common mistakes in research paper

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StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan-.

StatPearls [Internet].

Common pitfalls in the research process.

Jacob Shreffler ; Martin R. Huecker .

Affiliations

Last Update: March 6, 2023 .

Definition/Introduction

Conducting research from planning to publication can be a very rewarding process. However, multiple preventable setbacks can occur within each stage of research. While these inefficiencies are an inevitable part of the research process, understanding common pitfalls can limit those hindrances. Many issues can present themselves throughout the research process. It has been said about academics that “the politics are so harsh because the stakes are so low.” Beyond interpersonal and political / funding concerns, prospective authors may encounter some disenchantment with the publish or perish culture. With a metric of (any) publication, the motivation to contribute meaningfully to science can be overshadowed by a compulsive drive to publish. [1] We believe in quality over quantity and highlight the importance of channeling creativity when pursuing scholarly work.

When considering embarking on a medical research project, one must begin with detailed planning. Do not underestimate the amount of time a project can take, often spanning years from conception to manuscript preparation. Will you conduct a retrospective chart review, a prospective study, or a true clinical trial with randomization and blinding? Will you systematically seek out and remove sources of bias from the study design and interpretation of results? Will you ensure the study is powered properly to justify conclusions? Will you eliminate or explain any conflicts of interest occurring among your author group? Will you fall victim to the temptation of frivolous subgroup analyses, or will you stick with the original plan? Will your study have a realistic chance at publication in a journal within your specialty, or perhaps another subfield? The study results may prove the null hypothesis, a ‘negative study,’ and therefore be difficult to publish. [2] Additionally, the intervention you find beneficial may subsequently be proven unhelpful or even dangerous, leading to prudent medical reversal. [3]

These considerations and more necessitate meticulous planning and vigilant adherence to a sound protocol. Along the way, you will encounter obstacles, pitfalls, some of which are presented in this article. But remain persistent, and your efforts will be rewarded with publication and contribution to science. This review covers common pitfalls researchers encounter and suggested strategies to avoid them.

Issues of Concern

There are five phases of research: planning phase, data collection/analysis phase, writing phase, journal submission phase, and rejections/revisions/acceptance phase.

Phase I Pitfalls: Planning a Study

The highest yield preempting of pitfalls in the research process occurs in the planning phase. This is when a researcher can set the stage for an optimal research process. Below are pitfalls that can occur during the planning phase.

Pitfall: Underestimating what committing to a research project requires

Conducting a research study and achieving publication sounds fulfilling, right?

Consider the many steps: conducting a literature search, writing an IRB proposal, planning and having research meetings, long and cumbersome data collection processes, working with statisticians or analyzing complex data, having unexpected research setbacks (e.g., subjects drop out, newly published papers on same topic, etc.), the possibility that after data collection you have no statistically (or clinically) significant findings, conducting an updated literature search, writing introduction, methods, results, and discussion sections of a paper, going through the many journal options to determine best fit while aiming for high impact factors, adhering to journal guidelines/fixing drafts, writing cover letters stating importance of the topic to respective journals, creating journal portal accounts, possibly being rejected numerous times, waiting months for journal decisions, working on numerous revisions and being informed by numerous individuals about all of the flaws in your writing and research.

Does it sound, maybe less fulfilling ?

Conducting a research project from inception to publication can be a rewarding experience. Research requires significant time. Setbacks are normal. To produce an important and sought-after research product, an individual must understand the magnitude of commitment required.

Pitfall: Choosing the wrong research pursuit/topic lacks precision

Consider an investigator interested in substance use research. The first challenge is the immense amount of research already published on this topic. Fortunately, there is still a massive amount of uncharted territory in substance use research.

It is important to understand what has been done and what is still undiscovered in your area of research. Do not simply study a topic because you find it interesting; passion is advantageous, but you should ensure that your study will contribute to some field/specialty or research in a significant way.

How does your research differ from what has been done?

How will it impact practice in a way that no previous study has?

Consider these questions when choosing a topic for research. Otherwise, you may struggle to get the work published. It can be demoralizing if you have already written your paper and realize that your paper is not going to get accepted by a reputable journal due to the presence of other papers already describing the same concepts you have.

As always, the first step is a thorough literature search.

Pitfall: Not considering research bias

A common theme noted in literature is that bias can, unfortunately, lead to failure to reproduce results, raising concerns regarding the integrity of science. [4] Bias can be considered various (inadvertent) poor strategies related to data design, analysis, and results reporting that produce spurious results and papers that perhaps should not be published. [5]

While one cannot completely eliminate bias from the research process, researchers should take steps to understand research bias in study endeavors and determine how to minimize bias during the planning phase of the study.

Pitfall: Not focusing on which variables to collect

Researchers often want to collect as much data as possible but should not build a list of variables that includes every single detail about subjects if the variables collected are unlikely to yield insight into the topic of research. The longer the data collection instrument, the higher likelihood of (human) errors (if manually data entry) and the longer duration of the data collection phase. Instead of taking time to build a database with many variables, consider cutting irrelevant variables and use that time to increase the sample size. Determine, based on your own clinical knowledge and published empirical works, which variables are most crucial.

Pitfall: Worrying about the statistics after the data has been collected

A vital part of the research process is ensuring you have a rigorous statistical approach. Involve your statistician very early in the project, preferably in the planning stages. They will have insight into the types of variables to collect and help shape the research methods. Statistical power is an important concept to consider before data collection to avoid false-negative results (Zlowodzki et al., 2006). Furthermore, other concepts, such as covariates, need to be part of the planning phase. Do not wait until after the data collection phase to give data to the statistician who cannot transform the data you have into outputs you want.

Pitfall: Not setting defined author roles

It is important to define who will be declared authors at the beginning of the research process to avoid conflict. Do most people want to be an author? Sure. Does everybody do the work worthy of authorship? No. While placing general comments in a shared document's margin may make the paper slightly better, it probably should not qualify for authorship. Review authorship criteria to determine what constitutes authorship. Clear expectations can ensure that everyone is on the same page and that everyone feels the process is fair, especially for individuals who plan to invest significant time in the project. Clear expectations for each author should occur before any writing begins, including deadlines and specific contributions. [6] [7] [6]

Pitfall: Not considering limitations of work before the paper is written

Avoid this pitfall by reviewing recent manuscripts and reading the limitations sections of these papers. Many of these limitations sections will make notions about generalizability to other populations. Some will discuss low power. Even the best papers in the top journals have many limitations. The best way to avoid or mitigate your work's limitations is to consider them during the planning phase.

How can you set up your project to limit your limitations section?

What (types of) samples should you include in your study?

Were you originally thinking of retrospective design, but it could be prospective?

What steps can you utilize to control baseline characteristics between groups?

Consider all limitations and think about how you can control these before data collection.

Phase II Pitfalls: Data Collection and Analysis

After the planning has occurred, typically after institutional review board (IRB) approval, the data collection and analysis phase can transpire. The entire team should typically stay involved throughout these phases. Below are pitfalls to avoid.

Pitfall: Not being involved in the data collection phase

It is important to be involved with the data collection phase, even if you do not personally collect data. Train the individuals who collect data to ensure all are on the same page and provide periodic oversight to ensure accuracy and quality of the data over time. [8] Do not assume the data collection phase is going smoothly – you may find yourself with a huge dataset riddled with inconsistencies or errors. Schedule periodic meetings to review data.

Pitfall: Not being involved with the statistical analysis phase

If you are not conducting the statistical analysis, do not assume that the person who is analyzing the data is 100% on the same page. Have meetings about the data, how to interpret the data, and the limitations of the data. Ask what other ways the data could be analyzed and how reviewers might negatively critique the data itself or the statistical methods.

The person conducting the analysis will not have the same familiarity with the topic. You are not going to be as familiar with the outputs. By understanding each other, you will a) have clearer, more robust methods and results in sections of the paper, b) limit critiques regarding the statistical approach/data outcomes, c) understand your research better for any presentations, discussion, or future work, and d) develop a positive collaboration for future work.

Phase III Pitfalls: The Writing Phase

The next phase is the writing phase. While this section covers pitfalls during the writing phase, for recommendations on conducting a literature search, writing, and publishing research, see StatPearls Evidence-Base Medicine Chapter: How to Write and Publish a Scientific Manuscript. [9] Below are pitfalls that can occur during the writing phase.

Pitfall: Poor or outdated references

When writing your paper, perform multiple literature searches to ensure all recent, salient references are covered—claims about recent similar work or research that frames your study if the references are outdated. Journals may even ask reviewers to comment on the presence or absence of up-to-date/suitable references. Conduct a literature search prior to data collection and stay on top of references throughout the research process as new papers become available.

Pitfall: No clearly defined purpose of the paper

Many aspects of manuscripts can get overlooked. Lack of a clear purpose statement can doom a paper to futility. Remind the readers of the goal of the project. You do not want consumers of your research to read the results section and forget what the goals/main outcomes are. The purpose statement should be located at the end of the introduction section.

Pitfall: Unclear methods making research hard to reproduce

A common concern in science is the lack of transparency in methods for reproducibility. The methods section should allow a reader to understand exactly what was done and conduct the study. Consider examining the S treng T hening the R eporting of OB servational studies in E pidemiology (STROBE) checklist for the methods (as well as other paper sections) to ensure best reporting practices for reproducibility. [10]

Pitfall: The tables and narratives are the same

Reviewers prefer you not to state findings in narratives that are in tables. Tables focus readers on the most important results and are not redundant with the written content. Make call-outs to the table in the paper's narrative sections, but do not state information found in tables.

Pitfall: Not reporting all data/outcomes

Some authors will state the main outcome of interest or have a statement such as “there were no other statistically significant findings between other groups.” Authors must report all outcomes and statistical analyses for reproducibility of the research. While this may be difficult to do with a broad approach, utilize tables and appendices to report all outcomes to show transparency and limit researcher bias.

Pitfall: Repeating results in discussion

Do not simply restate in the discussion what you already have in the results section. Utilize this section of the paper to link other references to your work and reflect on other empirical investigations' similarities or differences. Explain why your research provides an impactful contribution to the topic.

Pitfall: Making conclusions that do not align with your work

Authors sometimes note in their conclusions how the work impacts a topic due to X reason when X may be too broad a claim and the work doesn’t really support or prove that notion. Researchers should align their conclusions to their own results and highlight the significance of their findings.

Pitfall: Thinking the title is not a big deal

A strong title will help with the impact/readership of your paper. Consider keeping a short title that provides the main takeaway. Papers with more concise titles and present the study conclusion result in a bigger impact/receive more citations. [11]

Pitfall: Completing the abstract last minute

Similar to the title, do not underestimate an abstract. Journal and conference reviewers (and the general audience) may only read your abstract. The abstract must have the key results and contributions of the study and be well-written.

Phase IV Pitfalls: Submitting to a Journal

After the paper has been written, it is time to choose the journal. This phase also has numerous pitfalls. Below are pitfalls that can occur during this phase.

Pitfall: Choosing the wrong journal

Choosing the journal for your work can be overwhelming due to the number of options. Always look at the aims and scope of prospective journals. Look through the author guidelines to ensure that your manuscript adheres. This will save time. Review your reference list for any journals that appear more than once; if so, consider submitting to that journal. You do not want to submit your paper, wait two weeks, and then get a desk rejection because the editors state the paper is not aligned to the journal's aims and scope.

Additionally, researchers can aim too high and spend months (and numerous hours in journal submission portals) trying to publish a manuscript in a journal with a very large impact factor. Though admirable, if the research design and results lacking “gold standard” reporting, authors should consider a journal that is more likely to accept. Find a balance between the quality of your paper and the quality of the journal. Seek feedback from the other authors and/or senior colleagues who can provide honest feedback.

Pitfall: Poor cover letter on journal submission

Do not submit work with a flawed cover letter (errors or lack of clarity in how your work contributes to the body of literature). Spend time writing a detailed cover letter once, have it edited by someone else, and utilize that for all future projects. You can highlight the differences (e.g., the purpose of this work, our results showed) with each project. Use the cover letter to highlight the significance of the study while adhering to the disclosure guidelines (e.g., conflicts of interests, authors contributions, data releases, etc.), which will help the editorial board determine not only the suitability of the paper for the journal but also streamline the review process. [12]

Pitfall: Assuming that after the paper has been submitted to a journal, the work is done

The paper has been submitted! You think you are finished…but, unfortunately, the publishing game may still be far from over. Researchers often do not recognize the amount of time going into the submission/rejection/revisions phases. Revisions can sometimes be total overhauls, more work than writing a whole new paper. Be prepared to continue working.

Phase V Pitfalls: The Rejections, Revisions, and Acceptance Phase

Finally, perhaps the most unpredictable phase, the rejections, revisions, and acceptance phase, has unique pitfalls and other obstacles.

