revise a paper + writing

Full Title of Research

Author’s Name

Thomas Jefferson University

Jefferson College of Health Professions

Capstone Advisor’s Name

Date of Submission

Table of Contents

Abstract

This template is a guide to writing a document in APA Style, 6th edition. It provides the necessary sections, headings, and subheadings for a systematic review, as well as the line and paragraph spacing, page breaks, page numbering, and referencing styles. It is formatted with one inch top, bottom, left, and right margins; Times New Roman font in 12 point; double-spaced; aligned flush left; and paragraphs indented 5-7 spaces. The page number appears one inch from the right edge on the first line of each page. There should be two spaces between sentences. Without changing the formatting, insert your own text into each template section. This section of the template provides an example of what an abstract would look like. An abstract is a brief (approximately 250 words) one-paragraph summary of the contents of the proposal. The abstract, typically written last, includes an overview of the proposed project's background and review of literature, purpose, method, results, and conclusion. It is non-evaluative, that is, does not contain personal comments. It is not indented nor does it contain citations. Keywords, such as those below, are words you used to perform database searches for the proposal.

Keywords : APA style, sixth edition, publication manual

Introduction and Background

In this introductory section, write a few paragraphs that give an overview of your topic and full background information. This section should be written in a way that is comprehensible to readers without specialist knowledge of your modality. The main purpose of this section is to build a case for the need for your research project and convince readers that the problem you are addressing is significant and worthwhile. Include a summary of a search of the literature to indicate why this study was necessary and what it aimed to contribute to the field. End with a brief statement of what is being reported in the article. Support this with findings from the literature, include relevant statistics, and cite them according to APA Style, 6th ed.

All source material used in this research project must be documented in the body of the paper by citing the authors and dates of the sources. The full reference to each citation must appear on a separate reference page(s) entitled 'References'. Reference entries are typed in hanging indent format, meaning that the first line of each reference is set flush left and subsequent lines are indented. For more information about APA Style, see the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.), the APA Style web site found at http://www.apastyle.org/ , and the Purdue Owl Writing Center website found at https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ .

Problem Statement

Your introduction section should smoothly transition into your problem statement. Include your research question that will provide direction for your work. Explain your approach to the problem and how your approach will address it.

Hypothesis

You may not have a hypothesis, but if you do, it should follow the problem statement. Be sure to word the hypothesis (or null hypothesis) correctly.

Aims/Objectives

Explain the aims/objectives of your research project. A research study usually has one overarching aim that captures what you hope to achieve through your project. You may have several objectives - more specific goals – that support the aim. Aims and objectives are often written in bullet points as 'to' statements, such as, 'to' develop, 'to' identify, 'to' measure, 'to' explain, 'to' compare.

Review of Literature

The goal of a review of literature is to present an in-depth, current state of knowledge about your particular topic. Rather than just summarizing and listing research studies performed on your topic, summarize and then synthesize the key concepts of the literature you have read. Identify any major trends, patterns, or gaps you may have found in the literature and identify any relationships among studies. In general, there is a five-year span from the present for the date of literature you should use except for an older, landmark study, which should be identified as such.

Think of a review of literature as a puzzle that you will put together with individual pieces from various sources of literature in order to reveal a whole picture of the state of knowledge about your topic. The review of literature for your proposal should provide the context for your proposal and your future capstone project.

When you begin to write your narrative, define your topic and provide relevant statistical information, followed by historical and current background information. Organize your main findings by using subheadings called Level 2 headings, which are typed in bold face type, in upper and lower case letters, and typed flush with the left side of the paper. Use Level 3 headings to further subdivide topics. Level 3 headings are indented, typed in lowercase letters, in boldface, indented, and followed by a period. The APA Manual or the Purdue Owl Writing Center website provides more information about all five levels of headings in APA Style, 6th edition. Conclude the review of literature with a concise summary of your findings and provide a rationale for conducting your capstone, based on your findings.

Writing Tips

· Avoid describing a series of studies.

· Use quotes sparingly and only to emphasize or explain an important point.

· Do not make broad statements about the conclusiveness of research studies, either positive or negative.

· Be objective in your presentation of the facts.

· Paragraphs should flow logically.

Methods

If you have planned your research protocol diligently, writing the Methods section should be quite straightforward. You will reap the benefits of keeping accurate records of all the titles, abstracts, and articles that you screened, and your reasons for including or excluding the articles. This section should include the following sub-parts:

· Criteria for including or excluding studies.

· Details of electronic database searches, with search terms.

· Study selection – how you handled and screened all the articles you found. Include a flow chart to show how many potentially relevant papers you found at each stage of the literature search, how many were rejected at each stage, and why.

· Data extraction – description of the data you extracted from the articles. Include your data extraction form.

· Quality assessment of included articles and any specific tools used to assess bias in these articles. Remember there are some simple checklists for critiquing different types of research in the back of the Greenhalgh book.

· Your thoughts about analysis of your data. What you are actually able to accomplish here will depend on the type and quantity of data you will be able to extract. At this point in your capstone project, start thinking about what might be the best way to present the data.

Results

Describe the results of your research in logical order. Include the following:

· Results of your literature search – number of articles identified, number of duplicates, articles excluded based on screening the title or the abstract, how many full articles were assessed and how many were included, how many were excluded and for what reasons…

· Study range and characteristics – features of population or research criteria that you were looking for in your included studies.

· Comment on quality (bias potential) of included studies.

· Actual findings of your research.

· Relevant tables, figures, diagrams, images, etc. Each must have a legend and be appropriately labeled. Refer to the APA Manual or the Purdue Owl Writing Center website for detailed information about APA Style, 6th ed. formatting.

Discussion

The discussion should follow a logical order. Include the following:

· Summarize and explain the findings of your review. You may have found that there is not enough evidence to reach a conclusion and answer your research question.

· Describe and explain the limitations of the included articles and limitations of your review.

· Describe the strengths and weaknesses of your review methods.

· Place your findings in the context of other knowledge on the topic. You can support your writing with references to the literature.

Conclusion

State clearly the main conclusions of the research and give a clear explanation of their importance and relevance. Think about the following:

· What are the implications for current practice and future research?

· Has your review uncovered any gaps in knowledge that require further research?

· Do you have enough information to influence current clinical practices?

References

As previously mentioned, all literature cited in the proposal must be referenced in APA Style, 6th edition, on a separate reference page(s). The following list shows the more commonly used references. For more information on how to reference, refer to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.), the APA Style web site found at http://www.apastyle.org, and the Purdue Owl Writing Center website found at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/.

References

American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (1991). Title of book chapter or entry. In A. Editor, B. Editor, & C. Editor (Eds.), Title of book (pp. xxx-xxx). St. Louis: Mosby.

Appendix

Appendices appear after the reference page(s). They are used to present detailed information that adds to the body of the paper, for example, sample questionnaires, tables, or figures. Tables usually show numerical values or textual information arranged in an orderly display of columns and rows. Any type of illustration other than a table is a figure. Figures present data in the forms of graphs, charts, maps, drawings, and photographs.

If your manuscript has only one appendix, label it Appendix in italics. If it has more than one, label each appendix with a capital letter, for example, Appendix A, Appendix B, according to the order in which you refer to it in your text. Label each appendix with a title, but refer to it in the text by its label, for example, (see the Appendix for basic APA, 6th edition, citation style).