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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.

APA Citation Generator MLA Citation Generator

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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• 08 May 2019

Toolkit: How to write a great paper

A clear format will ensure that your research paper is understood by your readers. Follow:

1. Context — your introduction

2. Content — your results

3. Conclusion — your discussion

Plan your paper carefully and decide where each point will sit within the framework before you begin writing.

Collection: Careers toolkit

Straightforward writing

Scientific writing should always aim to be A, B and C: Accurate, Brief, and Clear. Never choose a long word when a short one will do. Use simple language to communicate your results. Always aim to distill your message down into the simplest sentence possible.

Choose a title

A carefully conceived title will communicate the single core message of your research paper. It should be D, E, F: Declarative, Engaging and Focused.

Conclusions

Add a sentence or two at the end of your concluding statement that sets out your plans for further research. What is next for you or others working in your field?

Find out more

See additional information .

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-01362-9

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A Step-To-Step Guide to Write a Quality Research Article

• Conference paper
• First Online: 01 June 2023
• Cite this conference paper

• Amit Kumar Tyagi   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-2657-8700 14 ,
• Rohit Bansal 15 ,
• Anshu 16 &
• Sathian Dananjayan   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-6103-7267 17  

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems ((LNNS,volume 717))

Included in the following conference series:

• International Conference on Intelligent Systems Design and Applications

339 Accesses

23 Citations

Today publishing articles is a trend around the world almost in each university. Millions of research articles are published in thousands of journals annually throughout many streams/sectors such as medical, engineering, science, etc. But few researchers follow the proper and fundamental criteria to write a quality research article. Many published articles over the web become just irrelevant information with duplicate information, which is a waste of available resources. This is because many authors/researchers do not know/do not follow the correct approach for writing a valid/influential paper. So, keeping such issues for new researchers or exiting researchers in many sectors, we feel motivated to write an article and present some systematic work/approach that can help researchers produce a quality research article. Also, the authors can publish their work in international conferences like CVPR, ICML, NeurIPS, etc., or international journals with high factors or a white paper. Publishing good articles improve the profile of researchers around the world, and further future researchers can refer their work in their work as references to proceed with the respective research to a certain level. Hence, this article will provide sufficient information for researchers to write a simple, effective/impressive and qualitative research article on their area of interest.

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Nair, M.M., Tyagi, A.K., Sreenath, N.: The future with industry 4.0 at the core of society 5.0: open issues, future opportunities and challenges. In: 2021 International Conference on Computer Communication and Informatics (ICCCI), pp. 1–7 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1109/ICCCI50826.2021.9402498

Tyagi, A.K., Fernandez, T.F., Mishra, S., Kumari, S.: Intelligent Automation Systems at the Core of Industry 4.0. In: Abraham, A., Piuri, V., Gandhi, N., Siarry, P., Kaklauskas, A., Madureira, A. (eds.) ISDA 2020. AISC, vol. 1351, pp. 1–18. Springer, Cham (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71187-0_1

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Goyal, D., Tyagi, A.: A Look at Top 35 Problems in the Computer Science Field for the Next Decade. CRC Press, Boca Raton (2020) https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003052098-40

Tyagi, A.K., Meenu, G., Aswathy, S.U., Chetanya, V.: Healthcare Solutions for Smart Era: An Useful Explanation from User’s Perspective. In the Book “Recent Trends in Blockchain for Information Systems Security and Privacy”. CRC Press, Boca Raton (2021)

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Varsha, R., Nair, S.M., Tyagi, A.K., Aswathy, S.U., RadhaKrishnan, R.: The future with advanced analytics: a sequential analysis of the disruptive technology’s scope. In: Abraham, A., Hanne, T., Castillo, O., Gandhi, N., Nogueira Rios, T., Hong, T.-P. (eds.) HIS 2020. AISC, vol. 1375, pp. 565–579. Springer, Cham (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-73050-5_56

Tyagi, A.K., Nair, M.M., Niladhuri, S., Abraham, A.: Security, privacy research issues in various computing platforms: a survey and the road ahead. J. Inf. Assur. Secur. 15 (1), 1–16 (2020)

Madhav, A.V.S., Tyagi, A.K.: The world with future technologies (Post-COVID-19): open issues, challenges, and the road ahead. In: Tyagi, A.K., Abraham, A., Kaklauskas, A. (eds.) Intelligent Interactive Multimedia Systems for e-Healthcare Applications, pp. 411–452. Springer, Singapore (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-6542-4_22

Mishra, S., Tyagi, A.K.: The role of machine learning techniques in the Internet of Things-based cloud applications. In: Pal, S., De, D., Buyya, R. (eds.) Artificial Intelligence-Based Internet of Things Systems. Internet of Things (Technology, Communications and Computing). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-87059-1_4

Pramod, A., Naicker, H.S., Tyagi, A.K.: Machine Learning and Deep Learning: Open Issues and Future Research Directions for Next Ten Years. Computational Analysis and Understanding of Deep Learning for Medical Care: Principles, Methods, and Applications. Wiley Scrivener (2020)

Kumari, S., Tyagi, A.K., Aswathy, S.U.: The Future of Edge Computing with Blockchain Technology: Possibility of Threats, Opportunities and Challenges. In the Book Recent Trends in Blockchain for Information Systems Security and Privacy. CRC Press, Boca Raton (2021)

Dananjayan, S., Tang, Y., Zhuang, J., Hou, C., Luo, S.: Assessment of state-of-the-art deep learning based citrus disease detection techniques using annotated optical leaf images. Comput. Electron. Agric. 193 (7), 106658 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compag.2021.106658

Nair, M.M., Tyagi, A.K.: Privacy: History, Statistics, Policy, Laws, Preservation and Threat analysis. J. Inf. Assur. Secur. 16 (1), 24–34 (2021)

Tyagi, A.K., Sreenath, N.: A comparative study on privacy preserving techniques for location based services. Br. J. Math. Comput. Sci. 10 (4), 1–25 (2015). ISSN: 2231–0851

Rekha, G., Tyagi, A.K., Krishna Reddy, V.: A wide scale classification of class imbalance problem and its solutions: a systematic literature review. J. Comput. Sci. 15 (7), 886–929 (2019). ISSN Print: 1549–3636

Kanuru, L., Tyagi, A.K., A, S.U., Fernandez, T.F., Sreenath, N., Mishra, S.: Prediction of pesticides and fertilisers using machine learning and Internet of Things. In: 2021 International Conference on Computer Communication and Informatics (ICCCI), pp. 1–6 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1109/ICCCI50826.2021.9402536

Ambildhuke, G.M., Rekha, G., Tyagi, A.K.: Performance analysis of undersampling approaches for solving customer churn prediction. In: Goyal, D., Gupta, A.K., Piuri, V., Ganzha, M., Paprzycki, M. (eds.) Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Information Management and Machine Intelligence. LNNS, vol. 166, pp. 341–347. Springer, Singapore (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-9689-6_37

Sathian, D.: ABC algorithm-based trustworthy energy-efficient MIMO routing protocol. Int. J. Commun. Syst. 32 , e4166 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1002/dac.4166

Varsha, R., et al.: Deep learning based blockchain solution for preserving privacy in future vehicles. Int. J. Hybrid Intell. Syst. 16 (4), 223–236 (2020)

Tyagi, A.K., Aswathy, S U.: Autonomous Intelligent Vehicles (AIV): research statements, open issues, challenges and road for future. Int. J. Intell. Netw. 2 , 83–102 (2021). ISSN 2666–6030. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijin.2021.07.002

Tyagi, A.K., Sreenath, N.: Cyber physical systems: analyses, challenges and possible solutions. Internet Things Cyber-Phys. Syst. 1 , 22–33 (2021). ISSN 2667–3452, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iotcps.2021.12.002

Tyagi, A.K., Aghila, G.: A wide scale survey on botnet. Int. J. Comput. Appl. 34 (9), 9–22 (2011). (ISSN: 0975–8887)

Tyagi, A.K., Fernandez, T.F., Aswathy, S.U.: Blockchain and aadhaar based electronic voting system. In: 2020 4th International Conference on Electronics, Communication and Aerospace Technology (ICECA), Coimbatore, pp. 498–504 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1109/ICECA49313.2020.9297655

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Acknowledgement

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Department of Fashion Technology, National Institute of Fashion Technology, New Delhi, India

Amit Kumar Tyagi

Department of Management Studies, Vaish College of Engineering, Rohtak, India

Rohit Bansal

Faculty of Management and Commerce (FOMC), Baba Mastnath University, Asthal Bohar, Rohtak, India

School of Computer Science and Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology, Chennai, Tamilnadu, 600127, India

Sathian Dananjayan

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Amit Kumar Tyagi & Sathian Dananjayan have drafted and approved this manuscript for final publication.

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Ajith Abraham

Center for Smart Computing Continuum, Burgenland, Austria

Sabri Pllana

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University of Jinan, Jinan, Shandong, China

Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Patiala, Punjab, India

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Scope of the Work

As the author belongs to the computer science stream, so he has tried to cover up this article for all streams, but the maximum example used in situations, languages, datasets etc., are with respect to computer science-related disciplines only. This work can be used as a reference for writing good quality papers for international conferences journals.

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Tyagi, A.K., Bansal, R., Anshu, Dananjayan, S. (2023). A Step-To-Step Guide to Write a Quality Research Article. In: Abraham, A., Pllana, S., Casalino, G., Ma, K., Bajaj, A. (eds) Intelligent Systems Design and Applications. ISDA 2022. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 717. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-35510-3_36

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How to Write and Publish a Research Paper for a Peer-Reviewed Journal

Clara busse.

1 Department of Maternal and Child Health, University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health, 135 Dauer Dr, 27599 Chapel Hill, NC USA

Ella August

2 Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan School of Public Health, 1415 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2029 USA

Associated Data

Communicating research findings is an essential step in the research process. Often, peer-reviewed journals are the forum for such communication, yet many researchers are never taught how to write a publishable scientific paper. In this article, we explain the basic structure of a scientific paper and describe the information that should be included in each section. We also identify common pitfalls for each section and recommend strategies to avoid them. Further, we give advice about target journal selection and authorship. In the online resource 1 , we provide an example of a high-quality scientific paper, with annotations identifying the elements we describe in this article.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1007/s13187-020-01751-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Introduction

Writing a scientific paper is an important component of the research process, yet researchers often receive little formal training in scientific writing. This is especially true in low-resource settings. In this article, we explain why choosing a target journal is important, give advice about authorship, provide a basic structure for writing each section of a scientific paper, and describe common pitfalls and recommendations for each section. In the online resource 1 , we also include an annotated journal article that identifies the key elements and writing approaches that we detail here. Before you begin your research, make sure you have ethical clearance from all relevant ethical review boards.

Select a Target Journal Early in the Writing Process

We recommend that you select a “target journal” early in the writing process; a “target journal” is the journal to which you plan to submit your paper. Each journal has a set of core readers and you should tailor your writing to this readership. For example, if you plan to submit a manuscript about vaping during pregnancy to a pregnancy-focused journal, you will need to explain what vaping is because readers of this journal may not have a background in this topic. However, if you were to submit that same article to a tobacco journal, you would not need to provide as much background information about vaping.

Information about a journal’s core readership can be found on its website, usually in a section called “About this journal” or something similar. For example, the Journal of Cancer Education presents such information on the “Aims and Scope” page of its website, which can be found here: https://www.springer.com/journal/13187/aims-and-scope .

Peer reviewer guidelines from your target journal are an additional resource that can help you tailor your writing to the journal and provide additional advice about crafting an effective article [ 1 ]. These are not always available, but it is worth a quick web search to find out.

Identify Author Roles Early in the Process

Early in the writing process, identify authors, determine the order of authors, and discuss the responsibilities of each author. Standard author responsibilities have been identified by The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) [ 2 ]. To set clear expectations about each team member’s responsibilities and prevent errors in communication, we also suggest outlining more detailed roles, such as who will draft each section of the manuscript, write the abstract, submit the paper electronically, serve as corresponding author, and write the cover letter. It is best to formalize this agreement in writing after discussing it, circulating the document to the author team for approval. We suggest creating a title page on which all authors are listed in the agreed-upon order. It may be necessary to adjust authorship roles and order during the development of the paper. If a new author order is agreed upon, be sure to update the title page in the manuscript draft.

In the case where multiple papers will result from a single study, authors should discuss who will author each paper. Additionally, authors should agree on a deadline for each paper and the lead author should take responsibility for producing an initial draft by this deadline.

Structure of the Introduction Section

The introduction section should be approximately three to five paragraphs in length. Look at examples from your target journal to decide the appropriate length. This section should include the elements shown in Fig.  1 . Begin with a general context, narrowing to the specific focus of the paper. Include five main elements: why your research is important, what is already known about the topic, the “gap” or what is not yet known about the topic, why it is important to learn the new information that your research adds, and the specific research aim(s) that your paper addresses. Your research aim should address the gap you identified. Be sure to add enough background information to enable readers to understand your study. Table ​ Table1 1 provides common introduction section pitfalls and recommendations for addressing them.

The main elements of the introduction section of an original research article. Often, the elements overlap

Common introduction section pitfalls and recommendations

Methods Section

The purpose of the methods section is twofold: to explain how the study was done in enough detail to enable its replication and to provide enough contextual detail to enable readers to understand and interpret the results. In general, the essential elements of a methods section are the following: a description of the setting and participants, the study design and timing, the recruitment and sampling, the data collection process, the dataset, the dependent and independent variables, the covariates, the analytic approach for each research objective, and the ethical approval. The hallmark of an exemplary methods section is the justification of why each method was used. Table ​ Table2 2 provides common methods section pitfalls and recommendations for addressing them.

Common methods section pitfalls and recommendations

Results Section

The focus of the results section should be associations, or lack thereof, rather than statistical tests. Two considerations should guide your writing here. First, the results should present answers to each part of the research aim. Second, return to the methods section to ensure that the analysis and variables for each result have been explained.

