research paper meaning of

Peer Recognized

Make a name in academia

How to Write a Research Paper: the LEAP approach (+cheat sheet)

In this article I will show you how to write a research paper using the four LEAP writing steps. The LEAP academic writing approach is a step-by-step method for turning research results into a published paper .

The LEAP writing approach has been the cornerstone of the 70 + research papers that I have authored and the 3700+ citations these paper have accumulated within 9 years since the completion of my PhD. I hope the LEAP approach will help you just as much as it has helped me to make an real, tangible impact with my research.

What is the LEAP research paper writing approach?

I designed the LEAP writing approach not only for merely writing the papers. My goal with the writing system was to show young scientists how to first think about research results and then how to efficiently write each section of the research paper.

In other words, you will see how to write a research paper by first analyzing the results and then building a logical, persuasive arguments. In this way, instead of being afraid of writing research paper, you will be able to rely on the paper writing process to help you with what is the most demanding task in getting published – thinking.

The four research paper writing steps according to the LEAP approach:

I will show each of these steps in detail. And you will be able to download the LEAP cheat sheet for using with every paper you write.

But before I tell you how to efficiently write a research paper, I want to show you what is the problem with the way scientists typically write a research paper and why the LEAP approach is more efficient.

How scientists typically write a research paper (and why it isn’t efficient)

Writing a research paper can be tough, especially for a young scientist. Your reasoning needs to be persuasive and thorough enough to convince readers of your arguments. The description has to be derived from research evidence, from prior art, and from your own judgment. This is a tough feat to accomplish.

The figure below shows the sequence of the different parts of a typical research paper. Depending on the scientific journal, some sections might be merged or nonexistent, but the general outline of a research paper will remain very similar.

Here is the problem: Most people make the mistake of writing in this same sequence.

While the structure of scientific articles is designed to help the reader follow the research, it does little to help the scientist write the paper. This is because the layout of research articles starts with the broad (introduction) and narrows down to the specifics (results). See in the figure below how the research paper is structured in terms of the breath of information that each section entails.

How to write a research paper according to the LEAP approach

For a scientist, it is much easier to start writing a research paper with laying out the facts in the narrow sections (i.e. results), step back to describe them (i.e. write the discussion), and step back again to explain the broader picture in the introduction.

For example, it might feel intimidating to start writing a research paper by explaining your research’s global significance in the introduction, while it is easy to plot the figures in the results. When plotting the results, there is not much room for wiggle: the results are what they are.

Starting to write a research papers from the results is also more fun because you finally get to see and understand the complete picture of the research that you have worked on.

Most importantly, following the LEAP approach will help you first make sense of the results yourself and then clearly communicate them to the readers. That is because the sequence of writing allows you to slowly understand the meaning of the results and then develop arguments for presenting to your readers.

I have personally been able to write and submit a research article in three short days using this method.

Step 1: Lay Out the Facts

You have worked long hours on a research project that has produced results and are no doubt curious to determine what they exactly mean. There is no better way to do this than by preparing figures, graphics and tables. This is what the first LEAP step is focused on – diving into the results.

How to p repare charts and tables for a research paper

Your first task is to try out different ways of visually demonstrating the research results. In many fields, the central items of a journal paper will be charts that are based on the data generated during research. In other fields, these might be conceptual diagrams, microscopy images, schematics and a number of other types of scientific graphics which should visually communicate the research study and its results to the readers. If you have reasonably small number of data points, data tables might be useful as well.

Tips for preparing charts and tables

• Try multiple chart types but in the finished paper only use the one that best conveys the message you want to present to the readers
• Follow the eight chart design progressions for selecting and refining a data chart for your paper: https://peerrecognized.com/chart-progressions
• Prepare scientific graphics and visualizations for your paper using the scientific graphic design cheat sheet: https://peerrecognized.com/tools-for-creating-scientific-illustrations/

How to describe the results of your research

Now that you have your data charts, graphics and tables laid out in front of you – describe what you see in them. Seek to answer the question: What have I found?  Your statements should progress in a logical sequence and be backed by the visual information. Since, at this point, you are simply explaining what everyone should be able to see for themselves, you can use a declarative tone: The figure X demonstrates that…

Tips for describing the research results :

• Answer the question: “ What have I found? “
• Use declarative tone since you are simply describing observations

Step 2: Explain the results

The core aspect of your research paper is not actually the results; it is the explanation of their meaning. In the second LEAP step, you will do some heavy lifting by guiding the readers through the results using logic backed by previous scientific research.

How to define the Message of a research paper

To define the central message of your research paper, imagine how you would explain your research to a colleague in 20 seconds . If you succeed in effectively communicating your paper’s message, a reader should be able to recount your findings in a similarly concise way even a year after reading it. This clarity will increase the chances that someone uses the knowledge you generated, which in turn raises the likelihood of citations to your research paper. 

Tips for defining the paper’s central message :

• Write the paper’s core message in a single sentence or two bullet points
• Write the core message in the header of the research paper manuscript

How to write the Discussion section of a research paper

In the discussion section you have to demonstrate why your research paper is worthy of publishing. In other words, you must now answer the all-important So what? question . How well you do so will ultimately define the success of your research paper.

Here are three steps to get started with writing the discussion section:

• Write bullet points of the things that convey the central message of the research article (these may evolve into subheadings later on).
• Make a list with the arguments or observations that support each idea.
• Finally, expand on each point to make full sentences and paragraphs.

Tips for writing the discussion section:

• What is the meaning of the results?
• Was the hypothesis confirmed?
• Write bullet points that support the core message
• List logical arguments for each bullet point, group them into sections
• Instead of repeating research timeline, use a presentation sequence that best supports your logic
• Convert arguments to full paragraphs; be confident but do not overhype
• Refer to both supportive and contradicting research papers for maximum credibility

How to write the Conclusions of a research paper

Since some readers might just skim through your research paper and turn directly to the conclusions, it is a good idea to make conclusion a standalone piece. In the first few sentences of the conclusions, briefly summarize the methodology and try to avoid using abbreviations (if you do, explain what they mean).

After this introduction, summarize the findings from the discussion section. Either paragraph style or bullet-point style conclusions can be used. I prefer the bullet-point style because it clearly separates the different conclusions and provides an easy-to-digest overview for the casual browser. It also forces me to be more succinct.

Tips for writing the conclusion section :

• Summarize the key findings, starting with the most important one
• Make conclusions standalone (short summary, avoid abbreviations)
• Add an optional take-home message and suggest future research in the last paragraph

How to refine the Objective of a research paper

The objective is a short, clear statement defining the paper’s research goals. It can be included either in the final paragraph of the introduction, or as a separate subsection after the introduction. Avoid writing long paragraphs with in-depth reasoning, references, and explanation of methodology since these belong in other sections. The paper’s objective can often be written in a single crisp sentence.

Tips for writing the objective section :

• The objective should ask the question that is answered by the central message of the research paper
• The research objective should be clear long before writing a paper. At this point, you are simply refining it to make sure it is addressed in the body of the paper.

How to write the Methodology section of your research paper

When writing the methodology section, aim for a depth of explanation that will allow readers to reproduce the study . This means that if you are using a novel method, you will have to describe it thoroughly. If, on the other hand, you applied a standardized method, or used an approach from another paper, it will be enough to briefly describe it with reference to the detailed original source.

Remember to also detail the research population, mention how you ensured representative sampling, and elaborate on what statistical methods you used to analyze the results.

Tips for writing the methodology section :

• Include enough detail to allow reproducing the research
• Provide references if the methods are known
• Create a methodology flow chart to add clarity
• Describe the research population, sampling methodology, statistical methods for result analysis
• Describe what methodology, test methods, materials, and sample groups were used in the research.

Step 3: Advertize the research

Step 3 of the LEAP writing approach is designed to entice the casual browser into reading your research paper. This advertising can be done with an informative title, an intriguing abstract, as well as a thorough explanation of the underlying need for doing the research within the introduction.

How to write the Introduction of a research paper

The introduction section should leave no doubt in the mind of the reader that what you are doing is important and that this work could push scientific knowledge forward. To do this convincingly, you will need to have a good knowledge of what is state-of-the-art in your field. You also need be able to see the bigger picture in order to demonstrate the potential impacts of your research work.

Think of the introduction as a funnel, going from wide to narrow, as shown in the figure below:

• Start with a brief context to explain what do we already know,
• Follow with the motivation for the research study and explain why should we care about it,
• Explain the research gap you are going to bridge within this research paper,
• Describe the approach you will take to solve the problem.

Tips for writing the introduction section :

• Follow the Context – Motivation – Research gap – Approach funnel for writing the introduction
• Explain how others tried and how you plan to solve the research problem
• Do a thorough literature review before writing the introduction
• Start writing the introduction by using your own words, then add references from the literature

How to prepare the Abstract of a research paper

The abstract acts as your paper’s elevator pitch and is therefore best written only after the main text is finished. In this one short paragraph you must convince someone to take on the time-consuming task of reading your whole research article. So, make the paper easy to read, intriguing, and self-explanatory; avoid jargon and abbreviations.

How to structure the abstract of a research paper:

• The abstract is a single paragraph that follows this structure:
• Problem: why did we research this
• Methodology: typically starts with the words “Here we…” that signal the start of own contribution.
• Results: what we found from the research.
• Conclusions: show why are the findings important

How to compose a research paper Title

The title is the ultimate summary of a research paper. It must therefore entice someone looking for information to click on a link to it and continue reading the article. A title is also used for indexing purposes in scientific databases, so a representative and optimized title will play large role in determining if your research paper appears in search results at all.

Tips for coming up with a research paper title:

• Capture curiosity of potential readers using a clear and descriptive title
• Include broad terms that are often searched
• Add details that uniquely identify the researched subject of your research paper
• Avoid jargon and abbreviations
• Use keywords as title extension (instead of duplicating the words) to increase the chance of appearing in search results

How to prepare Highlights and Graphical Abstract

Highlights are three to five short bullet-point style statements that convey the core findings of the research paper. Notice that the focus is on the findings, not on the process of getting there.

A graphical abstract placed next to the textual abstract visually summarizes the entire research paper in a single, easy-to-follow figure. I show how to create a graphical abstract in my book Research Data Visualization and Scientific Graphics.

Tips for preparing highlights and graphical abstract:

• In highlights show core findings of the research paper (instead of what you did in the study).
• In graphical abstract show take-home message or methodology of the research paper. Learn more about creating a graphical abstract in this article.

Step 4: Prepare for submission

Sometimes it seems that nuclear fusion will stop on the star closest to us (read: the sun will stop to shine) before a submitted manuscript is published in a scientific journal. The publication process routinely takes a long time, and after submitting the manuscript you have very little control over what happens. To increase the chances of a quick publication, you must do your homework before submitting the manuscript. In the fourth LEAP step, you make sure that your research paper is published in the most appropriate journal as quickly and painlessly as possible.

How to select a scientific Journal for your research paper

The best way to find a journal for your research paper is it to review which journals you used while preparing your manuscript. This source listing should provide some assurance that your own research paper, once published, will be among similar articles and, thus, among your field’s trusted sources.

After this initial selection of hand-full of scientific journals, consider the following six parameters for selecting the most appropriate journal for your research paper (read this article to review each step in detail):

• Scope and publishing history
• Ranking and Recognition
• Publishing time
• Acceptance rate
• Content requirements
• Access and Fees

How to select a journal for your research paper:

• Use the six parameters to select the most appropriate scientific journal for your research paper
• Use the following tools for journal selection: https://peerrecognized.com/journals
• Follow the journal’s “Authors guide” formatting requirements

How to Edit you manuscript

No one can write a finished research paper on their first attempt. Before submitting, make sure to take a break from your work for a couple of days, or even weeks. Try not to think about the manuscript during this time. Once it has faded from your memory, it is time to return and edit. The pause will allow you to read the manuscript from a fresh perspective and make edits as necessary.

I have summarized the most useful research paper editing tools in this article.

Tips for editing a research paper:

• Take time away from the research paper to forget about it; then returning to edit,
• Start by editing the content: structure, headings, paragraphs, logic, figures
• Continue by editing the grammar and language; perform a thorough language check using academic writing tools
• Read the entire paper out loud and correct what sounds weird

How to write a compelling Cover Letter for your paper

Begin the cover letter by stating the paper’s title and the type of paper you are submitting (review paper, research paper, short communication). Next, concisely explain why your study was performed, what was done, and what the key findings are. State why the results are important and what impact they might have in the field. Make sure you mention how your approach and findings relate to the scope of the journal in order to show why the article would be of interest to the journal’s readers.

I wrote a separate article that explains what to include in a cover letter here. You can also download a cover letter template from the article.

Tips for writing a cover letter:

• Explain how the findings of your research relate to journal’s scope
• Tell what impact the research results will have
• Show why the research paper will interest the journal’s audience
• Add any legal statements as required in journal’s guide for authors

How to Answer the Reviewers

Reviewers will often ask for new experiments, extended discussion, additional details on the experimental setup, and so forth. In principle, your primary winning tactic will be to agree with the reviewers and follow their suggestions whenever possible. After all, you must earn their blessing in order to get your paper published.

Be sure to answer each review query and stick to the point. In the response to the reviewers document write exactly where in the paper you have made any changes. In the paper itself, highlight the changes using a different color. This way the reviewers are less likely to re-read the entire article and suggest new edits.

In cases when you don’t agree with the reviewers, it makes sense to answer more thoroughly. Reviewers are scientifically minded people and so, with enough logical and supported argument, they will eventually be willing to see things your way.

Tips for answering the reviewers:

• Agree with most review comments, but if you don’t, thoroughly explain why
• Highlight changes in the manuscript
• Do not take the comments personally and cool down before answering

The LEAP research paper writing cheat sheet

Imagine that you are back in grad school and preparing to take an exam on the topic: “How to write a research paper”. As an exemplary student, you would, most naturally, create a cheat sheet summarizing the subject… Well, I did it for you.

This one-page summary of the LEAP research paper writing technique will remind you of the key research paper writing steps. Print it out and stick it to a wall in your office so that you can review it whenever you are writing a new research paper.

Now that we have gone through the four LEAP research paper writing steps, I hope you have a good idea of how to write a research paper. It can be an enjoyable process and once you get the hang of it, the four LEAP writing steps should even help you think about and interpret the research results. This process should enable you to write a well-structured, concise, and compelling research paper.

Have fund with writing your next research paper. I hope it will turn out great!

Learn writing papers that get cited

The LEAP writing approach is a blueprint for writing research papers. But to be efficient and write papers that get cited, you need more than that.

My name is Martins Zaumanis and in my interactive course Research Paper Writing Masterclass I will show you how to  visualize  your research results,  frame a message  that convinces your readers, and write  each section  of the paper. Step-by-step.

And of course – you will learn to respond the infamous  Reviewer No.2.

Hey! My name is Martins Zaumanis and I am a materials scientist in Switzerland ( Google Scholar ). As the first person in my family with a PhD, I have first-hand experience of the challenges starting scientists face in academia. With this blog, I want to help young researchers succeed in academia. I call the blog “Peer Recognized”, because peer recognition is what lifts academic careers and pushes science forward.

Besides this blog, I have written the Peer Recognized book series and created the Peer Recognized Academy offering interactive online courses.

Related articles:

One comment

• Pingback: Research Paper Outline with Key Sentence Skeleton (+Paper Template)

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

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

I want to join the Peer Recognized newsletter!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

Privacy Overview

Copyright © 2024 Martins Zaumanis

Contacts:  [email protected]  

Privacy Policy 

What Is a Research Paper?

• An Introduction to Punctuation

Olivia Valdes was the Associate Editorial Director for ThoughtCo. She worked with Dotdash Meredith from 2017 to 2021.

• B.A., American Studies, Yale University

A research paper is a common form of academic writing . Research papers require students and academics to locate information about a topic (that is, to conduct research ), take a stand on that topic, and provide support (or evidence) for that position in an organized report.

The term research paper may also refer to a scholarly article that contains the results of original research or an evaluation of research conducted by others. Most scholarly articles must undergo a process of peer review before they can be accepted for publication in an academic journal.

Define Your Research Question

The first step in writing a research paper is defining your research question . Has your instructor assigned a specific topic? If so, great—you've got this step covered. If not, review the guidelines of the assignment. Your instructor has likely provided several general subjects for your consideration. Your research paper should focus on a specific angle on one of these subjects. Spend some time mulling over your options before deciding which one you'd like to explore more deeply.

Try to choose a research question that interests you. The research process is time-consuming, and you'll be significantly more motivated if you have a genuine desire to learn more about the topic. You should also consider whether you have access to all of the resources necessary to conduct thorough research on your topic, such as primary and secondary sources .

Create a Research Strategy 

Approach the research process systematically by creating a research strategy. First, review your library's website. What resources are available? Where will you find them? Do any resources require a special process to gain access? Start gathering those resources—especially those that may be difficult to access—as soon as possible.

Second, make an appointment with a reference librarian . A reference librarian is nothing short of a research superhero. He or she will listen to your research question, offer suggestions for how to focus your research, and direct you toward valuable sources that directly relate to your topic.

Evaluate Sources

Now that you've gathered a wide array of sources, it's time to evaluate them. First, consider the reliability of the information. Where is the information coming from? What is the origin of the source? Second, assess the  relevance  of the information. How does this information relate to your research question? Does it support, refute, or add context to your position? How does it relate to the other sources you'll be using in your paper? Once you have determined that your sources are both reliable and relevant, you can proceed confidently to the writing phase. 

Why Write Research Papers? 

The research process is one of the most taxing academic tasks you'll be asked to complete. Luckily, the value of writing a research paper goes beyond that A+ you hope to receive. Here are just some of the benefits of research papers. 

• Learning Scholarly Conventions:  Writing a research paper is a crash course in the stylistic conventions of scholarly writing. During the research and writing process, you'll learn how to document your research, cite sources appropriately, format an academic paper, maintain an academic tone, and more.
• Organizing Information: In a way, research is nothing more than a massive organizational project. The information available to you is near-infinite, and it's your job to review that information, narrow it down, categorize it, and present it in a clear, relevant format. This process requires attention to detail and major brainpower.
• Managing Time: Research papers put your time management  skills to the test. Every step of the research and writing process takes time, and it's up to you to set aside the time you'll need to complete each step of the task. Maximize your efficiency by creating a research schedule and inserting blocks of "research time" into your calendar as soon as you receive the assignment. 
• Exploring Your Chosen Subject:  We couldn't forget the best part of research papers—learning about something that truly excites you. No matter what topic you choose, you're bound to come away from the research process with new ideas and countless nuggets of fascinating information. 

The best research papers are the result of genuine interest and a thorough research process. With these ideas in mind, go forth and research. Welcome to the scholarly conversation!

• 50 Great Topics for a Process Analysis Essay
• What Is a Literature Review?
• Research in Essays and Reports
• How to Find Journal Articles
• Unreliable Sources for Your Research Project
• Secondary Sources in Research
• What Is a Critique in Composition?
• How to Conduct a Sociology Research Interview
• 5 Tips to Choosing a Blog Topic
• What Is a Style Guide and Which One Do You Need?
• How to Write a Successful Personal Statement for Graduate School
• Common Application Essay Option 6: Losing Track of Time
• What Is an Annotated Bibliography?
• How to Narrow the Research Topic for Your Paper
• 8 Tips for Taking Notes from Your Reading
• Conciseness for Better Composition

Structure of a Research Paper

Structure of a Research Paper: IMRaD Format

I. The Title Page

• Title: Tells the reader what to expect in the paper.
• Author(s): Most papers are written by one or two primary authors. The remaining authors have reviewed the work and/or aided in study design or data analysis (International Committee of Medical Editors, 1997). Check the Instructions to Authors for the target journal for specifics about authorship.
• Keywords [according to the journal]
• Corresponding Author: Full name and affiliation for the primary contact author for persons who have questions about the research.
• Financial & Equipment Support [if needed]: Specific information about organizations, agencies, or companies that supported the research.
• Conflicts of Interest [if needed]: List and explain any conflicts of interest.

II. Abstract: “Structured abstract” has become the standard for research papers (introduction, objective, methods, results and conclusions), while reviews, case reports and other articles have non-structured abstracts. The abstract should be a summary/synopsis of the paper.

III. Introduction: The “why did you do the study”; setting the scene or laying the foundation or background for the paper.

IV. Methods: The “how did you do the study.” Describe the --

• Context and setting of the study
• Specify the study design
• Population (patients, etc. if applicable)
• Sampling strategy
• Intervention (if applicable)
• Identify the main study variables
• Data collection instruments and procedures
• Outline analysis methods

V. Results: The “what did you find” --

• Report on data collection and/or recruitment
• Participants (demographic, clinical condition, etc.)
• Present key findings with respect to the central research question
• Secondary findings (secondary outcomes, subgroup analyses, etc.)

VI. Discussion: Place for interpreting the results

• Main findings of the study
• Discuss the main results with reference to previous research
• Policy and practice implications of the results
• Strengths and limitations of the study

VII. Conclusions: [occasionally optional or not required]. Do not reiterate the data or discussion. Can state hunches, inferences or speculations. Offer perspectives for future work.

VIII. Acknowledgements: Names people who contributed to the work, but did not contribute sufficiently to earn authorship. You must have permission from any individuals mentioned in the acknowledgements sections. 

IX. References:  Complete citations for any articles or other materials referenced in the text of the article.

• IMRD Cheatsheet (Carnegie Mellon) pdf.
• Adewasi, D. (2021 June 14).  What Is IMRaD? IMRaD Format in Simple Terms! . Scientific-editing.info. 
• Nair, P.K.R., Nair, V.D. (2014). Organization of a Research Paper: The IMRAD Format. In: Scientific Writing and Communication in Agriculture and Natural Resources. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-03101-9_2
• Sollaci, L. B., & Pereira, M. G. (2004). The introduction, methods, results, and discussion (IMRAD) structure: a fifty-year survey.   Journal of the Medical Library Association : JMLA ,  92 (3), 364–367.
• Cuschieri, S., Grech, V., & Savona-Ventura, C. (2019). WASP (Write a Scientific Paper): Structuring a scientific paper.   Early human development ,  128 , 114–117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2018.09.011

• How to write a research paper

Last updated

11 January 2024

Reviewed by

With proper planning, knowledge, and framework, completing a research paper can be a fulfilling and exciting experience. 

Though it might initially sound slightly intimidating, this guide will help you embrace the challenge. 

By documenting your findings, you can inspire others and make a difference in your field. Here's how you can make your research paper unique and comprehensive.

• What is a research paper?

Research papers allow you to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of a particular topic. These papers are usually lengthier and more detailed than typical essays, requiring deeper insight into the chosen topic.

To write a research paper, you must first choose a topic that interests you and is relevant to the field of study. Once you’ve selected your topic, gathering as many relevant resources as possible, including books, scholarly articles, credible websites, and other academic materials, is essential. You must then read and analyze these sources, summarizing their key points and identifying gaps in the current research.

You can formulate your ideas and opinions once you thoroughly understand the existing research. To get there might involve conducting original research, gathering data, or analyzing existing data sets. It could also involve presenting an original argument or interpretation of the existing research.

Writing a successful research paper involves presenting your findings clearly and engagingly, which might involve using charts, graphs, or other visual aids to present your data and using concise language to explain your findings. You must also ensure your paper adheres to relevant academic formatting guidelines, including proper citations and references.

Overall, writing a research paper requires a significant amount of time, effort, and attention to detail. However, it is also an enriching experience that allows you to delve deeply into a subject that interests you and contribute to the existing body of knowledge in your chosen field.

• How long should a research paper be?

Research papers are deep dives into a topic. Therefore, they tend to be longer pieces of work than essays or opinion pieces. 

However, a suitable length depends on the complexity of the topic and your level of expertise. For instance, are you a first-year college student or an experienced professional? 

Also, remember that the best research papers provide valuable information for the benefit of others. Therefore, the quality of information matters most, not necessarily the length. Being concise is valuable.

Following these best practice steps will help keep your process simple and productive:

1. Gaining a deep understanding of any expectations

Before diving into your intended topic or beginning the research phase, take some time to orient yourself. Suppose there’s a specific topic assigned to you. In that case, it’s essential to deeply understand the question and organize your planning and approach in response. Pay attention to the key requirements and ensure you align your writing accordingly. 

This preparation step entails

Deeply understanding the task or assignment

Being clear about the expected format and length

Familiarizing yourself with the citation and referencing requirements 

Understanding any defined limits for your research contribution

Where applicable, speaking to your professor or research supervisor for further clarification

2. Choose your research topic

Select a research topic that aligns with both your interests and available resources. Ideally, focus on a field where you possess significant experience and analytical skills. In crafting your research paper, it's crucial to go beyond summarizing existing data and contribute fresh insights to the chosen area.

Consider narrowing your focus to a specific aspect of the topic. For example, if exploring the link between technology and mental health, delve into how social media use during the pandemic impacts the well-being of college students. Conducting interviews and surveys with students could provide firsthand data and unique perspectives, adding substantial value to the existing knowledge.

When finalizing your topic, adhere to legal and ethical norms in the relevant area (this ensures the integrity of your research, protects participants' rights, upholds intellectual property standards, and ensures transparency and accountability). Following these principles not only maintains the credibility of your work but also builds trust within your academic or professional community.

For instance, in writing about medical research, consider legal and ethical norms , including patient confidentiality laws and informed consent requirements. Similarly, if analyzing user data on social media platforms, be mindful of data privacy regulations, ensuring compliance with laws governing personal information collection and use. Aligning with legal and ethical standards not only avoids potential issues but also underscores the responsible conduct of your research.

3. Gather preliminary research

Once you’ve landed on your topic, it’s time to explore it further. You’ll want to discover more about available resources and existing research relevant to your assignment at this stage. 

This exploratory phase is vital as you may discover issues with your original idea or realize you have insufficient resources to explore the topic effectively. This key bit of groundwork allows you to redirect your research topic in a different, more feasible, or more relevant direction if necessary. 

Spending ample time at this stage ensures you gather everything you need, learn as much as you can about the topic, and discover gaps where the topic has yet to be sufficiently covered, offering an opportunity to research it further. 

4. Define your research question

To produce a well-structured and focused paper, it is imperative to formulate a clear and precise research question that will guide your work. Your research question must be informed by the existing literature and tailored to the scope and objectives of your project. By refining your focus, you can produce a thoughtful and engaging paper that effectively communicates your ideas to your readers.

5. Write a thesis statement

A thesis statement is a one-to-two-sentence summary of your research paper's main argument or direction. It serves as an overall guide to summarize the overall intent of the research paper for you and anyone wanting to know more about the research.

A strong thesis statement is:

Concise and clear: Explain your case in simple sentences (avoid covering multiple ideas). It might help to think of this section as an elevator pitch.

Specific: Ensure that there is no ambiguity in your statement and that your summary covers the points argued in the paper.

Debatable: A thesis statement puts forward a specific argument––it is not merely a statement but a debatable point that can be analyzed and discussed.

Here are three thesis statement examples from different disciplines:

Psychology thesis example: "We're studying adults aged 25-40 to see if taking short breaks for mindfulness can help with stress. Our goal is to find practical ways to manage anxiety better."

Environmental science thesis example: "This research paper looks into how having more city parks might make the air cleaner and keep people healthier. I want to find out if more green spaces means breathing fewer carcinogens in big cities."

UX research thesis example: "This study focuses on improving mobile banking for older adults using ethnographic research, eye-tracking analysis, and interactive prototyping. We investigate the usefulness of eye-tracking analysis with older individuals, aiming to spark debate and offer fresh perspectives on UX design and digital inclusivity for the aging population."

6. Conduct in-depth research

A research paper doesn’t just include research that you’ve uncovered from other papers and studies but your fresh insights, too. You will seek to become an expert on your topic––understanding the nuances in the current leading theories. You will analyze existing research and add your thinking and discoveries.  It's crucial to conduct well-designed research that is rigorous, robust, and based on reliable sources. Suppose a research paper lacks evidence or is biased. In that case, it won't benefit the academic community or the general public. Therefore, examining the topic thoroughly and furthering its understanding through high-quality research is essential. That usually means conducting new research. Depending on the area under investigation, you may conduct surveys, interviews, diary studies , or observational research to uncover new insights or bolster current claims.

7. Determine supporting evidence

Not every piece of research you’ve discovered will be relevant to your research paper. It’s important to categorize the most meaningful evidence to include alongside your discoveries. It's important to include evidence that doesn't support your claims to avoid exclusion bias and ensure a fair research paper.

8. Write a research paper outline

Before diving in and writing the whole paper, start with an outline. It will help you to see if more research is needed, and it will provide a framework by which to write a more compelling paper. Your supervisor may even request an outline to approve before beginning to write the first draft of the full paper. An outline will include your topic, thesis statement, key headings, short summaries of the research, and your arguments.

9. Write your first draft

Once you feel confident about your outline and sources, it’s time to write your first draft. While penning a long piece of content can be intimidating, if you’ve laid the groundwork, you will have a structure to help you move steadily through each section. To keep up motivation and inspiration, it’s often best to keep the pace quick. Stopping for long periods can interrupt your flow and make jumping back in harder than writing when things are fresh in your mind.

10. Cite your sources correctly

It's always a good practice to give credit where it's due, and the same goes for citing any works that have influenced your paper. Building your arguments on credible references adds value and authenticity to your research. In the formatting guidelines section, you’ll find an overview of different citation styles (MLA, CMOS, or APA), which will help you meet any publishing or academic requirements and strengthen your paper's credibility. It is essential to follow the guidelines provided by your school or the publication you are submitting to ensure the accuracy and relevance of your citations.

11. Ensure your work is original

It is crucial to ensure the originality of your paper, as plagiarism can lead to serious consequences. To avoid plagiarism, you should use proper paraphrasing and quoting techniques. Paraphrasing is rewriting a text in your own words while maintaining the original meaning. Quoting involves directly citing the source. Giving credit to the original author or source is essential whenever you borrow their ideas or words. You can also use plagiarism detection tools such as Scribbr or Grammarly to check the originality of your paper. These tools compare your draft writing to a vast database of online sources. If you find any accidental plagiarism, you should correct it immediately by rephrasing or citing the source.

12. Revise, edit, and proofread

One of the essential qualities of excellent writers is their ability to understand the importance of editing and proofreading. Even though it's tempting to call it a day once you've finished your writing, editing your work can significantly improve its quality. It's natural to overlook the weaker areas when you've just finished writing a paper. Therefore, it's best to take a break of a day or two, or even up to a week, to refresh your mind. This way, you can return to your work with a new perspective. After some breathing room, you can spot any inconsistencies, spelling and grammar errors, typos, or missing citations and correct them. 

• The best research paper format 

The format of your research paper should align with the requirements set forth by your college, school, or target publication. 

There is no one “best” format, per se. Depending on the stated requirements, you may need to include the following elements:

Title page: The title page of a research paper typically includes the title, author's name, and institutional affiliation and may include additional information such as a course name or instructor's name. 

Table of contents: Include a table of contents to make it easy for readers to find specific sections of your paper.

Abstract: The abstract is a summary of the purpose of the paper.

Methods : In this section, describe the research methods used. This may include collecting data , conducting interviews, or doing field research .

Results: Summarize the conclusions you drew from your research in this section.

Discussion: In this section, discuss the implications of your research . Be sure to mention any significant limitations to your approach and suggest areas for further research.

Tables, charts, and illustrations: Use tables, charts, and illustrations to help convey your research findings and make them easier to understand.

Works cited or reference page: Include a works cited or reference page to give credit to the sources that you used to conduct your research.

Bibliography: Provide a list of all the sources you consulted while conducting your research.

Dedication and acknowledgments : Optionally, you may include a dedication and acknowledgments section to thank individuals who helped you with your research.

• General style and formatting guidelines

Formatting your research paper means you can submit it to your college, journal, or other publications in compliance with their criteria.

Research papers tend to follow the American Psychological Association (APA), Modern Language Association (MLA), or Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) guidelines.

Here’s how each style guide is typically used:

Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS):

CMOS is a versatile style guide used for various types of writing. It's known for its flexibility and use in the humanities. CMOS provides guidelines for citations, formatting, and overall writing style. It allows for both footnotes and in-text citations, giving writers options based on their preferences or publication requirements.