Pitfall: Mourning rejections too long/ “sitting on” a rejected paper

Did you get a desk to reject (i.e., the manuscript was not even sent for blind review)? That is unfortunate but common. You do not have time to sulk. Get that paper submitted somewhere else. The older the data, the less desirable your paper becomes. If the paper went in for a full review and was rejected, that may be even tougher than a desk reject because more time has elapsed. The good news is that (hopefully) you received feedback to incorporate in a revision. Do not spend too much time grieving rejections.

Pitfall: Not laying to rest rejected papers when it is indeed their time to go

Did you write a paper a couple of years ago, and you’ve submitted it to 20 different journals? The data is getting old. The topic wasn’t focused on. The sample size was small. Perhaps the project is not worth pursuing any longer. Do not give in to the sunk cost fallacy. If, however, you are proud of the work and stand by the paper, do not give up. If you believe after the numerous rejections that the topic/project is flawed, you can use this failure as a personal learning/growth opportunity. Do not repeat controllable mistakes on future projects.

Pitfall: Not addressing all of reviewer feedback

Did you get a revise and resubmit? Great news! The reviewers and editors will likely ask you to respond to each comment when you resubmit. Address all of the reviewer feedback. Take your time reading through the feedback, digest it, and re-read it. Carefully respond and decide how to revise your manuscript based on the feedback. Share the reviews and the duties of revision with coauthors. In your response to reviewers, stay professional and address each statement, even if you disagree with what is stated. If you do not respond to each statement, the reviewers often highlight the concern(s) again.

Pitfall: Thinking you know what the reviewers are going to say

Research reviewers are like a box of chocolates. You never know what you are going to get. You may be worried about a section of your paper/research approach, and the reviewers do not mention it at all in their review; instead, they criticize a section of your manuscript that you are most proud of.

In some reviews, you may get feedback like the following:

Reviewer #1

Please change lines 104-108 as I believe they are irrelevant to your study.

Reviewer #2

Please build on lines 104-108, as I believe they are the foundation of your study.

Sometimes, after multiple revisions, there are new concerns presented by the reviewers. This can be disheartening. Should some regulations restrict reviewers from bringing up new ideas/concerns during revision #7? Perhaps. Does any current rule prevent them from doing this? No.

During the review process, we must have faith that the reviewers are knowledgeable and provide fair, insightful, and constructive feedback. While the review process can be arbitrary or frustrating in some cases, peer review remains the gold standard in a scientific publication. Stay positive and persistent. Stay professional in responses to the reviewers. Remember that the review process can be very beneficial as it often leads to feedback that truly elevates your work and makes the product (and you) look better. [13]

Pitfall: Not rewarding yourself for a published paper

You did it! Celebrate your accomplishment. Reflect on the merit of your effort before you move on to other work or re-enter the cycle of IRBs, data coding, journal submissions, etc. Remember and appreciate how remarkable it is that you just contributed knowledge to the world.

Clinical Significance

Many pitfalls can occur throughout the research process. Researchers should understand these pitfalls and utilize strategies to avoid them to produce high-quality, sought-after research results that are useful for basic science and clinical practice.

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Disclosure: Jacob Shreffler declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

Disclosure: Martin Huecker declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

This book is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ ), which permits others to distribute the work, provided that the article is not altered or used commercially. You are not required to obtain permission to distribute this article, provided that you credit the author and journal.

Cite this Page Shreffler J, Huecker MR. Common Pitfalls In The Research Process. [Updated 2023 Mar 6]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan-.

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6 Common mistakes in research paper writing: And how to avoid them

June 2, 2021
PRODUCTIVITY

Common mistakes in research paper writing

My supervisor frequently mentions the following phrase: “Scientific articles are not written in English. It is a different language that you must learn separately”. I only grasped the significance of that remark when I attempted to write my first scientific article.

Despite the fact that conducting scientific research is always thrilling, one thing is certain: scientific writing is difficult to master. Scientific papers are essentially well-presented pieces of information. You’ve been given the challenge of conveying your ideas in a simple, easy-to-understand manner while maintaining high standards. But, how do you go about doing it?

To begin, you must recognize that the sole purpose of conducting research is to educate one another . When you have that mindset, you’ll discover new methods to “communicate” with others more effectively. This endeavour will immediately elevate you to the status of “expert” in your field — a perfect win-win!

On top of that mindset, consider the following recommendations to help you write your perfect scientific essay by avoiding common mistakes in research paper writing. Simply avoiding these mistakes can put you light years ahead of the pack. Let’s get started!

1.Poor organization : one of the most common mistakes in research paper writing

Poor organization is one of the most common mistakes in research paper writing, according to various studies on the subject.

“Even if a scientific report is uninteresting or contains long phrases and big words, if the reader feels the topic is important to him, he can plough through it. But if it’s disorganized, there’s no way someone is willing to go through the text. It’s impossible to make sense of what’s written.”

It’s important to stick to standard formats in general. An abstract; table of contents; summary; introduction; main body (theory, apparatus and methods, findings, and discussions); conclusions and suggestions; nomenclature; references; and appendices, for example, are all included in a general scientific article.

Because you will have a clear sense of the “flow” of the entire text, you can always make suitable adjustments to the structure in the end. However, if you begin without an unconventional framework or no framework at all, your project will fail miserably. So, when you’re working on the first drafts, make sure you have a properly defined framework in mind.

You can use a note taking app to jot down notes and come up with a structure — eliminating these common mistakes in research paper writing.

2.Not clearly understanding your audience.

One of the most common mistakes in research paper writing, that researchers make when they first start is not knowing who would benefit from their work, which is an issue right from the bat. You may write an outstanding essay on your study. Still, if you don’t identify your target audience beforehand, you’ll be in trouble. Never lose sight of your audience. As a result, it’s critical to begin your research endeavour with a deeper grasp of your target audience. Knowing who you want to read your article can help you pick the right journal, come up with a proper title, and be clear about your argument.

Your paper aims to chronicle your results and share them with the rest of your community. It is the exchange of ideas, not the documentation of them, that advances science. Consider your paper to be the initiation or continuation of a dialogue. It’s simpler to remember that you’re speaking to someone else rather than merely preserving your work for posterity by just documenting them.

Also, in your writing, avoid seeming overly intellectual. Despite the fact that your audience is likely to represent the same scientific community, be courteous and clarify acronyms the first time you use them. Don’t get carried away with technical language that’s hard to understand. Consider how well-informed your targeted audience is on the subject. Rather than assuming, it’s always better to clarify.

3.Not having a clear hypothesis or argument.

This is a typical blunder committed by many graduate and undergraduate researchers at the start of their careers. When writing their first scientific article, most of them find they don’t have a well-defined hypothesis. This is a significant component of the list of the most common mistakes in research paper writing.

Authors frequently use this section to discuss the study’s objectives and the problem they are addressing. However, many authors make the error of leaving it up to the reviewer to figure out “why” the problem is significant and challenging.

This is why it is critical to begin writing your first paper as soon as possible. Even if you comprehend it afterwards, having a clear grasp of your study hypothesis as you start your literature review is probably a good idea.

Suppose you discover that you need adequate hypotheses for your study when writing your first paper. In that case, it is usually a better idea to alter your priorities for a bit and focus solely on defining your research hypotheses rather than attempting to write the paper. Yes, indeed! It’s that critical.

4.Writing in a complex language.

This is simply one of the most common mistakes in research paper writing. Anyone who has read detailed reports understands the dangers of “technicalese,” a pretentious, exaggerated language that makes your work look like it was created by a computer or corporation rather than a human. By my definition, “technicalese” is a more sophisticated language than the topics it is used to explain. Technicians and bureaucrats hide behind a mess of incomprehensible memos and reports using jargon, clichés, outdated words, passive sentences, and an excess of adjectives in their works.

It’s tempting to employ technical terms to demonstrate our understanding of a subject. Jargon, clichés, archaic words, and passive sentences, on the other hand, make your work more complicated than it has to be. To counteract this problem, use the active voice to make your writing more direct and dynamic.

For example:

Passive: The metal beams were entirely corroded by the usage of saltwater.

Active: The usage of saltwater entirely corroded the metal beams.

How can you avoid using “technicalese” in your writing? To begin, stay away from jargon. Use a technical phrase only if it clearly explains your purpose. When you minimize jargon, your writing will be understandable to both novices and experienced experts. Make use of contractions. Avoid using cliches and out-of-date language. Write straightforwardly. As much as possible, use the active voice. Always keep in mind that the goal is to spread information to as many people as possible, not to please a limited intellectual elite.

5.Not writing for skim-readers

The title will be read by the majority of individuals who look at your paper. The majority of folks who are interested in the title will read merely the abstract. Many people who go past the abstract will only glance at the figures and figure captions (to get a quick overview of your findings), as well as the final line of the Intro (to understand why you undertook the study) and the last line of the Conclusions or Discussion (to find your take-home message). Your article should make sense to all of these readers. It should not be easily misunderstood by those who aren’t paying attention.

So, in your title, tell as much of the story as concisely as possible, as clearly as possible in your abstract (covering what you did, why, and why the results matter), think carefully about the last line of each section, and try to make the figures tell the story on their own.This way , you will have the opportunity to not only make the content look much nicer but to avoid these types of common mistakes in research paper writing which is a huge advantage.

Yes, I admit it! I also used to write several pages at the start of several chapters BEFORE stating the objectives and what will be accomplished. I eventually got the message when my professors criticized me for not putting the important ideas front and centre on the first or second page of multiple papers. If at all possible, include all of your research objectives in the first two pages of your paper rather than later. This entails writing succinctly. Background information can be more verbose once the objectives are provided, but it should emphasize coherence.

“Show your audience what you’re about to tell them, then tell them, and lastly summarize what you just told them,” one of my lecturers said. It’s indeed easier stated than done. When I was pondering “what to write” between chapter segments, I didn’t understand how effective this statement was until I found myself writing “new” concepts in the paper that hadn’t been presented earlier. This involved going back through earlier portions of the document to see whether any “new” points were added accidentally (“I told the audience more than I initially promised”) or if any information was missing (“I didn’t tell the audience everything as promised”). What are the key takeaways you’re “communicating” to the audience?

Suppose a skim reader can comprehend the general picture by skimming. In that case, there is a far better probability that they will read the entire text.

6.Not understanding what your advisor expects.

While some advisors may just approve your paper, many will insist on reading it and providing feedback before you submit it. If you’re in a large group, your adviser is likely to be preoccupied with a variety of tasks, such as reading the dissertation of a graduate student who is defending next week or planning a week-long trip (Happened to me once!). Many students would not take this as one of the common mistakes in research paper writing, but this would easily be someone’s worst nightmare if they did all the hard work but could not submit the paper on time .

As a response, be respectful and allow enough time. While one professor may be permitted to work on a paper until the very last minute, another may stipulate that a complete draft be submitted a specified amount of time before the due date.

If your advisor prefers to talk about the research before you finish your draft, you should do so. A competent adviser, for example, may assist you in determining what to emphasize, what is innovative and why, what the flow and structure of the paper should be, what to emphasize in the assessment, which earlier work and study you must analyze, and so on. This can result in a far better first draft that just takes little editing than a paper that is not well focused and may require extensive reworking.

These suggestions should help you overcome some of your fears and anxieties about writing and make the process smoother and more productive – eventually, come up with a proper text by eliminating most of the common mistakes in research paper writing.

Finally, bear in mind that success in writing — or any kind of communication — is primarily a question of attitude: if you don’t believe writing is important enough to devote the time and effort necessary to do it well, you won’t. If, on the other hand, you feel writing is essential and want to improve, you will!

Images Courtesy : Business vector created by pikisuperstar – www.freepik.com , Education photo created by wayhomestudio – www.freepik.com

Aruna Kumarasiri

Founder at Proactive Grad, Materials Engineer, Researcher, and turned author. In 2019, he started his professional carrier as a materials engineer with the continuation of his research studies. His exposure to both academic and industrial worlds has provided many opportunities for him to give back to young professionals.

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7 Common Writing Mistakes to Avoid in Your Research Paper

Common writing mistakes can negatively impact your manuscript’s chance of acceptance. With rejection rates in some top international publications as high as 97%, 1 this is something that researchers should worry about. Unlike general day-to-day writing, academic writing requires a special skill set that needs to be nurtured and developed. This requires authors to be objective, concise, and formal in their writing, which should ideally be devoid of common English grammar mistakes. However, an interesting statistic from the 2018 Global Survey Report by Editage reveals that 76% of research authors find it difficult to prepare a well-written, error-free manuscript for journal submission. 2 This is not surprising given that the manuscript writing process can be as challenging and time-consuming as conducting research.

However, you can ensure that you deliver high-quality manuscripts that meet the stringent standards set by leading journals. Just make sure to check your work and avoid the most common writing mistakes that budding academics and researchers with English as a second language tend to make.

Here’s a quick list of the seven most common writing and grammar mistakes to look out for before submitting your manuscript.

1. Language errors (word choice, phrasing)

Academic writing is meant to be professional and straightforward, on point but easy to understand, and precise, with no room for misinterpretation. One of the most common mistakes in writing is not using the appropriate tone and style to communicate your research. Keep in mind that language that is generally acceptable in informal writing, such as slang and irregular abbreviations, is considered inappropriate for academic writing.

