How to write a Research Paper (Title: < 10 Words)
Author's Name Date of Submission
Abstract Brief summary of what is in this paper. Less than 100 words. For people who don't know if they want to read the paper or those who don't have the time to do so. Should contain the final result with error. No derivation. No references. Write the abstract after you have finished with the rest of the paper. The rest of the paper is organized into the following 4 sections (use the same titles): 1. Introduction Should answer the question: "what is the object of this experiment?". Discuss the physics involved (just state which law(s) is (are) being tested or what constants are measured, no copying of text books, rather give a good reference [ref] that contains relevant background information). Briefly say what method is used here, how it relates to other methods [ref] which were used to gain the same or similar information. 2. Experimental Method Description of the apparatus. Usually contains a sketch of the setup and (if applicable) a block diagram of the electronics. Give all dimensions, mechanical and electrical properties which are of importance in carrying out or analyzing this experiment. How was the measurement carried out? What instruments were read? How many times and in what intervals? If several readings are combined into the result, how was that done and what are the parameters deduced? 3. Results Give a representative sample of the basic measurements. Only in rare cases is a table of numbers better than a figure. Give the important results. Discuss the uncertainties of the measurement. Distinguish between random and systematic errors and describe where they arise and how you assess a value. Clearly outline the final result and its uncertainty, and say how it was deduced. 4. Discussion Comparison of your result with other similar measurements in the literature [ref] or with some "accepted" value [ref]. Comparison of your result with a theoretical expectation, e.g., fit of the measured data with a theoretical relation. Discuss the quality of the measurement and list the most important possible improvements.
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This concludes the paper. In the following, some additional comments. a) General comment It is good practice to start with an outline to make sure that the arguments follow each other and that the structure of the paper is clear to the reader. b) Figures Figures are important and convey information usually much better than text. Axes should be clearly labelled and the units should be given. Number the figures (in the order of their occurrence), so you can refer to them in the text by their number. Each figure should have a caption, describing briefly what is shown. Here is an example of a caption: Fig.3: Displacement of the pendulum as a function of time. The data are from run #4. The solid curve is a fit using the equation for a damped harmonic oscillator, as discussed in the text (eq.xx). c) References For data, ideas, or arguments which are not your own you have to mention the source by giving a reference. References are identified in the text by a number in [..] brackets (in the order of their occurrence), and listed at the end of the paper. Here is an example for a reference listing: References [1] [2] G.L. Squires, Practical Physics, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1986, p. 169. (this is the format for a book) P. Debye, Ann. d. Physik, 39 (1912) 789. (this is the format for an article in a journal, the numbers are: volume (year) page)
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