SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

N.B.: A few tips to write a scientific research paper are given below upon the request of some research students. Hope they are useful to all the researchers. 

1. Introductory Remarks

• The paper must be clear, concise, accurate, well organized, and neat. 
• To achieve these, pay attention to the size and quality of the paper, the format, the language, and the style. 
• Print out dissertation on standard-sized white paper (A4). 
• As a general rule, use 1.5 line space throughout the paper, except footnotes, bibliography and indented quotations. 
• Set the margins of your document to 1 inch on all sides. If it is a long thesis, increase the left margin by ½ inch (or give half-inch Gutter (page set up – margins – gutter). 
• Keep in mind your reader. Imagine that you are writing for a fellow student who is familiar with your discipline but does not know your area. 
• Use simple words, short paragraphs, and active voice, if possible. 
• Vary sentence lengths. 
• Use gender-neutral or inclusive language, avoiding such gimmicks as using he/she, but recasting sentences to achieve invisible gender neutrality. 
• Avoid negatives, especially double negatives. Write, for example, common instead of not uncommon and known instead of not unknown. 
• Place sequences in order (Avoid: “Before giving our critical comments, we shall discuss the salient features of Derrida’s deconstruction.” Say: “We shall discuss the salient features of Derrida’s deconstruction before giving our critical comments.”

2. Indentation

• Indent the first line of every paragraph (in the modern style, paragraph indent is not given. Therefore, the student is free to give indent. However, be consistent).
• Indent the footnotes five spaces from the left-hand margin (one tab or 0.5”).
• Items in the Reference/Works Cited list use hanging indent, i.e., they have the first line with the left-hand margin while the following lines are indented five spaces (or 0.5”).
• Long quotations (more than 5 typed lines) are placed in indented spaces (or 0.5”) either only in the left or on both sides without quotation marks.

3. Pagination

• Short Paper: Using Arabic numerals (1,2,3,4…), number all pages including the title page. You may choose not to show the page number on the title page (first page). To do this, double click on the footer or header you have generated the page numbers and select ‘different page’ form Design in the menu bar. 
• Long Dissertation: All the pages before the first page of Introduction are numbered in small Roman numerals (i, ii, iii, iv...). Beginning from the first page of Introduction till the end of the paper, including bibliography and appendixes, are to be numbered in Arabic numerals. 
• For both short papers and long dissertations, numbers are placed uniformly either at the top right, or at the bottom right, or at the bottom center of the page. 

How to give different page numbers?

• To give different page numbers first give the Section break. (Page layout, break, section break, next page).
• Then click insert, page numbers, edit page numbers
• Click desired page numbers and then click from One
• Insert page number, bottom/top/center/left/right
• To give another different type of page number again give section break as said above
• Click insert, page number, edit page numbers, click desired page number, start at 1 and continue like previous.

How to give different header/footer titles in different pages?

·         Give a section break.

·         Double click on the header or footer

·         Navigation pane

·         Click on the link to previous (this will disable the link from the previous section)

·         Type your title

4. Subdivisions

Avoid single subdivision. To divide you always need at least two parts. This means, there can never be an “A” without a “B,” a “1” without “2,” an “a” without a “b.” For an enumeration having several subdivisions, one of the following schemes or notation and indentation could be used.

Scheme 1

I. Main heading

A. Subheading (level 1)

1. Subheading (level 2)

a. Subheading (level 3)

i. Subheading (level 4)

ii. Subheading (level 4)

b. Subheading (level 3)

2. Subheading (level 2)

B. Subheading (level 1)

II. Main heading

Scheme 2

1. Title

1.1 Subtitle

1.1.1 Subtitle

1.1.2 Subtitle

1.2 Subtitle

1.2.1 Subtitle

1.2. 2 Subtitle

2. Title

2.1 Subtitle

2.1.1 Subtitle

2.1.2 Subtitle

2.2 Subtitle

5. Table of Contents

• It should include all the divisions that precede it and follow it except the title page. 
• Roman small numerals are given for the divisions that precede it and Arabic numerals are given to divisions that follow it. (In order to do this, give section break. Page Layout – Breaks – Section Breaks – Next Page. Then keep the cursor in the desired page, insert Page Number – Format Page Number – start at…) 
• It can be generated automatically in MS-Word. In order to do so, the different levels and headings are to be defined correctly.

How to define the Table of Contents?

