If you encounter any issues or errors in this guide, please let me know using this feedback form.
Once you've started to organize your thoughts, it's time to start writing. Your approach to this may change with different types of writings.
Primary research following the IMRaD structure is usually easiest if you begin drafting the different sections in a specific order:
The Methods/Materials section is typically written first. It's often the easiest to write, and it informs the rest of the paper. You should write out what you did, including any statistical analyses you used, in enough detail that someone else in your field could reproduce your results. Note that this doesn't necessitate precise step-by-step instructions, unless you are writing about a novel methodology.
The Methods/Materials section does not usually cite any sources, except in specific cases where you need to reference others' work in order for readers to understand your methodology.
The Results section is typically written after the Methods. It contains only the results of the statistical analyses performed, including any tables and figures. It does not contain any interpretation of those results. You can and should describe the trends in the data, but save the contextualization within your study for the discussion.
The Introduction section should be written after writing the Results. It contains background information as well as the rationale for the study described in the paper. A good introduction will tell you why the current study is important, contextualize and cite other work already done on the topic, discuss any controversies on the topic that may exist, and outline the hypotheses for the current study. It typically flows from general information to specific information, the big picture to the current study.
The Discussion section is usually written after the Introduction, and is meant to explain the Results. Do the findings of the study support or disprove the hypotheses? Are there any findings that do not make sense in the context of the larger body of research? The flow of the Discussion section is often the reverse of the Introduction, describing the current study's findings first and going into how they fit into the larger research landscape.
You should not discuss any results that you did not include in the Results section.
The Conclusions section should contain a brief summary of your findings, as well as any implications for those findings. It will also briefly discuss the future directions for this research. What questions went unanswered? What new questions do you have about this research?
The Abstract and Title are usually saved for last (except for the References). Both of them will summarize the research. The Abstract will condense into a single paragraph the entirety of your study. It will contain the background and context, the research question(s), high-level description of your methods and results, and the conclusion and implications for your study.
The Title should be a single sentence and should tell readers the focus or goal of your research. It should be specific and brief, and should also include your research organism or population. Avoid subtitles and puns.
The References section is often written last, but can also be written as you go. It should include every source you cited in the text of your paper (and none that you didn't cite). Depending on your citation style, your references will be sorted either alphabetically by first author's last name or numerically based on the order they were cited in the text.
This section is one that you can fairly easily automate, either by using a citation manager like Zotero or by using the References tab in Microsoft Word. However, you will still need to know how to correctly format your references in your chosen or assigned citation style because any automatically generated reference needs to be proofread.
Most other types of writing, including secondary research, position papers, and even presentations, can be approached in a less-proscribed way than primary research. You have more flexibility to organize your thoughts and write in a way that works best for you (instead of the way that works best for the paper).
Diagramming your thoughts and ideas with a concept map is often a great place to start organizing your paper (it's also a common study technique). You can use a sheet of paper, a stack of sticky notes or index cards, a white board, etc. and just write down all the different things you want to discuss in your paper. Then you start making connections between the ideas, either with lines and circles or by grouping your notes or cards together. This should help you get a good sense of which ideas can fit together in each section or paragraph.
Creating an outline for your paper before you start writing can help you get a bird's-eye-view of the different ideas you want to write about and how well they fit together, and can be a good next step after creating a concept map. It can help you identify issues with the flow of ideas between paragraphs and makes it easier to stay organized while writing because you know roughly where each idea and source should go.
It's important to remember that your outline can be fluid. You may start out trying to organize your ideas chronologically, then realize starting to write that they flow better when organized thematically. That's absolutely fine! The bottom line is to not fret about your outline being perfect before you start writing.
Check out some of the resources linked below if you want to learn more about these techniques.
The Howe Writing Center here at Miami is an excellent resource that not enough students take advantage of. They offer consultations in a few different formats (including online consultations, so distance students are included!) to help students improve their writings. Consider making an appointment once you have a draft written.
The Writing Center also has a lot of handouts and other informational resources to help students with all different types of writing.