American Psychological Association (APA):

APA is common in the social sciences. It’s hailed for its clarity and emphasis on precision. It has specific rules for citing sources, creating references, and formatting papers. APA style uses in-text citations with an accompanying reference list. It's designed to convey information efficiently and is widely used in academic and scientific writing.

Modern Language Association (MLA):

MLA is widely used in the humanities, especially literature and language studies. It emphasizes the author-page format for in-text citations and provides guidelines for creating a "Works Cited" page. MLA is known for its focus on the author's name and the literary works cited. It’s frequently used in disciplines that prioritize literary analysis and critical thinking.

To confirm you're using the latest style guide, check the official website or publisher's site for updates, consult academic resources, and verify the guide's publication date. Online platforms and educational resources may also provide summaries and alerts about any revisions or additions to the style guide.

Citing sources

When working on your research paper, it's important to cite the sources you used properly. Your citation style will guide you through this process. Generally, there are three parts to citing sources in your research paper: 

First, provide a brief citation in the body of your essay. This is also known as a parenthetical or in-text citation. 

Second, include a full citation in the Reference list at the end of your paper. Different types of citations include in-text citations, footnotes, and reference lists. 

In-text citations include the author's surname and the date of the citation. 

Footnotes appear at the bottom of each page of your research paper. They may also be summarized within a reference list at the end of the paper. 

A reference list includes all of the research used within the paper at the end of the document. It should include the author, date, paper title, and publisher listed in the order that aligns with your citation style.

10 research paper writing tips:

Following some best practices is essential to writing a research paper that contributes to your field of study and creates a positive impact.

These tactics will help you structure your argument effectively and ensure your work benefits others:

Clear and precise language:  Ensure your language is unambiguous. Use academic language appropriately, but keep it simple. Also, provide clear takeaways for your audience.

Effective idea separation:  Organize the vast amount of information and sources in your paper with paragraphs and titles. Create easily digestible sections for your readers to navigate through.

Compelling intro:  Craft an engaging introduction that captures your reader's interest. Hook your audience and motivate them to continue reading.

Thorough revision and editing:  Take the time to review and edit your paper comprehensively. Use tools like Grammarly to detect and correct small, overlooked errors.

Thesis precision:  Develop a clear and concise thesis statement that guides your paper. Ensure that your thesis aligns with your research's overall purpose and contribution.

Logical flow of ideas:  Maintain a logical progression throughout the paper. Use transitions effectively to connect different sections and maintain coherence.

Critical evaluation of sources:  Evaluate and critically assess the relevance and reliability of your sources. Ensure that your research is based on credible and up-to-date information.

Thematic consistency:  Maintain a consistent theme throughout the paper. Ensure that all sections contribute cohesively to the overall argument.

Relevant supporting evidence:  Provide concise and relevant evidence to support your arguments. Avoid unnecessary details that may distract from the main points.

Embrace counterarguments:  Acknowledge and address opposing views to strengthen your position. Show that you have considered alternative arguments in your field.

7 research tips 

If you want your paper to not only be well-written but also contribute to the progress of human knowledge, consider these tips to take your paper to the next level:

Selecting the appropriate topic: The topic you select should align with your area of expertise, comply with the requirements of your project, and have sufficient resources for a comprehensive investigation.

Use academic databases: Academic databases such as PubMed, Google Scholar, and JSTOR offer a wealth of research papers that can help you discover everything you need to know about your chosen topic.

Critically evaluate sources: It is important not to accept research findings at face value. Instead, it is crucial to critically analyze the information to avoid jumping to conclusions or overlooking important details. A well-written research paper requires a critical analysis with thorough reasoning to support claims.

Diversify your sources: Expand your research horizons by exploring a variety of sources beyond the standard databases. Utilize books, conference proceedings, and interviews to gather diverse perspectives and enrich your understanding of the topic.

Take detailed notes: Detailed note-taking is crucial during research and can help you form the outline and body of your paper.

Stay up on trends: Keep abreast of the latest developments in your field by regularly checking for recent publications. Subscribe to newsletters, follow relevant journals, and attend conferences to stay informed about emerging trends and advancements. 

Engage in peer review: Seek feedback from peers or mentors to ensure the rigor and validity of your research . Peer review helps identify potential weaknesses in your methodology and strengthens the overall credibility of your findings.

• The real-world impact of research papers

Writing a research paper is more than an academic or business exercise. The experience provides an opportunity to explore a subject in-depth, broaden one's understanding, and arrive at meaningful conclusions. With careful planning, dedication, and hard work, writing a research paper can be a fulfilling and enriching experience contributing to advancing knowledge.

How do I publish my research paper? 

Many academics wish to publish their research papers. While challenging, your paper might get traction if it covers new and well-written information. To publish your research paper, find a target publication, thoroughly read their guidelines, format your paper accordingly, and send it to them per their instructions. You may need to include a cover letter, too. After submission, your paper may be peer-reviewed by experts to assess its legitimacy, quality, originality, and methodology. Following review, you will be informed by the publication whether they have accepted or rejected your paper. 

What is a good opening sentence for a research paper? 

Beginning your research paper with a compelling introduction can ensure readers are interested in going further. A relevant quote, a compelling statistic, or a bold argument can start the paper and hook your reader. Remember, though, that the most important aspect of a research paper is the quality of the information––not necessarily your ability to storytell, so ensure anything you write aligns with your goals.

Research paper vs. a research proposal—what’s the difference?

While some may confuse research papers and proposals, they are different documents. 

A research proposal comes before a research paper. It is a detailed document that outlines an intended area of exploration. It includes the research topic, methodology, timeline, sources, and potential conclusions. Research proposals are often required when seeking approval to conduct research. 

A research paper is a summary of research findings. A research paper follows a structured format to present those findings and construct an argument or conclusion.

Should you be using a customer insights hub?

Do you want to discover previous research faster?

Do you share your research findings with others?

Do you analyze research data?

Start for free today, add your research, and get to key insights faster

Editor’s picks

Last updated: 18 April 2023

Last updated: 27 February 2023

Last updated: 6 February 2023

Last updated: 6 October 2023

Last updated: 5 February 2023

Last updated: 16 April 2023

Last updated: 9 March 2023

Last updated: 12 December 2023

Last updated: 11 March 2024

Last updated: 4 July 2024

Last updated: 6 March 2024

Last updated: 5 March 2024

Last updated: 13 May 2024

Latest articles

Related topics, .css-je19u9{-webkit-align-items:flex-end;-webkit-box-align:flex-end;-ms-flex-align:flex-end;align-items:flex-end;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-direction:row;-ms-flex-direction:row;flex-direction:row;-webkit-box-flex-wrap:wrap;-webkit-flex-wrap:wrap;-ms-flex-wrap:wrap;flex-wrap:wrap;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;row-gap:0;text-align:center;max-width:671px;}@media (max-width: 1079px){.css-je19u9{max-width:400px;}.css-je19u9>span{white-space:pre;}}@media (max-width: 799px){.css-je19u9{max-width:400px;}.css-je19u9>span{white-space:pre;}} decide what to .css-1kiodld{max-height:56px;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;}@media (max-width: 1079px){.css-1kiodld{display:none;}} build next, decide what to build next.

Users report unexpectedly high data usage, especially during streaming sessions.

Users find it hard to navigate from the home page to relevant playlists in the app.

It would be great to have a sleep timer feature, especially for bedtime listening.

I need better filters to find the songs or artists I’m looking for.

• 10 research paper

Log in or sign up

Get started for free

Writing a Research Paper

The information search process, some definitions.

• Choosing a Topic and Identifying Keywords
• Finding Library Materials: Using LibGuides
• Using HillSearch (Library Catalog) to Find Books, Ebooks, And Streaming Media
• Search Databases for Scholarly Journal Articles
• Synthesizing Sources
• Citing Your Research/Creating a Bibliography
• Where to Get Help with Research and Writing

Your Librarian

Have you been assigned a research paper or presentation and are uncertain where to begin? Librarians are here to help you at each step of the research process, from initial topic selection to preparing your bibliography. In her work, Rutgers Information Science Professor Carol Kuhthau defines the steps of  the  Information Search Process  and the feelings researchers experience during each part of it -including occasional feelings of frustration and discouragement. Recognizing that frustration can be part of the research process can help you in the long run. Grappling with initial discomfort can ultimately help you develop your thesis statement, craft arguments and find the resources that best meet your research needs..

The chart below describes The Information Search Process, the tasks related to each step of the process, and the related feelings you may experience.

We're happy to meet with you one-on-one to help you with your research and compiling your citations. Click on the "Book an Appointment" link in our profile boxes to set up a meeting. If you don't see a time that meets your needs, email us.

Your professor might require a specific type or number of sources for your assignment. The following definitions might be of help understanding the assignment. These definitions have been adapted from the Online Dictionary of Library and Information Science .

Abstract -  A brief, objective representation of the essential content of a book, article, speech, report, dissertation, patent, standard, or other work, presenting the main points in the same order as the original but having no independent literary value. A well-prepared abstract enables the reader to 1) quickly identify the basic content of the document, 2) determine its relevance to their interests, and 3) decide whether it is worth their time to read the entire document

Annotated Bibliography -  A bibliography in which a brief explanatory or evaluative note is added to each reference/citation and abstract. An annotation can be helpful to the researcher in evaluating whether the source is relevant to a given topic or line of inquiry. For more information, watch our video tutorial on creating an annotated bibliography .

Primary Source (non/science topics)  -  A  document or record containing firsthand information or original data on a topic, used in preparing a new (derivative) work. Primary sources include original manuscripts, periodical articles reporting original research or thought, diaries, memoirs, letters, journals, photographs, drawings, posters, film footage, sheet music, songs, interviews, government documents, public records, eyewitness accounts, newspaper clippings, etc.

Primary Source/Primary Study (science topics) -  Also called empirical research studies, primary research studies in the sciences report on an experiment that was performed by the author(s) of the study.  These articles are formatted similarly to a lab report, and will contain the following sections: Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, and References.  Primary research studies will often contain data tables, graphs, and statistical analyses.

Scholarly Journal - A journal  publishing original research and commentary on current developments in a specific discipline, subdiscipline, or field of study (example: Journal of Clinical Epidemiology ). Scholarly journals are usually published in quarterly, bimonthly, or monthly issues sold by subscription (click here to see an example). Articles in scholarly journals are usually written by the person (or persons) who conducted the research. Longer than most magazine articles, they almost always include a bibliography or list of works cited at the end. In journals in the sciences and social sciences, an abstract usually precedes the text of the article, summarizing its content. Most scholarly journals are peer-reviewed, meaning article drafts are reviewed by a panel of experts prior to publication and any needed edits are made by the author. Not all periodicals are scholarly. Some are popular magazines - such as Time or People . Other periodicals are produced for a particular discipline - such as Inc. or Education Week - but articles are written by journalists, not disciplinary experts.

• Next: Choosing a Topic and Identifying Keywords >>
• Last Updated: Jul 15, 2024 10:53 AM
• URL: https://libguides.stonehill.edu/writing_a_research_paper

Reference management. Clean and simple.

Types of research papers

Analytical research paper

Argumentative or persuasive paper, definition paper, compare and contrast paper, cause and effect paper, interpretative paper, experimental research paper, survey research paper, frequently asked questions about the different types of research papers, related articles.

There are multiple different types of research papers. It is important to know which type of research paper is required for your assignment, as each type of research paper requires different preparation. Below is a list of the most common types of research papers.

➡️ Read more:  What is a research paper?

In an analytical research paper you:

• pose a question
• collect relevant data from other researchers
• analyze their different viewpoints

You focus on the findings and conclusions of other researchers and then make a personal conclusion about the topic. It is important to stay neutral and not show your own negative or positive position on the matter.

The argumentative paper presents two sides of a controversial issue in one paper. It is aimed at getting the reader on the side of your point of view.

You should include and cite findings and arguments of different researchers on both sides of the issue, but then favor one side over the other and try to persuade the reader of your side. Your arguments should not be too emotional though, they still need to be supported with logical facts and statistical data.

Tip: Avoid expressing too much emotion in a persuasive paper.

The definition paper solely describes facts or objective arguments without using any personal emotion or opinion of the author. Its only purpose is to provide information. You should include facts from a variety of sources, but leave those facts unanalyzed.

Compare and contrast papers are used to analyze the difference between two:

Make sure to sufficiently describe both sides in the paper, and then move on to comparing and contrasting both thesis and supporting one.

Cause and effect papers are usually the first types of research papers that high school and college students write. They trace probable or expected results from a specific action and answer the main questions "Why?" and "What?", which reflect effects and causes.

In business and education fields, cause and effect papers will help trace a range of results that could arise from a particular action or situation.

An interpretative paper requires you to use knowledge that you have gained from a particular case study, for example a legal situation in law studies. You need to write the paper based on an established theoretical framework and use valid supporting data to back up your statement and conclusion.

This type of research paper basically describes a particular experiment in detail. It is common in fields like:

Experiments are aimed to explain a certain outcome or phenomenon with certain actions. You need to describe your experiment with supporting data and then analyze it sufficiently.

This research paper demands the conduction of a survey that includes asking questions to respondents. The conductor of the survey then collects all the information from the survey and analyzes it to present it in the research paper.

➡️ Ready to start your research paper? Take a look at our guide on how to start a research paper .

In an analytical research paper, you pose a question and then collect relevant data from other researchers to analyze their different viewpoints. You focus on the findings and conclusions of other researchers and then make a personal conclusion about the topic.

The definition paper solely describes facts or objective arguments without using any personal emotion or opinion of the author. Its only purpose is to provide information.

Cause and effect papers are usually the first types of research papers that high school and college students are confronted with. The answer questions like "Why?" and "What?", which reflect effects and causes. In business and education fields, cause and effect papers will help trace a range of results that could arise from a particular action or situation.

This type of research paper describes a particular experiment in detail. It is common in fields like biology, chemistry or physics. Experiments are aimed to explain a certain outcome or phenomenon with certain actions.

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

11.1 The Purpose of Research Writing

Learning objectives.

• Identify reasons to research writing projects.
• Outline the steps of the research writing process.

Why was the Great Wall of China built? What have scientists learned about the possibility of life on Mars? What roles did women play in the American Revolution? How does the human brain create, store, and retrieve memories? Who invented the game of football, and how has it changed over the years?

You may know the answers to these questions off the top of your head. If you are like most people, however, you find answers to tough questions like these by searching the Internet, visiting the library, or asking others for information. To put it simply, you perform research.

Whether you are a scientist, an artist, a paralegal, or a parent, you probably perform research in your everyday life. When your boss, your instructor, or a family member asks you a question that you do not know the answer to, you locate relevant information, analyze your findings, and share your results. Locating, analyzing, and sharing information are key steps in the research process, and in this chapter, you will learn more about each step. By developing your research writing skills, you will prepare yourself to answer any question no matter how challenging.

Reasons for Research

When you perform research, you are essentially trying to solve a mystery—you want to know how something works or why something happened. In other words, you want to answer a question that you (and other people) have about the world. This is one of the most basic reasons for performing research.

But the research process does not end when you have solved your mystery. Imagine what would happen if a detective collected enough evidence to solve a criminal case, but she never shared her solution with the authorities. Presenting what you have learned from research can be just as important as performing the research. Research results can be presented in a variety of ways, but one of the most popular—and effective—presentation forms is the research paper . A research paper presents an original thesis, or purpose statement, about a topic and develops that thesis with information gathered from a variety of sources.

If you are curious about the possibility of life on Mars, for example, you might choose to research the topic. What will you do, though, when your research is complete? You will need a way to put your thoughts together in a logical, coherent manner. You may want to use the facts you have learned to create a narrative or to support an argument. And you may want to show the results of your research to your friends, your teachers, or even the editors of magazines and journals. Writing a research paper is an ideal way to organize thoughts, craft narratives or make arguments based on research, and share your newfound knowledge with the world.

Write a paragraph about a time when you used research in your everyday life. Did you look for the cheapest way to travel from Houston to Denver? Did you search for a way to remove gum from the bottom of your shoe? In your paragraph, explain what you wanted to research, how you performed the research, and what you learned as a result.

Research Writing and the Academic Paper

No matter what field of study you are interested in, you will most likely be asked to write a research paper during your academic career. For example, a student in an art history course might write a research paper about an artist’s work. Similarly, a student in a psychology course might write a research paper about current findings in childhood development.

Having to write a research paper may feel intimidating at first. After all, researching and writing a long paper requires a lot of time, effort, and organization. However, writing a research paper can also be a great opportunity to explore a topic that is particularly interesting to you. The research process allows you to gain expertise on a topic of your choice, and the writing process helps you remember what you have learned and understand it on a deeper level.

Research Writing at Work

Knowing how to write a good research paper is a valuable skill that will serve you well throughout your career. Whether you are developing a new product, studying the best way to perform a procedure, or learning about challenges and opportunities in your field of employment, you will use research techniques to guide your exploration. You may even need to create a written report of your findings. And because effective communication is essential to any company, employers seek to hire people who can write clearly and professionally.

Writing at Work

Take a few minutes to think about each of the following careers. How might each of these professionals use researching and research writing skills on the job?

• Medical laboratory technician
• Small business owner
• Information technology professional
• Freelance magazine writer

A medical laboratory technician or information technology professional might do research to learn about the latest technological developments in either of these fields. A small business owner might conduct research to learn about the latest trends in his or her industry. A freelance magazine writer may need to research a given topic to write an informed, up-to-date article.

Think about the job of your dreams. How might you use research writing skills to perform that job? Create a list of ways in which strong researching, organizing, writing, and critical thinking skills could help you succeed at your dream job. How might these skills help you obtain that job?

Steps of the Research Writing Process

How does a research paper grow from a folder of brainstormed notes to a polished final draft? No two projects are identical, but most projects follow a series of six basic steps.

These are the steps in the research writing process:

• Choose a topic.
• Plan and schedule time to research and write.
• Conduct research.
• Organize research and ideas.
• Draft your paper.
• Revise and edit your paper.

Each of these steps will be discussed in more detail later in this chapter. For now, though, we will take a brief look at what each step involves.

Step 1: Choosing a Topic

As you may recall from Chapter 8 “The Writing Process: How Do I Begin?” , to narrow the focus of your topic, you may try freewriting exercises, such as brainstorming. You may also need to ask a specific research question —a broad, open-ended question that will guide your research—as well as propose a possible answer, or a working thesis . You may use your research question and your working thesis to create a research proposal . In a research proposal, you present your main research question, any related subquestions you plan to explore, and your working thesis.

Step 2: Planning and Scheduling

Before you start researching your topic, take time to plan your researching and writing schedule. Research projects can take days, weeks, or even months to complete. Creating a schedule is a good way to ensure that you do not end up being overwhelmed by all the work you have to do as the deadline approaches.

During this step of the process, it is also a good idea to plan the resources and organizational tools you will use to keep yourself on track throughout the project. Flowcharts, calendars, and checklists can all help you stick to your schedule. See Chapter 11 “Writing from Research: What Will I Learn?” , Section 11.2 “Steps in Developing a Research Proposal” for an example of a research schedule.

Step 3: Conducting Research

When going about your research, you will likely use a variety of sources—anything from books and periodicals to video presentations and in-person interviews.

Your sources will include both primary sources and secondary sources . Primary sources provide firsthand information or raw data. For example, surveys, in-person interviews, and historical documents are primary sources. Secondary sources, such as biographies, literary reviews, or magazine articles, include some analysis or interpretation of the information presented. As you conduct research, you will take detailed, careful notes about your discoveries. You will also evaluate the reliability of each source you find.

Step 4: Organizing Research and the Writer’s Ideas

When your research is complete, you will organize your findings and decide which sources to cite in your paper. You will also have an opportunity to evaluate the evidence you have collected and determine whether it supports your thesis, or the focus of your paper. You may decide to adjust your thesis or conduct additional research to ensure that your thesis is well supported.

Remember, your working thesis is not set in stone. You can and should change your working thesis throughout the research writing process if the evidence you find does not support your original thesis. Never try to force evidence to fit your argument. For example, your working thesis is “Mars cannot support life-forms.” Yet, a week into researching your topic, you find an article in the New York Times detailing new findings of bacteria under the Martian surface. Instead of trying to argue that bacteria are not life forms, you might instead alter your thesis to “Mars cannot support complex life-forms.”

Step 5: Drafting Your Paper

Now you are ready to combine your research findings with your critical analysis of the results in a rough draft. You will incorporate source materials into your paper and discuss each source thoughtfully in relation to your thesis or purpose statement.

When you cite your reference sources, it is important to pay close attention to standard conventions for citing sources in order to avoid plagiarism , or the practice of using someone else’s words without acknowledging the source. Later in this chapter, you will learn how to incorporate sources in your paper and avoid some of the most common pitfalls of attributing information.

Step 6: Revising and Editing Your Paper

In the final step of the research writing process, you will revise and polish your paper. You might reorganize your paper’s structure or revise for unity and cohesion, ensuring that each element in your paper flows into the next logically and naturally. You will also make sure that your paper uses an appropriate and consistent tone.

Once you feel confident in the strength of your writing, you will edit your paper for proper spelling, grammar, punctuation, mechanics, and formatting. When you complete this final step, you will have transformed a simple idea or question into a thoroughly researched and well-written paper you can be proud of!

Review the steps of the research writing process. Then answer the questions on your own sheet of paper.

• In which steps of the research writing process are you allowed to change your thesis?
• In step 2, which types of information should you include in your project schedule?
• What might happen if you eliminated step 4 from the research writing process?

Key Takeaways

• People undertake research projects throughout their academic and professional careers in order to answer specific questions, share their findings with others, increase their understanding of challenging topics, and strengthen their researching, writing, and analytical skills.
• The research writing process generally comprises six steps: choosing a topic, scheduling and planning time for research and writing, conducting research, organizing research and ideas, drafting a paper, and revising and editing the paper.

Writing for Success Copyright © 2015 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Research Paper

• Icon Calendar 11 June 2024
• Icon Page 2825 words
• Icon Clock 13 min read

A research paper is a product of seeking information, analysis, human thinking, and time. Basically, when scholars want to get answers to questions, they start to search for information to expand, use, approve, or deny findings. In simple words, research papers are results of processes by considering writing works and following specific requirements. Besides, scientists study and expand many theories, developing social or technological aspects of human science. However, in order to provide a quality product, they need to know the definition of such a work, its characteristics, type, structure, format, and how to write it in 7 steps.

What Is a Research Paper and Its Purpose

According to its definition, a research paper is a detailed and structured academic document that presents an individual’s analysis, interpretation, or argument based on existing knowledge and literature. The main purpose of writing a research paper is to contribute to existing literature, develop critical thinking and scientific skills, support academic and professional growth, share findings, demonstrate knowledge and competence, and encourage lifelong learning (Wankhade, 2018). Moreover, such a work is one of the types of papers where scholars analyze questions or topics, look for secondary sources, and write papers on defined themes. For example, if an assignment is to write about some causes of global warming or any other topic, a person must write a research proposal on it, analyzing important points and credible sources (Goodson, 2024). Although essays focus on personal knowledge, writing a scholarly document means analyzing sources by following academic standards. In turn, scientists must meet the strict structure of research papers (Busse & August, 2020). As such, writers need to analyze their topics, start to search for sources, cover key aspects, process credible articles, and organize final studies properly. However, a research paper’s length can vary significantly depending on its academic level and purpose.

• Length: Typically 2-10 pages.
• Word Count: Approximately 500-2,500 words.
• Length: Usually 10-30 pages.
• Word Count: Around 2,500-7,500 words.
• Length: Master’s theses are generally 40-80 pages, while doctoral dissertations can be 100-300 pages or more.
• Word Count: Master’s theses are typically 10,000-20,000 words, and doctoral dissertations can range from 20,000-100,000 words, depending on the discipline and complexity.
• Length: Generally 8-12 pages for short articles, but review articles and comprehensive studies can be longer.
• Word Count: Approximately 3,000-8,000 words.
• Length: Usually 5-10 pages.
• Word Count: Around 2,000-4,000 words.
• Length: Typically 6-12 pages.
• Word Count: Approximately 2,500-6,000 words.
• Length: Varies widely, often 20-100 pages.
• Word Count: Around 5,000-30,000 words.
• Length: Generally 5-15 pages.
• Word Count: Approximately 2,000-5,000 words.
• Length: Varies, usually 20-40 pages per chapter.
• Word Count: Around 5,000-10,000 words.
• Length: Typically 100-300 pages.
• Word Count: Approximately 30,000-100,000 words.

Research Characteristics

Any type of work must meet some standards. By considering a research paper, this work must be written accordingly. In this case, their main characteristics are the length, style, format, and sources (Graham & McCoy, 2014). Firstly, the study’s length defines the number of needed sources to be analyzed. Then, the style must be formal and cover impersonal and inclusive language (Graham & McCoy, 2014). Moreover, the format means academic standards of how to organize final works, including its structure and norms. Finally, sources and their number define works as research papers because of the volume of analyzed information (Graham & McCoy, 2014). Hence, these characteristics must be considered while writing scholarly documents. In turn, general formatting guidelines are:

• Use a standard font (e.g., Times New Roman, 12-point).
• Double-space the text.
• Include 1-inch margins on all sides.
• Indent the first line of each paragraph.
• Number all pages consecutively, usually in the upper right corner.

Types of Research Papers

In general, the length of assignments can be different because of instructions. For example, there are two main types of research papers, such as typical and serious works. Firstly, a typical research paper may include definitive, argumentative, interpretive, and other works (Goodson, 2024). In this case, typical papers are from 2 to 10 pages, where students analyze study questions or specific topics. Then, a serious research composition is the expanded version of typical works. In turn, the length of such a paper is more than 10 pages (Wankhade, 2018). Basically, such works cover a serious analysis with many sources. Therefore, typical and serious works are two types that scholars should consider when writing their documents.

Typical Research Works

Basically, typical research works depend on assignments, the number of sources, and the paper’s length. So, this composition is usually a long essay with the analyzed evidence. For example, students in high school and college get such assignments to learn how to research and analyze topics (Goodson, 2024). In this case, they do not need to conduct serious experiments with the analysis and calculation of data. Moreover, students must use the Internet or libraries in searching for credible secondary sources to find potential answers to specific questions. As a result, students gather information on topics and learn how to take defined sides, present unique positions, or explain new directions (Goodson, 2024). Hence, they require an analysis of primary and secondary sources without serious experiments or data.

Serious Research Studies

Although long papers require a lot of time for finding and analyzing credible sources, real experiments are an integral part of research work. Firstly, scholars at universities need to analyze the information from past studies to expand or disapprove of topics (Wankhade, 2018). Then, if scholars want to prove specific positions or ideas, they must get real evidence. In this case, experiments can be surveys, calculations, or other types of data that scholars do personally. Moreover, a dissertation is a serious research paper that young scientists write based on the analysis of topics, data from conducted experiments, and conclusions at the end of work (Wankhade, 2018). Thus, they are studies that take a lot of time, analysis of sources with gained data, and interpretation of results.

The structure and format of research papers depend on assignment requirements. In fact, when students get their assignments and instructions, they need to analyze specific research questions or topics, find reliable sources, and write final works. Basically, their structure and format consist of the abstract, outline, introduction, literature review, methodology, results, discussion, recommendations, limitations, conclusion, acknowledgments, and references (Graham & McCoy, 2014). However, students may not include some of these sections because of assigned instructions that they have and specific types they must follow. For instance, if instructions are not supposed to conduct real experiments, the methodology section can be skipped because of the data’s absence. In turn, the structure of the final work consists of:

Join our satisfied customers who have received perfect papers from Wr1ter Team.

🔸 The First Part of a Research Study

Abstract or Executive Summary means the first section of a research paper that provides the study’s purpose, its questions or suggestions, and main findings with conclusions. Moreover, this paragraph of about 150 words should be written when the whole work is finished already (Graham & McCoy, 2014). Hence, abstract sections should describe key aspects of studies, including discussions about the relevance of findings.

Outline or Table of Contents serves as a clear map of the structure of a study.

Introduction provides the main information on problem statements, the indication of methodology, important findings, and principal conclusion. Basically, this section covers rationales behind the work or background research, explanation of the importance, defending its relevance, a brief description of experimental designs, defined study questions, hypotheses, or key aspects (Busse & August, 2020). Hence, scholars should provide a short overview of their studies.

🔸 Literature Review and Research or Experiment

Literature Review is needed for the analysis of past studies or scholarly articles to be familiar with research questions or topics. For example, this section summarizes and synthesizes arguments and ideas from scholarly sources without adding new contributions (Scholz, 2022). In turn, this part is organized around arguments or ideas, not sources.

Methodology or Materials and Methods covers explanations of research designs. Basically, techniques for gathering information and other aspects related to experiments must be described in a research paper. For instance, students and scholars document all specialized materials and general procedures (Turbek et al., 2016). In this case, individuals may use some or all of the methods in further studies or judge the scientific merit of the work. Moreover, scientists should explain how they are going to conduct their experiments.

Results mean the gained information or data after the study or experiment. Basically, scholars should present and illustrate their findings (Turbek et al., 2016). Moreover, this section may include tables or figures.

🔸 Analysis of Findings

Discussion is a section where scientists review the information in the introduction part, evaluate gained results, or compare it with past studies. In particular, students and scholars interpret gained data or findings in appropriate depth. For example, if results differ from expectations at the beginning, scientists should explain why that may have happened (Turbek et al., 2016). However, if results agree with rationales, scientists should describe theories that the evidence is supported.

Recommendations take their roots from a discussion section where scholars propose potential solutions or new ideas based on obtained results. In this case, if scientists have any recommendations on how to improve this research so that other scholars can use evidence in further studies, they must write what they think in this section (Graham & McCoy, 2014). Besides, authors can provide their suggestions for further investigation after their evaluations.

Limitations mean a consideration of research weaknesses and results to get new directions. For instance, if scholars find any limitations in their studies that may affect experiments, scholars must not use such knowledge because of the same mistakes (Busse & August, 2020). Moreover, scientists should avoid contradicting results, and, even more, they must write them in this section.

🔸 The Final Part of a Conducted Research

Conclusion includes final claims of a research paper based on findings. Basically, this section covers final thoughts and the summary of the whole work. Moreover, this section may be used instead of limitations and recommendations that would be too small by themselves (Wankhade, 2018). In this case, scientists do not need to use headings as recommendations and limitations.

Acknowledgments or Appendix may take different forms, from paragraphs to charts. In this section, scholars include additional information about what they did.

References mean a section where students, scholars, or scientists provide all used sources by following the format and academic rules.

How to Write a Research Paper in 7 Steps

Writing any research paper requires following a systematic process. Firstly, writers need to select a focused topic they want to analyze. To achieve this objective, comprehensive preliminary research must be conducted to gather credible and relevant sources (Scholz, 2022). After reviewing the existing literature, writers must develop a clear and concise thesis statement sentence to guide the direction of their studies. Then, organizing the main arguments and evidence into a detailed outline ensures a coherent structure. In turn, the initial draft should be started with a compelling introduction, proceeded with body paragraphs that substantiate the thesis through analysis, and ended with a conclusion that underscores the study’s importance (Turbek et al., 2016). Basically, concluding the work by summarizing the findings and emphasizing the significance of the study is crucial. Moreover, revising and editing for content, coherence, and clarity ensures quality (Busse & August, 2020). Finally, proofreading for grammatical accuracy and ensuring adherence to the required formatting guidelines is necessary before submitting the final paper. Hence, when starting a research paper, writers should do the next:

Step 1: Choose a Topic

• Select a Broad Subject: Begin by identifying a specific subject or theme of interest.
• Narrow Down Your Topic: Focus on a specific aspect of the subject or theme to make your examination more focused.
• Establish the Background: Do a preliminary analysis of sources to ensure there is enough information available and refine your topic further.
• Formulate a Research Question : Create a first draft of a clear, concise research question or thesis statement to guide your study.

Step 2: Conduct Preliminary Analysis

• Gather Credible Sources: Use books, academic journals, scholarly articles, reputable websites, and other primary and secondary sources.
• Choose Only Relevant Sources: Review chosen sources for their content and pick only relevant ones.
• Take Notes: Organize your notes, highlighting key points and evidence and how they relate to your initial thesis.
• Create an Annotated Bibliography: Summarize each source in one paragraph and note how it will contribute to your paper.

