why are research papers important

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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.

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Why Research Papers Matter: An Essential Overview

Research papers are essential to understanding our current and past knowledge of a particular field or topic. From the scientific community to higher education, research papers provide evidence for hypotheses, theories, and facts about any given subject. This article provides an essential overview of why research papers matter in both academic circles as well as wider society; it will outline the importance of research within academia and consider its implications for social issues such as policy making decisions. Furthermore, this paper will discuss how advances in technology have allowed researchers to access larger data sets with more accuracy than ever before – leading to a deeper appreciation of complex phenomena which may not have been possible without such technological progressions. Finally, we shall address some ethical considerations that must be taken into account when conducting investigations based on collected empirical information from studies undertaken by various bodies or institutions throughout the world.

I. Introduction

Ii. a brief history of research papers, iii. the essential elements of a research paper, iv. benefits of writing and reading research papers, v. common challenges faced when writing and reading research papers, vi. strategies to effectively evaluate sources for a quality-rich analysis in your paper, vii. conclusion.

The Research Paper: A Valuable Tool Research papers have been used as a learning tool since the dawn of academia. From Aristotle’s “Organon” to modern day dissertations, research papers provide an organized format for students to analyze and present their ideas in an academic setting. In today’s world, they are even more valuable as many universities require written assignments that adhere to accepted standards of scholarly inquiry.

Research papers allow authors to explore complex topics in detail and develop their own original theories on those topics. Through thorough analysis, writers can support or refute existing ideas while gathering evidence from primary sources such as journals and interviews with experts in order strengthen their arguments. Furthermore, writing a research paper provides students with vital experience developing persuasive arguments that reflect sound reasoning which may prove beneficial throughout one’s educational career – not just when composing future reports but also during professional endeavors where clear communication is essential for success.

By providing structure along with space for creativity within academically appropriate bounds, research papers facilitate exploration into various areas without sacrificing readability or accuracy; thus making them invaluable resources both inside and outside the classroom environment.

The Emergence of Research Papers

It’s safe to say that the journey of research papers began with the advent of modernity and scientific progress. In 1665, philosopher Robert Hooke wrote what is considered to be one of the earliest examples of a true research paper, “Micrographia,” which detailed his observations through microscope on plants, insects, and other microscopic organisms.

In 1771 came Thomas Paine’s “The Case for Independence”–a revolutionary manifesto that was filled with empirical evidence derived from primary sources such as letters written by colonists about their suffering under Britain. It was this era where some consider academic writing in its traditional sense had begun—an authoritative source on a specific topic based upon extensive research presented in an organized format using properly cited resources.

Research papers are essential tools used throughout higher education and beyond. They provide critical analysis into a given topic or question while presenting information objectively rather than subjectively; requiring students not only conduct thorough investigation but also form conclusions backed up by facts alone. Through these works scholars can discuss key elements found within any field furthering intellectual debate surrounding those topics among peers aiding development within society at large across all disciplines worldwide.

For any research paper, there are certain essential elements that must be included to make a successful work. Firstly, it is critical to have an effective title . This should succinctly summarize the main point of your research and draw in readers who would be interested in learning more about the subject. Additionally, you need a comprehensive introduction outlining what will follow throughout your paper; this can range from background information regarding existing knowledge on the topic or why your particular project matters.

The body of the document , meanwhile, serves as a foundation for all subsequent analysis and findings. It is essential that all primary sources used for researching purposes are cited correctly—not doing so could result in plagiarism which could lead to academic sanctions against you! When providing quotes or evidence from these sources, they should also correspond with specific paragraphs devoted towards further exploring such materials. Finally, it’s important to remember why producing research papers is beneficial: by demonstrating mastery over both tangible facts and abstract theories concerning numerous topics — one gains valuable skills suitable for employment opportunities while developing confidence within their own abilities.

Good writing and reading research papers come with a number of advantages. First, engaging in the process helps to cultivate knowledge on particular topics. Through researching, writers can build upon their existing understanding as they investigate materials from varying perspectives.

• Gain Knowledge: By exploring current research trends and other publications within the field, scholars are able to become well-informed on any given topic.

Furthermore, participating in this activity is beneficial for communication skills. With practice comes improvement; by honing one’s own abilities through critical thinking and analysis found throughout conducting primary research projects or literature reviews–crucial components of many undergraduate courses–students gain proficiency when it comes to organizing arguments effectively via written expression.

• Communication Skills: Developing aptitude for coherently expressing oneself yields long-term academic benefits such as essay writing or public speaking assignments later down the line.

Analyzing Complex Concepts

Research papers require critical analysis and synthesis of complex concepts. It can be difficult to take an abstract or multifaceted idea, break it down into smaller components, then build a cohesive argument around them. To successfully conduct research in this manner requires knowledge on how to draw meaningful conclusions from data as well as formulate educated guesses when direct answers are not available. Reading such papers is also challenging for the same reasons since readers must comprehend nuanced arguments from diverse sources.

Understanding Academic Writing Style

Research writing has its own conventions that may differ significantly from those used in other types of academic or professional writing. Understanding these specific rules and conventions helps writers communicate their thoughts accurately while helping readers interpret them quickly and efficiently. Additionally, researching facts and citing evidence are integral elements of constructing quality papers; without reliable sources any paper would lack credibility regardless of how eloquent the language might be.

Ultimately, research papers provide a platform for exploring ideas more deeply than they could through general discussion alone—making both reading and writing them invaluable skillsets which often lead to insightful discoveries about our world’s complexities.

Making Critical Decisions Research papers are essential for understanding a topic, making critical decisions and forming educated opinions. The first step in producing an effective paper is to evaluate sources critically. To ensure the highest quality-rich analysis when writing your research paper, there are several strategies you can employ:

• Evaluate source credibility by reviewing author qualifications and potential biases.
• Check if the data or evidence used in the source is reliable.
• Determine how current the material is based on its publication date.

Furthermore, it’s important to take note of what information provided from each individual resource contributes to your overall argument. Is this information relevant? Can it be verified through other studies or experiments? These questions can help narrow down which sources should make up the basis of your findings and conclusions within a piece of work. All these methods contribute towards constructing a better argument supported with high-quality evidence that will strengthen any viewpoint presented in your paper.

A Harmonious Resolution In the end, it can be said that research papers are essential to our understanding of a variety of topics. They provide an organized way for us to look at an issue and come up with thoughtful conclusions. Through these papers, we have been able to analyze data, develop theories, and even create revolutionary new ideas. The power of research is tremendous; without it our society would be much less informed.

It’s clear that when used correctly, research papers can bring great benefits—both now and in the future. Whether in academia or business settings they enable us to make better decisions about how we proceed on any given topic. With them as a basis for decision making processes become more efficient while remaining rooted in facts rather than gut feelings alone!

In conclusion, research papers are essential for improving the understanding of a given field or topic. By providing in-depth analysis and exploration into an area of study, they can give researchers and academics valuable insight into how best to move forward with their work. As such, it is important that any researcher or academic takes the time to craft well researched and detailed pieces on relevant topics as this will both help expand our collective knowledge base while also serving to further progress within the discipline itself.

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

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

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

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

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Table of contents

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Paragraph structure

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

Example paragraph

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

Citing sources

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

You should not :

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

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

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

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

Global concerns

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

Fine-grained details

Check the content of each paragraph, making sure that:

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

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

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

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Checklist: Research paper

I have followed all instructions in the assignment sheet.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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How to effectively explain why my research is important?

I gave a presentation on my PhD research at university last week, and it was criticised for lacking practical significance. A different comment suggested the presentation was not placed in context. Could somebody provide some advice on how to place research in context and convey its practical significance? How can I effectively assess who/what/where/when will see the benefits of my research?

