect of combinations of compounds. Because Blond beers represent the most extensive style in our dataset, we selected a beer from this style as the starting material for these experiments (Beer 64 in Supplementary Data  1 ).

In the first set of experiments, we adjusted the concentrations of compounds that made up the most important predictors of overall appreciation (ethyl acetate, ethanol, lactic acid, ethyl phenyl acetate) together with correlated compounds (ethyl hexanoate, isoamyl acetate, glycerol), bringing them up to 95 th percentile ethanol-normalized concentrations (Methods) within the Blond group (‘Spiked’ concentration in Fig.  5A ). Compared to controls, the spiked beers were found to have significantly improved overall appreciation among trained panelists, with panelist noting increased intensity of ester flavors, sweetness, alcohol, and body fullness (Fig.  5B ). To disentangle the contribution of ethanol to these results, a second experiment was performed without the addition of ethanol. This resulted in a similar outcome, including increased perception of alcohol and overall appreciation.

Adding the top chemical compounds, identified as best predictors of appreciation by our model, into poorly appreciated beers results in increased appreciation from our trained panel. Results of sensory tests between base beers and those spiked with compounds identified as the best predictors by the model. A Blond and Non/Low-alcohol (0.0% ABV) base beers were brought up to 95th-percentile ethanol-normalized concentrations within each style. B For each sensory attribute, tasters indicated the more intense sample and selected the sample they preferred. The numbers above the bars correspond to the p values that indicate significant changes in perceived flavor (two-sided binomial test: alpha 0.05, n  = 20 or 13).

In a last experiment, we tested whether using the model’s predictions can boost the appreciation of a non-alcoholic beer (beer 223 in Supplementary Data  1 ). Again, the addition of a mixture of predicted compounds (omitting ethanol, in this case) resulted in a significant increase in appreciation, body, ester flavor and sweetness.

Predicting flavor and consumer appreciation from chemical composition is one of the ultimate goals of sensory science. A reliable, systematic and unbiased way to link chemical profiles to flavor and food appreciation would be a significant asset to the food and beverage industry. Such tools would substantially aid in quality control and recipe development, offer an efficient and cost-effective alternative to pilot studies and consumer trials and would ultimately allow food manufacturers to produce superior, tailor-made products that better meet the demands of specific consumer groups more efficiently.

A limited set of studies have previously tried, to varying degrees of success, to predict beer flavor and beer popularity based on (a limited set of) chemical compounds and flavors 79 , 80 . Current sensitive, high-throughput technologies allow measuring an unprecedented number of chemical compounds and properties in a large set of samples, yielding a dataset that can train models that help close the gaps between chemistry and flavor, even for a complex natural product like beer. To our knowledge, no previous research gathered data at this scale (250 samples, 226 chemical parameters, 50 sensory attributes and 5 consumer scores) to disentangle and validate the chemical aspects driving beer preference using various machine-learning techniques. We find that modern machine learning models outperform conventional statistical tools, such as correlations and linear models, and can successfully predict flavor appreciation from chemical composition. This could be attributed to the natural incorporation of interactions and non-linear or discontinuous effects in machine learning models, which are not easily grasped by the linear model architecture. While linear models and partial least squares regression represent the most widespread statistical approaches in sensory science, in part because they allow interpretation 65 , 81 , 82 , modern machine learning methods allow for building better predictive models while preserving the possibility to dissect and exploit the underlying patterns. Of the 10 different models we trained, tree-based models, such as our best performing GBR, showed the best overall performance in predicting sensory responses from chemical information, outcompeting artificial neural networks. This agrees with previous reports for models trained on tabular data 83 . Our results are in line with the findings of Colantonio et al. who also identified the gradient boosting architecture as performing best at predicting appreciation and flavor (of tomatoes and blueberries, in their specific study) 26 . Importantly, besides our larger experimental scale, we were able to directly confirm our models’ predictions in vivo.

Our study confirms that flavor compound concentration does not always correlate with perception, suggesting complex interactions that are often missed by more conventional statistics and simple models. Specifically, we find that tree-based algorithms may perform best in developing models that link complex food chemistry with aroma. Furthermore, we show that massive datasets of untrained consumer reviews provide a valuable source of data, that can complement or even replace trained tasting panels, especially for appreciation and basic flavors, such as sweetness and bitterness. This holds despite biases that are known to occur in such datasets, such as price or conformity bias. Moreover, GBR models predict taste better than aroma. This is likely because taste (e.g. bitterness) often directly relates to the corresponding chemical measurements (e.g., iso-alpha acids), whereas such a link is less clear for aromas, which often result from the interplay between multiple volatile compounds. We also find that our models are best at predicting acidity and alcohol, likely because there is a direct relation between the measured chemical compounds (acids and ethanol) and the corresponding perceived sensorial attribute (acidity and alcohol), and because even untrained consumers are generally able to recognize these flavors and aromas.

The predictions of our final models, trained on review data, hold even for blind tastings with small groups of trained tasters, as demonstrated by our ability to validate specific compounds as drivers of beer flavor and appreciation. Since adding a single compound to the extent of a noticeable difference may result in an unbalanced flavor profile, we specifically tested our identified key drivers as a combination of compounds. While this approach does not allow us to validate if a particular single compound would affect flavor and/or appreciation, our experiments do show that this combination of compounds increases consumer appreciation.

It is important to stress that, while it represents an important step forward, our approach still has several major limitations. A key weakness of the GBR model architecture is that amongst co-correlating variables, the largest main effect is consistently preferred for model building. As a result, co-correlating variables often have artificially low importance scores, both for impurity and SHAP-based methods, like we observed in the comparison to the more randomized Extra Trees models. This implies that chemicals identified as key drivers of a specific sensory feature by GBR might not be the true causative compounds, but rather co-correlate with the actual causative chemical. For example, the high importance of ethyl acetate could be (partially) attributed to the total ester content, ethanol or ethyl hexanoate (rho=0.77, rho=0.72 and rho=0.68), while ethyl phenylacetate could hide the importance of prenyl isobutyrate and ethyl benzoate (rho=0.77 and rho=0.76). Expanding our GBR model to include beer style as a parameter did not yield additional power or insight. This is likely due to style-specific chemical signatures, such as iso-alpha acids and lactic acid, that implicitly convey style information to the original model, as well as the smaller sample size per style, limiting the power to uncover style-specific patterns. This can be partly attributed to the curse of dimensionality, where the high number of parameters results in the models mainly incorporating single parameter effects, rather than complex interactions such as style-dependent effects 67 . A larger number of samples may overcome some of these limitations and offer more insight into style-specific effects. On the other hand, beer style is not a rigid scientific classification, and beers within one style often differ a lot, which further complicates the analysis of style as a model factor.