Step 3: Develop a Working Thesis Statement

• Be Specific: Revise your initial thesis, making it a working one, outlining the main argument or position of your paper.
• Make It Debatable: Ensure that your working thesis presents a viewpoint that others might challenge or debate.
• Be Concise: Write your working thesis statement in one or two sentences.
• Stay Focused: Your working thesis must be focused and specific.

Step 4: Create an Outline

• Beginning: Outline your opening paragraph, including your working thesis statement.
• Middle Sections : Separate your body into sections with headings for each main point or argument and include sub-points and supporting evidence.
• Ending: Plan your concluding section to summarize your findings and restate your thesis in the light of the evidence presented.
• The List of Sources: Finish your outline by providing citation entries of your sources.

Step 5: Write the First Draft

• Introduction: Start with an engaging opening, provide background information, and state your thesis.
• Body Section: Each body paragraph should focus on a single idea and start with a specific topic sentence, followed by evidence and analysis that supports your thesis.
• Conclusion: Summarize your arguments, restate the importance of your topic, and suggest further investigation, analysis, examination, or possible implications.
• Reference Page: Include the list of references used in your first draft.

Step 6: Revise and Edit

• Content Review: Check for clarity, coherence, and whether each part supports your thesis.
• Structure and Flow: Ensure logical flow of ideas between sections and paragraphs.
• Grammar and Style: Correct grammatical errors, improve sentence structure, and refine your writing style.
• Citations: Ensure all sources are correctly cited in your chosen citation style (APA, MLA, Chicago/Turabian, Harvard, etc.).

Step 7: Finalize Your Paper

• Proofread: Carefully proofread for any remaining errors or typos.
• Format: Ensure your paper adheres to the required format, including title page, headers, font, and margins.
• Reference List: Double-check your bibliography, reference, or works cited page for accuracy.
• Submit: Make sure to submit your paper by the deadline.

In conclusion, a research paper is a formal academic document designed to provide a detailed analysis, interpretation, or argument based on in-depth study. Its structured format includes providing opening components, such as the abstract, outline, and introduction; study aspects, such as literature review, methodology, and results; analysis of findings, such as discussion, recommendations, and limitations; and final parts, such as conclusion, acknowledgments, appendices, and references. Understanding the essential elements and adhering to academic standards ensures the creation of a well-organized and meaningful research paper.

Busse, C., & August, E. (2020). How to write and publish a research paper for a peer-reviewed journal. Journal of Cancer Education , 36 (5), 909–913. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-020-01751-z

Goodson, P. (2024). Becoming an academic writer: 50 exercises for paced, productive, and powerful writing . Sage.

Graham, L., & McCoy, I. (2014). How to write a great research paper: A step-by-step handbook. Incentive Publications by World Book.

Scholz, F. (2022). Writing and publishing a scientific paper. ChemTexts , 8 (1), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40828-022-00160-7

Turbek, S. P., Chock, T. M., Donahue, K., Havrilla, C. A., Oliverio, A. M., Polutchko, S. K., Shoemaker, L. G., & Vimercati, L. (2016). Scientific writing made easy: A step‐by‐step guide to undergraduate writing in the Biological Sciences. The Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America , 97 (4), 417–426. https://doi.org/10.1002/bes2.1258

Wankhade, L. (2018). How to write and publish a research paper: A complete guide to writing and publishing a research paper . Independent Published.

Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

Genre and the Research Paper

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.

Research: What it is.

A research paper is the culmination and final product of an involved process of research, critical thinking, source evaluation, organization, and composition. It is, perhaps, helpful to think of the research paper as a living thing, which grows and changes as the student explores, interprets, and evaluates sources related to a specific topic. Primary and secondary sources are the heart of a research paper, and provide its nourishment; without the support of and interaction with these sources, the research paper would morph into a different genre of writing (e.g., an encyclopedic article). The research paper serves not only to further the field in which it is written, but also to provide the student with an exceptional opportunity to increase her knowledge in that field. It is also possible to identify a research paper by what it is not.

Research: What it is not.

A research paper is not simply an informed summary of a topic by means of primary and secondary sources. It is neither a book report nor an opinion piece nor an expository essay consisting solely of one's interpretation of a text nor an overview of a particular topic. Instead, it is a genre that requires one to spend time investigating and evaluating sources with the intent to offer interpretations of the texts, and not unconscious regurgitations of those sources. The goal of a research paper is not to inform the reader what others have to say about a topic, but to draw on what others have to say about a topic and engage the sources in order to thoughtfully offer a unique perspective on the issue at hand. This is accomplished through two major types of research papers.

Two major types of research papers.

Argumentative research paper:

The argumentative research paper consists of an introduction in which the writer clearly introduces the topic and informs his audience exactly which stance he intends to take; this stance is often identified as the thesis statement . An important goal of the argumentative research paper is persuasion, which means the topic chosen should be debatable or controversial. For example, it would be difficult for a student to successfully argue in favor of the following stance.

Perhaps 25 years ago this topic would have been debatable; however, today, it is assumed that smoking cigarettes is, indeed, harmful to one's health. A better thesis would be the following.

In this sentence, the writer is not challenging the current accepted stance that both firsthand and secondhand cigarette smoke is dangerous; rather, she is positing that the social acceptance of the latter over the former is indicative of a cultural double-standard of sorts. The student would support this thesis throughout her paper by means of both primary and secondary sources, with the intent to persuade her audience that her particular interpretation of the situation is viable.

Analytical research paper:

The analytical research paper often begins with the student asking a question (a.k.a. a research question) on which he has taken no stance. Such a paper is often an exercise in exploration and evaluation. For example, perhaps one is interested in the Old English poem Beowulf . He has read the poem intently and desires to offer a fresh reading of the poem to the academic community. His question may be as follows.

His research may lead him to the following conclusion.

Though his topic may be debatable and controversial, it is not the student's intent to persuade the audience that his ideas are right while those of others are wrong. Instead, his goal is to offer a critical interpretation of primary and secondary sources throughout the paper--sources that should, ultimately, buttress his particular analysis of the topic. The following is an example of what his thesis statement may look like once he has completed his research.

This statement does not negate the traditional readings of Beowulf ; instead, it offers a fresh and detailed reading of the poem that will be supported by the student's research.

It is typically not until the student has begun the writing process that his thesis statement begins to take solid form. In fact, the thesis statement in an analytical paper is often more fluid than the thesis in an argumentative paper. Such is one of the benefits of approaching the topic without a predetermined stance.

Educational resources and simple solutions for your research journey

What is Research? Definition, Types, Methods, and Examples

Academic research is a methodical way of exploring new ideas or understanding things we already know. It involves gathering and studying information to answer questions or test ideas and requires careful thinking and persistence to reach meaningful conclusions. Let’s try to understand what research is.   

Table of Contents

Why is research important?    

Whether it’s doing experiments, analyzing data, or studying old documents, research helps us learn more about the world. Without it, we rely on guesswork and hearsay, often leading to mistakes and misconceptions. By using systematic methods, research helps us see things clearly, free from biases. (1)   

What is the purpose of research?  

In the real world, academic research is also a key driver of innovation. It brings many benefits, such as creating valuable opportunities and fostering partnerships between academia and industry. By turning research into products and services, science makes meaningful improvements to people’s lives and boosts the economy. (2)(3)  

What are the characteristics of research?    

The research process collects accurate information systematically. Logic is used to analyze the collected data and find insights. Checking the collected data thoroughly ensures accuracy. Research also leads to new questions using existing data.   

Accuracy is key in research, which requires precise data collection and analysis. In scientific research, laboratories ensure accuracy by carefully calibrating instruments and controlling experiments. Every step is checked to maintain integrity, from instruments to final results. Accuracy gives reliable insights, which in turn help advance knowledge.   

Types of research    

The different forms of research serve distinct purposes in expanding knowledge and understanding:    

• Exploratory research ventures into uncharted territories, exploring new questions or problem areas without aiming for conclusive answers. For instance, a study may delve into unexplored market segments to better understand consumer behaviour patterns.   
• Descriptive research delves into current issues by collecting and analyzing data to describe the behaviour of a sample population. For instance, a survey may investigate millennials’ spending habits to gain insights into their purchasing behaviours.   
• Explanatory research, also known as causal research, seeks to understand the impact of specific changes in existing procedures. An example might be a study examining how changes in drug dosage over some time improve patients’ health.   
• Correlational research examines connections between two sets of data to uncover meaningful relationships. For instance, a study may analyze the relationship between advertising spending and sales revenue.   
• Theoretical research deepens existing knowledge without attempting to solve specific problems. For example, a study may explore theoretical frameworks to understand the underlying principles of human behaviour.   
• Applied research focuses on real-world issues and aims to provide practical solutions. An example could be a study investigating the effectiveness of a new teaching method in improving student performance in schools.  (4)

Types of research methods

• Qualitative Method: Qualitative research gathers non-numerical data through interactions with participants. Methods include one-to-one interviews, focus groups, ethnographic studies, text analysis, and case studies. For example, a researcher interviews cancer patients to understand how different treatments impact their lives emotionally.    
• Quantitative Method: Quantitative methods deal with numbers and measurable data to understand relationships between variables. They use systematic methods to investigate events and aim to explain or predict outcomes. For example, Researchers study how exercise affects heart health by measuring variables like heart rate and blood pressure in a large group before and after an exercise program. (5)  

Basic steps involved in the research process    

Here are the basic steps to help you understand the research process:   

• Choose your topic: Decide the specific subject or area that you want to study and investigate. This decision is the foundation of your research journey.   
• Find information: Look for information related to your research topic. You can search in journals, books, online, or ask experts for help.   
• Assess your sources: Make sure the information you find is reliable and trustworthy. Check the author’s credentials and the publication date.   
• Take notes: Write down important information from your sources that you can use in your research.   
• Write your paper: Use your notes to write your research paper. Broadly, start with an introduction, then write the body of your paper, and finish with a conclusion.   
• Cite your sources: Give credit to the sources you used by including citations in your paper.   
• Proofread: Check your paper thoroughly for any errors in spelling, grammar, or punctuation before you submit it. (6)

How to ensure research accuracy?  

Ensuring accuracy in research is a mix of several essential steps:    

• Clarify goals: Start by defining clear objectives for your research. Identify your research question, hypothesis, and variables of interest. This clarity will help guide your data collection and analysis methods, ensuring that your research stays focused and purposeful.   
• Use reliable data: Select trustworthy sources for your information, whether they are primary data collected by you or secondary data obtained from other sources. For example, if you’re studying climate change, use data from reputable scientific organizations with transparent methodologies.   
• Validate data: Validate your data to ensure it meets the standards of your research project. Check for errors, outliers, and inconsistencies at different stages, such as during data collection, entry, cleaning, or analysis.    
• Document processes: Documenting your data collection and analysis processes is essential for transparency and reproducibility. Record details such as data collection methods, cleaning procedures, and analysis techniques used. This documentation not only helps you keep track of your research but also enables others to understand and replicate your work.   
• Review results: Finally, review and verify your research findings to confirm their accuracy and reliability. Double-check your analyses, cross-reference your data, and seek feedback from peers or supervisors. (7) 

Research is crucial for better understanding our world and for social and economic growth. By following ethical guidelines and ensuring accuracy, researchers play a critical role in driving this progress, whether through exploring new topics or deepening existing knowledge.   

References:  

• Why is Research Important – Introductory Psychology – Washington State University  
• The Role Of Scientific Research In Driving Business Innovation – Forbes  
• Innovation – Royal Society  
• Types of Research – Definition & Methods – Bachelor Print  
• What Is Qualitative vs. Quantitative Study? – National University  
• Basic Steps in the Research Process – North Hennepin Community College  
• Best Practices for Ensuring Data Accuracy in Research – LinkedIn  

Researcher.Life is a subscription-based platform that unifies the best AI tools and services designed to speed up, simplify, and streamline every step of a researcher’s journey. The Researcher.Life All Access Pack is a one-of-a-kind subscription that unlocks full access to an AI writing assistant, literature recommender, journal finder, scientific illustration tool, and exclusive discounts on professional publication services from Editage.  

Based on 21+ years of experience in academia, Researcher.Life All Access empowers researchers to put their best research forward and move closer to success. Explore our top AI Tools pack, AI Tools + Publication Services pack, or Build Your Own Plan. Find everything a researcher needs to succeed, all in one place –  Get All Access now starting at just $17 a month !    

Related Posts

Top 7 Tried and Tested Paraphrasing Techniques

How to Make a Graphical Abstract for Your Research Paper (with Examples)

• Search This Site All UCSD Sites Faculty/Staff Search Term
• Contact & Directions
• Climate Statement
• Cognitive Behavioral Neuroscience
• Cognitive Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Adjunct Faculty
• Non-Senate Instructors
• Researchers
• Psychology Grads
• Affiliated Grads
• New and Prospective Students
• Honors Program
• Experiential Learning
• Programs & Events
• Psi Chi / Psychology Club
• Prospective PhD Students
• Current PhD Students
• Area Brown Bags
• Colloquium Series
• Anderson Distinguished Lecture Series
• Speaker Videos
• Undergraduate Program
• Academic and Writing Resources

Writing Research Papers

• Research Paper Structure

Whether you are writing a B.S. Degree Research Paper or completing a research report for a Psychology course, it is highly likely that you will need to organize your research paper in accordance with American Psychological Association (APA) guidelines.  Here we discuss the structure of research papers according to APA style.

Major Sections of a Research Paper in APA Style

A complete research paper in APA style that is reporting on experimental research will typically contain a Title page, Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, and References sections. 1  Many will also contain Figures and Tables and some will have an Appendix or Appendices.  These sections are detailed as follows (for a more in-depth guide, please refer to " How to Write a Research Paper in APA Style ”, a comprehensive guide developed by Prof. Emma Geller). 2

What is this paper called and who wrote it? – the first page of the paper; this includes the name of the paper, a “running head”, authors, and institutional affiliation of the authors.  The institutional affiliation is usually listed in an Author Note that is placed towards the bottom of the title page.  In some cases, the Author Note also contains an acknowledgment of any funding support and of any individuals that assisted with the research project.

One-paragraph summary of the entire study – typically no more than 250 words in length (and in many cases it is well shorter than that), the Abstract provides an overview of the study.

Introduction

What is the topic and why is it worth studying? – the first major section of text in the paper, the Introduction commonly describes the topic under investigation, summarizes or discusses relevant prior research (for related details, please see the Writing Literature Reviews section of this website), identifies unresolved issues that the current research will address, and provides an overview of the research that is to be described in greater detail in the sections to follow.

What did you do? – a section which details how the research was performed.  It typically features a description of the participants/subjects that were involved, the study design, the materials that were used, and the study procedure.  If there were multiple experiments, then each experiment may require a separate Methods section.  A rule of thumb is that the Methods section should be sufficiently detailed for another researcher to duplicate your research.

What did you find? – a section which describes the data that was collected and the results of any statistical tests that were performed.  It may also be prefaced by a description of the analysis procedure that was used. If there were multiple experiments, then each experiment may require a separate Results section.

What is the significance of your results? – the final major section of text in the paper.  The Discussion commonly features a summary of the results that were obtained in the study, describes how those results address the topic under investigation and/or the issues that the research was designed to address, and may expand upon the implications of those findings.  Limitations and directions for future research are also commonly addressed.

List of articles and any books cited – an alphabetized list of the sources that are cited in the paper (by last name of the first author of each source).  Each reference should follow specific APA guidelines regarding author names, dates, article titles, journal titles, journal volume numbers, page numbers, book publishers, publisher locations, websites, and so on (for more information, please see the Citing References in APA Style page of this website).

Tables and Figures

Graphs and data (optional in some cases) – depending on the type of research being performed, there may be Tables and/or Figures (however, in some cases, there may be neither).  In APA style, each Table and each Figure is placed on a separate page and all Tables and Figures are included after the References.   Tables are included first, followed by Figures.   However, for some journals and undergraduate research papers (such as the B.S. Research Paper or Honors Thesis), Tables and Figures may be embedded in the text (depending on the instructor’s or editor’s policies; for more details, see "Deviations from APA Style" below).

Supplementary information (optional) – in some cases, additional information that is not critical to understanding the research paper, such as a list of experiment stimuli, details of a secondary analysis, or programming code, is provided.  This is often placed in an Appendix.

Variations of Research Papers in APA Style

Although the major sections described above are common to most research papers written in APA style, there are variations on that pattern.  These variations include: 

• Literature reviews – when a paper is reviewing prior published research and not presenting new empirical research itself (such as in a review article, and particularly a qualitative review), then the authors may forgo any Methods and Results sections. Instead, there is a different structure such as an Introduction section followed by sections for each of the different aspects of the body of research being reviewed, and then perhaps a Discussion section. 
• Multi-experiment papers – when there are multiple experiments, it is common to follow the Introduction with an Experiment 1 section, itself containing Methods, Results, and Discussion subsections. Then there is an Experiment 2 section with a similar structure, an Experiment 3 section with a similar structure, and so on until all experiments are covered.  Towards the end of the paper there is a General Discussion section followed by References.  Additionally, in multi-experiment papers, it is common for the Results and Discussion subsections for individual experiments to be combined into single “Results and Discussion” sections.

Departures from APA Style

In some cases, official APA style might not be followed (however, be sure to check with your editor, instructor, or other sources before deviating from standards of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association).  Such deviations may include:

• Placement of Tables and Figures  – in some cases, to make reading through the paper easier, Tables and/or Figures are embedded in the text (for example, having a bar graph placed in the relevant Results section). The embedding of Tables and/or Figures in the text is one of the most common deviations from APA style (and is commonly allowed in B.S. Degree Research Papers and Honors Theses; however you should check with your instructor, supervisor, or editor first). 
• Incomplete research – sometimes a B.S. Degree Research Paper in this department is written about research that is currently being planned or is in progress. In those circumstances, sometimes only an Introduction and Methods section, followed by References, is included (that is, in cases where the research itself has not formally begun).  In other cases, preliminary results are presented and noted as such in the Results section (such as in cases where the study is underway but not complete), and the Discussion section includes caveats about the in-progress nature of the research.  Again, you should check with your instructor, supervisor, or editor first.
• Class assignments – in some classes in this department, an assignment must be written in APA style but is not exactly a traditional research paper (for instance, a student asked to write about an article that they read, and to write that report in APA style). In that case, the structure of the paper might approximate the typical sections of a research paper in APA style, but not entirely.  You should check with your instructor for further guidelines.

Workshops and Downloadable Resources

• For in-person discussion of the process of writing research papers, please consider attending this department’s “Writing Research Papers” workshop (for dates and times, please check the undergraduate workshops calendar).

Downloadable Resources

• How to Write APA Style Research Papers (a comprehensive guide) [ PDF ]
• Tips for Writing APA Style Research Papers (a brief summary) [ PDF ]
• Example APA Style Research Paper (for B.S. Degree – empirical research) [ PDF ]
• Example APA Style Research Paper (for B.S. Degree – literature review) [ PDF ]

Further Resources

How-To Videos     

• Writing Research Paper Videos

APA Journal Article Reporting Guidelines

• Appelbaum, M., Cooper, H., Kline, R. B., Mayo-Wilson, E., Nezu, A. M., & Rao, S. M. (2018). Journal article reporting standards for quantitative research in psychology: The APA Publications and Communications Board task force report . American Psychologist , 73 (1), 3.
• Levitt, H. M., Bamberg, M., Creswell, J. W., Frost, D. M., Josselson, R., & Suárez-Orozco, C. (2018). Journal article reporting standards for qualitative primary, qualitative meta-analytic, and mixed methods research in psychology: The APA Publications and Communications Board task force report . American Psychologist , 73 (1), 26.  

External Resources

• Formatting APA Style Papers in Microsoft Word
• How to Write an APA Style Research Paper from Hamilton University
• WikiHow Guide to Writing APA Research Papers
• Sample APA Formatted Paper with Comments
• Sample APA Formatted Paper
• Tips for Writing a Paper in APA Style

1 VandenBos, G. R. (Ed). (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.) (pp. 41-60).  Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

2 geller, e. (2018).  how to write an apa-style research report . [instructional materials]. , prepared by s. c. pan for ucsd psychology.

Back to top  

• Formatting Research Papers
• Using Databases and Finding References
• What Types of References Are Appropriate?
• Evaluating References and Taking Notes
• Citing References
• Writing a Literature Review
• Writing Process and Revising
• Improving Scientific Writing
• Academic Integrity and Avoiding Plagiarism
• Writing Research Papers Videos

All Formats

Table of Contents

Research paper definition & meaning, what is a research paper, 10 types of research papers, research paper review, research paper uses, purpose, importance, what’s in a research paper, how to design a research paper, research paper vs. argumentative essay, what’s the difference between research paper, thesis, and proposal, research paper sizes, research paper ideas & examples, research paper.

A research paper is an important document that is widely used by students and academics. It is a common requirement needed to pass a certain course or subject.

Research Paper Report

College Research Paper

APA Research Paper

Career Research Paper

Quantitative Research Paper

Conclusion Research Paper

Legal Research Paper

Research Paper Format

Business Research Paper

Enhance One’s Writing Skills

Provide feedback and insights, research skills, originality, builds confidence in handling complicated tasks, title or cover page, introduction, literature review, research methodology, data analysis and findings, resources/references.

• Research Paper Outline Ideas and Examples
• Research Paper Proposal Ideas and Examples
• Formal Research Paper Ideas and Examples
• Simple Research Paper Ideas and Examples
• Market Research White Paper Ideas and Examples
• Research Paper Table of Contents Ideas and Examples
• Covid 19 Research Paper Essay Ideas and Examples
• Research Paper Rubric Ideas and Examples
• Career Research Paper Essay Ideas and Examples
• Research Paper Essay Format Ideas and Examples

What should be included in a research paper?

What is the role of a research paper in business, what are the steps to writing a research paper, what is a mini-research paper, how do you properly cite a research paper, what is a qualitative research paper, what is the role of a research paper, what person are research papers written in, what are the common research paper issues and problems, why research paper is important to students, more in documents.

School Essay Template

Reflective essay template, interview essay in apa documentation style template, job interview essay report with introduction template, professional student interview essay template, orientation speech, closing ceremony speech template for event, business comparative research template, comparative market research template, comparative research outline template.

• How To Create a Schedule in Microsoft Word [Template + Example]
• How To Create a Schedule in Google Docs [Template + Example]
• How To Create a Quotation in Google Docs [Template + Example]
• How To Create a Quotation in Microsoft Word [Template + Example]
• How To Make a Plan in Google Docs [Template + Example]
• How To Make a Plan in Microsoft Word [Template + Example]
• How To Make/Create an Inventory in Google Docs [Templates + Examples]
• How To Create Meeting Minutes in Microsoft Word [Template + Example]
• How To Create Meeting Minutes in Google Docs [Template + Example]
• How To Make/Create an Estimate in Microsoft Word [Templates + Examples] 2023
• How To Make/Create an Estimate in Google Docs [Templates + Examples] 2023
• How To Make/Create a Manual in Google Docs [Templates + Examples] 2023
• How To Make/Create a Manual in Microsoft Word [Templates + Examples] 2023
• How To Make/Create a Statement in Google Docs [Templates + Examples] 2023
• How To Make/Create a Statement in Microsoft Word [Templates + Examples] 2023

File Formats

Word templates, google docs templates, excel templates, powerpoint templates, google sheets templates, google slides templates, pdf templates, publisher templates, psd templates, indesign templates, illustrator templates, pages templates, keynote templates, numbers templates, outlook templates.

• Privacy Policy

Home » Research Paper Introduction – Writing Guide and Examples

Research Paper Introduction – Writing Guide and Examples

Table of Contents

Research Paper Introduction

Research paper introduction is the first section of a research paper that provides an overview of the study, its purpose, and the research question (s) or hypothesis (es) being investigated. It typically includes background information about the topic, a review of previous research in the field, and a statement of the research objectives. The introduction is intended to provide the reader with a clear understanding of the research problem, why it is important, and how the study will contribute to existing knowledge in the field. It also sets the tone for the rest of the paper and helps to establish the author’s credibility and expertise on the subject.

How to Write Research Paper Introduction

Writing an introduction for a research paper can be challenging because it sets the tone for the entire paper. Here are some steps to follow to help you write an effective research paper introduction:

• Start with a hook : Begin your introduction with an attention-grabbing statement, a question, or a surprising fact that will make the reader interested in reading further.
• Provide background information: After the hook, provide background information on the topic. This information should give the reader a general idea of what the topic is about and why it is important.
• State the research problem: Clearly state the research problem or question that the paper addresses. This should be done in a concise and straightforward manner.
• State the research objectives: After stating the research problem, clearly state the research objectives. This will give the reader an idea of what the paper aims to achieve.
• Provide a brief overview of the paper: At the end of the introduction, provide a brief overview of the paper. This should include a summary of the main points that will be discussed in the paper.
• Revise and refine: Finally, revise and refine your introduction to ensure that it is clear, concise, and engaging.

Structure of Research Paper Introduction

The following is a typical structure for a research paper introduction:

• Background Information: This section provides an overview of the topic of the research paper, including relevant background information and any previous research that has been done on the topic. It helps to give the reader a sense of the context for the study.
• Problem Statement: This section identifies the specific problem or issue that the research paper is addressing. It should be clear and concise, and it should articulate the gap in knowledge that the study aims to fill.
• Research Question/Hypothesis : This section states the research question or hypothesis that the study aims to answer. It should be specific and focused, and it should clearly connect to the problem statement.
• Significance of the Study: This section explains why the research is important and what the potential implications of the study are. It should highlight the contribution that the research makes to the field.
• Methodology: This section describes the research methods that were used to conduct the study. It should be detailed enough to allow the reader to understand how the study was conducted and to evaluate the validity of the results.
• Organization of the Paper : This section provides a brief overview of the structure of the research paper. It should give the reader a sense of what to expect in each section of the paper.

Research Paper Introduction Examples

Research Paper Introduction Examples could be:

Example 1: In recent years, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) has become increasingly prevalent in various industries, including healthcare. AI algorithms are being developed to assist with medical diagnoses, treatment recommendations, and patient monitoring. However, as the use of AI in healthcare grows, ethical concerns regarding privacy, bias, and accountability have emerged. This paper aims to explore the ethical implications of AI in healthcare and propose recommendations for addressing these concerns.

Example 2: Climate change is one of the most pressing issues facing our planet today. The increasing concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has resulted in rising temperatures, changing weather patterns, and other environmental impacts. In this paper, we will review the scientific evidence on climate change, discuss the potential consequences of inaction, and propose solutions for mitigating its effects.

Example 3: The rise of social media has transformed the way we communicate and interact with each other. While social media platforms offer many benefits, including increased connectivity and access to information, they also present numerous challenges. In this paper, we will examine the impact of social media on mental health, privacy, and democracy, and propose solutions for addressing these issues.

Example 4: The use of renewable energy sources has become increasingly important in the face of climate change and environmental degradation. While renewable energy technologies offer many benefits, including reduced greenhouse gas emissions and energy independence, they also present numerous challenges. In this paper, we will assess the current state of renewable energy technology, discuss the economic and political barriers to its adoption, and propose solutions for promoting the widespread use of renewable energy.

Purpose of Research Paper Introduction

The introduction section of a research paper serves several important purposes, including:

• Providing context: The introduction should give readers a general understanding of the topic, including its background, significance, and relevance to the field.
• Presenting the research question or problem: The introduction should clearly state the research question or problem that the paper aims to address. This helps readers understand the purpose of the study and what the author hopes to accomplish.
• Reviewing the literature: The introduction should summarize the current state of knowledge on the topic, highlighting the gaps and limitations in existing research. This shows readers why the study is important and necessary.
• Outlining the scope and objectives of the study: The introduction should describe the scope and objectives of the study, including what aspects of the topic will be covered, what data will be collected, and what methods will be used.
• Previewing the main findings and conclusions : The introduction should provide a brief overview of the main findings and conclusions that the study will present. This helps readers anticipate what they can expect to learn from the paper.

When to Write Research Paper Introduction

The introduction of a research paper is typically written after the research has been conducted and the data has been analyzed. This is because the introduction should provide an overview of the research problem, the purpose of the study, and the research questions or hypotheses that will be investigated.

Once you have a clear understanding of the research problem and the questions that you want to explore, you can begin to write the introduction. It’s important to keep in mind that the introduction should be written in a way that engages the reader and provides a clear rationale for the study. It should also provide context for the research by reviewing relevant literature and explaining how the study fits into the larger field of research.

Advantages of Research Paper Introduction

The introduction of a research paper has several advantages, including:

• Establishing the purpose of the research: The introduction provides an overview of the research problem, question, or hypothesis, and the objectives of the study. This helps to clarify the purpose of the research and provide a roadmap for the reader to follow.
• Providing background information: The introduction also provides background information on the topic, including a review of relevant literature and research. This helps the reader understand the context of the study and how it fits into the broader field of research.
• Demonstrating the significance of the research: The introduction also explains why the research is important and relevant. This helps the reader understand the value of the study and why it is worth reading.
• Setting expectations: The introduction sets the tone for the rest of the paper and prepares the reader for what is to come. This helps the reader understand what to expect and how to approach the paper.
• Grabbing the reader’s attention: A well-written introduction can grab the reader’s attention and make them interested in reading further. This is important because it can help to keep the reader engaged and motivated to read the rest of the paper.
• Creating a strong first impression: The introduction is the first part of the research paper that the reader will see, and it can create a strong first impression. A well-written introduction can make the reader more likely to take the research seriously and view it as credible.
• Establishing the author’s credibility: The introduction can also establish the author’s credibility as a researcher. By providing a clear and thorough overview of the research problem and relevant literature, the author can demonstrate their expertise and knowledge in the field.
• Providing a structure for the paper: The introduction can also provide a structure for the rest of the paper. By outlining the main sections and sub-sections of the paper, the introduction can help the reader navigate the paper and find the information they are looking for.

About the author

Muhammad Hassan

Researcher, Academic Writer, Web developer

You may also like

Future Research – Thesis Guide

Table of Contents – Types, Formats, Examples

Research Paper – Structure, Examples and Writing...

Limitations in Research – Types, Examples and...

Significance of the Study – Examples and Writing...

Research Paper Outline – Types, Example, Template

How to Write a Body of a Research Paper

The main part of your research paper is called “the body.” To write this important part of your paper, include only relevant information, or information that gets to the point. Organize your ideas in a logical order—one that makes sense—and provide enough details—facts and examples—to support the points you want to make.

Logical Order

Transition words and phrases, adding evidence, phrases for supporting topic sentences.

• Transition Phrases for Comparisons
• Transition Phrases for Contrast
• Transition Phrases to Show a Process
• Phrases to Introduce Examples
• Transition Phrases for Presenting Evidence

How to Make Effective Transitions

Examples of effective transitions, drafting your conclusion, writing the body paragraphs.

Academic Writing, Editing, Proofreading, And Problem Solving Services

Get 10% off with 24start discount code.

• The third and fourth paragraphs follow the same format as the second:
• Transition or topic sentence.
• Topic sentence (if not included in the first sentence).
• Supporting sentences including a discussion, quotations, or examples that support the topic sentence.
• Concluding sentence that transitions to the next paragraph.

The topic of each paragraph will be supported by the evidence you itemized in your outline. However, just as smooth transitions are required to connect your paragraphs, the sentences you write to present your evidence should possess transition words that connect ideas, focus attention on relevant information, and continue your discussion in a smooth and fluid manner.

You presented the main idea of your paper in the thesis statement. In the body, every single paragraph must support that main idea. If any paragraph in your paper does not, in some way, back up the main idea expressed in your thesis statement, it is not relevant, which means it doesn’t have a purpose and shouldn’t be there.

Each paragraph also has a main idea of its own. That main idea is stated in a topic sentence, either at the beginning or somewhere else in the paragraph. Just as every paragraph in your paper supports your thesis statement, every sentence in each paragraph supports the main idea of that paragraph by providing facts or examples that back up that main idea. If a sentence does not support the main idea of the paragraph, it is not relevant and should be left out.

