Academia.edu no longer supports Internet Explorer.

To browse Academia.edu and the wider internet faster and more securely, please take a few seconds to  upgrade your browser .

Enter the email address you signed up with and we'll email you a reset link.

  • We're Hiring!
  • Help Center

paper cover thumbnail

A Critical Review of Research on Website Development and Design Related to Diversity Issues

Profile image of Siti Zakiah Syed Mustafa

Related Papers

Journal of Computer Science IJCSIS , Dr. Mahdi Miraz , Maaruf Ali

Due to mass global migration and increased usage of the Internet, it is now very important to address the cultural aspects of the usability problems of any Information and Communication Technology (ICT) products such as software, websites or applications (apps) whether to be used on PCs, Laptops, Smartphones, Tablets, Smart TVs or any other devices. To augment the " Design for All " concept, this research demonstrates the need to cater for culturally diverse users while designing user interfaces. This has been achieved, by investigating ICT products and conducting an extensive literature survey. The study concludes that it is very important to work on cross-cultural usability problems and bring these issues under focus.

research paper about website

Jennifer Mankoff

ABSTRACT The World Wide Web plays an important role in our society—enabling broader access to information and services than was previously available. However, Website usability and accessibility are still a problem. Numerous, automated, evaluation and transformation tools are available to help Web developers build better sites for users with diverse needs. A survey of these automated tools is presented in the context of the user abilities they support.

Jatinder Manhas

The web is one of the most revolutionary and global technique influencing every aspect of the people throughout the world including culture. The web has become the most intelligible technique throughout the world which enables distribution of services through its websites. The professionals and designers suggest that a well designed user interface is more influential and improves the performance of the website. In this paper, the authors have examined and found out the cultural influences on website design. Culture can be defined as a group of people having certain things in common which could affect the website design. The authors in this paper took different charity websites from North and South India and examined them by comparing the differences in the design with respect to culture. Authors examined these websites for 5 different parameters i.e. Information, Visual design, page layout, user input and multimedia. Findings suggest that north Indian and south Indian websites diffe...

Proceedings of CHI 2001

Carina de Villiers

Shohreh Hadian

The 40th ACM International Conference on Design of Communication

Meghalee Das

Ann Borda , Giuliano Gaia

Iosif Klironomos

International Journal of People-Oriented Programming

Renate Motschnig

Human-Centered Design focuses on the analysis, specification and involvement of a product's end users as driving elements in the design process. The primary research objective of the case-study presented in this paper is to illustrate that it is essential to include users with special needs into all major steps of designing a web-portal that provides services to these special users. But how can this be accomplished in the case of users with special cognitive and affective needs? Would the “classical” Human-Centered Design Process (HCD) be sufficient or would it need to be adapted and complemented with special procedures and tools? In this paper the design team shares the strategies they adopted and the experiences they gained by including users with dyslexia in the design of the LITERACY Web-Portal. Besides providing insight into the special effort and steps needed to adapt HCD for users with special needs, the paper encourages application designers to include end-users even tho...

Achmad Syarief

RELATED PAPERS

Water Research

Gurmeet Brar

Steven Keates

Abdallah Bchir

Environmental Science and Pollution Research

Karen Cerda

Jacco Wesselius

Patricia McGuiggan

tatang sopandi

Water Alternatives

Luke Whaley

J.Abdimas: Community Health

SONDANG MANURUNG

Joyce Peixoto

Journal of Plant Protection and Pathology

Dr.Amna Maklad

Electronic Journal of Biotechnology

Andres Manuel Martinez Cortez

Emerging Infectious Diseases

Didier Bessis

Osteoarthritis and Cartilage

Simo Saarakkala

Rahul Rathore

eTropic: electronic journal of studies in the Tropics

punyashree panda

The ISME Journal

anne lorrain

Lorenzo Fornasari

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry

Salah Khalifa

Alicia Blum-Ross

Gaziantep University Journal of Social Sciences

abdullah bayındır

Journal of Molecular Catalysis A: Chemical

Rani Abraham

朴茨茅斯大学毕业证制作流程 Port成绩单制作

Banko Janakari

Lajmina Joshi

Avances en Enfermería

Alba Vilela

RELATED TOPICS

  •   We're Hiring!
  •   Help Center
  • Find new research papers in:
  • Health Sciences
  • Earth Sciences
  • Cognitive Science
  • Mathematics
  • Computer Science
  • Academia ©2024

U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

  • Publications
  • Account settings

Preview improvements coming to the PMC website in October 2024. Learn More or Try it out now .

  • Advanced Search
  • Journal List
  • JMIR Form Res
  • v.3(4); Oct-Dec 2019

Logo of formative

A Comprehensive Framework to Evaluate Websites: Literature Review and Development of GoodWeb

Rosalie allison.

1 Public Health England, Gloucester, United Kingdom

Catherine Hayes

Cliodna a m mcnulty, vicki young, associated data.

Summary of included studies, including information on the participant.

Interventions: methodologies and tools to evaluate websites.

Methods used or described in each study.

Summary of the most used website attributes evaluated.

Attention is turning toward increasing the quality of websites and quality evaluation to attract new users and retain existing users.

This scoping study aimed to review and define existing worldwide methodologies and techniques to evaluate websites and provide a framework of appropriate website attributes that could be applied to any future website evaluations.

We systematically searched electronic databases and gray literature for studies of website evaluation. The results were exported to EndNote software, duplicates were removed, and eligible studies were identified. The results have been presented in narrative form.

A total of 69 studies met the inclusion criteria. The extracted data included type of website, aim or purpose of the study, study populations (users and experts), sample size, setting (controlled environment and remotely assessed), website attributes evaluated, process of methodology, and process of analysis. Methods of evaluation varied and included questionnaires, observed website browsing, interviews or focus groups, and Web usage analysis. Evaluations using both users and experts and controlled and remote settings are represented. Website attributes that were examined included usability or ease of use, content, design criteria, functionality, appearance, interactivity, satisfaction, and loyalty. Website evaluation methods should be tailored to the needs of specific websites and individual aims of evaluations. GoodWeb, a website evaluation guide, has been presented with a case scenario.

Conclusions

This scoping study supports the open debate of defining the quality of websites, and there are numerous approaches and models to evaluate it. However, as this study provides a framework of the existing literature of website evaluation, it presents a guide of options for evaluating websites, including which attributes to analyze and options for appropriate methods.

Introduction

Since its conception in the early 1990s, there has been an explosion in the use of the internet, with websites taking a central role in diverse fields such as finance, education, medicine, industry, and business. Organizations are increasingly attempting to exploit the benefits of the World Wide Web and its features as an interface for internet-enabled businesses, information provision, and promotional activities [ 1 , 2 ]. As the environment becomes more competitive and websites become more sophisticated, attention is turning toward increasing the quality of the website itself and quality evaluation to attract new and retain existing users [ 3 , 4 ]. What determines website quality has not been conclusively established, and there are many different definitions and meanings of the term quality, mainly in relation to the website’s purpose [ 5 ]. Traditionally, website evaluations have focused on usability, defined as “the extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction in a specified context of use [ 6 ].” The design of websites and users’ needs go beyond pure usability, as increased engagement and pleasure experienced during interactions with websites can be more important predictors of website preference than usability [ 7 - 10 ]. Therefore, in the last decade, website evaluations have shifted their focus to users’ experience, employing various assessment techniques [ 11 ], with no universally accepted method or procedure for website evaluation.

This scoping study aimed to review and define existing worldwide methodologies and techniques to evaluate websites and provide a simple framework of appropriate website attributes, which could be applied to future website evaluations.

A scoping study is similar to a systematic review as it collects and reviews content in a field of interest. However, scoping studies cover a broader question and do not rigorously evaluate the quality of the studies included [ 12 ]. Scoping studies are commonly used in the fields of public services such as health and education, as they are more rapid to perform and less costly in terms of staff costs [ 13 ]. Scoping studies can be precursors to a systematic review or stand-alone studies to examine the range of research around a particular topic.

The following research question is based on the need to gain knowledge and insight from worldwide website evaluation to inform the future study design of website evaluations: what website evaluation methodologies can be robustly used to assess users’ experience?

To show how the framework of attributes and methods can be applied to evaluating a website, e-Bug, an international educational health website, will be used as a case scenario [ 14 ].

This scoping study followed a 5-stage framework and methodology, as outlined by Arksey and O’Malley [ 12 ], involving the following: (1) identifying the research question, as above; (2) identifying relevant studies; (3) study selection; (4) charting the data; and (5) collating, summarizing, and reporting the results.

Identifying Relevant Studies

Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines [ 15 ], studies for consideration in the review were located by searching the following electronic databases: Excerpta Medica dataBASE, PsycINFO, Cochrane, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Scopus, ACM digital library, and IEEE Xplore SPORTDiscus. The keywords used referred to the following:

  • Population: websites
  • Intervention: evaluation methodologies
  • Outcome: user’s experience.

Table 1 shows the specific search criteria for each database. These keywords were also used to search gray literature for unpublished or working documents to minimize publication bias.

Full search strategy used to search each electronic database.

a EMBASE: Excerpta Medica database.

b CINAHL: Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature.

c ACM: Association for Computing Machinery.

d IEEE: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

Study Selection

Once all sources had been systematically searched, the list of citations was exported to EndNote software to identify eligible studies. By scanning the title, and abstract if necessary, studies that did not fit the inclusion criteria were removed by 2 researchers (RA and CH). As abstracts are not always representative of the full study that follows or capture the full scope [ 16 ], if the title and abstract did not provide sufficient information, the full manuscript was examined to ascertain whether they met all the inclusion criteria, which included (1) studies focused on websites, (2) studies of evaluative methods (eg, use of questionnaire and task completion), (3) studies that reported outcomes that affect the user’s experience (eg, quality, satisfaction, efficiency, effectiveness without necessarily focusing on methodology), (4) studies carried out between 2006 and 2016, (5) studies published in English, and (6) type of study (any study design that is appropriate).

Exclusion criteria included (1) studies that focus on evaluations using solely experts and are not transferrable to user evaluations; (2) studies that are in the form of electronic book or are not freely available on the Web or through OpenAthens, the University of Bath library, or the University of the West of England library; (3)studies that evaluate banking, electronic commerce (e-commerce), or online libraries’ websites and do not have transferrable measures to a range of other websites; (4) studies that report exclusively on minority or special needs groups (eg, blind or deaf users); and (5) studies that do not meet all the inclusion criteria.

Charting the Data

The next stage involved charting key items of information obtained from studies being reviewed. Charting [ 17 ] describes a technique for synthesizing and interpreting qualitative data by sifting, charting, and sorting material according to key issues and themes. This is similar to a systematic review in which the process is called data extraction. The data extracted included general information about the study and specific information relating to, for instance, the study population or target, the type of intervention, outcome measures employed, and the study design.

The information of interest included the following: type of website, aim or purpose of the study, study populations (users and experts), sample size, setting (laboratory, real life, and remotely assessed), website attributes evaluated, process of methodology, and process of analysis.

NVivo version 10.0 software was used for this stage by 2 researchers (RA and CH) to chart the data.