Our study is limited to beers from Belgian breweries. Although these beers cover a large portion of the beer styles available globally, some beer styles and consumer patterns may be missing, while other features might be overrepresented. For example, many Belgian ales exhibit yeast-driven flavor profiles, which is reflected in the chemical drivers of appreciation discovered by this study. In future work, expanding the scope to include diverse markets and beer styles could lead to the identification of even more drivers of appreciation and better models for special niche products that were not present in our beer set.

In addition to inherent limitations of GBR models, there are also some limitations associated with studying food aroma. Even if our chemical analyses measured most of the known aroma compounds, the total number of flavor compounds in complex foods like beer is still larger than the subset we were able to measure in this study. For example, hop-derived thiols, that influence flavor at very low concentrations, are notoriously difficult to measure in a high-throughput experiment. Moreover, consumer perception remains subjective and prone to biases that are difficult to avoid. It is also important to stress that the models are still immature and that more extensive datasets will be crucial for developing more complete models in the future. Besides more samples and parameters, our dataset does not include any demographic information about the tasters. Including such data could lead to better models that grasp external factors like age and culture. Another limitation is that our set of beers consists of high-quality end-products and lacks beers that are unfit for sale, which limits the current model in accurately predicting products that are appreciated very badly. Finally, while models could be readily applied in quality control, their use in sensory science and product development is restrained by their inability to discern causal relationships. Given that the models cannot distinguish compounds that genuinely drive consumer perception from those that merely correlate, validation experiments are essential to identify true causative compounds.

Despite the inherent limitations, dissection of our models enabled us to pinpoint specific molecules as potential drivers of beer aroma and consumer appreciation, including compounds that were unexpected and would not have been identified using standard approaches. Important drivers of beer appreciation uncovered by our models include protein levels, ethyl acetate, ethyl phenyl acetate and lactic acid. Currently, many brewers already use lactic acid to acidify their brewing water and ensure optimal pH for enzymatic activity during the mashing process. Our results suggest that adding lactic acid can also improve beer appreciation, although its individual effect remains to be tested. Interestingly, ethanol appears to be unnecessary to improve beer appreciation, both for blond beer and alcohol-free beer. Given the growing consumer interest in alcohol-free beer, with a predicted annual market growth of >7% 84 , it is relevant for brewers to know what compounds can further increase consumer appreciation of these beers. Hence, our model may readily provide avenues to further improve the flavor and consumer appreciation of both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beers, which is generally considered one of the key challenges for future beer production.

Whereas we see a direct implementation of our results for the development of superior alcohol-free beverages and other food products, our study can also serve as a stepping stone for the development of novel alcohol-containing beverages. We want to echo the growing body of scientific evidence for the negative effects of alcohol consumption, both on the individual level by the mutagenic, teratogenic and carcinogenic effects of ethanol 85 , 86 , as well as the burden on society caused by alcohol abuse and addiction. We encourage the use of our results for the production of healthier, tastier products, including novel and improved beverages with lower alcohol contents. Furthermore, we strongly discourage the use of these technologies to improve the appreciation or addictive properties of harmful substances.

The present work demonstrates that despite some important remaining hurdles, combining the latest developments in chemical analyses, sensory analysis and modern machine learning methods offers exciting avenues for food chemistry and engineering. Soon, these tools may provide solutions in quality control and recipe development, as well as new approaches to sensory science and flavor research.

Beer selection

250 commercial Belgian beers were selected to cover the broad diversity of beer styles and corresponding diversity in chemical composition and aroma. See Supplementary Fig.  S1 .

Chemical dataset

Sample preparation.

Beers within their expiration date were purchased from commercial retailers. Samples were prepared in biological duplicates at room temperature, unless explicitly stated otherwise. Bottle pressure was measured with a manual pressure device (Steinfurth Mess-Systeme GmbH) and used to calculate CO 2 concentration. The beer was poured through two filter papers (Macherey-Nagel, 500713032 MN 713 ¼) to remove carbon dioxide and prevent spontaneous foaming. Samples were then prepared for measurements by targeted Headspace-Gas Chromatography-Flame Ionization Detector/Flame Photometric Detector (HS-GC-FID/FPD), Headspace-Solid Phase Microextraction-Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC-MS), colorimetric analysis, enzymatic analysis, Near-Infrared (NIR) analysis, as described in the sections below. The mean values of biological duplicates are reported for each compound.

HS-GC-FID/FPD

HS-GC-FID/FPD (Shimadzu GC 2010 Plus) was used to measure higher alcohols, acetaldehyde, esters, 4-vinyl guaicol, and sulfur compounds. Each measurement comprised 5 ml of sample pipetted into a 20 ml glass vial containing 1.75 g NaCl (VWR, 27810.295). 100 µl of 2-heptanol (Sigma-Aldrich, H3003) (internal standard) solution in ethanol (Fisher Chemical, E/0650DF/C17) was added for a final concentration of 2.44 mg/L. Samples were flushed with nitrogen for 10 s, sealed with a silicone septum, stored at −80 °C and analyzed in batches of 20.

The GC was equipped with a DB-WAXetr column (length, 30 m; internal diameter, 0.32 mm; layer thickness, 0.50 µm; Agilent Technologies, Santa Clara, CA, USA) to the FID and an HP-5 column (length, 30 m; internal diameter, 0.25 mm; layer thickness, 0.25 µm; Agilent Technologies, Santa Clara, CA, USA) to the FPD. N 2 was used as the carrier gas. Samples were incubated for 20 min at 70 °C in the headspace autosampler (Flow rate, 35 cm/s; Injection volume, 1000 µL; Injection mode, split; Combi PAL autosampler, CTC analytics, Switzerland). The injector, FID and FPD temperatures were kept at 250 °C. The GC oven temperature was first held at 50 °C for 5 min and then allowed to rise to 80 °C at a rate of 5 °C/min, followed by a second ramp of 4 °C/min until 200 °C kept for 3 min and a final ramp of (4 °C/min) until 230 °C for 1 min. Results were analyzed with the GCSolution software version 2.4 (Shimadzu, Kyoto, Japan). The GC was calibrated with a 5% EtOH solution (VWR International) containing the volatiles under study (Supplementary Table  S7 ).

