12

Inquiry, Investigation,
and Immersion
IMRaD/IMFaD
A Supplementary Material

For Senior High School (Grade 12) of

Telacsan National High School

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The IMRaD (Quantitative) IMFaD (Qualitative) format

The Main Sections of the IMRaD/IMFaD Format

Specific Section Guide Questions to Answer
Title What is the title of your paper/research?
Authors Who wrote this paper/research/
Keywords What words other than the title can best describe your
paper/research?
Abstract What is the shortened version of your paper/research?
Introduction Why choose this research? What is your problem? What is
not known in your paper/research?
Materials and Methods How did you do your study? What processes did you use?
Results/Findings What did you find out?
Discussion What does your results/findings mean? What can be done
next? What was the interpretation of your results?
Conclusion What are the possible implications of your study?
Acknowledgments Who helped in the study aside from you or your
groupmates? Who guided you and provided important
support?

Most scientific papers are prepared according to a format called IMRAD. The term represents
the first letters of the words Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, And, Discussion. It
indicates a pattern or format rather than a complete list of headings or components of research
papers, and sometimes may include other parts, depending on the journal.

A good title of a research paper should:

• Be composed of essential words up to 12 words only.
• Describe the contents of the paper accurately and specifically, using words easy to understand.
• Avoid abbreviations, formulas, and jargon; use standard terms as much as possible.
• Not include any verb
• Not contain low-impact words such as ‘‘Some notes on …,’’ ‘‘Observations on …,’’
‘‘Investigations on …,’’ ‘‘Study of …,’’ and ‘‘Effect of …’’
• Not be flashy as in newspapers (e.g., avoid statements like ‘‘Agroforestry can stop
deforestation’’)
• Report the subject of the research rather than the results.
• Follow the style preference of the target journal you plan to submit your study.

Abstract

An Abstract is a mini-version of the paper (Day 1988). It contains a mixture of tenses

representing the tense used in reporting the respective sections of the paper.
 Statements referring to the rationale and introduction, interpretation of results, and
conclusions are in present tenses.

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  Materials and methods and results are in past tense.

Therefore, it is extremely important that the Abstract be written clearly. It should include facts
rather than introduce the facts. Avoid phrases such as ‘‘… are described’’ or ‘‘… will be
presented’’ in an abstract; instead, describe them, state them, present them (except in Abstracts
for conferences or annual meetings, written several months in advance of the event).

The Abstract should stand on its own, i.e., be complete in itself. It starts with a statement of
rationale and objectives and reports the methods used, the main results including any newly
observed facts, and the principal conclusions and their significance. If keywords are not listed
separately, the Abstract should contain the keywords by which the paper should be indexed.

The Abstract should NOT contain:

• Abbreviations or acronyms unless they are standard or explained.
• References to tables or figures in the paper
• Literature citations
• Any information or conclusion not in the paper itself
• General statements
• Complex, winding, wordy sentences.

Excessive quantitative data with statistical details and long strings of plant names or information
should be avoided in the Abstract.

It is best to write the abstract after fine-tuning the title and after the rest of the paper is written.

A good introduction of the abstract is relatively short. It tells why the reader should find the
paper interesting, explains why the author carried out the research, and gives the background the
reader needs to understand and judge the paper. Specifically:
a. Introduction defines the nature and extent of the problems studied, relates the research
to previous work (usually by a brief review of the literature clearly relevant to the problem),
explains the objectives of investigation, and defines any specialized terms or abbreviations to be
used in what follows.
b. Introduction leads logically to, and clearly states, the hypothesis or principal theme of
the paper. The Introduction should be relatively brief; most journals recommend less than 500
words.
c. Avoid repetition: do not repeat the Abstract in the Introduction (and Introduction in the
Discussion).
d. Do not go into an extensive literature review; two to four most relevant and recent
citations should be adequate to corroborate a statement. Do not repeat well-known facts nor state
the obvious.
e. The Introduction section also may use different tenses:
 Justification and motivation of the study is presented in present tense (‘‘Soils
store relatively large amounts of carbon in terrestrial ecosystems.’’)
 The review of literature is presented in past tense (‘‘Studies showed that …’’), or
in present perfect tense if it is common knowledge (‘‘Studies have shown that
…’’).

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  The objective is written in past tense (‘‘The objective of the current study was
…’’).

Materials and Methods The purpose of this section is to present in a chronological, simple and
direct manner what has been done, how, and when, and how the data were analyzed and
presented. This section should provide all the information needed to allow another researcher to
judge the study or actually repeat the experiment.

Introduction
The Introduction explains the scope and objective of the study in the light of current knowledge
on the subject. Use the introduction to show that you are knowledgeable about your field of
study and existing research. Your introduction should contain:
 A summary of existing research on the subject 
 Your thesis statement, hypothesis or research question
 Theory (if relevant)
 An introduction to the field, the current situation or to prevailing practice

The introduction should explain what we know, and what we are uncertain about. It should
explain and summarise, but it should also ask questions, clarify, compare etc. Everything you
write here must relate to your research question.