Begin the results section by describing the number of participants in the final sample and details such as the number who were approached to participate, the proportion who were eligible and who enrolled, and the number of participants who dropped out. The next part of the results should describe the participant characteristics. After that, you may organize your results by the aim or by putting the most exciting results first. Do not forget to report your non-significant associations. These are still findings.

Tables and figures capture the reader’s attention and efficiently communicate your main findings [ 3 ]. Each table and figure should have a clear message and should complement, rather than repeat, the text. Tables and figures should communicate all salient details necessary for a reader to understand the findings without consulting the text. Include information on comparisons and tests, as well as information about the sample and timing of the study in the title, legend, or in a footnote. Note that figures are often more visually interesting than tables, so if it is feasible to make a figure, make a figure. To avoid confusing the reader, either avoid abbreviations in tables and figures, or define them in a footnote. Note that there should not be citations in the results section and you should not interpret results here. Table ​ Table3 3 provides common results section pitfalls and recommendations for addressing them.

Common results section pitfalls and recommendations

Discussion Section

Opposite the introduction section, the discussion should take the form of a right-side-up triangle beginning with interpretation of your results and moving to general implications (Fig.  2 ). This section typically begins with a restatement of the main findings, which can usually be accomplished with a few carefully-crafted sentences.

Major elements of the discussion section of an original research article. Often, the elements overlap

Next, interpret the meaning or explain the significance of your results, lifting the reader’s gaze from the study’s specific findings to more general applications. Then, compare these study findings with other research. Are these findings in agreement or disagreement with those from other studies? Does this study impart additional nuance to well-accepted theories? Situate your findings within the broader context of scientific literature, then explain the pathways or mechanisms that might give rise to, or explain, the results.

Journals vary in their approach to strengths and limitations sections: some are embedded paragraphs within the discussion section, while some mandate separate section headings. Keep in mind that every study has strengths and limitations. Candidly reporting yours helps readers to correctly interpret your research findings.

The next element of the discussion is a summary of the potential impacts and applications of the research. Should these results be used to optimally design an intervention? Does the work have implications for clinical protocols or public policy? These considerations will help the reader to further grasp the possible impacts of the presented work.

Finally, the discussion should conclude with specific suggestions for future work. Here, you have an opportunity to illuminate specific gaps in the literature that compel further study. Avoid the phrase “future research is necessary” because the recommendation is too general to be helpful to readers. Instead, provide substantive and specific recommendations for future studies. Table ​ Table4 4 provides common discussion section pitfalls and recommendations for addressing them.

Common discussion section pitfalls and recommendations

Follow the Journal’s Author Guidelines

After you select a target journal, identify the journal’s author guidelines to guide the formatting of your manuscript and references. Author guidelines will often (but not always) include instructions for titles, cover letters, and other components of a manuscript submission. Read the guidelines carefully. If you do not follow the guidelines, your article will be sent back to you.

Finally, do not submit your paper to more than one journal at a time. Even if this is not explicitly stated in the author guidelines of your target journal, it is considered inappropriate and unprofessional.

Your title should invite readers to continue reading beyond the first page [ 4 , 5 ]. It should be informative and interesting. Consider describing the independent and dependent variables, the population and setting, the study design, the timing, and even the main result in your title. Because the focus of the paper can change as you write and revise, we recommend you wait until you have finished writing your paper before composing the title.

Be sure that the title is useful for potential readers searching for your topic. The keywords you select should complement those in your title to maximize the likelihood that a researcher will find your paper through a database search. Avoid using abbreviations in your title unless they are very well known, such as SNP, because it is more likely that someone will use a complete word rather than an abbreviation as a search term to help readers find your paper.

After you have written a complete draft, use the checklist (Fig. ​ (Fig.3) 3 ) below to guide your revisions and editing. Additional resources are available on writing the abstract and citing references [ 5 ]. When you feel that your work is ready, ask a trusted colleague or two to read the work and provide informal feedback. The box below provides a checklist that summarizes the key points offered in this article.

Checklist for manuscript quality

(PDF 362 kb)

Acknowledgments

Ella August is grateful to the Sustainable Sciences Institute for mentoring her in training researchers on writing and publishing their research.

Code Availability

Not applicable.

Data Availability

Compliance with ethical standards.

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Publisher’s Note

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

How to write a research article to submit for publication

Pharmacists and healthcare professionals who are undertaking research should have an understanding of how to produce a research article for publication, and be aware of the important considerations relating to submission to a peer-reviewed journal.

Viennaslide / Alamy Stock Photo

Undertaking and performing scientific, clinical and practice-based research is only the beginning of the scholarship of discovery [1] . For the full impact of any research to be achieved and to have an effect on the wider research and scientific community, it must be published in an outlet accessible to relevant professionals [2] .

Scientific research is often published in peer-reviewed journals. Peer review is defined as the unbiased, independent, critical assessment of scholarly or research manuscripts submitted to journals by experts or opinion leaders [3] . The process and requirements of reviewers has been covered recently [4] . On account of this rigorous process, peer-reviewed scientific journals are considered the primary source of new information that impacts and advances clinical decision-making and practice [5] , [6] .

The development of a research article can be helpful for the promotion of scientific thinking [7] , [8] and the advancement of effective writing skills, allowing the authors to participate in broader scientific discussions that lie beyond their scope of practice or discipline [2] .

This article aims to provide pharmacists and healthcare professionals who are undertaking research with an understanding of how to produce a research article for publication, as well as points to consider before submission to a peer-reviewed journal.

Importance of the research question

This article will not go into detail about forming suitable research questions, however, in principle, a good research question will be specific, novel and of relevance to the scientific community (e.g. pharmacy – pharmacists, pharmaceutical scientists, pharmacy technicians and related healthcare professionals). Hulley et al . suggest using the FINER criteria (see ‘Figure 1: FINER criteria for a good research question’) to aid the development of a good research question [9] .

Figure 1: FINER criteria for a good research question

Source: Hulley S, Cummings S, Browner W  et al . [9]

The FINER criteria highlight useful points that may generally increase the chances of developing a successful research project. A good research question should specify the population of interest, be of interest to the scientific community and potentially to the public, have clinical relevance and further current knowledge in the field.

Having a clear research question that is of interest to those working in the same field will help in the preparation of an article because it can be used as the central organising principle – all of the content included and discussed should focus on answering this question.

Preparing a first draft

Before writing the article, it is useful to highlight several journals that you could submit the final article to. It also helps to familiarise yourself with these journals’ styles, article structures and formatting instructions before starting to write. Many journals also have criteria that research articles should be able to satisfy. For example, all research article submissions to  Clinical Pharmacist must demonstrate innovative or novel results that are sustainable, reproducible and transferable [10] .

Having researched potential target journals, you should have a clear idea about your target audience, enabling you to pitch the level of the article appropriately [11] (see ‘Box 1: Top tips to prepare for writing’).

Box 1: Top tips to prepare for writing

• Know the focus of the paper – identify two or three important findings and make these the central theme of the article;
• Gather important data, perform any analyses and make rough data plots and tables beforehand. These can then be refined for inclusion or submitted as supplementary information if needed;
• Organise your results to flow in a logical sequence;
• Know the structure and requirements of your target journals (check websites and author guidelines, as well as published articles);
• Think about the style of the piece and look to pitch the article at the level of the intended audience;
• Clarity should be your guiding principle.

Structuring a research article

Most research articles follow a similar structure and format that includes an abstract, introduction, methods, results and discussion, as well as a summary of the key points discussed in the article.

One approach is to start with the methods section, which can be derived from the protocol and any pilot phase. Many of the figures and tables can be constructed in advance, which will help with writing the results section. The questions addressed by the study can be used alongside the results to formulate the introduction, which can guide how the discussion is written [11] .

Clinical Pharmacist , like other peer-reviewed journals, has specific author guidelines and formatting instructions to help authors prepare their articles [10] , [12] , [13] . The following sections will discuss the required sections and important considerations for authors when writing.

Title, abstract and keywords

The title, abstract and keywords are essential to the successful communication of research. Most electronic search engines, databases (e.g. PubMed/MEDLINE) and journal websites extract words from them to determine whether your article will be displayed to interested readers [14] , [15] , [16] , [17] , enabling accurate dissemination and leading to future citations.

In addition, the title and abstract are usually freely available online. If an article is not published in an ‘open access’ format, (i.e. it is free and immediately available online and access is combined with the rights to use these articles fully in the digital environment) [18] , or if the reader does not have a subscription to the journal, they will have to decide on whether to pay to access the full article to continue reading. Therefore, it is imperative that they are informative and accurate.

The title should accurately reflect the research, identify the main issue and begin with the subject matter, while being both simple and enticing enough to attract the audience [19] . Authors should avoid using ‘a study of’, ‘investigations into’ and ‘observations on’ in titles. It is also worth remembering that abstracting and indexing services, such as MEDLINE, require accurate titles, because they extract keywords from them for cross-referencing [19] .

Many journals require the abstract to be structured in the same way as the main headings of the paper (e.g. introduction, methods, results, discussion and conclusion) and to be around 150–300 words in length [10] . In general, references should not be cited in the abstract.

Introduction

The introduction should provide the background and context to the study. Two or three paragraphs can be dedicated to the discussion of any previous work and identification of gaps in current knowledge. The rest of the introduction should then outline what this piece of work aims to address and why this is important, before stating the objectives of the study and the research question [20] .

The methods section should provide the reader with enough detail for them to be able to reproduce the study if desired [3] . The context and setting of the study should be described and the study design specified. The section should further describe the population (including the inclusion and exclusion criteria), sampling strategy and the interventions performed. The main study variables should be identified and the data collection procedures described [3] .

Authors should provide specific, technical and detailed information in this section. Several checklists and guidelines are available for the reporting of specific types of studies:

• CONSORT is used for developing and reporting a randomised controlled trial [21] ;
• The STARD checklist can help with designing a diagnostic accuracy study [22] ;
• The PRISMA checklist can be used when performing a metaâ€analyses or systematic review, but can also help with compiling an introduction [23] .

For the reporting of qualitative research studies, authors should explain which research tradition the study utilises and link the choice of methodological strategies with the research goals [24] .

For studies describing the development of new initiatives or clinical services, authors should describe the situation before the initiative began, the establishment of priorities, formulation of objectives and strategies, mobilisation of resources, and processes used in the methods section [10] .

The final portion of the methods section will include the statistical methods used to analyse the data [25] . The statistical methods employed should be described with enough detail to enable a knowledgeable reader with access to the original data to be able to judge its appropriateness for the study and verify the results [3] . For survey-based studies and information on sampling frame, size and statistical powers, see ‘When to use a survey in pharmacy practice research’ [26] .

Findings should be quantified and presented with appropriate indicators of measurement error or uncertainty (e.g. confidence intervals). Authors should avoid relying solely on statistical hypothesis testing, such as P values, because these fail to convey important information about effect size and precision of estimates [3] . Statistical terms, abbreviations and most symbols should be defined, and the statistical software package and versions used should be specified. Authors should also take care to distinguish prespecified from exploratory analyses, including subgroup analyses [3] .

The results section should be straightforward and factual and all of the results that relate to the research question should be provided, with detail including simple counts and percentages [27] . Data collection and recruitment should be commented on and the participants described. Secondary findings and the results of subgroup analyses can also be presented [27] .

Figures, schemes and tables

To present data and results of the research study, figures, schemes and tables can be used. They should include significant digits, error bars and levels of statistical significance.

Tables should be presented with a summary title, followed by caption, a sentence or two that describes the content and impact of the data included in the table. All captions should provide enough detail so that the table or figure can be interpreted and understood as stand-alone material, separate from the article.

Figures should also be presented with a summary title, a caption that describes the significant result or interpretation that can be made from the figure, the number of repetitions within the experiment, as well as what the data point actually represents. All figures and tables should be cited in the manuscript text [11] .

When compiling tables and figures, important statistics, such as the number of samples (n), the index of dispersion (standard deviation [SD], standard error of the mean [SEM]), and the index of central tendency (mean, median or mode), must be stated. The statistical analysis performed should also be included and specific statistical data should be indicated (e.g. P values) [11] .

Discussion and conclusions

The discussion section should state the main findings of the study. The main results should be compared with reference to previous research and current knowledge, and where this has been extended it should be fully described [2] , [11] , [25] . For clinical studies, relevant discussion of the implications the results may have on policy should be included [10] . It is important to include an analysis of the strengths and limitations of the study and offer perspectives for future work [2] . Excessive presentation of data and results without any discussion should be avoided and it is not necessary to cite a published work for each argument presented. Any conclusions should include the major findings, followed by a brief discussion of future perspectives and the application of this work to other disciplines [10] .

The list of references should be appropriate; important statements presented as facts should be referenced, as well as the methods and instruments used. Reference lists for research articles, however, unlike comprehensive reviews of a topic, do not necessarily have to be exhaustive. References to unpublished work, to documents in the grey literature (technical reports), or to any source that the reader will have difficulty finding or understanding should be avoided [27] . Most journals have reference limits and specific formatting requirements, so it is important to check the journal’s author guidelines [10] , [11] , [12] , [13] , [19] .

Authorship and acknowledgements

Determining contributors who qualify as authors and those who should be acknowledged can be difficult. Clinical Pharmacist follows guidance from the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, which recommends that authorship be based on the following four criteria:

• Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
• Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND
• Final approval of the version to be published; AND
• Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved [3] .

Therefore, only individuals who meet all four criteria should be identified as authors [3] . The contribution of individuals who do not meet all four criteria should instead be included in the acknowledgements.

In addition, a statement that recognises any funding sources for the work should be added to the acknowledgements. This statement should adhere to the guidelines provided by the funding institution [11] .