Collating, Summarizing, and Reporting the Results

Although the scoping study does not seek to assess the quality of evidence, it does present an overview of all material reviewed with a narrative account of findings.

Ethics Approval and Consent to Participate

As no primary research was carried out, no ethical approval was required to undertake this scoping study. No specific reference was made to any of the participants in the individual studies, nor does this study infringe on their rights in any way.

The electronic database searches produced 6657 papers; a further 7 papers were identified through other sources. After removing duplicates (n=1058), 5606 publications remained. After titles and abstracts were examined, 784 full-text papers were read and assessed further for eligibility. Of those, 69 articles were identified as suitable by meeting all the inclusion criteria ( Figure 1 ).

An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc.
Object name is formative_v3i4e14372_fig1.jpg

Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses flowchart of search results.

Study Characteristics

Studies referred to or used a mixture of users (72%) and experts (39%) to evaluate their websites; 54% used a controlled environment, and 26% evaluated websites remotely ( Multimedia Appendix 1 [ 2 - 4 , 11 , 18 - 85 ]). Remote usability, in its most basic form, involves working with participants who are not in the same physical location as the researcher, employing techniques such as live screen sharing or questionnaires. Advantages to remote website evaluations include the ability to evaluate using a larger number of participants as travel time and costs are not a factor, and participants are able to partake at a time that is appropriate to them, increasing the likelihood of participation and the possibility of a greater diversity of participants [ 18 ]. However, the disadvantages of remote website evaluations, in comparison with a controlled setting, are that system performance, network traffic, and the participant’s computer setup can all affect the results.

A variety of types of websites evaluated were included in this review including government (9%), online news (6%), education (1%), university (12%), and sports organizations (4%). The aspects of quality considered, and their relative importance varied according to the type of website and the goals to be achieved by the users. For example, criteria such as ease of paying or security are not very important to educational websites, whereas they are especially important for online shopping. In this sense, much attention must be paid when evaluating the quality of a website, establishing a specific context of use and purpose [ 19 ].

The context of the participants was also discussed, in relation to the generalizability of results. For example, when evaluations used potential or current users of their website, it was important that computer literacy was reflective of all users [ 20 ]. This could mean ensuring that participants with a range of computer abilities and experiences were used so that results were not biased to the most or least experienced users.

Intervention

A total of 43 evaluation methodologies were identified in the 69 studies in this review. Most of them were variations of similar methodologies, and a brief description of each is provided in Multimedia Appendix 2 . Multimedia Appendix 3 shows the methods used or described in each study.

Questionnaire

Use of questionnaires was the most common methodology referred to (37/69, 54%), including questions to rank or rate attributes and open questions to allow text feedback and suggested improvements. Questionnaires were used in a combination of before or after usability testing to assess usability and overall user experience.

Observed Browsing the Website

Browsing the website using a form of task completion with the participant, such as cognitive walkthrough, was used in 33/69 studies (48%), whereby an expert evaluator used a detailed procedure to simulate task execution and browse all particular solution paths, examining each action while determining if expected user’s goals and memory content would lead to choosing a correct option [ 30 ]. Screen capture was often used (n=6) to record participants’ navigation through the website, and eye tracking was used (n=7) to assess where the eye focuses on each page or the motion of the eye as an individual views a Web page. The think-aloud protocol was used (n=10) to encourage users to express out loud what they were looking at, thinking, doing, and feeling, as they performed tasks. This allows observers to see and understand the cognitive processes associated with task completion. Recording the time to complete tasks (n=6) and mouse movement or clicks (n=8) were used to assess the efficiency of the websites.

Qualitative Data Collection

Several forms of qualitative data collection were used in 27/69 studies (39%). Observed browsing, interviews, and focus groups were used either before or after the use of the website. Pre-website-use, qualitative research was often used to collect details of which website attributes were important for participants or what weighting participants would give to each attribute. Postevaluation, qualitative techniques were used to collate feedback on the quality of the website and any suggestions for improvements.

Automated Usability Evaluation Software

In 9/69 studies (13%), automated usability evaluation focused on developing software, tools, and techniques to speed evaluation (rapid), tools that reach a wider audience for usability testing (remote), and tools that have built-in analyses features (automated). The latter can involve assessing server logs, website coding, and simulations of user experience to assess usability [ 42 ].

Card Sorting

A technique that is often linked with assessing navigability of a website, card sorting, is useful for discovering the logical structure of an unsorted list of statements or ideas by exploring how people group items and structures that maximize the probability of users finding items (5/69 studies, 7%). This can assist with determining effective website structure.

Web Usage Analysis

Of 69 studies, 3 studies used Web usage analysis or Web analytics to identify browsing patterns by analyzing the participants’ navigational behavior. This could include tracking at the widget level, that is, combining knowledge of the mouse coordinates with elements such as buttons and links, with the layout of the HTML pages, enabling complete tracking of all user activity.

Outcomes (Attributes Used to Evaluate Websites)

Often, different terminology for website attributes was used to describe the same or similar concepts ( Multimedia Appendix 4 ). The most used website attributes that were assessed can be broken down into 8 broad categories and further subcategories:

  • Usability or ease of use is the degree to which a website can be used to achieve given goals (n=58). It includes navigation such as intuitiveness, learnability, memorability, and information architecture; effectiveness such as errors; and efficiency.
  • Content (n=41) includes completeness, accuracy, relevancy, timeliness, and understandability of the information.
  • Web design criteria (n=29) include use of media, search engines, help resources, originality of the website, site map, user interface, multilanguage, and maintainability.
  • Functionality (n=31) includes links, website speed, security, and compatibility with devices and browsers.
  • Appearance (n=26) includes layout, font, colors, and page length.
  • Interactivity (n=25) includes sense of community, such as ability to leave feedback and comments and email or share with a friend option or forum discussion boards; personalization; help options such as frequently answered questions or customer services; and background music.
  • Satisfaction (n=26) includes usefulness, entertainment, look and feel, and pleasure.
  • Loyalty (n=8) includes first impression of the website.

GoodWeb: Website Evaluation Guide

As there was such a range of methods used, a suggested guide of options for evaluating websites is presented below ( Figure 2 ), coined GoodWeb, and applied to an evaluation of e-Bug, an international educational health website [ 14 ]. Allison at al [ 86 ] show the full details of how GoodWeb has been applied and outcomes of the e-Bug website evaluation.

An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc.
Object name is formative_v3i4e14372_fig2.jpg

Framework for website evaluation.

Step 1. What Are the Important Website Attributes That Affect User's Experience of the Chosen Website?

Usability or ease of use, content, Web design criteria, functionality, appearance, interactivity, satisfaction, and loyalty were the umbrella terms that encompassed the website attributes identified or evaluated in the 69 studies in this scoping study. Multimedia Appendix 4 contains a summary of the most used website attributes that have been assessed. Recent website evaluations have shifted focus from usability of websites to an overall user’s experience of website use. A decision on which website attributes to evaluate for specific websites could come from interviews or focus groups with users or experts or a literature search of attributes used in similar evaluations.

Application

In the scenario of evaluating e-Bug or similar educational health websites, the attributes chosen to assess could be the following:

  • Appearance: colors, fonts, media or graphics, page length, style consistency, and first impression
  • Content: clarity, completeness, current and timely information, relevance, reliability, and uniqueness
  • Interactivity: sense of community and modern features
  • Ease of use: home page indication, navigation, guidance, and multilanguage support
  • Technical adequacy: compatibility with other devices, load time, valid links, and limited use of special plug-ins
  • Satisfaction: loyalty

These cover the main website attributes appropriate for an educational health website. If the website did not currently have features such as search engines, site map, background music, it may not be appropriate to evaluate these, but may be better suited to question whether they would be suitable additions to the website; or these could be combined under the heading modern features . Furthermore, security may not be a necessary attribute to evaluate if participant identifiable information or bank details are not needed to use the website.

Step 2. What Is the Best Way to Evaluate These Attributes?

Often, a combination of methods is suitable to evaluate a website, as 1 method may not be appropriate to assess all attributes of interest [ 29 ] (see Multimedia Appendix 3 for a summary of the most used methods for evaluating websites). For example, screen capture of task completion may be appropriate to assess the efficiency of a website but would not be the chosen method to assess loyalty. A questionnaire or qualitative interview may be more appropriate for this attribute.

In the scenario of evaluating e-Bug, a questionnaire before browsing the website would be appropriate to rank the importance of the selected website attributes, chosen in step 1. It would then be appropriate to observe browsing of the website, collecting data on completion of typical task scenarios, using the screen capture function for future reference. This method could be used to evaluate the effectiveness (number of tasks successfully completed), efficiency (whether the most direct route through the website was used to complete the task), and learnability (whether task completion is more efficient or effective second time of trying). It may then be suitable to use a follow-up questionnaire to rate e-Bug against the website attributes previously ranked. The attribute ranking and rating could then be combined to indicate where the website performs well and areas for improvement.

Step 3: Who Should Evaluate the Website?

Both users and experts can be used to evaluate websites. Experts are able to identify areas for improvements, in relation to usability; whereas, users are able to appraise quality as well as identify areas for improvement. In this respect, users are able to fully evaluate user’s experience, where experts may not be able to.

For this reason, it may be more appropriate to use current or potential users of the website for the scenario of evaluating e-Bug.

Step 4: What Setting Should Be Used?

A combination of controlled and remote settings can be used, depending on the methods chosen. For example, it may be appropriate to collect data via a questionnaire, remotely, to increase sample size and reach a more diverse audience, whereas a controlled setting may be more appropriate for task completion using eye-tracking methods.

Strengths and Limitations

A scoping study differs from a systematic review, in that it does not critically appraise the quality of the studies before extracting or charting the data. Therefore, this study cannot compare the effectiveness of the different methods or methodologies in evaluating the website attributes. However, what it does do is review and summarize a huge amount of literature, from different sources, in a format that is understandable and informative for future designs of website evaluations.

Furthermore, studies that evaluate banking, e-commerce, or online libraries’ websites and do not have transferrable measures to a range of other websites were excluded from this study. This decision was made to limit the number of studies that met the remaining inclusion criteria, and it was deemed that the website attributes for these websites would be too specialist and not necessarily transferable to a range of websites. Therefore, the findings of this study may not be generalizable to all types of website. However, Multimedia Appendix 1 shows that data were extracted from a very broad range of websites when it was deemed that the information was transferrable to a range of other websites.

A robust website evaluation can identify areas for improvement to both fulfill the goals and desires of its users [ 62 ] and influence their perception of the organization and overall quality of resources [ 48 ]. An improved website could attract and retain more online users; therefore, an evidence-based website evaluation guide is essential.

This scoping study emphasizes the fact that the debate about how to define the quality of websites remains open, and there are numerous approaches and models to evaluate it. Multimedia Appendix 2 shows existing methodologies or tools that can be used to evaluate websites. Many of these are variations of similar approaches; therefore, it is not strictly necessary to use these tools at face value; however, some could be used to guide analysis, following data collection. By following steps 1 to 4 of GoodWeb, the framework suggested in this study, taking into account the desired participants and setting and website evaluation methods, can be tailored to the needs of specific websites and individual aims of evaluations.

