Table 1.

Characteristics of various components of a research article.

Title ▪Short and unambiguous ▪Good taste to fascinate the readers ▪Easy to understand and catalogue ▪Contains key words describing the work ▪Describes the entire contents of the paper ▪Adequate description of the entire work ▪Avoid abbreviations and passive voice ▪Should not present a biased picture	Abstract ▪Not too long ▪Not too short ▪Contain about 200–250 words ▪Contain important information ▪Summarizes major aspects of the paper ▪Briefly sate purpose, methods, results and conclusions ▪Written last since it summarize the entire paper
Introduction ▪Start by identifying the subject area of interest ▪Develop the settings by brief, balanced and relevant literature ▪Summarize the existing understanding of the problems ▪Discuss the study in the form of a hypothesis, question or problems ▪Briefly explain the rationale and gaps in the literature ▪Top of the introduction; represent general information ▪Bottom of the introduction; focus on the specific problems, purpose and rationale ▪Cite from the good research journals with original work rather than depending on reference books	Methods ▪Discuss study design, settings and how study was carried out ▪Biological features of control, exposed or treatment groups and variables measured ▪Age, height, weight, gender, ethnicity, educational and socioeconomically status ▪Study protocol, inclusion and exclusion criteria ▪Sample size and grouping, data collection and replication ▪Pre-experiment, experimental handling, measurements and procedures detail ▪Summarize data in Means, percent, *SD, **SEM, 95% CI, etc. ▪Statistical software used, data computed, analyzed and probability developed
Results ▪Provide key findings in a logical progression ▪Report both positive and negative results ▪Organize results around the tables and figures ▪Provide nature of differences, relationship and magnitude of the findings ▪Provide enough interpretation ▪Provide appropriate measurement units ▪Use the word “significant” and “Non significant” accordingly ▪Avoid lengthy analysis and duplication of information	Discussion ▪Start discussion about your major findings ▪Provide answers to testable hypotheses relevance to existing knowledge ▪Discuss results with the findings of other researchers ▪Reference the findings of others in order to support your interpretations ▪Discuss contradictory findings with an alternative explanation ▪Never discuss prior work without reference ▪Point out where further gaps in knowledge could usefully be filled ▪Discuss study strengths and limitations
Conclusions ▪State conclusions clearly and concisely ▪Start with clear statement of principal findings ▪Summarize the findings and generalize their importance ▪Prove that findings are worthy ▪Develop accuracy and originality in conclusion ▪Discuss ambiguous data and recommend further research ▪Conclude that testing supports or disproves the hypothesis ▪Provide pleasant ending with reader’s utmost satisfaction	Acknowledgments to ▪Who provide helps in designing and carrying out the research work ▪Who provide equipment, materials or reagents ▪Who provide assistance in your study ▪Who provide helps in manuscript typing ▪Who revised the manuscript ▪Who provide funding support ▪Support from department or institution, etc.