• 8 <rant>It is annoying that (in general in academia) you are forced to say that your research is significant. So it is... (which is hard to tell before) or you make it up.</rant> –  Piotr Migdal Commented Jul 4, 2013 at 7:17
• 1 @Piotr Migdal: I disagree with you. What I find annoying is two things: that there seems to be little place for fondamental research, and that in response fondamental researchers lie about their motivations to make it look more applied than it is. But one should be able to explain at least why she is interested in the question she worked out for years, and this has to be related to some sort of significance. –  Benoît Kloeckner Commented Jul 4, 2013 at 7:45
• 9 @BenoîtKloeckner Actually, I agree with you. The question "Why do you consider this topic worth investigating?" is crucial (and when it is a PhD student is is usually not yet possible to judge significance, without story-telling). But when it comes to "practical significance"... well, for fundamental research (as opposed to applied, or - engineering) it almost certainly not cure cancer, solve environmental problems and create a quantum computer (and again, Roentgen didn't work on "saving millions of lives with better diagnostics" - he was just working on a potentially fruitful thing). –  Piotr Migdal Commented Jul 4, 2013 at 12:17
• I have similar issue but with my advisor. He always asks me for applications (applied scenarios) for my research ideas. I believe its out there but I do not know what's the name of it. I either come up with application from my little head or the whole paper will be screwed. –  seteropere Commented Jul 5, 2013 at 4:34

3 Answers 3

Ask yourself a number of questions:

• Why am I doing the research?
• What problem am I solving?
• Why should anyone else by interested in this research?
• How can my results help solve someone else's problem?

The first two questions will help you understand what you are doing from your own personal perspective, as well as establishing the context of the work. The latter two will help you establish why someone else would be interested in your work.

In short, ask What? and So what? about your work.

• 3 I think that for many PhD students the answer to the first question is "because my supervisor picked this project for me"... Of course, the real reason is never stated publicly... –  Nick S Commented Oct 20, 2016 at 0:49

Definitely, your advisor is the person who should help you most with this question, so make sure you talk to her.

With this disclaimer, I would like to distinguish two things: the good and the bad way to justify the significance of your research. To be clear, good and bad are personal (but motivated) judgments and are not related with what will please people asking you that question, but with what is sane argument.

Let's start with the bad way:

this is the most important thing and most others are specialization of it: giving false but vaguely plausible reasons to study what you studied, hopping to reach other's expectations,

claiming applications that are often claimed in the area, or vaguely related but at best very long term applications (e.g. "my study of cell migration is crucial for understanding metastases, so it will help cure Cancer"; this works with any fondamental research in cell biology),

name-dropping (e.g. "Nobel Prize Trucmuche has studied this 20 years ago, so surely that must be interesting"),

generalization for the sake of generalization -applies maybe mostly to maths, but applies a lot there- (e.g. "Finsler geometry is a generalization of Riemannian geometry, so surely it is interesting").

lacking any clue (e.g. "My advisor told me to do it, so I did"). If you don't know why you are doing what you do, at some point you should find out or change subject.

Note that 1. is very, very often seen in grant application, and it might be impossible in some cases to apply successfully without resorting to this kind of argument. This does not make it a good argument; we should be as thorough in assessing the relevance of our research than we are in assessing our research result.

Now the good way:

this is the most important thing and all others are specialization of it: explaining the reasons why you where interested in the project, why you find it fascinating or interesting,

giving perspective applications that sincerely did motivate your work , either from start or that you realized during the research process. This may not exist, which is not (rather, should not be) an issue, at least in fondamental research,

placing your research in context: how it relates to what has been done before, to which previously raised question it answers, which previously held beliefs it contradicts,

explaining how it generalizes previous work to meaningful, existing examples (e.g. "My theorem on Finsler geometry explains such and such features of Hilbert geometry"),

explain the perspectives opened by your work (e.g. "if we believe this principle applies even more generally, then we can hope to use my methods to understand such and such important phenomenons"),

explain why it is fun (e.g. "look at this dancing corn starch: weird, huh?")

Without knowing your actual field of research, here are some general pointers (by no means, is this an exhaustive list):

Research and find other papers based on or is similar to your work, this will give a bit of a basis for the practical context.

From reading of papers, try and define a gap where your research may help with.

Ask your supervisor/advisor for advice in this, employ their help in defining the context.

• 1 "From reading of papers, try and define a gap where your research may help with." This seems to go backward: you do research because you noticed a gap in what we know, not the other way round. –  Benoît Kloeckner Commented Jul 4, 2013 at 7:46
• Doesn't hurt to find further evidence for this, particularly in a practical sense. –  user7130 Commented Jul 4, 2013 at 7:59
• 3 @Benoit: Maybe in an ideal sense, but I think many PhD students start marching down their research path because their advisor has noticed that gap; I don't know how many students find that gap on their own. That's why I like the third suggestion here the most. –  J.R. Commented Jul 4, 2013 at 10:37
• 1 @J.R.: sure, but then the advisor can point out the gap, and at some point the graduate student must understand the motivation by herself. –  Benoît Kloeckner Commented Jul 4, 2013 at 14:23

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Why should I do research? Is it a waste of time?

Athanasios dellis.

a 2nd Department of Surgery, Aretaieion Hospital, University of Athens, Greece

Andreas Skolarikos

b 2nd Department of Urology, Sismanogleion Hospital, University of Athens, Greece

Athanasios G. Papatsoris

• • In medicine, research is the search for scientific knowledge, which is crucial for the development of novel medications and techniques.
• • Conducting research provides a deeper understanding of several scientific topics of the specialty of each doctor.
• • Research through RCTs represents the principal methodological approach.
• • There are two main research processes; qualitative and quantitative studies.
• • It is important to develop Research Units in hospitals and medical centres.
• • Ethics and the high quality of research are ensured by committees (i.e., Internal Board Review, Ethics Research Committee).
• • Research sessions could be implemented in the job plans of doctors.
• • Research is not a waste of time, but a scientific investment.

To answer the questions ‘Why should I do research? Is it a waste of time?’ and present relevant issues.

Medline was used to identify relevant articles published from 2000 to 2013, using the following keywords ‘medicine’, ‘research’, ‘purpose’, ‘study’, ‘trial’, ‘urology’.

Research is the most important activity to achieve scientific progress. Although it is an easy process on a theoretical basis, practically it is a laborious process, and full commitment and dedication are of paramount importance. Currently, given that the financial crisis has a key influence in daily practice, the need to stress the real purpose of research is crucial.

Research is necessary and not a waste of time. Efforts to improving medical knowledge should be continuous.

What is research?

Research is a general term that covers all processes aiming to find responses to worthwhile scientific questions by means of a systematic and scientific approach. In fact, research is the search for scientific knowledge, a systematically formal process to increase the fund of knowledge and use it properly for the development of novel applications.

There are several types of research, such as basic science laboratory research, translational research, and clinical and population-based research. Medical research through randomised clinical trials (RCTs) represents the principal methodological approach for the structured assessment of medical outcomes. RCTs provide prospective and investigator-controlled studies, representing the highest level of evidence (LoE) and grade of recommendation, and define the ultimate practice guideline [1] . However, many constraints, such as ethical, economic and/or social issues, render the conduct of RCTs difficult and their application problematic. For instance, in one of the largest RCTs in urology, on preventing prostate cancer with finasteride, the LoE was 1 [2] . In this RCT, after 7 years of finasteride chemoprevention, the rate of cancer decreased from 24.4% to 18.4%. Based on this study, it could be postulated that finasteride chemoprevention should be offered to men in the general population in an attempt to reduce the risk of prostate cancer. However, the findings of this RCT could not be implemented universally due to financial issues [3] .

There are two main research processes, i.e., qualitative and quantitative studies. Although very different in structure and methods, these studies represent two arms of the same research body. Qualitative studies are based mainly on human experience, using notions and theoretical information without quantifying variables, while quantitative studies record information obtained from participants in a numerical form, to enable a statistical analysis of the data. Therefore, quantitative studies can be used to establish the existence of associative or causal relationships between variables.

From a practical perspective, adding a Research Unit to a Medical Department would ultimately enhance clinical practice and education. As such, almost all hospitals in Western countries have research and development (R&D) departments, where the R&D can be linked with clinical innovation. Basic areas in this field include business planning, sales policies and activities, model design, and strategic propositions and campaign development. However, if researchers are not motivated, the research could be counterproductive, and the whole process could ultimately be a waste of time and effort [4] .

The ethics and the high quality of research are ensured by committees, such as the Internal Review Board, and Ethics Research Committees, especially in academic hospitals. They consist of highly educated and dedicated scientists of good faith as well as objectivity, to be the trustees of ethical and properly designed and performed studies.

Do we need research?

Research is the fuel for future progress and it has significantly shaped perspectives in medicine. In urology there are numerous examples showing that current practice has rapidly changed as a result of several key research findings. For example, from the research of Huggins and Hodges (who won the Nobel Prize in 1966), hormone therapy has become the standard treatment for patients with advanced/metastatic prostate cancer. The use of ESWL to treat stones in the urinary tract is another example of research that has improved practice in urology. The current trend in urology to use robotic assistance in surgery is a relatively recent example of how constant research worldwide improves everyday clinical practice [5] . Furthermore, in a more sophisticated field, research is used to identify factors influencing decision-making, clarify the preferred alternatives, and encourage the selection of a preferred screening option in diseases such as prostate cancer [6,7] .