Another common writing mistake is mixing up words that look or sound similar or not the right words and phrases to convey your meaning clearly and accurately. When using synonyms or rephrasing text, make sure you choose words and phrases that fit the context. Avoid using excessive technical terminology, jargon and cliches, such as “ think outside of the box”  and “ at the end of the day.”

2. Poor grammar (voice, tenses, punctuation)

In academic writing it’s essential to check your work to eliminate common grammar mistakes. Using grammar and punctuation properly helps to emphasize pauses, thoughts, ideas, and even the accuracy of the text. Experts suggest the use of active voice instead of passive voice when writing, for example, “we carried out research”, rather than “research was carried out”. Although some sections of your paper will benefit from the use of passive voice. Similarly, consistency in verb tense usage within a paragraph or between adjacent paragraphs helps to ensure better flow of ideas.

The incorrect use of punctuation marks, such as commas, apostrophes, quotations, colons, and semi-colons, is among the most common grammar mistakes in English that can change the way a message is interpreted, so it is important to understand how to use punctuations properly. Other grammar mistake examples include the misuse of articles, sentence fragmentation, parallelism, and subject-verb agreement.

3. Repetition of ideas (winding sentences)

While writing your thesis, dissertation, or research paper, you will need to keep within the recommended word count. However, academics often resort to describing established concepts or repeating ideas and arguments in different sections of their paper to meet this word count requirement. This common writing mistake shows a lack of proper research and a dearth of original perspectives and can make your research manuscript seem bloated and incoherent.

Academic writing is expected to be clear and concise, so it’s important to maintain a balance between restating key points to highlight critical messages for the reader and becoming overly repetitive to the extent of being irritating or boring. If you find yourself repeating phrases often, avoid this common mistake in writing by using contextual synonyms or rephrasing text differently to convey your research in the most effective way possible.

4. Weak introductions

One of the most common writing mistakes made by early career researchers is that they do not pay sufficient attention to the introduction of the research manuscript. The introduction serves as the reader’s first impression of the article, influencing their decision to either continue reading or skip it. Ensuring that the introduction is captivating and concise is vital. A good introduction helps highlight your topic, main concepts, and background information, which sets the context for your research.

When writing the introduction, researchers must try and find answers to why they chose a specific topic for research – why it is important, why you adopted a particular method or approach, and why it is relevant today. Avoid this type of common writing mistake by striking a balance between being concise and engaging while providing a comprehensive overview of the major concepts in the introduction.

5. Neglecting editing

Having spent long hours on research studies and academic writing, it is tempting to submit your research manuscript to your target journal as soon as it is completed. This is especially true if you are racing against tight deadlines. However, submitting your work without proper editing and final proofreading checks is one of the most common mistakes in writing. Identifying breaks in logic and flow, ensuring consistency in terms of fonts and formatting, eliminating spelling and grammatical mistakes, checking your references and citations, and ensuring that your submission is complete are all essential and critical checks for your manuscript to be accepted for publication.

6. Ignoring recommended guidelines

Most universities and international journals have their own specific set of stringent author guidelines that include instructions about appropriate structure, word count, formatting, fonts, etc. However, a common writing mistake that some budding academics make is ignoring, missing out on, or misinterpreting these important guidelines; this may be seen as a lack of effort or an inability to follow instructions.

In such cases, even if your research may potentially offer a breakthrough in your field, you are likely to be rejected or asked to submit with major revisions. One way to avoid this common writing mistake is to carefully examine the specific guidelines and make notes or checklists on key aspects to include/keep in mind before you start writing to ensure your work is not desk rejection.

7. Plagiarism

One of the most common writing mistakes is plagiarism, which is also the most frequently observed ethical offence. Plagiarism is when text, ideas, concepts, and images are used as is from previously published work without properly crediting the source. Writing that is presented as original, without proper citations is deemed unethical and is considered a copyright infringement by the journal.

Even if this was done inadvertently – failing to cite your sources, paraphrasing, or quoting someone without credit – plagiarism is considered a serious offence and could result in manuscript rejection, penalties, and sometimes even legal action. In fact, even quoting your own previous studies without proper attribution is deemed as plagiarism . To eliminate this common writing mistake and avoid any ethical misconduct, researchers must check their work and ensure that it has all the required citations and is an original piece of work.

References:

Ghost, M. 11 Reasons Why Research Papers Are Rejected. Scispace, October 2021. Available online at https://typeset.io/resources/11-reasons-why-research-papers-are-rejected/
Fernandes, A. Our secret recipe (with 5 key ingredients) for a winning manuscript. Editage Insights, December 2020. Available online at https://www.editage.com/insights/our-secret-recipe-with-5-key-ingredients-for-a-winning-manuscript

Paperpal is a comprehensive AI writing toolkit that helps students and researchers achieve 2x the writing in half the time. It leverages 21+ years of STM experience and insights from millions of research articles to provide in-depth academic writing, language editing, and submission readiness support to help you write better, faster.

Get accurate academic translations, rewriting support, grammar checks, vocabulary suggestions, and generative AI assistance that delivers human precision at machine speed. Try for free or upgrade to Paperpal Prime starting at US$19 a month to access premium features, including consistency, plagiarism, and 30+ submission readiness checks to help you succeed.

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Adsorption vs. absorption – a different letter can make all the difference , you may also like, how to use ai to enhance your college..., how to use paperpal to generate emails &..., ai in education: it’s time to change the..., word choice problems: how to use the right..., publish research papers: 9 steps for successful publications , self-plagiarism in research: what it is and how..., 6 tips for post-doc researchers to take their..., 8 most effective ways to increase motivation for..., how to make your thesis supervision work for..., how to paraphrase research papers effectively.

The top 10 most common research mistakes (and how to avoid them)

A lot can go wrong in experimental science, but proper planning and attention to detail can prevent accidents, wasted resources, and damaged reputations.

As the saying goes, we learn by our mistakes. And so it goes for virtually all research scientists, with most mistakes occurring during their formative years when they are still being mentored. While missteps in the research process are not usually catastrophic, the risks of allowing them to occur unchecked are many: personal safety is at stake, as are the careers and reputations of individuals, departments, and entire institutions. All of these risks can be significantly mitigated through proper training at the early stages of a researchers’ career. Here, I describe ten common mistakes (listed in no particular order) that occur in laboratory research settings.

Mistakes can occur at many levels, and sometimes they turn out to be due to innocent reliance on common or specialized methods – even published protocols – that are less than optimal. All experiments should begin with a well-planned protocol. If the protocol is investigator-initiated, permutations of steps should be built into the protocol to determine the optimal methodological approach. If the protocol being used is a peer-reviewed method, there’s no guarantee that it will work for everyone. It’s a mistake to assume that the protocol will work flawlessly the first time you use it in your research. Practice makes perfect, but you also need to consider the possibility that a published protocol may have failed to provide important caveats (e.g. the method doesn’t work well when cultured cells are in S phase of growth). That can cause experiments to fail or yield inconsistent results.
Failing to troubleshoot by at least attempting to get advice from others who have successfully used a method is also a mistake. You can reduce the risk of failed protocols by reaching out the investigator who published the protocol.
A third research mistake concerns the need to pay close attention to all of the reagents used in a given experiment. Reagent expiration dates need to be assessed before using a given material in an experiment. Reputable manufacturers pre-test their products in quality control studies to determine their products’ shelf life.
A related mistake is the use of reagents that haven’t been stored properly (e.g. refrigerated instead of frozen). This is particularly common when using perishable biological reagents.
Another research mistake that is absolutely avoidable concerns how experiments are documented. Laboratory notebooks must contain detailed information if an experiment that works is to be consistently reproduced. Everything should be recorded. This includes all materials used, nuances of methods applied, anything that may have happened during an experiment that’s not typical (e.g. a brief power failure). Even so-called simple things such as the water used can impact an experiment one way or another. Be consistent!
Disregarding the “consistency imperative” is a big mistake. If your experiments require the use of distilled, deionized water, always use distilled, deionized water.
Avoid taking short cuts. If an incubation period is 30 minutes, be patient and wait for the entire incubation period to be completed before moving on to the next step. When you plan an experiment, know what your time investment will be.
Failure to optimally maintain equipment is another mistake that can plague the most seasoned investigators. Standard maintenance is critical, especially when equipment is designed to protect users from environmental hazards (e.g. fume hoods). Is the equipment’s certification up to date?
Failure to perform manufacturers’ recommended calibration of equipment is another equipment-related mistake. A personal pet peeve is the failure to calibrate micropipettes used to measure minute volumes of reagents. When a protocol calls for one microliter of a reagent and the micropipette used to aliquot that volume hasn’t been appropriately calibrated, significant variance in the amount of reagent used can occur, resulting in significant variance of results from experiment to experiment.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, a set of related mistakes that occur in laboratory settings are caused by failure to adhere to good laboratory practices. While most of us are good citizens who try to adhere to and advocate for these practices, we sometimes fail to comply with what our laboratory safety officers tell us to do for our own good. That’s a big mistake – one we can’t afford if we want to keep ourselves and others safe in our work environments.

The list of related mistakes (the “never” imperatives) is long and includes:

Never bringing any food or drink into the laboratory and do not eat, drink, or smoke there.
Never smelling or tasting any chemicals or other lab samples for any reason.
Never working alone or unsupervised.
Never working when you are exhausted or emotionally upset.
Never leave experiments running unattended in the laboratory.
Never wearing loose or sloppy clothing that could get caught in any equipment or come in contact with any chemicals. Long hair should be pulled back out of the way of any reagents or machinery.
Never forgetting to wear the appropriate gloves, safety glasses or goggles, and a clean lab coat when handling chemical and/or biohazardous materials.
Never leaving the lab wearing protective personal equipment (PPE). How many times have you seen someone wearing protective laboratory gloves pressing an elevator button? If you do, do all of us a favor and tell that person why it’s against laboratory safety rules.
Never pipetting by mouth.
Never assuming that an accident that happens in the lab can be swept under the rug. If an accident or spill happens, be sure to notify your supervisor so that the appropriate protocols can be observed.
And finally, just like your mother always told you when you were growing up, never forgetting to wash your hands. Always do this before you exit the laboratory and especially after handling biohazards or chemical reagents.

The ever-present possibility of mistakes in experimental research should always be taken seriously, but should not be discouraging; all of these mistakes are preventable when researchers are properly trained and remain vigilant. By reducing mistakes we not only create a safer, more productive environment, but we do better science as a result.

Richard Coico , PhD is Professor of Cell Biology and Medicine, and Vice Dean for Scientific Affairs at SUNY Downstate Medical Center. Dr. Coico earned his PhD in immunology from New York University. His research has focused on the study of the role of immunoglobulin D (IgD) in lymphocyte regulation.

This article is also published on the OUP Blog .

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100 Tips to Avoid Mistakes in Academic Writing and Presenting

Adrian Wallwork 0 ,
Anna Southern 1

English for Academics SAS, Pisa, Italy

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Prioritizes those mistakes that are likely to cause the most problems in terms of poor communication
Focuses on modifications that increase readability and empathy for the reader
Focus on mistakes regarding general English rather than specifically academic English

Part of the book series: English for Academic Research (EAR)

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Table of contents (9 chapters)

Front matter, chapter 1 research papers: titles and abstracts.

Adrian Wallwork, Anna Southern

Chapter 2 Research Papers: Introduction and Literature Review

Chapter 3 research papers: methods, results, tables, chapter 4 research papers: discussion, conclusions, review papers, chapter 5 readability and avoiding redundancy, chapter 6 word order, sentence length and paragraphing, chapter 7 punctuation, spelling, using google, chapter 8 project proposals, journal submissions, and emails in general, chapter 9 presentations, back matter.

This book contains one hundred typical mistakes relating to papers, proposals, oral presentations, and correspondence with editors (e.g. journal submissions), reviewers (rebuttal letters), and editing agencies.

The book is primarily intended for non-native English speaking researchers. However, it is also useful for editing agencies in order to help new or inexperienced editors spot the kinds of mistakes they need to correct in order to ensure their clients successfully have their papers published. Each section of a paper is covered separately: titles and abstracts; introduction and literature review; methods, results and tables; discussion and conclusions.

Other books in this series:

English for Writing Research Papers

English for Presentations at International Conferences

English for Academic Research: Grammar, Usage and Style

English for Academic Correspondence

English for Academic CVs, Resumes, and Online Profiles

English for Academic Research: Writing Exercises

English for Academic Research: Grammar Exercises

English for Academic Research: Vocabulary Exercises

English for Academic Research: A Guide for Teachers

Research papers
Grammar mistakes
Vocabulary mistakes
Readability

Adrian Wallwork is from Manchester (UK) but has spent most of his adult life in Italy. He has taught general and business English, along with academic English to international PhD students. He is the author and editor of the English for Academic Research series published by SpringerNature, along with several course books for OUP and CUP, six books for the BBC, Scholastic and BEP. His latest publications are a series of discussion resource books (https://tefldiscussions.com/). Adrian runs a scientific English editing agency (e4ac.com) with his wife Anna Southern.

