Research paper writing help: methods and materials

The methods and material section is one of the most important portions of a research paper. Students must understand that this section should be concise and relevant. There is no space for irrelevant details in any section of the research paper but the method and material section needs to be most precise. There is no page limit but the basic aim is to keep it short and to the point. You can either divide this section into headings and subheadings or write it as a complete piece. It is advisable to divide this section as some readers will only be interested in one specific area or formula while others would want to understand the method you used for research.

The purpose

The purpose of the methods section is not to tell a story rather it enlists all the methods you used to achieve certain findings. It is not a set of instructions but most students fail to understand it.it should be written in a way that helps the reader in understanding your work. It must also lead the reader to trust your findings and procedures you used should be clearly stated

Tips to write methods and materials section

Materials section

  1. Make a separate heading for materials if necessary.
  2. Enlist the materials and chemical products that are not common for your reader. You may have gotten accustomed to certain terms and name of equipment during your research but it is no necessary that your reader will be familiar to them too.
  3. Do not include common lab equipment and chemicals like burette pipet tips and breakers etc.
  4. If you used a certain enzyme or chemical in your work and it contributed in the final results then you must mention it. If it was not compulsory for the results then do not include it in your materials section.
  5. The idea is to include necessary elements and delete extra details
  6. Methods:

  7. For writing a method section follow the format used in samples
  8. Include only the methods. Do not go on explaining the method and process you used.
  9. It is compulsory to indicate temperature and time limit during your experiment
  10. Divide the section into different headings for each process so that it is easier for the reader to distinguish between various procedures.

These tips will help you in writing a concise and well organized methods and materials section for your research paper

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