Research paper

Research papers can be from a conference or a journal. Conference papers are more exploratory and explain novel or interesting areas that have not reached maturity. 

Journal Article

Journal article is about a subject that has recently researched or reviewed and written by an expert in that field. Journal papers are usually more extensive and well researched, but this differs from field to field. 

Survey Paper

Survey papers summarize and organize recent research results in a novel way that integrates and adds understanding to work in the field. It assumes a general knowledge of the area; it emphasizes the classification of the existing literature, developing a perspective on the area, and testing trends.

Review Paper

Reviews are deeper than surveys since they tell more details about individual works, their relationships one to another, and directions forward. Experienced researchers present comparative results from existing techniques that use different datasets for various parameters in their review papers. They express a viewpoint on how the problem is being solved in the existing literature survey and which other approaches one can use along with the logic behind using alternative algorithms.

The students may have a free choice in choosing a research topic or the supervisor gives it. In either case, they have to do refinement to show their own engagement with the topic.  

• Try to enhance career prospects by orienting the topic towards something that could help with future employment.

• Try to capitalise on your existing skills and interests and make sure it suits your preferred ways of working.

• Quality vs Quantity: Keep the topic small, once the work is started, new questions will arise that could enable to take the work further. Depth (detail and significance) is highly regarded than breadth in student projects.

• Workout a problem that should be able to solve within the time and resources available.

In research, one has to know what has already been discovered and what mysteries remain. The literature review is foundational and helps in finding an appropriate research topic and craft research questions. Through this review, you are showing that you have fully explored the research topic and chosen the particular path, leading to those particular questions, for these particular reasons. Follow the following steps:

1. Search Using Key Terms

2. Immerse Yourself in the Literature

3. Consider Gaps in the Research

   • Build a case for doing your study: Identify where the current knowledge ends and your study begins on your topic. Demonstrate that it is worthy of research, and has not already been studied. Studies on related topics help make the case that your study is relevant. Identify shortfalls to show your study is appropriate. Pay special attention to the recommendations for further research that the authors make.

4. Organize What You Find

   • Group your references by subject and methodology and find what you are looking for when you need it.

1. How to Write a Literature Review for a Dissertation by Steve Tippins
2. Write a Review Paper by estudyindia

Having gained knowledge about your field of study, now you have to propose a project to prove your hypothesis.  This proposal to demonstrate convincingly that the study will make a contribution to scientific advancement and is feasible. It must be between 5 and 10 pages and should present the following:

1. Title and Abstract

• A title gives a clear indication of the proposed research approach or key question. 

• An abstract is a brief summary of the proposal.

  • Provide the main points and conclusion of the proposal. 

2. Introduction/Motivation

• Introduce the area of research

• Brief summary of existing literature [Find a hole, Look for debates]

  • Review key publications on Topic, Method and Theoretical Approach

  • Identify any gap in the knowledge or questions which have to be answered

• Hypothesis, aims and objectives

  • Include a brief description of the methodology

  • How is your research beneficial and to whom

• Research Question (Problem Statement)

3. Methodology [Selection and Access, Preliminary Findings, Important categories and relationships]

• How will you achieve the research aims? 

  • Research Procedures, equipment and techniques

  • Kind of Data, sample size, collection procedures and analysis

• Explain why it is the most appropriate methodology to effectively answer the research question.

  • Justify the methodology by explaining what alternatives have been considered and why these have been disregarded.

4. Scope of the Research

• How the research will be communicated to the wider community 

  • Alternatives

  • Weaknesses

5. Summary and Conclusions [Importance]

• Contributions

6. Plan of work and Time schedule

• Timetable for completion of the project 

7. Bibliography

• Contains all of the sources that are used for this work, whether they are directly cited or not.

1. How to Write a Good Postgraduate Research Proposal by the University of Edinburgh 
2. A project proposal on Security protocols for ad-hoc wireless networks by Raghava K, Gautam Sreeram P, Narendra Nath V.
3. Steps to writing a successful project proposal by  Univ. of Lethbridge

Design is a plan to answer your research question. A method is a strategy used to implement that plan. Design and methods are different but closely related because good design ensures that the data you get will help you answer your research question more effectively.

• Design: Overall framework of the research. e.g., Survey Design

• Method: How the data is collected.  e.g., A questionnaire

Mathematical modelling: A mathematical model is a description of a system using mathematical concepts and language.  Mathematical modelling is the art of translating problems from an application area into tractable mathematical formulations. A model may help to explain a system and to study the effects of different components, and to make predictions about behaviour. 

1. Analyze the problem. 

2. Formulate a model. 

3. Solve the model.

4. Verify and interpret the model's solution.

5. Report on the model. 

6. Maintain the model.

Useful Links:

Data collection is a gathering of information from various sources. Empirical research makes use of quantitative and qualitative data gathering methods. Questionnaires, surveys, and documents and records are quantitative, while interviews, focus groups, observations, and oral histories are qualitative. There can also be a crossover between the two methods.

The data analysis is to process data for getting useful insights from it. Empirical research relies on real-world data, metrics and results rather than theories and concepts.  For data collected from unique sources and methods need specific data analysis methods and tools to process and get insights from them.

Compare the results with predictions.

Writing the paper for peer review.

Project Report basic structure

1. Introduction: An introduction to your topic.

   • Background to the study with a brief justification. 

   • Statement of the problem.

   • Aim and objectives.

   • Hypothesis.

   • Scope of the Study.

   • Organisation of the report.

2. Review of Literature: A literature review that surveys relevant sources.

3. Methodology: An explanation of your research design and methods.

4. Results: An overview of the results of your research.

5. Discussion: Summary of your research.

   • Findings of the results and their implications.

6. Conclusion: It shows what your research has contributed.

   • Areas of further study. 

7. References: 

   • Sources that have been directly cited in the report.