HS-SPME-GC-MS

HS-SPME-GC-MS (Shimadzu GCMS-QP-2010 Ultra) was used to measure additional volatile compounds, mainly comprising terpenoids and esters. Samples were analyzed by HS-SPME using a triphase DVB/Carboxen/PDMS 50/30 μm SPME fiber (Supelco Co., Bellefonte, PA, USA) followed by gas chromatography (Thermo Fisher Scientific Trace 1300 series, USA) coupled to a mass spectrometer (Thermo Fisher Scientific ISQ series MS) equipped with a TriPlus RSH autosampler. 5 ml of degassed beer sample was placed in 20 ml vials containing 1.75 g NaCl (VWR, 27810.295). 5 µl internal standard mix was added, containing 2-heptanol (1 g/L) (Sigma-Aldrich, H3003), 4-fluorobenzaldehyde (1 g/L) (Sigma-Aldrich, 128376), 2,3-hexanedione (1 g/L) (Sigma-Aldrich, 144169) and guaiacol (1 g/L) (Sigma-Aldrich, W253200) in ethanol (Fisher Chemical, E/0650DF/C17). Each sample was incubated at 60 °C in the autosampler oven with constant agitation. After 5 min equilibration, the SPME fiber was exposed to the sample headspace for 30 min. The compounds trapped on the fiber were thermally desorbed in the injection port of the chromatograph by heating the fiber for 15 min at 270 °C.

The GC-MS was equipped with a low polarity RXi-5Sil MS column (length, 20 m; internal diameter, 0.18 mm; layer thickness, 0.18 µm; Restek, Bellefonte, PA, USA). Injection was performed in splitless mode at 320 °C, a split flow of 9 ml/min, a purge flow of 5 ml/min and an open valve time of 3 min. To obtain a pulsed injection, a programmed gas flow was used whereby the helium gas flow was set at 2.7 mL/min for 0.1 min, followed by a decrease in flow of 20 ml/min to the normal 0.9 mL/min. The temperature was first held at 30 °C for 3 min and then allowed to rise to 80 °C at a rate of 7 °C/min, followed by a second ramp of 2 °C/min till 125 °C and a final ramp of 8 °C/min with a final temperature of 270 °C.

Mass acquisition range was 33 to 550 amu at a scan rate of 5 scans/s. Electron impact ionization energy was 70 eV. The interface and ion source were kept at 275 °C and 250 °C, respectively. A mix of linear n-alkanes (from C7 to C40, Supelco Co.) was injected into the GC-MS under identical conditions to serve as external retention index markers. Identification and quantification of the compounds were performed using an in-house developed R script as described in Goelen et al. and Reher et al. 87 , 88 (for package information, see Supplementary Table  S8 ). Briefly, chromatograms were analyzed using AMDIS (v2.71) 89 to separate overlapping peaks and obtain pure compound spectra. The NIST MS Search software (v2.0 g) in combination with the NIST2017, FFNSC3 and Adams4 libraries were used to manually identify the empirical spectra, taking into account the expected retention time. After background subtraction and correcting for retention time shifts between samples run on different days based on alkane ladders, compound elution profiles were extracted and integrated using a file with 284 target compounds of interest, which were either recovered in our identified AMDIS list of spectra or were known to occur in beer. Compound elution profiles were estimated for every peak in every chromatogram over a time-restricted window using weighted non-negative least square analysis after which peak areas were integrated 87 , 88 . Batch effect correction was performed by normalizing against the most stable internal standard compound, 4-fluorobenzaldehyde. Out of all 284 target compounds that were analyzed, 167 were visually judged to have reliable elution profiles and were used for final analysis.

Discrete photometric and enzymatic analysis

Discrete photometric and enzymatic analysis (Thermo Scientific TM Gallery TM Plus Beermaster Discrete Analyzer) was used to measure acetic acid, ammonia, beta-glucan, iso-alpha acids, color, sugars, glycerol, iron, pH, protein, and sulfite. 2 ml of sample volume was used for the analyses. Information regarding the reagents and standard solutions used for analyses and calibrations is included in Supplementary Table  S7 and Supplementary Table  S9 .

NIR analyses

NIR analysis (Anton Paar Alcolyzer Beer ME System) was used to measure ethanol. Measurements comprised 50 ml of sample, and a 10% EtOH solution was used for calibration.

Correlation calculations

Pairwise Spearman Rank correlations were calculated between all chemical properties.

Sensory dataset

Trained panel.

Our trained tasting panel consisted of volunteers who gave prior verbal informed consent. All compounds used for the validation experiment were of food-grade quality. The tasting sessions were approved by the Social and Societal Ethics Committee of the KU Leuven (G-2022-5677-R2(MAR)). All online reviewers agreed to the Terms and Conditions of the RateBeer website.

Sensory analysis was performed according to the American Society of Brewing Chemists (ASBC) Sensory Analysis Methods 90 . 30 volunteers were screened through a series of triangle tests. The sixteen most sensitive and consistent tasters were retained as taste panel members. The resulting panel was diverse in age [22–42, mean: 29], sex [56% male] and nationality [7 different countries]. The panel developed a consensus vocabulary to describe beer aroma, taste and mouthfeel. Panelists were trained to identify and score 50 different attributes, using a 7-point scale to rate attributes’ intensity. The scoring sheet is included as Supplementary Data  3 . Sensory assessments took place between 10–12 a.m. The beers were served in black-colored glasses. Per session, between 5 and 12 beers of the same style were tasted at 12 °C to 16 °C. Two reference beers were added to each set and indicated as ‘Reference 1 & 2’, allowing panel members to calibrate their ratings. Not all panelists were present at every tasting. Scores were scaled by standard deviation and mean-centered per taster. Values are represented as z-scores and clustered by Euclidean distance. Pairwise Spearman correlations were calculated between taste and aroma sensory attributes. Panel consistency was evaluated by repeating samples on different sessions and performing ANOVA to identify differences, using the ‘stats’ package (v4.2.2) in R (for package information, see Supplementary Table  S8 ).

Online reviews from a public database

The ‘scrapy’ package in Python (v3.6) (for package information, see Supplementary Table  S8 ). was used to collect 232,288 online reviews (mean=922, min=6, max=5343) from RateBeer, an online beer review database. Each review entry comprised 5 numerical scores (appearance, aroma, taste, palate and overall quality) and an optional review text. The total number of reviews per reviewer was collected separately. Numerical scores were scaled and centered per rater, and mean scores were calculated per beer.

For the review texts, the language was estimated using the packages ‘langdetect’ and ‘langid’ in Python. Reviews that were classified as English by both packages were kept. Reviewers with fewer than 100 entries overall were discarded. 181,025 reviews from >6000 reviewers from >40 countries remained. Text processing was done using the ‘nltk’ package in Python. Texts were corrected for slang and misspellings; proper nouns and rare words that are relevant to the beer context were specified and kept as-is (‘Chimay’,’Lambic’, etc.). A dictionary of semantically similar sensorial terms, for example ‘floral’ and ‘flower’, was created and collapsed together into one term. Words were stemmed and lemmatized to avoid identifying words such as ‘acid’ and ‘acidity’ as separate terms. Numbers and punctuation were removed.