Materials and Method

This part describes how the study was conducted. Use your method chapter to show that you
arrived at your results by applying valid and reliable methods. Explain what you did; your
research, treatment or professional intervention, and how you did it.
 Account for … 
 Document … 
 … for what you did and did not do 

Your method chapter shows how you arrived at your results. The section should include the
following though not necessarily in this order:

• Description of the study location (school, municipality, barangay, country whichever is

appropriate)
• Design of the experiment with number of replications and sampling procedures used .
• Plants (edible or not) or animals involved, with exact descriptions (for TVL, include even the
genus, species, strain, cultivar, line, etc.); include Latin names in italics, even for common plants,
upon first mention in text (e.g., maize or corn, Zea mays L.)
• Materials used, with exact technical specifications and quantities and their source or method of
preparation. Generic or chemical names are better than brand names. (softdrinks instead of Coca-
Cola, cooking oil instead of Minola.
• Assumptions made and their explanation or rationale.
• Statistical and mathematical procedures used to analyze and summarize the data.

Special attention may be paid to ensure that:

• Abbreviations or names which are not clear are avoided

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• All quantities are in standard units.
• All chemicals are specifically identified so that another scientist can match them exactly in
repeating the work
• Every step is explained, including the number of replications.
• All techniques are described, at least by name if they are standard, or in as much detail as
needed if you have modified a standard technique or devised a new one
• Avoid Irrelevant and unnecessary information that does not relate to the results or confuses the
reader.

The Materials and Methods section is presented in past tense. There is no standard ‘‘rule’’ on
the use of active or passive forms (‘‘I/we took ten samples’’ vs. ‘‘Ten samples were taken’’);
both can be used, or follow the journal’s norms, and if the journal is not strict about it, use your
personal preference.

Results (Quantitative) Findings (Qualitative)

Results section reports what was found in the study. A relatively large part of your paper/thesis
should be devoted to your results (findings, data, empirical evidence). In this section you should:

 Present the findings 

 Organise, classify, analyse and (if relevant) categorise 
 Explain and interpret (e.g., differences between various studies)
 Assess and evaluate.

Your results = the essence of your paper. The Introduction and Methods chapter should build
up to your Results by showing how you arrived at your results (Methods) and their significance
(Introduction).

Some guidelines on presenting the results are given below:

• Present the results simply and clearly

• Report only representative data rather than (endlessly) repetitive data
• Do not report large masses of data; reduce them to statistically analyzed summary forms and
present in tables or figures along with essential statistical information to facilitate understanding
and comparing them
• Repeat in the text only the most important findings shown in tables and graphs; in other words,
do not repeat in the text all or many of the data presented in tables and figures
• Include negative data—what was not found—should only be included if useful for interpreting
the results
• Cite in the text every table and figure by number
• Include only tables and figures that are necessary, clear, and worth reproducing
• Avoid long explanations

Discussion and Conclusion

Discussion section explains meaning and significance of the results and provides suggestions for
future directions of research. In this chapter you discuss the results of your study/project.
 Is it possible to generalise?  What are the practical implications?
5 | P a gMake
e comparisons with other studies  Is more research needed?
 Are there alternative explanations?  Make recommendations (to be applied in
 What are the strong and weak aspects of your practice).
paper?
A good discussion should:
• Not repeat what has already been said in the review of literature
• Relate the results to the questions that were set out in the Introduction
• Show how the results and interpretations agree, or do not agree, with current knowledge on the
subject, i.e., previously published work
• Explain the theoretical background of the observed results
• Indicate the significance of the results
• Suggest future research that is planned or needed to follow up
• Deal with only the results reported in the study
• Stay away from generalizations and guesses that are not supported by the results presented
• State conclusions with evidence for each.

The Discussion section is written in both present and past tenses.

 Current knowledge (from literature) is stated in present tense.
 whereas the work being reported and discussed in the paper (your own work) is presented
in past tense; e.g., ‘‘Treatment A was better than Treatment B, which suggests that ….’’

For your conclusion: What answer(s) have you found to your research question? If you have a
hypothesis, has it been strengthened, weakened or falsified? Do not introduce issues here that
have not been mentioned earlier. If the results of your study do not allow you to draw any
conclusions, you can end with a summing up.

Conclusions should not just repeat the results, but state well-articulated outcomes of the study
and briefly suggest future lines of research in the area based on findings reported in the paper.
DO NOT USE the line ‘‘more research is needed before conclusions can be drawn.’’ In that
case, why publish a paper from which conclusions cannot be drawn? Some journals do not allow
a separate Conclusion section. In that case, the last paragraph or a few sentences of the
Discussion can be used to state the conclusions.

