IMRAD Structure for Science and Engineering Papers
1. Abstract must clearly state experimental objectives and conclusions
2. Introduction
a) Must be between 300 and 500 words
b) Must briefly justify the research and specify the hypotheses to be tested
c) Must include the objectives
d) Must not go into the specifics of the relevant literature
3. Materials and Methods
a) A statement of the results of the statistical analysis should justify the interpretations and the
conclusions
b) A clear description for all biological, analytical and statistical procedures
c) The statistical model classes and experimental units must be specified
d) Provide a publication reference for the previously used experimental methodologies
e) Any restrictions used in evacuating parameters should be defined
4. Results
a) Figures: figures should be of high quality. No figures should be blurry or hazy. Figures
should be labeled clearly and sequentially starting from 1 onwards. Pictures of gels should be of
high quality and medium to high contrast to keep the gel from being blurry and to prevent the
appearance of non-specific bands that are from the gel not the samples. All figures and pictures
included in the text should be of JPEG format, so as to not increase the size of the file.
b) Any figures including colors (immunohistochemistry, etc.) should be labeled with a legend
for what each color represents, and merged images cannot be presented alone, they have to be
presented with the single-staining images. For light microscopy pictures, they should be clearly
labeled with what they represent and the appropriate scale should be placed at the bottom left or
bottom right side of the picture. For NMR results and X-ray crystallography images, the scale of
any new parts (active sites, grooves, etc.) must be labeled on the figures with the appropriate SI
units. Statistics and formulas used for optimizing the model should be provided separately.
c) Graphs: for multiple analyses, a legend should be provided for each parameter represented
on the graph. The use of words such as “significant” or “highly significant” should be
accompanied with the respective P-values both in text (wither in legend or the paper) and on the
figure as an asterisk or a double asterisk respectively. In case of graphs that uses scoring or units
that have been innovated by the author(s); the scores should be explained clearly, the meaning of
each score and how it is obtained. If any of the graphs or results uses movies to obtain their data,
the movies should be placed in the supplementary materials at the end of the paper. Those will
be added to the digital format of the paper to be available for download.
d) Movies: Movies should be high quality. The time period of each movie should be
mentioned beside it. The maximum period of each movie should be no longer than 10 minutes.
Authors should provide a valid reason for the submission of any movie whose length exceeds ten
minutes.
e) Mathematical models: Any results obtained from mathematical algorithms or models
should be clearly identified as being obtained from which mathematical algorithm or model;
example: “These results have from model (1).” An appendix should be placed at the end with all
the mathematical models and algorithms used and corresponding numbers.
5. Discussion and Conclusions:
a) Should not provide any new results not previously mentioned
b) Should interpret and explain results thoroughly
c) Should provide explanations for results obtained
d) Should provide predictions and extrapolations for future work on a similar topic
This is the part that gives the answers asked in the introduction part of the research. This
is also referred to as the conclusion to the study carried out. The main question to be answered
therefore is whether your study revealed what you were intending to find out or were the results
different from your expectations? What are the concluding remarks in regard to the analysis
stage? Ideas concerning future research studies can also be incorporated at this stage.
Source:
The American University in Cairo (2014). IMRAD Structure for Science and Engineering
Papers. Retrieved February 12, 2014 from
http://www.aucegypt.edu/research/Undergraduate/URJejournal/Pages/IMRAD.aspx
Best Custom Writing (2014). Lab report help: how to write IMRAD outline. Retrieved February
12, 2014 from http://www.bestcustomwriting.com/lab-report-help-how-to-write-imrad-
outline
