Writing a Journal Article

Sections of a Journal Article

• Introduction or Statement of Purpose

• Literature Review

• Specific Statement of Hypothesis(es)

• Description of Methods

• Results

• Summary and Conclusions

• Abstract

Statement of Purpose• The statement of purpose should

• describe your goals or objectives in writing this article.• Describe how your article will contribute to the current

literature.• Be succinct and precise• Include your research question and/or a reference to

your propositions.*

• It is generally a good idea to refer to your statement of purpose again at the end of your journal article indicating that you have accomplished your purpose.

*The difference between a hypothesis and a proposition is that a proposition is the statement between concepts, and a hypothesis is the statement between the indicators of these concepts.

Statement of Purpose

• An example using a research question

• “The purpose of this manuscript is to test the relationship between characteristics of volunteerism and effectiveness of programs.

• An example using a research question

• “The purpose of this manuscript is to empirically explore two critical questions previously posited by researchers. Specifically, we assess if the type of volunteerism and the race of volunteers influences the effectiveness of mentoring programs in school settings. We hypothesis that on-line mentoring is an effective type of mentoring, but that it is critical to pair same race mentors and mentees.”

Literature ReviewThe literature review should

• Be relevant.• Never try to put a square into a round hole. If the journal article

doesn’t apply, do not use it in your literature review.

• Be thorough.• Even if you review articles from different disciplines you should

include all research that has addressed your research question.

• Be concise.• If there is redundancy in the literature (and there often is), you

can quote from one article, and then cite other articles.

• Be accurate.• Try to include direct quotes when possible, and be careful NOT

to misrepresent past literature.

• Be up to date.• You run the risk of both having your article rejected and

embarrassing yourself if you do not include the most recent studies.

When writing your literature review, you should:

• Use spelling and grammar check

• Discuss and evaluate literature

• Show logical connection between past literature and your study

• Write literature review in past tense

• Read literature reviews published in the journal where you plan to submit your article. Use these articles as examples for:• Correctly citing articles in literature review (also refer to

bibliography or reference page(s)). • Determining how long to make your literature review• Adapting your writing style to journal preferences and

specifications.

Examples Taken from Literature Reviews

EXAMPLE ONE

Over three decades ago, Bowles and Gintis (1976) were among the first to argue that noncognitive traits and behaviors were perhaps even more important than cognitive skills in determining educational outcome. In reviewing literature that tested the claims of Bowles and Gintis, Farkas (2003) noted that several factors provide a reasonably consistent view of the mechanisms…...

EXAMPLE TWO

Because of lower household incomes, children from socially disadvantaged families obviously have fewer resources than children from socially advantaged families, and this lack of resources provides obstacles that tend to reduce educational achievements (Becker and Tomes 1986; Biblarz and Raftery 1999; Goldrick-Rab 2006; Haveman and Wolfe 1995; Mayer 1997b).

Stating Hypothesis(es)

Rules of Thumb

You should state about 2-5 hypotheses

Keep in mind that you will state a research hypothesis (there is a relationship), but TEST the null hypothesis (there is NO relationship).

If you are doing exploratory research and/or using qualitative data collection techniques, you should posit a research question – rather than state a specific hypothesis.

You never PROVE your hypothesis is TRUE, you can only reject the null hypothesis and therefore provide support for your research hypothesis.

Wording of Hypotheses

• Even though you actually test the null hypothesis, you should state the research hypothesis.

• The wording of the hypothesis is influenced by the types of analysis you use. For instance:• If you used chi square, you could hypothesis that your

dependent variable is contingent on your independent variable.

• If you use anova, you could state that group A is higher or lower than group B on the dependent variable.

• If you use regression you would state that your dependent variable is related to your independent variable (s).

Methods Section

• Methods Section should contain

• Information about your sample• Describe your population (i.e., all 4-H participants in Utah)• Describe your sampling technique (i.e., selected ¼ of all

participants using the random sampling technique) • Describe your sample (i.e., 50% male and 50 percent female,

85% white etc.)

• Information about your Indicators• Describe data collection technique (i.e., Surveys were

constructed and mailed to participants).• Identify concepts you are measuring (i.e., participation in 4-H

and school success). • Describe indicators and how they were developed (i.e.,

Participants were asked to indicate the extent to which they agreed that their participation in 4-H motivated them to perform better in school.)

• Please NOTE• You may want to state your hypothesis at the end of this

section rather than before it.

Results Section• The results section should contain your tables, graphs and

charts.

• Text in the results section is used to describe the data presented in the tables, charts and graphs. Generally, you introduce each table, chart or graphs (i.e., Table 2 contains…; ), and then describe the data presented there.

• Descriptions of data should:• Include all “important” numbers in the tables, graphs

and charts.* • Thoroughly, yet succinctly, describe exactly what the

reader sees in the tables. • Be objective. NOW is not the time to explain and

interpret your findings.

*”Important” numbers are determined by you but would include any numbers that provide evidence to support your hypotheses or answer your research question.

Summary and Conclusions

• Summary

• In this section, you summarize your findings, emphasizing the most important findings of your paper.

• Now IS the time to explain and interpret your findings.

• You refer back to your research hypothesis(es) or research question

• Did you provide support for your research hypothesis (es)?

• Conclusions

• In this section you refer back to the purpose of your paper and provide evidence that you accomplished your purpose in writing the paper.

• You acknowledge any limitations and provide suggestions for future research.

Contact Information

• Dr. Carol Albrecht• Assessment Specialist USU Ext• carol.albrecht@usu.edu• (979) 777-2421