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Primary Care Unit, Public Health England. This study is not applicable as secondary research.

Abbreviations

Multimedia appendix 1, multimedia appendix 2, multimedia appendix 3, multimedia appendix 4.

Authors' Contributions: RA wrote the protocol with input from CH, CM, and VY. RA and CH conducted the scoping review. RA wrote the final manuscript with input from CH, CM, and VY. All authors reviewed and approved the final manuscript.

Conflicts of Interest: None declared.

Have a language expert improve your writing

Run a free plagiarism check in 10 minutes, generate accurate citations for free.

  • Knowledge Base
  • Research paper

How to Write a Research Paper | A Beginner's Guide

A research paper is a piece of academic writing that provides analysis, interpretation, and argument based on in-depth independent research.

Research papers are similar to academic essays , but they are usually longer and more detailed assignments, designed to assess not only your writing skills but also your skills in scholarly research. Writing a research paper requires you to demonstrate a strong knowledge of your topic, engage with a variety of sources, and make an original contribution to the debate.

This step-by-step guide takes you through the entire writing process, from understanding your assignment to proofreading your final draft.

Instantly correct all language mistakes in your text

Upload your document to correct all your mistakes in minutes

upload-your-document-ai-proofreader

Table of contents

Understand the assignment, choose a research paper topic, conduct preliminary research, develop a thesis statement, create a research paper outline, write a first draft of the research paper, write the introduction, write a compelling body of text, write the conclusion, the second draft, the revision process, research paper checklist, free lecture slides.

Completing a research paper successfully means accomplishing the specific tasks set out for you. Before you start, make sure you thoroughly understanding the assignment task sheet:

  • Read it carefully, looking for anything confusing you might need to clarify with your professor.
  • Identify the assignment goal, deadline, length specifications, formatting, and submission method.
  • Make a bulleted list of the key points, then go back and cross completed items off as you’re writing.

Carefully consider your timeframe and word limit: be realistic, and plan enough time to research, write, and edit.

Here's why students love Scribbr's proofreading services

Discover proofreading & editing

There are many ways to generate an idea for a research paper, from brainstorming with pen and paper to talking it through with a fellow student or professor.

You can try free writing, which involves taking a broad topic and writing continuously for two or three minutes to identify absolutely anything relevant that could be interesting.

You can also gain inspiration from other research. The discussion or recommendations sections of research papers often include ideas for other specific topics that require further examination.

Once you have a broad subject area, narrow it down to choose a topic that interests you, m eets the criteria of your assignment, and i s possible to research. Aim for ideas that are both original and specific:

  • A paper following the chronology of World War II would not be original or specific enough.
  • A paper on the experience of Danish citizens living close to the German border during World War II would be specific and could be original enough.

Note any discussions that seem important to the topic, and try to find an issue that you can focus your paper around. Use a variety of sources , including journals, books, and reliable websites, to ensure you do not miss anything glaring.

Do not only verify the ideas you have in mind, but look for sources that contradict your point of view.

  • Is there anything people seem to overlook in the sources you research?
  • Are there any heated debates you can address?
  • Do you have a unique take on your topic?
  • Have there been some recent developments that build on the extant research?

In this stage, you might find it helpful to formulate some research questions to help guide you. To write research questions, try to finish the following sentence: “I want to know how/what/why…”

A thesis statement is a statement of your central argument — it establishes the purpose and position of your paper. If you started with a research question, the thesis statement should answer it. It should also show what evidence and reasoning you’ll use to support that answer.

The thesis statement should be concise, contentious, and coherent. That means it should briefly summarize your argument in a sentence or two, make a claim that requires further evidence or analysis, and make a coherent point that relates to every part of the paper.

You will probably revise and refine the thesis statement as you do more research, but it can serve as a guide throughout the writing process. Every paragraph should aim to support and develop this central claim.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

A research paper outline is essentially a list of the key topics, arguments, and evidence you want to include, divided into sections with headings so that you know roughly what the paper will look like before you start writing.

A structure outline can help make the writing process much more efficient, so it’s worth dedicating some time to create one.

Your first draft won’t be perfect — you can polish later on. Your priorities at this stage are as follows:

  • Maintaining forward momentum — write now, perfect later.
  • Paying attention to clear organization and logical ordering of paragraphs and sentences, which will help when you come to the second draft.
  • Expressing your ideas as clearly as possible, so you know what you were trying to say when you come back to the text.

You do not need to start by writing the introduction. Begin where it feels most natural for you — some prefer to finish the most difficult sections first, while others choose to start with the easiest part. If you created an outline, use it as a map while you work.

Do not delete large sections of text. If you begin to dislike something you have written or find it doesn’t quite fit, move it to a different document, but don’t lose it completely — you never know if it might come in useful later.

Paragraph structure

Paragraphs are the basic building blocks of research papers. Each one should focus on a single claim or idea that helps to establish the overall argument or purpose of the paper.

Example paragraph

George Orwell’s 1946 essay “Politics and the English Language” has had an enduring impact on thought about the relationship between politics and language. This impact is particularly obvious in light of the various critical review articles that have recently referenced the essay. For example, consider Mark Falcoff’s 2009 article in The National Review Online, “The Perversion of Language; or, Orwell Revisited,” in which he analyzes several common words (“activist,” “civil-rights leader,” “diversity,” and more). Falcoff’s close analysis of the ambiguity built into political language intentionally mirrors Orwell’s own point-by-point analysis of the political language of his day. Even 63 years after its publication, Orwell’s essay is emulated by contemporary thinkers.

Citing sources

It’s also important to keep track of citations at this stage to avoid accidental plagiarism . Each time you use a source, make sure to take note of where the information came from.

You can use our free citation generators to automatically create citations and save your reference list as you go.

APA Citation Generator MLA Citation Generator

The research paper introduction should address three questions: What, why, and how? After finishing the introduction, the reader should know what the paper is about, why it is worth reading, and how you’ll build your arguments.

What? Be specific about the topic of the paper, introduce the background, and define key terms or concepts.

Why? This is the most important, but also the most difficult, part of the introduction. Try to provide brief answers to the following questions: What new material or insight are you offering? What important issues does your essay help define or answer?

How? To let the reader know what to expect from the rest of the paper, the introduction should include a “map” of what will be discussed, briefly presenting the key elements of the paper in chronological order.

The major struggle faced by most writers is how to organize the information presented in the paper, which is one reason an outline is so useful. However, remember that the outline is only a guide and, when writing, you can be flexible with the order in which the information and arguments are presented.

One way to stay on track is to use your thesis statement and topic sentences . Check:

  • topic sentences against the thesis statement;
  • topic sentences against each other, for similarities and logical ordering;
  • and each sentence against the topic sentence of that paragraph.

Be aware of paragraphs that seem to cover the same things. If two paragraphs discuss something similar, they must approach that topic in different ways. Aim to create smooth transitions between sentences, paragraphs, and sections.

The research paper conclusion is designed to help your reader out of the paper’s argument, giving them a sense of finality.

Trace the course of the paper, emphasizing how it all comes together to prove your thesis statement. Give the paper a sense of finality by making sure the reader understands how you’ve settled the issues raised in the introduction.

You might also discuss the more general consequences of the argument, outline what the paper offers to future students of the topic, and suggest any questions the paper’s argument raises but cannot or does not try to answer.

You should not :

  • Offer new arguments or essential information
  • Take up any more space than necessary
  • Begin with stock phrases that signal you are ending the paper (e.g. “In conclusion”)

There are four main considerations when it comes to the second draft.

  • Check how your vision of the paper lines up with the first draft and, more importantly, that your paper still answers the assignment.
  • Identify any assumptions that might require (more substantial) justification, keeping your reader’s perspective foremost in mind. Remove these points if you cannot substantiate them further.
  • Be open to rearranging your ideas. Check whether any sections feel out of place and whether your ideas could be better organized.
  • If you find that old ideas do not fit as well as you anticipated, you should cut them out or condense them. You might also find that new and well-suited ideas occurred to you during the writing of the first draft — now is the time to make them part of the paper.

The goal during the revision and proofreading process is to ensure you have completed all the necessary tasks and that the paper is as well-articulated as possible. You can speed up the proofreading process by using the AI proofreader .

Global concerns

  • Confirm that your paper completes every task specified in your assignment sheet.
  • Check for logical organization and flow of paragraphs.
  • Check paragraphs against the introduction and thesis statement.

Fine-grained details

Check the content of each paragraph, making sure that:

  • each sentence helps support the topic sentence.
  • no unnecessary or irrelevant information is present.
  • all technical terms your audience might not know are identified.

Next, think about sentence structure , grammatical errors, and formatting . Check that you have correctly used transition words and phrases to show the connections between your ideas. Look for typos, cut unnecessary words, and check for consistency in aspects such as heading formatting and spellings .

Finally, you need to make sure your paper is correctly formatted according to the rules of the citation style you are using. For example, you might need to include an MLA heading  or create an APA title page .

Scribbr’s professional editors can help with the revision process with our award-winning proofreading services.

Discover our paper editing service

Checklist: Research paper

I have followed all instructions in the assignment sheet.

My introduction presents my topic in an engaging way and provides necessary background information.

My introduction presents a clear, focused research problem and/or thesis statement .

My paper is logically organized using paragraphs and (if relevant) section headings .

Each paragraph is clearly focused on one central idea, expressed in a clear topic sentence .

Each paragraph is relevant to my research problem or thesis statement.

I have used appropriate transitions  to clarify the connections between sections, paragraphs, and sentences.

My conclusion provides a concise answer to the research question or emphasizes how the thesis has been supported.

My conclusion shows how my research has contributed to knowledge or understanding of my topic.

My conclusion does not present any new points or information essential to my argument.

I have provided an in-text citation every time I refer to ideas or information from a source.

I have included a reference list at the end of my paper, consistently formatted according to a specific citation style .

I have thoroughly revised my paper and addressed any feedback from my professor or supervisor.

I have followed all formatting guidelines (page numbers, headers, spacing, etc.).

You've written a great paper. Make sure it's perfect with the help of a Scribbr editor!

Open Google Slides Download PowerPoint

Is this article helpful?

Other students also liked.

  • Writing a Research Paper Introduction | Step-by-Step Guide
  • Writing a Research Paper Conclusion | Step-by-Step Guide
  • Research Paper Format | APA, MLA, & Chicago Templates

More interesting articles

  • Academic Paragraph Structure | Step-by-Step Guide & Examples
  • Checklist: Writing a Great Research Paper
  • How to Create a Structured Research Paper Outline | Example
  • How to Write a Discussion Section | Tips & Examples
  • How to Write Recommendations in Research | Examples & Tips
  • How to Write Topic Sentences | 4 Steps, Examples & Purpose
  • Research Paper Appendix | Example & Templates
  • Research Paper Damage Control | Managing a Broken Argument
  • What Is a Theoretical Framework? | Guide to Organizing

What is your plagiarism score?

web development Recently Published Documents

Total documents.