Conducting research provides a deeper understanding of several scientific topics within the specialty of each doctor. Furthermore, it helps doctors of a particular specialty to understand better the scientific work of other colleagues. Despite the different areas of interest between the different specialties, there are common research methods.

In a University, PhD and MSc students concentrate their efforts at higher research levels. Apart from having to produce a challenging and stimulating thesis, young researchers try to develop their analytical, conceptual and critical thinking skills to the highest academic level. Also, postgraduate students thus prepare themselves for a future job in the global market.

During the research process several approaches can be tested and compared for their safety and efficacy, while the results of this procedure can be recorded and statistically analysed to extract the relevant results. Similarly, any aspects of false results and side-effects, e.g., for new medications, can be detected and properly evaluated to devise every possible improvement. Hence, research components under the auspices of dedicated supervisors, assisted by devoted personnel, are of utmost importance. Also, funding is a catalyst for the optimum progress of the research programme, and it must be independent from any other financial source with a possible conflict. Unfortunately, in cases of economic crisis in a hospital, the first department that is trimmed is research.

Is research time a waste of time?

Even if the right personnel are appointed and the funding is secured, it would be a great mistake to believe that the results are guaranteed. Full commitment and dedication are of utmost importance for successful research. Also, these questions are raised in relation to the scientific papers that are accepted for publication in medical journals. About US$ 160 billion is spent every year on biomedical research [8] . Recently, in the Lancet [9] it was estimated that 85% of research is wasteful or inefficient, with deficiencies presented in the following questions: (1) is the research question relevant for clinicians or patients?; (2) are the design and methods appropriate?; (3) is the full report accessible?; (4) is it unbiased and clinically meaningful? Such questions about the importance, purpose and impact of research should surely be answered during the research. The view of the general public is that the purpose of medical research is to advance knowledge for the good of society, to invent new substances to fight disease, to create diagnostic and therapeutic algorithms, to improve public health, to prevent diseases, to improve the quality of life and to prolong overall survival.

Pharmaceutical companies that sponsor research are financially orientated. This fact leads to a sole result, i.e., profit, as a return on their investment. In this framework it would be impossible for academic institutions to operate on any other basis but finance. Economic indicators, even better benefits and the commercial potential of research are important for their survival. Nevertheless, the purpose of research is more than that. It is time to reframe the way research is done and rewarded, leaving profits in second place. We need to remind ourselves about the real purpose of scientific research. Moreover, we need to decide what research is needed and what impact it is likely to have. Researchers and those who benefit from research (i.e., patients, practising doctors) have a crucial role in the research process. Academic institutions should assess and reward researchers on a long-term basis, and help them to concentrate on meaningful research. Researchers must defend their selection of topics as being those appropriate to benefit public health.

Each medical specialty has a different working plan, and surgical specialties such as urology are characterised by a lack of time for research. It is suggested that specific sessions for research could be implemented in the job plan of urologists, and for other doctors. This is more important for the ‘academic doctor’, but even non-academic doctors could undertake research, if only of the current updated medical literature.

Last but not least is the issue of teaching research to junior doctors. This is very important, as the sooner each doctor is involved in the research process the better for his or her career. Even for junior doctors who are not interested in an academic career, understanding the research process helps them to develop their scientific skills. Young doctors should be motivated to understand and undertake research. However, it is important to guide them through the basic principles of research and to mentor them during their first scientific projects. Furthermore, specific academic training opportunities should be offered within developing programmes, such as the academic specialist registrar’s career pathways in the UK [10] .

In conclusion, research is necessary and not a waste of time. All relevant components of the research engine should co-operate to achieve scientific progress that will help patients and the general population.

Take-home messages

• • Ethics and the high quality of research are ensured by committees (i.e. Internal Board Review, Ethical Research Committee).

Conflict of interest

Source of funding.

Peer review under responsibility of Arab Association of Urology.

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How Should We Determine the Importance of Research?

• Article contents
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D U Jette, How Should We Determine the Importance of Research?, Physical Therapy , Volume 98, Issue 3, March 2018, Pages 149–152, https://doi.org/10.1093/ptj/pzx119

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For scientific and professional journals, the publication of research papers that are important and have potentially significant impact is a multifactorial quest. The first step is attracting authors/researchers who are publishing work that is impactful. Editorial boards, such as that of PTJ , have continual conversations about how to attract excellent researchers to publish in their journals. At the same time, higher education institutions in which many authors are employed continue to emphasize research productivity when evaluating faculty performance. 1 , 2 This fact motivates authors to submit manuscripts to what they perceive to be the highest-quality journals. 3 Evaluation of research quality influences who has a career in academia as well as where researchers publish and which journals succeed. 4 Assessing the situation, Altbach remarked, “Universities are engaged in a global arms race of publication: and the academics are the shock troops of the struggle.” 5 (p6) One reason for the added emphasis on research is that research increases visibility of an institution and, therefore, its prestige. 6 More funding flows to universities with prestigious, top-ranked research profiles. 2 , 5 Institutions also emphasize research prestige to attract better students and faculty, thus further bolstering their reputations.

The quest to hire, promote, and retain faculty who bring prestige to the institution in the form of research encourages institutions to measure research recognition. Terms describing the necessary attributes of research contributions for institutional promotion and tenure decisions include excellence, importance and significance, 2 substantiveness, 7 and impact. 8 Assessment of these attributes by hiring and promotion committees is based to some extent on the number of scholarly “products” and their rate of production, whether a product is peer reviewed, the number of citations of the work, numeric ratings of the journals in which work appears, and the general reputation of the journal or publisher among professional peers. 9 Review for promotion and tenure also often includes evaluation of candidates’ research by peers outside of their home institution with like expertise. Peers are asked to comment on the quality of the candidate's research and its impact on the field. 10 Although they may have a better perspective on whether a candidate's work has had an impact on their field, external reviewers are likely to assess the quality of publications by using metrics similar to the institutional review committee, perhaps with more knowledge of the best-known journals in their field.

One common indicator used by institutional review committees to determine qualities such as excellence, impact, or importance is the journal impact factor (JIF). 9 The JIF relies on citation numbers over a relatively short period of time and has well-known limitations. 11 The JIF was originally designed to help librarians decide which journals to buy and has subsequently, and perhaps inappropriately, been used as a surrogate for the quality of individual papers and individual researchers’ scholarship. 12 Other indices such as the h-index are also commonly, and more appropriately, applied at the individual level; however the h-index also is a measure based on numbers of citations. Because authors are driven by the performance expectations and the reward systems at their institutions, 8 they are likely to seek journals with reputations for publishing high-value and frequently cited work, that is, journals with a high JIF. Alberts, 13 editor-in-chief of Science in 2013, noted that this tendency has led to researchers submitting inappropriate papers to highly cited journals so as to “gain points” when being evaluated, and also to journal bias against accepting papers that might not be highly cited. In addition, traditional metrics such as JIF may deter faculty from pursuing anything but the scholarship of discovery 9 and may be detrimental to review of junior faculty because of time lags in publication and citation. 14

Alberts’ statements lead to the question of how to align the desires of authors and journals. Authors must demonstrate the importance of their research; journals want to solicit authors doing important and useful work. A systematic review of literature to identify measures of health care research significance or importance suggested 6 areas of consideration: research activity, scientific production and impact, collaboration, dissemination, industrial production, and health services impact. 15 The authors identified 57 indicators across the 6 categories, the most common (24) categorized as indicators of scientific production. The most frequently identified indicators among the 76 articles included in the review were h-index, number of publications, number of citations, and JIF. Indices that rely on citations, such as JIF, however, are a somewhat narrow reflection of “scholarly” impact, 16 that is, they reflect usefulness of published papers to the scientific community.

