Research paper outline template: IMRaD, with an example

When to use it

• Empirical papers for psychology, biology, nursing or social science courses
• Lab reports and capstone projects that report one study
• Journal manuscripts, before you format them to the author guidelines
• Conference papers and posters that present a study in a fixed order
• A thesis or dissertation chapter built around a single study

How to use this template

The outline follows IMRaD: Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion, with a plan and an abstract in front and references at the end. Fill it in a different order from the one it reads in.

1. Write the question before anything else

   A topic cannot be answered. A question can. "Freewriting in composition classes" is a topic. "Does a ten-minute freewrite before drafting change how much students write, and how well?" is a question with a method built into it. Put it under Plan with the word limit and citation style, since both limit everything below. If you are stuck, these research question examples show what narrows a topic into one.

2. Outline Methods and Results next

   They record what you did and what you found, so they are the easiest sections to outline and the hardest to fudge. Fill one results row per hypothesis before you write a word of the introduction. A row you cannot fill is a hypothesis you did not test, and it should come out now rather than in revision.

3. Build the introduction backward from the gap

   The first three numbered lines move from what is known to what is missing to what this study does. The linguist John Swales described that pattern in Genre Analysis (1990) as the CARS model, for Create a Research Space. Cite two or three sources per line and paraphrase them. Long quotations in an introduction read as padding.

4. Write the abstract and title last

   Once the results table is full, the abstract is a summary of the outline: one sentence per bullet. APA abstracts are typically no longer than 250 words, and journals set their own limits. How to write an abstract covers the form in detail.

Research paper outline example

Here is the template filled in for a small classroom study. The study, its numbers and its findings are invented to show the form; the one reference is real. Notice how each section answers the one before it.

The unsupported hypothesis stays in. A result that goes against you is still a result, and the discussion is where you explain it. To see the same shape written out as prose, read this annotated research paper example.

IMRaD or another structure

IMRaD fits any paper that reports new evidence. Papers that argue from existing sources need a different spine.

For the last row, the essay outline template has the claim, evidence and counterargument slots a history or literature paper needs. Whatever the structure, check your style guide before you set the headings: APA, for example, titles the second section Method and puts the paper's title, not the word Introduction, above the introduction.

What a strong outline looks like

• Write lines as claims, not labels. "Rubric scores did not differ" can become a sentence in the draft. "Scores" cannot.
• Give every table and figure a line. Number them in the order the text will mention them, so the results section has an order before you draft it.
• Keep interpretation out of Results. If a line says why, it belongs in the Discussion. Methods and Results are written in the past tense; they describe what already happened.