• Select the Headings or keep the cursor point on the main heading (this amounts to the level  I. e.g 1.1)
• Click Home – Style – Select Heading 1 (now right-click on Heading, Modify, set the headings as desired like, Automatic, Times New Roman, font size. Then click on Format (see, at the bottom of the dialogue box), paragraph, adjust the paragraph space, line space, font, etc. The second time you define the titles, just click on the first level heading and just click on the Heading 1.
• Click Ok, Ok.
• For the second level or second heading (e.g 1.1.1), click on the Heading 2 from style and do complete the same procedure mentioned above.
• For the third level (e.g. 1.1.1.1), click on Heading 3 and it continues as per your levels.

How to generate the table of contents?

•     Keep the cursor in the page where you want to generate the Table of Contents.
•    Click on the reference, table of contents and select any one type

Editing the Table of Content format

• You can edit the way you want to generate. To do this, you need to click on the ‘insert    table of contents’ form Table of Contents in Reference   
• Increase levels (by default it is three levels). Increase the levels if you have more than three levels.
• If your table of content comes to all capitals, or All Bold, or All Italics, then do this following modification. Click on Modify. Then edit the table of contests selecting each table of contents entries by selecting (TOC 1, TOC 2, TOC 3…) and edit as per your need.
•  Generate the Table of Contents only just before taking the print of the final copy, because any change made after may result in the indication of wrong page numbers. 
• Before taking the print out, type in title case “Table of Contents” or merely “Contents,” and center this heading. 
• To remove hyperlink from the text, especially from the Table of Contents, the following methods can be used. Press CTRL+A to select the entire document and then press CTRL+SHIFT+F9. 
•  Removing the Link of the table of contents: in order to copy the table of contents from one document to another for the sake of publishing or for any other purpose, the link of the table of contents need to be removed. Following is the method to do it.

In all versions of Word you can remove the hyperlink attribute from the TOC field code using the following method:

o     Using the keyboard arrows, position your cursor just in front of the first TOC entry.

o   Right-click, then select Toggle Field Codes. The field code is displayed—it will look something like { TOC \o “1-3” \h }.

o     Delete the \h part.

o     Press F9 to refresh the Table of Contents.

o    Select the Update entire table option, then click OK. 

6. Frequently Used Abbreviations in Documentation

cf. = confer, compare

vol. = volume

Ibid. = ibidem, in the same place

n.d. = no date.

n.p. = no publisher, no place

ms. = manuscript

mss. = manuscripts

ed. = edition, edited by, editor

Trans. = translated by, translator.

ch. Or chap. = chapter

op. cit.  = opera citato – ‘in the work quoted’

loc. cit.  =  loco citato – ‘in the place cited’

sic         =  sic erat scriptum - 'thus it was written'

note: 

Op. cit.: opus citatum/opere citato, the work cited. When this is used full citation of the work used is not given. Readers have details already cited before in the footnote or in the bibliography. When op. cit. is used it should, therefore, be used with the author’s surname and either year or work. Other details are there in the bibliography. In contrast to this, ibid refers to the work cited immediately before.

9. R. Millan, Art of Latin Grammar (Academic: New York, 1997), p. 23.

10. G. Wiki, Language and Its Uses (Blah Ltd.: London, 2000), p. 217.

11. G. Wiki, Towards a More Perfect Speech (Blah Ltd.: London, 2003), p. 354.

12. G. Wiki, I Say, You Say (Blah Ltd.: London, 2003), p. 35.

13. Millan, op. cit., p. 5.

14. Wiki 2000, op. cit., p. 66.

15. Wiki, I Say, You Say op. cit., p. 4.

 

Loc cit: loco citato, in the place cited. This is in contrast with Op.cit. if the work cited is immediately preceding (ibid) and refers to the same page number, loc.cit. is used. In other words, in the exact location of that book/article.

9. R. Millan, "Art of Latin grammar" (Academic, New York, 1997), p. 23.

10. Loc. cit.

Or

9. R. Millan, "Art of Latin grammar" (Academic, New York, 1997), p. 23.

10. G. Wiki, "Blah and its uses" (Blah Ltd., Old York, 2000), p. 12.

11. Millan, loc. cit.

Cf. confer/conferatur, compare. Usually used to contrast a point you are speaking in the text. While using it, you want to tell the reader that they can go and compare the point referred to in another work. In this sense, the word ‘see’ also be used.

Cited is used to give stress to a point. Usually used as ‘as cited.’ 