Citation indices have several limitations. They are biased toward English language, peer reviewed journals; fail to account for applications of publications by researchers, clinicians, or educators who are not cited in the peer reviewed literature; and do not represent conference presentations and books very well. 17 Moreover, these indicators do not necessarily reflect the quality of the science, how widely read and discussed published work might be, 18 or whether the work has an impact on a broader audience, such as patients or policy makers. The editor of JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery noted that the journal desires “high-impact” articles and identified 3 key themes that characterize this type of article: number of citations, number of downloads, and altmetric score. 19 Similarly, PTJ wishes to publish “innovative and highly relevant content for both clinicians and scientists,” 20 and editorial board members consider the potential importance and significance of the work represented by newly submitted manuscripts when recommending them for full review. The importance of scientific findings to multiple audiences, as well as the significant changes in the way knowledge is disseminated and accessed, suggest the need for revised thinking on how research quality, importance, and impact are evaluated.

Recently, new types of indicators of research impact have become available through the application of technology ( Figure ). They include mentions in public policy documents, mainstream media, blogs, Wikipedia, social media, course syllabi, open and post peer review forums, and downloads into citation managers. The definitions of impact and importance are thereby expanded beyond the benefits to research scientists and include contributions to public health and professional practice and education. 21 These indicators can be gathered from multiple sources in an automated manner by data-aggregating platforms such as Public Library of Science (PLoS) metrics, Webometric Analyst through Bing, Altmetric.com , ImpactStory, and PlumX.

Examples of types of impact metrics tracking how research has been used. Source: Wilsdon J, Allen L, Belfiore E, et al. The Metric Tide: Report of the Independent Review of the Role of Metrics in Research Assessment and Management . July 2015. HEFCE. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.1.4929.1363. This information is licensed under the Open Government License v3.0. To view this license, visit http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/ 12 .

Although commonly referred to as “altmetrics,” these indicators of research impact are not alternatives to citation indicators, but rather complementary to them (“addmetrics”). 12 , 22 In fact, these indicators may not provide a measure of impact as it's traditionally defined, but rather a measure of amount of attention 21 or breadth of dissemination. 16 Attention could be due to negative press; reactions to poorly conducted, invalid research; or even research fraud. At the same time, although traditional metrics indicate the “scholarly impact” of an article, 16 they cannot shed light on whether the findings of the article have had an impact on practice. 21 Studies describing the relationship between traditional indicators and altmetrics suggest that they are related but distinct. 23 , 24 Thelwell et al 24 found that tweets, Facebook wall posts, and blogs were associated with journal-level citations for documents in PubMed between 2010 and 2012. In addition to these 3 indicators, research highlights identified from Nature Publishing Group journals, mainstream media citations, and forum posts were related to individual article citations. The tools used to determine these complementary indicators of impact have some of the same challenges as more traditional indicators in terms of determining how and when they may be useful. Derivation of some of the measurements or calculations may be somewhat opaque; they may be susceptible to “gaming” by authors, and the reliability of the measures may be affected by inaccuracies in the data on which they rely. 25

Despite the limitations, it is worth examining how application of the range of indicators of scholarly, educational, policy and practice impact, dissemination, and attention might support PTJ and other rehabilitation-focused journals in attracting the best authors and papers with potential to significantly affect patient care and health policy, as well as advance rehabilitation science. Suggestions include:

Provide information on individual articles, affording readership and authors information on the attention or dissemination of the article across various platforms. 11

Convert to open-access status, making published work more broadly available, more quickly.

Promote the JIF only in the context of other relevant data, such as Eigenfactor score, SCImago journal rankings, h-index, and publication times 11 —although these measures, too, have limitations.

Eliminate any restrictions on the number of references in papers, and ensure that original works, not secondary sources, are cited. 11

Journal editors and editorial boards should encourage more discussion among authors, reviewers, and readers to raise awareness about the usefulness and meaning of the various types of indicators. By expanding the ways in which the influence of a journal—as well as of the works it contains—is reported and viewed, authors may be encouraged to submit manuscripts to a particular journal, and institutions of higher education would be afforded a broader lens through which to evaluate faculty research that appears in the journal. At the same time, it is important to recognize that the indicators themselves may “change the system through the incentives they establish,” 26 (pg 431) so their application and influence should be evaluated over time.

Journals could benefit from publicizing a variety of indicators of impact to entice authors as they identify potential journals to which to submit their work. Suggested indicators include number of downloads; number of citations, perhaps from more than one platform, such as Web of Science, Scopus, or Google Scholar; and indicators of attention reported from data aggregators such as those mentioned above. Citations take time to accrue, whereas downloads and indicators of attention are more immediate. Making this type of information available to authors immediately and over the long term provides them with valuable feedback about the influence of their work. 27 Although some may argue that using a wide variety of article-level metrics may confound the definition of importance of a research article or body of work, consideration of diverse metrics would afford an editorial board a multifaceted perspective of its meaning. Editorial boards could gain a better understanding of which content has meaning for their audience. 27 Editorial boards might also use information to determine content and methodological areas in which manuscripts should be solicited and areas for special topic issues. 27 Additionally, the geographical information from the indicators may help to direct marketing and outreach. 27 In the long run, a broad perspective of impact may facilitate discussions within editorial boards that lead to greater clarity about the meaning of impact for their journal.

In summary, using an array of indicators of the importance and significance of published research to assess impact of published work—and, by extension, author and journal performance—has the potential to improve success for authors and journals in the milieus in which they must compete and thrive.

Concept/idea/research design: D. U. Jette

Writing: D. U. Jette

There are no funders to report for this submission

The author completed the ICJME Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest and reported no conflicts of interest.

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Educational resources and simple solutions for your research journey

7 Benefits of Reading Research Papers Regularly

Understanding the benefits of reading research papers and developing a regular reading habit is an advantage, irrespective of the profession you’re in, but especially so if you’re an academic. However, this is often easier said than done given the many tasks and professional commitments researchers need to juggle every day. The constant rush to meet deadlines while balancing personal responsibilities often means researchers deprioritize research reading. Additionally, many researchers, regardless of where they are in their career, find it challenging to keep up with the overwhelming volume of literature being produced; consequently they end up reading selective journals or giving articles a cursory run through. This can prove counterproductive.  

Table of Contents

Key benefits of reading research papers  

It is critical for researchers to develop a habit of reading research papers from the very beginning of their careers. Take a look at the benefits of reading research articles regularly.  

1. Enhances knowledge and fuels scientific curiosity

Research reading is an integral part of research. By embracing a rigorous approach to reading research papers, academics can add to their existing knowledge and improve their overall understanding of a subject. Research reading also helps scholars understand previous studies on their subject and identify questions that remain unanswered. It also fuels a sense of scientific curiosity, encouraging researchers to delve into or even question ideas that contradict your line of thought. This can prove useful for researchers trying to identify an interesting and novel research topic.  

2.Encourages inter-disciplinary opportunities

By cultivating an active research reading habit, researchers can also gain insights into the latest scientific tools and techniques being used in their own and related fields. One of the other major benefits of reading research papers is that it exposes academics to potential opportunities and developments across disciplines, which could spark ideas for their own research and open the door for multiple fruitful inter-disciplinary collaborations.  

3. Builds on scientific innovations

Scientific knowledge is constantly evolving and growing. There is a constant cycle of learning and unlearning that takes place based on emerging technologies and new processes. In fact, a study of scholarly literature over time forms an archive of scientific innovations, including developing methodologies, evolving processes, and cutting-edge technologies. A sustained habit of reading scientific literature helps researchers learn from and build on past work.  

4. Creates a rich repository of relevant references

Research reading is imperative for researchers, and one of the key benefits of research reading is being able to create a library of data. Using keywords to find relevant research papers, critically reading and analyzing the data, and saving the most useful articles to your reference library can prove invaluable for researchers. Instead of starting from scratch, having a rich library of potential references gives those conducting research or writing a manuscript a head-start – one of the benefits of reading scholarly articles and papers that usually goes unrecognized .

5. Develops critical thinking

Another key benefit of reading research papers is that it helps you develop critical thinking abilities by creating and strengthening synaptic connections between your brain’s nerve cells and strengthening neural pathways that already exist. 1 This significantly enhances your ability to retain and use important information and helps you in your own research.

6.Teaches you how to identify credible information

Given the sheer quantum of information available in the public domain, it’s sometimes difficult to distinguish information that comes from reliable and credible sources. An important benefit of reading research papers is that you will, over time, be able to discern between what is reliable and what is not. This ensures you read and engage with trusted scientific articles, which can then form the basis of your own work and further strengthen your profile as a researcher.  

7. Builds professional relationships and stronger networks

The last but one of the most important benefits of reading research papers is that it allows you to build professional connections with like-minded peers and colleagues. Connect with and actively discuss ideas with authors of ground-breaking research, which will help you enrich the existing knowledge but also allow for an exchange of new ideas and opportunities in the field.  