  • Latest Documents
  • Most Cited Documents
  • Contributed Authors
  • Related Sources
  • Related Keywords

Website Developmemt Technologies: A Review

Abstract: Service Science is that the basis of knowledge system and net services that judge to the provider/client model. This paper developments a technique which will be utilized in the event of net services like websites, net applications and eCommerce. The goal is to development a technique that may add structure to a extremely unstructured drawback to help within the development and success of net services. The new methodology projected are going to be referred to as {the net|the online|the net} Development Life Cycle (WDLC) and tailored from existing methodologies and applied to the context of web development. This paper can define well the projected phases of the WDLC. Keywords: Web Development, Application Development, Technologies, eCommerce.

Analysis of Russian Segment of the Web Development Market Operating Online on Upwork

The Russian segment of the web services market in the online environment, on the platform of the Upwork freelance exchange, is considered, its key characteristics, the composition of participants, development trends are highlighted, and the market structure is identified. It is found that despite the low barriers to entry, the web development market is very stable, since the composition of entrenched firms that have been operating for more than six years remains. The pricing policy of most Russian companies indicates that they work in the middle price segment and have low budgets, which is due to the specifics of the foreign market and high competition.

Farming Assistant Web Services: Agricultor

Abstract: Our farming assistant web services provides assistance to new as well as establish farmers to get the solutions to dayto-day problems faced in the field. A farmer gets to connect with other farmers throughout India to get more information about a particular crop which is popular in other states. Keywords: Farmers, Assistance, Web Development

Tradução de ementas e histórico escolar para o inglês: contribuição para participação de discentes do curso técnico em informática para internet integrado ao ensino médio em programas de mobilidade acadêmica / Translation of summary and school records into english: contribution to the participation of high school with associate technical degree on web development students in academic mobility programs

Coded websites vs wordpress websites.

This document gives multiple instructions related to web developers using older as well as newer technology. Websites are being created using newer technologies like wordpress whereas on the other hand many people prefer making websites using the traditional way. This document will clear the doubt whether an individual should use wordpress websites or coded websites according to the users convenience. The Responsiveness of the websites, the use of CMS nowadays, more and more up gradation of technologies with SEO, themes, templates, etc. make things like web development much much easier. The aesthetics, the culture, the expressions, the features all together add up in order make the designing and development a lot more efficient and effective. Digital Marketing has a tremendous growth over the last two years and yet shows no signs of stopping, is closely related with the web development environment. Nowadays all businesses are going online due to which the impact of web development has become such that it has become an integral part of any online business.

Cognitive disabilities and web accessibility: a survey into the Brazilian web development community

Cognitive disabilities include a diversity of conditions related to cognitive functions, such as reading, understanding, learning, solving problems, memorization and speaking. They differ largely from each other, making them a heterogeneous complex set of disabilities. Although the awareness about cognitive disabilities has been increasing in the last few years, it is still less than necessary compared to other disabilities. The need for an investigation about this issue is part of the agenda of the Challenge 2 (Accessibility and Digital Inclusion) from GranDIHC-Br. This paper describes the results of an online exploratory survey conducted with 105 web development professionals from different sectors to understand their knowledge and barriers regarding accessibility for people with cognitive disabilities. The results evidenced three biases that potentially prevent those professionals from approaching cogni-tive disabilities: strong organizational barriers; difficulty to understand user needs related to cognitive disabilities; a knowledge gap about web accessibility principles and guidelines. Our results confirmed that web development professionals are unaware about cognitive disabilities mostly by a lack of knowledge about them, even if they understand web accessibility in a technical level. Therefore, we suggest that applied research studies focus on how to fill this knowledge gap before providing tools, artifacts or frameworks.

PERANCANGAN WEB RESPONSIVE UNTUK SISTEM INFORMASI OBAT-OBATAN

A good information system must not only be neat, effective, and resilient, but also must be user friendly and up to date. In a sense, it is able to be applied to various types of electronic devices, easily accessible at any whereand time (real time), and can be modified according to user needs in a relatively easy and simple way. Information systems are now needed by various parties, especially in the field of administration and sale of medicines for Cut Nyak Dhien Hospital. During this time, recording in books has been very ineffective and caused many problems, such as difficulty in accessing old data, asa well as the information obtained was not real time. To solve it, this research raises the theme of the appropriate information system design for the hospital concerned, by utilizing CSS Bootstrap framework and research methodology for web development, namely Web Development Life Cycle. This research resulted in a responsive system by providing easy access through desktop computers, tablets, and smartphones so that it would help the hospital in the data processing process in real time.

Web Development and performance comparison of Web Development Technologies in Node.js and Python

“tom had us all doing front-end web development”: a nostalgic (re)imagining of myspace, assessment of site classifications according to layout type in web development, export citation format, share document.

A free, AI-powered research tool for scientific literature

  • G. Lang Farmer
  • Electronegativity
  • Stoichiometry

New & Improved API for Developers

Introducing semantic reader in beta.

Stay Connected With Semantic Scholar Sign Up What Is Semantic Scholar? Semantic Scholar is a free, AI-powered research tool for scientific literature, based at the Allen Institute for AI.

Reference management. Clean and simple.

The top list of academic search engines

academic search engines

1. Google Scholar

4. science.gov, 5. semantic scholar, 6. baidu scholar, get the most out of academic search engines, frequently asked questions about academic search engines, related articles.

Academic search engines have become the number one resource to turn to in order to find research papers and other scholarly sources. While classic academic databases like Web of Science and Scopus are locked behind paywalls, Google Scholar and others can be accessed free of charge. In order to help you get your research done fast, we have compiled the top list of free academic search engines.

Google Scholar is the clear number one when it comes to academic search engines. It's the power of Google searches applied to research papers and patents. It not only lets you find research papers for all academic disciplines for free but also often provides links to full-text PDF files.

  • Coverage: approx. 200 million articles
  • Abstracts: only a snippet of the abstract is available
  • Related articles: ✔
  • References: ✔
  • Cited by: ✔
  • Links to full text: ✔
  • Export formats: APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, Vancouver, RIS, BibTeX

Search interface of Google Scholar

BASE is hosted at Bielefeld University in Germany. That is also where its name stems from (Bielefeld Academic Search Engine).

  • Coverage: approx. 136 million articles (contains duplicates)
  • Abstracts: ✔
  • Related articles: ✘
  • References: ✘
  • Cited by: ✘
  • Export formats: RIS, BibTeX

Search interface of Bielefeld Academic Search Engine aka BASE

CORE is an academic search engine dedicated to open-access research papers. For each search result, a link to the full-text PDF or full-text web page is provided.

  • Coverage: approx. 136 million articles
  • Links to full text: ✔ (all articles in CORE are open access)
  • Export formats: BibTeX

Search interface of the CORE academic search engine

Science.gov is a fantastic resource as it bundles and offers free access to search results from more than 15 U.S. federal agencies. There is no need anymore to query all those resources separately!

  • Coverage: approx. 200 million articles and reports
  • Links to full text: ✔ (available for some databases)
  • Export formats: APA, MLA, RIS, BibTeX (available for some databases)

Search interface of Science.gov

Semantic Scholar is the new kid on the block. Its mission is to provide more relevant and impactful search results using AI-powered algorithms that find hidden connections and links between research topics.

  • Coverage: approx. 40 million articles
  • Export formats: APA, MLA, Chicago, BibTeX

Search interface of Semantic Scholar

Although Baidu Scholar's interface is in Chinese, its index contains research papers in English as well as Chinese.

  • Coverage: no detailed statistics available, approx. 100 million articles
  • Abstracts: only snippets of the abstract are available
  • Export formats: APA, MLA, RIS, BibTeX

Search interface of Baidu Scholar

RefSeek searches more than one billion documents from academic and organizational websites. Its clean interface makes it especially easy to use for students and new researchers.

  • Coverage: no detailed statistics available, approx. 1 billion documents
  • Abstracts: only snippets of the article are available
  • Export formats: not available

Search interface of RefSeek

Consider using a reference manager like Paperpile to save, organize, and cite your references. Paperpile integrates with Google Scholar and many popular databases, so you can save references and PDFs directly to your library using the Paperpile buttons:

research paper about website

Google Scholar is an academic search engine, and it is the clear number one when it comes to academic search engines. It's the power of Google searches applied to research papers and patents. It not only let's you find research papers for all academic disciplines for free, but also often provides links to full text PDF file.

Semantic Scholar is a free, AI-powered research tool for scientific literature developed at the Allen Institute for AI. Sematic Scholar was publicly released in 2015 and uses advances in natural language processing to provide summaries for scholarly papers.

BASE , as its name suggest is an academic search engine. It is hosted at Bielefeld University in Germany and that's where it name stems from (Bielefeld Academic Search Engine).

CORE is an academic search engine dedicated to open access research papers. For each search result a link to the full text PDF or full text web page is provided.

Science.gov is a fantastic resource as it bundles and offers free access to search results from more than 15 U.S. federal agencies. There is no need any more to query all those resources separately!

research paper about website

Detail of a painting depicting the landscape of New Mexico with mountains in the distance

Explore millions of high-quality primary sources and images from around the world, including artworks, maps, photographs, and more.

Explore migration issues through a variety of media types

  • Part of The Streets are Talking: Public Forms of Creative Expression from Around the World
  • Part of The Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 34, No. 1 (Winter 2020)
  • Part of Cato Institute (Aug. 3, 2021)
  • Part of University of California Press
  • Part of Open: Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture
  • Part of Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies, Vol. 19, No. 1 (Winter 2012)
  • Part of R Street Institute (Nov. 1, 2020)
  • Part of Leuven University Press
  • Part of UN Secretary-General Papers: Ban Ki-moon (2007-2016)
  • Part of Perspectives on Terrorism, Vol. 12, No. 4 (August 2018)
  • Part of Leveraging Lives: Serbia and Illegal Tunisian Migration to Europe, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (Mar. 1, 2023)
  • Part of UCL Press

Harness the power of visual materials—explore more than 3 million images now on JSTOR.

Enhance your scholarly research with underground newspapers, magazines, and journals.

Explore collections in the arts, sciences, and literature from the world’s leading museums, archives, and scholars.

Internet Archive Scholar logo (vaporwave)

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • View all journals
  • Explore content
  • About the journal
  • Publish with us
  • Sign up for alerts

Research articles

research paper about website

SCB-YOLOv5: a lightweight intelligent detection model for athletes’ normative movements

Fuchs’ uveitis syndrome: a 20-year experience in 466 patients.