A paper that makes claims or states ideas without backing them up with facts or clarifying them with examples won’t mean much to readers. Make sure you provide enough supporting details for all your ideas. And remember that a paragraph can’t contain just one sentence. A paragraph needs at least two or more sentences to be complete. If a paragraph has only one or two sentences, you probably haven’t provided enough support for your main idea. Or, if you have trouble finding the main idea, maybe you don’t have one. In that case, you can make the sentences part of another paragraph or leave them out.

Arrange the paragraphs in the body of your paper in an order that makes sense, so that each main idea follows logically from the previous one. Likewise, arrange the sentences in each paragraph in a logical order.

If you carefully organized your notes and made your outline, your ideas will fall into place naturally as you write your draft. The main ideas, which are building blocks of each section or each paragraph in your paper, come from the Roman-numeral headings in your outline. The supporting details under each of those main ideas come from the capital-letter headings. In a shorter paper, the capital-letter headings may become sentences that include supporting details, which come from the Arabic numerals in your outline. In a longer paper, the capital letter headings may become paragraphs of their own, which contain sentences with the supporting details, which come from the Arabic numerals in your outline.

In addition to keeping your ideas in logical order, transitions are another way to guide readers from one idea to another. Transition words and phrases are important when you are suggesting or pointing out similarities between ideas, themes, opinions, or a set of facts. As with any perfect phrase, transition words within paragraphs should not be used gratuitously. Their meaning must conform to what you are trying to point out, as shown in the examples below:

• “Accordingly” or “in accordance with” indicates agreement. For example :Thomas Edison’s experiments with electricity accordingly followed the theories of Benjamin Franklin, J. B. Priestly, and other pioneers of the previous century.
• “Analogous” or “analogously” contrasts different things or ideas that perform similar functions or make similar expressions. For example: A computer hard drive is analogous to a filing cabinet. Each stores important documents and data.
• “By comparison” or “comparatively”points out differences between things that otherwise are similar. For example: Roses require an alkaline soil. Azaleas, by comparison, prefer an acidic soil.
• “Corresponds to” or “correspondingly” indicates agreement or conformity. For example: The U.S. Constitution corresponds to England’s Magna Carta in so far as both established a framework for a parliamentary system.
• “Equals,”“equal to,” or “equally” indicates the same degree or quality. For example:Vitamin C is equally as important as minerals in a well-balanced diet.
• “Equivalent” or “equivalently” indicates two ideas or things of approximately the same importance, size, or volume. For example:The notions of individual liberty and the right to a fair and speedy trial hold equivalent importance in the American legal system.
• “Common” or “in common with” indicates similar traits or qualities. For example: Darwin did not argue that humans were descended from the apes. Instead, he maintained that they shared a common ancestor.
• “In the same way,”“in the same manner,”“in the same vein,” or “likewise,” connects comparable traits, ideas, patterns, or activities. For example: John Roebling’s suspension bridges in Brooklyn and Cincinnati were built in the same manner, with strong cables to support a metallic roadway. Example 2: Despite its delicate appearance, John Roebling’s Brooklyn Bridge was built as a suspension bridge supported by strong cables. Example 3: Cincinnati’s Suspension Bridge, which Roebling also designed, was likewise supported by cables.
• “Kindred” indicates that two ideas or things are related by quality or character. For example: Artists Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Gauguin are considered kindred spirits in the Impressionist Movement. “Like” or “as” are used to create a simile that builds reader understanding by comparing two dissimilar things. (Never use “like” as slang, as in: John Roebling was like a bridge designer.) For examples: Her eyes shone like the sun. Her eyes were as bright as the sun.
• “Parallel” describes events, things, or ideas that occurred at the same time or that follow similar logic or patterns of behavior. For example:The original Ocktoberfests were held to occur in parallel with the autumn harvest.
• “Obviously” emphasizes a point that should be clear from the discussion. For example: Obviously, raccoons and other wildlife will attempt to find food and shelter in suburban areas as their woodland habitats disappear.
• “Similar” and “similarly” are used to make like comparisons. For example: Horses and ponies have similar physical characteristics although, as working farm animals, each was bred to perform different functions.
• “There is little debate” or “there is consensus” can be used to point out agreement. For example:There is little debate that the polar ice caps are melting.The question is whether global warming results from natural or human-made causes.

Other phrases that can be used to make transitions or connect ideas within paragraphs include:

• Use “alternately” or “alternatively” to suggest a different option.
• Use “antithesis” to indicate a direct opposite.
• Use “contradict” to indicate disagreement.
• Use “on the contrary” or “conversely” to indicate that something is different from what it seems.
• Use “dissimilar” to point out differences between two things.
• Use “diverse” to discuss differences among many things or people.
• Use “distinct” or “distinctly” to point out unique qualities.
• Use “inversely” to indicate an opposite idea.
• Use “it is debatable,” “there is debate,” or “there is disagreement” to suggest that there is more than one opinion about a subject.
• Use “rather” or “rather than” to point out an exception.
• Use “unique” or “uniquely” to indicate qualities that can be found nowhere else.
• Use “unlike” to indicate dissimilarities.
• Use “various” to indicate more than one kind.

Writing Topic Sentences

Remember, a sentence should express a complete thought, one thought per sentence—no more, no less. The longer and more convoluted your sentences become, the more likely you are to muddle the meaning, become repetitive, and bog yourself down in issues of grammar and construction. In your first draft, it is generally a good idea to keep those sentences relatively short and to the point. That way your ideas will be clearly stated.You will be able to clearly see the content that you have put down—what is there and what is missing—and add or subtract material as it is needed. The sentences will probably seem choppy and even simplistic.The purpose of a first draft is to ensure that you have recorded all the content you will need to make a convincing argument. You will work on smoothing and perfecting the language in subsequent drafts.

Transitioning from your topic sentence to the evidence that supports it can be problematic. It requires a transition, much like the transitions needed to move from one paragraph to the next. Choose phrases that connect the evidence directly to your topic sentence.

• Consider this: (give an example or state evidence).
• If (identify one condition or event) then (identify the condition or event that will follow).
• It should go without saying that (point out an obvious condition).
• Note that (provide an example or observation).
• Take a look at (identify a condition; follow with an explanation of why you think it is important to the discussion).
• The authors had (identify their idea) in mind when they wrote “(use a quotation from their text that illustrates the idea).”
• The point is that (summarize the conclusion your reader should draw from your research).
• This becomes evident when (name the author) says that (paraphrase a quote from the author’s writing).
• We see this in the following example: (provide an example of your own).
• (The author’s name) offers the example of (summarize an example given by the author).

If an idea is controversial, you may need to add extra evidence to your paragraphs to persuade your reader. You may also find that a logical argument, one based solely on your evidence, is not persuasive enough and that you need to appeal to the reader’s emotions. Look for ways to incorporate your research without detracting from your argument.

Writing Transition Sentences

It is often difficult to write transitions that carry a reader clearly and logically on to the next paragraph (and the next topic) in an essay. Because you are moving from one topic to another, it is easy to simply stop one and start another. Great research papers, however, include good transitions that link the ideas in an interesting discussion so that readers can move smoothly and easily through your presentation. Close each of your paragraphs with an interesting transition sentence that introduces the topic coming up in the next paragraph.

Transition sentences should show a relationship between the two topics.Your transition will perform one of the following functions to introduce the new idea:

• Indicate that you will be expanding on information in a different way in the upcoming paragraph.
• Indicate that a comparison, contrast, or a cause-and-effect relationship between the topics will be discussed.
• Indicate that an example will be presented in the next paragraph.
• Indicate that a conclusion is coming up.

Transitions make a paper flow smoothly by showing readers how ideas and facts follow one another to point logically to a conclusion. They show relationships among the ideas, help the reader to understand, and, in a persuasive paper, lead the reader to the writer’s conclusion.

Each paragraph should end with a transition sentence to conclude the discussion of the topic in the paragraph and gently introduce the reader to the topic that will be raised in the next paragraph. However, transitions also occur within paragraphs—from sentence to sentence—to add evidence, provide examples, or introduce a quotation.

The type of paper you are writing and the kinds of topics you are introducing will determine what type of transitional phrase you should use. Some useful phrases for transitions appear below. They are grouped according to the function they normally play in a paper. Transitions, however, are not simply phrases that are dropped into sentences. They are constructed to highlight meaning. Choose transitions that are appropriate to your topic and what you want the reader to do. Edit them to be sure they fit properly within the sentence to enhance the reader’s understanding.

Transition Phrases for Comparisons:

• We also see
• In addition to
• Notice that
• Beside that,
• In comparison,
• Once again,
• Identically,
• For example,
• Comparatively, it can be seen that
• We see this when
• This corresponds to
• In other words,
• At the same time,
• By the same token,

Transition Phrases for Contrast:

• By contrast,
• On the contrary,
• Nevertheless,
• An exception to this would be …
• Alongside that,we find …
• On one hand … on the other hand …
• [New information] presents an opposite view …
• Conversely, it could be argued …
• Other than that,we find that …
• We get an entirely different impression from …
• One point of differentiation is …
• Further investigation shows …
• An exception can be found in the fact that …

Transition Phrases to Show a Process:

• At the top we have … Near the bottom we have …
• Here we have … There we have …
• Continuing on,
• We progress to …
• Close up … In the distance …
• With this in mind,
• Moving in sequence,
• Proceeding sequentially,
• Moving to the next step,
• First, Second,Third,…
• Examining the activities in sequence,
• Sequentially,
• As a result,
• The end result is …
• To illustrate …
• Subsequently,
• One consequence of …
• If … then …
• It follows that …
• This is chiefly due to …
• The next step …
• Later we find …

Phrases to Introduce Examples:

• For instance,
• Particularly,
• In particular,
• This includes,
• Specifically,
• To illustrate,
• One illustration is
• One example is
• This is illustrated by
• This can be seen when
• This is especially seen in
• This is chiefly seen when

Transition Phrases for Presenting Evidence:

• Another point worthy of consideration is
• At the center of the issue is the notion that
• Before moving on, it should be pointed out that
• Another important point is
• Another idea worth considering is
• Consequently,
• Especially,
• Even more important,
• Getting beyond the obvious,
• In spite of all this,
• It follows that
• It is clear that
• More importantly,
• Most importantly,

How to make effective transitions between sections of a research paper? There are two distinct issues in making strong transitions:

• Does the upcoming section actually belong where you have placed it?
• Have you adequately signaled the reader why you are taking this next step?

The first is the most important: Does the upcoming section actually belong in the next spot? The sections in your research paper need to add up to your big point (or thesis statement) in a sensible progression. One way of putting that is, “Does the architecture of your paper correspond to the argument you are making?” Getting this architecture right is the goal of “large-scale editing,” which focuses on the order of the sections, their relationship to each other, and ultimately their correspondence to your thesis argument.

It’s easy to craft graceful transitions when the sections are laid out in the right order. When they’re not, the transitions are bound to be rough. This difficulty, if you encounter it, is actually a valuable warning. It tells you that something is wrong and you need to change it. If the transitions are awkward and difficult to write, warning bells should ring. Something is wrong with the research paper’s overall structure.

After you’ve placed the sections in the right order, you still need to tell the reader when he is changing sections and briefly explain why. That’s an important part of line-by-line editing, which focuses on writing effective sentences and paragraphs.

Effective transition sentences and paragraphs often glance forward or backward, signaling that you are switching sections. Take this example from J. M. Roberts’s History of Europe . He is finishing a discussion of the Punic Wars between Rome and its great rival, Carthage. The last of these wars, he says, broke out in 149 B.C. and “ended with so complete a defeat for the Carthaginians that their city was destroyed . . . .” Now he turns to a new section on “Empire.” Here is the first sentence: “By then a Roman empire was in being in fact if not in name.”(J. M. Roberts, A History of Europe . London: Allen Lane, 1997, p. 48) Roberts signals the transition with just two words: “By then.” He is referring to the date (149 B.C.) given near the end of the previous section. Simple and smooth.

Michael Mandelbaum also accomplishes this transition between sections effortlessly, without bringing his narrative to a halt. In The Ideas That Conquered the World: Peace, Democracy, and Free Markets , one chapter shows how countries of the North Atlantic region invented the idea of peace and made it a reality among themselves. Here is his transition from one section of that chapter discussing “the idea of warlessness” to another section dealing with the history of that idea in Europe.

The widespread aversion to war within the countries of the Western core formed the foundation for common security, which in turn expressed the spirit of warlessness. To be sure, the rise of common security in Europe did not abolish war in other parts of the world and could not guarantee its permanent abolition even on the European continent. Neither, however, was it a flukish, transient product . . . . The European common security order did have historical precedents, and its principal features began to appear in other parts of the world. Precedents for Common Security The security arrangements in Europe at the dawn of the twenty-first century incorporated features of three different periods of the modern age: the nineteenth century, the interwar period, and the ColdWar. (Michael Mandelbaum, The Ideas That Conquered the World: Peace, Democracy, and Free Markets . New York: Public Affairs, 2002, p. 128)

It’s easier to make smooth transitions when neighboring sections deal with closely related subjects, as Mandelbaum’s do. Sometimes, however, you need to end one section with greater finality so you can switch to a different topic. The best way to do that is with a few summary comments at the end of the section. Your readers will understand you are drawing this topic to a close, and they won’t be blindsided by your shift to a new topic in the next section.

Here’s an example from economic historian Joel Mokyr’s book The Lever of Riches: Technological Creativity and Economic Progress . Mokyr is completing a section on social values in early industrial societies. The next section deals with a quite different aspect of technological progress: the role of property rights and institutions. So Mokyr needs to take the reader across a more abrupt change than Mandelbaum did. Mokyr does that in two ways. First, he summarizes his findings on social values, letting the reader know the section is ending. Then he says the impact of values is complicated, a point he illustrates in the final sentences, while the impact of property rights and institutions seems to be more straightforward. So he begins the new section with a nod to the old one, noting the contrast.

In commerce, war and politics, what was functional was often preferred [within Europe] to what was aesthetic or moral, and when it was not, natural selection saw to it that such pragmatism was never entirely absent in any society. . . . The contempt in which physical labor, commerce, and other economic activity were held did not disappear rapidly; much of European social history can be interpreted as a struggle between wealth and other values for a higher step in the hierarchy. The French concepts of bourgeois gentilhomme and nouveau riche still convey some contempt for people who joined the upper classes through economic success. Even in the nineteenth century, the accumulation of wealth was viewed as an admission ticket to social respectability to be abandoned as soon as a secure membership in the upper classes had been achieved. Institutions and Property Rights The institutional background of technological progress seems, on the surface, more straightforward. (Joel Mokyr, The Lever of Riches: Technological Creativity and Economic Progress . New York: Oxford University Press, 1990, p. 176)

Note the phrase, “on the surface.” Mokyr is hinting at his next point, that surface appearances are deceiving in this case. Good transitions between sections of your research paper depend on:

• Getting the sections in the right order
• Moving smoothly from one section to the next
• Signaling readers that they are taking the next step in your argument
• Explaining why this next step comes where it does

Every good paper ends with a strong concluding paragraph. To write a good conclusion, sum up the main points in your paper. To write an even better conclusion, include a sentence or two that helps the reader answer the question, “So what?” or “Why does all this matter?” If you choose to include one or more “So What?” sentences, remember that you still need to support any point you make with facts or examples. Remember, too, that this is not the place to introduce new ideas from “out of the blue.” Make sure that everything you write in your conclusion refers to what you’ve already written in the body of your paper.

Back to How To Write A Research Paper .

ORDER HIGH QUALITY CUSTOM PAPER

Speech Acts in Picture Books: Form, Meaning, and Modality of Responses to Requests

27 Pages Posted: 12 Jul 2024

English Department, Heidelberg University

Beijing Foreign Studies University

Abstract:Existing research demonstrates various multimodal features of request responses in authentic speech, but fewer studies have been conducted with responsive acts than requests. Therefore, the study hypothesised that responses in picture books were not manifested solely via direct speech utterances. By examining the form, meaning, and modality of request responses, the study obtained key findings: (1) response rate increased dramatically when the visual modality was considered, and modality preferences vary across response types; (2) favourable responses reveal functional-structural patterns formed by combinations of verbal and visual elements serving as the preliminary, expected, and/or added moves; (3) both texts and images in picture books are able to reflect most key features that characterise request responses in real-life communication. Findings of the study contribute to understanding multimodal meaning construction and may have implications in communication education and language learning.

Keywords: responses to requests, speech acts, picture books, multimodal meaning, text-image relation, multimodal pragmatics

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

English Department, Heidelberg University ( email )

Grabengasse 1 Heidelberg, 69117 Germany

Jiajin Xu (Contact Author)

Beijing foreign studies university ( email ).

No.19 North Xisanhuan Avenue, Haidian District Beijing, 100089 China

Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

Paper statistics.

What Happened on the Day of Ashura? Contextualizing the Events and Meaning of Ashura

Published: July 15, 2024 • Updated: July 15, 2024

Author : Yaqeen Institute ,

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ

In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

Moses and Pharaoh

So We inspired Moses: “Strike the sea with your staff,” and the sea was split; each part was like a huge mountain. We drew the pursuers to that place, and delivered Moses and those with him all together. Then We drowned the others. Surely in this is a sign. Yet most of them would not believe. And your Lord is certainly the Almighty, Most Merciful. (Quran 26: 63-68)

Noah and the Flood

And when Our command came and the oven burst [with water], We said [to Noah], “Take into the Ark a pair from every species along with your family—except those against whom the decree [of drowning] has already been passed—and those who believe.” But none believed with him except for a few. And he said, “Board it! In the Name of Allah it will sail and cast anchor. Surely my Lord is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” And [so˺] the Ark sailed with them through waves like mountains. Noah called out to his son, who stood apart, “O my dear son! Come aboard with us and do not be with the disbelievers.” He replied, “I will take refuge on a mountain, which will protect me from the water.” Noah cried, “Today no one is protected from Allah’s decree except those to whom He shows mercy!” And the waves came between them, and his son was among the drowned. And it was said, “O earth! Swallow up your water. And O sky! Withhold [your rain].” The floodwater receded and the decree was carried out. The Ark rested on Mount Judi, and it was said, “Away with the wrongdoing people!” (Quran 11:40-44)

Indeed, those who say, “Our Lord is Allah!” and then remain steadfast, the angels descend upon them, [saying,] “Do not fear, nor be grieved! Receive the good news of the paradise, which you have been promised.” (Qur’an 31:40)

Hussein ibn Ali’s Death

Never say that those martyred in the cause of Allah are dead—in fact, they are alive! But you do not perceive it. (Qur’an 2:154) “Verily, the souls of martyrs are in green birds, hanging from the fruits of Paradise, or the trees of Paradise.” [ Jami’   al-Tirmidhī  #1641]

Hussein is among the most honored of the Prophet’s family. His patience and steadfastness in the face of tyranny are examples for all Muslims. – Ibn Taymiyyah [Minhaj as-Sunnah an-Nabawiyyah]

Palestine’s Victory

Commemorating ashura through fasting.

Disclaimer: The views, opinions, findings, and conclusions expressed in these papers and articles are strictly those of the authors. Furthermore, Yaqeen does not endorse any of the personal views of the authors on any platform. Our team is diverse on all fronts, allowing for constant, enriching dialogue that helps us produce high-quality research.

Information

• Author Services

Initiatives

You are accessing a machine-readable page. In order to be human-readable, please install an RSS reader.

All articles published by MDPI are made immediately available worldwide under an open access license. No special permission is required to reuse all or part of the article published by MDPI, including figures and tables. For articles published under an open access Creative Common CC BY license, any part of the article may be reused without permission provided that the original article is clearly cited. For more information, please refer to https://www.mdpi.com/openaccess .

Feature papers represent the most advanced research with significant potential for high impact in the field. A Feature Paper should be a substantial original Article that involves several techniques or approaches, provides an outlook for future research directions and describes possible research applications.

Feature papers are submitted upon individual invitation or recommendation by the scientific editors and must receive positive feedback from the reviewers.

Editor’s Choice articles are based on recommendations by the scientific editors of MDPI journals from around the world. Editors select a small number of articles recently published in the journal that they believe will be particularly interesting to readers, or important in the respective research area. The aim is to provide a snapshot of some of the most exciting work published in the various research areas of the journal.

Original Submission Date Received: .

• Active Journals
• Find a Journal
• Proceedings Series
• For Authors
• For Reviewers
• For Editors
• For Librarians
• For Publishers
• For Societies
• For Conference Organizers
• Open Access Policy
• Institutional Open Access Program
• Special Issues Guidelines
• Editorial Process
• Research and Publication Ethics
• Article Processing Charges
• Testimonials
• Preprints.org
• SciProfiles
• Encyclopedia

Article Menu

• Subscribe SciFeed
• Recommended Articles
• Google Scholar
• on Google Scholar
• Table of Contents

Find support for a specific problem in the support section of our website.

Please let us know what you think of our products and services.

Visit our dedicated information section to learn more about MDPI.

JSmol Viewer

What is a working equid analysis of current terminology and a suggested definition, simple summary, 1. introduction, 1.1. the case of working equids, 1.2. statement of the problem: lack of clear, universally accepted definitions, 1.3. purpose of this study and research questions, 2.1. search terms, 2.2. literature search, 2.3. inclusion/exclusion criteria, 3. analysis, 3.1. country of focus, 3.2. income classification, 3.3. statistical analysis, 4.1. number of papers returned per search term, 4.2. multinomial logistic regression analysis, 4.3. analysis by search term, 5. discussion, 5.1. the case for a universal definition, 5.2. a standard definition, 5.3. limitations and future directions, 6. conclusions, author contributions, institutional review board statement, informed consent statement, data availability statement, conflicts of interest.