We hope the points above reiterate the importance and benefits of reading research paper s as a habit. Reading research papers on different scientific topics gives you a deeper appreciation of the work of peers, helps build wider perspectives, allows you to see things in new light, and gives you the confidence to think outside the box. So while research reading may seem daunting, it’s an integral part of the research process and cannot be ignored. Happy reading!  

• Fernyhough E. How reading changes your brain. The Brave Writer, Medium, January 8, 2021. [Accessed on November 12, 2022] Available on https://medium.com/the-brave-writer/how-reading-changes-your-brain-b00cc7f8eb2c#:~:text=When%20you%20read%2C%20your%20brain,neural%20pathways%20that%20already%20exist

R Discovery is a literature search and research reading platform that accelerates your research discovery journey by keeping you updated on the latest, most relevant scholarly content. With 250M+ research articles sourced from trusted aggregators like CrossRef, Unpaywall, PubMed, PubMed Central, Open Alex and top publishing houses like Springer Nature, JAMA, IOP, Taylor & Francis, NEJM, BMJ, Karger, SAGE, Emerald Publishing and more, R Discovery puts a world of research at your fingertips.  

Try R Discovery Prime FREE for 1 week or upgrade at just US$72 a year to access premium features that let you listen to research on the go, read in your language, collaborate with peers, auto sync with reference managers, and much more. Choose a simpler, smarter way to find and read research – Download the app and start your free 7-day trial today !  

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The role of research at universities: why it matters.

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Teaching and learning, research and discovery, synthesis and creativity, understanding and engagement, service and outreach. There are many “core elements” to the mission of a great university. Teaching would seem the most obvious, but for those outside of the university, “research” (taken to include scientific research, scholarship more broadly, as well as creative activity) may be the least well understood. This creates misunderstanding of how universities invest resources, especially those deriving from undergraduate tuition and state (or other public) support, and the misperception that those resources are being diverted away from what is believed should be the core (and sole) focus, teaching. This has led to a loss of trust, confidence, and willingness to continue to invest or otherwise support (especially our public) universities.

Why are universities engaged in the conduct of research? Who pays? Who benefits? And why does it all matter? Good questions. Let’s get to some straightforward answers. Because the academic research enterprise really is not that difficult to explain, and its impacts are profound.

So let’s demystify university-based research. And in doing so, hopefully we can begin building both better understanding and a better relationship between the public and higher education, both of which are essential to the future of US higher education.   

Why are universities engaged in the conduct of research?

Universities engage in research as part of their missions around learning and discovery. This, in turn, contributes directly and indirectly to their primary mission of teaching. Universities and many colleges (the exception being those dedicated exclusively to undergraduate teaching) have as part of their mission the pursuit of scholarship. This can come in the form of fundamental or applied research (both are most common in the STEM fields, broadly defined), research-based scholarship or what often is called “scholarly activity” (most common in the social sciences and humanities), or creative activity (most common in the arts). Increasingly, these simple categorizations are being blurred, for all good reasons and to the good of the discovery of new knowledge and greater understanding of complex (transdisciplinary) challenges and the creation of increasingly interrelated fields needed to address them.

It goes without saying that the advancement of knowledge (discovery, innovation, creation) is essential to any civilization. Our nation’s research universities represent some of the most concentrated communities of scholars, facilities, and collective expertise engaged in these activities. But more importantly, this is where higher education is delivered, where students develop breadth and depth of knowledge in foundational and advanced subjects, where the skills for knowledge acquisition and understanding (including contextualization, interpretation, and inference) are honed, and where students are educated, trained, and otherwise prepared for successful careers. Part of that training and preparation derives from exposure to faculty who are engaged at the leading-edge of their fields, through their research and scholarly work. The best faculty, the teacher-scholars, seamlessly weave their teaching and research efforts together, to their mutual benefit, and in a way that excites and engages their students. In this way, the next generation of scholars (academic or otherwise) is trained, research and discovery continue to advance inter-generationally, and the cycle is perpetuated.

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University research can be expensive, particularly in laboratory-intensive fields. But the responsibility for much (indeed most) of the cost of conducting research falls to the faculty member. Faculty who are engaged in research write grants for funding (e.g., from federal and state agencies, foundations, and private companies) to support their work and the work of their students and staff. In some cases, the universities do need to invest heavily in equipment, facilities, and personnel to support select research activities. But they do so judiciously, with an eye toward both their mission, their strategic priorities, and their available resources.

Medical research, and medical education more broadly, is expensive and often requires substantial institutional investment beyond what can be covered by clinical operations or externally funded research. But universities with medical schools/medical centers have determined that the value to their educational and training missions as well as to their communities justifies the investment. And most would agree that university-based medical centers are of significant value to their communities, often providing best-in-class treatment and care in midsize and smaller communities at a level more often seen in larger metropolitan areas.

Research in the STEM fields (broadly defined) can also be expensive. Scientific (including medical) and engineering research often involves specialized facilities or pieces of equipment, advanced computing capabilities, materials requiring controlled handling and storage, and so forth. But much of this work is funded, in large part, by federal agencies such as the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, US Department of Energy, US Department of Agriculture, and many others.

Research in the social sciences is often (not always) less expensive, requiring smaller amount of grant funding. As mentioned previously, however, it is now becoming common to have physical, natural, and social scientist teams pursuing large grant funding. This is an exciting and very promising trend for many reasons, not the least of which is the nature of the complex problems being studied.

Research in the arts and humanities typically requires the least amount of funding as it rarely requires the expensive items listed previously. Funding from such organizations as the National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, and private foundations may be able to support significant scholarship and creation of new knowledge or works through much more modest grants than would be required in the natural or physical sciences, for example.

Philanthropy may also be directed toward the support of research and scholarly activity at universities. Support from individual donors, family foundations, private or corporate foundations may be directed to support students, faculty, labs or other facilities, research programs, galleries, centers, and institutes.

Who benefits?

Students, both undergraduate and graduate, benefit from studying in an environment rich with research and discovery. Besides what the faculty can bring back to the classroom, there are opportunities to engage with faculty as part of their research teams and even conduct independent research under their supervision, often for credit. There are opportunities to learn about and learn on state-of-the-art equipment, in state-of-the-art laboratories, and from those working on the leading edge in a discipline. There are opportunities to co-author, present at conferences, make important connections, and explore post-graduate pathways.

The broader university benefits from active research programs. Research on timely and important topics attracts attention, which in turn leads to greater institutional visibility and reputation. As a university becomes known for its research in certain fields, they become magnets for students, faculty, grants, media coverage, and even philanthropy. Strength in research helps to define a university’s “brand” in the national and international marketplace, impacting everything from student recruitment, to faculty retention, to attracting new investments.

The community, region, and state benefits from the research activity of the university. This is especially true for public research universities. Research also contributes directly to economic development, clinical, commercial, and business opportunities. Resources brought into the university through grants and contracts support faculty, staff, and student salaries, often adding additional jobs, contributing directly to the tax base. Research universities, through their expertise, reputation, and facilities, can attract new businesses into their communities or states. They can also launch and incubate startup companies, or license and sell their technologies to other companies. Research universities often host meeting and conferences which creates revenue for local hotels, restaurants, event centers, and more. And as mentioned previously, university medical centers provide high-quality medical care, often in midsize communities that wouldn’t otherwise have such outstanding services and state-of-the-art facilities.

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And finally, why does this all matter?

Research is essential to advancing society, strengthening the economy, driving innovation, and addressing the vexing and challenging problems we face as a people, place, and planet. It’s through research, scholarship, and discovery that we learn about our history and ourselves, understand the present context in which we live, and plan for and secure our future.

Research universities are vibrant, exciting, and inspiring places to learn and to work. They offer opportunities for students that few other institutions can match – whether small liberal arts colleges, mid-size teaching universities, or community colleges – and while not right for every learner or every educator, they are right for many, if not most. The advantages simply cannot be ignored. Neither can the importance or the need for these institutions. They need not be for everyone, and everyone need not find their way to study or work at our research universities, and we stipulate that there are many outstanding options to meet and support different learning styles and provide different environments for teaching and learning. But it’s critically important that we continue to support, protect, and respect research universities for all they do for their students, their communities and states, our standing in the global scientific community, our economy, and our nation.

