Submitting the Abstract and Suggestions for Writing the Research
Paper
The Abstract - Must be submitted electronically to conferences@unh.edu by January 20, 2012.
An initial abstract of up to 200
words must be submitted by January 20,
2012. The final abstract that accompanies the completed research paper is
due by February 17, 2012 and may be
a modification of the original abstract to reflect updated results of the
research. The abstract should be formatted with one-inch margins, 10-
or 12-point font (Times or Times New Roman), and cannot exceed 200 words. The
header preceding the abstract body must include:
1) Title of the research;
2) Authors name(s);
3) High school, high school city,
high school state;
4) Name of teacher/mentor/sponsor
and his or her organization.
Precede the individual's name
with a subheading, i.e. teacher, mentor, sponsor;
5) Include one line of space
between the heading and the abstract body.
Example abstract:
CCD Photometry of Asteroid
Light Curves
Morgan MacLeod
Greely High School, Cumberland,
Maine
Teacher:
Mr. O'Neill, Greely High School
“The goal of this project
was to photometrically determine the rotation rate of
an asteroid through the use of amateur astronomy equipment. A Meade 10"
telescope and SBIG ST-7XE CCD camera were used to collect time series of images
of the main belt asteroid 1181 Lilith. The brightness of the asteroid was
measured in each frame using differential photometry. The asteroid's light
curve was plotted, suggesting two possible rotation periods for the asteroid:
7.5 hours or 15 hours. Finally, while the use of common amateur astronomy
hardware and software proved effective in the photometric study of asteroids,
limitations in image scale and limiting magnitude did complicate the
photometry.”
The Research Paper - Must be submitted electronically.
Research Papers are due
electronically by February 17, 2012.
Papers should be a minimum of 5-6 pages and a maximum of 20 pages, including
appendices. Tables, diagrams, charts, photography, or other graphic
representations should be neatly done to allow the judges online access to the
research paper. The maximum size of the electronic research paper is 1.8 Mb.
A Recommended
Outline for the Research Paper:
Cover
Page: State the student's name, school
name and address, and title of the research. Make your title interesting,
concise, descriptive, and reflect the nature of your research.
Acknowledgment
of major assistance: Students are
encouraged to obtain assistance from teachers, mentors, parents, or other
students. Include a statement on where and when the research was done and
acknowledge those who assisted you with the study.
Statement
of Research involving non-human vertebrates or human subjects: If applicable, include a
statement to the effect that research involving non-human vertebrates or human
subjects was conducted under the supervision of an experienced teacher or
researcher and followed state and federal regulatory guidance applicable to the
humane and ethical conduct of such research.
Table
of Contents: List the topics and
sub-topics in order and indicate the page numbers on which they start. Add to
the table of contents a list of all graphs, tables, and other representative
figures. These should have a title and page number.
Introduction: Provide background, details, and the setting of your
specific research problem. Presume that the reader will be scientific literate,
but he or she may not be familiar with the details. First in the introduction,
state the purpose of the research study. Secondly, state the hypotheses that
you are testing. Lastly, describe what is already known about the research as
reported in relevant and referenced literature.
Materials
and methods: State the materials and
methods used to conduct the research in a sequential manner. This section
should be written specifically enough so that the research could be replicated.
Results
(Data or Findings): Present the results of
your research findings in logical order. Use graphs, tables and/or other
representation. Tables and graphs should be numbered separately and include
captions. Numbering will enable you to refer to them in text quite easily. Even
though you may present your results in graphic form, you must explain in text
the important features of each table, graph, etc. This is also the appropriate
place to report the results of statistical analyses of your data. Remember to
report the type of statistical test used.
Discussion
and Conclusions: You interpret your
results in this section. First restate your hypotheses, and explain how your
data either supports or rejects your initial research questions. Discuss your
research findings in relationship to what is already known about the research
problem (reported in the introduction section). Draw conclusions based upon
your research findings (as reported in the results section). Acknowledge any
limitations, which affect the research results. For example, what further
experiments need to be performed? Statistical techniques used to manipulate the
data may have limitations. Some of the treatment effect might have been caused
by a random, uncontrolled intervening variable. Again, acknowledge these
limitations and other factors over which the researcher had no control, and
state how these might have influenced the study outcomes.
References
or Literature Cited: This is a list of
citations for every article cited in your text. Endnotes are needed for all direct
quotations and for all-important statements of facts or opinions that are taken
from written sources. Figures, dates, descriptions of situations, scientific
data, opinion, representations and the like which are presented to advance the
subject of the paper need a stated source. Check with your teacher or other
advisors if you need further advice about the format for endnotes.
Appendices: In some cases
you may wish to include large tables of raw data in your report. You should
include such items in an appendix at the very end of your research report.
Label and paginate your appendices.
Additional suggestions for writing
the research paper can be located on the National JSHS web site at www.jshs.org.