Publishing Empirical Scientific Research

Publishing scientific research articles is integral to a researcher's professional life and career advancement However, many researchers lack the writing skills to publish, experience rejection during the anonymous peer review process, and become reluctant to revise and resubmit their research for publication. This article offers specific guidelines on how to write and successfully publish empirical research in scholarly journals. It also discusses the format (i.e., introduction, materials and methods, results, and discussion) preferred by most professional journals that publish original research. The acronym IMRaD stands for four basic sections in reports of research: Introduction (What question was asked?), Materials and Methods (How was it studied?), Results (What was found?), and Discussion (What do the findings mean?). This article guides academic authors in how to use the IMRaD format when writing and organizing scientific research and preparing high-quality manuscripts for submission to a publisher.