  • Farzan Kianersi
  • Hamidreza Kianersi
  • Pegah Noorshargh

research paper about website

Longitudinal optical coherence tomography indices in idiopathic intracranial hypertension

  • Rachel Shemesh
  • Ruth Huna-Baron

research paper about website

A psycholinguistic study of intergroup bias and its cultural propagation

  • Daniel Schmidtke
  • Victor Kuperman

research paper about website

Effects of Lactobacillus -fermented low-protein diets on the growth performance, nitrogen excretion, fecal microbiota and metabolomic profiles of finishing pigs

  • Dongyan Zhang

research paper about website

Genetic diversity and antagonistic properties of Trichoderma strains from the crop rhizospheres in southern Rajasthan, India

  • Prashant P. Jambhulkar
  • Bhumica Singh
  • Pratibha Sharma

research paper about website

Equilibrium and kinetic modeling of Cr(VI) removal by novel tolerant bacteria species along with zero-valent iron nanoparticles

  • Shashank Garg
  • Simranjeet Singh
  • Joginder Singh

research paper about website

Radiolysis of myoglobin concentrated gels by protons: specific changes in secondary structure and production of carbon monoxide

  • Nicolas Ludwig
  • Catherine Galindo
  • Quentin Raffy

research paper about website

Embryo growth alteration and oxidative stress responses in germinating Cucurbita pepo seeds exposed to cadmium and copper toxicity

  • Smail Acila
  • Samir Derouiche
  • Nora Allioui

research paper about website

Shear damage mechanisms of jointed rock mass: a macroscopic and mesoscopic study

  • Chengcheng Zheng

research paper about website

A noise audit of human-labeled benchmarks for machine commonsense reasoning

  • Mayank Kejriwal
  • Henrique Santos
  • Deborah L. McGuinness

research paper about website

A fused multi-subfrequency bands and CBAM SSVEP-BCI classification method based on convolutional neural network

  • Dongyang Lei
  • Chaoyi Dong

research paper about website

Transcriptomics analysis of long non-coding RNAs in smooth muscle cells from patients with peripheral artery disease and diabetes mellitus

  • Yankey Yundung
  • Shafeeq Mohammed
  • Jaroslav Pelisek

research paper about website

Building adjustment capacity to cope with running water in cultured grass carp through flow stimulation conditions

  • Qingrong Xie

research paper about website

A 2-order additive fuzzy measure identification method based on hesitant fuzzy linguistic interaction degree and its application in credit assessment

research paper about website

An air door opening and closing time identification and stage division method based on the wind speed data of a single sensor

  • Wentian Shang

research paper about website

Implementation of a hybrid neural network control technique to a cascaded MLI based SAPF

  • Rashmi Rekha Behera
  • Ashish Ranjan Dash
  • Demissie Jobir Gelmecha

research paper about website

Molecular modelling studies and in vitro enzymatic assays identified A 4-(nitrobenzyl)guanidine derivative as inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2 Mpro

  • Kaio Maciel de Santiago-Silva
  • Priscila Goes Camargo
  • Marcelle de Lima Ferreira Bispo

research paper about website

Study on dynamic characteristics of cavitation in underwater explosion with large charge

  • Xian-pi Zhang
  • Yuan-Qing Xu

research paper about website

Circulating microRNA-155-3p levels predicts response to first line immunotherapy in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma

  • Maryam Soleimani
  • Lucia Nappi

Quick links

  • Explore articles by subject
  • Guide to authors
  • Editorial policies

research paper about website

VideoPoet: A large language model for zero-shot video generation

December 19, 2023

Posted by Dan Kondratyuk and David Ross, Software Engineers, Google Research

A recent wave of video generation models has burst onto the scene, in many cases showcasing stunning picturesque quality. One of the current bottlenecks in video generation is in the ability to produce coherent large motions. In many cases, even the current leading models either generate small motion or, when producing larger motions, exhibit noticeable artifacts.

To explore the application of language models in video generation, we introduce VideoPoet ( website , research paper ), a large language model (LLM) that is capable of a wide variety of video generation tasks, including text-to-video, image-to-video, video stylization, video inpainting and outpainting , and video-to-audio. One notable observation is that the leading video generation models are almost exclusively diffusion-based (for one example, see Imagen Video ). On the other hand, LLMs are widely recognized as the de facto standard due to their exceptional learning capabilities across various modalities, including language, code, and audio (e.g., AudioPaLM ). In contrast to alternative models in this space, our approach seamlessly integrates many video generation capabilities within a single LLM, rather than relying on separately trained components that specialize on each task.

The diagram below illustrates VideoPoet’s capabilities. Input images can be animated to produce motion, and (optionally cropped or masked) video can be edited for inpainting or outpainting. For stylization, the model takes in a video representing the depth and optical flow, which represent the motion, and paints contents on top to produce the text-guided style.

Language models as video generators

One key advantage of using LLMs for training is that one can reuse many of the scalable efficiency improvements that have been introduced in existing LLM training infrastructure. However, LLMs operate on discrete tokens, which can make video generation challenging. Fortunately, there exist video and audio tokenizers, which serve to encode video and audio clips as sequences of discrete tokens (i.e., integer indices), and which can also be converted back into the original representation.

VideoPoet trains an autoregressive language model to learn across video, image, audio, and text modalities through the use of multiple tokenizers ( MAGVIT V2 for video and image and SoundStream for audio). Once the model generates tokens conditioned on some context, these can be converted back into a viewable representation with the tokenizer decoders.

Examples generated by VideoPoet

Some examples generated by our model are shown below.

For text-to-video, video outputs are variable length and can apply a range of motions and styles depending on the text content. To ensure responsible practices, we reference artworks and styles in the public domain e.g., Van Gogh’s “Starry Night”.

For image-to-video, VideoPoet can take the input image and animate it with a prompt.

For video stylization, we predict the optical flow and depth information before feeding into VideoPoet with some additional input text.

VideoPoet is also capable of generating audio. Here we first generate 2-second clips from the model and then try to predict the audio without any text guidance. This enables generation of video and audio from a single model.

By default, the VideoPoet model generates videos in portrait orientation to tailor its output towards short-form content. To showcase its capabilities, we have produced a brief movie composed of many short clips generated by VideoPoet. For the script, we asked Bard to write a short story about a traveling raccoon with a scene-by-scene breakdown and a list of accompanying prompts. We then generated video clips for each prompt, and stitched together all resulting clips to produce the final video below.

When we developed VideoPoet, we noticed some nice properties of the model’s capabilities, which we highlight below.

We are able to generate longer videos simply by conditioning on the last 1 second of video and predicting the next 1 second. By chaining this repeatedly, we show that the model can not only extend the video well but also faithfully preserve the appearance of all objects even over several iterations.

Here are two examples of VideoPoet generating long video from text input:

It is also possible to interactively edit existing video clips generated by VideoPoet. If we supply an input video, we can change the motion of objects to perform different actions. The object manipulation can be centered at the first frame or the middle frames, which allow for a high degree of editing control.

For example, we can randomly generate some clips from the input video and select the desired next clip.

Image to video control

Similarly, we can apply motion to an input image to edit its contents towards the desired state, conditioned on a text prompt.

Camera motion

We can also accurately control camera movements by appending the type of desired camera motion to the text prompt. As an example, we generated an image by our model with the prompt, “Adventure game concept art of a sunrise over a snowy mountain by a crystal clear river” . The examples below append the given text suffix to apply the desired motion.

Evaluation results

We evaluate VideoPoet on text-to-video generation with a variety of benchmarks to compare the results to other approaches. To ensure a neutral evaluation, we ran all models on a wide variation of prompts without cherry-picking examples and asked people to rate their preferences. The figure below highlights the percentage of the time VideoPoet was chosen as the preferred option in green for the following questions.

Text fidelity

Motion interestingness.

Based on the above, on average people selected 24–35% of examples from VideoPoet as following prompts better than a competing model vs. 8–11% for competing models. Raters also preferred 41–54% of examples from VideoPoet for more interesting motion than 11–21% for other models.

Through VideoPoet, we have demonstrated LLMs’ highly-competitive video generation quality across a wide variety of tasks, especially in producing interesting and high quality motions within videos. Our results suggest the promising potential of LLMs in the field of video generation. For future directions, our framework should be able to support “any-to-any” generation, e.g., extending to text-to-audio, audio-to-video, and video captioning should be possible, among many others.

To view more examples in original quality, see the website demo .

Acknowledgements

This research has been supported by a large body of contributors, including Dan Kondratyuk, Lijun Yu, Xiuye Gu, José Lezama, Jonathan Huang, Rachel Hornung, Hartwig Adam, Hassan Akbari, Yair Alon, Vighnesh Birodkar, Yong Cheng, Ming-Chang Chiu, Josh Dillon, Irfan Essa, Agrim Gupta, Meera Hahn, Anja Hauth, David Hendon, Alonso Martinez, David Minnen, David Ross, Grant Schindler, Mikhail Sirotenko, Kihyuk Sohn, Krishna Somandepalli, Huisheng Wang, Jimmy Yan, Ming-Hsuan Yang, Xuan Yang, Bryan Seybold, and Lu Jiang.

We give special thanks to Alex Siegman,Victor Gomes, and Brendan Jou for managing computing resources. We also give thanks to Aren Jansen, Marco Tagliasacchi, Neil Zeghidour, John Hershey for audio tokenization and processing, Angad Singh for storyboarding in “Rookie the Raccoon”, Cordelia Schmid for research discussions, David Salesin, Tomas Izo, and Rahul Sukthankar for their support, and Jay Yagnik as architect of the initial concept.

** (a) The Storm on the Sea of Galilee , by Rembrandt 1633, public domain. (b) Pillars of Creation , by NASA 2014, public domain. (c) Wanderer above the Sea of Fog , by Caspar David Friedrich, 1818, public domain (d) Mona Lisa , by Leonardo Da Vinci, 1503, public domain.

  • Generative AI
  • Machine Intelligence
  • Machine Perception

Other posts of interest

research paper about website

April 12, 2024

  • Machine Intelligence ·
  • Sound & Accoustics

research paper about website

April 11, 2024

  • Natural Language Processing ·
  • Responsible AI

research paper about website

March 29, 2024

  • Climate & Sustainability ·
  • Privacy Policy

Buy Me a Coffee

Research Method

Home » Research Paper – Structure, Examples and Writing Guide

Research Paper – Structure, Examples and Writing Guide

Table of Contents

Research Paper

Research Paper

Definition:

Research Paper is a written document that presents the author’s original research, analysis, and interpretation of a specific topic or issue.

It is typically based on Empirical Evidence, and may involve qualitative or quantitative research methods, or a combination of both. The purpose of a research paper is to contribute new knowledge or insights to a particular field of study, and to demonstrate the author’s understanding of the existing literature and theories related to the topic.

Structure of Research Paper

The structure of a research paper typically follows a standard format, consisting of several sections that convey specific information about the research study. The following is a detailed explanation of the structure of a research paper:

The title page contains the title of the paper, the name(s) of the author(s), and the affiliation(s) of the author(s). It also includes the date of submission and possibly, the name of the journal or conference where the paper is to be published.

The abstract is a brief summary of the research paper, typically ranging from 100 to 250 words. It should include the research question, the methods used, the key findings, and the implications of the results. The abstract should be written in a concise and clear manner to allow readers to quickly grasp the essence of the research.

Introduction

The introduction section of a research paper provides background information about the research problem, the research question, and the research objectives. It also outlines the significance of the research, the research gap that it aims to fill, and the approach taken to address the research question. Finally, the introduction section ends with a clear statement of the research hypothesis or research question.

Literature Review

The literature review section of a research paper provides an overview of the existing literature on the topic of study. It includes a critical analysis and synthesis of the literature, highlighting the key concepts, themes, and debates. The literature review should also demonstrate the research gap and how the current study seeks to address it.