7. Use of Three Kinds of Dashes

  
There are three lengths of what are all more or less dashes: hyphen (-), en dash (–), and em dash (—).

1. The hyphen connects two things that are intimately related, usually words that function together as a single concept or work together as a joint modifier (e.g., tie-in, toll-free call, two-thirds).
 
2. The en dash connects things that are related to each other by distance, as in May–September issue of a magazine; it’s not a May-September issue, because June, July, and August are also ostensibly included in this range. The typical computer keyboard lacks a dedicated key for the en dash.

3 The em dash is used as parentheses, an additional thought to be added within a sentence by the sort of breaking away from that sentence. 

• e.g: Upon discovering the errors—all 124 of them—the publisher immediately recalled the books.

Note that when dashes are used in place of parentheses, surrounding punctuation should be omitted. Compare the following examples.

• Upon discovering the errors (all 124 of them), the publisher immediately recalled the books.
• Upon discovering the errors—all 124 of them—the publisher immediately recalled the books.

When used in place of parentheses at the end of a sentence, only a single dash is used.

• After three weeks on set, the cast was fed up with his direction (or, rather, lack of direction).
• After three weeks on set, the cast was fed up with his direction—or, rather, lack of direction

(for further details see the following link: http://www.thepunctuationguide.com/hyphen.html.)

8. Brackets, use of sic

Parenthesis or brackets are given when the author wants to give some additional information or to introduce a clarifying comment along with the text. They are similar to dashes. 

For example, 

        The conference has (with some malice) divided into four groups.

At times, the researcher can find some errors in the original text which is being quoted. The Researcher can either give exactly as found or give a corrected version of it. However with a note expressing it. 

If the mistake is not corrected, write [sic] immediately after the mistake/error.

e.g: 

        "The pen is thier [sic] on the chair." 

If corrected, write the corrected version in the text.

e.g: 

        "The pen is [there] on the chair." 

If you want to use both the error and the corrected word, then instead of [sic] a Latin word [recte] which means rightly is used. 

e.g: 

        "The pen is thier [recte there) on the chair."

However, one can avoid writing [sic] by paraphrasing the text.

