Research paper outline template (IMRaD)
A fill-in outline for an empirical paper or lab report. Copy it into your document and answer each prompt in note form before you start drafting prose. Check your journal's or assignment's instructions too: many rename, merge or reorder sections.
The outline
Title
Tell the reader exactly what was studied.
- Main variables or phenomenon:
- Population, system or setting:
- Design (if it helps):
- Draft title:
Abstract (write last)
A self-contained summary of the whole paper, within the word limit.
- Background (one sentence):
- Aim or question:
- Methods (design, sample, key measures):
- Main results, with key numbers:
- Conclusion and implication:
1. Introduction
Move from the general topic to your specific aim.
- Why the topic matters (2–3 points, with sources):
- What is already known (key studies):
- The gap: what is unknown, contested or untested:
- Aim, research question or hypotheses:
- How this study addresses the gap (one sentence):
2. Methods
Enough detail for someone else to repeat the study.
- Design:
- Participants or materials (selection, inclusion and exclusion criteria, sample size and how it was decided):
- Procedure, in order:
- Measures or instruments, and how variables were defined:
- Analysis (tests or approach, software and version, handling of missing data and outliers):
- Ethics approval and consent (body, reference number):
- Deviations from the plan or pre-registration:
3. Results
Report what you found, in the order of your aims, without interpretation.
- Sample description or descriptive statistics:
- Result for aim or hypothesis 1 (test, statistic, df, exact p, effect size, CI):
- Result for aim or hypothesis 2:
- Figures and tables planned (number, what each shows):
- Unexpected or null results to report:
4. Discussion
Explain what the results mean, how they fit with other work, and their limits.
- Main finding, answering the research question:
- How it compares with previous studies (agreements, differences, possible reasons):
- Limitations and how much each matters:
- Implications for theory, practice or future research:
- Concluding sentence or paragraph:
References
Every cited source, verified, in the required style.
- Required style:
- Sources still to verify (DOI resolves, details match, not retracted, supports the claim):
Other parts, if required
Check the journal or brief.
- Acknowledgements and funding:
- Conflict-of-interest statement:
- Data availability statement:
- AI-use disclosure:
- Appendices or supplementary material:
Tips for using the outline
- Fill in Methods and Results first, while the details are fresh. Write the Introduction once you know which gap your findings address, and the abstract last.
- Keep each prompt answer to notes. Turning notes into prose is easier once the whole structure is visible.
- Use past tense for what you did and found, and present tense for established knowledge and what your results mean.
- If a reporting guideline applies to your design (such as CONSORT, STROBE or PRISMA 2020), check your Methods and Results notes against it.
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