Lesson Introduction
So far, you have almost completed your project report, except one small but important part - the abstract. You will get the first draft of your research paper done in this class. Congratulations!!
First Draft of Report
The last piece of the report is the Abstract. Abstract is what any research paper writing starts with. However, it is better to write the abstract last, after you have completed the entire work. The reason for this is simple. Abstract is a brief, usually 120-200 words depending on the requirement of different journal, summary of the research paper writing. It tells about the purpose of your research paper, methods, and the results of your research. Basically, it summarizes the work done. The abstract has to be a single paragraph, written in a brief manner, and separate from other parts of the research paper writing.
After adding the abstract to the report, the first draft of the report is done. A practical advice is - after you write the first draft, literally sleep over it for a few days; a week or so later, take it out and reread it. Often, you will be surprised as to how badly it reads, so edit, edit, and edit. Once you are really satisfied, share it with a colleague, preferably from another specialty. If he can understand it, then it is fine. Because we have limited course time, apparently, you won’t have time to sleep over the manuscript too much. Well, you have another important resource – your peers. You peers will be your first readers. They will review your paper and provide valuable suggestions and comments. Of course, you will also take the reviewer’s role to review your peers work. Being a reviewer also helps you to reflect on your work by comparing it to the review work.