References
Preparing a proper reference list is one of the most tedious aspects of finalizing a manuscript for
IMRAD. Part of the problem is that there is no standard or uniform format for citing literature,
except that ‘‘All citations used in the text only must be listed in the References.’’ In other
words, the References section and text citations should match perfectly.

But for the purpose of SHS-TNHS we will be using APA Format in References.

References: 

Aveyard, H. (2007) Doing a literature review in health and social care. Maidenhead : Open University Press.

www.springer.com/cda/content/document/cda.../9783319031002-c2.pdf?SGWID...

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WHAT FOLLOWS IN THE NEXT PAGES IS THE EXACT FORMAT/TEMPLATE OF THE
IMRAD/IMFAD. THE TEMPLATE WILL BE UPLOADED IN YOUR CLASS GC FOR
YOUR REFERENCE AND USE

The Template File for Microsoft Word for

AutoCarto/UCGIS 2018 Conference and Symposium Submissions
Scott M. Freundschuh

ABSTRACT: The purpose of this template is to make all of the submissions fit a common
format. This is done by following the instructions included in this template. You should use this
template for position papers (1000 words), for paper abstracts (both 500 word and 1500
words), and for lightening talks and poster abstracts (500 words). With your attention to
detail, we will have a great conference with extraordinary papers, and make a significant impact
on the fields of Cartography and Geographic Information Science.

KEYWORDS: Quote five or so key words that would be useful in a web search for your paper.
For this example template: KEYWORDS: template, AutoCarto 2018 conference, UCGIS
Symposium, proceedings

Introduction (example of heading1 style)

This is the content of the introduction. The text is Times New Roman, 12 point, single spacing.
There is a 12pt space between paragraphs. It is indented for each new paragraph, after a major
header.

This is the second paragraph. I have deliberately left a blank line to separate it from the previous
paragraph. Please keep to this format throughout the document.

As far as references go, DO NOT USE footnotes. For references, use the (Author, Date) style.
For example, Smith (1990) indicated that cartography can be fun. That cartography is indeed fun,
is quote Smith, “cartography is great fun” (Smith, 1997, p. 187). Use the “et al.” form for more
that two authors.

Method
Dealing with tables and figures (example of heading2 style)

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Special attention should be devoted to making sure that figures and tables fit within the bounds
of this page (i.e. 6 inches width, centered). Each figure should stand alone, with a caption and a
reference in the text (please see the sample Figure 1).

Make sure your figures, tables and graphs are accurate.

Figure 1: A sample graphic only.

Source: http://www.hgiis.com/images/pic_app_cartography.jpg . Use this caption style for figures and tables.

When you need to insert an equation, just go ahead and use the Word equation editor, for
example:
A=π r 2
There is no need to number equations, unless it is important to refer to them. Tables can be
treated the same as figures, and be embedded into the Word file. They should be referred to in
the text, and have their own number sequence, independent of figures. They also need captions.
Avoid having figures and tables roll over or be split between pages. You can usually move them
around until they appear on their own page. If not, you can force a new page using the Insert Tab
and Break menu choice. Use the standard table tools in Word, or import the table from Excel or
equivalent (Table 1).

Table 1: A meaningless table, added to show the basics of formatting.

Distance from Point A Distance from Point B Value assigned Purpose

(mm) (mm)

1.2 1.3 1000 kP Instruction

3.1 2.1 1020 kP Distraction

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Results
Many papers follow an IMRAD format, that is Introduction, Methods, Results, Analysis and
Discussion (Davis, 2005). Of course there are many different paper formats. Follow the one that
communicates your findings best. Use passive voice for preference, avoid grey literature, and use
the third person.

Conclusions
If we all follow this easy to use template, hours of valuable time will be saved in preparing the
Final Defense Presentation and Proceedings.

References

These are samples only, please follow the APA Style in Writing References:

Davis, M. (2005) Scientific Papers and Presentations, 2ed. Oxford: Elsevier Academic Press.

Smith, A. (1999) Maps: A Laugh a Minute. Hungarian Journal of Cartographic Logic, 11, 6, pp. 145-180.

Smith, A. and Jones, B. (1991) More Cartographic Hilarity. Cartography and Geographic Information Science.
22, 1, pp. 123-145.

Smith, A. Jones, B. and Smythers, C. (1992) Two Years of Cartographic Humor. http://www.funnymaps.com Last
visited 5/19/2008.

End your submission with your name(s) and affiliation(s), e.g.,

First Name Middle Initial, Surname, 12-GAS, Senior High School, Telacsan National High School,
Macabebe, Philippines

INDIVIDUAL ACTIVITY: In a separate sheet of paper, hand write the part assigned to you by
your leader. Submit it on time. Follow the format.

NAME:
SECTION:
TITLE OF STUDY:
ASSIGNED PART:
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________.
PARENT’S/GUARDIAN’S NAME AND SIGNATURE:

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