Supplementary and supporting information

A key principle of research publication is that others should be able to replicate and build upon an author’s published claims. Therefore, submitted manuscripts should contain the necessary detail about the study and analytical design, and the data must be available for editors and peer-reviewers to allow full evaluation to take place. This is now commonplace and is seen as best practice. Author guidelines now include sections related to misconduct and falsification of data [28] . By participating in self-archiving practices and providing full data sets, authors can play their part in transparency.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society website hosts a database to help share data from research studies. The map of evidence collates existing evidence and ongoing initiatives that can ultimately inform policy and practice relating to pharmacy; enables the sharing and showcasing of good pharmacy practice and innovation; and aims to increase the knowledge exchange and learning in pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences [29] .

Revising your article prior to submission

Once a draft research article has been prepared, it should be shared among all of the co-authors for review and comments. A full revision of the draft should then take place to correct grammar and check flow and logic before journal submission. All authors will have to agree on the authenticity of the data and presentation before formal submission can take place [3] (see ‘Box 2: Common mistakes and reasons why research articles are rejected for publication’).

Box 2: Common mistakes and reasons why research articles are rejected for publication

• Lack of novelty and importance of the research question;
• Poor study design;
• Methods not accurately and adequately described;
• Results poorly reported, along with little analysis of data;
• Lack of statistical analysis;
• Not acknowledging the study’s limitations;
• Providing unsupported conclusions or overstating the results of the study;
• Poor writing;
• Not following the journal’s style and formatting guidance;
• Submitting a manuscript that is incomplete or outside of the aims and scope.

Selecting a journal and submitting your manuscript

It is important to select a journal for submission wisely because this choice can determine the impact and dissemination of your work [13] . Impact factor (a measure of the frequency with which the average article in a journal has been cited in a particular year), the scope and readership of a title may also influence your choice.

Furthermore, approval and adequate disclosures must be obtained from all co-authors. A conflict of interests form is also completed as part of the submissions process (normally completed by the lead author on behalf of all authors).

Many journals now request that a cover letter is also submitted to the editor, putting the study in context and explaining why the research is of importance to their audience and why it should be considered for publication in their journal.

Once this is all completed, the article can be formally submitted (usually via email or an online submission system). Figure 2 provides a sample process for a manuscript once submitted to a journal for consideration for publication.

Figure 2: Sample process for a submitted manuscript

Source: The Pharmaceutical Journal

All journals follow a similar process for article submissions, whether they use a formal online submissions system or simply email.  Clinical Pharmacist uses a process similar to this and it is useful for authors to be aware of how their submission may progress once submitted to a journal for publication.

Useful Links

• The EQUATOR Network
• Research4Life – Authorship skills modules
• Pharmacy Research UK

Reading this article counts towards your CPD

You can use the following forms to record your learning and action points from this article from Pharmaceutical Journal Publications.

Your CPD module results are stored against your account here at The Pharmaceutical Journal . You must be registered and logged into the site to do this. To review your module results, go to the ‘My Account’ tab and then ‘My CPD’.

Any training, learning or development activities that you undertake for CPD can also be recorded as evidence as part of your RPS Faculty practice-based portfolio when preparing for Faculty membership. To start your RPS Faculty journey today, access the portfolio and tools at www.rpharms.com/Faculty

If your learning was planned in advance, please click:

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How to write and structure a journal article

Sharing your research data  can be hugely  beneficial to your career , as well as to the scholarly community and wider society. But before you do so, there are some important ethical considerations to remember.

What are the rules and guidance you should follow, when you begin to think about how to write and structure a journal article? Ruth First Prize winner Steven Rogers, PhD said the first thing is to be passionate about what you write.

Steven Nabieu Rogers, Ruth First Prize winner.

Let’s go through some of the best advice that will help you pinpoint the features of a journal article, and how to structure it into a compelling research paper.

Planning for your article

When planning to write your article, make sure it has a central message that you want to get across. This could be a novel aspect of methodology that you have in your PhD study, a new theory, or an interesting modification you have made to theory or a novel set of findings.

2018 NARST Award winner Marissa Rollnick advised that you should decide what this central focus is, then create a paper outline bearing in mind the need to:

Isolate a manageable size

Create a coherent story/argument

Make the argument self-standing

Target the journal readership

Change the writing conventions from that used in your thesis

Get familiar with the journal you want to submit to

It is a good idea to choose your target journal before you start to write your paper. Then you can tailor your writing to the journal’s requirements and readership, to increase your chances of acceptance.

When selecting your journal think about audience, purposes, what to write about and why. Decide the kind of article to write. Is it a report, position paper, critique or review? What makes your argument or research interesting? How might the paper add value to the field?

If you need more guidance on how to choose a journal,  here is our guide to narrow your focus.

Once you’ve chosen your target journal, take the time to read a selection of articles already published – particularly focus on those that are relevant to your own research.

This can help you get an understanding of what the editors may be looking for, then you can guide your writing efforts.

The  Think. Check. Submit.  initiative provides tools to help you evaluate whether the journal you’re planning to send your work to is trustworthy.

The journal’s  aims and scope  is also an important resource to refer back to as you write your paper – use it to make sure your article aligns with what the journal is trying to accomplish.

Keep your message focused

The next thing you need to consider when writing your article is your target audience. Are you writing for a more general audience or is your audience experts in the same field as you? The journal you have chosen will give you more information on the type of audience that will read your work.

When you know your audience, focus on your main message to keep the attention of your readers. A lack of focus is a common problem and can get in the way of effective communication.

Stick to the point. The strongest journal articles usually have one point to make. They make that point powerfully, back it up with evidence, and position it within the field.

How to format and structure a journal article

The format and structure of a journal article is just as important as the content itself, it helps to clearly guide the reader through.

How do I format a journal article?

Individual journals will have their own specific formatting requirements, which you can find in the  instructions for authors.

You can save time on formatting by downloading a template from our  library of templates  to apply to your article text. These templates are accepted by many of our journals. Also, a large number of our journals now offer  format-free submission,  which allows you to submit your paper without formatting your manuscript to meet that journal’s specific requirements.

General structure for writing an academic journal article

The title of your article is one of the first indicators readers will get of your research and concepts. It should be concise, accurate, and informative. You should include your most relevant keywords in your title, but avoid including abbreviations and formulae.

Keywords are an essential part of producing a journal article. When writing a journal article you must select keywords that you would like your article to rank for.

Keywords help potential readers to discover your article when conducting research using search engines.

The purpose of your abstract is to express the key points of your research, clearly and concisely. An abstract must always be well considered, as it is the primary element of your work that readers will come across.

An abstract should be a short paragraph (around 300 words) that summarizes the findings of your journal article. Ordinarily an abstract will be comprised of:

What your research is about

What methods have been used

What your main findings are

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements can appear to be a small aspect of your journal article, however it is still important. This is where you acknowledge the individuals who do not qualify for co-authorship, but contributed to your article intellectually, financially, or in some other manner.

When you acknowledge someone in your academic texts, it gives you more integrity as a writer as it shows that you are not claiming other academic’s ideas as your own intellectual property. It can also aid your readers in their own research journeys.

Introduction

An introduction is a pivotal part of the article writing process. An introduction not only introduces your topic and your stance on the topic, but it also (situates/contextualizes) your argument in the broader academic field.

The main body is where your main arguments and your evidence are located. Each paragraph will encapsulate a different notion and there will be clear linking between each paragraph.

Your conclusion should be an interpretation of your results, where you summarize all of the concepts that you introduced in the main body of the text in order of most to least important. No new concepts are to be introduced in this section.

References and citations

References and citations should be well balanced, current and relevant. Although every field is different, you should aim to cite references that are not more than 10 years old if possible. The studies you cite should be strongly related to your research question.

Clarity is key

Make your writing accessible by using clear language. Writing that is easy to read, is easier to understand too.

You may want to write for a global audience – to have your research reach the widest readership. Make sure you write in a way that will be understood by any reader regardless of their field or whether English is their first language.

Write your journal article with confidence, to give your reader certainty in your research. Make sure that you’ve described your methodology and approach; whilst it may seem obvious to you, it may not to your reader. And don’t forget to explain acronyms when they first appear.

Engage your audience. Go back to thinking about your audience; are they experts in your field who will easily follow technical language, or are they a lay audience who need the ideas presented in a simpler way?

Be aware of other literature in your field, and reference it

Make sure to tell your reader how your article relates to key work that’s already published. This doesn’t mean you have to review every piece of previous relevant literature, but show how you are building on previous work to avoid accidental plagiarism.

When you reference something, fully understand its relevance to your research so you can make it clear for your reader. Keep in mind that recent references highlight awareness of all the current developments in the literature that you are building on. This doesn’t mean you can’t include older references, just make sure it is clear why you’ve chosen to.

How old can my references be?

Your literature review should take into consideration the current state of the literature.

There is no specific timeline to consider. But note that your subject area may be a factor. Your colleagues may also be able to guide your decision.

Researcher’s view

Grasian Mkodzongi, Ruth First Prize Winner

Top tips to get you started

Communicate your unique point of view to stand out. You may be building on a concept already in existence, but you still need to have something new to say. Make sure you say it convincingly, and fully understand and reference what has gone before.

Editor’s view

Professor Len Barton, Founding Editor of Disability and Society

Be original

Now you know the features of a journal article and how to construct it. This video is an extra resource to use with this guide to help you know what to think about before you write your journal article.

Expert help for your manuscript

Taylor & Francis Editing Services  offers a full range of pre-submission manuscript preparation services to help you improve the quality of your manuscript and submit with confidence.

Related resources

How to write your title and abstract

Journal manuscript layout guide

Improve the quality of English of your article

How to edit your paper

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Research Paper | Book Publication | Collaborations | Patent

• Research Paper
• Book Publication
• Collaboration
• SCIE, SSCI, ESCI, and AHCI

How to Write a Research Article: A Comprehensive Guide

Writing a Research Article can be an unbelievably daunting task, but it is a vital skill for any researcher or academic. This blog post intends to provide a detailed instruction on how to create a Research Paper. It will delve into the crucial elements of a Research Article, including its format, various types, and how it differs from a Research Paper.   By following the steps provided, you will get vital insights on how to write a well-structured and successful research piece. Whether you are a student, researcher, or professional writer, this article will help you understand the key components required to produce a high-quality Research article. 

Table of Content

What is a research article .

A Research Article is a written document that represents the findings of original and authentic research. It is typically published in a peer-reviewed academic journal and is used to communicate new knowledge and ideas to the research community. Research Articles are often used as a basis for further research and are an essential part of scientific discourse. 

Components of a Research Article 

A Research Article typically consists of the following components: 

• Abstract – A summary of the research article, including the research question, methodology, results, and conclusion. 
• Introduction – This is an explanation of the purpose behind conducting the study, and a summary of the methodology adopted for the research. This section serves as the foundation of the research article and provides the reader with a contextual background for understanding the study’s objectives and methodology. It basically outlines the reason for conducting the research and provides a glimpse of the approach that will be used to answer the research question. 
• Literature Review – This section entails a comprehensive examination of the relevant literature that offers a framework for the research question and presents the existing knowledge on the subject. 
• Methodology – This section explains the study’s research design, data gathering, and analysis methods.  
• Results – A description of the findings of the research. 
• Discussion – An interpretation of the results, including their significance and implications, as well as a discussion of the limitations of the study. 
• Conclusion – A summary of the research findings, their implications, and recommendations for future research. 

Research Article Format 

A Research Article typically follows a standard format including: 

• Title : A clear and concise title that accurately reflects the research question. 
• Authors : A list of authors who contributed to the research. 
• Affiliations : The institutions or organizations that the authors are affiliated with. 
• Abstract : A summary of the research article. 
• Keywords : A list of keywords that describe the research topic. 
• Introduction : A fine background of the research question and a complete overview of the methodology used. 
• Literature Review : A review of the relevant literature. 
• Methodology : A description of the research design, data collection, and analysis methods used. 
• Results : A description of the findings of the research. 
• Discussion : An interpretation of the results and their implications, as well as a discussion of the limitations of the study. 
• Conclusion: A summary of the research findings and recommendations for future research. 

Types of Research Articles 

There are several types of research articles including: 

• Original Research Articles : These are articles that report on original research. 
• Review articles : These are articles that summarize and synthesize the findings of existing research. 
• Case studies : These are articles that describe and analyze a specific case or cases. 
• Short communications : These are brief articles that report on original research. 

Research Article vs Research Paper 

While research articles and Research Papers are often used interchangeably, there are some differences between the two. A research article is typically a formal, peer-reviewed document that presents the findings of original research. A research paper, on the other hand, is a broader term that can refer to any written work that presents the findings of research, including essays, reports, and dissertations. 

Example of a Research Article 

Here is an example of a research article : 

• Title: The effects of exercise on mental health in older adults.
• Abstract :  This study investigated the effects of exercise on mental health in older adults. A sample of 100 participants aged 65 and over were randomly assigned to an exercise or control group. The exercise group participated in a 12-week exercise program, while the control group received no intervention. The results showed that the exercise group had significantly lower levels of depression and anxiety compared to the control group. Additionally, the exercise group reported higher levels of well-being and satisfaction with life. These findings suggest that exercise can be an effective intervention for improving mental health in older adults. 
• Introduction:   Mental health issues such as depression and anxiety are common among older adults and can have a significant impact on quality of life. Exercise has been shown to have numerous physical health benefits, but its effects on mental health in older adults are less clear. This study aimed to investigate the effects of exercise on mental health outcomes in older adults. 
• Literature Review:   Previous research has suggested that exercise can improve mental health outcomes in older adults. For example, a study by Mather et al. (2016) found that a 12-week exercise program resulted in significant improvements in depression and anxiety in a sample of older adults. Similarly, a meta-analysis by Smith et al. (2018) found that exercise interventions were associated with improvements in various mental health outcomes, including depression and anxiety, in older adults. 
• Methodology:   A total of 100 participants aged 65 and over were recruited from a community centre and randomly assigned to an exercise or control group. The exercise group participated in a 12-week exercise program consisting of three 60-minute sessions per week. The program included a combination of aerobic and resistance exercises. The control group received no intervention. Both groups completed measures of depression, anxiety, well-being, and satisfaction with life at baseline and at the end of the 12-week period.
• Results:   The results showed that the exercise group had significantly lower levels of depression and anxiety compared to the control group at the end of the 12-week period. Additionally, the exercise group reported higher levels of well-being and satisfaction with life. There were no significant differences between the groups in terms of physical health outcomes.  
• Discussion:   These findings provide support for the use of exercise as an intervention for improving mental health outcomes in older adults. The results suggest that a 12-week exercise program can lead to significant reductions in depression and anxiety, and improvements in well-being and satisfaction with life. It is important to note, however, that the study had some limitations, including a relatively small sample size and a lack of long-term follow-up. Further research is needed to confirm these findings and explore the potential mechanisms underlying the effects of exercise on mental health in older adults. 