9. Footnote and Bibliography Entry*

Type of Entry	Footnote Entry		Bibliography Entry
Book, one author	Daniel A. Weiss, Oedipus in Nottingham: D.H. Lawrence (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1962), 62.		Weiss, Daniel A. Oedipus in Nottingham: D.H. Lawrence. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1962.
Book, two authors	Walter E. Houghton and G. Robert Strange, Victorian Poetry and Poetics (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1959), 27.		Houghton, Walter E., and G. Robert Strange. Victorian Poetry and Poetics. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1959.
Book, 3+ authors / Book in a series	Jaroslav Pelikan and others, Religion and the University, York University Invitation Lecture Series (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1964), 109.		Pelikan, Jaroslav, M.G. Ross, W.G. Pollard, M.N. Eisendrath, C. Moeller, and A. Wittenberg. Religion and the University. York University Invitation Lecture Series. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1964.
Book, no author given	New Life Options: The Working Women's Resource Book (New York: McGraw- Hill, 1976), 42.		New Life Options: The Working Women's Resource Book. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1976.
Institution, association, or the like, as "author"	American Library Association, ALA Handbook of Organization and 1995/1996 Membership Directory (Chicago: American Library Association, 1995), MD586.	American Library Association. ALA Handbook of Organization and 1995/1996 Membership Directory. Chicago: American Library Association, 1995.
Editor or compiler as "author"	J.N.D. Anderson, ed., The World's Religions (London: Inter-Varsity Fellowship, 1950), 143.	Anderson, J.N.D., ed. The World's Religions. London: Inter-Varsity Fellowship, 1950.
Edition other than the first	William R. Shepherd, Historical Atlas, 8th ed. (New York: Barnes & Noble, 1956), 62.	Shepherd, William R. Historical Atlas, 8th ed. New York: Barnes & Noble, 1956.
Reprint edition	Gunnar Myrdal, Population: A Problem for Democracy (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1940; reprint, Gloucester, MA: Peter Smith, 1956), 9.	Myrdal, Gunnar. Population: A Problem for Democracy. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1940. Reprint, Gloucester, MA: Peter Smith, 1956.
Component part by one author in a work by another	Paul Tillich, "Being and Love," in Moral Principles of Action, ed. Ruth N. Anshen (New York: Harper & Bros., 1952), 663.	Tillich, Paul. "Being and Love." In Moral Principles of Action, ed. Ruth N. Anshen, 661-72. New York: Harper & Bros., 1952.
Electronic document: From Internet	William J. Mitchell, City of Bits: Space, Place, and the Infobahn [book on-line] (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1995, accessed 29 September 1995); available from http://www-mitpress.mit.edu:80/ City_of_Bits/Pulling_Glass/ index.html; Internet.	Mitchell, William J. City of Bits: Space, Place, and the Infobahn [book on- line]. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1995, accessed 29 September 1995; available from http://www-mitpress. mit.edu:80/City_of_Bits/Pulling_Glass/ index.html; Internet.
Encyclopedia, unsigned article	Collier's Encyclopedia, 1994 ed., s.v. "Mindoro."	Well-known reference books are generally not listed in bibliographies.
Encyclopedia, signed article	C. Hugh Holman, "Romanticism," in Encyclopedia Americana, 1988 ed.	Well-known reference books are generally not listed in bibliographies.
Interview (unpublished) by the writer of paper	Nancy D. Morganis, interview by author, 16 July 1996, Fall River, MA, tape recording.	Morganis, Nancy D. Interview by author, 16 July 1996, Fall River, MA. Tape recording.
Newspaper article	"Profile of Marriott Corp.," New York Times, 21 January 1990, sec. III, p. 5. Fergus McIntosh, Letter to the Editor, New York Times, January 24, 2016, New York edition.	"Profile of Marriott Corp." New York Times, 21 January 1990, sec. III, p. 5. (NB: The initial ‘the’ from the name of the newspaper can be omitted. )
Article in a journal or magazine published monthly	Robert Sommer, "The Personality of Vegetables: Botanical Metaphors for Human Characteristics," Journal of Personality 56, no. 4 (December 1988): 670.	Sommer, Robert. "The Personality of Vegetables: Botanical Metaphors for Human Characteristics." Journal of Personality 56, no. 4 (December 1988): 665-683.
Article in a magazine published weekly (or of general interest)	Robin Knight, "Poland's Feud in the Family," U.S. News and World Report, 10 September 1990, 52.	Knight, Robin. "Poland's Feud in the Family." U.S. News and World Report, 10 September 1990, 52-53, 56.
Thesis or dissertation	O.C. Phillips, Jr., "The Influence of Ovid on Lucan's Bellum Civile" (PhD. diss., University of Chicago, Chicago, 1962), 14. (NB.: if available online, add URL at the end, placing a comma after the page number. If a publisher available, add the publisher instead of URL).	Phillips, O.C., Jr. "The Influence of Ovid on Lucan's Bellum Civile." PhD. diss., University of Chicago, Chicago, 1962. (NB.: if available online, add URL at the end, placing a comma after the year. If the publisher available, add the publisher instead of URL).
Websites	“History,” Columbia University, accessed July 1, 2016, http:/www.columbia.edu/content/history.html.	Columbia University. “History.” Last modified March 25, 2016. http:/www.columbia.edu/content/history.html.
Blog	Raju Felix Crasta, “Crucifying the Crucified: A Meditation on the Crucifixion of Jesus,” The Existential Reality (Blog), April 9, 2017, http://rfcrasta.blogspot.com/2017/04/crucifying-crucified.html.	Crasta, Raju Felix. “Crucifying the Crucified: A Meditation on the Crucifixion of Jesus.” The Existential Reality (Blog). April 9, 2017, http://rfcrasta.blogspot.com/2017/04/crucifying-crucified.html.
Facebook	Junot Diaz, “Always surprises my students when I tell them that the ‘real’ medieval was more diverse than the fake ones most of us consume,” Facebook, February 24, 2014, http://www.facebook.com/juotdiaz.writer/posts/972495572815454.	Diaz, Junot. “Always surprises my students when I tell them that the ‘real’ medieval was more diverse than the fake ones most of us consume.” Facebook, February 24, 2014. http://www.facebook.com/juotdiaz.writer/posts/972495572815454.
Twitter	Conan O’Brien (@ConanOBrien), “In honor of Earth Day, I’m cycling my tweets,” Twitter, April 22, 2015, 11.10 a.m., http://twitter.com/ConanOBrien/status/590940792967016448.	O’Brien, Conan (@ConanOBrien). “In honor of Earth Day, I’m cycling my tweets.” Twitter, April 22, 2015, 11.10 a.m. http://twitter.com/ConanOBrien/status/590940792967016448.

