Research Guides: Geology Writing Guide: What kind of paper do you need to write?

What kind of paper do you need to write?

Primary vs Literature-Based Research Papers

SUNY Oswego is committed to helping its students become skilled writers. Each major has a number of courses that give students an opportunity to develop and refine their writing. This guide was designed to support Geology students in writing two types of research papers:

Primary Research Paper

A paper about experimental scientific research that you have done.

Outline of the paper:

Abstract
Introduction
Methods
Results
Discussion
Conclusion

Literature-Based Research Paper

A paper that uses the peer-reviewed literature to investigate your research question.

Outline of the paper:

Abstract
Introduction
Discussion
Conclusion