Anna Southern has a BA Hons degree in French and Sociology, and postgraduate certificates in Development Studies, Public Health, and TEFL. She has worked as: a Project Manager for both the British Council and the United Nations, both in the UK and overseas; ii) a freelance researcher for Carlton Television and the charity Crisis; iii) a researcher and Project Manager for the British National Health Service. Her publication record includes four ESL books co-authored for the BBC, a photocopiable resource book co-authored for Scholastic, ten programme support guides for Carlton Television, two public reports for the charity Crisis, a community work guide for the National Health Service, a scientific paper for the International Journal of TB and Lung Disease, and a self-published novel entitled Not At Home.

Book Title : 100 Tips to Avoid Mistakes in Academic Writing and Presenting

Authors : Adrian Wallwork, Anna Southern

Series Title : English for Academic Research

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44214-9

Publisher : Springer Cham

eBook Packages : Social Sciences , Social Sciences (R0)

Copyright Information : The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

Softcover ISBN : 978-3-030-44213-2 Published: 17 July 2020

eBook ISBN : 978-3-030-44214-9 Published: 17 July 2020

Series ISSN : 2625-3445

Series E-ISSN : 2625-3453

Edition Number : 1

Number of Pages : XIV, 156

Number of Illustrations : 13 illustrations in colour

Topics : English , Language Education , Popular Science in Linguistics , Grammar

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The top 10 most common research mistakes (and how to avoid them)

Acquired by Oxford University Press in 2015, Epigeum is the leading provider of online courses designed to help universities and colleges transform their core activities – in teaching, research, studying, and leadership and management.

By Richard Coico
June 26 th 2016

As the saying goes, we learn by our mistakes. And so it goes for virtually all research scientists, with most mistakes occurring during their formative years when they are still being mentored. While missteps in the research process are not usually catastrophic, the risks of allowing them to occur unchecked are many: personal safety is at stake, as are the careers and reputations of individuals, departments, and entire institutions. All of these risks can be significantly mitigated through proper training at the early stages of a researchers’ career. Below, I describe ten common mistakes (listed in no particular order) that occur in laboratory research settings:

Mistakes can occur at many levels, and sometimes they turn out to be due to innocent reliance on common or specialized methods – even published protocols – that are less than optimal. All experiments should begin with a well-planned protocol. If the protocol is investigator-initiated, permutations of steps should be built into the protocol to determine the optimal methodological approach. If the protocol being used is a peer-reviewed method, there’s no guarantee that it will work for everyone. It’s a mistake to assume that the protocol will work flawlessly the first time you use it in your research. Practice makes perfect, but you also need to consider the possibility that a published protocol may have failed to provide important caveats (e.g. the method doesn’t work well when cultured cells are in S phase of growth). That can cause experiments to fail or yield inconsistent results.

Laboratory. By darko Stojanovic. CC0 public domain via Pixabay.

Failing to troubleshoot by at least attempting to get advice from others who have successfully used a method is also a mistake. You can reduce the risk of failed protocols by reaching out the investigator who published the protocol.
A third research mistake concerns the need to pay close attention to all of the reagents used in a given experiment. Reagent expiration dates need to be assessed before using a given material in an experiment. Reputable manufacturers pre-test their products in quality control studies to determine their products’ shelf life.
A related mistake is the use of reagents that haven’t been stored properly (e.g. refrigerated instead of frozen). This is particularly common when using perishable biological reagents.
Another research mistake that is absolutely avoidable concerns how experiments are documented. Laboratory notebooks must contain detailed information if an experiment that works is to be consistently reproduced. Everything should be recorded. This includes all materials used, nuances of methods applied, anything that may have happened during an experiment that’s not typical (e.g. a brief power failure). Even so-called simple things such as the water used can impact an experiment one way or another. Be consistent!
Disregarding the “consistency imperative” is a big mistake. If your experiments require the use of distilled, deionized water, then always use distilled, deionized water.
Avoid taking short cuts. If an incubation period is 30 minutes, be patient and wait for the entire incubation period to be completed before moving on to the next step. When you plan an experiment, know what your time investment will be.
Failure to optimally maintain equipment is another mistake that can plague the most seasoned investigators. Standard maintenance is critical, especially when equipment is designed to protect users from environmental hazards (e.g. fume hoods). Is the equipment’s certification up to date?
Failure to perform manufacturers’ recommended calibration of equipment is another equipment-related mistake. A personal pet peeve is the failure to calibrate micropipettes used to measure minute volumes of reagents. When a protocol calls for one microliter of a reagent and the micropipette used to aliquot that volume hasn’t been appropriately calibrated, significant variance in the amount of reagent used can occur, resulting in significant variance of results from experiment to experiment.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, a set of related mistakes that occur in laboratory settings are caused by failure to adhere to good laboratory practices. While most of us are good citizens who try to adhere to and advocate for these practices, we sometimes fail to comply with what our laboratory safety officers tell us to do for our own good. That’s a big mistake – one we can’t afford if we want to keep ourselves and others safe in our work environments.

The list of related mistakes (the “never” imperatives) is long and includes the following:

Never bringing any food or drink into the laboratory and do not eat, drink, or smoke there.
Never smelling or tasting any chemicals or other lab samples for any reason.
Never working alone or unsupervised.
Never working when you are exhausted or emotionally upset.
Never leave experiments running unattended in the laboratory.
Never wearing loose or sloppy clothing that could get caught in any equipment or come in contact with any chemicals. Long hair should be pulled back out of the way of any reagents or machinery.
Never forgetting to wear the appropriate gloves, safety glasses or goggles, and a clean lab coat when handling chemical and/or biohazardous materials.
Never leaving the lab wearing protective personal equipment (PPE). How many times have you seen someone wearing protective laboratory gloves pressing an elevator button? If you do, do all of us a favor and tell that person why it’s against laboratory safety rules.
Never pipetting by mouth.
Never assuming that an accident that happens in the lab can be swept under the rug. If an accident or spill happens, be sure to notify your supervisor so that the appropriate protocols can be observed.
And finally, just like your mother always told you when you were growing up, never forgetting to wash your hands. Always do this before you exit the laboratory and especially after handling biohazards or chemical reagents.

Featured image credit: Chemistry lab, by Republica. CC0 public domain via Pixabay .

Richard Coico , Ph.D. is Professor of Cell Biology and Medicine, and Vice Dean for Scientific Affairs at SUNY Downstate Medical Center. Dr. Coico earned his Ph.D. in immunology from New York University. His research has focused on the study of the role of immunoglobulin D (IgD) in lymphocyte regulation.

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3.3: Common Mistakes in Research

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Anol Bhattacherjee
University of South Florida via Global Text Project

The research process is fraught with problems and pitfalls, and novice researchers often find, after investing substantial amounts of time and effort into a research project, that their research questions were not sufficiently answered, or that the findings were not interesting enough, or that the research was not of “acceptable” scientific quality. Such problems typically result in research papers being rejected by journals. Some of the more frequent mistakes are described below.

Insufficiently motivated research questions . Often times, we choose our “pet” problems that are interesting to us but not to the scientific community at large, i.e., it does not generate new knowledge or insight about the phenomenon being investigated. Because the research process involves a significant investment of time and effort on the researcher’s part, the researcher must be certain (and be able to convince others) that the research questions they seek to answer in fact deal with real problems (and not hypothetical problems) that affect a substantial portion of a population and has not been adequately addressed in prior research.

Pursuing research fads . Another common mistake is pursuing “popular” topics with limited shelf life. A typical example is studying technologies or practices that are popular today. Because research takes several years to complete and publish, it is possible that popular interest in these fads may die down by the time the research is completed and submitted for publication. A better strategy may be to study “timeless” topics that have always persisted through the years.

Unresearchable problems . Some research problems may not be answered adequately based on observed evidence alone, or using currently accepted methods and procedures. Such problems are best avoided. However, some unresearchable, ambiguously defined problems may be modified or fine tuned into well-defined and useful researchable problems.

Favored research methods . Many researchers have a tendency to recast a research problem so that it is amenable to their favorite research method (e.g., survey research). This is an unfortunate trend. Research methods should be chosen to best fit a research problem, and not the other way around.

Blind data mining . Some researchers have the tendency to collect data first (using instruments that are already available), and then figure out what to do with it. Note that data collection is only one step in a long and elaborate process of planning, designing, and executing research. In fact, a series of other activities are needed in a research process prior to data collection. If researchers jump into data collection without such elaborate planning, the data collected will likely be irrelevant, imperfect, or useless, and their data collection efforts may be entirely wasted. An abundance of data cannot make up for deficits in research planning and design, and particularly, for the lack of interesting research questions.

6 Common Mistakes Students Make With Research Papers — and How to Avoid Them

Post author By Denis John
Post date July 5, 2023

Image Source: Pexels

Embarking on a research paper can be an intimidating prospect for students, but steering clear of common mistakes will greatly enhance the process.

To get you up to speed, we’ll delve into six frequent errors and offer valuable tips on how to circumvent them, ensuring you produce a well-crafted and successful academic piece.

Mistake 1: Insufficient Research and the Art of Note-taking

A prevalent issue among research paper novices is inadequate preparation before diving into writing. Undertaking extensive research on your chosen topic and distilling critical information are vital steps that lay the groundwork for a well-rounded argument.

To avoid this mistake, dedicate sufficient time to explore diverse sources like books, articles, or online databases. Also, develop an effective note-taking system to clearly identify key points, themes, and evidence relevant to constructing your narrative later on. As you invest in researching properly upfront, you’ll save valuable time during the actual writing process.

Mistake 2: Plagiarism Pitfalls – How to Properly Credit Sources

Plagiarism is a major academic offense that can result in severe consequences for students. To sidestep this trap , ensure you attribute credit where it’s due, whether quoting or paraphrasing someone else’s work. Familiarize yourself with proper citation styles like APA, MLA, or Chicago to accurately reference your sources.

Additionally, using plagiarism detection tools and double-checking your writing for originality will help guarantee the integrity of your research paper. By conscientiously acknowledging the scholarship and ideas of others in your field, you’ll build credibility while avoiding repercussions tied to plagiarized content.

Mistake 3: Not Fully Understanding the Guidelines

Misinterpreting or overlooking crucial guidelines can be detrimental to your research paper’s success, causing unnecessary setbacks in an already demanding task.

To write a research paper with academic writing standards , thoroughly read and internalize the criteria provided by your instructor, including format, citation style, length constraints, and deadline expectations. Seek clarification on any ambiguous points before you commence writing.

Adhering closely to these requirements ensures that you deliver precisely what educators expect while also demonstrating your diligence and mastery of academic conventions.

Mistake 4: Ineffective Thesis Statements and Crafting Your Argument

A clear, compelling thesis statement is the cornerstone of a solid research paper. It sets the stage for presenting your argument confidently and coherently throughout the piece. Weak or vague statements can hinder readers’ engagement, leaving them puzzled over your central claim’s purpose and relevance.

To improve upon this aspect, meticulously refine your thesis by focusing on brevity, precision, and significance to your research question. As you analyze evidence during the writing process, continually reassess whether it supports your assertion effectively or demands further revisions.

Mistake 5: Failure to Structure and Organize Your Paper Efficiently

A well-organized research paper is crucial for maintaining the reader’s interest and making your argument more accessible. Disjointed thoughts or insufficient transitions between sections can hinder the overall flow.

To avoid this pitfall, compose a detailed outline that breaks down each segment of your paper – including introduction, body paragraphs, sub-topics, and conclusion. Logical progression, smooth transitions, and concise headings will make it easier for readers to follow your train of thought while proving you’ve mastered critical thinking skills necessary in academic writing.

Mistake 6: Neglecting Proofreading, Editing, and Revision Techniques

Many students underestimate the significance of reviewing their research papers for mistakes or areas requiring improvements. To avoid this:

Conduct multiple rounds of proofreading to eliminate errors in grammar, syntax, punctuation, and consistency.
Edit your paper by trimming any wordiness or repetitiveness while enhancing clarity.
Investing time in revisions and feedback from peers or professors

This will ultimately polish your research paper into a comprehensive piece that reflects competence and skillful writing.

Wrapping Up

The overarching misstep students make is underestimating the amount of time and effort they need to put into a research paper, so get this aspect right and the rest will fall into place.

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3 Common Mistakes in Research Publication, and How to Avoid Them

For researchers, getting their work published is essential to success in the competitive world of academia. There are several factors that journals consider when they publish an article, including the originality and efficacy of the thesis/ideas, the quality of the research, the author’s writing style, and compliance with formatting guidelines. Academic writers tend to focus on these areas but often overlook three mistakes that can get an otherwise good paper sent to the rejection file and possibly hurt the researcher’s career.

The three most common mistakes academic researchers can make in their writing are:

using improper or no source citation,
deficient academic transparency,
lack of standardization in format.