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Research Impact: The What, Why, When and How

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• Hugh P. McKenna   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-4916-6602 2  

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In this opening chapter, readers will be introduced to the attainment and assessment of research impact. The traditional approach to research assessment will be described briefly and how more active and proactive means of achieving impact have developed. It is a given that researchers have not grasped the importance of impact voluntarily. Rather, various incentives encouraged them to pursue research impact from their projects. These included the emphasis that funding bodies placed on pathways to impact and the drive within universities for a third funding stream through technology and knowledge transfer. However, it was the United Kingdom’s Research Excellence Framework that concentrated the minds of researchers and university leaders on research impact. This chapter will introduce the REF structures and processes and pay specific attention to the reach and significance of impact.

We grow no food on campus, so like every poet, priest or potter…, we must explain why we have faith in the usefulness of what we do provide (Gray and Gray [ 1 ]).

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Why Students Should Still Write Research Papers

8 Reasons Why Students Should Still Write Research Papers by Dorothy Mikuska There are plenty of reasons why the research paper is not assigned.  They pretty much boil down to: perceived irrelevance of the assignment in light of modern publishing and technology widespread plagiarism teachers buried alive grading 10-page papers from 150 students (that’s 1500 pages…

by  Dorothy Mikuska

There are plenty of reasons why the research paper is not assigned.  They pretty much boil down to:

• perceived irrelevance of the assignment in light of modern publishing and technology
• widespread plagiarism
• teachers buried alive grading 10-page papers from 150 students (that’s 1500 pages to grade, not just read).

Before the research paper is declared dead and deleted from the curriculum in pursuit of briefer and more tech-based learning, here are 8 important reasons why students should still write research papers.

8 Reasons Why Students Should Still Write Research Papers

1. Complex Reading Skills Are Applied to Multiple Sources

The research paper requires close reading of complex text from multiple sources, which students must comprehend, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate. These tasks, more sophisticated than merely summarizing an article for a report, reflect the complex work demands of college and career.

2. It Creates A Research Mind Set

Research is finding answers to questions: how many teeth does a killer whale have—Google will give the number 52.  Real research deals with deeper and broader issues than finding isolated facts. Students must learn to think of research as investigating profound and complex issues.

3. It Can Promote Curiosity

From early childhood, curiosity drives the search to understand increasingly complex questions, to constantly question information, and to explore more sources and experts. The research paper provides a structured, yet independent opportunity for students to pursue in depth some extended aspect of the course content.

4. The Librarian Can Be A Life-Long Resource

Students often see librarians merely at the check-out desk or collecting fines.  Librarians are specialists at both accessing extensive sources from a variety of media and reinforcing the teaching of responsible use of information and technology. Because they work with students every day and are the center of the school’s curriculum, they can direct students to appropriate sources.  As a researcher’s best buddy, librarians are gatekeepers and trackers of information and can turn every question into a teachable moment.

5. The Power of Attribution

Undocumented information that students encounter online—social media postings, tweets, blogs and popular media—artificially narrows their experience to opinions and anonymous writers.  Students never see citations on a tweet or a bibliographical reference in People magazine.  Research conducted in the career world requires not just expert information, but the attribution of sources through in-text citations and bibliographies. As students use sources that model research material with annotations and bibliography, they develop a questioning mindset: who said that, where did that come from, and where can I find more?

6. It Builds Related Skills

Unskilled researchers collect downloaded files and perhaps highlight passages, sometimes indiscriminately whole paragraphs or pages, without understanding the text. This method may work for a cursory summary of an article or for identifying key points, but not for synthesizing information from ten sources for an in-depth report.

File formats can make annotating text awkward. Even if notes can be easily added in the text, students will struggle scrolling through multiple files to synthesize scattered information, resulting in a collection of summaries from each source rather than an integrated understanding of the topic.

Formal note taking, necessary for extended and rigorous research papers, keeps track of information as quotations and paraphrases, identifies the unique content of each note, connects it to other notes with keywords, and identifies the source that can be cited in the paper and added to the bibliography.

An added value of note taking lies in the learning process.  By reviewing notes with the same keywords, students can synthesize the material into an organized plan for the paper.

7. Plagiarism and Intellectual Property Rights Matter

Because of plagiarism’s prevalence in student work, it may be easier not to assign research papers. However, plagiarism and intellectual property rights issues, whether related to research papers or music and video piracy, need to be a major conversation throughout the curriculum.

Students do not understand what plagiarism is, its consequences to their learning and character, why everyone makes a big deal over it, and how to avoid it. While direct instruction teaches what plagiarism is, students must put into practice ethical research writing. The research paper process provides students and teachers the opportunity to discuss intellectual property rights and ethics as part of the assignment.

8. Coaching The Writing Process Is Powerful

The research paper is not just an assignment, but a commitment to continual dialog between teachers and students. Teachers as research paper coaches can explore their students’ understanding, interpretation, and synthesis of their reading, discuss their choice of sources and note taking strategies, evaluate their work incrementally, and model ethical paraphrasing and summary skills.

The research paper can be frightening, even paralyzing for some students with little or disappointing previous experiences. Teachers as coaches can make students feel comfortable taking control of the conversation and believing their voice and work are important.

By personalizing instruction to ensure student success throughout the process, and by students taking control of their work because they have important information to report, students are eager to share what they have learned. Poorly researched papers with little to say are poorly written or plagiarized.  Coached students will write papers that their teachers will want to read.

The Research Paper in the Information Age

The research paper is about information found, understood, and explained to others, a way to authentically extend the course content and purpose.

The private and public sectors consume and create carefully written research. Feasibility studies, like the possibility of marketing sausage casings in India, laboratory or field research, inquiries to determine educational, political, or banking policies—all are formats of the research paper that organizations use to make critical decisions. Before reporting new information, published reports with requisite citations and bibliography begin with what experts have already contributed to the issue.

Since this is the intellectual milieu our students will enter after graduation, they should be prepared for the complex reading, research, thinking, and writing skills they will need.

Dorothy Mikuska taught high school English including the research paper for 37 years. After retirement she formed ePen&Inc and created  PaperToolsPro , software for students to employ the literacy skills of slow, reflective reading needed to write good research papers; 8 Reasons Why Students Should Still Write Research Papers; image attribution flickr user samladner

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Why Use Sources?

College writing assignments generally ask you to respond in some way to sources. Some assignments will require you to consult only sources assigned in class, while others will require you to locate your own sources relevant to a specific research topic. In many of your courses, your research will focus primarily on written texts such as books and scholarly articles, but you may also be asked to consult a variety of other sources, including letters, diaries, films, works of art, data from experiments, numerical data, surveys, and transcripts of interviews.

What constitutes a useful and reliable source will vary according to both your assignment and the methods used in a particular field of study. As you approach a paper in an unfamiliar field, it will be important to remember that within each field of study, scholars distinguish between primary sources, or the raw material that they analyze as they attempt to answer a question, and secondary sources, or the analyses of that raw material done by other scholars in the field. For example, for literary scholars, primary sources include fiction and poetry, while secondary sources include criticism written by other scholars about those literary texts. Historians, on the other hand, grapple with primary sources such as letters, diaries, and eyewitness accounts produced at the time of an event, as well as with secondary sources such as arguments presented by other historians. Sociologists tend to rely for raw material on quantitative data, such as surveys, censuses, and other statistics, or qualitative data, such as observation and interviews.

Social scientists in some fields, such as psychology and economics, also consider empirical journal articles (articles that describe the results of original research) published in peer-reviewed journals to be primary sources. These articles provide raw material for other scholars, who may then raise questions about the published results or develop new research based on these results. Social scientists in other fields, such as anthropology and history, however, do not consider research articles primary sources because articles in these fields do not typically present raw data. For these social scientists, journal articles would be secondary sources. For all social scientists, literature reviews and published books are considered secondary sources.

Natural scientists consider empirical articles published in peer-reviewed journals to be primary sources. These published results of experiments and analyses of data provide the raw material for other scientists to consider as they pursue their own research. Secondary sources in the natural sciences include literature reviews and books.

As a college student taking courses in many different fields, you will need to ask questions about what is considered a reliable source in each new field, and about how sources can be used appropriately in that field. At the same time, there are many common principles for using sources effectively that you will be able to carry with you from course to course. For more information on using sources in different disciplines, you can consult the Harvard Writing Project series of writing guides for specific courses and concentrations. If you are writing a paper for a course in the Government department, you should consult GovWrites for guidance. If you are writing for an anthropology course, you should consult AnthroWrites . If you are writing for a course in one of the Life Sciences fields, you should consult ScienceWrites .