The methods section of a research paper describes the research design, the sample selection, the data collection and analysis procedures, and the statistical methods used to analyze the data. This section should provide sufficient detail for other researchers to replicate the study.

The results section presents the findings of the research, using tables, graphs, and figures to illustrate the data. The findings should be presented in a clear and concise manner, with reference to the research question and hypothesis.

The discussion section of a research paper interprets the findings and discusses their implications for the research question, the literature review, and the field of study. It should also address the limitations of the study and suggest future research directions.

The conclusion section summarizes the main findings of the study, restates the research question and hypothesis, and provides a final reflection on the significance of the research.

The references section provides a list of all the sources cited in the paper, following a specific citation style such as APA, MLA or Chicago.

How to Write Research Paper

You can write Research Paper by the following guide:

  • Choose a Topic: The first step is to select a topic that interests you and is relevant to your field of study. Brainstorm ideas and narrow down to a research question that is specific and researchable.
  • Conduct a Literature Review: The literature review helps you identify the gap in the existing research and provides a basis for your research question. It also helps you to develop a theoretical framework and research hypothesis.
  • Develop a Thesis Statement : The thesis statement is the main argument of your research paper. It should be clear, concise and specific to your research question.
  • Plan your Research: Develop a research plan that outlines the methods, data sources, and data analysis procedures. This will help you to collect and analyze data effectively.
  • Collect and Analyze Data: Collect data using various methods such as surveys, interviews, observations, or experiments. Analyze data using statistical tools or other qualitative methods.
  • Organize your Paper : Organize your paper into sections such as Introduction, Literature Review, Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusion. Ensure that each section is coherent and follows a logical flow.
  • Write your Paper : Start by writing the introduction, followed by the literature review, methods, results, discussion, and conclusion. Ensure that your writing is clear, concise, and follows the required formatting and citation styles.
  • Edit and Proofread your Paper: Review your paper for grammar and spelling errors, and ensure that it is well-structured and easy to read. Ask someone else to review your paper to get feedback and suggestions for improvement.
  • Cite your Sources: Ensure that you properly cite all sources used in your research paper. This is essential for giving credit to the original authors and avoiding plagiarism.

Research Paper Example

Note : The below example research paper is for illustrative purposes only and is not an actual research paper. Actual research papers may have different structures, contents, and formats depending on the field of study, research question, data collection and analysis methods, and other factors. Students should always consult with their professors or supervisors for specific guidelines and expectations for their research papers.

Research Paper Example sample for Students:

Title: The Impact of Social Media on Mental Health among Young Adults

Abstract: This study aims to investigate the impact of social media use on the mental health of young adults. A literature review was conducted to examine the existing research on the topic. A survey was then administered to 200 university students to collect data on their social media use, mental health status, and perceived impact of social media on their mental health. The results showed that social media use is positively associated with depression, anxiety, and stress. The study also found that social comparison, cyberbullying, and FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) are significant predictors of mental health problems among young adults.

Introduction: Social media has become an integral part of modern life, particularly among young adults. While social media has many benefits, including increased communication and social connectivity, it has also been associated with negative outcomes, such as addiction, cyberbullying, and mental health problems. This study aims to investigate the impact of social media use on the mental health of young adults.

Literature Review: The literature review highlights the existing research on the impact of social media use on mental health. The review shows that social media use is associated with depression, anxiety, stress, and other mental health problems. The review also identifies the factors that contribute to the negative impact of social media, including social comparison, cyberbullying, and FOMO.

Methods : A survey was administered to 200 university students to collect data on their social media use, mental health status, and perceived impact of social media on their mental health. The survey included questions on social media use, mental health status (measured using the DASS-21), and perceived impact of social media on their mental health. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and regression analysis.

Results : The results showed that social media use is positively associated with depression, anxiety, and stress. The study also found that social comparison, cyberbullying, and FOMO are significant predictors of mental health problems among young adults.

Discussion : The study’s findings suggest that social media use has a negative impact on the mental health of young adults. The study highlights the need for interventions that address the factors contributing to the negative impact of social media, such as social comparison, cyberbullying, and FOMO.

Conclusion : In conclusion, social media use has a significant impact on the mental health of young adults. The study’s findings underscore the need for interventions that promote healthy social media use and address the negative outcomes associated with social media use. Future research can explore the effectiveness of interventions aimed at reducing the negative impact of social media on mental health. Additionally, longitudinal studies can investigate the long-term effects of social media use on mental health.

Limitations : The study has some limitations, including the use of self-report measures and a cross-sectional design. The use of self-report measures may result in biased responses, and a cross-sectional design limits the ability to establish causality.

Implications: The study’s findings have implications for mental health professionals, educators, and policymakers. Mental health professionals can use the findings to develop interventions that address the negative impact of social media use on mental health. Educators can incorporate social media literacy into their curriculum to promote healthy social media use among young adults. Policymakers can use the findings to develop policies that protect young adults from the negative outcomes associated with social media use.

References :

  • Twenge, J. M., & Campbell, W. K. (2019). Associations between screen time and lower psychological well-being among children and adolescents: Evidence from a population-based study. Preventive medicine reports, 15, 100918.
  • Primack, B. A., Shensa, A., Escobar-Viera, C. G., Barrett, E. L., Sidani, J. E., Colditz, J. B., … & James, A. E. (2017). Use of multiple social media platforms and symptoms of depression and anxiety: A nationally-representative study among US young adults. Computers in Human Behavior, 69, 1-9.
  • Van der Meer, T. G., & Verhoeven, J. W. (2017). Social media and its impact on academic performance of students. Journal of Information Technology Education: Research, 16, 383-398.

Appendix : The survey used in this study is provided below.

Social Media and Mental Health Survey

  • How often do you use social media per day?
  • Less than 30 minutes
  • 30 minutes to 1 hour
  • 1 to 2 hours
  • 2 to 4 hours
  • More than 4 hours
  • Which social media platforms do you use?
  • Others (Please specify)
  • How often do you experience the following on social media?
  • Social comparison (comparing yourself to others)
  • Cyberbullying
  • Fear of Missing Out (FOMO)
  • Have you ever experienced any of the following mental health problems in the past month?
  • Do you think social media use has a positive or negative impact on your mental health?
  • Very positive
  • Somewhat positive
  • Somewhat negative
  • Very negative
  • In your opinion, which factors contribute to the negative impact of social media on mental health?
  • Social comparison
  • In your opinion, what interventions could be effective in reducing the negative impact of social media on mental health?
  • Education on healthy social media use
  • Counseling for mental health problems caused by social media
  • Social media detox programs
  • Regulation of social media use

Thank you for your participation!

Applications of Research Paper

Research papers have several applications in various fields, including:

  • Advancing knowledge: Research papers contribute to the advancement of knowledge by generating new insights, theories, and findings that can inform future research and practice. They help to answer important questions, clarify existing knowledge, and identify areas that require further investigation.
  • Informing policy: Research papers can inform policy decisions by providing evidence-based recommendations for policymakers. They can help to identify gaps in current policies, evaluate the effectiveness of interventions, and inform the development of new policies and regulations.
  • Improving practice: Research papers can improve practice by providing evidence-based guidance for professionals in various fields, including medicine, education, business, and psychology. They can inform the development of best practices, guidelines, and standards of care that can improve outcomes for individuals and organizations.
  • Educating students : Research papers are often used as teaching tools in universities and colleges to educate students about research methods, data analysis, and academic writing. They help students to develop critical thinking skills, research skills, and communication skills that are essential for success in many careers.
  • Fostering collaboration: Research papers can foster collaboration among researchers, practitioners, and policymakers by providing a platform for sharing knowledge and ideas. They can facilitate interdisciplinary collaborations and partnerships that can lead to innovative solutions to complex problems.

When to Write Research Paper

Research papers are typically written when a person has completed a research project or when they have conducted a study and have obtained data or findings that they want to share with the academic or professional community. Research papers are usually written in academic settings, such as universities, but they can also be written in professional settings, such as research organizations, government agencies, or private companies.

Here are some common situations where a person might need to write a research paper:

  • For academic purposes: Students in universities and colleges are often required to write research papers as part of their coursework, particularly in the social sciences, natural sciences, and humanities. Writing research papers helps students to develop research skills, critical thinking skills, and academic writing skills.
  • For publication: Researchers often write research papers to publish their findings in academic journals or to present their work at academic conferences. Publishing research papers is an important way to disseminate research findings to the academic community and to establish oneself as an expert in a particular field.
  • To inform policy or practice : Researchers may write research papers to inform policy decisions or to improve practice in various fields. Research findings can be used to inform the development of policies, guidelines, and best practices that can improve outcomes for individuals and organizations.
  • To share new insights or ideas: Researchers may write research papers to share new insights or ideas with the academic or professional community. They may present new theories, propose new research methods, or challenge existing paradigms in their field.

Purpose of Research Paper

The purpose of a research paper is to present the results of a study or investigation in a clear, concise, and structured manner. Research papers are written to communicate new knowledge, ideas, or findings to a specific audience, such as researchers, scholars, practitioners, or policymakers. The primary purposes of a research paper are:

  • To contribute to the body of knowledge : Research papers aim to add new knowledge or insights to a particular field or discipline. They do this by reporting the results of empirical studies, reviewing and synthesizing existing literature, proposing new theories, or providing new perspectives on a topic.
  • To inform or persuade: Research papers are written to inform or persuade the reader about a particular issue, topic, or phenomenon. They present evidence and arguments to support their claims and seek to persuade the reader of the validity of their findings or recommendations.
  • To advance the field: Research papers seek to advance the field or discipline by identifying gaps in knowledge, proposing new research questions or approaches, or challenging existing assumptions or paradigms. They aim to contribute to ongoing debates and discussions within a field and to stimulate further research and inquiry.
  • To demonstrate research skills: Research papers demonstrate the author’s research skills, including their ability to design and conduct a study, collect and analyze data, and interpret and communicate findings. They also demonstrate the author’s ability to critically evaluate existing literature, synthesize information from multiple sources, and write in a clear and structured manner.

Characteristics of Research Paper

Research papers have several characteristics that distinguish them from other forms of academic or professional writing. Here are some common characteristics of research papers:

  • Evidence-based: Research papers are based on empirical evidence, which is collected through rigorous research methods such as experiments, surveys, observations, or interviews. They rely on objective data and facts to support their claims and conclusions.
  • Structured and organized: Research papers have a clear and logical structure, with sections such as introduction, literature review, methods, results, discussion, and conclusion. They are organized in a way that helps the reader to follow the argument and understand the findings.
  • Formal and objective: Research papers are written in a formal and objective tone, with an emphasis on clarity, precision, and accuracy. They avoid subjective language or personal opinions and instead rely on objective data and analysis to support their arguments.
  • Citations and references: Research papers include citations and references to acknowledge the sources of information and ideas used in the paper. They use a specific citation style, such as APA, MLA, or Chicago, to ensure consistency and accuracy.
  • Peer-reviewed: Research papers are often peer-reviewed, which means they are evaluated by other experts in the field before they are published. Peer-review ensures that the research is of high quality, meets ethical standards, and contributes to the advancement of knowledge in the field.
  • Objective and unbiased: Research papers strive to be objective and unbiased in their presentation of the findings. They avoid personal biases or preconceptions and instead rely on the data and analysis to draw conclusions.