Since each of these problems can lead to rejection or even worse repercussions for a researcher’s career, we’ll examine them all in detail. The good news is that each of these three problems can be solved by leveraging SciSpace — an integrated platform for writing, collaborating, and publishing research papers — that has recently integrated with long-time text similarity detection solution iThenticate , helping scholars overcome these often overlooked mistakes.

1. Improper and/or No Citation

most-common-research-writing-mistake-improper-formatting

The improper and/or lack of citation of sources in research papers is probably the most egregious mistake a scholar can make, but it’s also the easiest to rectify. Citing improper sources is commonly referred to as plagiarism, which is defined as “the process or practice of using another person’s ideas or work and pretending that it is your own .” Although this definition is fairly straightforward, improper source citation and plagiarism are nuanced problems.

Not citing sources at all in one’s work fits the classic definition of plagiarism, and generally speaking, it should be relatively easy to avoid that pitfall. But, improper source citation is a bit of a trickier problem. Although improper source citation isn’t considered plagiarism in many contexts, it can be considered so in some cases , especially with academic research.

Therefore, making sure you have properly cited sources in your paper is crucial for acceptance into academic journals. It’s important to point out that though many open-access journals publish research at a rapid pace, they still subject all potential entries to rigorous standards of proper citation and plagiarism.

2. Deficient Academic Transparency

lack-of-academic-transparency-common-mistake-in-research-publication

Deficient or lack of academic transparency is closely related to the first mistake, although it’s generally the result of a lack of knowledge of the process more than any conscious attempt at unethical behavior. This lack of awareness can lead to utilizing other's work inappropriately, without giving credit to the author of the original idea. Another instance of misconduct related to insufficient understanding of academic transparency is self-plagiarism, which is recycling or reusing one’s previous work without citation or acknowledgment . Self-plagiarism is actually fairly common, so much so that many don’t even consider it a problem, but it is an issue that can derail an academic career nonetheless.

Even many scholars who know that self-plagiarism is a mistake still find themselves doing it because they are not proofreading their work properly, which can especially be the case in STEM disciplines where multiple authors contribute to a single article.

3. Lack of Standardization in Formatting

improper-formatting-a-common-mistake-in-research-writing

Improper formatting of research papers might be overlooked by many scholars due to its somewhat more tedious nature. Let’s face it, when you’re presenting your research in print the last thing you probably want to think about is how your paper is formatted, but that could be a major mistake.

So what can happen to scholars' research work if they don't standardize or format their articles according to a journal's guidelines or recommended structure? — REJECTED ❌

Furthermore, manually formatting articles is exhausting and can lead to errors that ultimately result in rejection, even if the articles present solid research and are otherwise well-written. Rejection rates are up to 70% for journals, and scholars who fail to bring standardization in their articles face downright rejection.

However, reformatting articles in line with journal guidelines and policies becomes laborious. If only a tool exists that can provide a template for every journal where you just upload your file and... boom, you get the output! You can save two weeks to two months spent structuring your articles in standard journal templates.

SciSpace is all-in-one research writing platform especially designed to help you structure your articles in standard formats and get them published in the desired journal publications. It enables you with:

Automated formatting, including a collection of over 100,000 journal templates to choose from,
Create/Add feature for inserting scientific expressions, footnotes, images, tables, and
One-click citation formatting and references ordering

So, scholars and students can cut down those tedious hours and save more than 60% of their time invested in formatting-reformatting their manuscripts.

SciSpace and iThenticate As the Solution

Since research writing is difficult and full of stress, anyone can fall prey to these three mistakes, but you can mitigate the risks by utilizing SciSpace with iThenticate. The iThenticate text similarity detection software has proven to be effective for a wide range of scholars across many different disciplines and fields of study, so using it will greatly enhance your ability to prevent improper and missing source citation. By employing iThenticate’s Similarity Report, you’ll be able to see what sections of your paper match previously published works, allowing you to take the appropriate steps to cite those passages.

iThenticate can also be effective in helping you overcome a lack of transparency in your writing. The iThenticate similarity software searches more than 91 billion active and archived web pages as well as more than 170 million journal articles. iThenticate compares each submission against this extensive database of scholarly content, so if you recycled some of your published work and are not even aware of it, the iThenticate Similarity Report will catch it.

As vital as the publication process is in academia, it’s also difficult and fraught with many potential career-ending obstacles. We reviewed three potentially costly yet common mistakes many scholars make in their writing. Preventing these mistakes using SciSpace and iThenticate in a bundle will help you protect your reputation and publish with confidence.

Learn more about how you can use iThenticate with SciSpace here .

Hey there! We encourage you to visit our SciSpace discover page to explore how our suite of products can make research workflows easier and allow you to spend more time advancing science.

When performing a literature review you should take notes about your citation so that you can keep track. Citing is a breeze with SciSpace Discover. You can generate citation text on the article page by clicking the 'cite' button, which will be preloaded in multiple formats, so you can copy-paste it as needed.

You can refer to the below blogs to learn more about research writing

How to become good at academic research writing?
The 4-Step Guide That Will Get Your Research Published
4 Common Research Writing Mistakes (and How to Fix Them)
Research writing simplified
The myth around academic publishing every researcher should know

5 Reasons why Professors are Moving Away from Manual Formatting of Research Papers

Introducing SciSpace — Revolutionizing research workflows end-to-end

How Pandoc is helping us redefine our Publishing Stack

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Avoid The Top 10 Mistakes Made in Beginning a Research Paper

September 4, 2021

It’s good to learn from mistakes. Unfortunately, this rule doesn’t work if you are writing a research paper – even a small error may cost you a lot. At best, you may need to make some corrections. At worst, you may end up having to reconsider the focus of your study and rewrite the whole work all over again.

To prevent you from this, StudyCrumb has compiled a list of the 10 most common mistakes that students make before beginning a research paper . Keep on reading this blog post and find out how to avoid stylistic, structural, and other mistakes in research.

StudyCrumb is an academic writing assistance company helping students compose custom papers tailored to specific requirements. Backed by professional writers, StudyCrumb can assist you with writing a top-notch research paper on any topic in a timely manner.

1. Ignoring the instructions

Finishing a research paper successfully means completing a specific task assigned to you. However, 79% of students fail to carefully read the assignment. As such, they submit the works with the necessary details missing. So before getting started, remember to read the instructions thoroughly and make sure you understand what you are asked to do. After all, you don’t want to figure out that you’ve done something wrong in the middle of the process.

2. Conducting poor preliminary research

Doing preliminary research helps to identify if there are enough credible sources that can be used in the study. However, some students prefer to start their work without decent research. In fact, this couple of hours that you spend looking for the existing studies may reward you with some valuable insights. So remember to do research and check whether there is enough reliable material to work with.

3. Formulating a too narrow/ broad research question

A research question is the ground of any study. It identifies what a student aims to find out and makes research-focused. But most students fall into the trap of choosing either a too narrow or too broad research problem. If the latter is true, you will be looking for necessary material for ages. And yet, if there is too much literature to review, you most likely will have to sift through the piles of works until you find exactly what you need. For this reason, you better spend an extra hour coming up with a good question to study.

4. Developing a weak research paper thesis

No research paper is complete without a strong thesis statement. You may be surprised, but in 83% of cases, students get lower grades for their research projects because they fail to create a decent central statement. A good thesis statement should answer your research question and show the reasoning behind your answer. Be concise and stay on point – research is not a good place to develop vague ideas.

5. Failing to create a research design

Once you have your central statement shovel-ready, it’s time to build an organized research design. Unfortunately, many students underestimate the importance of this crucial stage and go on to the research process without a clear approach in mind. Before moving on to the practical part, you have to decide on the overall strategy for studying the problem. Make sure to plan your data collection and analysis methods ahead to avoid inconsistencies later.

6. Sharing thoughts in a disorganized way

When you are writing a research paper, you need much more than just a good problem to explore. Even a unique angle won’t be compelling if your thoughts aren’t organized and reinforced with supporting evidence. That’s exactly when a well-structured outline comes in handy. Make sure to prepare a clear plan for your research and mention all the key points. This way, you will be able to describe all the necessary details without missing any important information.

7. Using sophisticated words and complex sentences

Writing a research paper doesn’t mean that you have to use too sophisticated words every here and there. Don’t stuff your work with jargon and technical language where it doesn’t make sense. Your task is to get the audience involved in your study, but not get the readers confused. Write in a simple manner and don’t overdo with redundant expressions.

8. Having the first pages incomplete or out of order

An abstract, an introduction, a literature review, a methodology… these are just a few preliminary pages that go before the main text of your work. While it may be tempting to make the beginning part more intuitive, these sections are the first pages that your professor will see. For this reason, it’s very important that you structure the beginning section in proper order. Ask your professor for guidance since different schools may have different requirements.

9. Creating a poor research paper abstract.

Now that you have some exciting findings to share, it’s time to create an abstract. As its name suggests, an abstract is a brief summary of your research. It’s usually 1 page long which should be enough to report the aims and outcomes of your study. However, you should be extremely careful here. It’s better not to exceed a 1-page limit no matter how many interesting details you have to share. Your abstract should include only the most crucial information.

10. Following different formatting styles

Your research paper’s formatting is just as important as your findings. By the time you begin writing the work, you should be familiar with the three major academic formatting styles – APA, MLA and Chicago. Make sure you format your paper according to the instructions specified in your assignment. Most students prefer to format the paper after the writing is done. However, we recommend setting out the formatting prior to the writing process. This way, your whole work will look consistent and organized from the very beginning.

Final thoughts on a research paper

Hopefully, this article will help you write a flawless research paper. Once you are done, make sure to proofread your entire work for stylistic and grammar mistakes. Wishing you good luck with your academic endeavors!

Author Bio:

Daniel Howard – I’m a passionate proofreader, editor, and freelance writer aiming to help create flawless content. I work for StudyCrumb, where I share insights on writing academic papers that meet the highest quality standards.

If you are facing problems on choosing the right college, career paths or If you need any help on the college application process, essay/SoP/or reviews, please schedule a 30 or 60 minutes online 1-on-1 interactive session with any of our experienced counselors OR send an email at [email protected]

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Five Common Mistakes to Avoid When Writing a Biomedical Research Paper

4 minute read

Table of Contents

Mistakes to Avoid When Writing a Biomedical Research Paper

Writing an academic paper that is both professional and impactful is not an easy task. An article’s writing style must be compatible with the research presented and accurately communicate the relevance of its findings to the scientific community and professionals. However, this article also needs to be easy to understand for maximum reach and influence. In the upcoming blog posts, we will discuss writing styles best suited for specific disciplines to help researchers in those disciplines get published.

This article will focus on the biomedical field. Based on several case studies, we have compiled a list of five common mistakes in academic writing, more specifically in biomedical writing. By avoiding the following mistakes, you can significantly improve your biomedical manuscript’s quality and get it published faster!

Faulty structure

Improper structuring 1 of manuscripts is a common reason for rejection by journals. Most biomedical journals require authors to adhere to the specific guidelines 2 and provide all necessary information in the standard format. The general format for observational and experimental articles is Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion or “IMRAD.” We recommend that researchers in the biomedical field organize articles according to the above structure. For a detailed explanation on IMRAD, refer to our previous blog post .

Paragraph-level mistakes

The lack of a proper introduction 3 is a major red flag in manuscripts. A good introduction sets the context of the study by explaining gaps in knowledge and how the study aims to address them. Without a detailed introduction, reviewers may find it hard, if not impossible, to evaluate a manuscript, leading to desk rejection.

An incomplete description 4 of research methodology such that it impedes replication of the study can also lead to rejection. In the example below, the first sentence is very vague. The second sentence is more suitable for inclusion in a manuscript, as it provides the necessary details for replication.

× The patients were split into two groups, of which one was given the drug and the other a placebo.

√ The patients were randomized into two groups. One group was given 300mg of the drug as an IV bolus, once a day for two weeks. The second group received 300 mg of placebo with the same dosing regimen.

Sentence-level mistakes

Long, information-packed sentences can complicate the ideas presented in your manuscript. “Sentence sprawls” 5 confuse reviewers and reduce the chances of acceptance. It is advisable to break down lengthy sentences into shorter, more easily understood parts.

× After two weeks, contrary to the placebo group, the group that received the drug demonstrated lower fasting blood sugar, lower post-prandial blood sugar, and more stable blood sugar levels over the course of the day.

√ After two weeks, the group that received the drug demonstrated lower fasting and post-prandial blood sugar. They also had more stable blood sugar levels over the course of the day. These results were in contrast to the placebo group.

Grammar and punctuation mistakes

Improper use of punctuation, like commas and semicolons, is common in manuscripts. Omitting a comma can make the sentence illegible, and too many commas make for a tiresome read. As a general rule, only use comma splices 5 (a comma to separate independent clauses) when using a conjunction like ‘and,’ ‘or,’ ‘but,’ ‘for,’ ‘nor,’ ‘so,’ or ‘yet.’