 

*  Turabian Style
The source for the above table is  
"Master of Theology and Doctoral Studies" (Pune: Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth Pontifical Institute of Philosophy and Religion).
Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, Ninth Edition, 2018. 
Raju Felix Crasta, A Course Material on Research Methodology and Scientific Research, St. Albert's College, Ranchi, 2013.

Tips for Preparing a Research Proposal

1. Research Question

• Prepare one question which will comprise the very problem that you are trying to find out or solve or to explore. Make it in the form of a single question.

2. Hypothesis

• Just write one sentence which will show what will be more or less your answer at present on the question. That is you bring out what is the answer to your research question.

3. Methodology

• What is the methodology that you are going to apply?
• Mostly as far a philosophy student is concerned it would be exegetical and hermeneutical. It can be descriptive or analytical or data collection.
• It could include whether are you depending upon primary sources or secondary sources.

4. Review of Literature

• You have to indicate what all studies have done so far on the issue.
• Those philosophers (or authors) those who have worked on the issue that you are taking up and the important works that have come up.

5. What do you expect that you can contribute other than those who have done?

• Show your contribution that you expect that you can achieve.

6. Limitations

• What are the limitations that you expect that you may come across in your research?

For example:

• Lack of access to original primary sources due to inability to language, their availability, etc.
• You belong to one religious tradition and then studying the other, and such problems.

7. Working Plan

• A possible schema. How many chapters and what do you prefer to include in each chapter, etc.

8. The Relevance of the Topic

• In the present context, what is the relevance of your finding? In the society does it make any sense, in the religious field does make any sense. In the scholarly field does it bring any relevance, etc. 

I found this following questionnaire very useful for all the researchers. Hats off to the author. See, Rafoth, B. (Ed.). (2005). A Tutor’s Guide: Helping Writers One to One. (2^nd ed.) Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook

How to prepare a Masters/Doctoral Dissertation Thesis?

1. What topics have you chosen for your research and why?
2. What do you know now about the topic?
3. What do you want to find out?
4. Are you aware of any controversies regarding this topic? If so, what are they, and what is your current stand on the issue?
5. Have you noticed any areas of disagreement among your sources?
6. Did anything surprise you as you gathered information?
7. What has been the most interesting aspect of the material you’ve gathered so far?
8. After reviewing your data or sources, what do you see as the latest problems in the field of your topic? What do you think are the important facts of the matter?
9. What new insight can you contribute? 
10. Considering all of the previous questions, how would you sum up your current attitude toward your topic in a sentence or two?
11. If you decide to use the answer to the previous question as a working thesis for your paper, what information will you have to give your readers to convince them that your stand is a valid one? 
12. What questions of theirs will you have to answer? (The answers to these questions will suggest major points for your outline.)
13. What one real question will your paper answer? 
14. What is your current answer to this question?
15. What information do you have to support this?
16. What information do you still need to gather?

Key Points for the Colloquium

1. Title of the Dissertation

2. Research question: What is the question for which your thesis is the answer? Be sharp and straight forward in expressing it. 

3. Thesis: Two things to be noted here: a. The thesis statement itself, and b. What prompted you to probe into this? 

4. Hypothesis and assumption: There is something assumed or taken for granted to begin with your research. What is it? Make a precise statement here. You may prove it or disprove it latter in the paper. 

5. Methodology: There are different ways to arrive at your thesis: Inductive, deductive, historical, exegetical, critical, analytical, etc. Explain it briefly.

6. The General Plan: Explain how have you progressed the theme in chapters?

7. Placing the system of Thought or the basic thoughts and arguments used in the thesis. Don’t be too elaborate, rather systematically explain them.

8. Application: Contextual application of your thesis.

9. My Contribution: Why should I buy your book? What is the novelty in your paper? If you are merely repeating what others have said, then your paper is not worth reading. It is your novelty (new insight/s which others have not said) what makes your thesis complete and effective. Clearly spell it in few points.

10. Scope for further Research: How your thesis will help the future researchers or are there any pointers that can be developed further either by you or others? The more scope, the better is the research. Your work will have many takers. 

11. Limitation: It is not possible that the thesis should be the most perfect without any set-backs. Some works need language expertise, resource availability, a vast area of the issue, time-constraint, etc. It is not possible to deal with everything. You may spell it here to humble yourself.

Prepared by

Dr. Fr. Raju Felix Crasta