Guidelines for writing an Academic article for a journal

Academic article serve as introduction of your research paper. In simple words a post graduate student will report its findings of the extensive research conducted by him. This journal has certain limitations on number of words and pages. You need to mention only the important things here and not your complete project. This journal should contain a very brief note or explanation of your entire project. These academic articles are generally published in various academic journals. There is no set format to write an academic article; however, it is advisable to write an academic article in a set format.

1. Article Title – Have a title of about 10-20 words which is a formal one and too creative. Your title should be able to say what the topic of research, how the research will be done, what are the sample size and where the research will be conducted. A simple example would be – Consumer buying practices for footwear in sale season – A conjoint analysis of male and female buyers in Maharashtra.
2. Abstract – An abstract of about 200-250 words should be sufficient. You will have to make sure you write your abstract good enough to catch the attention of the reader.
3. Keywords – You can mention a maximum of 6-8 keywords after your extract. These keywords should be obviously related to your research. Mentioning the keywords will help attract readers. This will also be useful if your abstract is online in some of the directories or any other database. You can use keywords like Retail Management, Consumer buying behaviour, Footwear industry and few others.
4. Introduction – As the name suggests, start your introduction with the title of the project. Explain the same in brief mentioning the reason for the study. Keep your introduction as simple as possible. Do not make it very technical. Also, take care of not over writing in introduction, as this is not your main body.
5. Review – It is also known as literature review. It is the main crux of your academic article. The purpose of writing a literature review is to provide background of the research and for the objectives and hypothesis that guide your own research.
6. Methodology – This section should include the steps involved in conducting the research. It also includes the various ways of collecting the data.
7. Results- This section will summarize the results derived from the efforts you had put. Make this section a comprehensive and detail oriented. Try to show tables and graphs here.
8. Discussion – This is the last section of your academic article. It generally creates impact on the reader’s perception of the research conducted. This is simple terms is also called as conclusion.