This study provides evidence that exercise can be an effective intervention for improving mental health outcomes in older adults. Given the high prevalence of mental health issues in this population, exercise programs may be an important tool for promoting well-being and improving quality of life. Further research is needed to determine the optimal duration, intensity, and type of exercise for improving mental health outcomes in older adults. 

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• Research Guides

Reading for Research: Social Sciences

Structure of a research article.

• Structural Read

Guide Acknowledgements

How to Read a Scholarly Article from the Howard Tilton Memorial Library at Tulane University

Strategic Reading for Research   from the Howard Tilton Memorial Library at Tulane University

Bridging the Gap between Faculty Expectation and the Student Experience: Teaching Students toAnnotate and Synthesize Sources

Librarian for Sociology, Environmental Sociology, MHS and Public Policy Studies

Academic writing has features that vary only slightly across the different disciplines. Knowing these elements and the purpose of each serves help you to read and understand academic texts efficiently and effectively, and then apply what you read to your paper or project.

Social Science (and Science) original research articles generally follow IMRD: Introduction- Methods-Results-Discussion

Introduction

• Introduces topic of article
• Presents the "Research Gap"/Statement of Problem article will address
• How research presented in the article will solve the problem presented in research gap.
• Literature Review. presenting and evaluating previous scholarship on a topic.  Sometimes, this is separate section of the article. 

​Method & Results

• How research was done, including analysis and measurements.  
• Sometimes labeled as "Research Design"
• What answers were found
• Interpretation of Results (What Does It Mean? Why is it important?)
• Implications for the Field, how the study contributes to the existing field of knowledge
• Suggestions for further research
• Sometimes called Conclusion

You might also see IBC: Introduction - Body - Conclusion

• Identify the subject
• State the thesis 
• Describe why thesis is important to the field (this may be in the form of a literature review or general prose)

Body  

• Presents Evidence/Counter Evidence
• Integrate other writings (i.e. evidence) to support argument 
• Discuss why others may disagree (counter-evidence) and why argument is still valid
• Summary of argument
• Evaluation of argument by pointing out its implications and/or limitations 
• Anticipate and address possible counter-claims
• Suggest future directions of research
• Next: Structural Read >>
• Last Updated: Jan 19, 2024 10:44 AM
• URL: https://researchguides.library.vanderbilt.edu/readingforresearch

Learn from the great: Well-written research article examples

Reading well-written research papers is not only enjoyable — it’s also (passive) learning that helps you write better papers yourself. But in most fields it’s quite rare to encounter a research article that is clear and easy to follow and truly a pleasure to read. So I am curating a list of handpicked papers from different disciplines, for when you want to read something nice as an inspiration for your own writing. This is an ongoing project: your suggestions of great papers are always welcome!

Reading and writing are tightly coupled processes that support each other.

Reading creates a basis for writing: it helps you passively build up your (scientific) vocabulary and “assimilate” the writing style and conventions. It’s a source that you can tap into as you write — it’s the input .

Writing , then, is the output . When you write you are combining words and phrases you know from reading into a new and unique mixture.

As my favorite quote by Pam Allyn says:

Reading is like breathing in; writing is like breathing out.

You write like what you read

After reading the book Writing Without Bullshit , my writing became direct, concise and to the point. When I was reading Writing With Power , my writing was clear and persuasive even though I was using more complex sentences just like the author was doing. And ever since I am regularly reading the (evidence-based) self-help blog of Mark Manson , my writing became lighter and more conversational. (I hope you appreciate it 😉 )

So if you want to write great research articles, the only thing you need to do is to read great research articles. That’s easy, right?

Well — theoretically. As you have surely noticed, truly well-written research papers are not so common. I think that’s partly because writing clearly about complex matters is inherently difficult — but partly also because the standards and expectations of scientific writing are set fairly low.

That’s why I decided to create this list of well-written scientific articles .

So far I have mostly included papers that I know from my own research work, papers labeled by students in my courses as being easy to read and papers suggested in the Facebook group Reviewer 2 Must Be Stopped and on the Writing Scientist Facebook page .

I have combed through over 100 suggested papers, yet only around 10% made it to the final selection. Apparently, what is easy to read for a specialist doesn’t necessarily reflect overall great writing quality…

Selection criteria

The list below includes selected research articles and other formats (reviews, opinion pieces) that are easy to read and understand also for non-specialists . Here is an overview of the selection criteria:

1. Text is easy to read and follow. This is achieved by:

• good paragraph structure ;
• good sentence structure ;
• reader’s guidance: motivating each next step, explaining relevant concepts, introducing abbreviations, creating connections between sentences and paragraphs;
• clear and precise language ;
• using jargon reasonably and simple language whenever possible.

2. Paper is well structured. Namely:

• Abstract provides a good overview of the article.
• Introduction motivates the research project and describes its context/background.
• Results section presents the results clearly and in a logical order.
• Discussion explains the importance of the results and places them in the context of previous research.

Articles that fail to satisfy several of these points are not included in this list.

For each included article, aspects that are particularly well done ( ) and those that are suboptimal ( ) are highlighted.

So, here we go:

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Biomedical sciences

Laventie BJ et al. (2019). A surface-induced asymmetric program promotes tissue colonization by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Cell Host & Microbe , 25(1), 140-152.

Golding NL & Spruston N (1998). Dendritic sodium spikes are variable triggers of axonal action potentials in hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons. Neuron , 21(5), 1189-1200.

Reviews & other formats

Watnick P & Kolter R (2000). Biofilm, city of microbes. Journal of Bacteriology , 182(10), 2675-2679.

Lazebnik Y (2002). Can a biologist fix a radio?—Or, what I learned while studying apoptosis. Cancer Cell , 2(3), 179-182.

Natural sciences

Zimmerer J et al. (2019). Integrated extraction and catalytic upgrading of microalgae lipids in supercritical carbon dioxide. Green Chemistry , 21(9), 2428-2435.

Computer science & engineering

Brunton SL et al. (2016) Discovering governing equations from data by sparse identification of nonlinear dynamical systems. PNAS , 113(15), 3932-3937.

Gebauer NWA et al. (2019). Symmetry-adapted generation of 3d point sets for the targeted discovery of molecules. arXiv preprint arXiv :1906.00957.

Pal A et al. (2020). Optimal turbine blade design enabled by auxetic honeycomb. Smart Materials and Structures , 29(12), 125004.

Banko M & Bril E (2001). Scaling to very very large corpora for natural language disambiguation. In Proceedings of the 39th annual meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics (pp. 26-33).

Rivest RL et al (1978). A method for obtaining digital signatures and public-key cryptosystems. Communications of the ACM , 21(2), 120-126.

Social sciences

Boyd R & Richerson PJ (1996). Why culture is common, but cultural evolution is rare. In Proceedings-British Academy Vol. 88, pp. 77-94. Oxford University Press Inc.

Kildal N (2003). Perspectives on Policy Transfer. The Case of the OECD. [working paper 13-2003]

Iyengar SS & Lepper MR (2000). When choice is demotivating: Can one desire too much of a good thing? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 79(6), 995.

Healy K (2017). Fuck nuance. Sociological Theory , 35(2), 118-127.

Do you know a well-written research article?

Are you disappointed because none of these articles is from your discipline? Or would you simply like to have more well-written research articles to pick from for your reading?

Then please, help grow this list by suggesting a freely accessible article that you found easy to read: [email protected] .

Stay updated

I hope to continuously extend this list and provide you with always new great articles to read. To enjoy and learn from.

Would you like to be notified about new additions ? Then join our weekly newsletter with tips and resources for your scientific writing.

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10 thoughts on “ Learn from the great: Well-written research article examples ”

One which I think is easily accessible (even to a motivated high school student) is

“College Admissions and the Stability of Marriage” by Gale and Shapley.

It is very old though.

Thank you, I’ll check it out!

I like that one: Noorduin, Wim L., et al. “Rationally designed complex, hierarchical microarchitectures.” Science 340.6134 (2013): 832-837.

Thanks a lot!

Hi, Martina! If a shameless plug is allowed, maybe one of the following from our lab will work, too: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444820000580 – on applying social network analysis to peer networks of foreign language learners https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0081225 – on the interplay between emotions and social norms in bilingual swearing https://doi.org/10.24059/olj.v25i1.2492 – findings from a global study of teachers’ engagement in and coping with emergency remote instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hi Mike, thanks a lot! I’ll check them out.

Ahoj, Martino!

I wanted to suggest the paper “Spatial and Temporal Resolution in Cardiovascular MR Imaging: Review and Recommendations” by G. Slavin and D. Bluemke ( https://pubs.rsna.org/doi/abs/10.1148/radiol.2342031990?journalCode=radiology ). Some time ago, someone asked me about spatial and temporal resolution, and in that moment, I found this well-written paper which is one of my favourites in the topic. I hope you like it.

Thanks a lot, I will check it out!

I would also recommend imho excellent reading from physics: Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger: https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.061102#fulltext I particularily like itroduction whcih can be accessible even to layperson outside this particular field.

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Journal Article References

This page contains reference examples for journal articles, including the following:

• Journal article
• Journal article with an article number
• Journal article with missing information
• Retracted journal article
• Retraction notice for a journal article
• Abstract of a journal article from an abstract indexing database
• Monograph as part of a journal issue
• Online-only supplemental material to a journal article

1. Journal article

Grady, J. S., Her, M., Moreno, G., Perez, C., & Yelinek, J. (2019). Emotions in storybooks: A comparison of storybooks that represent ethnic and racial groups in the United States. Psychology of Popular Media Culture , 8 (3), 207–217. https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000185

• Parenthetical citation : (Grady et al., 2019)
• Narrative citation : Grady et al. (2019)
• If a journal article has a DOI, include the DOI in the reference.
• Always include the issue number for a journal article.
• If the journal article does not have a DOI and is from an academic research database, end the reference after the page range (for an explanation of why, see the database information page ). The reference in this case is the same as for a print journal article.
• Do not include database information in the reference unless the journal article comes from a database that publishes works of limited circulation or original, proprietary content, such as UpToDate .
• If the journal article does not have a DOI but does have a URL that will resolve for readers (e.g., it is from an online journal that is not part of a database), include the URL of the article at the end of the reference.

2. Journal article with an article number

Jerrentrup, A., Mueller, T., Glowalla, U., Herder, M., Henrichs, N., Neubauer, A., & Schaefer, J. R. (2018). Teaching medicine with the help of “Dr. House.” PLoS ONE , 13 (3), Article e0193972. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0193972

• Parenthetical citation : (Jerrentrup et al., 2018)
• Narrative citation : Jerrentrup et al. (2018)
• If the journal article has an article number instead of a page range, include the word “Article” and then the article number instead of the page range.

3. Journal article with missing information

Missing volume number.

Lipscomb, A. Y. (2021, Winter). Addressing trauma in the college essay writing process. The Journal of College Admission , (249), 30–33. https://www.catholiccollegesonline.org/pdf/national_ccaa_in_the_news_-_nacac_journal_of_college_admission_winter_2021.pdf

Missing issue number

Sanchiz, M., Chevalier, A., & Amadieu, F. (2017). How do older and young adults start searching for information? Impact of age, domain knowledge and problem complexity on the different steps of information searching. Computers in Human Behavior , 72 , 67–78. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.02.038

Missing page or article number

Butler, J. (2017). Where access meets multimodality: The case of ASL music videos. Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy , 21 (1). http://technorhetoric.net/21.1/topoi/butler/index.html

• Parenthetical citations : (Butler, 2017; Lipscomb, 2021; Sanchiz et al., 2017)
• Narrative citations : Butler (2017), Lipscomb (2021), and Sanchiz et al. (2017)
• If the journal does not use volume, issue, and/or article or page numbers, omit the missing element(s) from the reference.
• If the journal is published quarterly and the month or season (Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer) is noted, include that with the date element; see the Lipscomb example.
• If the volume, issue, and/or article or page numbers have simply not yet been assigned, use the format for an advance online publication (see Example 7 in the Publication Manual ) or an in-press article (see Example 8 in the Publication Manual ).

4. Retracted journal article

Joly, J. F., Stapel, D. A., & Lindenberg, S. M. (2008). Silence and table manners: When environments activate norms. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin , 34 (8), 1047–1056. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167208318401 (Retraction published 2012, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 38 [10], 1378)

• Parenthetical citation : (Joly et al., 2008)
• Narrative citation : Joly et al. (2008)
• Use this format to cite the retracted article itself, for example, to discuss the contents of the retracted article.
• First provide publication details of the original article. Then provide information about the retraction in parentheses, including its year, journal, volume, issue, and page number(s).

5. Retraction notice for a journal article

de la Fuente, R., Bernad, A., Garcia-Castro, J., Martin, M. C., & Cigudosa, J. C. (2010). Retraction: Spontaneous human adult stem cell transformation. Cancer Research , 70 (16), 6682. https://doi.org/10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-10-2451

The Editors of the Lancet. (2010). Retraction—Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in children. The Lancet , 375 (9713), 445. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(10)60175-4

• Parenthetical citations : (de la Fuente et al., 2010; The Editors of the Lancet, 2010)
• Narrative citations : de la Fuente et al. (2010) and The Editors of the Lancet (2010)
• Use this format to cite a retraction notice rather than a retracted article, for example, to provide information on why an article was retracted.
• The author of the retraction notice may be an editor, editorial board, or some or all authors of the article. Examine the retraction notice to determine who to credit as the author.
• Reproduce the title of the retraction notice as shown on the work. Note that the title may include the words “retraction,” “retraction notice,” or “retraction note” as well as the title of the original article.

