Structure of a Paper

I found this in my notes from when I was doing the Graduate Diploma of Education (Tertiary Teaching).  It's the basic structure of a paper (for a journal).  I thought it was worth keeping - but it's also worth sharing.

These sorts of visual structures are gold, when you have never written something before, and you are trying to work out what it should look like:

Structure of a Paper

1. Set the scene
2. Present the Question/Problem your paper will address
3. Literature Review
4. Method
1. participants
2. data collection
3. data analysis
5. Present the Findings
6. Discussion (tying the findings to the literature review)
7. Conclusion.

Oh, and here's some heads-up about  one of the core differences between writing an essay for a journal and writing one for an assignment:

In a journal article, it is perfectly acceptable to talk about the fact that you are writing a paper.  You can use things like "we did X and we thought it would generate Y but it produced Z instead" and "this paper will explore the effect A has on B in the context of C".  However, you should try to stay as objective and neutral as you can - try to keep things general and professional, and avoid personal comments as much as possible.  The more scientific your article, the less "okay" it is to use personal pronouns (you still avoid contractions and colloquialisms, regardless of what you are writing).

In an academic essay, you avoid mentioning yourself (don't use personal pronouns) or drawing attention to the fact that you are writing an essay (although some lecturers will want the "this essay will" statement in the introduction, many consider it poor writing - find out what the person marking your essay expects).