Improper use of sex and gender terms

Faulty usage of sex and gender terms can reflect a lack of awareness about current practices in scientific writing. The Sex and Gender Equity in Research (SAGER) 6 guidelines can help authors understand how to delineate terms related to the biological concept of sex, like ‘male’ and ‘female,’ from terms describing the sociocultural concept of gender.

Although the mistakes mentioned above are specific to the biomedical field, researchers from other disciplines can also benefit from learning to avoid them. We will explore essential writing skills for more disciplines in subsequent blog posts. Like all our blog posts, we hope this article contributes to your academic writing skills, improves your chances of publication and helps make your papers more impactful!

Elsevier Language Editing Services has a highly talented team of editors with expertise in over 100 disciplines, including biomedicine. Our English-speaking editors are both accomplished and experienced. They can accurately diagnose problems in your article, edit them efficiently, and improve its quality and readability. We offer various service options to meet the specific language needs of researchers. Our customized paper promotion plans support authors throughout the publication process, improving rates of successful publication and enhancing the reach and influence of their articles.

References:

Javed Ali. (2010). Manuscript Rejection: Causes and Remedies. Journal of Young Pharmacists , 2(1), 3-6. https://doi.org/10.4103/0975-1483.62205 .
(2010). How to get your research published… …and then noticed. https://www.elsevier.com/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/91173/UPP-Booklet-December-2020.pdf .
Arushi Gupta. (2023). 7 Common writing mistakes to avoid in your research paper. https://www.paperpal.com/blog/academic-writing-guides/language-grammar/writing-mistakes-research-paper/ .
Ezeala, C., Nweke, I., & Ezeala, M. (2013). Common errors in manuscripts submitted to medical science journals. Annals of medical and health sciences research , 3 (3), 376–379. https://doi.org/10.4103/2141-9248.117957 .
The Writing Center, University of Wisconsin–Madison. Twelve Common Errors. https://writing.wisc.edu/handbook/grammarpunct/commonerrors/ .
Jessica Miles. (2020). The importance of sex and gender reporting: In support of the SAGER guidelines. https://www.elsevier.com/connect/editors-update/the-importance-of-sex-and-gender-reporting .

Making Technical Writing in Environmental Engineering Accessible

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Descriptive Research Design and Its Myriad Uses

To Err is Not Human: The Dangers of AI-assisted Academic Writing

When Data Speak, Listen: Importance of Data Collection and Analysis Methods

Choosing the Right Research Methodology: A Guide for Researchers

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Twelve Common Errors

Download this Handout PDF

This list includes only brief examples and explanations intended for you to use as reminders while you are editing your papers. If you would like to learn more, consider the following options:

Take one of the free grammar, style, and punctuation classes offered by the Writing Center.
Set up an appointment for an individual conference in the Writing Center.
Confer with your course instructor.
Consult a handbook for additional examples and complete explanations

1. Sentence fragments

Make sure each word group you have punctuated as a sentence contains a grammatically complete and independent thought that can stand alone as an acceptable sentence.

Tests of the Shroud of Turin have produced some curious findings. For example, the pollen of forty-eight plants native to Europe and the Middle East.

[2nd sentence = fragment]

Tests of the Shroud of Turin have produced some curious findings. For example, the cloth contains the pollen of forty-eight plants native to Europe and the Middle East.

Scientists report no human deaths due to excessive caffeine consumption. Although caffeine does cause convulsions and death in certain animals.

Scientists report no human deaths due to excessive caffeine consumption, although caffeine does cause convulsions and death in certain animals.

2. Sentence sprawl

Too many equally weighted phrases and clauses produce tiresome sentences.

The hearing was planned for Monday, December 2, but not all of the witnesses could be available, so it was rescheduled for the following Friday, and then all the witnesses could attend.

[There are no grammatical errors here, but the sprawling sentence does not communicate clearly and concisely.]

The hearing, which had been planned for Monday, December 2, was rescheduled for the following Friday so that all witnesses would be able to attend.

3. Misplaced and dangling modifiers

Place modifiers near the words they describe; be sure the modified words actually appear in the sentence.

Not sure what a modifier is? Check our our FAQ.

When writing a proposal, an original task is set for research.

When writing a proposal, a scholar sets an original task for research.

Many tourists visit Arlington National Cemetery, where veterans and military personnel are buried every day from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.

Every day from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m., many tourists visit Arlington National Cemetery, where veterans and military personnel are buried.

Still unsure? For more explanation and examples, see our grammar and style FAQ.

4. Faulty parallelism

Be sure you use grammatically equal sentence elements to express two or more matching ideas or items in a series.

The candidate’s goals include winning the election, a national health program, and the educational system.

The candidate’s goals include winning the election, enacting a national health program, and improving the educational system.

Some critics are not so much opposed to capital punishment as postponing it for so long.

Some critics are not so much opposed to capital punishment as they are to postponing it for so long.

5. Unclear pronoun reference

All pronouns must clearly refer to definite referents [nouns].

Use it, they, this, that, these, those, and which carefully to prevent confusion.

Einstein was a brilliant mathematician. This is how he was able to explain the universe.

Einstein, who was a brilliant mathematician, used his ability with numbers to explain the universe.

Because Senator Martin is less interested in the environment than in economic development, he sometimes neglects it.

Because of his interest in economic development, Senator Martin sometimes neglects the environment.

6. Incorrect pronoun case

Determine whether the pronoun is being used as a subject, or an object, or a possessive in the sentence, and select the pronoun form to match.

Castro’s communist principles inevitably led to an ideological conflict between he and President Kennedy.

Castro’s communist principles inevitably led to an ideological conflict between him and President Kennedy.

Because strict constructionists recommend fidelity to the Constitution as written, no one objects more than them to judicial reinterpretation.

Because strict constructionists recommend fidelity to the Constitution as written, no one objects more than they [do] to judicial reinterpretation.

7. Omitted commas

Use commas to signal nonrestrictive or nonessential material, to prevent confusion, and to indicate relationships among ideas and sentence parts.

When it comes to eating people differ in their tastes.

When it comes to eating, people differ in their tastes.

The Huns who were Mongolian invaded Gaul in 451.

The Huns, who were Mongolian, invaded Gaul in 451.

[“Who were Mongolian” adds information but does not change the core meaning of the sentence because Huns were a Mongolian people; this material is therefore nonrestrictive or nonessential.]

For more information on commas see Commas: Punctuating Restrictive and Non-restrictive Modifiers and Punctuating Coordinating Conjunctions and Sentence Adverbs , or take one of the free grammar, style, and punctuation workshops offered by the Writing Center.

8. Superfluous commas

Unnecessary commas make sentences difficult to read.

Field trips are required, in several courses, such as, botany and geology.

Field trips are required in several courses, such as botany and geology.

The term, “scientific illiteracy,” has become almost a cliche, in educational circles.

The term “scientific illiteracy” has become almost a cliche in educational circles.

9. Comma splices

Do not link two independent clauses with a comma (unless you also use a coordinating conjunction: and, or, but, for, nor, so, yet ).

Instead use a period or semicolon, or rewrite the sentence.

Comma splice:

In 1952 Japan’s gross national product was one third that of France, by the late 1970s it was larger than the GNPs of France and Britain combined.

In 1952 Japan’s gross national product was one third that of France. By the late 1970s it was larger than the GNPs of France and Britain combined.

Diseased coronary arteries are often surgically bypassed, however half of all bypass grafts fail within ten years.

Diseased coronary arteries are often surgically bypassed; however, half of all bypass grafts fail within ten years.

10. Apostrophe Errors

Apostrophes indicate possession for nouns ( “Jim’s hat,” “several years’ work” ) but not for personal pronouns (its, your, their, and whose).

Apostrophes also indicate omissions in contractions ( “it’s” = “it is” ).

In general, they are not used to indicate plurals.

In the current conflict its uncertain who’s borders their contesting.

In the current conflict it is [it’s] uncertain whose borders they are [they’re] contesting.

The Aztecs ritual’s of renewal increased in frequency over the course of time.

The Aztecs’ rituals of renewal increased in frequency over the course of time.

11. Words easily confused

“Effect” is most often a noun (the effect), and “affect” is almost always a verb.

Other pairs commonly confused: “lead”/”led” and “accept”/”except.”

Check a glossary of usage to find the right choice.

The recession had a negative affect on sales.

The recession had a negative effect on sales. (or) The recession affected sales negatively.

The laboratory instructor chose not to offer detailed advise.

The laboratory instructor chose not to offer detailed advice.

12. Misspellings

Spelling errors are usually perceived as a reflection of the writer’s careless attitude toward the whole project.

Don’t allow your hard work to be marred in this way!

In addition to comprehensive dictionaries, you may want to use electronic spell checks, spelling dictionaries, and lists of frequently misspelled words found in handbooks.

Grammar and Punctuation

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Using Dashes

Using Commas

Using Semicolons

Using Coordinating Conjunctions

Using Conjunctive Adverbs

Subject-Verb Agreement

Using Gender–Neutral Pronouns in Academic Writing

How to Proofread

Twelve Common Errors: An Editing Checklist

Clear, Concise Sentences

Common Errors to Avoid in a Research Paper

When it comes to writing a research paper, there are a few common errors that students must avoid. Knowing about these possible mistakes before you begin your paper can go a long way toward ensuring that you avoid them. This will reduce a great deal of tension and anxiety.

When writing a paper, the possibilities of making a mistake are quite high, yet many of these errors are predictable and may be avoided with little care.

If you stop making these mistakes then you’ll be able to produce a paper that will amaze your professor and one you’ll be proud of.

So, Here are Some of the Most Common Errors to Avoid in a Research Paper:

1. insufficient research p rior to selecting a thesis statement:.

Students may rush their subject choices for a paper if they are worried or busy. As a result, their concentration and connection to the subject matter may decrease, and this will undoubtedly show in their writing.

Writing a strong thesis statement, and ultimately a successful paper, requires thorough research and the selection of a topic to which you feel personally connected.

2. Not Having a Strong Thesis Statement:

Regardless of your discipline or topic, your paper should have a thesis statement that states your main point. Many students, on the other hand, make the error of producing a paper without a thesis. It’s important to remember that a good research paper is more than just a list of your sources; it also demands you to make a unique argument.

This is a crucial, basic component of a well-written paper. You must have a clear point of view, in order to write an effective thesis statement.

The thesis statement should be simple and concise, expressing only one essential point. It should be an issue that deserves to be discussed further. A strong thesis statement is genuine, captivating, and entices the reader to keep reading.

3. Citing Sources Incorrectly is a Big No-No:

All data and references utilized in a study must be properly acknowledged. Depending on the teacher, the specific requirements for doing so may differ.

Whether you’re using MLA or another format, each style has its own set of rules and standards for referencing sources. Check with your instructor for specifics so that you may credit sources in accordance with the rules.

Fortunately, software is now available that can assist in the drafting of research articles. Whether you’re using MLA, APA, or another citation style, formatting software can assist take the uncertainty out of the procedure.

Knowing how to avoid these typical errors while writing a research paper can go a long way toward avoiding them. If you follow these steps, you’ll be well on your way to creating an excellent research paper.

4. Not to Mention the Study’s Shortcomings:

Students frequently make the mistake of concealing their research’s limits. Nobody is expecting you to produce a flawless paper. In truth, there is no such thing as a “perfect” study or research; everything can be improved.

You are actually informing the readers that you have properly reviewed your results and methodology by recognizing the limits of your study. A good academic article should not only state its own limits, but also suggest new study areas in the future.

5. Failure to Connect the Thesis Statement to the Supporting Statements in a Meaningful Way:

A research paper’s structure runs from the thesis statement through the supporting statements, which make up the paper’s body. The finest research articles are essentially a long-term study and interesting debate on a well-defined topic. From your thesis statement to your supporting argument, your paper must flow smoothly.

6. There is a Scarcity of Solid, Relevant Evidence to Back Up Claims:

All supporting statements in a paper should be backed up by credible sources that justify the thesis statement’s point of view. Your supporting statements should elaborate on your initial thesis statement and be based on solid, factual evidence that you cite and that the reader can easily check.

7. Having a Lack of Structure:

If your ideas, arguments, facts, and results are not correctly organized, they will be useless to readers. One of the most common mistakes students make is submitting a haphazardly organized research paper, especially when they are under time constraints.

It is in your best interests to create a paper outline before you begin writing. You may improve readability and minimize confusion by sketching out divisions and sub-parts.

8. Leaving the Research Question Unsolved:

Your research paper might have a fantastic start; you could have used all essential facts and cited everything perfectly. However, if you make the error of leaving your research question unresolved, your work will lose its value.

Any research paper conclusion might be tough to write since it is difficult to wrap up all loose ends. Before you begin addressing your research question, go back over it again and compare it to the rest of the article.

9. Making Use of Complex Language:

Don’t use too much technical language or long, complicated phrases in your work. Consider the reader’s point of view and make your tone as straightforward as possible. This will keep the reader’s attention on your paper.

