IMRaD
Introduction–Method–Results–and–Discussion.
What is IMRaD?
• It is a way of structuring a scientific article.
• It is often used in health care and the natural sciences.
• It does not include a separate theory chapter.
• There is no place in this type of writing for personal views
and fanciful language.
HISTORY
• 1665- origin
• 1940s- began to be used in journals
• 1970s- it reached 80 %, adopted as a majority
• 1980s- the only pattern adopted in original papers
HISTORY
• Early journals published descriptive papers (still used in case
reports, geological surveys etc..)
• By the second half of the 19th century, reproducibility of
experiments became a fundamental principle of the philosophy of
science.
• The methods section became all important since Louis Pasteur
confirmed the germ theory of disease
• IMRAD organization of a scientific paper started to develop
• IMRAD format slowly progressed in the latter half of the 19th
century
Benefits
The IMRAD structure has proved successful because it
facilitates literature review, allowing readers to navigate
articles more quickly to locate material relevant to their
purpose. But the neat order of IMRAD rarely corresponds to
the actual sequence of events or ideas of the research
presented; the IMRAD structure effectively supports a
reordering that eliminates unnecessary detail, and allows the
reader to assess a well-ordered and noise-free presentation of
the relevant and significant information. It allows the most
relevant information to be presented clearly and logically to the
readership, by summarizing the research process in an ideal
sequence and without unnecessary detail.
INTRODUCTION
• It shows that you are knowledgeable about your field of
study and existing research.
• Your introduction should contain:
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A summary of existing research on the subject
Your thesis statement, hypothesis or research question
Theory (if relevant)
An introduction to the field, the current situation or to
prevailing practice
Everything you write here must relate to your research question.
METHOD
• It shows that you arrived at your results by applying valid
and reliable methods.
• It explains what you did; your research, treatment or
professional intervention, and how you did it.
Your method chapter shows how you arrived at your results
RESULTS
• A relatively large part of your paper/thesis should be
devoted to your results (findings, data, empirical evidence).
• In this section you should:
Present the findings
Organize, classify, analyze and (if relevant) categorize
Explain and interpret (e.g., differences between various studies)
Assess and evaluate .
Your results = the essence of your paper
DISCUSSION
• In this chapter you discuss the results of your study/project.
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Is it possible to generalize?
Make comparisons with other studies
Are there alternative explanations?
What are the strong and weak aspects of your paper?
What are the practical implications?
Is more research needed?
Make recommendations (to be applied in practice).