What should an article look like

So let us contribute to a better world by writing concise articles. This will allow keeping the overview and focusing scarce time and energy on a limited amount of text, making it easier to raise the bar. This means the introduction merits special attention. It best begins with a clear motivation of the topic or problem addressed, followed by a formulation of the goal, research question s and approach adopted.

Next, make sure to embed the study briefly in the relevant literature, and while doing so, use the opportunity to clarify what the main innovation of the study is. Finish the introduction with a brief outline of the article: a concise overview of the contents of subsequent sections — best in the form of one line per section.

Such an outline should logically follow from the previous text in the introduction; in other words, do not introduce new issues or concepts at this point. The following more specific considerations regarding structure and editing may be helpful. Article titles should be concise and specific , indicating clearly the important innovative angle of the article.

Do not feel obliged to include a subtitle, and be sure to avoid repetition of identical or similar terms in the title. Abstracts should not be written in a hurry. They contain continuous text, without paragraph structure, and with high information density.

Make sure to revise the abstract as often as the rest of the paper to guarantee its optimal quality. Note that all Elsevier journals currently require in addition up to five highlights, each no longer than 85 characters in the case of EIST , including spaces.

Like the abstract, highlights should be very attractive as they form the first summary of the article that readers will come across online. They will influence a potential reader whether or not to take a better look at the respective article.

Use informative but short section titles. Number all sections and avoid difficult, multilevel subsection structures whenever possible. Include a separate conclusion section that summarizes the problem, approach, results and interpretation of these. Ensure that the conclusions can be read and understood independently from the rest of the paper. Do not draw overly strong conclusions, but be modest and formulate with care and tact. Circumvent literature references in a conclusions section.

Remember your conclusions have to derive from the original analysis reported in previous sections. When writing your article, use a strong "anchoring" sentence at the beginning of each paragraph to move your reader forward. Also, vary the length of your sentences, both short and long. If you find all your sentences are about the same word length, chances are your reader will be 'lulled" into a standard rhythm and fall asleep.

Sentences which are consistently choppy and short may give your reader the impression you are writing advertising copy instead of a well-thought-out article.

Write a compelling conclusion. Wrap up your article with a dynamic conclusion. Depending on your article, this might be a conclusion that empowers the reader. If you started with an anecdote or statistic in your introduction, think about reconnecting to this point in your conclusion.

Conclusions are often strongest when they use a last, brief concrete example that leads the reader to new insights. Conclusions should be 'forward thinking' -- point the reader in a direction that keeps his or her "thirst" for knowledge going strong. Think about adding supplemental material. You can help your reader understand your topic more clearly by including graphics or other supplemental material. For example, you could include photographs, charts, or infographics to illustrate some of your points.

You could also highlight or develop a major point more with a sidebar-type box. This is an extra bit of writing that delves more deeply into one aspect of the subject. These types of write-ups are usually short words, depending on the publication outlet. Remember, these materials are supplemental. This means that your article should stand on its own.

Your writing needs to be understandable, clear and focused without the help of charts, photographs or other graphics. Part 5. Edit your work. Take some time to edit and revise your article. If time allows, wait for a day or two before editing. This will give you some distance from your article. Then you will be able to view your article with fresh eyes. Does everything in your article serve this central argument? Do you have a paragraph that is unrelated?

If so, this paragraph should be eliminated or reframed so that it supports the main argument. Eliminate any contradictory information in the article or address the contradictions, showing how the contradictory information is relevant to readers. Rewrite sections or the entire thing as necessary. Comb through for grammatical errors.

Even when an article is well-written, it will not be taken as seriously if it has grammatical errors or spelling mistakes. Make sure your writing is forceful by cleaning up your grammar. Go through it with a pen or pencil to catch mistakes. Then go back and correct these mistakes on the computer. Read your article out loud to yourself. Listen for tone, rhythm, sentence length, coherence, grammatical or content errors, and compelling argument s.

Think of your writing as a piece of music, an auditory experience, and use your ears to evaluate the quality, strengths, and weaknesses. It is common to be able to identify your own mistakes in grammar or writing while reading aloud as well; this could cut down on the feedback that you may receive from someone else. Have someone else read your article. Try showing the article to a friend, teacher, or other trusted individual to read it.

Does he follow your logic? This person may also catch errors and inconsistencies that you have overlooked. Write a headline. Give your article a suitable headline. The headline is short and to the point, using no more than about 10 words or 50 characters, if that.

A headline should be action-oriented and should convey why the story is important. It should grab readers and draw them into the article.

This is a secondary sentence that builds on the headline. Janet Peischel Digital Media Expert. Janet Peischel. Brainstorm a list of potential topics that you want to write about and narrow it down to a single subject. Not Helpful 1 Helpful However, there are some articles that may be more professional; in that case, it would not be appropriate to use the second person. Not Helpful 16 Helpful It depends on what sort of article you are writing.

Magazine cover features tend to be about 3, words, but shorter pieces could be just a paragraph or two. Not Helpful 13 Helpful Those are broad topics. Before you start writing the article, you will need to clarify either the scope of your topic or the depth of your focus.

A broad topic such as "journalism" will first require some narrowing. Most articles will not be overly long, so a broad topic will require a very shallow focus i. If you want to write in-depth, you will need a significantly narrower topic.

However, you could start your article by explaining the history of your topic or any current discussions about it. Not Helpful 10 Helpful Not Helpful 4 Helpful Narrow your topic. To do so, read a lot about the topic generally and talk to knowledgeable people about it. Find some specific angle that fascinates you and focus your research in that direction. Not Helpful 15 Helpful However, depending on where you're posting or submitting the article, there may be some restrictions.

If you want to post an article on wikiHow, please make sure you follow our NFD guidelines. Not Helpful 32 Helpful Yes, but it's better to avoid them if possible so your article can be more easily understood by more people.

Not Helpful 12 Helpful Do you have any suggestions on how to start an article about the menace of cultism in higher institutions? If you're writing an article about a real or perceived threat, especially one that is not well-known or widely recognized, start with a real personal anecdote. Show how someone has been harmed or could have been harmed by the threat.

Then move to the more theoretical argument, defining your terms, narrowing and clarifying your argument. Refer back to the anecdote at the end to demonstrate either the significance of the threat or how it can be avoided or eliminated. Articles are used to inform or misinform people about a wide variety of topics. People often cite things read in newspapers, journals, magazines, online publications, etc. The importance of articles cannot be overemphasized, as they are one of the most relevant means used to educate, convey ideologies, give opinions, and share knowledge among the general public.

Not Helpful 9 Helpful Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered. Make sure to give yourself plenty of time to write the article.

If you don't, you'll be rushing at the last minute to create something that isn't representative of what you can truly do. Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0. Martin's Determine whether or not you actually have an interest in writing. Try writing 2 paragraphs with as much creativity as possible. When writing for a newspaper or magazine, do not do so for free.

Ask what the freelance fee is beforehand. Personal tools Not logged in Talk Contributions Log in. You can find here basic information, how should an article look like.

Length of Article [ edit edit source ] The article should be one chapter long, approximately one page A4 1. Structure of Article [ edit edit source ] You should start with simple definition at the beginning of the article.

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