• Choate, H.A. The origin and development of the binomial system of nomenclature. Plant World 1912 , 15 , 257–263. [ Google Scholar ]
• Linnaeus, C. Species Plantarum ; Ville De Lyon: London, UK, 1753. [ Google Scholar ]
• Wichers, E. The Role of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. J. Chem. Doc. 1963 , 3 , 7–11. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Newell, D.B.; Tiesinga, E. The international system of units (SI). NIST Spec. Publ. 2019 , 330 , 1–138. [ Google Scholar ]
• World Health Organization. International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems , 11th ed.; World Health Organization: Geneva, Switzerland, 2019; Available online: https://www.who.int/standards/classifications/classification-of-diseases (accessed on 3 June 2024).
• Bell, C.C. DSM-IV: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. JAMA 1994 , 272 , 828–829. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Zorn, M.; Cantor, C. Nomenclature Issues in the Human Genome Project. In The Terminology of Biotechnology: A Multidisciplinary Problem, Proceedings of the 1989 International Chemical Congress of Pacific Basin Societies PACIFICHEM’89, Honolulu, HI, USA, 17–22 December 1989 ; Springer: Berlin/Heidelberg, Germany, 1990; pp. 85–91. [ Google Scholar ]
• de Vaucouleurs, G.; Blunck, J.; Davies, M.; Dollfus, A.; Koval, I.K.; Kuiper, G.P.; Masursky, H.; Miyamoto, S.; Moroz, V.I.; Sagan, C.; et al. The new Martian nomenclature of the international Astronomical Union. Icarus 1975 , 26 , 85–98. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Cohen, E.R.; Giacomo, P. Symbols, Units, Nomenclature and Fundamental Constants in Physics ; North-Holland: Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1987. [ Google Scholar ]
• Jemmett, A.M.; Groombridge, J.J.; Hare, J.; Yadamsuren, A.; Burger, P.A.; Ewen, J.G. What’s in a name? Common name misuse potentially confounds the conservation of the wild camel Camelus ferus. Oryx 2023 , 57 , 175–179. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Blades, B. What’s in a name? An evidence-based approach to understanding the implications of vernacular name on conservation of the painted dog ( Lycaon pictus ). Lang. Ecol. 2020 , 1 , 27. [ Google Scholar ]
• Kreplins, T.L.; Gaynor, A.; Kennedy, M.S.; Baudains, C.M.; Adams, P.; Bateman, P.W.; Fleming, P.A. What to call a dog? A review of the common names for Australian free-ranging dogs. Pac. Conserv. Biol. 2019 , 25 , 124–134. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Díaz-Restrepo, A.; Balcombe, K.; Fraser, I.; Smith, R.J.; Veríssimo, D. Testing branding techniques on species common names to improve their fundraising profile for conservation. Anim. Conserv. 2022 , 25 , 27–37. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Farnworth, M.J.; Campbell, J.; Adams, N.J. What’s in a Name? Perceptions of Stray and Feral Cat Welfare and Control in Aotearoa, New Zealand. J. Appl. Anim. Welf. Sci. 2011 , 14 , 59–74. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Gentry, A.; Clutton-Brock, J.; Groves, C.P. The naming of wild animal species and their domestic derivatives. J. Archaeol. Sci. 2004 , 31 , 645–651. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Howell, T.J.; Nieforth, L.; Thomas-Pino, C.; Samet, L.; Agbonika, S.; Cuevas-Pavincich, F.; Fry, N.E.; Hill, K.; Jegatheesan, B.; Kakinuma, M.; et al. Defining Terms Used for Animals Working in Support Roles for People with Support Needs. Animals 2022 , 12 , 1975. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Mekuria, S.; Mulachew, M.; Abebe, R. Management practices and welfare problems encountered on working equids in Hawassa town, Southern Ethiopia. J. Vet. Med. Anim. Health 2013 , 5 , 243–250. [ Google Scholar ]
• Rodrigues, J.B.; Sullivan, R.J.E.; Judge, A.; Norris, S.L.; Burden, F.A. Quantifying poor working equid welfare in Nepalese brick kilns using a welfare assessment tool. Vet. Rec. 2020 , 187 , 445. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Haddy, E.; Burden, F.; Prado-Ortiz, O.; Zappi, H.; Raw, Z.; Proops, L. Comparison of working equid welfare across three regions of Mexico. Equine Vet. J. 2021 , 53 , 763–770. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Wild, I.; Freeman, S.; Robles, D.; Matamoros, D.; Ortiz, M.; Rodriguez, J.; Burford, J. Owners’ Knowledge and Approaches to Colic in Working Equids in Honduras. Animals 2021 , 11 , 2087. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ] [ PubMed ]
• Starkey, P. Livestock for Traction and Transport: World Trends, Key Issues and Policy Implications ; Animal Production and Health Working Paper; Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO): Rome, Italy, 2011. [ Google Scholar ]
• Burn, C.C.; Dennison, T.L.; Whay, H.R. Relationships between behaviour and health in working horses, donkeys, and mules in developing countries. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. 2010 , 126 , 109–118. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Burn, C.C.; Dennison, T.L.; Whay, H.R. Environmental and demographic risk factors for poor welfare in working horses, donkeys and mules in developing countries. Vet. J. 2010 , 186 , 385–392. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Vasanthakumar, M.A.; Upjohn, M.M.; Watson, T.L.; Dwyer, C.M. ‘All My Animals Are Equal, but None Can Survive without the Horse’. The Contribution of Working Equids to the Livelihoods of Women across Six Communities in the Chimaltenango Region of Guatemala. Animals 2021 , 11 , 1509. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Brooke. Invisible Helpers:Women’s Views on the Contributions of Working Donkeys, Horses and Mules to Their Lives ; Brooke: London, UK, 2014. [ Google Scholar ]
• Grace, D.C.; Diall, O.; Saville, K.; Warboys, D.; Ward, P.; Wild, I.; Perry, B.D. The Global Contributions of Working Equids to Sustainable Agriculture and Livelihoods in Agenda 2030. EcoHealth 2022 , 19 , 342–353. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Pearson, R.A.; Vall, E. Performance and Management of Draught Animals in Agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa: A Review. Trop. Anim. Health Prod. 1998 , 30 , 309–324. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ] [ PubMed ]
• Mota-Rojas, D.; Braghieri, A.; Álvarez-Macías, A.; Serrapica, F.; Ramírez-Bribiesca, E.; Cruz-Monterrosa, R.; Masucci, F.; Mora-Medina, P.; Napolitano, F. The Use of Draught Animals in Rural Labour. Animals 2021 , 11 , 2683. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ] [ PubMed ]
• Smith, D.G.; Pearson, R.A. A Review of the Factors Affecting the Survival of Donkeys in Semi-arid Regions of Sub-Saharan Africa. Trop. Anim. Health Prod. 2005 , 37 , 1–19. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ] [ PubMed ]
• Hagmann, J.; Prasad, V.L. Use of donkeys and their draught performance in smallholder farming in Zimbabwe. Trop. Anim. Health Prod. 1995 , 27 , 231–239. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ] [ PubMed ]
• Zawiślak, J.; Ogińska, M.; Drewka, M.; Święcicka, N. Utilization of horses in forestry economy. Wiadomości Zootech. 2014 , 52 , 61–65. [ Google Scholar ]
• Rodrigues, J.B.; Garrett, C.; Norris, S.L.; Albuquerque, F.; Queijo, L.; Coelho, J.P.; Cooke, F.; Judge, A. May the force be with you: An investigation into logging methods using donkeys. Austral J. Vet. Sci. 2023 , 55 , 23–33. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Rodrigues, J.B.; Raw, Z.; Santurtun, E.; Cooke, F.; Clancy, C. Donkeys in transition: Changing use in a changing world. Braz. J. Vet. Res. Anim. Sci. 2021 , 58 , e174325. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Malatinszky, Á.; Ficsor, C.; Tormáné Kovács, E. Which Factors Determine the Distribution of Low-Impact Horse Logging in the Hungarian State-Owned Forests? Forests 2022 , 13 , 1959. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Dashper, K. Tools of the Trade or Part of the Family? Horses in Competitive Equestrian Sport. Soc. Anim. 2014 , 22 , 352–371. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Bower, M.A.; McGivney, B.A.; Campana, M.G.; Gu, J.; Andersson, L.S.; Barrett, E.; Davis, C.R.; Mikko, S.; Stock, F.; Voronkova, V.; et al. The genetic origin and history of speed in the Thoroughbred racehorse. Nat. Commun. 2012 , 3 , 643. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Klotz, A. Donkeys and Humans: Natural Horsemanship with Donkeys Focus: Animal Assisted Activities, Education and Therapy ; BoD–Books on Demand: Norderstedt, Germany, 2015. [ Google Scholar ]
• Dashper, K. Human-Animal Relationships in Equestrian Sport and Leisure ; Taylor & Francis: Milton Park, UK, 2016. [ Google Scholar ]
• Tully, P.A.G.; Carr, N. Presenting the donkey at the seaside: A move towards tackling speciesism in the tourism industry. Ann. Leis. Res. 2022 , 25 , 161–178. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Law, R. The Horse in West African History: The Role of the Horse in the Societies of Pre-Colonial West Africa ; Routledge: London, UK, 2018. [ Google Scholar ]
• Blench, R. Ethnographic and linguistic evidence for the prehistory of African ruminant livestock, horses and ponies 1. In The Archaeology of Africa ; Routledge: London, UK, 2014; pp. 71–103. [ Google Scholar ]
• Mitchell, P. The Donkey in Human History: An Archaeological Perspective ; Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK, 2018. [ Google Scholar ]
• Camillo, F.; Rota, A.; Biagini, L.; Tesi, M.; Fanelli, D.; Panzani, D. The Current Situation and Trend of Donkey Industry in Europe. J. Equine Vet. Sci. 2018 , 65 , 44–49. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Belaunzaran, X.; Bessa, R.J.B.; Lavín, P.; Mantecón, A.R.; Kramer, J.K.G.; Aldai, N. Horse-meat for human consumption—Current research and future opportunities. Meat Sci. 2015 , 108 , 74–81. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ] [ PubMed ]
• Bennett, R.; Pfuderer, S. The Potential for New Donkey Farming Systems to Supply the Growing Demand for Hides. Animals 2020 , 10 , 718. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Geiger, M.; Hockenhull, J.; Buller, H.; Kedir, M.J.; Engida, G.T.; Getachew, M.; Burden, F.A.; Whay, H.R. Comparison of the socio-economic value and welfare of working donkeys in rural and urban Ethiopia. Anim. Welf. 2021 , 30 , 269–277. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Haddy, E.; Rodrigues, J.B.; Raw, Z.; Burden, F.; Proops, L. Documenting the Welfare and Role of Working Equids in Rural Communities of Portugal and Spain. Animals 2020 , 10 , 790. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• OIE. Chapter 7.12, Welfare of Working Equids. In Terrestrial Animal Health Code ; World Organisation for Animal Health: Paris, France, 2019. [ Google Scholar ]
• Watson, T.; Kubasiewicz, L.M.; Nye, C.; Thapa, S.; Norris, S.L.; Chamberlain, N.; Burden, F.A. “Not All Who Wander Are Lost”: The Life Transitions and Associated Welfare of Pack Mules Walking the Trails in the Mountainous Gorkha Region, Nepal. Animals 2022 , 12 , 3152. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ] [ PubMed ]
• Murali, R.; Ikhagvajav, P.; Amankul, V.; Jumabay, K.; Sharma, K.; Bhatnagar, Y.V.; Suryawanshi, K.; Mishra, C. Ecosystem service dependence in livestock and crop-based production systems in Asia’s high mountains. J. Arid Environ. 2020 , 180 , 104204. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Nolz, P.C.; Doerner, K.F.; Hartl, R.F. Water distribution in disaster relief. Int. J. Phys. Distrib. Logist. Manag. 2010 , 40 , 693–708. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Clancy, C.; Watson, T.; Raw, Z. Resilience and the role of equids in humanitarian crises. Disasters 2022 , 46 , 1075–1097. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Kubasiewicz, L.M.; Watson, T.; Norris, S.L.; Chamberlain, N.; Nye, C.; Perumal, R.K.; Saroja, R.; Raw, Z.; Burden, F.A. One welfare: Linking poverty, equid ownership and equid welfare in the brick kilns of India. Anim. Welf. 2022 , 31 , 517–528. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Kubasiewicz, L.M.; Watson, T.; Nye, C.; Chamberlain, N.; Perumal, R.K.; Saroja, R.; Norris, S.L.; Raw, Z.; Burden, F.A. Bonded labour and donkey ownership in the brick kilns of India: A need for reform of policy and practice. Anim. Welf. 2023 , 32 , e8. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ] [ PubMed ]
• Nye, C.; Watson, T.; Kubasiewicz, L.M.; Raw, Z.; Burden, F. ‘Don’t Put the Cart before the Mule!’ Challenging Assumptions Regarding Health-Related Treatment Practices of Working Equid Owners in Northern India. Animals 2021 , 11 , 1307. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ] [ PubMed ]
• Watson, T.L.; Kubasiewicz, L.M.; Chamberlain, N.; Nye, C.; Raw, Z.; Burden, F.A. Cultural “Blind Spots”, Social Influence and the Welfare of Working Donkeys in Brick Kilns in Northern India. Front. Vet. Sci. 2020 , 7 , 214. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ] [ PubMed ]
• Haddy, E.; Burden, F.; Fernando-Martínez, J.A.; Legaria-Ramírez, D.; Raw, Z.; Brown, J.; Kaminski, J.; Proops, L. Evaluation of long-term welfare initiatives on working equid welfare and social transmission of knowledge in Mexico. PLoS ONE 2021 , 16 , e0251002. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ] [ PubMed ]
• Haddy, E.; Brown, J.; Burden, F.; Raw, Z.; Kaminski, J.; Proops, L. “What can we do to actually reach all these animals?” Evaluating approaches to improving working equid welfare. PLoS ONE 2022 , 17 , e0273972. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ] [ PubMed ]
• Lanas, R.; Luna, D.; Tadich, T. The relationship between working horse welfare and their owners’ socioeconomic status. Anim. Welf. 2018 , 27 , 47–54. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Watson, T.; Kubasiewicz, L.M.; Nye, C.; Thapa, S.; Chamberlain, N.; Burden, F.A. The welfare and access to veterinary health services of mules working the mountain trails in the Gorkha region, Nepal. Austral J. Vet. Sci. 2023 , 55 , 9–22. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Brooke. Invisible Workers: The Economic Contributions of Working Donkeys, Horses and Mules to Livelihoods ; Brooke: London, UK, 2015. [ Google Scholar ]
• Zaman, S.; Kumar, A.; Compston, P. Contribution of Working Equids to the Livelihoods of Their Owners in Uttar Pradesh, India. In Proceedings of the 7th International Colloquium on Working Equids, London, UK, 1–3 July 2014; pp. 1–3. [ Google Scholar ]
• Perry, B. We must tie equine welfare to international development. Vet. Rec. 2017 , 181 , 600. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Librado, P.; Khan, N.; Fages, A.; Kusliy, M.A.; Suchan, T.; Tonasso-Calvière, L.; Schiavinato, S.; Alioglu, D.; Fromentier, A.; Perdereau, A.; et al. The origins and spread of domestic horses from the Western Eurasian steppes. Nature 2021 , 598 , 634–640. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Bendrey, R. From wild horses to domestic horses: A European perspective. World Archaeol. 2012 , 44 , 135–157. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Hogg, R.C.; Hodgins, G.A. Symbiosis or Sporting Tool? Competition and the Horse-Rider Relationship in Elite Equestrian Sports. Animals 2021 , 11 , 1352. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ] [ PubMed ]
• Furtado, T.; Preshaw, L.; Hockenhull, J.; Wathan, J.; Douglas, J.; Horseman, S.; Smith, R.; Pollard, D.; Pinchbeck, G.; Rogers, J.; et al. How Happy Are Equine Athletes? Stakeholder Perceptions of Equine Welfare Issues Associated with Equestrian Sport. Animals 2021 , 11 , 3228. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ] [ PubMed ]
• Matheson, V. An Overview of the Economics of Sports Gambling and an Introduction to the Symposium. East. Econ. J. 2021 , 47 , 1–8. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ] [ PubMed ]
• Cassidy, R. The Sport of Kings: Kinship, Class and Thoroughbred Breeding in Newmarket ; Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK, 2002. [ Google Scholar ]
• FEI. Protecting the EU Equine Industry and Equine Health and Welfare ; FEI: Lausanne, Switzerland, 2022. [ Google Scholar ]
• Oxford University Press. Oxford English Dictionary ; Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK, 2019; p. 2019. [ Google Scholar ]
• Boden, L.A.; Parkin, T.D.H.; Yates, J.; Mellor, D.; Kao, R.R. An online survey of horse-owners in Great Britain. BMC Vet. Res. 2013 , 9 , 188. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ] [ PubMed ]
• Dashper, K.; Abbott, J.; Wallace, C. ‘Do horses cause divorces?’ Autoethnographic insights on family, relationships and resource-intensive leisure. Ann. Leis. Res. 2020 , 23 , 304–321. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Clancy, C.; Cooke, F.; Gorman, R. Learning With Donkeys—A “More-Than-Human” Approach to Animal-Assisted Activities. Soc. Anim. 2022 , 1 , 1–21. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Vasilopoulou, C. Chapter 10: The donkeys of Santorini: Workers or slaves? In Exploring Non-Human Work in Tourism: From Beasts of Burden to Animal Ambassadors ; Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG: Berlin, Germany, 2021; Volume 5, p. 159. [ Google Scholar ]
• Taş Gürsoy, İ. Horse-drawn carriages: Sustainability at the nexus of human-animal interaction. J. Sustain. Tour. 2020 , 28 , 204–221. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Rink, B.; Crow, J. Horse/power: Human–animal mobile assemblage in the contemporary city. Contemp. Soc. Sci. 2021 , 16 , 84–95. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Schlechter, P. The European Draught Horse Federation (FECTU) and the context for work with horses in Europe. In Proceedings of the 6th International Colloquium on Working Equids: Learning from Others, Proceedings of an International Colloquium, New Delhi, India, 29 November–2 December 2010; pp. 90–93. [ Google Scholar ]
• Favre, D. An International Treaty for Animal Welfare. In Animal Law and Welfare—International Perspectives ; Cao, D., White, S., Eds.; Springer International Publishing: Cham, Switzerland, 2016; pp. 87–106. [ Google Scholar ]
• White, S. Into the Void: International Law and the Protection of Animal Welfare. Glob. Policy 2013 , 4 , 391–398. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Dados, N.; Connell, R. The Global South. Contexts 2012 , 11 , 12–13. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Sommerville, R.; Brown, A.F.; Upjohn, M. A standardised equine-based welfare assessment tool used for six years in low and middle income countries. PLoS ONE 2018 , 13 , e0192354. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ] [ PubMed ]
• Geiger, M.; Hockenhull, J.; Buller, H.; Tefera Engida, G.; Getachew, M.; Burden, F.A.; Whay, H.R. Understanding the Attitudes of Communities to the Social, Economic, and Cultural Importance of Working Donkeys in Rural, Peri-urban, and Urban Areas of Ethiopia. Front. Vet. Sci. 2020 , 7 , 60. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ] [ PubMed ]
• FAOSTAT Database. Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, Statistical Database: Production, Live Animals. Available online: http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/ (accessed on 28 March 2022).
• Odeh, L.E. A comparative analysis of Global North and Global South economies. J. Sustain. Dev. Afr. 2010 , 12 , 338–348. [ Google Scholar ]
• Lesimple, C.; Reverchon-Billot, L.; Galloux, P.; Stomp, M.; Boichot, L.; Coste, C.; Henry, S.; Hausberger, M. Free movement: A key for welfare improvement in sport horses? Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. 2020 , 225 , 104972. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Maśko, M.; Domino, M.; Jasiński, T.; Witkowska-Piłaszewicz, O. The Physical Activity-Dependent Hematological and Biochemical Changes in School Horses in Comparison to Blood Profiles in Endurance and Race Horses. Animals 2021 , 11 , 1128. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ] [ PubMed ]
• de Oliveira, R.A.; Aurich, C. Aspects of Breeding Stallion Management with Specific Focus on Animal Welfare. J. Equine Vet. Sci. 2021 , 107 , 103773. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ] [ PubMed ]
• Luna, D.; Vásquez, R.A.; Rojas, M.; Tadich, T.A. Welfare Status of Working Horses and Owners′ Perceptions of Their Animals. Animals 2017 , 7 , 56. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Norris, S.L.; Little, H.A.; Ryding, J.; Raw, Z. Global donkey and mule populations: Figures and trends. PLoS ONE 2021 , 16 , e0247830. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Allan, F.K. A Landscaping Analysis of Working Equid Population Numbers in LMICs, with Policy Recommendations ; Brooke/University of Edinburgh: London, UK, 2021. [ Google Scholar ]
• Nye, C.; Watson, T.; Kubasiewicz, L.; Raw, Z.; Burden, F. No Prescription, No Problem! A Mixed-Methods Study of Antimicrobial Stewardship Relating to Working Equines in Drug Retail Outlets of Northern India. Antibiotics 2020 , 9 , 295. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Antonis, F.; Myrto, K.; Alessia, A.; Martin, A.; Ingeborg, B.; John, N.B.; Ricard, C.; Andrea, D.; Caroline, G.; Marcello, G.; et al. 2019 update of the EULAR recommendations for the management of systemic lupus erythematosus. Ann. Rheum. Dis. 2019 , 78 , 736. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Norris, S.L.; Kubasiewicz, L.M.; Watson, T.L.; Little, H.A.; Yadav, A.K.; Thapa, S.; Raw, Z.; Burden, F.A. A New Framework for Assessing Equid Welfare: A Case Study of Working Equids in Nepalese Brick Kilns. Animals 2020 , 10 , 1074. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Raw, Z.; Rodrigues, J.B.; Rickards, K.; Ryding, J.; Norris, S.L.; Judge, A.; Kubasiewicz, L.M.; Watson, T.L.; Little, H.; Hart, B.; et al. Equid Assessment, Research and Scoping (EARS): The Development and Implementation of a New Equid Welfare Assessment and Monitoring Tool. Animals 2020 , 10 , 297. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Kubasiewicz, L.M.; Rodrigues, J.B.; Norris, S.L.; Watson, T.L.; Rickards, K.; Bell, N.; Judge, A.; Raw, Z.; Burden, F.A. The Welfare Aggregation and Guidance (WAG) Tool: A New Method to Summarize Global Welfare Assessment Data for Equids. Animals 2020 , 10 , 546. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Hill, A.D.; Kern, D.A.; White, M.A. Building understanding in strategy research: The importance of employing consistent terminology and convergent measures. Strateg. Organ. 2012 , 10 , 187–200. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Tuomisto, H. A consistent terminology for quantifying species diversity? Yes, it does exist. Oecologia 2010 , 164 , 853–860. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Ryan, S.F.; Jennifer, C.D.; Linda, L.; Emmanuel, S.; Teresa, L.-A. Preventing the ‘24-hour Babel’: The need for a consensus on a consistent terminology scheme for physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep. Br. J. Sports Med. 2022 , 56 , 367. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Herman, R.D.; Renz, D.O. Nonprofit Organizational Effectiveness: Contrasts Between Especially Effective and Less Effective Organizations. Nonprofit Manag. Leadersh. 1998 , 9 , 23–38. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Upjohn, M.M.; Pfeiffer, D.U.; Verheyen, K.L.P. Helping working Equidae and their owners in developing countries: Monitoring and evaluation of evidence-based interventions. Vet. J. 2014 , 199 , 210–216. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Haddaway, N.R.; Collins, A.M.; Coughlin, D.; Kirk, S. The Role of Google Scholar in Evidence Reviews and Its Applicability to Grey Literature Searching. PLoS ONE 2015 , 10 , e0138237. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Lencucha, R.; Neupane, S. The use, misuse and overuse of the ‘low-income and middle-income countries’ category. BMJ Glob Health 2022 , 7 , e009067. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• World Bank. World Bank Country and Lending Groups—World Bank Data Help Desk. 2023. Available online: https://datahelpdesk.worldbank.org/knowledgebase/articles/906519-world-bank-country-and-lending-groups (accessed on 7 June 2024).
• Pinto-Correia, T. Future development in Portuguese rural areas: How to manage agricultural support for landscape conservation? Landsc. Urban Plan. 2000 , 50 , 95–106. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Silva, L.; Leal, J. Rural tourism and national identity building in contemporary Europe: Evidence from Portugal. J. Rural Stud. 2015 , 38 , 109–119. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Soares da Silva, D.; Figueiredo, E.; Eusébio, C.; Carneiro, M.J. The countryside is worth a thousand words—Portuguese representations on rural areas. J. Rural Stud. 2016 , 44 , 77–88. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Jensen, L.; Ader, D. The Demography of Rural Latin America: The Case of Chile. In International Handbook of Rural Demography ; Kulcsár, L.J., Curtis, K.J., Eds.; Springer: Dordrecht, The Netherlands, 2012; pp. 95–110. [ Google Scholar ]
• Rodríguez-Díaz, P.; Almuna, R.; Marchant, C.; Heinz, S.; Lebuy, R.; Celis-Diez, J.L.; Díaz-Siefer, P. The Future of Rurality: Place Attachment among Young Inhabitants of Two Rural Communities of Mediterranean Central Chile. Sustainability 2022 , 14 , 546. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Alves, R.R.N. Chapter 18—The Ethnozoological Role of Working Animals in Traction and Transport. In Ethnozoology ; Nóbrega Alves, R.R., Albuquerque, U.P., Eds.; Academic Press: Cambridge, MA, USA, 2018; pp. 339–349. [ Google Scholar ]
• Furtado, T.; King, M.; Perkins, E.; McGowan, C.; Chubbock, S.; Hannelly, E.; Rogers, J.; Pinchbeck, G. An Exploration of Environmentally Sustainable Practices Associated with Alternative Grazing Management System Use for Horses, Ponies, Donkeys and Mules in the UK. Animals 2022 , 12 , 151. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Rzekęć, A.; Vial, C.; Bigot, G. Green Assets of Equines in the European Context of the Ecological Transition of Agriculture. Animals 2020 , 10 , 106. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Haddy, E.; Burden, F.; Raw, Z.; Rodrigues, J.B.; Zappi Bello, J.H.; Brown, J.; Kaminski, J.; Proops, L. Belief in Animal Sentience and Affective Owner Attitudes are linked to Positive Working Equid Welfare across Six Countries. J. Appl. Anim. Welf. Sci. 2023 , 30 , 1–19. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Velázquez-Beltrán, L.G.; Sánchez-Vera, E.; Nava-Bernal, E.G.; Arriaga-Jordán, C.M. The role of working equines to livelihoods in current day campesino hill-slope communities in central Mexico. Trop. Anim. Health Prod. 2011 , 43 , 1623–1632. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Costa, P.W.L.d.; Oliveira, C.S.d.M.; Santos, A.d.; Alvares, F.B.V.; Feitosa, T.F.; Vilela, V.L.R. Anti- Brucella spp. antibodies in working equids in a semiarid region of Northeastern Brazil. Ciênc. Rural 2023 , 54 , e20220648. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Wild, I.; Gedge, A.; Burridge, J.; Burford, J. The impact of COVID-19 on the working equid community: Responses from 1530 individuals accessing NGO support in 14 low-and middle-income countries. Animals 2021 , 11 , 1363. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Barrandeguy, M.E.; Carossino, M. Infectious Diseases in Donkeys and Mules: An Overview and Update. J. Equine Vet. Sci. 2018 , 65 , 98–105. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Starkey, P.; Sims, B. Animal traction in Cuba: An overview of survey results, issues and opportunities. Unpubl. Rep. Cuba. Netw. Anim. Tract. Havana. 2002 , 20 , 2011. Available online: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Brian-Sims-3/publication/268428061_Animal_traction_in_Cuba_an_overview_of_survey_results_issues_and_opportunities/links/598b22490f7e9b9d44d4aa21/Animal-traction-in-Cuba-an-overview-of-survey-results-issues-and-opportunities.pdf (accessed on 1 July 2024).
• Ravichandran, T.; Perumal, R.K.; Vijayalakshmy, K.; Raw, Z.; Cooke, F.; Baltenweck, I.; Rahman, H. Means of Livelihood, Clean Environment to Women Empowerment: The Multi-Faceted Role of Donkeys. Animals 2023 , 13 , 1927. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Englund, M.D.; Cronin, K.A. Choice, control, and animal welfare: Definitions and essential inquiries to advance animal welfare science. Front. Vet. Sci 2023 , 10 , 1250251. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Fisher, M.W. Defining animal welfare—Does consistency matter? N. Z. Vet. J. 2009 , 57 , 71–73. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Watters, J.V.; Krebs, B.L.; Eschmann, C.L. Assessing Animal Welfare with Behavior: Onward with Caution. J. Zool. Bot. Gard. 2021 , 2 , 75–87. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Grommers, F.J.; Stafleu, F.R.; Vorstenbosch, J. Animal Welfare: Evolution and Erosion of a Moral Concept. Anim. Welf. 1996 , 5 , 225–234. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Upjohn, M.; Wells, K. Working equids: The welfare of those worked to their limit. In Are We Pushing Animals to Their Biological Limits? Welfare and Ethical Implications ; CAB International: Wallingford, UK, 2018; pp. 28–48. [ Google Scholar ]
• Starkey, P. The history of working animals in Africa. In The Origins and Development of African Livestock: Archaeology, Genetics, Linguistics and Ethnography ; Routledge: Longdon, UK, 2000; pp. 478–502. [ Google Scholar ]
• Christensen, M.C.; Todić, J.; McMahon, S.M. Bridging the Grey Gap: Conducting Grey Literature Reviews for Ethical Social Work Practice and Research. J. Soc. Soc. Work Res. 2021 , 13 , 609–635. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Papoutsaki, E. The Need for Local Research Approaches: De-Westernising Research Methodologies for Higher Education Curricula in Developing Countries ; Brill: Leiden, The Netherlands, 2008; pp. 241–254. [ Google Scholar ]
• Papoutsaki, E. De-colonising Journalism Curricula. Media Asia 2007 , 34 , 79–87. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Lepore, W.; Hall, B.L.; Tandon, R. The Knowledge for Change Consortium: A decolonising approach to international collaboration in capacity-building in community-based participatory research. Can. J. Dev. Stud./Rev. Can. D’étud. Dév. 2021 , 42 , 347–370. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Fuchs, C. De-Colonising Academia: A Radical Humanist Perspective. In Digital Humanism ; Emerald Group Publishing Limited: Bentley, UK, 2022; pp. 63–110. [ Google Scholar ]
• Dassah, E.; Aldersey, H.M.; McColl, M.A.; Davison, C. ‘When I don’t have money to buy the drugs, I just manage.’—Exploring the lived experience of persons with physical disabilities in accessing primary health care services in rural Ghana. Soc. Sci. Med. 2018 , 214 , 83–90. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Mariam, S.; Mike, J.S.; Mervat, A.; Victoria, P.; Melanie, L.; Shyam Sundar, B.; Hala, M.; Maryam, O.; Lillian, L.; Amelia Kataria, G.; et al. Whose voices should shape global health education? Curriculum codesign and codelivery by people with direct expertise and lived experience. BMJ Glob. Health 2021 , 6 , e006262. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Atkins, M. Collective Organisations: An introduction to their contributions to livelihoods in the Global South. In The Routledge Handbook on Livelihoods in the Global South ; Routledge: London, UK, 2022; pp. 450–459. [ Google Scholar ]
• Marovah, T.; Mutanga, O. Decolonising participatory research: Can Ubuntu philosophy contribute something? Int. J. Soc. Res. Methodol. 2023 . [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Kirtley, O.J. Advancing credibility in longitudinal research by implementing open science practices: Opportunities, practical examples, and challenges. Infant Child Dev. 2022 , 31 , e2302. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]

Share and Cite

Raw, Z.; Collins, J.A.; Burden, F.A. What Is a Working Equid? Analysis of Current Terminology and a Suggested Definition. Animals 2024 , 14 , 2026. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14142026

Raw Z, Collins JA, Burden FA. What Is a Working Equid? Analysis of Current Terminology and a Suggested Definition. Animals . 2024; 14(14):2026. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14142026

Raw, Zoe, Joseph A. Collins, and Faith A. Burden. 2024. "What Is a Working Equid? Analysis of Current Terminology and a Suggested Definition" Animals 14, no. 14: 2026. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14142026

Article Metrics

Article access statistics, further information, mdpi initiatives, follow mdpi.

Subscribe to receive issue release notifications and newsletters from MDPI journals

• Environment
• Science & Technology
• Business & Industry
• Health & Public Welfare
• Topics (CFR Indexing Terms)
• Public Inspection
• Presidential Documents
• Document Search
• Advanced Document Search
• Public Inspection Search
• Reader Aids Home
• Office of the Federal Register Announcements
• Using FederalRegister.Gov
• Understanding the Federal Register
• Recent Site Updates
• Federal Register & CFR Statistics
• Videos & Tutorials
• Developer Resources
• Government Policy and OFR Procedures
• Congressional Review
• My Clipboard
• My Comments
• My Subscriptions
• Sign In / Sign Up
• Site Feedback
• Search the Federal Register

The Federal Register

The daily journal of the united states government.

• Legal Status

This site displays a prototype of a “Web 2.0” version of the daily Federal Register. It is not an official legal edition of the Federal Register, and does not replace the official print version or the official electronic version on GPO’s govinfo.gov.

The documents posted on this site are XML renditions of published Federal Register documents. Each document posted on the site includes a link to the corresponding official PDF file on govinfo.gov. This prototype edition of the daily Federal Register on FederalRegister.gov will remain an unofficial informational resource until the Administrative Committee of the Federal Register (ACFR) issues a regulation granting it official legal status. For complete information about, and access to, our official publications and services, go to About the Federal Register on NARA's archives.gov.

The OFR/GPO partnership is committed to presenting accurate and reliable regulatory information on FederalRegister.gov with the objective of establishing the XML-based Federal Register as an ACFR-sanctioned publication in the future. While every effort has been made to ensure that the material on FederalRegister.gov is accurately displayed, consistent with the official SGML-based PDF version on govinfo.gov, those relying on it for legal research should verify their results against an official edition of the Federal Register. Until the ACFR grants it official status, the XML rendition of the daily Federal Register on FederalRegister.gov does not provide legal notice to the public or judicial notice to the courts.

Proposed Rule

Paper and paper-based packaging promotion, research and information order; clarifying changes.

A Proposed Rule by the Agricultural Marketing Service on 07/15/2024

This document has a comment period that ends in 30 days. (08/14/2024) Submit a formal comment

Thank you for taking the time to create a comment. Your input is important.

Once you have filled in the required fields below you can preview and/or submit your comment to the Agriculture Department for review. All comments are considered public and will be posted online once the Agriculture Department has reviewed them.

You can view alternative ways to comment or you may also comment via Regulations.gov at https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/AMS-SC-23-0080-0001 .

• What is your comment about?

Note: You can attach your comment as a file and/or attach supporting documents to your comment. Attachment Requirements .

this will NOT be posted on regulations.gov

• Opt to receive email confirmation of submission and tracking number?
• Tell us about yourself! I am... *
• First Name *
• Last Name *
• State Alabama Alaska American Samoa Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Guam Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Puerto Rico Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virgin Islands Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming
• Country Afghanistan Åland Islands Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antarctica Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Bouvet Island Brazil British Indian Ocean Territory Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia Comoros Congo Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Cook Islands Costa Rica Côte d'Ivoire Croatia Cuba Curaçao Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Heard Island and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq Ireland Isle of Man Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jersey Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macao Macedonia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Mexico Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Palestine, State of Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Pitcairn Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Réunion Romania Russian Federation Rwanda Saint Barthélemy Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Martin (French part) Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Sint Maarten (Dutch part) Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Svalbard and Jan Mayen Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tokelau Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States United States Minor Outlying Islands Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, U.S. Wallis and Futuna Western Sahara Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe
• Organization Type * Company Organization Federal State Local Tribal Regional Foreign U.S. House of Representatives U.S. Senate
• Organization Name *
• You are filing a document into an official docket. Any personal information included in your comment text and/or uploaded attachment(s) may be publicly viewable on the web.
• I read and understand the statement above.
• Preview Comment

Document Details

Information about this document as published in the Federal Register .

Enhanced Content

Relevant information about this document from Regulations.gov provides additional context. This information is not part of the official Federal Register document.

Published Document

This document has been published in the Federal Register . Use the PDF linked in the document sidebar for the official electronic format.

Enhanced Content - Table of Contents

This table of contents is a navigational tool, processed from the headings within the legal text of Federal Register documents. This repetition of headings to form internal navigation links has no substantive legal effect.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Supplementary information:, executive orders 12866, 13563 and 14094, executive order 13175, executive order 12988, board recommendation to revise order, initial regulatory flexibility act analysis, list of subjects in 7 cfr part 1222, part 1222—paper and paper-based promotion, research and information order, subpart b—referendum procedures, enhanced content - submit public comment.

• Submit a public comment on this document

Enhanced Content - Read Public Comments

• This feature is not available for this document.

Enhanced Content - Sharing

• Email this document to a friend

Enhanced Content - Document Print View

• Print this document

Enhanced Content - Document Tools

These tools are designed to help you understand the official document better and aid in comparing the online edition to the print edition.

These markup elements allow the user to see how the document follows the Document Drafting Handbook that agencies use to create their documents. These can be useful for better understanding how a document is structured but are not part of the published document itself.

Enhanced Content - Developer Tools

This document is available in the following developer friendly formats:.

• JSON: Normalized attributes and metadata
• XML: Original full text XML
• MODS: Government Publishing Office metadata

More information and documentation can be found in our developer tools pages .

Official Content

• View printed version (PDF)

This PDF is the current document as it appeared on Public Inspection on 07/12/2024 at 8:45 am. It was viewed 0 times while on Public Inspection.

If you are using public inspection listings for legal research, you should verify the contents of the documents against a final, official edition of the Federal Register. Only official editions of the Federal Register provide legal notice of publication to the public and judicial notice to the courts under 44 U.S.C. 1503 & 1507 . Learn more here .

Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

Proposed rule.

The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) proposes multiple clarifying amendments to the Paper and Paper-Based Packaging Promotion, Research and Information Order (Order). The amendments include revising the definition of importer; adding a definition for partnership; clarifying the nominations process; clarifying language about in person and electronic voting for any Board meetings; updating the timing of financial reporting; and revising requirements for when exemptions can be requested. These actions would modify language in the Order to bring it up to date with current industry practices.

Comments must be received by August 14, 2024.

Interested persons are invited to submit written comments concerning this proposed rule. Comments may be mailed to the Docket Clerk, Market Development Division, Specialty Crops Program, AMS, USDA, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, STOP 0237, Washington, DC 20250-0237; Fax: (202) 720-8938; or submitted electronically by Email: [email protected] ; or via Federal e-rulemaking portal at https://www.regulations.gov . Comments should reference the document number and the date and page number of this issue of the Federal Register . All comments submitted in response to this proposed rule will be included in the rulemaking record and will be made available to the public. Please be advised that the identity of the individuals or entities submitting the comments will be made public on the internet at the address provided above. A plain language summary of this proposed rule is available at https://www.regulations.gov in the docket for this rulemaking.

Samantha Mareno, Agricultural Marketing Specialist, Market Development Division, Specialty Crops Program, Agricultural Marketing Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Room 1406-S, STOP 0244, Washington, DC 20250-0244; Telephone: (720) 827-4907; or Email: [email protected] .

This proposed rule affecting the Order ( 7 CFR part 1222 ) is authorized by the Commodity Promotion, Research, and Information Act of 1996 (Act) ( 7 U.S.C. 7411-7425 ).

AMS is issuing this proposed rule in conformance with Executive Orders 12866, 13563, and 14094. Executive Orders 12866 and 13563 direct agencies to assess all costs and benefits of available regulatory alternatives and, if regulation is necessary, to select regulatory approaches that maximize net benefits (including potential economic, environmental, public health and safety effects, distributive impacts, and equity). Executive Order 13563 emphasizes the importance of quantifying both costs and benefits, reducing costs, harmonizing rules, and promoting flexibility. Executive Order 14094 reaffirms, supplements, and updates Executive Order 12866 and further directs agencies to solicit and consider input from a wide range of affected and interested parties through a variety of means. This proposed rule is not a significant regulatory action within the meaning of Executive Order 12866 . Accordingly, this action has not been reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget under section 6 of the Executive Order.

This action has been reviewed in accordance with the requirements of Executive Order 13175 , Consultation and Coordination with Indian Tribal Governments. AMS has assessed the impact of this proposed rule on Indian Tribes and determined that this proposed rule would not have Tribal implications that require consultation under Executive Order 13175 . AMS hosts a quarterly teleconference with Tribal leaders where matters of mutual interest regarding the marketing of agricultural products are discussed. Information about the proposed changes to the regulations will be shared during an upcoming quarterly call, and Tribal leaders will be informed about the proposed revisions to the regulation and the opportunity to submit comments. AMS will work with the USDA Office of Tribal Relations to ensure meaningful consultation is provided as needed with regard to these proposed changes to the Order.

This proposal has been reviewed under Executive Order 12988 , Civil Justice Reform. It is not intended to have retroactive effect. Section 524 of the Act ( 7 U.S.C. 7423 ) provides that it shall not affect or preempt any other Federal or State law authorizing promotion or research relating to an agricultural commodity.

Under Section 519 of the Act ( 7 U.S.C. 7418 ), a person subject to an order may file a written petition with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), stating that an order, any provision of an order, or any obligation imposed in connection with an order, is not established in accordance with the law, and request a modification of an order or an exemption from an order. Any petition filed challenging an order, any provision of an order, or any obligation imposed in connection with an order, shall be filed within two years after the effective date of an order, provision, or obligation subject to challenge in the petition. The petitioner will have the opportunity for a hearing on the petition. Thereafter, USDA will issue a ruling on the petition. The Act provides that the district court of the United States for any district in which the petitioner resides or conducts business shall have the jurisdiction to review a final ruling on the petition if the petitioner files a complaint for that purpose not later than 20 days after the date of the entry of USDA's final ruling. Start Printed Page 57369

Under the Order, which became effective on January 23, 2014, the Paper and Packaging Board (Board), with oversight by USDA, administers a nationally coordinated program of research, promotion and information designed to strengthen the paper and paper-based packaging industry. The program covers four types of paper and paper-based packaging—printing and writing paper (used to make products for printing, writing and other communication purposes), kraft packaging paper (used for products like grocery bags and sacks), containerboard (used to make corrugated boxes, shipping containers and related products), and paperboard (used for food and beverage packaging, tubes, and other miscellaneous products). The program is financed by assessments on domestic manufacturers and importers of paper and paper-based packaging.