Sentences from up to 50 randomly chosen reviews per beer were manually categorized according to the aspect of beer they describe (appearance, aroma, taste, palate, overall quality—not to be confused with the 5 numerical scores described above) or flagged as irrelevant if they contained no useful information. If a beer contained fewer than 50 reviews, all reviews were manually classified. This labeled data set was used to train a model that classified the rest of the sentences for all beers 91 . Sentences describing taste and aroma were extracted, and term frequency–inverse document frequency (TFIDF) was implemented to calculate enrichment scores for sensorial words per beer.

The sex of the tasting subject was not considered when building our sensory database. Instead, results from different panelists were averaged, both for our trained panel (56% male, 44% female) and the RateBeer reviews (70% male, 30% female for RateBeer as a whole).

Beer price collection and processing

Beer prices were collected from the following stores: Colruyt, Delhaize, Total Wine, BeerHawk, The Belgian Beer Shop, The Belgian Shop, and Beer of Belgium. Where applicable, prices were converted to Euros and normalized per liter. Spearman correlations were calculated between these prices and mean overall appreciation scores from RateBeer and the taste panel, respectively.

Pairwise Spearman Rank correlations were calculated between all sensory properties.

Machine learning models

Predictive modeling of sensory profiles from chemical data.

Regression models were constructed to predict (a) trained panel scores for beer flavors and quality from beer chemical profiles and (b) public reviews’ appreciation scores from beer chemical profiles. Z-scores were used to represent sensory attributes in both data sets. Chemical properties with log-normal distributions (Shapiro-Wilk test, p  <  0.05 ) were log-transformed. Missing chemical measurements (0.1% of all data) were replaced with mean values per attribute. Observations from 250 beers were randomly separated into a training set (70%, 175 beers) and a test set (30%, 75 beers), stratified per beer style. Chemical measurements (p = 231) were normalized based on the training set average and standard deviation. In total, three linear regression-based models: linear regression with first-order interaction terms (LR), lasso regression with first-order interaction terms (Lasso) and partial least squares regression (PLSR); five decision tree models, Adaboost regressor (ABR), Extra Trees (ET), Gradient Boosting regressor (GBR), Random Forest (RF) and XGBoost regressor (XGBR); one support vector machine model (SVR) and one artificial neural network model (ANN) were trained. The models were implemented using the ‘scikit-learn’ package (v1.2.2) and ‘xgboost’ package (v1.7.3) in Python (v3.9.16). Models were trained, and hyperparameters optimized, using five-fold cross-validated grid search with the coefficient of determination (R 2 ) as the evaluation metric. The ANN (scikit-learn’s MLPRegressor) was optimized using Bayesian Tree-Structured Parzen Estimator optimization with the ‘Optuna’ Python package (v3.2.0). Individual models were trained per attribute, and a multi-output model was trained on all attributes simultaneously.

Model dissection

GBR was found to outperform other methods, resulting in models with the highest average R 2 values in both trained panel and public review data sets. Impurity-based rankings of the most important predictors for each predicted sensorial trait were obtained using the ‘scikit-learn’ package. To observe the relationships between these chemical properties and their predicted targets, partial dependence plots (PDP) were constructed for the six most important predictors of consumer appreciation 74 , 75 .

The ‘SHAP’ package in Python (v0.41.0) was implemented to provide an alternative ranking of predictor importance and to visualize the predictors’ effects as a function of their concentration 68 .

Validation of causal chemical properties

To validate the effects of the most important model features on predicted sensory attributes, beers were spiked with the chemical compounds identified by the models and descriptive sensory analyses were carried out according to the American Society of Brewing Chemists (ASBC) protocol 90 .

Compound spiking was done 30 min before tasting. Compounds were spiked into fresh beer bottles, that were immediately resealed and inverted three times. Fresh bottles of beer were opened for the same duration, resealed, and inverted thrice, to serve as controls. Pairs of spiked samples and controls were served simultaneously, chilled and in dark glasses as outlined in the Trained panel section above. Tasters were instructed to select the glass with the higher flavor intensity for each attribute (directional difference test 92 ) and to select the glass they prefer.

The final concentration after spiking was equal to the within-style average, after normalizing by ethanol concentration. This was done to ensure balanced flavor profiles in the final spiked beer. The same methods were applied to improve a non-alcoholic beer. Compounds were the following: ethyl acetate (Merck KGaA, W241415), ethyl hexanoate (Merck KGaA, W243906), isoamyl acetate (Merck KGaA, W205508), phenethyl acetate (Merck KGaA, W285706), ethanol (96%, Colruyt), glycerol (Merck KGaA, W252506), lactic acid (Merck KGaA, 261106).

Significant differences in preference or perceived intensity were determined by performing the two-sided binomial test on each attribute.

Reporting summary

Further information on research design is available in the  Nature Portfolio Reporting Summary linked to this article.

Data availability

The data that support the findings of this work are available in the Supplementary Data files and have been deposited to Zenodo under accession code 10653704 93 . The RateBeer scores data are under restricted access, they are not publicly available as they are property of RateBeer (ZX Ventures, USA). Access can be obtained from the authors upon reasonable request and with permission of RateBeer (ZX Ventures, USA).  Source data are provided with this paper.

Code availability

The code for training the machine learning models, analyzing the models, and generating the figures has been deposited to Zenodo under accession code 10653704 93 .

Tieman, D. et al. A chemical genetic roadmap to improved tomato flavor. Science 355 , 391–394 (2017).

Article   ADS   CAS   PubMed   Google Scholar  

Plutowska, B. & Wardencki, W. Application of gas chromatography–olfactometry (GC–O) in analysis and quality assessment of alcoholic beverages – A review. Food Chem. 107 , 449–463 (2008).

Article   CAS   Google Scholar  

Legin, A., Rudnitskaya, A., Seleznev, B. & Vlasov, Y. Electronic tongue for quality assessment of ethanol, vodka and eau-de-vie. Anal. Chim. Acta 534 , 129–135 (2005).

Loutfi, A., Coradeschi, S., Mani, G. K., Shankar, P. & Rayappan, J. B. B. Electronic noses for food quality: A review. J. Food Eng. 144 , 103–111 (2015).

Ahn, Y.-Y., Ahnert, S. E., Bagrow, J. P. & Barabási, A.-L. Flavor network and the principles of food pairing. Sci. Rep. 1 , 196 (2011).

Article   CAS   PubMed   PubMed Central   Google Scholar  

Bartoshuk, L. M. & Klee, H. J. Better fruits and vegetables through sensory analysis. Curr. Biol. 23 , R374–R378 (2013).

