Guidelines for Technical Research Papers for the New Mexico Junior Academy of Science Paper and Oral Competition
Technical papers differ from other literary papers in their composition. The following characteristics distinguish science research papers: the abstract; captioned text; author-date citations; and a list of references.
You must first do an experimental science investigation. Keep careful record of everything you do and all your results. Then write your paper. Your paper must include the following components, each of which should start on a new page.
Title Page: Title of paper, student's name, age, and grade; school name, address, and phone number; student's home address and phone number; and the name of the teacher or sponsor who endorses the paper. Both the author and the teacher/sponsor should sign the title page.
Acknowledgments: On this page thank individuals who have helped you in any way with your project.
Abstract: A brief summary of the content of your paper. In one or two paragraphs, define the problem, describe the methods you used in your project, summarize the results, and state the conclusions. The abstract should be on a separate page and is not numbered.
Body of Paper: The body of the paper is composed of four main sections; Introduction; Methods; Results; and Discussion or Conclusions. Number the pages of the body of the paper in the upper right-hand corner and put the title of the paper and the last name of the author in the upper left-hand corner. Do not number the title page, reference page(s), or appendix pages.
Introduction: Describe the background for your work; state the problem or questions, and the goals. In describing the work or conclusions of others credit is given by the use of author-date reference citations. The complete reference is listed in the References section.
Methods: Summarize in your own words what you did, what materials you used, and what instruments you used. Describe the work so someone else could duplicate it.
Results: Describe the results of your experiment, mathematical work or design project. Raw data include all observations or data that you obtain. These are not included in the body of the paper, but can be included in the Appendices. Analyze your data, then present them in the form of graphs, tables, or descriptions. Do not draw conclusions in the Results section, reserve that for the Discussion section.
Discussion: Describe your conclusions (even the obvious ones) and, if appropriate, discuss suggestions or implications for further work.
References: This is the place where you list the complete information about the references you cited in the body of the paper.
Glossary: In general, define new terms in the body of your paper. If you have many new terms or symbols, you may need a Glossary.
Limit papers to 1500 words, excluding references, glossary and appendices.
Back to NMAS home page
Lynn Brandvold
last modified:02-06-2012