From a young age, we are taught that there are two main categories of literature: fiction and nonfiction, and never the two shall meet. But the intricacies that make each of these styles of reading their own distinct processes begin to blur as you grow and learn more over time, and eventually you begin to see that there are times when nonfiction can read like fiction and vice versa.

But what about in research? Obviously, there can’t be anything fictional about scientific literature, right? Well, maybe not. In fact, there are many similarities between an academic paper and a narrative story! Your research tells the true story about how you began your experiment, from the idea that germinated in your mind through the final outcome itself and how those results might be projected to be used further. Yes, you are telling your own narrative, and, as such, you need to form a cohesive narrative arc in your research conclusions in order to engage the reader.

The Research Process

A seasoned fictional writer will tell you that there are some main components that go into writing a solid story. There must be an understanding of the subjects they’re including, ideas of how the storyline will progress, a strong introduction and plot, and background characters as well as a methodology for their actions.

Sound familiar?

In the academic research process, scholars do preliminary reading to understand their subject and come up with ideas for the experiment. They develop a thesis statement and a basic hypothesis to build from. Over time, the research takes on the form of a character as data is collected and analyzed. You continually build background for your research choices, and your methodology is based on the actions of the data you collect through each step.

It’s all interconnected and, eventually, you will weave all of these elements together to form your academic narrative.

The Five Main Components of a Good Paper

As with a fictional story, there are components in an academic article that make it interesting. The accurate research is, of course, the key to the entire purpose behind the paper. But it doesn’t have to be presented in a way that puts the reader to sleep. In fact, to make the ultimate impact, a good paper reads along the same lines as an interesting fictional novel.

If you want to keep your reader interested in your paper, these components should be included:

●      The setting, which, in a research paper, is the background information you tell your reader to help them visualize a picture in their mind of the scientific literature you studied ahead and get a grasp of the relevance of the overall problem. In the setting, you take them through your thought process from inception to the determination of the research topic, explaining how it addresses and should solve the problem.

●      The conflict, or the problem that exists in current scientific literature that must be solved. There is always a gap or discrepancy that leads to unanswered questions, or you wouldn’t be completing the research you chose. This is your conflict.

●      The character, or your study itself, which is intended to solve the problem you posed in the conflict section. The study is introduced as an answer to the background you built and the problem you determined existed once your preliminary research was formulated and the conflict was presented.

●      The plot, a series of events in a story, but in your article, it’s the steps that lead to your resolution and outcome. This is the methodology and description of the study itself.

●      The theme that you are trying to get across to the reader. This is your main idea that stems from the conclusions of your research. Your goal is to convince the reader that the authority of your work and knowledge has come together to reveal the final results that answer the conflict you posed and either solve the problem itself or lead to more questions that require further study.

By using this approach to put together your research project, you’re forming a cohesive narrative arc that takes your research conclusions and puts them together in a way that keeps the reader interested in what you have to say.

Use Impactio to Guide Your Research Narrative

Setting up your research article to be interesting to the reader is necessary if you want higher citation counts and a wider impact. But it’s not always the first thing scholars think about when they are putting together their paper. Having a guide like Impactio reduces the effort you have to expend on formatting and other steps, giving you more time to get creative with your style.

Impactio is an all-in-one platform that was originally designed for scholars. Because of this goal, the program contains all the tools you need to drag and drop your text into categories, optimize your headers for web crawlers, and do little tweaks such as labeling your graphics to designate keyword images. It’s simple and efficient to put together a professional paper when you use Impactio, and with an easy flow transitioning you between sections, you can focus on your research narrative arc.