Article   CAS   PubMed   Google Scholar  

Piggott, J. R. Design questions in sensory and consumer science. Food Qual. Prefer. 3293 , 217–220 (1995).

Article   Google Scholar  

Kermit, M. & Lengard, V. Assessing the performance of a sensory panel-panellist monitoring and tracking. J. Chemom. 19 , 154–161 (2005).

Cook, D. J., Hollowood, T. A., Linforth, R. S. T. & Taylor, A. J. Correlating instrumental measurements of texture and flavour release with human perception. Int. J. Food Sci. Technol. 40 , 631–641 (2005).

Chinchanachokchai, S., Thontirawong, P. & Chinchanachokchai, P. A tale of two recommender systems: The moderating role of consumer expertise on artificial intelligence based product recommendations. J. Retail. Consum. Serv. 61 , 1–12 (2021).

Ross, C. F. Sensory science at the human-machine interface. Trends Food Sci. Technol. 20 , 63–72 (2009).

Chambers, E. IV & Koppel, K. Associations of volatile compounds with sensory aroma and flavor: The complex nature of flavor. Molecules 18 , 4887–4905 (2013).

Pinu, F. R. Metabolomics—The new frontier in food safety and quality research. Food Res. Int. 72 , 80–81 (2015).

Danezis, G. P., Tsagkaris, A. S., Brusic, V. & Georgiou, C. A. Food authentication: state of the art and prospects. Curr. Opin. Food Sci. 10 , 22–31 (2016).

Shepherd, G. M. Smell images and the flavour system in the human brain. Nature 444 , 316–321 (2006).

Meilgaard, M. C. Prediction of flavor differences between beers from their chemical composition. J. Agric. Food Chem. 30 , 1009–1017 (1982).

Xu, L. et al. Widespread receptor-driven modulation in peripheral olfactory coding. Science 368 , eaaz5390 (2020).

Kupferschmidt, K. Following the flavor. Science 340 , 808–809 (2013).

Billesbølle, C. B. et al. Structural basis of odorant recognition by a human odorant receptor. Nature 615 , 742–749 (2023).

Article   ADS   PubMed   PubMed Central   Google Scholar  

Smith, B. Perspective: Complexities of flavour. Nature 486 , S6–S6 (2012).

Pfister, P. et al. Odorant receptor inhibition is fundamental to odor encoding. Curr. Biol. 30 , 2574–2587 (2020).

Moskowitz, H. W., Kumaraiah, V., Sharma, K. N., Jacobs, H. L. & Sharma, S. D. Cross-cultural differences in simple taste preferences. Science 190 , 1217–1218 (1975).

Eriksson, N. et al. A genetic variant near olfactory receptor genes influences cilantro preference. Flavour 1 , 22 (2012).

Ferdenzi, C. et al. Variability of affective responses to odors: Culture, gender, and olfactory knowledge. Chem. Senses 38 , 175–186 (2013).

Article   PubMed   Google Scholar  

Lawless, H. T. & Heymann, H. Sensory evaluation of food: Principles and practices. (Springer, New York, NY). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6488-5 (2010).

Colantonio, V. et al. Metabolomic selection for enhanced fruit flavor. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 119 , e2115865119 (2022).

Fritz, F., Preissner, R. & Banerjee, P. VirtualTaste: a web server for the prediction of organoleptic properties of chemical compounds. Nucleic Acids Res 49 , W679–W684 (2021).

Tuwani, R., Wadhwa, S. & Bagler, G. BitterSweet: Building machine learning models for predicting the bitter and sweet taste of small molecules. Sci. Rep. 9 , 1–13 (2019).

Dagan-Wiener, A. et al. Bitter or not? BitterPredict, a tool for predicting taste from chemical structure. Sci. Rep. 7 , 1–13 (2017).

Pallante, L. et al. Toward a general and interpretable umami taste predictor using a multi-objective machine learning approach. Sci. Rep. 12 , 1–11 (2022).

Malavolta, M. et al. A survey on computational taste predictors. Eur. Food Res. Technol. 248 , 2215–2235 (2022).

Lee, B. K. et al. A principal odor map unifies diverse tasks in olfactory perception. Science 381 , 999–1006 (2023).

Mayhew, E. J. et al. Transport features predict if a molecule is odorous. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 119 , e2116576119 (2022).

Niu, Y. et al. Sensory evaluation of the synergism among ester odorants in light aroma-type liquor by odor threshold, aroma intensity and flash GC electronic nose. Food Res. Int. 113 , 102–114 (2018).

Yu, P., Low, M. Y. & Zhou, W. Design of experiments and regression modelling in food flavour and sensory analysis: A review. Trends Food Sci. Technol. 71 , 202–215 (2018).

Oladokun, O. et al. The impact of hop bitter acid and polyphenol profiles on the perceived bitterness of beer. Food Chem. 205 , 212–220 (2016).

Linforth, R., Cabannes, M., Hewson, L., Yang, N. & Taylor, A. Effect of fat content on flavor delivery during consumption: An in vivo model. J. Agric. Food Chem. 58 , 6905–6911 (2010).

Guo, S., Na Jom, K. & Ge, Y. Influence of roasting condition on flavor profile of sunflower seeds: A flavoromics approach. Sci. Rep. 9 , 11295 (2019).

Ren, Q. et al. The changes of microbial community and flavor compound in the fermentation process of Chinese rice wine using Fagopyrum tataricum grain as feedstock. Sci. Rep. 9 , 3365 (2019).

Hastie, T., Friedman, J. & Tibshirani, R. The Elements of Statistical Learning. (Springer, New York, NY). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-21606-5 (2001).

Dietz, C., Cook, D., Huismann, M., Wilson, C. & Ford, R. The multisensory perception of hop essential oil: a review. J. Inst. Brew. 126 , 320–342 (2020).

CAS   Google Scholar  

Roncoroni, Miguel & Verstrepen, Kevin Joan. Belgian Beer: Tested and Tasted. (Lannoo, 2018).

Meilgaard, M. Flavor chemistry of beer: Part II: Flavor and threshold of 239 aroma volatiles. in (1975).

Bokulich, N. A. & Bamforth, C. W. The microbiology of malting and brewing. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. MMBR 77 , 157–172 (2013).

Dzialo, M. C., Park, R., Steensels, J., Lievens, B. & Verstrepen, K. J. Physiology, ecology and industrial applications of aroma formation in yeast. FEMS Microbiol. Rev. 41 , S95–S128 (2017).

Article   PubMed   PubMed Central   Google Scholar  

Datta, A. et al. Computer-aided food engineering. Nat. Food 3 , 894–904 (2022).