Avoid becoming repetitive by not going overboard with the writing. If you need to explain an expression more than once in your work, be imaginative and use simple language.

10. Poor Abstract:

Never go above the allotted word count in your abstract. Only the most important aspects of your work should be highlighted, with each section’s substance covered in a clear and concise manner.

Cite no references in the abstract, with the exception of the most important work for the study (usually limited to one or two citations). The abstract will be the first portion of your work that readers will see, so make it appealing and engaging enough for them to continue reading the rest of the article.

Well, one common solution to all the mistakes mentioned above is only one, that is, proofreading and editing. Proofreading and editing your research paper is the only way to avoid and rectify all the common errors listed here.

Making these mistakes will make your writing drastically incredible and unattractive. So, rely on proofreading and editing services to make your research paper free of any common pitfalls.

-Isabell S.

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10 Common stylistic mistakes to avoid when writing a research paper

By deepti thapa, on april 1, 2019.

Oftentimes a research paper is rejected on stylistic/linguistic grounds, rather than its scientific excellence, which is a bit unfair as a researcher invests a lot of time and effort in conducting his research. However, in the scientific world, publishing and communicating a research work and its findings is as important as conducting the actual research. A competently conducted research and a well-written resulting paper will enhance the chances of having your manuscript accepted by a reputable publication. In this blog article, we are going to list the 10 common stylistic mistakes you should avoid when writing your research paper.

1. Vague research question and going off-topic While choosing a research topic, be very clear about the question it is going to answer. Ask yourself – Why do you want to look into this topic and how can the findings help you and others? This will help you organise the information in your paper. If your research work focusses on more than one topic, address each in a different paper. Do not deviate from your research points at any part of the paper and keep each section direct and to the point.

2. Misformatting the paper Never forget to read carefully the author guidelines of the journal you wish to submit your paper to. Do your homework and study the guidelines well before you make the submission, which will not only help you in structuring your paper correctly but also save you from a number of stylistic flaws. You can also visit the journal website and have a quick look at the recently published articles of the journal. This will help you in implementing the guidelines onto the paper. However, if there is a conflict between the author guidelines and the published articles of the journal, always stick by the guidelines!

3. Using complex language Don’t fill your paper with too much technical jargon or with long and complex sentences. Think from the reader’s perspective and keep your tone as simple as possible. This will help retain the reader’s interest in your paper. Don’t go overboard with the writing and avoid being redundant. If at all an expression needs to be explained more than once in your paper, be creative and consult a Thesaurus.

4. Poor abstract Never stretch your abstract beyond the stipulated word limit. It should highlight only the significant points of your work, covering the essence of each section in a clear and concise way. Do not cite references in the abstract; the only exception to this is citing the work most crucial for the paper (usually limited to one or two citations). The abstract will be the first section of your paper that the readers are going to read, so make it attractive and compelling enough for them to go ahead and read the whole article.

5. Ineffective keywords Choosing too many or ineffective keywords for your article is another common mistake. Picking the right keywords (usually 4–6 words) will determine how a search engine indexes your article. Try to use keywords that recur most frequently throughout the article (including article title and subheadings).

6. Disordered/uncited floating elements

Floating elements refer to the tables, figures, charts, graphs, illustrations, etc. in a paper. These elements should be numbered sequentially throughout the paper and be cited appropriately in the text. You should always acknowledge the original source of the element if any of these have been adapted from a different source.

7. Unexpanded abbreviations

Unexplained abbreviations can be a little confusing for the reader. The general rule is to provide the full expansion at the first occurrence and use the abbreviated form at all the subsequent occurrences. This will bring more clarity to the readers. Acronyms (a set of initial letters from a phrase usually forming a word in itself such as NASA and RADAR) on the other hand need no expansion.

8. Misformatted, uncited/unlisted and incomplete references

The three most important things to remember when dealing with references are: (1) formatting them all consistently as per the required journal style; (2) listing each reference cited in the text at the end of the article and, vice versa, citing each listed reference in the text; and (3) providing complete reference details, if available. Doing this will improve the discoverability of both your research and the cited references.

9. Untranslated metadata for non-English papers

If you are writing your paper in a language other than English, don’t forget to provide the English translations for the article metadata. This mainly includes the paper title, author name(s), author affiliation(s), abstract, keywords, and the list of references.

10. Not proofreading your paper Never forget to proofread your paper (if possible, more than once) before submitting it to a journal. Run a spell-check, make sure that everything is in order and that the written content is sensible and adequate enough to justify the research. If possible, have a friend, colleague or copy editor revise your paper as well.

We hope these tips will help you get your papers published very soon, minimising your chances of being rejected on linguistic or stylistic grounds. Wishing you all the very best!

Knowledge E provides Editing Services and Workshops on Academic Writing. To know more about our editing services, click here ; to request a training for your organisation, click here.

By Deepti Thapa , Production Copy Editor – Knowledge E

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5 Common errors in the research process

Designing a research project takes time, skill and knowledge. If you don’t go into the process with a clear goal and methods, you’ll likely come out with skewed data or an inaccurate picture of what you were trying to accomplish. With Qualtrics survey software , we make the survey creation process easier, but still you may feel overwhelmed with the scope of your research project. This handy guide might help.

While it’s important to use proper methodology in the research process, it’s equally important to avoid making critical mistakes that could produce inaccurate results. In this article, we’ll list 5 common errors in the research process and tell you how to avoid making them, so you can get the best data possible.

Get your research right every time with our ultimate guide to conducting market research.

1. Population Specification

Population specification errors occur when the researcher does not understand who they should survey. This can be tricky because there are multiple people who might consume the product, but only one who purchases it, or they may miss a segment looking to purchase in the future.

Example: Packaged goods manufacturers often conduct surveys of housewives, because they are easier to contact, and it is assumed they decide what is to be purchased and also do the actual purchasing. In this situation there often is population specification error. The husband may purchase a significant share of the packaged goods, and have significant direct and indirect influence over what is bought. For this reason, excluding husbands from samples may yield results targeted to the wrong audience.

How to avoid this: Understand who purchases your product and why they buy it. It’s important to survey the one making the buying decision so you know how to better reach them.

2. Sampling and Sample Frame Errors

Survey sampling and sample frame errors occur when the wrong subpopulation is used to select a sample, or because of variation in the number or representativeness of the sample that responds, but the resulting sample is not representative of the population concern.

Unfortunately, some element of sampling error is unavoidable, but sometimes, it can be predicted. For instance, in the 1936 presidential election between Roosevelt and Landon, the sample frame was from car registrations and telephone directories. The researchers failed to realize that the majority of people that owned cars and telephones were Republicans, and wrongly predicted a Republican victory.

Example: Suppose that we collected a random sample of 500 people from the general U.S. adult population to gauge their entertainment preferences. Then, upon analysis, found it to be composed of 70% females. This sample would not be representative of the general adult population and would influence the data. The entertainment preferences of females would hold more weight, preventing accurate extrapolation to the US general adult population. Sampling error is affected by the homogeneity of the population being studied and sampled from and by the size of the sample.

How to avoid this: While this cannot be completely avoided, you should have multiple people reviewing your sample to account for an accurate representation of your target population. You can also increase the size of your sample so you get more survey participants.

3. Selection

Selection error is the sampling error for a sample selected by a non-probability method. When respondents choose to self-participate in a study and only those interested respond, you can end up with selection error because there may already be an inherent bias. This can also occur when respondents who are not relevant to the study participate, or when there’s a bias in the way participants are put into groups.

Example: Interviewers conducting a mall intercept study have a natural tendency to select those respondents who are the most accessible and agreeable whenever there is latitude to do so. Such samples often comprise friends and associates who bear some degree of resemblance in characteristics to those of the desired population.

How to avoid this: Selection error can be controlled by going extra lengths to get participation. A typical survey process includes initiating pre-survey contact requesting cooperation, actual surveying, and post-survey follow-up. If a response is not received, a second survey request follows, and perhaps interviews using alternate modes such as telephone or person-to-person.

4. Non-responsive

Nonresponse error can exist when an obtained sample differs from the original selected sample.

This may occur because either the potential respondent was not contacted or they refused to respond. The key factor is the absence of data rather than inaccurate data.

Example: In telephone surveys, some respondents are inaccessible because they are not at home for the initial call or call-backs. Others have moved or are away from home for the period of the survey. Not-at-home respondents are typically younger with no small children, and have a much higher proportion of working wives than households with someone at home. People who have moved or are away for the survey period have a higher geographic mobility than the average of the population. Thus, most surveys can anticipate errors from non-contact of respondents. Online surveys seek to avoid this error through e-mail distribution, thus eliminating not-at-home respondents.

How to avoid this: When collecting responses, ensure your original respondents are participating, and use follow-up surveys and alternates modes of reaching them if they don’t initially respond. You can also use different channels to reach your audience like in person, web surveys, or SMS.

5. Measurement

Measurement error is generated by the measurement process itself, and represents the difference between the information generated and the information wanted by the researcher. Generally, there is always some small level of measurement error due to uncontrollable factors.

Example: A retail store would like to assess customer feedback from at-the-counter purchases. The survey is developed but fails to target those who purchase in the store. Instead, the results are skewed by customers who bought items online.

How to avoid this: Double check all measurements for accuracy and ensure your observers and measurement takes are well trained and understand the parameters of the experiment.

While not all of these errors can be completely avoidable, recognizing them is half the battle. Next time you’re starting a research project, use this blog as a checklist to ensure you’re doing everything you can to avoid these common mistakes.

Also, before you begin your next research project, read How to Define Your Research Question. This is vital to any research project because you can’t begin creating surveys unless you understand the research problem.

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Common Word Choice Errors in Research Paper Writing

Word usage errors in research papers written by non-native speakers of English are more common than other mistakes and are only topped by errors in style. Since the main purpose of academic writing is to clearly convey information, knowing how to use words correctly and effectively is absolutely crucial.

Some problems with word choice stem from the fact that the English language contains pairs or sets of words that sound alike (homophones) and/or look alike (homonyms) but have different meanings. Additionally, there are words that sound and look different but have similar meanings. Other mistakes occur when ESL authors think in their mother language while writing and try to translate entire expressions into English. And sometimes, the wrong word is actually the right word spelled incorrectly. Here, we list examples of typical errors in word usage that we frequently come across in academic texts written by ESL authors and provide tips on how to avoid them.

Translation Errors and Collocations

Spelling Mistakes That Can Change Your Meaning

Confusing similar words that have different meanings is one of the most common errors in word choice, and one that happens to native speakers as well. In spoken English, many of these might not be very obvious or just sound like a slip of the tongue. However, when writing any kind of academic text, you should check for such mistakes to make sure the reader clearly understands what you are trying to convey.

1. Affect vs effect / affective versus effective

Affect as a noun describes the strong experience of feelings or emotions , while the verb to affect means to impact . The noun effect , in contrast, is the result of something , and the verb to effect means to cause something to happen or to bring about a certain result . In brief, if something affects something else, it leads to a certain effect .

NO Sleep deprivation clearly effected the patients’ overall well-being.

YES Sleep deprivation clearly affected the patients’ overall well-being.

NO The affect of exercise on depression is not clearly understood.

YES The effect of exercise on depression is not clearly understood.

2. Then vs than

Than is a conjunction/preposition that is used for comparison, while then is an adverb that means at that time or subsequently.

YES The effect of exercise on depression is less obvious than that of medication.

YES Patients were debriefed, and then asked to fill in a questionnaire.

NO The effect of exercise on depression is less obvious then that of medication

3. Principal vs principle

Principal as an adjective means the main or the most important , while as a noun, it means head of a school . A principle , on the other hand, is a general theorem or law or a system’s underlying foundation .

NO Our approach is based on the scientific principals of behavioral analysis.

YES Our approach is based on the scientific principles of behavioral analysis.

YES The principal idea of our approach is that early socialization affects behavior.

4. Advice vs advise

Since to advise means to give advice , the main difference between the two is that one is a noun and one is a verb. You therefore don’t have to worry about meaning when using these two, but only about correct grammar.

NO Patients should be adviced against smoking after cancer treatment

YES Patients should be advised against smoking after cancer treatment.

YES Our advice to patients after cancer treatment is to stop smoking.

5. Accept vs except

Accept and except sound almost identical but mean very different things – accept means to consent or to receive , while the verb and the preposition (to) except both mean to not include .

NO Subjects were called back after 2 weeks, accept for those who had dropped out.

YES Subjects were called back after 2 weeks, except for those who had dropped out.

YES Smoking is widely accepted as a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease

6. Alternate vs alternative

An alternative is an additional or different option or choice , while alternating refers to the action of switching between choices, states or actions

NO TMS has emerged as an alternate treatment option for anxiety.

YES TMS has emerged as an alternative treatment option for anxiety.

YES We explored the role of alternate care sites in responsiveness to COVID-19

8. Adapt vs adopt

To adopt is to take something and make it your own , while to adapt means changing an existing idea or approach so that it suits your needs. These words often seem to be used interchangeably, but because they sound so similar, you have to make sure you are using the correct one that conveys your intended meaning.