When in doubt, of course, you should always consult your instructor.

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Six Reasons Why Research is Important

Everyone conducts research in some form or another from a young age, whether news, books, or browsing the Internet. Internet users come across thoughts, ideas, or perspectives - the curiosity that drives the desire to explore. However, when research is essential to make practical decisions, the nature of the study alters - it all depends on its application and purpose. For instance, skilled research offered as a  research paper service  has a definite objective, and it is focused and organized. Professional research helps derive inferences and conclusions from solving problems. visit the HB tool services for the amazing research tools that will help to solve your problems regarding the research on any project.

What is the Importance of Research?

The primary goal of the research is to guide action, gather evidence for theories, and contribute to the growth of knowledge in data analysis. This article discusses the importance of research and the multiple reasons why it is beneficial to everyone, not just students and scientists.

On the other hand, research is important in business decision-making because it can assist in making better decisions when combined with their experience and intuition.

Reasons for the Importance of Research

• Acquire Knowledge Effectively
• Research helps in problem-solving
• Provides the latest information
• Builds credibility
• Helps in business success
• Discover and Seize opportunities

1-  Acquire Knowledge Efficiently through Research

The most apparent reason to conduct research is to understand more. Even if you think you know everything there is to know about a subject, there is always more to learn. Research helps you expand on any prior knowledge you have of the subject. The research process creates new opportunities for learning and progress.

2- Research Helps in Problem-solving

Problem-solving can be divided into several components, which require knowledge and analysis, for example,  identification of issues, cause identification,  identifying potential solutions, decision to take action, monitoring and evaluation of activity and outcomes.

You may just require additional knowledge to formulate an informed strategy and make an informed decision. When you know you've gathered reliable data, you'll be a lot more confident in your answer.

3- Research Provides the Latest Information

Research enables you to seek out the most up-to-date facts. There is always new knowledge and discoveries in various sectors, particularly scientific ones. Staying updated keeps you from falling behind and providing inaccurate or incomplete information. You'll be better prepared to discuss a topic and build on ideas if you have the most up-to-date information. With the help of tools and certifications such as CIRS , you may learn internet research skills quickly and easily. Internet research can provide instant, global access to information.

4- Research Builds Credibility

Research provides a solid basis for formulating thoughts and views. You can speak confidently about something you know to be true. It's much more difficult for someone to find flaws in your arguments after you've finished your tasks. In your study, you should prioritize the most reputable sources. Your research should focus on the most reliable sources. You won't be credible if your "research" comprises non-experts' opinions. People are more inclined to pay attention if your research is excellent.

5-  Research Helps in Business Success

R&D might also help you gain a competitive advantage. Finding ways to make things run more smoothly and differentiate a company's products from those of its competitors can help to increase a company's market worth.

6-  Research Discover and Seize Opportunities

People can maximize their potential and achieve their goals through various opportunities provided by research. These include getting jobs, scholarships, educational subsidies, projects, commercial collaboration, and budgeted travel. Research is essential for anyone looking for work or a change of environment. Unemployed people will have a better chance of finding potential employers through job advertisements or agencies. 

How to Improve Your Research Skills

Start with the big picture and work your way down.

It might be hard to figure out where to start when you start researching. There's nothing wrong with a simple internet search to get you started. Online resources like Google and Wikipedia are a great way to get a general idea of a subject, even though they aren't always correct. They usually give a basic overview with a short history and any important points.

Identify Reliable Source

Not every source is reliable, so it's critical that you can tell the difference between the good ones and the bad ones. To find a reliable source, use your analytical and critical thinking skills and ask yourself the following questions: Is this source consistent with other sources I've discovered? Is the author a subject matter expert? Is there a conflict of interest in the author's point of view on this topic?

Validate Information from Various Sources

Take in new information.

The purpose of research is to find answers to your questions, not back up what you already assume. Only looking for confirmation is a minimal way to research because it forces you to pick and choose what information you get and stops you from getting the most accurate picture of the subject. When you do research, keep an open mind to learn as much as possible.

Facilitates Learning Process

Learning new things and implementing them in daily life can be frustrating. Finding relevant and credible information requires specialized training and web search skills due to the sheer enormity of the Internet and the rapid growth of indexed web pages. On the other hand, short courses and Certifications like CIRS make the research process more accessible. CIRS Certification offers complete knowledge from beginner to expert level. You can become a Certified Professional Researcher and get a high-paying job, but you'll also be much more efficient and skilled at filtering out reliable data. You can learn more about becoming a Certified Professional Researcher.

Stay Organized

You'll see a lot of different material during the process of gathering data, from web pages to PDFs to videos. You must keep all of this information organized in some way so that you don't lose anything or forget to mention something properly. There are many ways to keep your research project organized, but here are a few of the most common:  Learning Management Software , Bookmarks in your browser, index cards, and a bibliography that you can add to as you go are all excellent tools for writing.

Make Use of the library's Resources

If you still have questions about researching, don't worry—even if you're not a student performing academic or course-related research, there are many resources available to assist you. Many high school and university libraries, in reality, provide resources not only for staff and students but also for the general public. Look for research guidelines or access to specific databases on the library's website. Association of Internet Research Specialists enjoys sharing informational content such as research-related articles , research papers , specialized search engines list compiled from various sources, and contributions from our members and in-house experts.

of Conducting Research

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Reasons to publish

Scientific Data  aims to  promote wider data sharing and reuse, as well as credit those that share their data   and is open to submissions from all areas of natural sciences, medicine, engineering and social sciences  – including descriptions big and small data, from major consortiums, single labs and individuals.

Manuscripts must make an original contribution but they are not assessed based on their perceived significance, importance or impact. 

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Standardized and detailed descriptions make research data easier to find and reuse, allowing data to be utilised in future experiments and research. This will also fulfil a significant part of funders' data-management requirements, particularly by demonstrating and promoting the reuse potential of research data.

Publishing a Data Descriptor will enable the data generated to be more widely available to your peers and community, as well as easily understandable and reproducible.

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Related Questions

Research plays a crucial role in various fields such as education, medical sciences, enterprise competitiveness, and scientific progress. In education, research helps in understanding the characteristics, purposes, steps, and challenges involved in the educational system, benefiting individuals and communities at different levels . Medical research is essential for the growth of medical sciences, yet students face obstacles like financial difficulties and lack of exposure to research opportunities in their curricula, highlighting the need for more emphasis on research in medical schools . In higher education institutions, research aids in understanding societal issues, preparing researchers for their responsibilities, and finding solutions to population health problems . Furthermore, research and development contribute significantly to improving enterprise competitiveness through innovation, technology transfer, and quality of life enhancements . Promoting research at all educational levels, especially in health sciences, is vital for generating progress, quality of life, and innovation, emphasizing the importance of sharing scientific findings with society .

Research is crucial for future researchers as it drives the generation of new knowledge, trends, processes, products, and activities that enhance human life. However, challenges such as financial constraints, limited opportunities, and inadequate exposure hinder students from pursuing research tracks, especially in medical schools. Future teachers benefit significantly from engaging in research activities, as it cultivates critical thinking, self-evaluation, and professional problem-solving skills, leading to self-realization and success in their field. Moreover, incorporating futures research methodologies can aid in predicting and adapting to emerging technologies, enhancing verification techniques for Weapons of Mass Destruction compliance. Overall, research is essential for future researchers to expand their understanding of various identities, behaviors, and social realities, paving the way for theoretical and substantive advancements in diverse fields.

The impact of research encompasses various dimensions. It involves understanding the 'what', 'how', and 'who' of research impact, focusing on endpoints, interactions, and stakeholders respectively . Research impact is about making a tangible difference in the real world, necessitating a shift towards value delivery to stakeholders and innovative research approaches . To achieve impactful research, it is crucial to broaden research agendas, adopt engagement-driven models, and develop institutional strategies aligned with sustainability goals . Furthermore, impactful research requires clear dissemination strategies, creative approaches like storytelling and social media utilization, and the development of new skills for global dissemination and rapid implementation of evidence into practice . Overall, research impact is about generating meaningful outcomes, fostering change, and maximizing reach and engagement for broader societal benefits.