American Society of Brewing Chemists. Beer Methods. (American Society of Brewing Chemists, St. Paul, MN, U.S.A.).

Olaniran, A. O., Hiralal, L., Mokoena, M. P. & Pillay, B. Flavour-active volatile compounds in beer: production, regulation and control. J. Inst. Brew. 123 , 13–23 (2017).

Verstrepen, K. J. et al. Flavor-active esters: Adding fruitiness to beer. J. Biosci. Bioeng. 96 , 110–118 (2003).

Meilgaard, M. C. Flavour chemistry of beer. part I: flavour interaction between principal volatiles. Master Brew. Assoc. Am. Tech. Q 12 , 107–117 (1975).

Briggs, D. E., Boulton, C. A., Brookes, P. A. & Stevens, R. Brewing 227–254. (Woodhead Publishing). https://doi.org/10.1533/9781855739062.227 (2004).

Bossaert, S., Crauwels, S., De Rouck, G. & Lievens, B. The power of sour - A review: Old traditions, new opportunities. BrewingScience 72 , 78–88 (2019).

Google Scholar  

Verstrepen, K. J. et al. Flavor active esters: Adding fruitiness to beer. J. Biosci. Bioeng. 96 , 110–118 (2003).

Snauwaert, I. et al. Microbial diversity and metabolite composition of Belgian red-brown acidic ales. Int. J. Food Microbiol. 221 , 1–11 (2016).

Spitaels, F. et al. The microbial diversity of traditional spontaneously fermented lambic beer. PLoS ONE 9 , e95384 (2014).

Blanco, C. A., Andrés-Iglesias, C. & Montero, O. Low-alcohol Beers: Flavor Compounds, Defects, and Improvement Strategies. Crit. Rev. Food Sci. Nutr. 56 , 1379–1388 (2016).

Jackowski, M. & Trusek, A. Non-Alcohol. beer Prod. – Overv. 20 , 32–38 (2018).

Takoi, K. et al. The contribution of geraniol metabolism to the citrus flavour of beer: Synergy of geraniol and β-citronellol under coexistence with excess linalool. J. Inst. Brew. 116 , 251–260 (2010).

Kroeze, J. H. & Bartoshuk, L. M. Bitterness suppression as revealed by split-tongue taste stimulation in humans. Physiol. Behav. 35 , 779–783 (1985).

Mennella, J. A. et al. A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down”: Bitter masking bysucrose among children and adults. Chem. Senses 40 , 17–25 (2015).

Wietstock, P., Kunz, T., Perreira, F. & Methner, F.-J. Metal chelation behavior of hop acids in buffered model systems. BrewingScience 69 , 56–63 (2016).

Sancho, D., Blanco, C. A., Caballero, I. & Pascual, A. Free iron in pale, dark and alcohol-free commercial lager beers. J. Sci. Food Agric. 91 , 1142–1147 (2011).

Rodrigues, H. & Parr, W. V. Contribution of cross-cultural studies to understanding wine appreciation: A review. Food Res. Int. 115 , 251–258 (2019).

Korneva, E. & Blockeel, H. Towards better evaluation of multi-target regression models. in ECML PKDD 2020 Workshops (eds. Koprinska, I. et al.) 353–362 (Springer International Publishing, Cham, 2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65965-3_23 .

Gastón Ares. Mathematical and Statistical Methods in Food Science and Technology. (Wiley, 2013).

Grinsztajn, L., Oyallon, E. & Varoquaux, G. Why do tree-based models still outperform deep learning on tabular data? Preprint at http://arxiv.org/abs/2207.08815 (2022).

Gries, S. T. Statistics for Linguistics with R: A Practical Introduction. in Statistics for Linguistics with R (De Gruyter Mouton, 2021). https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110718256 .

Lundberg, S. M. et al. From local explanations to global understanding with explainable AI for trees. Nat. Mach. Intell. 2 , 56–67 (2020).

Ickes, C. M. & Cadwallader, K. R. Effects of ethanol on flavor perception in alcoholic beverages. Chemosens. Percept. 10 , 119–134 (2017).

Kato, M. et al. Influence of high molecular weight polypeptides on the mouthfeel of commercial beer. J. Inst. Brew. 127 , 27–40 (2021).

Wauters, R. et al. Novel Saccharomyces cerevisiae variants slow down the accumulation of staling aldehydes and improve beer shelf-life. Food Chem. 398 , 1–11 (2023).

Li, H., Jia, S. & Zhang, W. Rapid determination of low-level sulfur compounds in beer by headspace gas chromatography with a pulsed flame photometric detector. J. Am. Soc. Brew. Chem. 66 , 188–191 (2008).

Dercksen, A., Laurens, J., Torline, P., Axcell, B. C. & Rohwer, E. Quantitative analysis of volatile sulfur compounds in beer using a membrane extraction interface. J. Am. Soc. Brew. Chem. 54 , 228–233 (1996).

Molnar, C. Interpretable Machine Learning: A Guide for Making Black-Box Models Interpretable. (2020).

Zhao, Q. & Hastie, T. Causal interpretations of black-box models. J. Bus. Econ. Stat. Publ. Am. Stat. Assoc. 39 , 272–281 (2019).

Article   MathSciNet   Google Scholar  

Hastie, T., Tibshirani, R. & Friedman, J. The Elements of Statistical Learning. (Springer, 2019).

Labrado, D. et al. Identification by NMR of key compounds present in beer distillates and residual phases after dealcoholization by vacuum distillation. J. Sci. Food Agric. 100 , 3971–3978 (2020).

Lusk, L. T., Kay, S. B., Porubcan, A. & Ryder, D. S. Key olfactory cues for beer oxidation. J. Am. Soc. Brew. Chem. 70 , 257–261 (2012).

Gonzalez Viejo, C., Torrico, D. D., Dunshea, F. R. & Fuentes, S. Development of artificial neural network models to assess beer acceptability based on sensory properties using a robotic pourer: A comparative model approach to achieve an artificial intelligence system. Beverages 5 , 33 (2019).

Gonzalez Viejo, C., Fuentes, S., Torrico, D. D., Godbole, A. & Dunshea, F. R. Chemical characterization of aromas in beer and their effect on consumers liking. Food Chem. 293 , 479–485 (2019).

Gilbert, J. L. et al. Identifying breeding priorities for blueberry flavor using biochemical, sensory, and genotype by environment analyses. PLOS ONE 10 , 1–21 (2015).

Goulet, C. et al. Role of an esterase in flavor volatile variation within the tomato clade. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 109 , 19009–19014 (2012).