Advantages of Research Paper

Research papers have many advantages, both for the individual researcher and for the broader academic and professional community. Here are some advantages of research papers:

  • Contribution to knowledge: Research papers contribute to the body of knowledge in a particular field or discipline. They add new information, insights, and perspectives to existing literature and help advance the understanding of a particular phenomenon or issue.
  • Opportunity for intellectual growth: Research papers provide an opportunity for intellectual growth for the researcher. They require critical thinking, problem-solving, and creativity, which can help develop the researcher’s skills and knowledge.
  • Career advancement: Research papers can help advance the researcher’s career by demonstrating their expertise and contributions to the field. They can also lead to new research opportunities, collaborations, and funding.
  • Academic recognition: Research papers can lead to academic recognition in the form of awards, grants, or invitations to speak at conferences or events. They can also contribute to the researcher’s reputation and standing in the field.
  • Impact on policy and practice: Research papers can have a significant impact on policy and practice. They can inform policy decisions, guide practice, and lead to changes in laws, regulations, or procedures.
  • Advancement of society: Research papers can contribute to the advancement of society by addressing important issues, identifying solutions to problems, and promoting social justice and equality.

Limitations of Research Paper

Research papers also have some limitations that should be considered when interpreting their findings or implications. Here are some common limitations of research papers:

  • Limited generalizability: Research findings may not be generalizable to other populations, settings, or contexts. Studies often use specific samples or conditions that may not reflect the broader population or real-world situations.
  • Potential for bias : Research papers may be biased due to factors such as sample selection, measurement errors, or researcher biases. It is important to evaluate the quality of the research design and methods used to ensure that the findings are valid and reliable.
  • Ethical concerns: Research papers may raise ethical concerns, such as the use of vulnerable populations or invasive procedures. Researchers must adhere to ethical guidelines and obtain informed consent from participants to ensure that the research is conducted in a responsible and respectful manner.
  • Limitations of methodology: Research papers may be limited by the methodology used to collect and analyze data. For example, certain research methods may not capture the complexity or nuance of a particular phenomenon, or may not be appropriate for certain research questions.
  • Publication bias: Research papers may be subject to publication bias, where positive or significant findings are more likely to be published than negative or non-significant findings. This can skew the overall findings of a particular area of research.
  • Time and resource constraints: Research papers may be limited by time and resource constraints, which can affect the quality and scope of the research. Researchers may not have access to certain data or resources, or may be unable to conduct long-term studies due to practical limitations.

About the author

' src=

Muhammad Hassan

Researcher, Academic Writer, Web developer

You may also like

Research Paper Citation

How to Cite Research Paper – All Formats and...

Data collection

Data Collection – Methods Types and Examples

Delimitations

Delimitations in Research – Types, Examples and...

Research Paper Formats

Research Paper Format – Types, Examples and...

Research Process

Research Process – Steps, Examples and Tips

Research Design

Research Design – Types, Methods and Examples

Read our research on: Gun Policy | International Conflict | Election 2024

Regions & Countries

Political typology quiz.

Notice: Beginning April 18th community groups will be temporarily unavailable for extended maintenance. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

Where do you fit in the political typology?

Are you a faith and flag conservative progressive left or somewhere in between.

research paper about website

Take our quiz to find out which one of our nine political typology groups is your best match, compared with a nationally representative survey of more than 10,000 U.S. adults by Pew Research Center. You may find some of these questions are difficult to answer. That’s OK. In those cases, pick the answer that comes closest to your view, even if it isn’t exactly right.

About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts .

Academic Legal Research and Writing

A Trimester, B Trimester, C Trimester

LAWS509, LEGAL509, ALPSS500

This paper will guide students through the principles and process of academic legal research and writing. They will learn how to develop, present and write scholarly work.

Teaching Periods and Locations

If your paper outline is not linked below, try the previous year's version of this paper .

Compulsory paper for the LLM, MLS, PG Cert Law, PG Cert Legal Studies, PG Dip Law, and PG Dip Legal Studies. This paper is co-taught with ALPSS500 Academic & Professional Research & Writing.

Indicative Fees

You will be sent an enrolment agreement which will confirm your fees. Tuition fees shown are indicative only and may change. There are additional fees and charges related to enrolment - please see the  Table of Fees and Charges for more information.

Available subjects

Legal studies, additional information.

Subject regulations

  • Paper details current as of 28 Jan 2024 00:05am
  • Indicative fees current as of 9 Apr 2024 01:30am

You’re viewing this website as a domestic student

You’re currently viewing the website as a domestic student, you might want to change to international.

You're a domestic student if you are:

  • A citizen of New Zealand or Australia
  • A New Zealand permanent resident

You're an International student if you are:

  • Intending to study on a student visa
  • Not a citizen of New Zealand or Australia

Suggestions or feedback?

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  • Machine learning
  • Social justice
  • Black holes
  • Classes and programs

Departments

  • Aeronautics and Astronautics
  • Brain and Cognitive Sciences
  • Architecture
  • Political Science
  • Mechanical Engineering

Centers, Labs, & Programs

  • Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL)
  • Picower Institute for Learning and Memory
  • Lincoln Laboratory
  • School of Architecture + Planning
  • School of Engineering
  • School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences
  • Sloan School of Management
  • School of Science
  • MIT Schwarzman College of Computing

A new way to detect radiation involving cheap ceramics

Press contact :.

Jennifer Rupp, Thomas Defferriere, Harry Tuller, and Ju Li pose standing in a lab, with a nuclear radiation warning sign in the background

Previous image Next image

The radiation detectors used today for applications like inspecting cargo ships for smuggled nuclear materials are expensive and cannot operate in harsh environments, among other disadvantages. Now, in work funded largely by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security with early support from the U.S. Department of Energy, MIT engineers have demonstrated a fundamentally new way to detect radiation that could allow much cheaper detectors and a plethora of new applications.

They are working with Radiation Monitoring Devices , a company in Watertown, Massachusetts, to transfer the research as quickly as possible into detector products.

In a 2022 paper in Nature Materials , many of the same engineers reported for the first time how ultraviolet light can significantly improve the performance of fuel cells and other devices based on the movement of charged atoms, rather than those atoms’ constituent electrons.

In the current work, published recently in Advanced Materials , the team shows that the same concept can be extended to a new application: the detection of gamma rays emitted by the radioactive decay of nuclear materials.

“Our approach involves materials and mechanisms very different than those in presently used detectors, with potentially enormous benefits in terms of reduced cost, ability to operate under harsh conditions, and simplified processing,” says Harry L. Tuller, the R.P. Simmons Professor of Ceramics and Electronic Materials in MIT’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering (DMSE).

Tuller leads the work with key collaborators Jennifer L. M. Rupp, a former associate professor of materials science and engineering at MIT who is now a professor of electrochemical materials at Technical University Munich in Germany, and Ju Li, the Battelle Energy Alliance Professor in Nuclear Engineering and a professor of materials science and engineering. All are also affiliated with MIT’s Materials Research Laboratory

“After learning the Nature Materials work, I realized the same underlying principle should work for gamma-ray detection — in fact, may work even better than [UV] light because gamma rays are more penetrating — and proposed some experiments to Harry and Jennifer,” says Li.

Says Rupp, “Employing shorter-range gamma rays enable [us] to extend the opto-ionic to a radio-ionic effect by modulating ionic carriers and defects at material interfaces by photogenerated electronic ones.”

Other authors of the Advanced Materials paper are first author Thomas Defferriere, a DMSE postdoc, and Ahmed Sami Helal, a postdoc in MIT’s Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering.

Modifying barriers

Charge can be carried through a material in different ways. We are most familiar with the charge that is carried by the electrons that help make up an atom. Common applications include solar cells. But there are many devices — like fuel cells and lithium batteries — that depend on the motion of the charged atoms, or ions, themselves rather than just their electrons.

The materials behind applications based on the movement of ions, known as solid electrolytes, are ceramics. Ceramics, in turn, are composed of tiny crystallite grains that are compacted and fired at high temperatures to form a dense structure. The problem is that ions traveling through the material are often stymied at the boundaries between the grains.

In their 2022 paper, the MIT team showed that ultraviolet (UV) light shone on a solid electrolyte essentially causes electronic perturbations at the grain boundaries that ultimately lower the barrier that ions encounter at those boundaries. The result: “We were able to enhance the flow of the ions by a factor of three,” says Tuller, making for a much more efficient system.

Vast potential

At the time, the team was excited about the potential of applying what they’d found to different systems. In the 2022 work, the team used UV light, which is quickly absorbed very near the surface of a material. As a result, that specific technique is only effective in thin films of materials. (Fortunately, many applications of solid electrolytes involve thin films.)

Light can be thought of as particles — photons — with different wavelengths and energies. These range from very low-energy radio waves to the very high-energy gamma rays emitted by the radioactive decay of nuclear materials. Visible light — and UV light — are of intermediate energies, and fit between the two extremes.

The MIT technique reported in 2022 worked with UV light. Would it work with other wavelengths of light, potentially opening up new applications? Yes, the team found. In the current paper they show that gamma rays also modify the grain boundaries resulting in a faster flow of ions that, in turn, can be easily detected. And because the high-energy gamma rays penetrate much more deeply than UV light, “this extends the work to inexpensive bulk ceramics in addition to thin films,” says Tuller. It also allows a new application: an alternative approach to detecting nuclear materials.

Today’s state-of-the-art radiation detectors depend on a completely different mechanism than the one identified in the MIT work. They rely on signals derived from electrons and their counterparts, holes, rather than ions. But these electronic charge carriers must move comparatively great distances to the electrodes that “capture” them to create a signal. And along the way, they can be easily lost as they, for example, hit imperfections in a material. That’s why today’s detectors are made with extremely pure single crystals of material that allow an unimpeded path. They can be made with only certain materials and are difficult to process, making them expensive and hard to scale into large devices.

Using imperfections

In contrast, the new technique works because of the imperfections — grains — in the material. “The difference is that we rely on ionic currents being modulated at grain boundaries versus the state-of-the-art that relies on collecting electronic carriers from long distances,” Defferriere says.

Says Rupp, “It is remarkable that the bulk ‘grains’ of the ceramic materials tested revealed high stabilities of the chemistry and structure towards gamma rays, and solely the grain boundary regions reacted in charge redistribution of majority and minority carriers and defects.”

Comments Li, “This radiation-ionic effect is distinct from the conventional mechanisms for radiation detection where electrons or photons are collected. Here, the ionic current is being collected.”

Igor Lubomirsky, a professor in the Department of Materials and Interfaces at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel, who was not involved in the current work, says, “I found the approach followed by the MIT group in utilizing polycrystalline oxygen ion conductors very fruitful given the [materials’] promise for providing reliable operation under irradiation under the harsh conditions expected in nuclear reactors where such detectors often suffer from fatigue and aging. [They also] benefit from much-reduced fabrication costs.”