YES Many recent studies have adopted a similar cross-sectional design.

YES We adapted the usual clinical design to better reflect patient characteristics.

9. Access vs assess

To access means to enter or approach or take hold of something, while to assess means to evaluate, determine, or judge .

NO The aim of this study was to access the clinical outcomes of the seton procedure.

YES The aim of this study was to assess the clinical outcomes of the seton procedure.

YES Author KA was granted access to patient data by the hospital ethics committee.

common word choice errors, scrabble tiles

1. Infer vs Imply

Implying means to suggest something while not directly showing or saying it. Inferring , on the other hand, means that you come to a conclusion , based on clear evidence, on your own assumptions, or on what your data or someone else imply.

YES These findings imply that neuropeptides play a role in feeding behavior.

YES Intuitive responders infer that everybody responds as they do

2. Among vs Between

Many authors, native as well as non-native speakers of English, seem to be confused about how to use among and between correctly. The problem is that there are essentially two rules on how to use these two, one that is well-known but in essence an oversimplification and one that is lesser known but explains the difference more precisely. Rule 1 says that you use between for comparisons between two things and among when you refer to groups or sets of more than two elements .

While you will very often choose the correct word when you follow this rule, this approach can lead to “overcorrections” that sound awkward. That’s where Rule 2 comes into play, which states that you can use between for any number of elements, as long as all the elements are separate and distinct . You can choose between eggs and cereals or between eggs, cereals, and toast for breakfast. Among is used for people or things that are not distinct and viewed as a group rather than as individual elements. Negotiations between Italy and Denmark (a comparison of two distinct countries) or among the EU member states (seen as a group) can fail. You share secrets between friends (from person to person) but you feel comfortable with or among your friends.

YES MoO3 showed the best performance among the investigated HDO catalysts.

YES There was no behavioral difference between the test and the control group.

3. Amount vs Number

These words might seem similar in meaning, but their correct usage is related to the concept of countable and uncountable nouns in English. Number can only be used with countable nouns, while amount is used with uncountable nouns.

NO The number of literatures included in this meta-analysis is enormous.

YES The amount of literature included in this meta-analysis is enormous.

YES The number of earlier studies on this topic is low.

Using the Correct Word Stem with the Wrong Prefix or Suffix

Additions to the beginning (prefixes) or end (suffixes) of root words can change a word from an adjective (e.g., happy) into a noun (happiness), or an adverb (happily), into its opposite (unhappy), or affect the tense of a verb. The problem with prefixes and suffixes is that they cannot be used with every word and that they do not always have the same effect. You therefore need to make sure you don’t create words that do not exist or change your intended meaning by adding the wrong prefix or suffix.

NO Changes were determinated using a computer-controlled spectrophotometer.

YES Changes were determined using a computer-controlled spectrophotometer.

NO Protein instableness is a common issue in protein pharmaceuticals.

YES Protein instability is a common issue in protein pharmaceuticals.

NO We assessed sources of diagnostic inaccurateness of cardiac markers.

YES We assessed sources of diagnostic inaccuracy of cardiac markers.

Thinking in your native language and translating phrases literally into English because they sound “natural” is one of the most common reasons for incorrect or awkward expressions in English texts written by non-native authors. While understanding and correcting such mistakes might seem more difficult than grasping the difference between two similar verbs, there are ways for you to avoid such errors.

For example, you can check your wording with Google Scholar or the Merriam-Webster online dictionary , and self-editing your text with the help of our lists of common expressions in research papers or the most useful verbs for the different parts of a paper will make your writing much stronger. And while you are at it, you are also well-advised (not “adviced”) to check your use of prepositions , another common source of mistakes in English writing. If you are not even sure what kind of expressions you might need to check, the following list of commonly mistranslated/misused expressions can give you an idea.

NO Patients underwent dizziness and worsening symptoms.

YES Patients experienced dizziness and reported worsening symptoms.

YES Patients presented with dizziness and showed worsening symptoms over time.

NO Patients underwent a questionnaire after the experiment.

YES Patients filled in a questionnaire after the experiment.

NO Patients succeeded complete remission.

YES Patients achieved complete remission.

NO The difference between groups was obtained with one-way ANOVA.

YES The difference between groups was assessed with one-way ANOVA.

Make sure who does or shows or undergoes something and that the subjects and verbs of your sentences always correspond to each other.

NO Patients performed liver biopsy.

YES Patients underwent liver biopsy.

YES Two experienced surgeons performed liver biopsy.

You also need to pay attention to the difference between people and things, because some verbs only go with one or the other.

NO The study was not able to analyze age differences, due to its design.

YES We were not able to analyze age differences, due to the design of our study.

NO PET alone was not able to diagnose our patients.

YES We were not able to diagnose our patients using PET alone.

Spelling Mistakes That Change Your Meaning

Some mistakes simply stem from phonemic differences between English and other languages. For example, native speakers of languages that do not clearly distinguish between “r” and “l” might misspell words in English without noticing. This is no problem when you make a real spelling mistake and your spellchecker catches it. But sometimes, the incorrect spelling results in a correct word that a spell checker will not flag. Such mistakes can only be avoided by careful proofreading.

NO Collect doses were determined by a series of tests.

YES Correct doses were determined by a series of tests.

NO We did not arrow participants to leave the room between sessions.

YES We did not allow participants to leave the room between sessions.

Before submitting your academic document to journals, be sure to receive professional editing services , including paper editing services , to fix any remaining language and style issues. And to correct your writing errors in real-time, try our AI online essay editor , Wordvice AI.

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COMMENTS

Common Pitfalls In The Research Process
Conducting research from planning to publication can be a very rewarding process. However, multiple preventable setbacks can occur within each stage of research. While these inefficiencies are an inevitable part of the research process, understanding common pitfalls can limit those hindrances. Many issues can present themselves throughout the research process. It has been said about academics ...
4 Common Research Writing Mistakes (and How to Fix Them)
2. Weak structuring of the paper. The longer the research paper, the more challenging it becomes to keep readers engaged until the end. It is easy to drift from one thought to another. A strong research question is at the center of a good research paper.
6 Common mistakes in research paper writing: And how to avoid them
In This Article Hide. 1. 1.Poor organization : one of the most common mistakes in research paper writing. 2. 2.Not clearly understanding your audience. 3. 3.Not having a clear hypothesis or argument. 4. 4.Writing in a complex language. 5. 5.Not writing for skim-readers. 6. 6.Not understanding what your advisor expects. 7.
7 Common Writing Mistakes to Avoid in Your Research Paper
Other grammar mistake examples include the misuse of articles, sentence fragmentation, parallelism, and subject-verb agreement. 3. Repetition of ideas (winding sentences) While writing your thesis, dissertation, or research paper, you will need to keep within the recommended word count. However, academics often resort to describing established ...
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These types of mistakes are listed below under the section . What kinds of mistake does the book focus on? Journal Editors and Referees - This book will help you make qualied judg-ments of whether the English of a paper really does require editing. Remember that papers can be delayed by reviewers making indiscriminate (and frequently unjusti-
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As the saying goes, we learn by our mistakes. And so it goes for virtually all research scientists, with most mistakes occurring during their formative years when they are still being mentored. While missteps in the research process are not usually catastrophic, the risks of allowing them to occur unchecked are many: personal safety is at stake, as are the careers and reputations of ...
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6 Mistakes to avoid when writing your research paper (Part 1) Writing a paper for journal submission is always a point of stress. From punctuation to proofreading, from language to formatting - there are so many things to take care of! Wouldn't it be great to have someone warn you about the most common errors authors usually make, so that ...
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Writing research articles is the main way to share your research. And it may be challenging, especially if you haven't published before and don't have sufficient support. In this article, I shared my take on the key issues and mistakes I noted in research papers as a peer reviewer and editor. What annoys you most in writing research articles?
3.3: Common Mistakes in Research
Pursuing research fads. Another common mistake is pursuing "popular" topics with limited shelf life. A typical example is studying technologies or practices that are popular today. Because research takes several years to complete and publish, it is possible that popular interest in these fads may die down by the time the research is ...
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Students tend to make five fairly common mistakes on the paper. I think these mistakes are largely preventable. If you're writing research papers of any kind, perhaps you can go through the gauntlet and avoid these mistakes! 1. Not using the librarian. We have an amazing Librarian at UA Grantham, for example, who helps students locate research.
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Mistake 5: Failure to Structure and Organize Your Paper Efficiently. A well-organized research paper is crucial for maintaining the reader's interest and making your argument more accessible. Disjointed thoughts or insufficient transitions between sections can hinder the overall flow. To avoid this pitfall, compose a detailed outline that ...
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1. Ignoring the instructions. Finishing a research paper successfully means completing a specific task assigned to you. However, 79% of students fail to carefully read the assignment. As such, they submit the works with the necessary details missing. So before getting started, remember to read the instructions thoroughly and make sure you ...
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Mistakes to Avoid When Writing a Biomedical Research Paper. Writing an academic paper that is both professional and impactful is not an easy task. An article's writing style must be compatible with the research presented and accurately communicate the relevance of its findings to the scientific community and professionals.
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Confer with your course instructor. Consult a handbook for additional examples and complete explanations. 1. Sentence fragments. Make sure each word group you have punctuated as a sentence contains a grammatically complete and independent thought that can stand alone as an acceptable sentence. Incorrect.
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Proofreading and editing your research paper is the only way to avoid and rectify all the common errors listed here. Making these mistakes will make your writing drastically incredible and unattractive. So, rely on proofreading and editing services to make your research paper free of any common pitfalls.-Isabell S.
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In this article, we'll list 5 common errors in the research process and tell you how to avoid making them, so you can get the best data possible. Get your research right every time with our ultimate guide to conducting market research. 1. Population Specification. Population specification errors occur when the researcher does not understand ...
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Research papers rely on other people's writing as a foundation to create new ideas, but you can't just use someone else's words. That's why paraphrasing is an essential writing technique for academic writing.. Paraphrasing rewrites another person's ideas, evidence, or opinions in your own words.With proper attribution, paraphrasing helps you expand on another's work and back up ...
Common Word Choice Errors in Research Paper Writing
Word usage errors in research papers written by non-native speakers of English are more common than other mistakes and are only topped by errors in style. Since the main purpose of academic writing is to clearly convey information, knowing how to use words correctly and effectively is absolutely crucial.. Some problems with word choice stem from the fact that the English language contains ...
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Here are the ten most common mistakes I found researchers make in the titles of their research papers: 1. The title doesn't describe the main result of the paper. Different from headlines in magazines and newspapers, the title of a research paper isn't as much a teaser. Your reader wants to know what exactly you added to the field.

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6 Common mistakes in research paper writing: And how to avoid them

1.Poor organization : one of the most common mistakes in research paper writing

2.Not clearly understanding your audience.

3.Not having a clear hypothesis or argument.

4.Writing in a complex language.

5.Not writing for skim-readers

6.Not understanding what your advisor expects.

Aruna Kumarasiri

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7 Common Writing Mistakes to Avoid in Your Research Paper

1. Language errors (word choice, phrasing)

2. Poor grammar (voice, tenses, punctuation)

3. Repetition of ideas (winding sentences)

4. Weak introductions

5. Neglecting editing

6. Ignoring recommended guidelines

7. Plagiarism

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100 Tips to Avoid Mistakes in Academic Writing and Presenting

English for Academics SAS, Pisa, Italy

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Table of contents (9 chapters)

Chapter 2 Research Papers: Introduction and Literature Review

The top 10 most common research mistakes (and how to avoid them)

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3.3: Common Mistakes in Research

6 Common Mistakes Students Make With Research Papers — and How to Avoid Them

Mistake 1: Insufficient Research and the Art of Note-taking

Mistake 2: Plagiarism Pitfalls – How to Properly Credit Sources

Mistake 3: Not Fully Understanding the Guidelines

Mistake 4: Ineffective Thesis Statements and Crafting Your Argument

Mistake 5: Failure to Structure and Organize Your Paper Efficiently

Mistake 6: Neglecting Proofreading, Editing, and Revision Techniques

Wrapping Up

3 Common Mistakes in Research Publication, and How to Avoid Them

1. Improper and/or No Citation

2. Deficient Academic Transparency

3. Lack of Standardization in Formatting

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Avoid The Top 10 Mistakes Made in Beginning a Research Paper

1. Ignoring the instructions

2. Conducting poor preliminary research

3. Formulating a too narrow/ broad research question

4. Developing a weak research paper thesis

5. Failing to create a research design

6. Sharing thoughts in a disorganized way

7. Using sophisticated words and complex sentences

8. Having the first pages incomplete or out of order

9. Creating a poor research paper abstract.

10. Following different formatting styles

Final thoughts on a research paper

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Five Common Mistakes to Avoid When Writing a Biomedical Research Paper

Mistakes to Avoid When Writing a Biomedical Research Paper

Faulty structure

Paragraph-level mistakes

Sentence-level mistakes