Article   ADS   CAS   PubMed   PubMed Central   Google Scholar  

Borisov, V. et al. Deep Neural Networks and Tabular Data: A Survey. IEEE Trans. Neural Netw. Learn. Syst. 1–21 https://doi.org/10.1109/TNNLS.2022.3229161 (2022).

Statista. Statista Consumer Market Outlook: Beer - Worldwide.

Seitz, H. K. & Stickel, F. Molecular mechanisms of alcoholmediated carcinogenesis. Nat. Rev. Cancer 7 , 599–612 (2007).

Voordeckers, K. et al. Ethanol exposure increases mutation rate through error-prone polymerases. Nat. Commun. 11 , 3664 (2020).

Goelen, T. et al. Bacterial phylogeny predicts volatile organic compound composition and olfactory response of an aphid parasitoid. Oikos 129 , 1415–1428 (2020).

Article   ADS   Google Scholar  

Reher, T. et al. Evaluation of hop (Humulus lupulus) as a repellent for the management of Drosophila suzukii. Crop Prot. 124 , 104839 (2019).

Stein, S. E. An integrated method for spectrum extraction and compound identification from gas chromatography/mass spectrometry data. J. Am. Soc. Mass Spectrom. 10 , 770–781 (1999).

American Society of Brewing Chemists. Sensory Analysis Methods. (American Society of Brewing Chemists, St. Paul, MN, U.S.A., 1992).

McAuley, J., Leskovec, J. & Jurafsky, D. Learning Attitudes and Attributes from Multi-Aspect Reviews. Preprint at https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.1210.3926 (2012).

Meilgaard, M. C., Carr, B. T. & Carr, B. T. Sensory Evaluation Techniques. (CRC Press, Boca Raton). https://doi.org/10.1201/b16452 (2014).

Schreurs, M. et al. Data from: Predicting and improving complex beer flavor through machine learning. Zenodo https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10653704 (2024).

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank all lab members for their discussions and thank all tasting panel members for their contributions. Special thanks go out to Dr. Karin Voordeckers for her tremendous help in proofreading and improving the manuscript. M.S. was supported by a Baillet-Latour fellowship, L.C. acknowledges financial support from KU Leuven (C16/17/006), F.A.T. was supported by a PhD fellowship from FWO (1S08821N). Research in the lab of K.J.V. is supported by KU Leuven, FWO, VIB, VLAIO and the Brewing Science Serves Health Fund. Research in the lab of T.W. is supported by FWO (G.0A51.15) and KU Leuven (C16/17/006).

Author information

These authors contributed equally: Michiel Schreurs, Supinya Piampongsant, Miguel Roncoroni.

Authors and Affiliations

VIB—KU Leuven Center for Microbiology, Gaston Geenslaan 1, B-3001, Leuven, Belgium

Michiel Schreurs, Supinya Piampongsant, Miguel Roncoroni, Lloyd Cool, Beatriz Herrera-Malaver, Florian A. Theßeling & Kevin J. Verstrepen

CMPG Laboratory of Genetics and Genomics, KU Leuven, Gaston Geenslaan 1, B-3001, Leuven, Belgium

Leuven Institute for Beer Research (LIBR), Gaston Geenslaan 1, B-3001, Leuven, Belgium

Laboratory of Socioecology and Social Evolution, KU Leuven, Naamsestraat 59, B-3000, Leuven, Belgium

Lloyd Cool, Christophe Vanderaa & Tom Wenseleers

VIB Bioinformatics Core, VIB, Rijvisschestraat 120, B-9052, Ghent, Belgium

Łukasz Kreft & Alexander Botzki

AB InBev SA/NV, Brouwerijplein 1, B-3000, Leuven, Belgium

Philippe Malcorps & Luk Daenen

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Contributions

S.P., M.S. and K.J.V. conceived the experiments. S.P., M.S. and K.J.V. designed the experiments. S.P., M.S., M.R., B.H. and F.A.T. performed the experiments. S.P., M.S., L.C., C.V., L.K., A.B., P.M., L.D., T.W. and K.J.V. contributed analysis ideas. S.P., M.S., L.C., C.V., T.W. and K.J.V. analyzed the data. All authors contributed to writing the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kevin J. Verstrepen .

Ethics declarations

Competing interests.

K.J.V. is affiliated with bar.on. The other authors declare no competing interests.

Peer review

Peer review information.

Nature Communications thanks Florian Bauer, Andrew John Macintosh and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work. A peer review file is available.

Additional information

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary information

Supplementary information, peer review file, description of additional supplementary files, supplementary data 1, supplementary data 2, supplementary data 3, supplementary data 4, supplementary data 5, supplementary data 6, supplementary data 7, reporting summary, source data, source data, rights and permissions.

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ .

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article.

Schreurs, M., Piampongsant, S., Roncoroni, M. et al. Predicting and improving complex beer flavor through machine learning. Nat Commun 15 , 2368 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-46346-0

Download citation

Received : 30 October 2023

Accepted : 21 February 2024

Published : 26 March 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-46346-0

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines . If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Quick links

• Explore articles by subject
• Guide to authors
• Editorial policies

Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Translational Research newsletter — top stories in biotechnology, drug discovery and pharma.

Vitals News & Events

• Announcements
• Construction Website
• Construction Project Dates / Timeline
• Construction Maps / Directions
• Construction Contacts & Help Desk
• Library Services
• Yoga at the Library
• Eccles Library COVID-19 Updates
• Library Site
• Technology Hub
• Priscilla M. Mayden Lecture
• Domestic & Sexual Violence Resources

EHSL Vitals News and Events

Women’s History Series: Early Female Student Organizations, College of Pharmacy

Early pharmacy education at the University of Utah experienced considerable growing pains. Although 1917 saw the advent of the Department of Pharmacy at the University of Utah, situated within the College of Medicine, in 1927 the department was forced to close due to lack of funding. Fortunately it was determined that a baccalaureate program in pharmacy should be resurrected. In 1946 the College of Pharmacy was established as an independent entity , primarily through the efforts of the Utah Pharmaceutical Association. In quick succession the first PhD degree was awarded in 1953 and a couple years later a new five-year program was developed.

From the beginning, women were welcomed into the College of Pharmacy. In an article that appeared in the first issue of Pharmic-Ute (the official journal of the College of Pharmacy) in 1949 , Marybell Fenton wrote that “at the University of Utah women students are met with genuine encouragement and are made to feel that there is a place for any student who has a real interest and is capable of fulfilling the requirements.”

That isn’t to suggest that female students in the college didn’t meet with prejudiced views on a regular basis, rather that women who were interested in pursuing a career in pharmacy were offered a pathway forward, and support. Often, this support came in the guise of student groups organized by other women at the college. The first iteration was a local professional sorority, Phi Gamma, organized in 1948 for the purpose of furthering the interest of pharmacy among women enrolled in the school.