This proposed rulemaking would make multiple clarifying amendments to the Order. These amendments include revising the definition of importer; adding a definition for partnership; clarifying the nomination process; clarifying language about in person and electronic voting for any Board meetings; updating the timing of financial reporting; and revising requirements concerning when exemptions may be requested. The Board, which is composed of domestic manufacturers from across the country and importers, unanimously recommended the proposed changes to the Order on August 19, 2023. This action would modify language in the Order to bring it up to date with current industry practices.

In subpart A of the Order, several sections would be revised to clarify terms for the Board and the paper and paper-based packaging industry. Section 1222.7 currently defines fiscal period and marketing year. Proposed section 1222.7 would revise fiscal period to fiscal year as the term is better understood by the industry. The definition of importer in § 1222.8 would be revised to further clarify that importers are persons who import paper and paper-based packaging from outside the United States, that is subsequently released from custody by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (Customs) and introduced into the stream of commerce into the United States. Specifically, those persons are included who hold title of the foreign manufactured paper and paper-based packaging. The proposed revision is similar to the current definition of eligible importer in § 1222.101 (f) of Subpart B—Referendum Procedures.

Sections 1222.12 and 1222.13 currently include the term produce and producer respectively in the definition of manufacture and manufacturer. The term produce and producer are not used in the paper and paper-based packaging industry. Therefore, this proposed rule would remove these terms from the definition of manufacture and manufacturer.

Lastly, a new term for partnership would be added at § 1222.19 to state that a partnership includes, but is not limited to, spouses and joint ventures. This change is intended to clarify who is responsible for paying assessments. With this change, the existing sections 1222.19 through 1222.29 would be renumbered.

Section 1222.41 currently outlines the Board nominations and appointments process. Section 1222.41(c)(1) would be updated to clarify the process for conducting outreach and specifically issue a call for nominations to all current manufacturers and importers who have paid assessments during the prior fiscal year. Furthermore, section 1222.41(c)(4) and (c)(5) would be amended to remove repetitive language. Lastly, section 1222.41(c)(10) would be changed to specify that no two members shall be employed by a single manufacturer or importer that pays assessments under the Order to avoid confusion as to who can serve on the Board.

Section 1222.43(a) allows the Secretary to remove a Board member or employee for failure or refusal to perform their duties, per the Board's recommendation. This would be revised to remove the employee clause to be consistent with language in other research and promotion orders.

Section 1222.44 outlines the Board's procedures for conducting Board meetings. Section 1222.44(c) currently states that votes shall be cast in person at an assembled meeting. Additionally, section 1222.44 (d) allows for other means of voting in lieu of voting at an assembled meeting. Both sections would be revised to include options for electronic voting, or other means.

Section 1222.47 outlines prohibited activities for the Board. Section 1222.47(c) currently states no program, plan or project including advertising shall be false, misleading, or disparaging to another agriculture commodity. To be consistent in writing style, the proposed language would be modified to state any program, plan or project including advertising that is false, misleading, or disparaging to another agriculture commodity. This section would be updated to ensure clarity in wording.

Section 1222.50(i) outlines the operating monetary reserve for the Board and states that the funds in the reserve may not exceed one fiscal year's budget of expenses. This would be revised to increase the funds in the reserve so they may not exceed two fiscal years, which is consistent with other research and promotion orders.

Section 1222.51(b) describes when financial statements are to be submitted to the Department. The current timeframe is 30 days after the time period to which it applies, which is too restrictive because the Board reports financial statements on a quarterly basis. Therefore, this paragraph would be updated to specify that the financial statements are to be submitted quarterly and no later than 70 days after the period to which it applies.

Section 1222.51(c) refers to the annual financial statement that is submitted to the Department. Currently, the annual financial statement is due to the Department within 90 days after the end of the fiscal year. The Board has had difficulty in meeting this short deadline. Therefore, this rule would extend the timeframe to no later than 120 days to allow the Board more time to submit the statement to the Department.

Section 1222.52(e) currently states that importers of paper and paper-based packaging shall pay assessments through Customs to the Board. Customs does not currently collect import assessments for the Board and therefore, paragraph (e) would be revised by deleting “through Customs”, instead stating that each importer shall pay their assessment to the Board.

Section 1222.52(f) would also be revised by deleting the current language stating Customs collects assessments. Since Customs does not collect the assessment, the paragraph would be revised to state that each importer is responsible for paying assessments directly to the Board.

Section 1222.53(a)(1) currently specifies the minimum quantity necessary to be eligible for an exemption from assessments and requires manufacturers to apply for an exemption prior to the start of the marketing year. The rule would remove this requirement, allowing them to apply for an exemption at any time during a marketing year, not just before the year starts.

Section 1222.53(a)(2) (iii) provides that importers' assessments are collected by Customs and the Board shall refund the importer who has filed for exemption. Because Customs doesn't Start Printed Page 57370 collect assessments, this section would be updated to reflect that the importer would pay the Board directly.

Section 1222.53(a)(5) currently details how the quantity of paper and paper-based packaging counts towards an exemption. This paragraph would be revised to ensure that in determining whether a manufacturer or import qualifies for the exemption, the combined quantity of all paper and paper-based packaging manufactured or imported during a marketing year shall count towards the 100,000 short ton exemption.

Section 1222.81(2) refers to the frequency of referenda and outlines the criteria for continuation. This section would be updated to clarify that only eligible domestic manufacturers or eligible importers are included in the referendum voting. This change does not change who can vote and does not change voting restrictions.

Section 1222.82(b) currently states that the Secretary has the right to suspend or terminate the program whenever it is favored by the industry. This section would be updated to make the language used more concise to avoid confusion by the industry.

Definitions in Section 1222.101 would be updated to be consistent with terms defined in Subpart A. Specifically, paragraph (e) currently includes producer in the definition for eligible domestic manufacturer. This section would be revised to remove the word producer. Paragraph (i) currently includes the term produce in the definition of manufacture and would be revised to remove the term produce from the definition.

Lastly, section 1222.102(a) currently outlines the voting eligibility of domestic manufacturers and importers. This section would be revised to include clarifying language to avoid confusion in the eligibility.

Pursuant to the requirements set forth in the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) ( 5 U.S.C. 601-612 ), AMS has considered the economic impact of this action on small entities that would be affected by this rule. The purpose of the RFA is to fit regulatory action to scale of businesses subject to such action so that small businesses will not be disproportionately burdened. Manufacturers and importers would be considered agricultural service firms. The Small Business Administration defines small agricultural service firms as those having annual receipts of no more than $30 million ( 13 CFR part 121 ).

According to the Board, there are approximately 47 manufacturers in the United States that manufacture the types of paper and paper-based packaging covered under the Order. Using an average price of $1,350 per short ton, [ 1 ] a manufacturer who manufactures less than 22,220 short tons of paper and paper-based packaging per year would be considered a small entity. The Board estimated that no entity manufactured less than 22,220 short tons in 2022; thus, no domestic manufacturers would be considered small businesses.

Based on Customs data, there were 3,272 importers of paper and paper-based packaging in 2022. Of these, 40 importers, or 1 percent, had annual receipts of more than $30 million of paper and paper-based packaging. Thus, the majority of importers would be considered small entities.

This proposed rule would make multiple clarifying changes to the Order. The changes include revising the definition of importer; adding a definition for partnership; clarifying the nominations process; clarifying language about in person and electronic voting for any Board meetings; updating the timing of financial reporting; and revising requirements concerning when exemptions will be requested.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 ( 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35 ), the information collection and recordkeeping requirements that are imposed by the Order have been approved previously under OMB control number 0581-0093. This proposed rule would not result in a change to the information collection and recordkeeping requirements previously approved and would impose no additional reporting and recordkeeping burden on domestic manufacturers and importers of paper and paper-based packaging.

As with all Federal research and promotion programs, reports and forms are periodically reviewed to reduce information requirements and duplication by industry and public sector agencies. AMS has not identified any relevant Federal rules that duplicate, overlap, or conflict with this proposed rule.

AMS is committed to complying with the E-Government Act to promote the use of the internet and other information technologies to provide increased opportunities for citizen access to government information and services, and for other purposes.

Regarding alternatives, the Board considered not making the clarifying changes to the Order and leaving it as it is currently. The Board decided against leaving the Order unchanged as confusion would continue and potentially worsen over time. Therefore, that alternative was rejected.

Regarding outreach efforts, the Board determined that making these proposed changes would clarify the issues and answer questions that have arisen over the last eight years and would help resolve similar questions in the future. This proposal was discussed by the Board in June and November 2022, and the full Board unanimously recommended the changes on August 19, 2023. AMS has performed this initial RFA analysis regarding the impact of this action on small entities and invites comments concerning potential effects of this action.

While this proposed rule as set forth below has not yet received the approval of AMS, it has been determined that it is consistent with and would effectuate the purposes of the Order. A 30-day comment period is provided to allow interested persons to respond to this proposal. All written comments received in response to this proposed rule by the date specified will be considered prior to finalizing this action.

• Administrative practice and procedure
• Advertising
• Consumer information
• Marketing agreements
• Paper and paper-based packaging promotion
• Reporting and recordkeeping requirements

For the reasons set forth in the preamble, the Agricultural Marketing Service proposes to amend 7 CFR part 1222 as follows:

1. The authority citation for 7 CFR part 1222 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 7411-7425 ; 7 U.S.C. 7401 .

2. In § 1222.7, revise to read as follows:

Fiscal year and marketing year means the 12-month period ending on December 31 or such other period as recommended by the Board and approved by the Secretary.

3. In § 1222.8, revise to read as follows:

Importer means any person who imports paper and paper-based packaging from outside the United States for sale in the United States as a principal or as an agent, broker, or consignee of any person who manufactures paper and paper-based packaging outside the United States for sale in the United States, and who is listed in the import records as the importer of record for such paper and paper-based packaging. Importation occurs when paper and paper-based packaging manufactured outside of the United States is released from custody by Customs and introduced into the stream of commerce in the United States. Included are persons who hold title to foreign-manufactured paper and paper-based packaging immediately upon release by Customs, as well as any persons who act on behalf of others, as agents or brokers, to secure the release of paper and paper-based packaging from Customs when such paper and paper-based packaging is entered or withdrawn for use in the United States.

4. In § 1222.12, revise to read as follows:

Manufacture means the process of transforming pulp into paper and paper-based packaging.

5. In § 1222.13, revise to read as follows:

Manufacturer means any person who manufactures paper and paper-based packaging in the United States.

6. Redesignate §§ 1222.19 through 1222.29 as §§ 1222.20 through 1222.30, respectively.

7. Add new § 1222.19 to read as follows:

Partnership includes, but is not limited to:

(a) Spouses who have title to, or leasehold interest in, a paper and paper-based packaging manufacturing entity as tenants in common, joint tenants, tenants by the entirety, or, under community property laws, as community property; and

(b) So called “joint ventures” wherein one or more parties to an agreement, informal or otherwise, contributed land, facilities, capital, labor, management, equipment, or other services, or any variation of such contributions by two or more parties, that results in the manufacturing or importation of paper and paper-based packaging and the authority to transfer title to the paper and paper-based packaging so manufactured or imported.

8. In § 1222.41, revise paragraphs (c)(1), (c)(4), (c)(5) and (c)(10) to read as follows:

(1) The Board shall issue a call for nominations and conduct outreach to all current manufacturers and importers who paid assessments during the prior fiscal year. Manufacturers and importers may submit nominations to the Board;

(4) For domestic seats allocated by region, domestic manufacturers must manufacture paper and paper-based packaging in the region for which they seek nomination. Nominees that manufacture in both regions may seek nomination in one region of their choice;

(5) Nominees that are both a manufacturer and an importer may seek nomination to the board either as a manufacturer or as an importer so long as they meet the qualifications;

(10) No two members shall be employed by a single manufacturer or importer that pays assessments under this Order; and,

9. In § 1222.43, revised paragraph (a) to read as follows:

(a) The Board may recommend to the Secretary that a member be removed from office if the member consistently fails or refuses to perform his or her duties properly or engages in dishonest acts or willful misconduct. If the Secretary determines that any person appointed under this subpart consistently fails or refuses to perform his or her duties properly or engages in acts of dishonesty or willful misconduct, the Secretary shall remove the person from office. A person appointed under this subpart may be removed by the Secretary if the Secretary determines that the person's continued service would be detrimental to the purposes of the Act.

10. In § 1222.44, revise paragraphs (c) and (d) to read as follows:

(c) The Board and related committees may conduct meetings by any means of communication available, electronic or otherwise, that effectively assembles the required participants and facilitates open communication. Eligible participants may vote by any means of communication available, electronic or otherwise; provided that votes cast are verifiable and that a quorum and other procedural requirements are met.

(d) In lieu of voting at an assembled meeting and, when in the opinion of the chairperson of the Board such action is considered necessary, the Board may take action if supported by a majority of members (unless a two-thirds majority is required under the Order) by any means of communication available, electronic or otherwise. In that event, all members must be notified and provided the opportunity to vote. Any action so taken shall have the same force and effect as though such action had been taken at an assembled meeting. All votes shall be recorded in Board minutes.

11. In § 1222.47, revise paragraph (c) to read as follows:

(c) Any program, plan or project including advertising that is false, misleading, or disparaging to another agricultural commodity. Paper and paper-based packaging of all geographic origins shall be treated equally.

12. In § 1222.50, revise paragraph (i) to read as follows:

(i) The Board may establish an operating monetary reserve and may carry over to subsequent fiscal years excess funds in any reserve so established: Provided, that, the funds in the reserve do not exceed two fiscal year's budget of expenses. Subject to approval by the Secretary, such reserve funds may be used to defray any expenses authorized under this subpart.

13. In § 1222.51, revise paragraphs (b) and (c) to read as follows:

(b) Each quarterly financial statement shall be submitted to the Department no later than 70 calendar days after the period to which it applies.

(c) The Board shall submit to the Department an audited annual financial statement no later than 120 calendar days after the end of the fiscal year to which it applies.

14. In § 1222.52, revise the introductory text of paragraph (e), and paragraph (f) to read as follows:

(e) Each importer of paper and paper-based packaging shall pay to the Board an assessment on the paper and paper-based packaging imported into the United States identified in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) number listed in the following table. In the event that any HTSUS number subject to assessment is changed and such change is merely a replacement of a previous number and has no impact on the description of the paper and paper-based packaging involved, assessments will continue to be collected based on the new number.

(f) Each importer is responsible for paying the assessment directly to the Board within 30 calendar days after the end of the quarter in which the paper and paper-based packaging was imported.

15. § 1222.53, revise paragraphs (a)(1), (2)(iii) and (5) to read as follows:

(a) Minimum quantity exemption. (1) Manufacturers that manufacture less than 100,000 short tons of paper and paper-based packaging in a marketing year are exempt from paying assessments. Such manufacturers must apply to the Board, on a form provided by the Board, for a certificate of exemption. This is an annual exemption and manufacturers must reapply each year. Such manufacturers shall certify that they will manufacture less than 100,000 short tons of paper and paper-based packaging during the marketing year for which the exemption is claimed. Upon receipt of an application for exemption, the Board shall determine whether an exemption may be granted. The Board may request past manufacturing data to support the exemption request. The Board will issue, if deemed appropriate, a certificate of exemption to the eligible manufacturer. It is the responsibility of the manufacturer to retain a copy of the certificate of exemption.

(iii) The Board shall refund to such importers considered exempt assessments that the importer paid to the Board no later than 60 calendar days after the Board receives such assessments. The Board will stop refund of assessments to such importers who during the marketing year import more than 100,000 short tons of paper and paper-based packaging. These importers will be notified accordingly. No interest shall be paid on the assessments collected by the Board.

(5) In calculating whether a manufacturer or importer qualifies for an exemption, the combined quantity of all paper and paper-based packaging manufactured or imported by the manufacturer or importer during a marketing year shall count towards the 100,000 short-ton exemption.

16. In § 1222.81, revise paragraphs (b)(2) to read as follows:

(2) Not later than seven years after this Order becomes effective and every seven years thereafter, to determine whether manufacturers and importers favor the continuation of the Order. The Order shall continue if it is favored by a majority of manufacturers and importers voting in the referendum who, during a representative period determined by the Secretary, are each an eligible domestic manufacturer or an eligible importer and who also represent a majority of the volume of paper and paper-based packaging represented in the referendum;

17. In § 1222.82, revise paragraph (b) to read as follows:

(b) The Secretary shall suspend or terminate this subpart at the end of the fiscal year whenever the Secretary determines that its suspension or termination is favored by a majority of manufacturers and importers voting in the referendum who, during a representative period determined by the Secretary, are each an eligible domestic manufacturer or an eligible importer and who also represent a majority of the volume of paper and paper-based packaging represented in the referendum;

18. In § 1222.101, revise paragraph (e) and (i) to read as follows:

(e) Eligible domestic manufacturer means any person who is currently a domestic manufacturer and who manufactured 100,000 short tons or more of paper and paper-based packaging during the representative period.

(i) Manufacture means the process of transforming pulp into paper and paper-based packaging.

19. In § 1222.102, revise paragraph (a) to read as follows:

(a) Each eligible domestic manufacturer and importer of paper and paper-based packaging shall be entitled to cast only one ballot in the referendum. However, each domestic manufacturer in a landlord/tenant relationship or a divided ownership arrangement involving totally independent entities cooperating only to manufacture paper and paper-based packaging, in which more than one of the parties is a domestic manufacturer or importer, shall be entitled to cast one ballot in the referendum covering only such domestic manufacturer or importer's share of ownership.

Erin Morris,

Associate Administrator, Agricultural Marketing Service.

1.  No domestic market pricing information for paper and paper-based packaging was publicly available; instead, average prices were estimated using export data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

[ FR Doc. 2024-15138 Filed 7-12-24; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE P

• Executive Orders

Reader Aids

Information.

• About This Site
• Accessibility
• No Fear Act
• Continuity Information

• Introduction
• Conclusions
• Article Information

The reports to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System met the case definition of myocarditis (reported cases). Among individuals older than 40 years of age, there were no more than 8 reports of myocarditis for any individual age after receiving either vaccine. For the BNT162b2 vaccine, there were 114 246 837 first vaccination doses and 95 532 396 second vaccination doses; and for the mRNA-1273 vaccine, there were 78 158 611 and 66 163 001, respectively. The y-axis range differs between panels A and B.

The reports to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System met the case definition of myocarditis (reported cases). Among recipients of either vaccine, there were only 13 reports or less of myocarditis beyond 10 days for any individual time from vaccination to symptom onset. The y-axis range differs between panels A and B.

A, For the BNT162b2 vaccine, there were 138 reported cases of myocarditis with known date for symptom onset and dose after 114 246 837 first vaccination doses and 888 reported cases after 95 532 396 second vaccination doses.

B, For the mRNA-1273 vaccine, there were 116 reported cases of myocarditis with known date for symptom onset and dose after 78 158 611 first vaccination doses and 311 reported cases after 66 163 001 second vaccination doses.

eMethods. Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities Preferred Terms, Definitions of Myocarditis and Pericarditis, Myocarditis medical review form

eFigure. Flow diagram of cases of myocarditis and pericarditis reported to Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) after receiving mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine, United States, December 14, 2020-August 31, 2021.

eTable 1. Characteristics of all myocarditis cases reported to Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) after mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccination, United States, December 14, 2020–August 31, 2021.

eTable 2. Characteristics of all pericarditis cases reported to Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) after mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccination, United States, December 14, 2020–August 31, 2021.

eTable 3. Characteristics of myocarditis cases reported to Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System after mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccination by case definition status.

• Myocarditis and Pericarditis After Vaccination for COVID-19 JAMA Research Letter September 28, 2021 This study investigates the incidence of myocarditis and pericarditis emergency department or inpatient hospital encounters before COVID-19 vaccine availability (January 2019–January 2021) and during a COVID-19 vaccination period (February-May 2021) in a large US health care system. George A. Diaz, MD; Guilford T. Parsons, MD, MS; Sara K. Gering, BS, BSN; Audrey R. Meier, MPH; Ian V. Hutchinson, PhD, DSc; Ari Robicsek, MD
• Myocarditis Following a Third BNT162b2 Vaccination Dose in Military Recruits in Israel JAMA Research Letter April 26, 2022 This study assessed whether a third vaccine dose was associated with the risk of myocarditis among military personnel in Israel. Limor Friedensohn, MD; Dan Levin, MD; Maggie Fadlon-Derai, MHA; Liron Gershovitz, MD; Noam Fink, MD; Elon Glassberg, MD; Barak Gordon, MD
• Myocarditis Cases After mRNA-Based COVID-19 Vaccination in the US—Reply JAMA Comment & Response May 24, 2022 Matthew E. Oster, MD, MPH; David K. Shay, MD, MPH; Tom T. Shimabukuro, MD, MPH, MBA
• Myocarditis Cases After mRNA-Based COVID-19 Vaccination in the US JAMA Comment & Response May 24, 2022 Sheila R. Weiss, PhD
• JAMA Network Articles of the Year 2022 JAMA Medical News & Perspectives December 27, 2022 This Medical News article is our annual roundup of the top-viewed articles from all JAMA Network journals. Melissa Suran, PhD, MSJ
• Diagnosis and Treatment of Acute Myocarditis—A Review JAMA Review April 4, 2023 This Review summarizes current evidence regarding the diagnosis and treatment of acute myocarditis. Enrico Ammirati, MD, PhD; Javid J. Moslehi, MD
• Patient Information: Acute Myocarditis JAMA JAMA Patient Page August 8, 2023 This JAMA Patient Page describes acute myocarditis and its symptoms, causes, diagnosis, and treatment. Kristin Walter, MD, MS
• Myocarditis Following Immunization With mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines in Members of the US Military JAMA Cardiology Brief Report October 1, 2021 This case series describes myocarditis presenting after COVID-19 vaccination within the Military Health System. Jay Montgomery, MD; Margaret Ryan, MD, MPH; Renata Engler, MD; Donna Hoffman, MSN; Bruce McClenathan, MD; Limone Collins, MD; David Loran, DNP; David Hrncir, MD; Kelsie Herring, MD; Michael Platzer, MD; Nehkonti Adams, MD; Aliye Sanou, MD; Leslie T. Cooper Jr, MD
• Patients With Acute Myocarditis Following mRNA COVID-19 Vaccination JAMA Cardiology Brief Report October 1, 2021 This study describes 4 patients who presented with acute myocarditis after mRNA COVID-19 vaccination. Han W. Kim, MD; Elizabeth R. Jenista, PhD; David C. Wendell, PhD; Clerio F. Azevedo, MD; Michael J. Campbell, MD; Stephen N. Darty, BS; Michele A. Parker, MS; Raymond J. Kim, MD
• Association of Myocarditis With BNT162b2 Vaccination in Children JAMA Cardiology Brief Report December 1, 2021 This case series reviews comprehensive cardiac imaging in children with myocarditis after COVID-19 vaccine. Audrey Dionne, MD; Francesca Sperotto, MD; Stephanie Chamberlain; Annette L. Baker, MSN, CPNP; Andrew J. Powell, MD; Ashwin Prakash, MD; Daniel A. Castellanos, MD; Susan F. Saleeb, MD; Sarah D. de Ferranti, MD, MPH; Jane W. Newburger, MD, MPH; Kevin G. Friedman, MD

See More About

Select your interests.

Customize your JAMA Network experience by selecting one or more topics from the list below.

• Academic Medicine
• Acid Base, Electrolytes, Fluids
• Allergy and Clinical Immunology
• American Indian or Alaska Natives
• Anesthesiology
• Anticoagulation
• Art and Images in Psychiatry
• Artificial Intelligence
• Assisted Reproduction
• Bleeding and Transfusion
• Caring for the Critically Ill Patient
• Challenges in Clinical Electrocardiography
• Climate and Health
• Climate Change
• Clinical Challenge
• Clinical Decision Support
• Clinical Implications of Basic Neuroscience
• Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacology
• Complementary and Alternative Medicine
• Consensus Statements
• Coronavirus (COVID-19)
• Critical Care Medicine
• Cultural Competency
• Dental Medicine
• Dermatology
• Diabetes and Endocrinology
• Diagnostic Test Interpretation
• Drug Development
• Electronic Health Records
• Emergency Medicine
• End of Life, Hospice, Palliative Care
• Environmental Health
• Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
• Facial Plastic Surgery
• Gastroenterology and Hepatology
• Genetics and Genomics
• Genomics and Precision Health
• Global Health
• Guide to Statistics and Methods
• Hair Disorders
• Health Care Delivery Models
• Health Care Economics, Insurance, Payment
• Health Care Quality
• Health Care Reform
• Health Care Safety
• Health Care Workforce
• Health Disparities
• Health Inequities
• Health Policy
• Health Systems Science
• History of Medicine
• Hypertension
• Images in Neurology
• Implementation Science
• Infectious Diseases
• Innovations in Health Care Delivery
• JAMA Infographic
• Law and Medicine
• Leading Change
• Less is More
• LGBTQIA Medicine
• Lifestyle Behaviors
• Medical Coding
• Medical Devices and Equipment
• Medical Education
• Medical Education and Training
• Medical Journals and Publishing
• Mobile Health and Telemedicine
• Narrative Medicine
• Neuroscience and Psychiatry
• Notable Notes
• Nutrition, Obesity, Exercise
• Obstetrics and Gynecology
• Occupational Health
• Ophthalmology
• Orthopedics
• Otolaryngology
• Pain Medicine
• Palliative Care
• Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
• Patient Care
• Patient Information
• Performance Improvement
• Performance Measures
• Perioperative Care and Consultation
• Pharmacoeconomics
• Pharmacoepidemiology
• Pharmacogenetics
• Pharmacy and Clinical Pharmacology
• Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
• Physical Therapy
• Physician Leadership
• Population Health
• Primary Care
• Professional Well-being
• Professionalism
• Psychiatry and Behavioral Health
• Public Health
• Pulmonary Medicine
• Regulatory Agencies
• Reproductive Health
• Research, Methods, Statistics
• Resuscitation
• Rheumatology
• Risk Management
• Scientific Discovery and the Future of Medicine
• Shared Decision Making and Communication
• Sleep Medicine
• Sports Medicine
• Stem Cell Transplantation
• Substance Use and Addiction Medicine
• Surgical Innovation
• Surgical Pearls
• Teachable Moment
• Technology and Finance
• The Art of JAMA
• The Arts and Medicine
• The Rational Clinical Examination
• Tobacco and e-Cigarettes
• Translational Medicine
• Trauma and Injury
• Treatment Adherence
• Ultrasonography
• Users' Guide to the Medical Literature
• Vaccination
• Venous Thromboembolism
• Veterans Health
• Women's Health
• Workflow and Process
• Wound Care, Infection, Healing

Others Also Liked

• Download PDF
• X Facebook More LinkedIn
• CME & MOC

Oster ME , Shay DK , Su JR, et al. Myocarditis Cases Reported After mRNA-Based COVID-19 Vaccination in the US From December 2020 to August 2021. JAMA. 2022;327(4):331–340. doi:10.1001/jama.2021.24110

Manage citations:

© 2024

• Permissions

Myocarditis Cases Reported After mRNA-Based COVID-19 Vaccination in the US From December 2020 to August 2021

• 1 US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
• 2 School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
• 3 Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia
• 4 Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee
• 5 Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
• 6 Boston Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts
• 7 Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
• 8 US Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, Maryland
• Research Letter Myocarditis and Pericarditis After Vaccination for COVID-19 George A. Diaz, MD; Guilford T. Parsons, MD, MS; Sara K. Gering, BS, BSN; Audrey R. Meier, MPH; Ian V. Hutchinson, PhD, DSc; Ari Robicsek, MD JAMA
• Research Letter Myocarditis Following a Third BNT162b2 Vaccination Dose in Military Recruits in Israel Limor Friedensohn, MD; Dan Levin, MD; Maggie Fadlon-Derai, MHA; Liron Gershovitz, MD; Noam Fink, MD; Elon Glassberg, MD; Barak Gordon, MD JAMA
• Comment & Response Myocarditis Cases After mRNA-Based COVID-19 Vaccination in the US—Reply Matthew E. Oster, MD, MPH; David K. Shay, MD, MPH; Tom T. Shimabukuro, MD, MPH, MBA JAMA
• Comment & Response Myocarditis Cases After mRNA-Based COVID-19 Vaccination in the US Sheila R. Weiss, PhD JAMA
• Medical News & Perspectives JAMA Network Articles of the Year 2022 Melissa Suran, PhD, MSJ JAMA
• Review Diagnosis and Treatment of Acute Myocarditis—A Review Enrico Ammirati, MD, PhD; Javid J. Moslehi, MD JAMA
• JAMA Patient Page Patient Information: Acute Myocarditis Kristin Walter, MD, MS JAMA
• Brief Report Myocarditis Following Immunization With mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines in Members of the US Military Jay Montgomery, MD; Margaret Ryan, MD, MPH; Renata Engler, MD; Donna Hoffman, MSN; Bruce McClenathan, MD; Limone Collins, MD; David Loran, DNP; David Hrncir, MD; Kelsie Herring, MD; Michael Platzer, MD; Nehkonti Adams, MD; Aliye Sanou, MD; Leslie T. Cooper Jr, MD JAMA Cardiology
• Brief Report Patients With Acute Myocarditis Following mRNA COVID-19 Vaccination Han W. Kim, MD; Elizabeth R. Jenista, PhD; David C. Wendell, PhD; Clerio F. Azevedo, MD; Michael J. Campbell, MD; Stephen N. Darty, BS; Michele A. Parker, MS; Raymond J. Kim, MD JAMA Cardiology
• Brief Report Association of Myocarditis With BNT162b2 Vaccination in Children Audrey Dionne, MD; Francesca Sperotto, MD; Stephanie Chamberlain; Annette L. Baker, MSN, CPNP; Andrew J. Powell, MD; Ashwin Prakash, MD; Daniel A. Castellanos, MD; Susan F. Saleeb, MD; Sarah D. de Ferranti, MD, MPH; Jane W. Newburger, MD, MPH; Kevin G. Friedman, MD JAMA Cardiology

Question   What is the risk of myocarditis after mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccination in the US?

Findings   In this descriptive study of 1626 cases of myocarditis in a national passive reporting system, the crude reporting rates within 7 days after vaccination exceeded the expected rates across multiple age and sex strata. The rates of myocarditis cases were highest after the second vaccination dose in adolescent males aged 12 to 15 years (70.7 per million doses of the BNT162b2 vaccine), in adolescent males aged 16 to 17 years (105.9 per million doses of the BNT162b2 vaccine), and in young men aged 18 to 24 years (52.4 and 56.3 per million doses of the BNT162b2 vaccine and the mRNA-1273 vaccine, respectively).

Meaning   Based on passive surveillance reporting in the US, the risk of myocarditis after receiving mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines was increased across multiple age and sex strata and was highest after the second vaccination dose in adolescent males and young men.

Importance   Vaccination against COVID-19 provides clear public health benefits, but vaccination also carries potential risks. The risks and outcomes of myocarditis after COVID-19 vaccination are unclear.

Objective   To describe reports of myocarditis and the reporting rates after mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccination in the US.

Design, Setting, and Participants   Descriptive study of reports of myocarditis to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) that occurred after mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine administration between December 2020 and August 2021 in 192 405 448 individuals older than 12 years of age in the US; data were processed by VAERS as of September 30, 2021.

Exposures   Vaccination with BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) or mRNA-1273 (Moderna).

Main Outcomes and Measures   Reports of myocarditis to VAERS were adjudicated and summarized for all age groups. Crude reporting rates were calculated across age and sex strata. Expected rates of myocarditis by age and sex were calculated using 2017-2019 claims data. For persons younger than 30 years of age, medical record reviews and clinician interviews were conducted to describe clinical presentation, diagnostic test results, treatment, and early outcomes.