6. Abstract of a journal article from an abstract indexing database

Hare, L. R., & O'Neill, K. (2000). Effectiveness and efficiency in small academic peer groups: A case study (Accession No. 200010185) [Abstract from Sociological Abstracts]. Small Group Research , 31 (1), 24–53. https://doi.org/10.1177/104649640003100102

• Parenthetical citation : (Hare & O’Neill, 2000)
• Narrative citation : Hare and O’Neill (2000)
• Although it is preferable to cite the whole article, the abstract can be cited if that is your only available source.
• The foundation of the reference is the same as for a journal article.
• If the abstract has a database accession number, place it in parentheses after the title.
• Note that you retrieved only the abstract by putting the words “Abstract from” and then the name of the abstract indexing database in square brackets. Place this bracketed description after the title and any accession number.
• Accession numbers are sometimes referred to as unique identifiers or as publication numbers (e.g., as PubMed IDs); use the term provided by the database in your reference.

7. Monograph as part of a journal issue

Ganster, D. C., Schaubroeck, J., Sime, W. E., & Mayes, B. T. (1991). The nomological validity of the Type A personality among employed adults [Monograph]. Journal of Applied Psychology , 76 (1), 143–168. http://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.76.1.143

• Parenthetical citation : (Ganster et al., 1991)
• Narrative citation : Ganster et al. (1991)
• For a monograph with an issue (or whole) number, include the issue number in parentheses followed by the serial number, for example, 58 (1, Serial No. 231).
• For a monograph bound separately as a supplement to a journal, give the issue number and supplement or part number in parentheses after the volume number, for example, 80 (3, Pt. 2).

8. Online-only supplemental material to a journal article

Freeberg, T. M. (2019). From simple rules of individual proximity, complex and coordinated collective movement [Supplemental material]. Journal of Comparative Psychology , 133 (2), 141–142. https://doi.org/10.1037/com0000181

• Parenthetical citation : (Freeberg, 2019)
• Narrative citation : Freeberg (2019)
• Include the description “[Supplemental material]” in square brackets after the article title.
• If you cite both the main article and the supplemental material, provide only a reference for the article.

Journal article references are covered in the seventh edition APA Style manuals in the Publication Manual Section 10.1 and the Concise Guide Section 10.1

A new ‘AI scientist’ can write science papers without any human input. Here’s why that’s a problem

Dean, School of Computing Technologies, RMIT University, RMIT University

Disclosure statement

Karin Verspoor receives funding from the Australian Research Council, the Medical Research Future Fund, the National Health and Medical Research Council, and Elsevier BV. She is affiliated with BioGrid Australia and is a co-founder of the Australian Alliance for Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare.

RMIT University provides funding as a strategic partner of The Conversation AU.

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Scientific discovery is one of the most sophisticated human activities. First, scientists must understand the existing knowledge and identify a significant gap. Next, they must formulate a research question and design and conduct an experiment in pursuit of an answer. Then, they must analyse and interpret the results of the experiment, which may raise yet another research question.

Can a process this complex be automated? Last week, Sakana AI Labs announced the creation of an “AI scientist” – an artificial intelligence system they claim can make scientific discoveries in the area of machine learning in a fully automated way.

Using generative large language models (LLMs) like those behind ChatGPT and other AI chatbots, the system can brainstorm, select a promising idea, code new algorithms, plot results, and write a paper summarising the experiment and its findings, complete with references. Sakana claims the AI tool can undertake the complete lifecycle of a scientific experiment at a cost of just US$15 per paper – less than the cost of a scientist’s lunch.

These are some big claims. Do they stack up? And even if they do, would an army of AI scientists churning out research papers with inhuman speed really be good news for science?

How a computer can ‘do science’

A lot of science is done in the open, and almost all scientific knowledge has been written down somewhere (or we wouldn’t have a way to “know” it). Millions of scientific papers are freely available online in repositories such as arXiv and PubMed .

LLMs trained with this data capture the language of science and its patterns. It is therefore perhaps not at all surprising that a generative LLM can produce something that looks like a good scientific paper – it has ingested many examples that it can copy.

What is less clear is whether an AI system can produce an interesting scientific paper. Crucially, good science requires novelty.

But is it interesting?

Scientists don’t want to be told about things that are already known. Rather, they want to learn new things, especially new things that are significantly different from what is already known. This requires judgement about the scope and value of a contribution.

The Sakana system tries to address interestingness in two ways. First, it “scores” new paper ideas for similarity to existing research (indexed in the Semantic Scholar repository). Anything too similar is discarded.

Second, Sakana’s system introduces a “peer review” step – using another LLM to judge the quality and novelty of the generated paper. Here again, there are plenty of examples of peer review online on sites such as openreview.net that can guide how to critique a paper. LLMs have ingested these, too.

AI may be a poor judge of AI output

Feedback is mixed on Sakana AI’s output. Some have described it as producing “ endless scientific slop ”.

Even the system’s own review of its outputs judges the papers weak at best. This is likely to improve as the technology evolves, but the question of whether automated scientific papers are valuable remains.

The ability of LLMs to judge the quality of research is also an open question. My own work (soon to be published in Research Synthesis Methods ) shows LLMs are not great at judging the risk of bias in medical research studies, though this too may improve over time.

Sakana’s system automates discoveries in computational research, which is much easier than in other types of science that require physical experiments. Sakana’s experiments are done with code, which is also structured text that LLMs can be trained to generate.

AI tools to support scientists, not replace them

AI researchers have been developing systems to support science for decades. Given the huge volumes of published research, even finding publications relevant to a specific scientific question can be challenging.

Specialised search tools make use of AI to help scientists find and synthesise existing work. These include the above-mentioned Semantic Scholar, but also newer systems such as Elicit , Research Rabbit , scite and Consensus .

Text mining tools such as PubTator dig deeper into papers to identify key points of focus, such as specific genetic mutations and diseases, and their established relationships. This is especially useful for curating and organising scientific information.

Machine learning has also been used to support the synthesis and analysis of medical evidence, in tools such as Robot Reviewer . Summaries that compare and contrast claims in papers from Scholarcy help to perform literature reviews.

All these tools aim to help scientists do their jobs more effectively, not to replace them.

AI research may exacerbate existing problems

While Sakana AI states it doesn’t see the role of human scientists diminishing, the company’s vision of “a fully AI-driven scientific ecosystem” would have major implications for science.

One concern is that, if AI-generated papers flood the scientific literature, future AI systems may be trained on AI output and undergo model collapse . This means they may become increasingly ineffectual at innovating.

However, the implications for science go well beyond impacts on AI science systems themselves.

There are already bad actors in science, including “paper mills” churning out fake papers . This problem will only get worse when a scientific paper can be produced with US$15 and a vague initial prompt.

The need to check for errors in a mountain of automatically generated research could rapidly overwhelm the capacity of actual scientists. The peer review system is arguably already broken , and dumping more research of questionable quality into the system won’t fix it.

Science is fundamentally based on trust. Scientists emphasise the integrity of the scientific process so we can be confident our understanding of the world (and now, the world’s machines) is valid and improving.

A scientific ecosystem where AI systems are key players raises fundamental questions about the meaning and value of this process, and what level of trust we should have in AI scientists. Is this the kind of scientific ecosystem we want?

• Artificial intelligence (AI)
• Computer science
• Research integrity
• Paper mills

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31 Great Content Writing Examples, Tips, and Tools

• by Ann Gynn
• | Published: August 21, 2024
• | Content Creation

Great content writing must be powerful and effective to captivate your audience.

But accomplishing that with your content writing isn’t an easy task. Whether you craft words for B2B or B2C audiences, the challenges can be many.

To help, I’ve compiled web writing examples, tips, tools, and resources. The goal is to give you some insights and new tools to help address or minimize the creation stumbling blocks web and content writers face.

Let’s get to it.

1. Go for the surprise

When you write something that’s unexpected, your audience will likely stop scrolling and take a moment to learn more. In the worst cases, this approach to content writing falls under the nefarious clickbait category. But in the best cases, it can delight and engage the viewer.

Nike is always a go-to source for the best content examples. The summer of 2024 didn’t disappoint with its Winning Isn’t for Everyone campaign.

With a debut in time for the global games, Nike featured the world’s greatest athletes (well, all the great Nike-sponsored athletes) talking about they are motivated by victory and that there’s nothing wrong with wanting to win. Writing those four words — winning isn’t for everyone — fosters a strong reaction. After all, there are far more people who don’t win than do. But audiences are also likely to watch more of the videos to learn what Nike is really talking about.

As you watch the video, note the repetition of the same question (“Am I a bad person?”) followed by short, staccato-paced statements. This approach creates a lyrical story. And it paid off, earning over 2.2 million views in two weeks.

2. Don’t forget text has a starring role in video

Words appear in blog posts or descriptions of product features and benefits. But writers can also shine in  video scripts, along with set designers, actors, and filmmakers. Writers can take any topic and help make it captivating.

J.P. Morgan used animation and strong scripts to explain finance-related concepts in its Unpacked series, a finalist in the Content Marketing Awards for best video. This 4.5-minute episode covers how private companies go public:

3. Tap into trends with simple writing prompts

I’m always a fan of Dove’s #KeepBeautyReal campaigns. Most recently, it created an example of powerful writing in this simple question, “ What kind of beauty do we want AI to learn?”

Capitalizing on the AI trend and interest, Dove illustrates the difference between AI-created images for prompts about “beautiful women” and “beautiful women according to Dove’s Real Beauty ads.” In the first three months of its debut, the video with few words has earned over 100K views on Dove’s YouTube channel and garnered mainstream and industry media attention.

4. Let your audience create great writing and video examples

Creativity can emerge in many ways. Sometimes, it’s a simple starting point that reflects the times, as Dove did in its content example.

It also may lead a brand to contribute to its own pop culture trend as The Stanley did with its Quencher Cup social media campaign in 2024 . Its influencer campaign prompted these fun user-generated examples of web writing and illustration in the form of memes and TikTok videos promoting the brand’s popular drinking vessel.

Hilarious Scales created this sample that’s been seen by over 10 million viewers:

@hilarious_scaless How yall be lookin with them Stanley Cups 🤣 #fypシ #fyp #stanleycup #stanleytumbler ♬ original sound – Hilarious_scales

Fans of hockey (that sport with the other Stanley Cup) also got into the action as Instagram account Daily Facebook shared this example:

View this post on Instagram A post shared by DailyFaceoff (@dailyfaceoff)

5. Nail down your headlines

I’ve said it often: Headlines are the powerhouse of your content writing. After all, if the headline isn’t a success, the content behind it will never be read.

A 2024 study published in Science Advance conducted over 30,000 field experiments with The Washington Post and Upworthy headlines. It found that readers prefer simpler headlines (more common words and more readable writing) over complex ones. They also paid more attention to and more deeply processed the simpler headlines.

The e-book headline in this example from OptinMonster is straightforward: 50 Smart Ways to Segment Your Email List. It uses a numeral (50), a helpful adjective (smart), and a second-person pronoun (your) to speak directly to the audience, all of which elevates the article’s value in the reader’s mind.

Image source

6. Analyze the potential impact of your content headlines

Size up headlines with the Advanced Marketing Institute’s Headline Analyzer , which reveals an emotional marketing value score.

This headline example — 14 Ways Marketing Automation Helps B2B Companies Succeed — earns an emotional marketing value (EMV) of 37.5%. Most professional copywriters’ headlines typically have a 30% to 40% EMV score.

The same headline in a similar tool, CoSchedule Blog Post Headline Analyzer , earns a score of 77 out of 100. This analysis looks at word balance, headline type, sentiment, reading grade level, clarity, and skimmability. It also identifies areas for improvement, such as the use of uncommon, emotional, and power words.

7. Adjust title formats with this content writing tool

Speed your formatting tasks with TitleCase . The tool converts your title into various circumstances — all caps, hyphen, etc., so you don’t have to rekey or reformat.

8. Write headlines with words that resonate

BuzzSumo research consistently identifies “how-to” or guidance-focused headlines that resonate far better with audiences than any other type.

It makes sense. Audiences are seeking information that will help them in their lives, and they have a lot of content from which to choose. By writing phrases like “how to” in a headline, you tell them clearly what they’re going to get.

Get more tips from CMI’s article How To Create Headlines That Are Good for Readers and Business .

9. Focus on clarity for web content

Explaining your product or service can get cumbersome, but it shouldn’t if you want the audience to quickly understand how your company can help solve their pain points.

In this example, Zendesk succinctly highlights three results gained by the enterprise clients of its customer service platform:

• Drive better conversations
• Maximize agent efficiency
• Adapt faster to change

The three- and four-word headlines are followed by short explanations (two sentences) and a link to the product’s relevant features for that category.

10. Write to win over readers

How does your content inspire readers or get them to care?

Some suggestions include:

• Focus on actionable content they could use right away.
• Establish instant credibility and expertise so they understand why you’re the go-to resource.
• Add value they wouldn’t see or find elsewhere.

This ad for the Content Marketing Institute newsletter works well as a sample of website content writing. It illustrates how to motivate the audience to see that the content is relevant for them. Its headline “Looking for Fresh Content Inspiration?” speaks directly to the reader. Its follow-up sentence explains in detail what the reader will get — expert advice, standout examples, and creative ideas.

11. Choose words that motivate actions

Sometimes, it’s a simple word or phrase that prompts someone to take the next step. Buffer offers a list of more than 150 words . These 19 words and phrases are examples of how to gain the audience’s trust:

• Bestselling
• Endorsed by
• Money-back guarantee
• No obligation
• No questions asked
• Recommended
• Transparent
• Try for free

In this web page example, OptinMonster opts for one of those words in its headline — How To Create a Fail-Proof Digital Marketing Plan in 5 Steps .

