Research Paper Format and detail

You must complete the assignment worth 100% for this module individually. The assignment is to write a research paper of 5,000 to 7,000 words being of a commercial / research standard based on your chosen dissertation topic. The paper must show a clear understanding of that topic. The paper needs to follow the below format. Note that the number of words given in brackets is purely a suggestion and it is expected that most students will write different amounts for each section dependent on their topic. Note also that it is up to you as a student as to whether you include a practical artefact to support your written work. Please do not copy any other students work or copy directly sentences and paragraphs from the Internet unless attributing the section correctly to the author in quote marks. Please also ensure you understand the university rules on academic dishonesty. If you are unsure check the website below for full details: http://www.staffs.ac.uk/images/academic_dishonesty_tcm68-12681.pdf

Research Paper
When writing the research paper please keep the following points always close in thought and refer back to them if necessary. The paper MUST: Emphasize points as directly as possible (it is not an essay). Have a clear and definite purpose. Provide analysis and offer summary to situations. Aid in decision making processes and lead to a definite final outcome. Always have a specific target audience in mind for which it is written. Allow the reader to jump directly to a section of interest to them. Be written to have equal strength throughout each section.

Research Paper Format

It is recommended that you approach writing up the paper in the following format.

Front cover
Contains your paper title keep this short and accurate Your name in full Your user email address Your award Include the date Include who the paper is for the attention of Include any statement regarding confidentiality if required.

Preamble section
Contains a paper summary / abstract (around 200 words). This must summarise what the paper is about. This will typically be written at the end as it summarises the work completed. It must summarise the main findings. Table of contents go for a rigid and logical approach. List the sections in the form of: 1. Main Heading 1.1 Sub Heading 1.1.1 Sub-Sub Heading Include a list of included figures and tables List figures as a separate list Fig 1: The Bernsen Method Framework, taken from Bernsen (1995) List tables as a separate list Table 3: Summary of Time Based Findings

Main body
For the written sections you need to present your work as follows. Introduction section (600 words) Introduces your paper Gives background context Identifies the purpose of the paper Identifies the challenge for yourself Identifies any ethical issues involved Includes any terms that need describing Outlines clearly your Aims and Objectives Profiles forthcoming sections (in the form of a few sentences to summarise what is to come up in the paper) Brief literature review / summary sections (1000 words) An examination of existing work related to your topic area. Sets up a context by identifying key areas and summarising these. Make sure related works are discussed at the same place rather than distributed Try and show a critical understanding of the works you review You need to ensure all works are properly referenced. Up-to-date references preferred. Do NOT copy sections from the Internet unless in quotes and attributed with a reference. Research / investigation sections (2000 words for those doing a review, 1000 for those including a practical artefact) From your literature review sections you will have identified areas to work in more depth. This will involve you personally researching and exploring further in order to add your own insights. Such work will go into likely several research / investigation sub-sections. As examples if your paper was to investigate the

current position of multimedia methods you may need the following research / investigation sections: o Current media resource tools o Current multimedia authoring tools o Multimedia models and notations o Multimedia method frameworks Feel free to use graphs and other representations throughout the paper if they help to summarise and explain your ideas well.

Artefact / solution section (800 words) This section will ONLY be included for those who create a practical artefact. The section should describe the approach to creation (likely to reflect significantly on references to the earlier research / investigation sections) and the actual created artefact itself. Testing / validation section (200 words) In order to establish the value of any created artefact you will need to evaluate it to establish its success. This section will discuss your approach to testing / validating it (e.g. testing approach / framework) and will also discuss results collected. You may also discuss the consequences of these findings within the section. Conclusions and recommendations section (300 words) Try to be brief Look back at everything you have done (e.g. approach and artefact) Do not at this point introduce new work Be analytical Draw conclusions Be honest detail the failings as well as the successes Suggest further work/consequences give a clear agenda References A reference section should be included, and used to support your arguments by means of citation. Note all references in the paper body need to appear in the references section. Use the Harvard referencing notation. Try and use around 15 references. For a guide to Harvard referencing please go to http://www.exeter.ac.uk/stloyes/harv.htm Appendices Any material that is so voluminous or detailed that it will change the level of abstraction within a section, or is likely to overwhelm the reader, should go in an appendix When in doubt, provide a summary in a section and provide an appendix with fuller detail (e.g. raw test results data). If you create an artefact and it is coding based or design based, you are likely to put the majority of this material in the appendices, reserving the usage of snippets of code or design in sections of the paper.