Final Completed Research paper Several students have asked me how long the final paper should be. Basically, it all depends on your topic and how much your were able to find. So, some may be longer

Final Completed Research paper

Several students have asked me how long the final paper should be.  Basically, it all depends on your topic and how much your were able to find.  So, some may be longer than others.  But basically it should be at least approximately 18-20 pages.  Do not pad it with an excess of pictures, figures and tables.  This is an obvious attempt to cover up your lack of information so please keep these at a minimum and not taking up too much of the paper.  In other words, having figures etc. is fine – just do not overdo it  in lieu of the written word.

Basically you should have the following:

Title page        1 page

Abstract           1 page

Introduction      4 -5 pages

Materials and Methods   2 – 3 pages

Results and Discussion (including figures etc.)       7 -8 pages

Conclusion    1 -2 pages

References 2 -3 pages (or more)

Some may have more or less pages depending on what they are researching and what they found. So there is going to be a lot of variation based on what you are researching.  But this should serve as a basic guideline.