Discussion

o 11

Begin your discussion section by reminding your reader of the purpose of your study and what you did to address the issue, and provide a summary of your important results. Although you do not want your paper to be repetitive, it can always be helpful to provide readers with a road map for what they are reading. Tell your readers what you are going to tell them, tell them the information and then tell them what you told them.

o 12

Continue your discussion by relating your study and its findings back to the existing literature that you covered during the introduction section of your paper. Elaborate on how your results fit in with the existing research. Have you found evidence that contradicts previous research? Do your results support a theory that was previously suggested by another researcher? Emphasize the importance of your findings and the implications that they have for the field as a whole.

o 13

Include a section that addresses any limitations of your study. No study is perfect, and it is important to understand scientific results within their own context. Was there a specific element of the study that could not be controlled for? Do your results not generalize to the entire population in question? Although it is important to present the limitations of your study, you also do not want to massacre your own work, so choose the ones you feel are the most important and easiest to address in future research.

o 14

Link your limitations to a section that details where the research should go next. Provide details of how your research lends itself well to being a springboard for new research studies. Describe what you and your colleagues plan to do next in the area and what you think would be the most important aspect of your study for other researchers to focus on in their future work.

o 15

Conclude your paper by reminding your reader of your most important findings and highlighting their most relevant implications.

o 16

Provide a list of references at the end of your paper that includes the full citations for all of the in-text citations you made throughout your paper. This list allows the reader to quickly locate any information that you have cited in your paper.