Results   Among 192 405 448 persons receiving a total of 354 100 845 mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines during the study period, there were 1991 reports of myocarditis to VAERS and 1626 of these reports met the case definition of myocarditis. Of those with myocarditis, the median age was 21 years (IQR, 16-31 years) and the median time to symptom onset was 2 days (IQR, 1-3 days). Males comprised 82% of the myocarditis cases for whom sex was reported. The crude reporting rates for cases of myocarditis within 7 days after COVID-19 vaccination exceeded the expected rates of myocarditis across multiple age and sex strata. The rates of myocarditis were highest after the second vaccination dose in adolescent males aged 12 to 15 years (70.7 per million doses of the BNT162b2 vaccine), in adolescent males aged 16 to 17 years (105.9 per million doses of the BNT162b2 vaccine), and in young men aged 18 to 24 years (52.4 and 56.3 per million doses of the BNT162b2 vaccine and the mRNA-1273 vaccine, respectively). There were 826 cases of myocarditis among those younger than 30 years of age who had detailed clinical information available; of these cases, 792 of 809 (98%) had elevated troponin levels, 569 of 794 (72%) had abnormal electrocardiogram results, and 223 of 312 (72%) had abnormal cardiac magnetic resonance imaging results. Approximately 96% of persons (784/813) were hospitalized and 87% (577/661) of these had resolution of presenting symptoms by hospital discharge. The most common treatment was nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (589/676; 87%).

Conclusions and Relevance   Based on passive surveillance reporting in the US, the risk of myocarditis after receiving mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines was increased across multiple age and sex strata and was highest after the second vaccination dose in adolescent males and young men. This risk should be considered in the context of the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination.

Myocarditis is an inflammatory condition of the heart muscle that has a bimodal peak incidence during infancy and adolescence or young adulthood. 1 - 4 The clinical presentation and course of myocarditis is variable, with some patients not requiring treatment and others experiencing severe heart failure that requires subsequent heart transplantation or leads to death. 5 Onset of myocarditis typically follows an inciting process, often a viral illness; however, no antecedent cause is identified in many cases. 6 It has been hypothesized that vaccination can serve as a trigger for myocarditis; however, only the smallpox vaccine has previously been causally associated with myocarditis based on reports among US military personnel, with cases typically occurring 7 to 12 days after vaccination. 7

With the implementation of a large-scale, national COVID-19 vaccination program starting in December 2020, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the US Food and Drug Administration began monitoring for a number of adverse events of special interest, including myocarditis and pericarditis, in the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), a long-standing national spontaneous reporting (passive surveillance) system. 8 As the reports of myocarditis after COVID-19 vaccination were reported to VAERS, the Clinical Immunization Safety Assessment Project, 9 a collaboration between the CDC and medical research centers, which includes physicians treating infectious diseases and other specialists (eg, cardiologists), consulted on several of the cases. In addition, reports from several countries raised concerns that mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines may be associated with acute myocarditis. 10 - 15

Given this concern, the aims were to describe reports and confirmed cases of myocarditis initially reported to VAERS after mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccination and to provide estimates of the risk of myocarditis after mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccination based on age, sex, and vaccine type.

VAERS is a US spontaneous reporting (passive surveillance) system that functions as an early warning system for potential vaccine adverse events. 8 Co-administered by the CDC and the US Food and Drug Administration, VAERS accepts reports of all adverse events after vaccination from patients, parents, clinicians, vaccine manufacturers, and others regardless of whether the events could plausibly be associated with receipt of the vaccine. Reports to VAERS include information about the vaccinated person, the vaccine or vaccines administered, and the adverse events experienced by the vaccinated person. The reports to VAERS are then reviewed by third-party professional coders who have been trained in the assignment of Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities preferred terms. 16 The coders then assign appropriate terms based on the information available in the reports.

This activity was reviewed by the CDC and was conducted to be consistent with applicable federal law and CDC policy. The activities herein were confirmed to be nonresearch under the Common Rule in accordance with institutional procedures and therefore were not subject to institutional review board requirements. Informed consent was not obtained for this secondary use of existing information; see 45 CFR part 46.102(l)(2), 21 CFR part 56, 42 USC §241(d), 5 USC §552a, and 44 USC §3501 et seq.

The exposure of concern was vaccination with one of the mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines: the BNT162b2 vaccine (Pfizer-BioNTech) or the mRNA-1273 vaccine (Moderna). During the analytic period, persons aged 12 years or older were eligible for the BNT162b2 vaccine and persons aged 18 years or older were eligible for the mRNA-1273 vaccine. The number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered during the analytic period was obtained through the CDC’s COVID-19 Data Tracker. 17

The primary outcome was the occurrence of myocarditis and the secondary outcome was pericarditis. Reports to VAERS with these outcomes were initially characterized using the Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities preferred terms of myocarditis or pericarditis (specific terms are listed in the eMethods in the Supplement ). After initial review of reports of myocarditis to VAERS and review of the patient’s medical records (when available), the reports were further reviewed by CDC physicians and public health professionals to verify that they met the CDC’s case definition for probable or confirmed myocarditis (descriptions previously published and included in the eMethods in the Supplement ). 18 The CDC’s case definition of probable myocarditis requires the presence of new concerning symptoms, abnormal cardiac test results, and no other identifiable cause of the symptoms and findings. Confirmed cases of myocarditis further require histopathological confirmation of myocarditis or cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings consistent with myocarditis.

Deaths were included only if the individual had met the case definition for confirmed myocarditis and there was no other identifiable cause of death. Individual cases not involving death were included only if the person had met the case definition for probable myocarditis or confirmed myocarditis.

We characterized reports of myocarditis or pericarditis after COVID-19 vaccination that met the CDC’s case definition and were received by VAERS between December 14, 2020 (when COVID-19 vaccines were first publicly available in the US), and August 31, 2021, by age, sex, race, ethnicity, and vaccine type; data were processed by VAERS as of September 30, 2021. Race and ethnicity were optional fixed categories available by self-identification at the time of vaccination or by the individual filing a VAERS report. Race and ethnicity were included to provide the most complete baseline description possible for individual reports; however, further analyses were not stratified by race and ethnicity due to the high percentage of missing data. Reports of pericarditis with evidence of potential myocardial involvement were included in the review of reports of myocarditis. The eFigure in the Supplement outlines the categorization of the reports of myocarditis and pericarditis reviewed.

Further analyses were conducted only for myocarditis because of the preponderance of those reports to VAERS, in Clinical Immunization Safety Assessment Project consultations, and in published articles. 10 - 12 , 19 - 21 Crude reporting rates for myocarditis during a 7-day risk interval were calculated using the number of reports of myocarditis to VAERS per million doses of COVID-19 vaccine administered during the analytic period and stratified by age, sex, vaccination dose (first, second, or unknown), and vaccine type. Expected rates of myocarditis by age and sex were calculated using 2017-2019 data from the IBM MarketScan Commercial Research Database. This database contains individual-level, deidentified, inpatient and outpatient medical and prescription drug claims, and enrollment information submitted to IBM Watson Health by large employers and health plans. The data were accessed using version 4.0 of the IBM MarketScan Treatment Pathways analytic platform. Age- and sex-specific rates were calculated by determining the number of individuals with myocarditis ( International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision [ICD-10] codes B33.20, B33.22, B33.24, I40.0, I40.1, I40.8, I40.9, or I51.4) 22 identified during an inpatient encounter in 2017-2019 relative to the number of individuals of similar age and sex who were continually enrolled during the year in which the myocarditis-related hospitalization occurred; individuals with any diagnosis of myocarditis prior to that year were excluded. Given the limitations of the IBM MarketScan Commercial Research Database to capture enrollees aged 65 years or older, an expected rate for myocarditis was not calculated for this population. A 95% CI was calculated using Poisson distribution in SAS version 9.4 (SAS Institute Inc) for each expected rate of myocarditis and for each observed rate in a strata with at least 1 case.

In cases of probable or confirmed myocarditis among those younger than 30 years of age, their clinical course was then summarized to the extent possible based on medical review and clinician interviews. This clinical course included presenting symptoms, diagnostic test results, treatment, and early outcomes (abstraction form appears in the eMethods in the Supplement ). 23

When applicable, missing data were delineated in the results or the numbers with complete data were listed. No assumptions or imputations were made regarding missing data. Any percentages that were calculated included only those cases of myocarditis with adequate data to calculate the percentages.

Between December 14, 2020, and August 31, 2021, 192 405 448 individuals older than 12 years of age received a total of 354 100 845 mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines. VAERS received 1991 reports of myocarditis (391 of which also included pericarditis) after receipt of at least 1 dose of mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine (eTable 1 in the Supplement ) and 684 reports of pericarditis without the presence of myocarditis (eTable 2 in the Supplement ).

Of the 1991 reports of myocarditis, 1626 met the CDC’s case definition for probable or confirmed myocarditis ( Table 1 ). There were 208 reports that did not meet the CDC’s case definition for myocarditis and 157 reports that required more information to perform adjudication (eTable 3 in the Supplement ). Of the 1626 reports that met the CDC’s case definition for myocarditis, 1195 (73%) were younger than 30 years of age, 543 (33%) were younger than 18 years of age, and the median age was 21 years (IQR, 16-31 years) ( Figure 1 ). Of the reports of myocarditis with dose information, 82% (1265/1538) occurred after the second vaccination dose. Of those with a reported dose and time to symptom onset, the median time from vaccination to symptom onset was 3 days (IQR, 1-8 days) after the first vaccination dose and 74% (187/254) of myocarditis events occurred within 7 days. After the second vaccination dose, the median time to symptom onset was 2 days (IQR, 1-3 days) and 90% (1081/1199) of myocarditis events occurred within 7 days ( Figure 2 ).

Males comprised 82% (1334/1625) of the cases of myocarditis for whom sex was reported. The largest proportions of cases of myocarditis were among White persons (non-Hispanic or ethnicity not reported; 69% [914/1330]) and Hispanic persons (of all races; 17% [228/1330]). Among persons younger than 30 years of age, there were no confirmed cases of myocarditis in those who died after mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccination without another identifiable cause and there was 1 probable case of myocarditis but there was insufficient information available for a thorough investigation. At the time of data review, there were 2 reports of death in persons younger than 30 years of age with potential myocarditis that remain under investigation and are not included in the case counts.

Symptom onset of myocarditis was within 7 days after vaccination for 947 reports of individuals who received the BNT162b2 vaccine and for 382 reports of individuals who received the mRNA-1273 vaccine. The rates of myocarditis varied by vaccine type, sex, age, and first or second vaccination dose ( Table 2 ). The reporting rates of myocarditis were highest after the second vaccination dose in adolescent males aged 12 to 15 years (70.73 [95% CI, 61.68-81.11] per million doses of the BNT162b2 vaccine), in adolescent males aged 16 to 17 years (105.86 [95% CI, 91.65-122.27] per million doses of the BNT162b2 vaccine), and in young men aged 18 to 24 years (52.43 [95% CI, 45.56-60.33] per million doses of the BNT162b2 vaccine and 56.31 [95% CI, 47.08-67.34] per million doses of the mRNA-1273 vaccine). The lower estimate of the 95% CI for reporting rates of myocarditis in adolescent males and young men exceeded the upper bound of the expected rates after the first vaccination dose with the BNT162b2 vaccine in those aged 12 to 24 years, after the second vaccination dose with the BNT162b2 vaccine in those aged 12 to 49 years, after the first vaccination dose with the mRNA-1273 vaccine in those aged 18 to 39 years, and after the second vaccination dose with the mRNA-1273 vaccine in those aged 18 to 49 years.

The reporting rates of myocarditis in females were lower than those in males across all age strata younger than 50 years of age. The reporting rates of myocarditis were highest after the second vaccination dose in adolescent females aged 12 to 15 years (6.35 [95% CI, 4.05-9.96] per million doses of the BNT162b2 vaccine), in adolescent females aged 16 to 17 years (10.98 [95% CI, 7.16-16.84] per million doses of the BNT162b2 vaccine), in young women aged 18 to 24 years (6.87 [95% CI, 4.27-11.05] per million doses of the mRNA-1273 vaccine), and in women aged 25 to 29 years (8.22 [95% CI, 5.03-13.41] per million doses of the mRNA-1273 vaccine). The lower estimate of the 95% CI for reporting rates of myocarditis in females exceeded the upper bound of the expected rates after the second vaccination dose with the BNT162b2 vaccine in those aged 12 to 29 years and after the second vaccination dose with the mRNA-1273 vaccine in those aged 18 to 29 years.

Among the 1372 reports of myocarditis in persons younger than 30 years of age, 1305 were able to be adjudicated, with 92% (1195/1305) meeting the CDC’s case definition. Of these, chart abstractions or medical interviews were completed for 69% (826/1195) ( Table 3 ). The symptoms commonly reported in the verified cases of myocarditis in persons younger than 30 years of age included chest pain, pressure, or discomfort (727/817; 89%) and dyspnea or shortness of breath (242/817; 30%). Troponin levels were elevated in 98% (792/809) of the cases of myocarditis. The electrocardiogram result was abnormal in 72% (569/794) of cases of myocarditis. Of the patients who had received a cardiac MRI, 72% (223/312) had abnormal findings consistent with myocarditis. The echocardiogram results were available for 721 cases of myocarditis; of these, 84 (12%) demonstrated a notable decreased left ventricular ejection fraction (<50%). Among the 676 cases for whom treatment data were available, 589 (87%) received nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Intravenous immunoglobulin and glucocorticoids were each used in 12% of the cases of myocarditis (78/676 and 81/676, respectively). Intensive therapies such as vasoactive medications (12 cases of myocarditis) and intubation or mechanical ventilation (2 cases) were rare. There were no verified cases of myocarditis requiring a heart transplant, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or a ventricular assist device. Of the 96% (784/813) of cases of myocarditis who were hospitalized, 98% (747/762) were discharged from the hospital at time of review. In 87% (577/661) of discharged cases of myocarditis, there was resolution of the presenting symptoms by hospital discharge.

In this review of reports to VAERS between December 2020 and August 2021, myocarditis was identified as a rare but serious adverse event that can occur after mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccination, particularly in adolescent males and young men. However, this increased risk must be weighed against the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination. 18

Compared with cases of non–vaccine-associated myocarditis, the reports of myocarditis to VAERS after mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccination were similar in demographic characteristics but different in their acute clinical course. First, the greater frequency noted among vaccine recipients aged 12 to 29 years vs those aged 30 years or older was similar to the age distribution seen in typical cases of myocarditis. 2 , 4 This pattern may explain why cases of myocarditis were not discovered until months after initial Emergency Use Authorization of the vaccines in the US (ie, until the vaccines were widely available to younger persons). Second, the sex distribution in cases of myocarditis after COVID-19 vaccination was similar to that seen in typical cases of myocarditis; there is a strong male predominance for both conditions. 2 , 4

However, the onset of myocarditis symptoms after exposure to a potential immunological trigger was shorter for COVID-19 vaccine–associated cases of myocarditis than is typical for myocarditis cases diagnosed after a viral illness. 24 - 26 Cases of myocarditis reported after COVID-19 vaccination were typically diagnosed within days of vaccination, whereas cases of typical viral myocarditis can often have indolent courses with symptoms sometimes present for weeks to months after a trigger if the cause is ever identified. 1 The major presenting symptoms appeared to resolve faster in cases of myocarditis after COVID-19 vaccination than in typical viral cases of myocarditis. Even though almost all individuals with cases of myocarditis were hospitalized and clinically monitored, they typically experienced symptomatic recovery after receiving only pain management. In contrast, typical viral cases of myocarditis can have a more variable clinical course. For example, up to 6% of typical viral myocarditis cases in adolescents require a heart transplant or result in mortality. 27

In the current study, the initial evaluation and treatment of COVID-19 vaccine–associated myocarditis cases was similar to that of typical myocarditis cases. 28 - 31 Initial evaluation usually included measurement of troponin level, electrocardiography, and echocardiography. 1 Cardiac MRI was often used for diagnostic purposes and also for possible prognostic purposes. 32 , 33 Supportive care was a mainstay of treatment, with specific cardiac or intensive care therapies as indicated by the patient’s clinical status.

Long-term outcome data are not yet available for COVID-19 vaccine–associated myocarditis cases. The CDC has started active follow-up surveillance in adolescents and young adults to assess the health and functional status and cardiac outcomes at 3 to 6 months in probable and confirmed cases of myocarditis reported to VAERS after COVID-19 vaccination. 34 For patients with myocarditis, the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology guidelines advise that patients should be instructed to refrain from competitive sports for 3 to 6 months, and that documentation of a normal electrocardiogram result, ambulatory rhythm monitoring, and an exercise test should be obtained prior to resumption of sports. 35 The use of cardiac MRI is unclear, but it may be useful in evaluating the progression or resolution of myocarditis in those with abnormalities on the baseline cardiac MRI. 36 Further doses of mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines should be deferred, but may be considered in select circumstances. 37

This study has several limitations. First, although clinicians are required to report serious adverse events after COVID-19 vaccination, including all events leading to hospitalization, VAERS is a passive reporting system. As such, the reports of myocarditis to VAERS may be incomplete, and the quality of the information reported is variable. Missing data for sex, vaccination dose number, and race and ethnicity were not uncommon in the reports received; history of prior SARS-CoV-2 infection also was not known. Furthermore, as a passive system, VAERS data are subject to reporting biases in that both underreporting and overreporting are possible. 38 Given the high verification rate of reports of myocarditis to VAERS after mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccination, underreporting is more likely. Therefore, the actual rates of myocarditis per million doses of vaccine are likely higher than estimated.

Second, efforts by CDC investigators to obtain medical records or interview physicians were not always successful despite the special allowance for sharing information with the CDC under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. 39 This challenge limited the ability to perform case adjudication and complete investigations for some reports of myocarditis, although efforts are still ongoing when feasible.

Third, the data from vaccination administration were limited to what is reported to the CDC and thus may be incomplete, particularly with regard to demographics.

Fourth, calculation of expected rates from the IBM MarketScan Commercial Research Database relied on administrative data via the use of ICD-10 codes and there was no opportunity for clinical review. Furthermore, these data had limited information regarding the Medicare population; thus expected rates for those older than 65 years of age were not calculated. However, it is expected that the rates in those older than 65 years of age would not be higher than the rates in those aged 50 to 64 years. 4

Based on passive surveillance reporting in the US, the risk of myocarditis after receiving mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines was increased across multiple age and sex strata and was highest after the second vaccination dose in adolescent males and young men. This risk should be considered in the context of the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination.

Corresponding Author: Matthew E. Oster, MD, MPH, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Rd, Atlanta, GA 30333 ( [email protected] ).

Correction: This article was corrected March 21, 2022, to change “pericarditis” to “myocarditis” in the first row, first column of eTable 1 in the Supplement.

Accepted for Publication: December 16, 2021.

Author Contributions: Drs Oster and Su had full access to all of the data in the study and take responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis.

Concept and design: Oster, Shay, Su, Creech, Edwards, Dendy, Schlaudecker, Woo, Shimabukuro.

Acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data: Oster, Shay, Su, Gee, Creech, Broder, Edwards, Soslow, Schlaudecker, Lang, Barnett, Ruberg, Smith, Campbell, Lopes, Sperling, Baumblatt, Thompson, Marquez, Strid, Woo, Pugsley, Reagan-Steiner, DeStefano, Shimabukuro.

Drafting of the manuscript: Oster, Shay, Su, Gee, Creech, Marquez, Strid, Woo, Shimabukuro.

Critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content: Oster, Shay, Su, Creech, Broder, Edwards, Soslow, Dendy, Schlaudecker, Lang, Barnett, Ruberg, Smith, Campbell, Lopes, Sperling, Baumblatt, Thompson, Pugsley, Reagan-Steiner, DeStefano, Shimabukuro.

Statistical analysis: Oster, Su, Marquez, Strid, Woo, Shimabukuro.

Obtained funding: Edwards, DeStefano.

Administrative, technical, or material support: Oster, Gee, Creech, Broder, Edwards, Soslow, Schlaudecker, Smith, Baumblatt, Thompson, Reagan-Steiner, DeStefano.

Supervision: Su, Edwards, Soslow, Dendy, Schlaudecker, Campbell, Sperling, DeStefano, Shimabukuro.

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: Dr Creech reported receiving grants from the National Institutes of Health for the Moderna and Janssen clinical trials and receiving personal fees from Astellas and Horizon. Dr Edwards reported receiving grants from the National Institutes of Health; receiving personal fees from BioNet, IBM, X-4 Pharma, Seqirus, Roche, Pfizer, Merck, Moderna, and Sanofi; and receiving compensation for being the associate editor of Clinical Infectious Diseases . Dr Soslow reported receiving personal fees from Esperare. Dr Schlaudecker reported receiving grants from Pfizer and receiving personal fees from Sanofi Pasteur. Drs Barnett, Ruberg, and Smith reported receiving grants from Pfizer. Dr Lopes reported receiving personal fees from Bayer, Boehringer Ingleheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, Daiichi Sankyo, GlaxoSmithKline, Medtronic, Merck, Pfizer, Portola, and Sanofi and receiving grants from Bristol Myers Squibb, GlaxoSmithKline, Medtronic, Pfizer, and Sanofi. No other disclosures were reported.

Funding/Support: This work was supported by contracts 200-2012-53709 (Boston Medical Center), 200-2012-53661 (Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center), 200-2012-53663 (Duke University), and 200-2012-50430 (Vanderbilt University Medical Center) with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Clinical Immunization Safety Assessment Project.

Role of the Funder/Sponsor: The CDC provided funding via the Clinical Immunization Safety Assessment Project to Drs Creech, Edwards, Soslow, Dendy, Schlaudecker, Lang, Barnett, Ruberg, Smith, Campbell, and Lopes. The authors affiliated with the CDC along with the other coauthors conducted the investigations; performed collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; were involved in the preparation, review, and approval of the manuscript; and made the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

Disclaimer: The findings and conclusions in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the CDC or the US Food and Drug Administration. Mention of a product or company name is for identification purposes only and does not constitute endorsement by the CDC or the US Food and Drug Administration.

Additional Contributions: We thank the following CDC staff who contributed to this article without compensation outside their normal salaries (in alphabetical order and contribution specified in parenthesis at end of each list of names): Nickolas Agathis, MD, MPH, Stephen R. Benoit, MD, MPH, Beau B. Bruce, MD, PhD, Abigail L. Carlson, MD, MPH, Meredith G. Dixon, MD, Jonathan Duffy, MD, MPH, Charles Duke, MD, MPH, Charles Edge, MSN, MS, Robyn Neblett Fanfair, MD, MPH, Nathan W. Furukawa, MD, MPH, Gavin Grant, MD, MPH, Grace Marx, MD, MPH, Maureen J. Miller, MD, MPH, Pedro Moro, MD, MPH, Meredith Oakley, DVM, MPH, Kia Padgett, MPH, BSN, RN, Janice Perez-Padilla, MPH, BSN, RN, Robert Perry, MD, MPH, Nimia Reyes, MD, MPH, Ernest E. Smith, MD, MPH&TM, David Sniadack, MD, MPH, Pamela Tucker, MD, Edward C. Weiss, MD, MPH, Erin Whitehouse, PhD, MPH, RN, Pascale M. Wortley, MD, MPH, and Rachael Zacks, MD (for clinical investigations and interviews); Amelia Jazwa, MSPH, Tara Johnson, MPH, MS, and Jamila Shields, MPH (for project coordination); Charles Licata, PhD, and Bicheng Zhang, MS (for data acquisition and organization); Charles E. Rose, PhD (for statistical consultation); and Scott D. Grosse, PhD (for calculation of expected rates of myocarditis). We also thank the clinical staff who cared for these patients and reported the adverse events to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System.

• Register for email alerts with links to free full-text articles
• Access PDFs of free articles
• Manage your interests
• Save searches and receive search alerts

Have a language expert improve your writing

Run a free plagiarism check in 10 minutes, generate accurate citations for free.

• Knowledge Base

Methodology

Research Methods | Definitions, Types, Examples

Research methods are specific procedures for collecting and analyzing data. Developing your research methods is an integral part of your research design . When planning your methods, there are two key decisions you will make.

First, decide how you will collect data . Your methods depend on what type of data you need to answer your research question :

• Qualitative vs. quantitative : Will your data take the form of words or numbers?
• Primary vs. secondary : Will you collect original data yourself, or will you use data that has already been collected by someone else?
• Descriptive vs. experimental : Will you take measurements of something as it is, or will you perform an experiment?

Second, decide how you will analyze the data .

• For quantitative data, you can use statistical analysis methods to test relationships between variables.
• For qualitative data, you can use methods such as thematic analysis to interpret patterns and meanings in the data.

Table of contents

Methods for collecting data, examples of data collection methods, methods for analyzing data, examples of data analysis methods, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about research methods.

Data is the information that you collect for the purposes of answering your research question . The type of data you need depends on the aims of your research.

Qualitative vs. quantitative data

Your choice of qualitative or quantitative data collection depends on the type of knowledge you want to develop.

For questions about ideas, experiences and meanings, or to study something that can’t be described numerically, collect qualitative data .

If you want to develop a more mechanistic understanding of a topic, or your research involves hypothesis testing , collect quantitative data .

You can also take a mixed methods approach , where you use both qualitative and quantitative research methods.

Primary vs. secondary research

Primary research is any original data that you collect yourself for the purposes of answering your research question (e.g. through surveys , observations and experiments ). Secondary research is data that has already been collected by other researchers (e.g. in a government census or previous scientific studies).

If you are exploring a novel research question, you’ll probably need to collect primary data . But if you want to synthesize existing knowledge, analyze historical trends, or identify patterns on a large scale, secondary data might be a better choice.

Descriptive vs. experimental data

In descriptive research , you collect data about your study subject without intervening. The validity of your research will depend on your sampling method .

In experimental research , you systematically intervene in a process and measure the outcome. The validity of your research will depend on your experimental design .

To conduct an experiment, you need to be able to vary your independent variable , precisely measure your dependent variable, and control for confounding variables . If it’s practically and ethically possible, this method is the best choice for answering questions about cause and effect.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

Your data analysis methods will depend on the type of data you collect and how you prepare it for analysis.

Data can often be analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. For example, survey responses could be analyzed qualitatively by studying the meanings of responses or quantitatively by studying the frequencies of responses.

Qualitative analysis methods

Qualitative analysis is used to understand words, ideas, and experiences. You can use it to interpret data that was collected:

• From open-ended surveys and interviews , literature reviews , case studies , ethnographies , and other sources that use text rather than numbers.
• Using non-probability sampling methods .

Qualitative analysis tends to be quite flexible and relies on the researcher’s judgement, so you have to reflect carefully on your choices and assumptions and be careful to avoid research bias .

Quantitative analysis methods

Quantitative analysis uses numbers and statistics to understand frequencies, averages and correlations (in descriptive studies) or cause-and-effect relationships (in experiments).

You can use quantitative analysis to interpret data that was collected either:

• During an experiment .
• Using probability sampling methods .

Because the data is collected and analyzed in a statistically valid way, the results of quantitative analysis can be easily standardized and shared among researchers.

If you want to know more about statistics , methodology , or research bias , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

• Chi square test of independence
• Statistical power
• Descriptive statistics
• Degrees of freedom
• Pearson correlation
• Null hypothesis
• Double-blind study
• Case-control study
• Research ethics
• Data collection
• Hypothesis testing
• Structured interviews

Research bias

• Hawthorne effect
• Unconscious bias
• Recall bias
• Halo effect
• Self-serving bias
• Information bias

Quantitative research deals with numbers and statistics, while qualitative research deals with words and meanings.

Quantitative methods allow you to systematically measure variables and test hypotheses . Qualitative methods allow you to explore concepts and experiences in more detail.

In mixed methods research , you use both qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis methods to answer your research question .

A sample is a subset of individuals from a larger population . Sampling means selecting the group that you will actually collect data from in your research. For example, if you are researching the opinions of students in your university, you could survey a sample of 100 students.

In statistics, sampling allows you to test a hypothesis about the characteristics of a population.

The research methods you use depend on the type of data you need to answer your research question .

• If you want to measure something or test a hypothesis , use quantitative methods . If you want to explore ideas, thoughts and meanings, use qualitative methods .
• If you want to analyze a large amount of readily-available data, use secondary data. If you want data specific to your purposes with control over how it is generated, collect primary data.
• If you want to establish cause-and-effect relationships between variables , use experimental methods. If you want to understand the characteristics of a research subject, use descriptive methods.

Methodology refers to the overarching strategy and rationale of your research project . It involves studying the methods used in your field and the theories or principles behind them, in order to develop an approach that matches your objectives.

Methods are the specific tools and procedures you use to collect and analyze data (for example, experiments, surveys , and statistical tests ).

In shorter scientific papers, where the aim is to report the findings of a specific study, you might simply describe what you did in a methods section .

In a longer or more complex research project, such as a thesis or dissertation , you will probably include a methodology section , where you explain your approach to answering the research questions and cite relevant sources to support your choice of methods.

Is this article helpful?

Other students also liked, writing strong research questions | criteria & examples.

• What Is a Research Design | Types, Guide & Examples
• Data Collection | Definition, Methods & Examples

More interesting articles

• Between-Subjects Design | Examples, Pros, & Cons
• Cluster Sampling | A Simple Step-by-Step Guide with Examples
• Confounding Variables | Definition, Examples & Controls
• Construct Validity | Definition, Types, & Examples
• Content Analysis | Guide, Methods & Examples
• Control Groups and Treatment Groups | Uses & Examples
• Control Variables | What Are They & Why Do They Matter?
• Correlation vs. Causation | Difference, Designs & Examples
• Correlational Research | When & How to Use
• Critical Discourse Analysis | Definition, Guide & Examples
• Cross-Sectional Study | Definition, Uses & Examples
• Descriptive Research | Definition, Types, Methods & Examples
• Ethical Considerations in Research | Types & Examples
• Explanatory and Response Variables | Definitions & Examples
• Explanatory Research | Definition, Guide, & Examples
• Exploratory Research | Definition, Guide, & Examples
• External Validity | Definition, Types, Threats & Examples
• Extraneous Variables | Examples, Types & Controls
• Guide to Experimental Design | Overview, Steps, & Examples
• How Do You Incorporate an Interview into a Dissertation? | Tips
• How to Do Thematic Analysis | Step-by-Step Guide & Examples
• How to Write a Literature Review | Guide, Examples, & Templates
• How to Write a Strong Hypothesis | Steps & Examples
• Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria | Examples & Definition
• Independent vs. Dependent Variables | Definition & Examples
• Inductive Reasoning | Types, Examples, Explanation
• Inductive vs. Deductive Research Approach | Steps & Examples
• Internal Validity in Research | Definition, Threats, & Examples
• Internal vs. External Validity | Understanding Differences & Threats
• Longitudinal Study | Definition, Approaches & Examples
• Mediator vs. Moderator Variables | Differences & Examples
• Mixed Methods Research | Definition, Guide & Examples
• Multistage Sampling | Introductory Guide & Examples
• Naturalistic Observation | Definition, Guide & Examples
• Operationalization | A Guide with Examples, Pros & Cons
• Population vs. Sample | Definitions, Differences & Examples
• Primary Research | Definition, Types, & Examples
• Qualitative vs. Quantitative Research | Differences, Examples & Methods
• Quasi-Experimental Design | Definition, Types & Examples
• Questionnaire Design | Methods, Question Types & Examples
• Random Assignment in Experiments | Introduction & Examples
• Random vs. Systematic Error | Definition & Examples
• Reliability vs. Validity in Research | Difference, Types and Examples
• Reproducibility vs Replicability | Difference & Examples
• Reproducibility vs. Replicability | Difference & Examples
• Sampling Methods | Types, Techniques & Examples
• Semi-Structured Interview | Definition, Guide & Examples
• Simple Random Sampling | Definition, Steps & Examples
• Single, Double, & Triple Blind Study | Definition & Examples
• Stratified Sampling | Definition, Guide & Examples
• Structured Interview | Definition, Guide & Examples
• Survey Research | Definition, Examples & Methods
• Systematic Review | Definition, Example, & Guide
• Systematic Sampling | A Step-by-Step Guide with Examples
• Textual Analysis | Guide, 3 Approaches & Examples
• The 4 Types of Reliability in Research | Definitions & Examples
• The 4 Types of Validity in Research | Definitions & Examples
• Transcribing an Interview | 5 Steps & Transcription Software
• Triangulation in Research | Guide, Types, Examples
• Types of Interviews in Research | Guide & Examples
• Types of Research Designs Compared | Guide & Examples
• Types of Variables in Research & Statistics | Examples
• Unstructured Interview | Definition, Guide & Examples
• What Is a Case Study? | Definition, Examples & Methods
• What Is a Case-Control Study? | Definition & Examples
• What Is a Cohort Study? | Definition & Examples
• What Is a Conceptual Framework? | Tips & Examples
• What Is a Controlled Experiment? | Definitions & Examples
• What Is a Double-Barreled Question?
• What Is a Focus Group? | Step-by-Step Guide & Examples
• What Is a Likert Scale? | Guide & Examples
• What Is a Prospective Cohort Study? | Definition & Examples
• What Is a Retrospective Cohort Study? | Definition & Examples
• What Is Action Research? | Definition & Examples
• What Is an Observational Study? | Guide & Examples
• What Is Concurrent Validity? | Definition & Examples
• What Is Content Validity? | Definition & Examples
• What Is Convenience Sampling? | Definition & Examples
• What Is Convergent Validity? | Definition & Examples
• What Is Criterion Validity? | Definition & Examples
• What Is Data Cleansing? | Definition, Guide & Examples
• What Is Deductive Reasoning? | Explanation & Examples
• What Is Discriminant Validity? | Definition & Example
• What Is Ecological Validity? | Definition & Examples
• What Is Ethnography? | Definition, Guide & Examples
• What Is Face Validity? | Guide, Definition & Examples
• What Is Non-Probability Sampling? | Types & Examples
• What Is Participant Observation? | Definition & Examples
• What Is Peer Review? | Types & Examples
• What Is Predictive Validity? | Examples & Definition
• What Is Probability Sampling? | Types & Examples
• What Is Purposive Sampling? | Definition & Examples
• What Is Qualitative Observation? | Definition & Examples
• What Is Qualitative Research? | Methods & Examples
• What Is Quantitative Observation? | Definition & Examples
• What Is Quantitative Research? | Definition, Uses & Methods

What is your plagiarism score?