12. Keep it brief but convey a lot

Given your audience reads on screens, your web writing usually appears in a small space. Yet, it still must reflect a strong message.

For example, this American Express Business web copy uses five words to indicate that it gets the reader’s problem — “Don’t stress over seasonal surges.” Then, it uses another five words to indicate that it has a solution — “Help you keep your business thriving.” On the right, it shows the product name that will do all that (American Express business line of credit.)

13. Create compelling content with better words

Choosing a single word to convey the perfect sentiment makes the most of your available content space. To help, Jon Morrow of Smart Blogger offers a collection of words that can make a difference in your writing: 801+ Power Words That Make You Sound Smart . Here are 15 of them:

• Frightening

In this headline — Firefox Hacks for Everyone: From Cozy Gamers to Minimalists and Beyond — the Mozilla blog opted for one of the power words, “hack.”

 I’ll issue a caveat on this option: Power words can quickly become overused. “Hack” is coming close to saturation.

14. Length isn’t everything

I like to know content length rules and preferences. They give me guideposts for my web writing.

Google makes 30 characters available in its ad headlines, and it’s hard to go shorter than that. This simple sample — Best Enterprise CRM Platform — is 28 characters.

On social media, though, the character parameters are greater, and you could improve engagement by falling short of the upper limits.

Instagram is a perfect example of where writing content short of the 2,200-character maximum caption is a better decision. In fact, experts say the ideal length is 125 characters, which takes up the space visible before the viewer must click to read more.

Still, sometimes writing fewer than 125 characters can work well and draw attention in a crowded feed, as this sample from Grammarly shows. Its caption — “Learn actionable strategies for leveraging Gen AI to elevate your team’s productivity.” — totals just 88 characters.

Of course, exceptions exist. If your content’s primary goal is search engine optimization, longer content is almost always best. As a website ages, it may be able to get by with shorter pieces because it’s already established authority and has more pages, inbound links , etc. However, extended content often helps generate high rankings for targeted keyword phrases and similar words.

15. Choose short words for your web writing

You don’t need to use a lot of words to get your point across. Short ones can work in your favor. Consider these common examples of better choices:

• “Show,” not “indicate”
• “Get rid of,” not “eliminate”
• “Use,” not “utilize”
• “To,” not “in order to”
• “Help,” not “facilitate”
• “Get,” not “obtain”

16. Use a tool to keep track of word counts

Meet your word count goals and improve your word choice with the WordCounter tool. It also helps identify keywords and their appropriate frequency of use.

17. Recognize common writing mistakes

Grammar Girl , created by Mignon Fogarty, founder of Quick and Dirty Tips, outlines some common mistakes, such as this example on the use of that vs. which in writing.

“The simple rule is to use ‘that’ with a restrictive element and ‘which’ with a non-restrictive element … The cupcakes that have sprinkles are still in the fridge. The words “that have sprinkles” restrict the kind of cupcake we’re talking about. Without those words, the meaning of the sentence would change. Without them, we’d be saying that all the cupcakes are still in the fridge, not just the ones with sprinkles.”

18. Use parallel construction

Parallel construction organizes the text and relieves your readers of expending mental energy to piece together the thoughts.

• For example, this mish-mash list is not parallel because the sentence structures vary:
• It could be time to look over your business software contract.
• Consider the best products.
• If you want the product to benefit your company, include others’ points of view.

The list is parallel because every sentence starts the same way – with a verb .

• Review your business software contract.
• Shop for the best products based on features, costs, and support options.
• Ask key members of your team for their perspectives, including productivity barriers.

19. Know when to break the infinitive rule

Avoid splitting infinitives. However, sometimes you might need to bypass grammatically correct in favor of unawkward content.

Pro Writing Aid explains that split infinitives are nothing new — their use dates back to the 1300s. However, there is a time and place for them, as shown in this example from Northern Illinois University’s Effective Writing Practices Tutorial :

• Split infinitive but easily understood: It’s hard to completely follow his reasoning.
• No split infinitive, but awkwardly written: It’s hard to follow completely his reasoning.

20. Be conscious of pronouns

A conversational approach typically works best when you’re creating web content. Writing in the first or second person can accomplish this.

Embracing inclusivity also fosters a conversational atmosphere.

When you’re using pronouns, make sure it’s clear to what the pronoun refers. Given some people use they/them pronouns, ensuring pronoun clarity is especially important.

In those cases where the reader may be confused, explain the person’s use of the plural non-gendered pronoun in the text, for example, “Alex Alumino, who uses they/them pronouns …” Even better, just repeat their name in the sentence so there’s no need to explain and no misunderstanding.

21. Don’t overuse words

Redundancy bores. To figure out if you’re committing this sin, paste your text into the Word It Out tool. The word cloud reveals those used most often in your text.

We input a recent CMI article about user stories to create a word cloud for that content sample. It is no surprise that “user” shows up front and center, but it’s also an indicator for us to review the article to see if “user” is overused. “Katie” also shows up prominently in the word cloud as it’s the first name of the source for the article, and CMI uses first, instead of last names, on second and subsequent references. A review of the article could reveal it unnecessarily references the source too many times.

Similarly, WordCounter detects whether you’re using the same words too often. Use Thesaurus.com to find alternatives.

22. Try this content writing tool to replace jargon-like words

You need to speak your audience’s language, but that doesn’t mean you need to adopt the industry’s jargon. De-Jargonizer is designed to help analyze the jargon in scholarly articles, but the tool works just as well with your content writing.

In this example from a CMI article about building a social media plan , De-Jargonizer identifies four “rare” words — ebbs, inhospitable, clarifies, and actionable.

You can upload a file or paste your text to discover those rare words, aka potential jargon, in your content writing. Then, you can find more reader-friendly replacements.

23. Check your readability score

Even if readers can understand the jargon and complex sentences, they still don’t want to work hard to understand your content. To help understand if your writing is on the easier side, use a tool like Web FX’s Readability Test . It scores your content’s average reading ease and targeted readership age.

In this example, it evaluates the Fedex.com website and concludes it has a reading ease of 27.8 out of 100 and is targeted at 14- and 15-year-olds.

You can scroll down to see other readability scores, including Flesch Kincaid reading ease, Flesch Kincaid grade level, Gunning Fog, Smog Index, Coleman Liau, and Automated Readability Index.

The bottom of the evaluation includes the statistics about the evaluated text, including:

• Total sentences
• Total words
• Complex words
• Percent of complex words
• Average words per sentence
• Average syllables per word

Adjust your writing to meet the preferred readership level of your audience.

24. Evaluate sentence structure with the Hemingway App

Want more help to write content that’s easy to read? Consider tools like the Hemingway app, which provides immediate and detailed feedback on content structure, including sentence formatting. With the website version, you can replace the default text with your own.

The Hemingway app identifies potentially unnecessary adverbs, warns about passive voice, and triggers alerts to dull, complicated words.

In this web writing example from its home page, Hemingway App highlights one of the 13 sentences as very hard to read, one as hard to read, two weakener phrases, and one word with a simpler alternative.

25. Get web writing right with good grammar

Proper grammar is a necessity; you want to get everything correct to satisfy readers (and bosses). Try Grammarly .

Improve your writing with this cloud-based, AI editor. Grammarly automates grammar, spelling, and punctuation checks, often giving better, cleaner content options. The tool also alerts writers to passive voice, suggests opportunities to be concise, and assesses overall tone.

You also can save time and energy with ProWritingAid . It eliminates the need to reread to polish your content. This AI editing software offers more than grammar checks. It checks for vague wording, sentence length variation, and overuse of adverbs and passive voice. The tool also identifies complicated or run-on sentences. (“Content Writing Examples, Tips, and Resources”)

26. Read your web content in scanning mode

Here’s some sad news for content writers: Readers won’t consume every word in your content. They skip and scan a lot to see if the content is a good fit for them, and then they hope they can glean the relevant information without having to consume all the content.

As you write, think about how the text will look visually. Make it easy for readers to scan your content by including:

• Short paragraphs
• Bulleted lists
• Bolded text
• Words in color

27. Read aloud

If your content doesn’t flow as you speak it, it may not work for the reader . Pay attention to when you take too many pauses or pause in places where no comma exists. Adjust your text — add a comma or break the sentence into two.

Microsoft Word offers a read-aloud feature through its immersive reader tools, while Google Docs can use a Chrome extension to give a voice to the content .

28. Use plagiarism checkers

In recent years, advancements in artificial intelligence have prompted growth in automated plagiarism checkers. Microsoft Word embeds the feature option in its software as does Grammarly. You also can use tools dedicated to ensuring that the content writing isn’t a copycat (or being copycatted), including:

• Unicheck – Verify the originality of work with plagiarism detection. You can spot outright copying and minor text modifications in unscrupulous submissions.
• Copyscape – Protect your content and your reputation. Copyscape uncovers plagiarism in purchased content and detects plagiarism by others of your original work.

Of course, no plagiarism checker is 100% accurate, so before you accuse a content writer of plagiarism, triple-check the results (and add a human touch whenever appropriate).

29. Use a topic tool for writing inspiration

HubSpot’s Ideas Generator works well to get your creative content writing juices flowing. Just fill in the fields with three nouns to get some ideas.

For example, if you input the words car, truck, and SUV, HubSpot delivers these ideas along with the targeted keywords for the topic:

• Keyword: Top truck accessories
• Keyword: Comparing SUV models
• Keyword: Truck bed organization ideas

HubSpot’s topic generator also allows users to pick a title and have an outline created for that article.

You also could perform a similar exercise by writing the prompts in other generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT and Gemini .

NOTE: Always review the titles and accompanying data to ensure accuracy. In the HubSpot sample, the generator included a headline — Discover the Best SUVs for Families in 2021. Yet, it’s 2024.

30. Know SEO responsibilities in web writing

Sometimes writers create content with multiple purposes. They have the burden of blending SEO into the content . I frame it as a burden because it’s one more variable to deal with. If you have a knack for SEO and goals you can measure, it’s not a burden.

Unfortunately, you sometimes don’t know what realistic keywords to pursue. Aim too low and you use rarely searched keywords. Aspire for something too competitive, and the content won’t rank.

How are you evaluating keywords? Learn how to find your sweet spot with keyword selection (and how to appear on the first page of Google). Identify potential keywords by using tools like:

• Moz Keyword Explorer
• Google’s Keyword Planner
• Keyword Tool
• AnswerThePublic
• Neil Patel’s Ubersuggest

31. Monitor relevant topics to get ideas for your content

With Feedly , you can stay informed about what matters most and avoid information overload. This AI assistant learns your preferences, then culls and curates content from the internet that you want and need.

Share your favorite writing tricks

What content creation and copywriting productivity tools do you favor? What do you do each day to make your writing tasks just a little easier? Please tag CMI on social media using #CMWorld.

All tools mentioned in this article were suggested by the author. If you’d like to suggest a tool, share the article on social media with a comment.

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Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute

• Introduction
• Conclusions
• Article Information

eTable 1. Classification of Indications

eTable 2. Dechallenge and Rechallenge With Semaglutide

eTable 3. Dechallenge and Rechallenge With Liraglutide

eTable 4. Sex, Median Age and Dose (IQR) for Suicidal Ideation ADRs by Drug and Indication

eTable 5. Coreported Psychiatric Reactions for Semaglutide

eTable 6. Coreported Psychiatric Reactions for Liraglutide by Indication

eTable 7. Number of Cases, Noncases, Other Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) and Total Number of Other Reports in the Database for Semaglutide

eTable 8. Number of Cases, Noncases, Other Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) and Total Number of Other Reports in the Database for Liraglutide

eTable 9. Disproportionality Analysis of Semaglutide-Associated Suicidal Ideation Compared With All Other Drugs in the Database in Female and Male Patients Separately

eTable 10. Number of Semaglutide-Associated Cases of Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) by Year

eTable 11. Number of Liraglutide-Associated Cases of Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) by Year

eReferences.

Data Sharing Statement

• GLP-1 Receptor Agonists and Suicidality JAMA Network Open Invited Commentary August 20, 2024 Francesco Salvo, MD, PhD; Jean-Luc Faillie, MD, PhD

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Schoretsanitis G , Weiler S , Barbui C , Raschi E , Gastaldon C. Disproportionality Analysis From World Health Organization Data on Semaglutide, Liraglutide, and Suicidality. JAMA Netw Open. 2024;7(8):e2423385. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.23385

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Disproportionality Analysis From World Health Organization Data on Semaglutide, Liraglutide, and Suicidality

• 1 The Zucker Hillside Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Northwell Health, Glen Oaks, New York
• 2 Department of Psychiatry, Zucker School of Medicine at Northwell/Hofstra, Hempstead, Glen Oaks, New York
• 3 Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Hospital of Psychiatry, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
• 4 Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
• 5 Institute of Primary Care, University of Zurich and University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
• 6 WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health and Service Evaluation, Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, Section of Psychiatry, University of Verona, Verona, Italy
• 7 Pharmacology Unit, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
• 8 Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
• Invited Commentary GLP-1 Receptor Agonists and Suicidality Francesco Salvo, MD, PhD; Jean-Luc Faillie, MD, PhD JAMA Network Open

Question   Are glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists semaglutide and liraglutide, which were originally introduced for the treatment of type 2 diabetes and are frequently prescribed due to their weight loss properties, associated with disproportionately increased reporting of suicidality?

Findings   This disproportionality analysis through the case-control design based on the World Health Organization global database collecting suspected adverse drug reactions, identified a disproportionality signal of suicidal ideation with semaglutide, which remained significant when comparing semaglutide with dapagliflozin and metformin and in the subgroup of patients with coreported use of antidepressants and benzodiazepines.

Meaning   A detected signal of semaglutide-associated suicidal ideation warrants urgent clarification.