Research is important for students because it develops their scientific worldview, fosters personal growth, enriches experience, and supports the development of research skills . It allows students to acquire new knowledge and skills, contributing to their professional development . Research work improves students' ability and confidence to work with patients, enhancing their professional competence . Additionally, research helps students understand the issues that refer to society and the world around them, preparing them to envision the various applications and responsibilities of a researcher . It also plays a vital role in the brain development of individuals, serving as a source of mentorship . Research in the teaching-learning process is useful in all fields and departments, helping to find solutions to life and health problems of the population . Overall, research is important for students as it enhances their education, professional development, and understanding of the world.

Research is essential because it contributes to effective healthcare, knowledge acquisition, development, progress, and improvement in various fields. It allows healthcare organizations to deliver better services, improve patient safety, and enhance the clinical experience . Research is crucial in media to understand the communication process, media effects, and audience behavior . Scientific research is a pillar for progress, development, and improvement in all fields, leading to the welfare of people and the preservation of the state . Research attitude, curiosity, observation, and perseverance are important attributes of a researcher, and research can lead to major discoveries . In medicine, research is necessary to develop new therapeutic methods and monitor treatment outcomes . Overall, research is essential for advancing knowledge, solving problems, making informed decisions, and driving societal progress.

Trending Questions

Architects play a crucial role in designing smart homes for elderly individuals by considering factors such as somatic capability assessment (SCA) , health monitoring systems, and automation integration . Understanding the normal aging process, anatomic changes, and vision-related challenges of older adults is essential for creating inclusive and functional designs . By incorporating various sensors, voice and gesture controls, and real-time monitoring of vital signs, architects can create intuitive and interactive environments that enhance the quality of life and safety for the elderly residents . Additionally, architects can leverage technological advancements to develop smart assistance platforms that provide a range of services to improve social integration and overall well-being of the elderly population . In essence, architects can contribute significantly to the design of smart homes that cater to the specific needs and capabilities of elderly individuals, promoting independence and comfort.

Affording private mental health services can be particularly challenging for drug users due to several socio-economic and systemic factors. The introduction of private mental health services, such as the one launched by Boots for £65 per month, aims to provide accessible treatment for depression and anxiety through online consultations and prescriptions . However, the issue of underinsurance remains significant, with 38% of privately insured Americans aged 18 to 64 reporting either a lack of behavioral health coverage or uncertainty about their coverage, disproportionately affecting young adults, Hispanics, Asians, and those with lower incomes and education levels . This underinsurance is compounded by high out-of-pocket costs for mental health and substance abuse treatments, which remain higher than those for non-mental health treatments, despite some improvements in nominal coverage over the years . Additionally, drug users often face barriers in accessing health services, as highlighted by focus group discussions revealing that their experiences and access to health entitlements are not on par with the general population . In Mexico, accessibility to health services is significantly influenced by socio-economic conditions, with lower accessibility in states with poorer socio-economic indicators . Therefore, while private mental health services are available, the affordability for drug users is hindered by systemic underinsurance, high out-of-pocket costs, and socio-economic barriers, making it difficult for this vulnerable group to consistently access and afford necessary mental health care.

Disease in dogs significantly impacts dog owners' choices in veterinary medicine, influencing their decisions to seek care. Owners of dogs with chronic conditions faced challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, reporting difficulties in accessing care for non-urgent issues, leading to a reduction in seeking veterinary care . Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in dogs is a complex condition requiring a combination of dietary, pharmacologic, and microbiota-targeted interventions, highlighting the importance of disease management in veterinary medicine . Additionally, barriers to seeking veterinary care vary across demographic groups, emphasizing the need for tailored education and outreach efforts to address disparities in accessing veterinary services . Furthermore, the emergence and rising incidence of vector-borne diseases in pets pose new challenges for veterinarians, necessitating proactive measures to protect pets and educate owners about zoonotic transmission risks . Overall, disease plays a crucial role in shaping dog owners' decisions and behaviors related to veterinary care, highlighting the importance of comprehensive disease management strategies and accessible healthcare services.

Writing a good problem statement in a research paper is a critical step that sets the foundation for the entire study. A well-crafted problem statement should clearly and accurately define the research problem, making it easier to solve by ensuring it is manageable and unambiguous . It should list the symptoms of the problem, suggest its likely causes, and estimate the resources needed to address it, effectively communicating the analyst’s understanding to users, technical personnel, and management . This communication is crucial as it ensures that the right problem is being addressed and helps in judging whether solving the problem is worth the cost. For doctoral students, articulating the research problem statement is particularly challenging but essential for the success of their dissertation. A methodological approach, as suggested by Ali and Pandya, can assist students in constructing their problem statement, thereby mitigating difficulties and enhancing the quality of their dissertation . The researcher’s insight, experience, and theoretical perspective also play a significant role in identifying and articulating the research problem, guided by their ontological and epistemological stance . Given the importance of the problem statement in explaining the rationale for the study, validating its importance, and determining the research design, it is concerning that many students struggle with this task. Blum and Preiss highlight the lack of a systematic process to teach students how to write a problem statement, especially for distance education students. They propose a six-step method used at the University of Phoenix Online School of Advanced Studies to address this gap . By integrating these insights, researchers can develop a comprehensive and effective problem statement that serves as a solid foundation for their research.

Multimedia, particularly interactive multimedia and film, plays a crucial role in enhancing social studies education for elementary school students. Research shows that using audio-visual media can significantly improve learning outcomes in social studies by making the learning process more engaging and effective . Interactive multimedia has been found to boost critical thinking skills, improve learning outcomes, and facilitate a deeper understanding of social studies content among students, ultimately preparing them for the challenges of society 5.0 . Additionally, utilizing film in social studies instruction has become increasingly important, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, as it allows for the effective delivery of content and provides various benefits for students, such as enhancing comprehension and engagement with the material . Furthermore, multimedia, including video recordings and guided video-based teaching analysis, has been shown to enhance teacher candidates' abilities to reflect on their teaching practices, leading to improved learning skills and deeper self-reflections among educators .

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Public Trust in Government: 1958-2024

Public trust in the federal government, which has been low for decades, has increased modestly since 2023 . As of April 2024, 22% of Americans say they trust the government in Washington to do what is right “just about always” (2%) or “most of the time” (21%). Last year, 16% said they trusted the government just about always or most of the time, which was among the lowest measures in nearly seven decades of polling.

When the National Election Study began asking about trust in government in 1958, about three-quarters of Americans trusted the federal government to do the right thing almost always or most of the time.

Trust in government began eroding during the 1960s, amid the escalation of the Vietnam War, and the decline continued in the 1970s with the Watergate scandal and worsening economic struggles.

Confidence in government recovered in the mid-1980s before falling again in the mid-’90s. But as the economy grew in the late 1990s, so too did trust in government. Public trust reached a three-decade high shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks but declined quickly after. Since 2007, the shares saying they can trust the government always or most of the time have not been higher than 30%.

Today, 35% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents say they trust the federal government just about always or most of the time, compared with 11% of Republicans and Republican leaners.

Democrats report slightly more trust in the federal government today than a year ago. Republicans’ views have been relatively unchanged over this period.

Since the 1970s, trust in government has been consistently higher among members of the party that controls the White House than among the opposition party.

Republicans have often been more reactive than Democrats to changes in political leadership, with Republicans expressing much lower levels of trust during Democratic presidencies. Democrats’ attitudes have tended to be somewhat more consistent, regardless of which party controls the White House.

However, Republican and Democratic shifts in attitudes from the end of Donald Trump’s presidency to the start of Joe Biden’s were roughly the same magnitude.

Among Asian, Hispanic and Black adults, 36%, 30% and 27% respectively say they trust the federal government “most of the time” or “just about always” – higher levels of trust than among White adults (19%).

During the last Democratic administration, Black and Hispanic adults similarly expressed more trust in government than White adults. Throughout most recent Republican administrations, White Americans were substantially more likely than Black Americans to express trust in the federal government to do the right thing.

Note: For full question wording, refer to the topline . White, Black and Asian American adults include those who report being one race and are not Hispanic. Hispanics are of any race. Estimates for Asian adults are representative of English speakers only.

Sources: Pew Research Center, National Election Studies, Gallup, ABC/Washington Post, CBS/New York Times, and CNN Polls. Data from 2020 and later comes from Pew Research Center’s online American Trends Panel; prior data is from telephone surveys. Details about changes in survey mode can be found in this 2020 report . Read more about the Center’s polling methodology . For analysis by party and race/ethnicity, selected datasets were obtained from searches of the iPOLL Databank provided by the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research .

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