DUFormer: dual-channel image splicing detection based on anchor-shaped U-Net and stepwise transformer for power systems

• Original Paper
• Published: 15 July 2024

Cite this article

• Xiuxia Tian 1 ,
• Jianren Zhao 1   na1 &
• Longfang Wen 1   na1  

The safe operation of intelligent power systems relies on the authenticity and integrity of image data. However, splicing-based image tampering, a common form of image forgery, poses severe challenges to the security monitoring of power systems. Addressing the limitations of traditional image splicing detection techniques in power system applications, this paper introduces DUFormer, a dual-channel image splicing detection model that combines anchor-shaped U-Net and stepwise Transformer. The model explores image features through the stepwise Transformer and precisely locates small-sized tampered areas using the anchor-shaped U-Net, enhancing the recognition capability for tampering of various scales. Tests on the substation splicing forgery dataset (SSFD) dataset, which contains 1192 tampered images of power systems, show that DUFormer achieved a 32.76% improvement in intersection over union and a 29.77% improvement in F1 score, and a reduction in mean absolute error by 0.05 relative to the second-best performing model. Additionally, evaluations on multiple public datasets confirm that DUFormer surpasses existing detection technologies on various performance metrics, especially exhibiting outstanding performance at the level of detail. This paper also examines the model’s robustness against JPEG compression operation to ensure its effectiveness in real-world applications. This research not only improves the pixel-level detection accuracy of power image splicing but also lays a solid foundation for the development of future security monitoring technologies for intelligent power systems.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Subscribe and save.

• Get 10 units per month
• Download Article/Chapter or Ebook
• 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
• Cancel anytime

Price includes VAT (Russian Federation)

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Rent this article via DeepDyve

Institutional subscriptions

Data availability

The data and materials that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Guo, J.H.: Research and development of 220kv substation remote inspection system based on intelligent image recognition. Master’s thesis, South China University of Technology (2023)

Bi, X., Wei, Y., Xiao, B., et al.: Rru-net: the ringed residual u-net for image splicing forgery detection. In: 2019 IEEE/CVF Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition Workshops (CVPRW), pp. 30–39. https://doi.org/10.1109/CVPRW.2019.00010 (2019)

Zhang, Y., Zhu, G., Wang, X., et al.: CNN-transformer based generative adversarial network for copy-move source/target distinguishment. IEEE Trans. Circuits Syst. Video Technol. 33 (5), 2019–2032 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1109/TCSVT.2022.3220630

Article   Google Scholar  

Singh, A., Singh, G., Singh, K.: A Markov based image forgery detection approach by analyzing CFA artifacts. Multimed. Tools Appl. 77 , 28949–28968 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-018-6075-5

Fan, W., Wang, K., Cayre, F.: General-purpose image forensics using patch likelihood under image statistical models. In: 2015 IEEE International Workshop on Information Forensics and Security (WIFS), pp. 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1109/WIFS.2015.7368606 (2015)

Ye, S., Sun, Q., Chang, E.C.: Detecting digital image forgeries by measuring inconsistencies of blocking artifact. In: 2007 IEEE International Conference on Multimedia and Expo, pp. 12–15. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICME.2007.4284574 (2007)

Mahdian, B., Saic, S.: Detection of resampling supplemented with noise inconsistencies analysis for image forensics. In: 2008 International Conference on Computational Sciences and Its Applications, pp. 546–556. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICCSA.2008.34 (2008)

Rao, Y., Ni, J.: A deep learning approach to detection of splicing and copy-move forgeries in images. In: 2016 IEEE International Workshop on Information Forensics and Security (WIFS), pp. 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1109/WIFS.2016.7823911 (2016)

Zhou, P., Han, X., Morariu, V.I., et al.: Learning rich features for image manipulation detection. In: 2018 IEEE/CVF Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition, pp. 1053–1061. https://doi.org/10.1109/CVPR.2018.00116 (2018)

Gu, A.R., Nam, J.H., Lee, S.C.: FBI-Net: frequency-based image forgery localization via multitask learning with self-attention. IEEE Access 10 , 62751–62762 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2022.3182024

Li, J., Huang, Z., Wang, Y., et al.: Sea and land segmentation of optical remote sensing images based on u-net optimization. Remote Sens. 14 (17), 4163 (2022). https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14174163

Ding, H., Chen, L., Tao, Q., et al.: DCU-Net: a dual-channel u-shaped network for image splicing forgery detection. Neural Comput. Appl. 35 , 5015–5031 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00521-021-06329-4

Vaswani, A., Shazeer, N., Parmar, N., et al.: Attention is all you need. In: Guyon, I., Luxburg, U.V., Bengio, S., et al. (eds.) Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems, vol. 30. Curran Associates Inc, New York (2017)

Google Scholar  

Dosovitskiy, A., Beyer, L., Kolesnikov, A., et al.: An image is worth 16x16 words: transformers for image recognition at scale. arXiv preprint arXiv:2010.11929 (2020)

Zheng, S., Lu, J., Zhao, H., et al.: Rethinking semantic segmentation from a sequence-to-sequence perspective with transformers. In: 2021 IEEE/CVF Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR), pp. 6877–6886. https://doi.org/10.1109/CVPR46437.2021.00681 (2021)

Xu, Y., Irfan, M., Fang, A., et al.: Multiscale attention network for detection and localization of image splicing forgery. IEEE Trans. Instrum. Meas. 72 , 1–15 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1109/TIM.2023.3300434

Liu, Y., Lv, B., Jin, X., et al.: TBFormer: two-branch transformer for image forgery localization. IEEE Signal Process. Lett. 30 , 623–627 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1109/LSP.2023.3279018

Xie, E., Wang, W., Yu, Z., et al.: SegFormer: simple and efficient design for semantic segmentation with transformers. Adv. Neural. Inf. Process. Syst. 34 , 12077–12090 (2021)

Liu, Q., Li, H., Liu, Z.: Image forgery localization based on fully convolutional network with noise feature. Multimed. Tools Appl. 81 (13), 17919–17935 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-022-12758-7

Zhou, P., Han, X., Morariu, V.I., et al.: Learning rich features for image manipulation detection. In: Proceedings of the IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition, pp. 1053–1061 (2018)

Xiuxia, T., Huaqiang, L., Qin, Z., et al.: Dual-channel R-FCN model for image forgery detection. Chin. J. Comput. 44 , 370–383 (2021)

Ronneberger, O., Fischer, P., Brox, T.: U-net: convolutional networks for biomedical image segmentation. In: Medical Image Computing and Computer-Assisted Intervention–MICCAI 2015: 18th International Conference, Munich, Germany, October 5–9, 2015, Proceedings, Part III 18, pp. 234–241. Springer (2015)

Wu, Y., He, K.: Group normalization. Int. J. Comput. Vision 128 , 742–755 (2018)

Woo, S., Park, J., Lee, J.Y., et al.: CBAM: convolutional block attention module. In: Ferrari, V., Hebert, M., Sminchisescu, C., et al. (eds.) Computer Vision—ECCV 2018, pp. 3–19. Springer International Publishing, Cham (2018)

Chapter   Google Scholar  

Chaurasia, A., Culurciello, E.: Linknet: exploiting encoder representations for efficient semantic segmentation. In: 2017 IEEE Visual Communications and Image Processing (VCIP), pp. 1–4. https://doi.org/10.1109/VCIP.2017.8305148 (2017)

Chen, L.C., Papandreou, G., Kokkinos, I., et al.: DeepLab: semantic image segmentation with deep convolutional nets, atrous convolution, and fully connected CRFs. IEEE Trans. Pattern Anal. Mach. Intell. 40 (4), 834–848 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1109/TPAMI.2017.2699184

Sanderson, E., Matuszewski, B.J.: FCN-transformer feature fusion for polyp segmentation. In: Yang, G., Aviles-Rivero, A., Roberts, M., et al. (eds.) Medical Image Understanding and Analysis, pp. 892–907. Springer International Publishing, Cham (2022)

Dong, J., Wang, W., Tan, T.: CASIA image tampering detection evaluation database. In: 2013 IEEE China Summit and International Conference on Signal and Information Processing, pp. 422–426. https://doi.org/10.1109/ChinaSIP.2013.6625374 (2013)

Guan, H., Kozak, M., Robertson, E., et al.: MFC datasets: large-scale benchmark datasets for media forensic challenge evaluation. In: 2019 IEEE Winter Applications of Computer Vision Workshops (WACVW), pp. 63–72. https://doi.org/10.1109/WACVW.2019.00018 (2019)

Hsu, Y.F., Chang, S.F.: Detecting image splicing using geometry invariants and camera characteristics consistency. In: 2006 IEEE International Conference on Multimedia and Expo, pp. 549–552. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICME.2006.262447 (2006)

Liu, X., Liu, Y., Chen, J., et al.: PSCC-Net: progressive spatio-channel correlation network for image manipulation detection and localization. IEEE Trans. Circuits Syst. Video Technol. 32 (11), 7505–7517 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1109/TCSVT.2022.3189545

Wu, Y., AbdAlmageed, W., Natarajan, P.: ManTra-Net: manipulation tracing network for detection and localization of image forgeries with anomalous features. In: 2019 IEEE/CVF Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR), pp. 9535–9544. https://doi.org/10.1109/CVPR.2019.00977 (2019)

Zhang, Y., Zhu, G., Wu, L., et al.: Multi-task SE-network for image splicing localization. IEEE Trans. Circuits Syst. Video Technol. 32 (7), 4828–4840 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1109/TCSVT.2021.3123829

Download references

Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge the support of the National Natural Science Foundation of China under grant numbers 61772327 and U23B2021.

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Numbers: 61772327, U23B2021).

Author information

Jianren Zhao and Longfang Wen have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

School of Computer Science and Technology, Shanghai University of Electric Power, Shanghai, 201306, China

Xiuxia Tian, Jianren Zhao & Longfang Wen

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Contributions

Xiuxia Tian conceptualized the study and designed the research methodology. Longfang Wen collected and analyzed the data, and performed statistical analysis. Jianren Zhao wrote the original draft and prepared the figures. All authors contributed to the interpretation of results and critically reviewed and edited the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xiuxia Tian .

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest.

All authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

Ethical Approval

This article does not contain any studies with human participants and animals performed by any of the authors.

Informed consent

Additional information, publisher's note.

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Tian, X., Zhao, J. & Wen, L. DUFormer: dual-channel image splicing detection based on anchor-shaped U-Net and stepwise transformer for power systems. SIViP (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11760-024-03389-6

Download citation

Received : 23 April 2024

Revised : 15 June 2024

Accepted : 19 June 2024

Published : 15 July 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s11760-024-03389-6

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

• Image tampering in power systems
• Image splicing detection
• Deep learning
• Transformer
• Find a journal
• Publish with us
• Track your research

He is dangerous in word, deed and action

He puts self over country, he loathes the laws we live by, donald trump is unfit to lead.

The editorial board is a group of opinion journalists whose views are informed by expertise, research, debate and certain longstanding values . It is separate from the newsroom.

Next week, for the third time in eight years, Donald Trump will be nominated as the Republican Party’s candidate for president of the United States. A once great political party now serves the interests of one man, a man as demonstrably unsuited for the office of president as any to run in the long history of the Republic, a man whose values, temperament, ideas and language are directly opposed to so much of what has made this country great.

It is a chilling choice against this national moment. For more than two decades, large majorities of Americans have said they are dissatisfied with the direction of the country, and the post-Covid era of stubborn inflation, high interest rates, social division and political stagnation has left many voters even more frustrated and despondent.

The Republican Party once pursued electoral power in service to solutions for such problems, to building “the shining city on a hill,” as Ronald Reagan liked to say. Its vision of the United States — embodied in principled public servants like George H.W. Bush, John McCain and Mitt Romney — was rooted in the values of freedom, sacrifice, individual responsibility and the common good. The party’s conception of those values was reflected in its longstanding conservative policy agenda, and today many Republicans set aside their concerns about Mr. Trump because of his positions on immigration, trade and taxes. But the stakes of this election are not fundamentally about policy disagreements. The stakes are more foundational: what qualities matter most in America’s president and commander in chief.

Mr. Trump has shown a character unworthy of the responsibilities of the presidency. He has demonstrated an utter lack of respect for the Constitution, the rule of law and the American people. Instead of a cogent vision for the country’s future, Mr. Trump is animated by a thirst for political power: to use the levers of government to advance his interests, satisfy his impulses and exact retribution against those who he thinks have wronged him.

He is, quite simply, unfit to lead.

The Democrats are rightly engaged in their own debate about whether President Biden is the right person to carry the party’s nomination into the election, given widespread concerns among voters about his age-related fitness. This debate is so intense because of legitimate concerns that Mr. Trump may present a danger to the country, its strength, security and national character — and that a compelling Democratic alternative is the only thing that would prevent his return to power. It is a national tragedy that the Republicans have failed to have a similar debate about the manifest moral and temperamental unfitness of their standard-bearer, instead setting aside their longstanding values, closing ranks and choosing to overlook what those who worked most closely with the former president have described as his systematic dishonesty, corruption, cruelty and incompetence.

That task now falls to the American people. We urge voters to see the dangers of a second Trump term clearly and to reject it. The stakes and significance of the presidency demand a person who has essential qualities and values to earn our trust, and on each one, Donald Trump fails.

Moral Fitness Matters

Presidents are confronted daily with challenges that require not just strength and conviction but also honesty, humility, selflessness, fortitude and the perspective that comes from sound moral judgment.

If Mr. Trump has these qualities, Americans have never seen them in action on behalf of the nation’s interests. His words and actions demonstrate a disregard for basic right and wrong and a clear lack of moral fitness for the responsibilities of the presidency.

He lies blatantly and maliciously, embraces racists , abuses women and has a schoolyard bully’s instinct to target society’s most vulnerable. He has delighted in coarsening and polarizing the town square with ever more divisive and incendiary language. Mr. Trump is a man who craves validation and vindication, so much that he would prefer a hostile leader’s lies to his own intelligence agencies’ truths and would shake down a vulnerable ally for short-term political advantage . His handling of everything from routine affairs to major crises was undermined by his blundering combination of impulsiveness, insecurity and unstudied certainty.

This record shows what can happen to a country led by such a person: America’s image, credibility and cohesion were relentlessly undermined by Mr. Trump during his term.

None of his wrongful actions are so obviously discrediting as his determined and systematic attempts to undermine the integrity of elections — the most basic element of any democracy — an effort that culminated in an insurrection at the Capitol to obstruct the peaceful transfer of power.

On Jan. 6, 2021, Mr. Trump incited a mob to violence with hateful lies, then stood by for hours as hundreds of his supporters took his word and stormed the Capitol with the aim of terrorizing members of Congress into keeping him in office. He praised these insurrectionists and called them patriots; today he gives them a starring role at campaign rallies, playing a rendition of the national anthem sung by inmates involved with Jan. 6., and he has promised to consider pardoning the rioters if re-elected. He continues to wrong the country and its voters by lying about the 2020 election, branding it stolen, despite the courts, the Justice Department and Republican state officials disputing him. No man fit for the presidency would flog such pernicious and destructive lies about democratic norms and values, but the Trumpian hunger for vindication and retribution has no moral center.

To vest such a person with the vast powers of the presidency is to endanger American interests and security at home as well as abroad. The nation’s commander in chief must uphold the oath to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution.” It is the closest thing that this secular nation has to a sacred trust. The president has several duties and powers that are his alone: He has the sole authority to launch a nuclear weapon. He has the authority to send American troops into harm’s way and to authorize the use of lethal force against individuals and other nations. Americans who serve in the military also take an oath to defend the Constitution, and they rely on their commander in chief to take that oath as seriously as they do.

Mr. Trump has shown, repeatedly, that he does not. On numerous occasions, he asked his defense secretary and commanders in the American armed forces to violate that oath. On other occasions, he demanded that members of the military violate norms that preserve the dignity of the armed services and protect the military from being used for political purposes. They largely refused these illegal and immoral orders, as the oath requires.

The lack of moral grounding undermines Mr. Trump even in areas where voters view him as stronger and trust him more than Mr. Biden, like immigration and crime. Veering into a kind of brutal excess that is, at best, immoral and, at worst, unconstitutional, he has said that undocumented immigrants were “ poisoning the blood of our country ,” and his advisers say he would aim to round them up in mass detention camps and end birthright citizenship . He has indicated that, if faced with episodes of rioting or crime surges, he would unilaterally send troops into American cities. He has asked aides if the United States could shoot migrants below the waist to slow them down, and he has said that he would use the Insurrection Act to deploy the military against protesters.

During his time in office, none of those things happened because there were enough people in military leadership with the moral fitness to say “no” to such illegal orders. But there are good reasons to worry about whether that would happen again, as Mr. Trump works harder to surround himself with people who enable rather than check his most insidious impulses.

The Supreme Court, with its ruling on July 1 granting presidents “absolute immunity” for official acts, has removed an obstacle to Mr. Trump’s worst impulses: the threat of legal consequences. What remains is his own sense of right and wrong. Our country’s future is too precious to rely on such a broken moral compass.

Principled Leadership Matters

Republican presidents and presidential candidates have used their leadership at critical moments to set a tone for society to live up to. Mr. Reagan faced down totalitarianism in the 1980s, appointed the first woman to the Supreme Court and worked with Democrats on bipartisan tax and immigration reforms. George H.W. Bush signed the Americans With Disabilities Act and decisively defended an ally, Kuwait, against Iraqi aggression. George W. Bush, for all his failures after Sept. 11, did not stoke hate against or demonize Muslims or Islam.

As a candidate during the 2008 race, Mr. McCain spoke out when his fellow conservatives spread lies about his opponent, Barack Obama. Mr. Romney was willing to sacrifice his standing and influence in the party he once represented as a presidential nominee, by boldly calling out Mr. Trump’s failings and voting for his removal from office.

These acts of leadership are what it means to put country first, to think beyond oneself.

Mr. Trump has demonstrated contempt for these American ideals. He admires autocrats, from Viktor Orban to Vladimir Putin to Kim Jong-un. He believes in the strongman model of power — a leader who makes things happen by demanding it, compelling agreement through force of will or personality. In reality, a strongman rules through fear and the unprincipled use of political might for self-serving ends, imposing poorly conceived policies that smother innovation, entrepreneurship, ideas and hope.

During his four years in office, Mr. Trump tried to govern the United States as a strongman would, issuing orders or making decrees on Twitter. He announced sudden changes in policy — on who can serve in the military , on trade policy, on how the United States deals with North Korea or Russia — without consulting experts on his staff about how these changes would affect America. Indeed, nowhere did he put his political or personal interests above the national interest more tragically than during the pandemic , when he faked his way through a crisis by touting conspiracy theories and pseudoscience while ignoring the advice of his own experts and resisting basic safety measures that would have saved lives.

He took a similar approach to America’s strategic relationships abroad. Mr. Trump lost the trust of America’s longstanding allies, especially in NATO, leaving Europe less secure and emboldening the far right and authoritarian leaders in Europe, Latin America and Asia. He pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal, leaving that country, already a threat to the world, more dangerous, thanks to a revived program that has achieved near-weapons-grade uranium.

In a second term, his willingness to appease Mr. Putin would leave Ukraine’s future as a democratic and independent country in doubt. Mr. Trump implies that he could single-handedly end the catastrophic war in Gaza but has no real plan. He has suggested that in a second term he’d increase tariffs on Chinese goods to 60 percent or higher and that he would put a 10 percent tariff on all imported goods, moves that would raise prices for American consumers and reduce innovation by allowing U.S. industries to rely on protectionism instead.

The worst of the Trump administration’s policies were often blocked by Congress, by court challenges and by the objections of honorable public servants who stepped in to thwart his demands when they were irresponsible or did not follow the law. When Mr. Trump wanted an end to Obamacare, a single Republican senator, Mr. McCain, saved it, preserving health care for millions of Americans. Mr. Trump demanded that James Comey, his F.B.I. director, pledge loyalty to him and end an investigation into a political ally; Mr. Comey refused. Scientists and public health officials called out and corrected his misinformation about climate science and Covid. The Supreme Court sided against the Trump administration more times than any other president since at least Franklin D. Roosevelt.

A second Trump administration would be different. He intends to fill his administration with sycophants, those who have shown themselves willing to obey Mr. Trump’s demands or those who lack the strength to stand up to him. He wants to remove those who would be obstacles to his agenda, by enacting an order to make it easier to fire civil servants and replace them with those more loyal to him.

This means not only that Americans would lose the benefit of their expertise but also that America would be governed in a climate of fear, in which government employees must serve the interests of the president rather than the public. All cabinet secretaries follow a president’s lead, but Mr. Trump envisions a nation in which public service as Americans understand it would cease to exist — where individual civil servants and departments could no longer make independent decisions and where research by scientists and public health experts and investigations by the Justice Department and others in federal law enforcement would be more malleable to the demands of the White House.

Another term under Mr. Trump’s leadership would risk doing permanent damage to our government. As Mr. Comey, a longtime Republican, wrote in a 2019 guest essay for Times Opinion, “Accomplished people lacking inner strength can’t resist the compromises necessary to survive Mr. Trump and that adds up to something they will never recover from.” Very few who serve under him can avoid this fate “because Mr. Trump eats your soul in small bites,” Mr. Comey wrote. “Of course, to stay, you must be seen as on his team, so you make further compromises. You use his language, praise his leadership, tout his commitment to values. And then you are lost. He has eaten your soul.” America will get nowhere with a strongman. It needs a strong leader.

Character Matters

Character is the quality that gives a leader credibility, authority and influence. During the 2016 campaign, Mr. Trump’s petty attacks on his opponents and their families led many Republicans to conclude that he lacked such character. Other Republicans, including those who supported the former president’s policies in office, say they can no longer in good conscience back him for the presidency. “It’s a job that requires the kind of character he just doesn’t have,” Paul Ryan, a former Republican House speaker, said of Mr. Trump in May .

Those who know Mr. Trump’s character best — the people he appointed to serve in the most important positions of his White House — have expressed grave doubts about his fitness for office.

His former chief of staff John Kelly, a retired four-star Marine Corps general, described Mr. Trump as “a person who admires autocrats and murderous dictators. A person that has nothing but contempt for our democratic institutions, our Constitution and the rule of law.” Bill Barr, whom Mr. Trump appointed as attorney general, said of him , “He will always put his own interest and gratifying his own ego ahead of everything else, including the country’s interest.” James Mattis, a retired four-star Marine general who served as defense secretary, said , “Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people — does not even pretend to try.”

Mike Pence, Mr. Trump’s vice president, has disavowed him. No other vice president in modern American history has done this. “I believe that anyone who puts themselves over the Constitution should never be president of the United States,” Mr. Pence has said . “And anyone who asked someone else to put them over the Constitution should never be president of the United States again.”

These are hardly exceptions. In any other American administration, a single cabinet-level defection is rare. But an unprecedented number of Mr. Trump’s appointees have publicly criticized his leadership, opposed his 2024 presidential candidacy or ducked questions about his fitness for a second term. More than a dozen of his most senior appointees — those he chose to work alongside him and who saw his performance most closely — have spoken out against him, serving as witnesses about the kind of leader he is.

There are many ways to judge leaders’ character; one is to see whether they accept responsibility for their actions. As a general rule, Mr. Trump abhors accountability. If he loses, the election is rigged. If he is convicted, it’s because the judges are out to get him. If he doesn’t get his way in a deal, as happened multiple times with Congress in his term, he shuts down the government or threatens to.

Americans do not expect their presidents to be perfect; many of them have exhibited hubris, self-regard, arrogance and other character flaws. But the American system of government is more than just the president: It is a system of checks and balances, and it relies on everyone in government to intervene when a president’s personal failings might threaten the common good.

Mr. Trump tested those limits as president, and little has changed about him in the four years since he lost re-election. He tries to intimidate anyone with the temerity to testify as a witness against him. He attacks the integrity of judges who are doing their duty to hold him accountable to the law. He mocks those he dislikes and lies about those who oppose him and targets Republicans for defeat if they fail to bend the knee.

It may be tempting for Americans to believe that a second Trump presidency would be much like the first, with the rest of government steeled to protect the country and resist his worst impulses. But the strongman needs others to be weak, and Mr. Trump is surrounding himself with yes men.

The American public has a right to demand more from their president and those who would serve under him.

A President’s Words Matter

When America saw white nationalists and neo-Nazis march through the streets of Charlottesville, Va., in 2017 and activists were rallying against racism, Mr. Trump spoke of “very fine people on both sides.” When he was pressed about the white supremacist Proud Boys during a 2020 debate, Mr. Trump told them to “stand back and stand by,” a request that, records show, they took literally in deciding to storm Congress. This winter, the former president urged Iowans to vote for him and score a victory over their fellow Americans — “all of the liars, cheaters, thugs, perverts, frauds, crooks, freaks, creeps.” And in a Veterans Day speech in New Hampshire, he used the word “vermin,” a term he has deployed to describe both immigrants and political opponents.

What a president says reflects on the United States and the kind of society we aspire to be.

In 2022 this board raised an urgent alarm about the rising threat of political violence in the United States and what Americans could do to stop it. At the time, Mr. Trump was preparing to declare his intention to run for president again, and the Republican Party was in the middle of a fight for control, between Trumpists and those who were ready to move on from his destructive leadership. This struggle within the party has consequences for all Americans. “A healthy democracy requires both political parties to be fully committed to the rule of law and not to entertain or even tacitly encourage violence or violent speech,” we wrote.

A large faction of one party in our country fails that test, and that faction, Mr. Trump’s MAGA extremists, now control the party and its levers of power. There are many reasons his conquest of the Republican Party is bad for American democracy, but one of the most significant is that those extremists have often embraced violent speech or the belief in using violence to achieve their political goals. This belief led to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, and it has resulted in a rising number of threats against judges, elected officials and prosecutors.

This threat cannot be separated from Mr. Trump’s use of language to encourage violence, to dehumanize groups of people and to spread lies. A study by researchers at the University of California, Davis, released in October 2022, came to the conclusion that MAGA Republicans (as opposed to those who identified themselves as traditional Republicans) “are more likely to hold extreme and racist beliefs, to endorse political violence, to see such violence as likely to occur and to predict that they will be armed under circumstances in which they consider political violence to be justified.”

The Republican Party had an opportunity to renounce Trumpism; it has submitted to it. Republican leaders have had many opportunities to repudiate his violent discourse and make clear that it should have no place in political life; they failed to. Sizable numbers of voters in Republican primaries abandoned Mr. Trump for other candidates, and independent and undecided voters have said that Mr. Trump’s language has alienated them from his candidacy.

But with his nomination by his party all but assured, Mr. Trump has become even more reckless in employing extreme and violent speech, such as his references to executing generals who raise questions about his actions. He has argued, before the Supreme Court, that he should have the right to assassinate a political rival and face no consequences.

The Rule of Law Matters

The danger from these foundational failings — of morals and character, of principled leadership and rhetorical excess — is never clearer than in Mr. Trump’s disregard for rule of law, his willingness to do long-term damage to the integrity of America’s systems for short-term personal gain.

As we’ve noted, Mr. Trump’s disregard for democracy was most evident in his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election and to encourage violence to stop the peaceful transfer of power. What stood in his way were the many patriotic Americans, at every level of government, who rejected his efforts to bully them into complying with his demands to change election results. Instead, they followed the rules and followed the law. This respect for the rule of law, not the rule of men, is what has allowed American democracy to survive for more than 200 years.

In the four years since losing the election, Mr. Trump has become only more determined to subvert the rule of law, because his whole theory of Trumpism boils down to doing whatever he wants without consequence. Americans are seeing this unfold as Mr. Trump attempts to fight off numerous criminal charges. Not content to work within the law to defend himself, he is instead turning to sympathetic judges — including two Supreme Court justices with apparent conflicts over the 2020 election and Jan. 6-related litigation. The playbook: delay federal prosecution until he can win election and end those legal cases. His vision of government is one that does what he wants, rather than a government that operates according to the rule of law as prescribed by the Constitution, the courts and Congress.

As divided as America is, people across the political spectrum generally recoil from rigged rules, favoritism, self-dealing and abuse of power. Our country has been so stable for so long in part because most Americans and most American leaders follow the rules or face the consequences.

So much in the past two decades has tested these norms in our society — the invasion of Iraq under false pretenses, the failures that led to the 2008 financial crisis and the recession that followed, the pandemic and all the fractures and inequities that it revealed. We need a recommitment to the rule of law and the values of fair play. This election is a moment for Americans to decide whether we will keep striving for those ideals.

Mr. Trump rejects them. If he is re-elected, America will face a new and precarious future, one that it may not be prepared for. It is a future in which intelligence agencies would be judged not according to whether they preserved national security but by whether they served Mr. Trump’s political agenda. It means that prosecutors and law enforcement officials would be judged not according to whether they follow the law to keep Americans safe but by whether they obey his demands to “go after” political enemies. It means that public servants would be judged not according to their dedication or skill but by whether they show sufficient loyalty to him and his MAGA agenda.

Even if Mr. Trump’s vague policy agenda would not be fulfilled, he could rule by fear. The lesson of other countries shows that when a bureaucracy is politicized or pressured, the best public servants will run for the exits.

This is what has already happened in Mr. Trump’s Republican Party, with principled leaders and officials retiring, quitting or facing ouster. In a second term, he intends to do that to the whole of government.

Election Day is less than four months away. The case against Mr. Trump is extensive, and this board urges Americans to perform a simple act of civic duty in an election year: Listen to what Mr. Trump is saying, pay attention to what he did as president and allow yourself to truly inhabit what he has promised to do if returned to office.

Voters frustrated by inflation and immigration or attracted by the force of Mr. Trump’s personality should pause and take note of his words and promises. They have little to do with unity and healing and a lot to do with making the divisions and anger in our society wider and more intense than they already are.

The Republican Party is making its choice next week; soon all Americans will be able to make their own choice. What would Mr. Trump do in a second term? He has told Americans who he is and shown them what kind of leader he would be.

When someone fails so many foundational tests, you don’t give him the most important job in the world.

From top, photographs and video by Damon Winter/The New York Times (2) and Jay Turner Frey Seawell (5).

• Share full article

Advertisement