Importance   Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) have gained use primarily due to their weight-reduction effects, although a regulatory review was undertaken for potential suicidality concern.

Objectives   To evaluate potential signals for suicidal and self-injurious adverse drug reactions (ADRs) associated with the GLP-1 RAs semaglutide and liraglutide.

Design, Setting, and Participants   Disproportionality analysis through the case-control design using the World Health Organization (WHO) global database of suspected ADRs. Participants were clinical patients worldwide experiencing an ADR suspectedly attributable to semaglutide or liraglutide in the database from inception to August 30, 2023. Data were analyzed from September to December 2023.

Exposure   Treatment with semaglutide or liraglutide regardless of indication or treatment duration.

Main Outcomes and Measures   Reporting odds ratio (ROR) and the bayesian information component (IC) with 95% CIs were calculated as measures of disproportionate reporting of suicidal and self-injurious ADRs associated with semaglutide and liraglutide compared with all other medications. Sensitivity analyses were conducted including patients with coreported use of antidepressants and benzodiazepines and using dapagliflozin, metformin, and orlistat as comparators. A disproportionality signal was considered when the lower limits of the ROR and IC were above 1 and 0, respectively.

Results   A total of 107 (median [IQR] age 48 [40-56] years; 59 female patients [55%]) and 162 (median [IQR] age 47 [38-60] years; 100 female patients [61%]) cases of suicidal and/or self-injurious ADRs were reported between November 2000 and August 2023 with semaglutide and liraglutide, respectively. Significant disproportionality was detected only for semaglutide-associated suicidal ideation (ROR, 1.45; 95% CI, 1.18-1.77; IC, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.19-0.78), which remained significant in patients with coreported use of antidepressants (ROR, 4.45; 95% CI, 2.52-7.86; IC, 1.96; 95% CI, 0.98-2.63) and benzodiazepines (ROR, 4.07; 95% CI, 1.69-9.82; IC, 1.67; 95% CI, 0.11-2.65), when compared with dapagliflozin (ROR, 5.56; 95% CI, 3.23-9.60; IC, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.36-0.95), metformin (ROR, 3.86; 95% CI, 2.91-5.12; IC, 1.20; 95% CI, 0.94-1.53) and orlistat (ROR, 4.24; 95% CI, 2.69-6.69; IC, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.36-0.95).

Conclusions and Relevance   This study using the WHO database found a signal of semaglutide-associated suicidal ideation, which warrants urgent clarification.

Over the past decade, obesity trends have reached epidemic standards. 1 In this context, the understanding of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1)–based mechanisms and related anorectic properties of GLP-1 receptor agonists (RAs) have revolutionized the treatment of obesity. 2 In addition to enhancing glucose-dependent insulin release, GLP-1 RAs may reduce glucagon secretion as well as gastric emptying. 2 Originally introduced for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, the effect of GLP-1 RAs on weight loss soon caught research attention. 3 The weight loss properties of liraglutide and semaglutide quickly went viral on social media, leveraging their promotion as lifestyle drugs not just for patients with diabetes 4 and leading to a global shortage. 5 Currently, it is estimated that approximately 10% of patients with type 2 diabetes in the US are prescribed GLP-1 RAs. 6 Accordingly, regulatory authorities over the world have urged health care professionals to direct available supplies to patients with type 2 diabetes who are inadequately managed with other medications over off-label prescriptions. 7 , 8 Despite the promising potential of GLP-1 RAs, serious concerns have been raised about their safety. 9 , 10 On July 3, 2023, a series of reports for suicidal or self-harming thoughts associated with liraglutide or semaglutide triggered an ongoing review by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). 11 Previously, in the approval trials, 9 of the 3384 patients treated with liraglutide (0.27%) had reported suicidal ideation compared with 2 of 1941 patients allocated to the placebo group (0.10%). 12 On the other hand, no patients using semaglutide for obesity had developed suicidal ideation, 13 , 14 and no mental health differences were observed in adolescents, with a lower percentage of participants in the semaglutide group than in the placebo group reporting psychiatric adverse events (7% vs 15%). 15

The EMA-led investigation might have a global impact, given that liraglutide and semaglutide are administered to more than 20 million people per year. 11 This investigation was expected to be completed in November 2023, but ultimately updated in April 2024 after requesting further clarifications. 16 In the meantime the British Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also announced a similar investigation. 17 So far both EMA and FDA declared that they did not find any clear demonstration of a relationship between GLP-1 RAs and suicide based on the available evidence, although the FDA investigation is still ongoing. 18 , 19

Marketing companies stated that warnings about suicidal behavior and ideation are formally required for medications prescribed for chronic weight management affecting the central nervous system. 20 The first 2 pharmacovigilance studies on the topic only included partial data from the US, 21 , 22 and a report from the EMA pharmacovigilance database did not assess disproportionality. 23 Typically, patients with suicidality are excluded from clinical trials; therefore, the reports from clinical trials may be less precise in capturing the risk of suicidal or self-injurious adverse drug reactions (ADRs) in later practice. In this context, we aimed to assess suicidal and/or self-injurious ADRs associated with liraglutide or semaglutide at a global level, using a World Health Organization (WHO) database of individual case safety reports (ICSRs).

This case-control study was conceived as a disproportionality analysis of the WHO Vigibase, a consolidated tool for postmarketing surveillance. In the past, large-scale ICSR databases attracted interest for early detection and characterization of emerging safety issues. 24 - 26

All procedures and analyses adhered to the Uppsala Monitoring Centre (UMC) caveat agreement for reporting standards and were in accordance with the Helsinki declaration for ethical principles in medical research. As the data were anonymized and all analyses were descriptive, an ethical review from the Zurich Cantonal ethics board was not required. Additionally, per the Common Rule, because all data in the database are anonymized, patient informed consent was not required. This study was reported according to The Reporting of A Disproportionality Analysis for Drug Safety Signal Detection Using Individual Case Safety Reports in PharmacoVigilance (READUS-PV) guideline. 27 - 29

We conducted a comprehensive search for reports of suicidal or self-injurious ADRs associated with liraglutide and semaglutide within the WHO global ICSRs database, which is the largest pharmacovigilance archive worldwide containing over 28 million reports of suspected ADRs from 140 member countries. On August 30, 2023, we selected all deduplicated ICSRs recorded in the database from inception. Reports for semaglutide were recorded between July 2011 and August 2023, whereas for liraglutide, reports were collected between November 2000 and August 2023. Database services are offered by the UMC, which manages the database. 30 , 31 Drugs recorded on the reports are coded using the WHO drug dictionary 32 and ADRs are classified according to the Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities (MedDRA), version 23.1. 33 Two authors (C.G. and G.S.) identified ADRs involving liraglutide and/or semaglutide as suspected or interacting drugs to identify any report of suicidal and/or self-injurious ADRs as classified in the “suicide/self-injury” standardized MedDRA query (SMQ) of the MedDRA classification. Such SMQs include any ADR related to suicidal and/or self-injurious thoughts and events. 34 Cases were all reports of suicidal and/or self-injurious ADRs, whereas controls were all other reports of suspected ADRs. We included liraglutide-related or semaglutide-related reports.

Descriptive statistics on demographic and clinical characteristics (in medians and IQRs) of reported cases were provided. We compared the percentage of female patients, age, and dose between patients prescribed GLP-1 RAs for different indications. We grouped indications into the following categories: diabetes, weight management, possible off-label indication, and others. The classification of indications is detailed in eTable 1 in Supplement 1 . Comparisons of demographic and clinical characteristics were performed using χ 2 tests, Wilcox, Kruskal-Wallis, or Fisher tests. We also explored psychiatric symptoms coreported with the suicidal and/or self-injurious ADRs of interest. Two-sided P values less than .05 were considered significant.

We performed disproportionality analysis using 2 consolidated measures when at least 3 reports were recorded: first, we estimated reporting odds ratio (ROR) 35 and the bayesian information component (IC), 36 with 95% CIs. We applied well-established thresholds to define signals of disproportionate reporting, that is, lower limit of the 95% CI greater than 1 and greater than 0 for ROR and IC, respectively. Additional details about disproportionality analysis are reported in the eMethods in Supplement 1 .

For suicidal and/or self-injurious ADRs that had a signal of disproportionate reporting in the main disproportionality analysis, we performed sensitivity analyses to explore potential confounders. The following sensitivity analyses were conducted: (1) selecting only cases with coreporting of use of antidepressants and (2) only cases with coreporting of use of benzodiazepines as a proxy of depressive and anxiety disorders that can increase the risk of suicidal and/or self-injurious behaviors and ideation. Moreover, we repeated the aforementioned analyses by (3) excluding reports with coreporting of antidepressants and (4) benzodiazepines. To additionally mitigate the risk of confounding by indication and channeling bias, we performed 3 other sensitivity analyses using other drugs prescribed for the same indications (obesity and type 2 diabetes) as comparators; specifically we selected (5) dapagliflozin, a sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitor, and (6) metformin, considering their well-established role in the treatment of type 2 diabetes coupled with their favorable impact on body weight 37 , 38 ; and (7) orlistat, considering its indication for obesity and weight loss.

We also assessed the disproportionality of reporting in female and male patients separately. Last, to assess the trend of reporting over time, we reported the number of reports by year for all ADRs of interest and for each ADR with disproportionate reporting. Data were analyzed from September to December 2023.

As of August 30, 2023, of the 36 172 078 total reports in the database, we identified a total of 107 (median [IQR] age, 48 [40-56] years; 59 female patients [55%]; median [IQR] treatment duration, 24.0 [2.3-61.0] days [data from 28 reports]) unique, deduplicated cases of suicidal and/or self-injurious ADRs associated with semaglutide (107 of the 30 527 total reports [0.35%]) and 162 (median [IQR] age, 47 [38-60] years; 100 female patients [61%]; median [IQR] treatment duration, 46.0 [14.0-99.0] days [data from 33 reports]) cases associated with liraglutide (162 of 52 131 total reports [0.31%]). Demographic and clinical characteristics of the cases are reported in Table 1 by GLP-1 RA.

Regarding indications for use, the main reason for prescription was a possible off-label use (34 patients for semaglutide [31.8%] and 55 for liraglutide [33.9%]), followed by weight management (28 for semaglutide [26.2%] and 40 for liraglutide [24.7%]), diabetes (26 for semaglutide [24.3%] and 33 for liraglutide [20.4%]), and in 1 case for polycystic ovary syndrome for each GLP-1 RA (1 for semaglutide [0.9%] and 1 for liraglutide [0.6%]). Semaglutide-associated cases were reported by consumers in almost half of the reports (52 cases [48.6%]). Liraglutide-associated cases were mainly reported by health professionals (103 cases [63.6%]).

Regarding outcomes following dechallenge and rechallenge, both for semaglutide (eTable 2 in Supplement 1 ) and liraglutide (eTable 3 in Supplement 1 ), suicidal ideation resolved after drug discontinuation in 62.5% of the cases. In the semaglutide-associated reports of suicidal and/or self-injurious ADRs, the most common comedications included antidiabetics (17 patients [15.9%]) and antidepressants (14 patients [13.1%]), with higher percentages for liraglutide (49 patients [30.3%] and 30 patients [18.5%], respectively) ( Table 1 ).

Suicidal and/or self-injurious ADRs associated with semaglutide and/or liraglutide are presented in Table 2 . Suicidal ideation, intentional overdose, and suicide attempt ranked highest for semaglutide (94 patients [88%], 7 patients [6.5%], and 7 patients [6.5%], respectively), whereas for liraglutide suicidal ideation, completed suicide, and suicide attempt ranked highest (116 patients [71.6%], 19 patients [11.7%], and 16 patients [9.9%], respectively). Seven reactions (6.5%) were fatal for semaglutide and 24 (14.8%) for liraglutide. In Table 2 we report the number and percentage of each ADR by indication. For reports of suicidal ideation, we reported older age for patients prescribed liraglutide for diabetes compared with off-label and weight management, as well as a lower percentage of female patients prescribed liraglutide for diabetes compared with off-label and weight management (eTable 4 in Supplement 1 ).

The list of coreported psychiatric symptoms for semaglutide and liraglutide is reported in eTable 5 and eTable 6 in Supplement 1 . For liraglutide there were 91 cases in which suicidal and/or self-injurious ADRs were reported without any other psychiatric symptoms, 50 cases in which 1 psychiatric symptom was coreported, and 21 in which 2 or more other psychiatric symptoms were reported. Table 2 shows the number of cases in which suicidal and/or self-injurious ADRs were reported alone by indication. In half of these cases the drug was taken off-label both for semaglutide and liraglutide ( Table 2 ).

We detected a significant disproportionality only for semaglutide-associated suicidal ideation compared with all medications (ROR, 1.45; 95% CI, 1.18-1.77; IC, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.19-0.78) ( Table 3 ). Data on duration for semaglutide treatment were available in 26 patients reporting suicidal ideation, with a mean (range) duration of 80.39 (0 to 610) days between semaglutide treatment initiation and suicidal ideation occurrence. We did not find signals for any other ADR of interest ( Table 3 ). Numbers of cases and controls are reported in eTable 7 and eTable 8 in Supplement 1 .

