IMRAD Structure & 10 Common Persian Academic Writing Mistakes
A scientific article is a genre with strict rules. Its reader (reviewer, researcher, student) is not looking for "reading pleasure"—they want to understand what you did, what you found, and how trustworthy it is.
The IMRAD Structure
- Introduction: The problem, the research gap, the objective, and the hypothesis. Three paragraphs are enough.
- Methods: Exactly what you did, so someone else can replicate it. Sample, instruments, timeframe, analysis.
- Results: The data without interpretation. Tables and figures instead of prose.
- Discussion: Meaning, comparison with prior research, limitations, future suggestions.
The abstract also comes before IMRAD and usually has four sentences: what we asked, what we did, what we found, and what it means.
Ten Common Mistakes in Persian Academic Writing
- Grand claims without data: "This research solves the problem of education." Without data, it is just a verbal claim.
- Vague methods: "A questionnaire was distributed"—which questionnaire? How many people? How were they selected?
- Mixing results and discussion: Interpretation in the results section. Reviewers spot this immediately.
- Ceremonial citations: Referencing "(Mohammadi, 1398)" with no substantive connection.
- Translation plagiarism: Stiff translation from English, verbless and passive sentences.
- Failure to mention limitations: Every study has limitations; not stating them erodes trust.
- Decorative titles: "A New Look at…" instead of "Examining the Effect of … on …".
- Overlong introduction: Ten pages of introduction for three pages of results.
- Inconsistent terminology: One concept rendered with three different Persian equivalents.
- Disorganized reference list: A single citation style (APA/Vancouver) and no list errors.
Pre-Submission Checklist
| Check | Acceptance Criterion |
|---|---|
| Objective | In one explicit sentence at the end of the introduction |
| Methods | Independently reproducible |
| Results | Every claim backed by data/table |
| Discussion | Comparison with at least three studies |
| References | Consistent style + in-text citations |
The Difference Between a Scientific Article and a Review Article
An original article presents new data and follows the IMRAD structure; a review article is a map of existing knowledge and follows a thematic structure. A common mistake among beginners: submitting a review article with a claim of "new research"—which is usually rejected.
In academic writing, clarity matters more than beauty.
The IMRAD structure has clearly defined slots, and that is precisely what makes writing it divisible. For Persian scientific articles (and theses), Nevispar at nevispar.ir offers the "Scientific Article" type, which chapters your work within this very framework: abstract, methods, results, and discussion.