In the spring of 1959 Phi Gamma became an active chapter of the national fraternity for women in pharmacy, Kappa Epsilon. Kappa Epsilon was founded on May 13, 1921, in Iowa City by Professor Zada Mary Cooper and a group of female pharmacy students attending the universities of Minnesota, Nebraska, and Iowa State. The goal of the group was, and remains, to unite women pharmacy students across the United States.

In 1951 a group of wives of male pharmacy students met in an official capacity as the Wives’ (or Ladies) Auxiliary of the American Pharmacists Association Student Branch. In addition to the networking opportunities afforded, women joined the group as an “expression of interest in the future of pharmacy,” with a goal to become better informed about “the profession as a whole, the problems which face all pharmacists and what [can be done] to help solve these problems” ( Pharma-Sister Journal, 1966-67 ). Image right: Dean of the College of Pharmacy L. David Hiner with the Wives’ Auxiliary group, 1953.

-Explore the College of Pharmacy digital collection: • College of Pharmacy Bulletin (1949-1980) • College of Pharmacy Photographs (1945-1978) • Pharmic-Ute Journal (1949-1978) • Pharma-Sister Journal (1966) Images courtesy of Historical Collections, Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library, University of Utah.

Related Posts

Women’s History Series: Priscilla Mayden, Eccles Health Sciences Library

Women’s History Series: Dr. Sumiko Fujiki, College of Nursing

President Russell M. Nelson Donates Medical Papers

Update: VR Award Winner

Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library, University of Utah, brand

• © 1993 – Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library
• Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library
• The University of Utah
• 10 N. 1900 E. Salt Lake City, UT 84112
• Phone 801.581.5534

Baltimore bridge collapse: a bridge engineer explains what happened, and what needs to change

Associate Professor, Civil Engineering, Monash University

Disclosure statement

Colin Caprani receives funding from the Department of Transport (Victoria) and the Level Crossing Removal Project. He is also Chair of the Confidential Reporting Scheme for Safer Structures - Australasia, Chair of the Australian Regional Group of the Institution of Structural Engineers, and Australian National Delegate for the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering.

Monash University provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation AU.

View all partners

When the container ship MV Dali, 300 metres long and massing around 100,000 tonnes, lost power and slammed into one of the support piers of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, the bridge collapsed in moments . Six people are presumed dead, several others injured, and the city and region are expecting a months-long logistical nightmare in the absence of a crucial transport link.

It was a shocking event, not only for the public but for bridge engineers like me. We work very hard to ensure bridges are safe, and overall the probability of being injured or worse in a bridge collapse remains even lower than the chance of being struck by lightning.

However, the images from Baltimore are a reminder that safety can’t be taken for granted. We need to remain vigilant.

So why did this bridge collapse? And, just as importantly, how might we make other bridges more safe against such collapse?

A 20th century bridge meets a 21st century ship

The Francis Scott Key Bridge was built through the mid 1970s and opened in 1977. The main structure over the navigation channel is a “continuous truss bridge” in three sections or spans.

The bridge rests on four supports, two of which sit each side of the navigable waterway. It is these two piers that are critical to protect against ship impacts.

And indeed, there were two layers of protection: a so-called “dolphin” structure made from concrete, and a fender. The dolphins are in the water about 100 metres upstream and downstream of the piers. They are intended to be sacrificed in the event of a wayward ship, absorbing its energy and being deformed in the process but keeping the ship from hitting the bridge itself.

The fender is the last layer of protection. It is a structure made of timber and reinforced concrete placed around the main piers. Again, it is intended to absorb the energy of any impact.

Fenders are not intended to absorb impacts from very large vessels . And so when the MV Dali, weighing more than 100,000 tonnes, made it past the protective dolphins, it was simply far too massive for the fender to withstand.

Read more: I've captained ships into tight ports like Baltimore, and this is how captains like me work with harbor pilots to avoid deadly collisions

Video recordings show a cloud of dust appearing just before the bridge collapsed, which may well have been the fender disintegrating as it was crushed by the ship.

Once the massive ship had made it past both the dolphin and the fender, the pier – one of the bridge’s four main supports – was simply incapable of resisting the impact. Given the size of the vessel and its likely speed of around 8 knots (15 kilometres per hour), the impact force would have been around 20,000 tonnes .

Bridges are getting safer

This was not the first time a ship hit the Francis Scott Bridge. There was another collision in 1980 , damaging a fender badly enough that it had to be replaced.

Around the world, 35 major bridge collapses resulting in fatalities were caused by collisions between 1960 and 2015, according to a 2018 report from the World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure. Collisions between ships and bridges in the 1970s and early 1980s led to a significant improvement in the design rules for protecting bridges from impact.

Further impacts in the 1970s and early 1980s instigated significant improvements in the design rules for impact.

The International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering’s Ship Collision with Bridges guide, published in 1993, and the American Association of State Highway and Transporation Officials’ Guide Specification and Commentary for Vessel Collision Design of Highway Bridges (1991) changed how bridges were designed.

In Australia, the Australian Standard for Bridge Design (published in 2017) requires designers to think about the biggest vessel likely to come along in the next 100 years, and what would happen if it were heading for any bridge pier at full speed. Designers need to consider the result of both head-on collisions and side-on, glancing blows. As a result, many newer bridges protect their piers with entire human-made islands.

Of course, these improvements came too late to influence the design of the Francis Scott Key Bridge itself.

Lessons from disaster

So what are the lessons apparent at this early stage?

First, it’s clear the protection measures in place for this bridge were not enough to handle this ship impact. Today’s cargo ships are much bigger than those of the 1970s, and it seems likely the Francis Scott Key Bridge was not designed with a collision like this in mind.

So one lesson is that we need to consider how the vessels near our bridges are changing. This means we cannot just accept the structure as it was built, but ensure the protection measures around our bridges are evolving alongside the ships around them.

Second, and more generally, we must remain vigilant in managing our bridges. I’ve written previously about the current level of safety of Australian bridges, but also about how we can do better.

This tragic event only emphasises the need to spend more on maintaining our ageing infrastructure. This is the only way to ensure it remains safe and functional for the demands we put on it today.

• Engineering
• Infrastructure
• Urban infrastructure
• container ships
• Baltimore bridge collapse

School of Social Sciences – Public Policy and International Relations opportunities

School of Social Sciences – Human Geography opportunities

School of Social Sciences – Criminology opportunities

School of Social Sciences – Academic appointment opportunities

Biocloud Project Manager - Australian Biocommons