The first sensitivity analysis including cases with comedications with antidepressants showed a disproportionate reporting of semaglutide-associated suicidal ideation compared with all medications (ROR, 4.45; 95% CI, 2.52 to 7.86; IC, 1.96; 95% CI, 0.98 to 2.63). The second sensitivity analysis including cases with comedications with benzodiazepines showed a disproportionate reporting of semaglutide-associated suicidal ideation compared with all medications (ROR, 4.07; 95% CI, 1.69 to 9.82; IC, 1.67; 95% CI, 0.11 to 2.65). Reporting was not disproportionate when excluding reports with comedications with antidepressants (ROR, 1.28; 95% CI, 1.03 to 1.60; IC, 0.36; 95% CI, −0.10 to 0.63), but remained disproportionate when excluding reports with comedications with benzodiazepines (ROR, 1.40; 95% CI, 1.13 to 1.72; IC, 0.48; 95% CI, 0.13 to 0.73). The fifth sensitivity analysis showed a disproportionate reporting of semaglutide-associated suicidal ideation compared with dapagliflozin (ROR, 5.56; 95% CI, 3.23 to 9.60; IC, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.36 to 0.95). The sixth sensitivity analysis showed a disproportionate reporting of semaglutide-associated suicidal ideation compared with metformin (ROR, 3.86; 95% CI, 2.91 to 5.12; IC, 1.20; 95% CI, 0.94 to 1.53). The seventh sensitivity analysis showed a disproportionate reporting of semaglutide-associated suicidal ideation compared with orlistat (ROR, 4.24; 95% CI, 2.69 to 6.69; IC, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.36 to 0.95). The analysis of disproportionality for suicidal ideation in female and male patients separately yielded disproportionate reporting in men (ROR, 1.51; 95% CI, 1.09 to 2.08; IC, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.03 to 0.97), whereas in female patients, although the lower limit of the 95% CI of the ROR was greater than 1 (ROR, 1.35; 95% CI, 1.02 to 1.77) the lower limit of the 95% CI of the IC was less than 0 (IC, 0.42; 95% CI,−0.05 to 0.75) (eTable 9 in Supplement 1 ).

From marketization year till August 2023, there was a slight increase in the proportion of suicidal ADRs reported for both drugs. The increase was from 0% (2017) to 0.8% (2023) for semaglutide and from 0.09% (2014) to 0.4% (2023) for liraglutide (eTable 10 and eTable 11 in Supplement 1 ).

In this disproportionality analysis of the world’s largest ICSRs database using a case-control design, we found a significant disproportionality only for semaglutide-associated suicidal ideation compared with other medications. The number of reports showed a gradual increase over the years, which may indicate a widening therapeutic scope in obesity and accumulating clinical experience.

To our knowledge, no previous reports investigated the association between semaglutide and suicidal ideation using this database. In our sensitivity analyses, the disproportionality remained significant when focusing on coreported antidepressants or benzodiazepines, suggesting that people with anxiety and depressive disorders may be at higher probability of reporting suicidal ideation when medicated with semaglutide. When repeating the analysis after excluding cases in which antidepressants were coreported, we did not detect a disproportionality signal. In contrast, when repeating the analysis after excluding cases in which benzodiazepines were coreported, the disproportionality remained significant. This is consistent with an interaction between baseline psychopathology and semaglutide effects and warrants further investigation. Although EMA stated that no update to the product information is warranted, based on these findings, we believe that a precaution of use in patients with psychiatric disorders or psychological lability could be added in the semaglutide package insert. Remarkably, the FDA label of semaglutide for obesity warned to monitor for depression or suicidal thoughts. 39

One study using the FDA pharmacovigilance database suggested disproportionate reporting for suicidal ideation and suicidal depression for semaglutide and liraglutide, 21 whereas another study did not detect an association between suicidality and GLP-1 RAs. 22 Likewise, a cohort study using electronic health records did not detect higher risks of suicidal ideation in patients with obesity or diabetes treated with semaglutide compared with non–GLP-1 RAs. 40 Compared with this study, in our analysis we also included patients with potential off-label prescription of GLP-1 RAs. Thus, our analysis may be generalized to patients receiving GLP-1 RAs without a diagnosis of diabetes or obesity, thus further confirming the complementary nature of studies based on ICSRs disproportionality analysis and longitudinal observational design.

Evidence from bariatric studies suggests that a history of depression or anxiety is a predictor of suicide risk postoperatively, providing context for this interplay 41 ; authors discussed this association in light of the emerging frustration due to high expectations of bariatric surgery outcomes in patients with limited resources to deal with mental distress. 41 Of note, the pivotal trials of semaglutide in obesity had different exclusion criteria for mental disorders, such as major depressive disorder within 2 years before screening, diagnosis of severe psychiatric disorders, and history of suicide attempts. 13 , 15 An alternative hypothesis may consider very rapid weight loss related to adjustment problems such as inability to eat as expected and ultimately exacerbated mental distress in highly vulnerable patients. 41 Due to lack of data on GLP-1 RA–related changes of baseline weight or BMI, we could not test for either hypothesis.

Although comorbidity with depression is high in patients with diabetes, 42 the coreporting between antidepressants and antidiabetics was negligible. Furthermore, the signal of semaglutide remained when comparing with dapagliflozin, metformin, and orlistat, mitigating the risk of confounding by indication for diabetes and obesity. Therefore, patients with diabetes and/or obesity without psychiatric comorbidities may not be at high risk of semaglutide-associated suicidal ideation. Although ADR incidence cannot be calculated using the spontaneous reporting system, this ADR is likely to be rare and would probably not substantially alter the benefit-risk profile of semaglutide in approved therapeutic settings. However, the observed high proportion of cases due to possible off-label use and a recently published postmarketing signal of misuse or abuse 43 call for urgent clarification of patient-related and drug-related risk factors; cohort studies and large registries should be stratified by therapeutic indication, sex, and history of mental disorders, and data from off-label use should be retrieved.

Despite the large number of cases, we did not detect any signals for liraglutide-associated suicidal and/or self-injurious ADRs. Pooled data from phase 2 and 3 trials on liraglutide vs placebo for weight management identified a potential risk for suicidal ideation. 12 Nine of 3384 participants in the liraglutide group vs 2 of 1941 in the placebo group reported suicidal ideation or behavior during the trial (0.27% vs 0.10%). 12

The results of this study should be interpreted in light of several limitations. 25 First, we need to consider barriers to reporting and missing information. Second, the well-known inability to infer causality does not allow us to attribute any reactions to the effect of a drug. Third, the lack of denominator does not allow us to estimate the incidence of ADRs. Fourth, selection and collider bias, 44 as well as confounding by indication and channeling bias, although partially mitigated by our sensitivity analyses, may have played a role as people with treatment-resistant diabetes or obesity might reflect a subgroup of patients with more severe conditions including higher risk of mental distress. Additional adjustments for potential confounders, such as alcohol or substance misuse, were limited by the relatively small number of reports found. In the absence of more details about off-label prescribing, we were not able to further qualify the extent to which prescribing was off-label and its impact on the results. Fifth, the lack of treatment outcomes, such as weight change, did not allow different hypotheses to be considered. Sixth, the high proportion of cases with missing data on medication dose precluded a dose-response analysis. Seventh, because of the absence of information on the sociodemographic profile of the reporters, it is impossible to account for volunteer bias. Eighth, it is not possible to exclude the chance that, for instance, suicidal ideation may have preexisted. Ninth, data on treatment duration until ADR were provided only in a small number of reports. Additionally, since disproportionality measures are interdependent, the lack of statistically significant disproportionality should not be automatically interpreted as a safety endorsement. Several factors may influence the reporting pattern and the ability to detect disproportionality, including known and widely reported ADRs such as gastrointestinal ADRs.

Our findings are relevant to the general reader seeking up-to-date information. This relevance arises from the expectation that personal or anecdotal reports may continue to gain popularity on social media platforms without knowledge about risks. 45 One consequence of this trend may be the increase in off-label use of semaglutide, which is a public health concern that has led to the illegal trade in semaglutide pens, some of which are counterfeit. 46 Recently, a public warning about fake counterfeit semaglutide pens was issued in the United Kingdom and the US. 46 , 47 Considering the risk of suicidal ideation in people taking semaglutide off-label, authorities should consider issuing a warning to inform about this risk.

In this disproportionality study of an ADR database, we reported a disproportionality signal of suicidal ideation with semaglutide, but not for liraglutide, particularly among patients with coreported antidepressant use, a proxy for affective disorders (a notable exclusion criteria of premarketing clinical trials).

Accepted for Publication: May 21, 2024.

Published: August 20, 2024. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.23385

Open Access: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the CC-BY License . © 2024 Schoretsanitis G et al. JAMA Network Open .

Corresponding Author: Georgios Schoretsanitis, MD, PhD, The Zucker Hillside Hospital, Behavioral Health Pavilion, 75-59 263rd St, Glen Oaks, NY 11004 ( [email protected] ).

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

Concept and design: All authors.

Acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data: Schoretsanitis, Weiler, Raschi, Gastaldon.

Drafting of the manuscript: Schoretsanitis, Gastaldon.

Critical review of the manuscript for important intellectual content: All authors.

Statistical analysis: Schoretsanitis, Gastaldon.

Administrative, technical, or material support: Barbui.

Supervision: Schoretsanitis, Barbui, Raschi.

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: Dr Schoretsanitis reported receiving personal fees from HLS, Dexcel, Saladax, and Thermo Fisher outside the submitted work. Dr. Weiler reported being a member of the Human Medicines Expert Committee of Swissmedic. No other disclosures were reported.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the personal views of the authors and may not be understood or quoted as being made on behalf of or reflecting the position of the European Medicines Agency or one of its committees or working parties. While the authors used data from VigiBase, the World Health Organization (WHO) global database of individual case safety reports, as a source of information, the conclusions do not represent the opinion of the Uppsala Monitoring Centre (UMC) or the WHO.

Data Sharing Statement: See Supplement 2 .

Additional Contributions: The authors acknowledge the UMC, which provided and gave permission to use the data analyzed in the present study. The authors are also indebted to Dr Leonie Heron, PhD, Institute for Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland, who helped in editing this article. She was not compensated for her services.

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Trump's claims of a migrant crime wave are not supported by national data

WASHINGTON — When Donald Trump speaks at the southern border in Texas on Thursday, you can expect to hear him talk about “migrant crime,” a category he has coined and defined as a terrifying binge of criminal activity committed by undocumented immigrants spreading across the country.

“You know, in New York, what’s happening with crime is it’s through the roof, and it’s called ‘migrant,’” the former president said at a rally in Michigan earlier this month. “They beat up police officers. You’ve seen that they go in, they stab people, hurt people, shoot people. It’s a whole new form, and they have gangs now that are making our gangs look like small potatoes.”

Trump has undoubtedly tapped into the rising anger over crimes allegedly committed by undocumented migrants that have gained national attention — most recently, the killing of college student Laken Riley in Georgia last week, after which an undocumented migrant from Venezuela was arrested and charged with her murder, and the much-reported fight between New York police officers and a group of migrant teens.

According to a recent Pew  poll , 57% of Americans said that a large number of migrants seeking to enter the country leads to more crime. Republicans (85%) overwhelmingly say the migrant surge leads to increased crime in the U.S. A far smaller share of Democrats (31%) say the same. The poll found that 63% of Democrats say it does not have much of an impact.

But despite the former president’s campaign rhetoric, expert analysis and available data from major-city police departments show that despite several horrifying high-profile incidents, there is no evidence of a migrant-driven crime wave in the United States.

That won’t change the way Trump talks about immigrants in his bid to return to the White House, as he argues that President Joe Biden’s immigration policies are making Americans less safe. Trump says voters should hold Biden personally responsible for every crime committed by an undocumented immigrant.

An NBC News review of available 2024 crime data from the cities targeted by Texas’ “Operation Lone Star,” which buses or flies migrants from the border to major cities in the interior — shows overall crime levels dropping in those cities that have received the most migrants.

Overall crime is down year over year in  Philadelphia ,  Chicago , Denver ,  New York  and Los Angeles. Crime has risen in  Washington, D.C ., but local officials do not attribute the spike to migrants.

“This is a public perception problem. It’s always based upon these kinds of flashpoint events where an immigrant commits a crime,” explains Graham Ousey, a professor at the College of William & Mary and the co-author of “Immigration and Crime: Taking Stock.” “There’s no evidence for there being any relationship between somebody’s immigrant status and their involvement in crime.”

Ousey notes the emotional toll these incidents have taken and how they can inform public perception, saying, “They can be really egregious acts of criminality that really draw lots of attention that involve somebody who happens to be an immigrant. And if you have leaders, political leaders who are really pushing that narrative, I think that would have the tendency to sort of push up the myth.”

“At least a couple of recent studies show that undocumented immigrants are also not more likely to be involved in crime,” Ousey says — in part because of caution about their immigration status. “The individual-level studies actually show that they’re less involved than native-born citizens or second-generation immigrants.”

Another misconception often cited by critics is that crime is more prevalent in “sanctuary cities.” But a Department of Justice report found that “there was no evidence that the percentage of unauthorized or authorized immigrant population at the city level impacted shifts in the homicide rates and no evidence that immigration is connected to robbery at the city level.”

Trump’s campaign claims without evidence that those statistics obscure the problem.

“Democrat cities purposefully do not document when crimes are committed by illegal immigrants, because they don’t want American citizens to know the truth about the dangerous impact Joe Biden’s open border is having on their communities,” Karoline Leavitt, Trump campaign press secretary, said in a statement. “Nevertheless, Americans know migrant crime is a serious and growing threat; and the murder, rape, or abuse of one innocent citizen at the hands of an illegal immigrant is one too many.”

Trump has been pushing the argument that immigrants bring crime since launching his first campaign in 2015, often featuring at his rallies the family members of those who were killed by undocumented immigrants who had been drinking and driving. And his arguments are not new — opponents of immigration have long tried to make the case that migrants bring crime.

National crime data, especially pertaining to undocumented immigrants, is notoriously incomplete. The national data comes in piecemeal and can only be evaluated holistically when the annual data is released.

The data is incomplete on how many crimes each year are committed by migrants, primarily because most local police don’t record immigration status when they make arrests. But the studies that have been done on this, most recently by the University of Wisconsin-Madison, show that in Texas, where police do record immigration status, migrants commit fewer crimes per capita.

In December 2020, researchers studying Texas crime statistics found that “contrary to public perception, we observe considerably lower felony arrest rates among undocumented immigrants compared to legal immigrants and native-born U.S. citizens and find no evidence that undocumented criminality has increased in recent years.”

Olympia Sonnier is a field producer for NBC News. 

Garrett Haake is NBC News' senior Capitol Hill correspondent. He also covers the Trump campaign.