As a result, the MIT engineers are hopeful that their work could result in new, less expensive detectors. For example, they envision trucks loaded with cargo from container ships driving through a structure that has detectors on both sides as they leave a port. “Ideally, you’d have either an array of detectors or a very large detector, and that’s where [today’s detectors] really don’t scale very well,” Tuller says.

Another potential application involves accessing geothermal energy, or the extreme heat below our feet that is being explored as a carbon-free alternative to fossil fuels. Ceramic sensors at the ends of drill bits could detect pockets of heat — radiation — to drill toward. Ceramics can easily withstand extreme temperatures of more than 800 degrees Fahrenheit and the extreme pressures found deep below the Earth’s surface.

The team is excited about additional applications for their work. “This was a demonstration of principle with just one material,” says Tuller, “but there are thousands of other materials good at conducting ions.”

Concludes Defferriere: “It’s the start of a journey on the development of the technology, so there’s a lot to do and a lot to discover.”

This work is currently supported by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office. This support does not constitute an express or implied endorsement on the part of the government. It was also funded by the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency.

Share this news article on:

Related links.

  • Harry Tuller
  • Tuller Research Group
  • Materials Research Laboratory

Related Topics

  • Nuclear security and policy
  • Materials science and engineering
  • Nuclear science and engineering
  • Department of Energy (DoE)

Related Articles

Harry Tuller and student pose for a photo in a lab, with a computer screen on a table between them showing data

A simple way to significantly increase lifetimes of fuel cells and other devices

Harry L. Tuller sits in a chair in front of a bookcase in his office at MIT.

Harry Tuller honored for career advancing solid-state chemistry and electrochemistry

Photo of two smiling men standing at a lab bench covered with electronic equipment

Light could boost performance of fuel cells, lithium batteries, and other devices

Previous item Next item

More MIT News

Headshot of a woman in a colorful striped dress.

A biomedical engineer pivots from human movement to women’s health

Read full story →

Closeup of someone’s hands holding a stack of U.S. patents. The top page reads “United States of America “ and “Patent” in gold lettering, among other smaller text. They are next to a window that looks down on a city street.

MIT tops among single-campus universities in US patents granted

Photo of the facade of the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing building, which features a shingled glass exterior that reflects its surroundings

A crossroads for computing at MIT

Hammaad Adam poses in front of a window. A brick building with large windows is behind him.

Growing our donated organ supply

Two hands inspect a lung X-ray. One hand is illustrated with nodes and lines creating a neural network. The other is a doctor’s hand. Four “alert” icons appear on the lung X-ray.

New AI method captures uncertainty in medical images

A lab researcher looking through a microscope with human cells in the background

Improving drug development with a vast map of the immune system

  • More news on MIT News homepage →

Massachusetts Institute of Technology 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, USA

  • Map (opens in new window)
  • Events (opens in new window)
  • People (opens in new window)
  • Careers (opens in new window)
  • Accessibility
  • Social Media Hub
  • MIT on Facebook
  • MIT on YouTube
  • MIT on Instagram

IMAGES

  1. How to Create a One Page Research Website

    research paper about website

  2. Research Paper on E-Commerce Challenges and Opportunities

    research paper about website

  3. Best Website For Thesis Research Paper || Useful Websites For Research Paper || Help For Thesis

    research paper about website

  4. 38+ Research Paper Samples

    research paper about website

  5. How to Write a Research Paper ()

    research paper about website

  6. 🌷 Good websites for research papers. Find Good Sources For Research

    research paper about website

VIDEO

  1. Secret AI Tool To Generate Question Papers For Your Exams #tech #techreels #exam #paper

  2. What is Wiley Online Library||How to insert citations from |Wiley Online Library| Into||EndNote X9||

  3. Publish Your First Research Paper?

  4. Searching for an Author's Highly Cited Papers in Web of Science

  5. Writefull

  6. The Secret to Building a Great Website I How to Make a Great Website

COMMENTS

  1. A Literature Review: Website Design and User Engagement

    2.3. Analysis. The literature review uncovered 20 distinct design elements commonly discussed in research that affect user engagement. They were (1) organization - is the website logically organized, (2) content utility - is the information provided useful or interesting, (3) navigation - is the website easy to navigate, (4) graphical representation - does the website utilize icons ...

  2. Web design: A key factor for the website success

    Purpose - Web design has been identified as a key factor for the acceptance and success of the. websites and electronic commerce. W e analyse from a marketing point of view the main aspects that ...

  3. (PDF) Designing a School Website: Contents, Structure ...

    This paper takes a university website, i.e. South China Normal University, as an example, sets 3 typical scenarios from different groups of students, such as preschool student, current student and ...

  4. (PDF) An Exploratory Study of Website Information Content

    An Exploratory Study of Website Information Content. Joseph P. Hasley 1 and Dawn G. Gregg2. 1 University of Colorado, Denver, [email protected]. 2 University of Colorado, Denver, dawn.gregg ...

  5. PDF Designing a school Website: contents, structure, anD ...

    Websites (% of schools) 155 (37%) 56 (46%) 211 (39%) Sample 30 30 60 ... The three research questions, pertaining to website contents, web-site structure, and website responsiveness to environment, were analyzed in different ways. Website contents Designing a School Website.

  6. (PDF) A Critical Review of Research on Website Development and Design

    In particular, this paper is to review number of articles on web development and design related to diversity issues published according to year, to study databases contains 1 articles related to human diversity in web development and design, to identify theories that have been applied in the researches, to investigate method proposed by the ...

  7. A Comprehensive Framework to Evaluate Websites: Literature Review and

    The electronic database searches produced 6657 papers; a further 7 papers were identified through other sources. After removing duplicates (n=1058), 5606 publications remained. ... and focus groups were used either before or after the use of the website. Pre-website-use, qualitative research was often used to collect details of which website ...

  8. The Role of an Educational Website in Providing Better ...

    /services you can build corporate image of the company in your business website (Shaik, 2005, p. 1). This paper discusses the role and importance of a website in providing better opportunities for Kabul Education University in Afghanistan. Technology has played an important role in improving and expanding education worldwide. Website is one of the

  9. How to Write a Research Paper

    Choose a research paper topic. Conduct preliminary research. Develop a thesis statement. Create a research paper outline. Write a first draft of the research paper. Write the introduction. Write a compelling body of text. Write the conclusion. The second draft.

  10. web development Latest Research Papers

    Website Developmemt Technologies: A Review. Abstract: Service Science is that the basis of knowledge system and net services that judge to the provider/client model. This paper developments a technique which will be utilized in the event of net services like websites, net applications and eCommerce. The goal is to development a technique that ...

  11. Analysis of University Websites

    Download This Paper. Open PDF in Browser. Add Paper to My Library. Share: ... indefinitely. Copy URL. Analysis of University Websites - A Study. Majid, I. & Lakshmi, Y. V. (2020).Analysis of University Websites - A Study. Research and Reflections on Education, 18(02B), 11-20. 6 Pages Posted: 2 Apr 2021 Last revised: 17 Mar 2023. See all ...

  12. Semantic Scholar

    Semantic Reader is an augmented reader with the potential to revolutionize scientific reading by making it more accessible and richly contextual. Try it for select papers. Learn More. Semantic Scholar uses groundbreaking AI and engineering to understand the semantics of scientific literature to help Scholars discover relevant research.

  13. The best academic search engines [Update 2024]

    Get 30 days free. 1. Google Scholar. Google Scholar is the clear number one when it comes to academic search engines. It's the power of Google searches applied to research papers and patents. It not only lets you find research papers for all academic disciplines for free but also often provides links to full-text PDF files.

  14. JSTOR Home

    Harness the power of visual materials—explore more than 3 million images now on JSTOR. Enhance your scholarly research with underground newspapers, magazines, and journals. Explore collections in the arts, sciences, and literature from the world's leading museums, archives, and scholars. JSTOR is a digital library of academic journals ...

  15. Internet Archive Scholar

    Search Millions of Research Papers. This fulltext search index includes over 35 million research articles and other scholarly documents preserved in the Internet Archive. The collection spans from digitized copies of eighteenth century journals through the latest Open Access conference proceedings and preprints crawled from the World Wide Web.

  16. 10 Best Online Websites and Resources for Academic Research

    Still, Google Books is a great first step to find sources that you can later look for at your campus library. 6. Science.gov. If you're looking for scientific research, Science.gov is a great option. The site provides full-text documents, scientific data, and other resources from federally funded research.

  17. (PDF) A systematic review of e-commerce websites ...

    As a topic searc hed on the Web of Science, E commerce has 17.945 papers between 2010 and 2020. However, 8.482 (47,3%) of these papers are articles that constitute the sample of this study ...

  18. Research articles

    Read the latest Research articles from Scientific Reports. ... Calls for Papers Guide to referees Editor's Choice Journal highlights Publish with us ...

  19. VideoPoet: A large language model for zero-shot video generation

    To explore the application of language models in video generation, we introduce VideoPoet ( website, research paper ), a large language model (LLM) that is capable of a wide variety of video generation tasks, including text-to-video, image-to-video, video stylization, video inpainting and outpainting, and video-to-audio.

  20. Research Paper

    Definition: Research Paper is a written document that presents the author's original research, analysis, and interpretation of a specific topic or issue. It is typically based on Empirical Evidence, and may involve qualitative or quantitative research methods, or a combination of both. The purpose of a research paper is to contribute new ...

  21. ScienceDirect.com

    3.3 million articles on ScienceDirect are open access. Articles published open access are peer-reviewed and made freely available for everyone to read, download and reuse in line with the user license displayed on the article. ScienceDirect is the world's leading source for scientific, technical, and medical research.

  22. Political Typology Quiz

    Take our quiz to find out which one of our nine political typology groups is your best match, compared with a nationally representative survey of more than 10,000 U.S. adults by Pew Research Center. You may find some of these questions are difficult to answer. That's OK. In those cases, pick the answer that comes closest to your view, even if ...

  23. Search

    Find the research you need | With 160+ million publications, 1+ million questions, and 25+ million researchers, this is where everyone can access science

  24. Academic Legal Research and Writing :: University of Waikato

    11 Nov 2024 - 16 Feb 2025. Online. Online. 100% internal assessment. If your paper outline is not linked below, try the previous year's version of this paper. Compulsory paper for the LLM, MLS, PG Cert Law, PG Cert Legal Studies, PG Dip Law, and PG Dip Legal Studies. This paper is co-taught with ALPSS500 Academic & Professional Research & Writing.

  25. A new way to detect radiation involving cheap ceramics

    In the current paper they show that gamma rays also modify the grain boundaries resulting in a faster flow of ions that, in turn, can be easily detected. And because the high-energy gamma rays penetrate much more deeply than UV light, "this extends the work to inexpensive bulk ceramics in addition to thin films," says Tuller.

  26. ResearchGate

    Access 160+ million publications and connect with 25+ million researchers. Join for free and gain visibility by uploading your research.

  27. (PDF) E-Tourism: A Study of Tourist Satisfaction

    This research paper investigates the satisfaction level of tourists in using e-tourism services. This study is based on primary data sources collected by using self-constructed questionnaire by ...