example of materials and method in research paper

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4 Writing the Materials and Methods (Methodology) Section

The Materials and Methods section briefly describes how you did your research. In other words, what did you do to answer your research question? If there were materials used for the research or materials experimented on you list them in this section. You also describe how you did the research or experiment. The key to a methodology is that another person must be able to replicate your research—follow the steps you take. For example if you used the internet to do a search it is not enough to say you “searched the internet.” A reader would need to know which search engine and what key words you used.

Open this section by describing the overall approach you took or the materials used. Then describe to the readers step-by-step the methods you used including any data analysis performed. See Fig. 2.5 below for an example of materials and methods section.

Writing tips:

• Explain procedures, materials, and equipment used
• Example: “We used an x-ray fluorescence spectrometer to analyze major and trace elements in the mystery mineral samples.”
• Order events chronologically, perhaps with subheadings (Field work, Lab Analysis, Statistical Models)
• Use past tense (you did X, Y, Z)
• Quantify measurements
• Include results in the methods! It’s easy to make this mistake!
• Example: “W e turned on the machine and loaded in our samples, then calibrated the instrument and pushed the start button and waited one hour. . . .”

Technical Writing @ SLCC Copyright © 2020 by Department of English, Linguistics, and Writing Studies at SLCC is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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• v.17(1); 2019 Jan

The Principles of Biomedical Scientific Writing: Materials and Methods

Asghar ghasemi.

1 Endocrine Physiology Research Center, Research Institute for Endocrine Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Zahra Bahadoran

2 Nutrition and Endocrine Research Center, Research Institute for Endocrine Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Azita Zadeh-Vakili

3 Cellular and Molecular Endocrine Research Center, Research Institute for Endocrine Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Seyed Ali Montazeri

4 Obesity Research Center, Research Institute for Endocrine Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Farhad Hosseinpanah

The materials and methods (M&M) section is the heart of a scientific paper and is subject to initial screening of the editor to decide whether the manuscript should be sent for external review. If the M&M section of a scientific paper be considered as a recipe, its ingredients would be who, what, when, where, how, and why. M&M should effectively respond to the study question/hypothesis using the following basic elements including materials, study design, study population/subjects or animals, methods of measurements/assessments, and statistical analysis. A well-organized M&M permits other scientists to evaluate the study findings and repeat the experiments. Although there are several disciplinary differences in the M&M, similar dos and don’ts may be considered to organize a well-written M&M. Briefly, authors need to provide clear-cut, adequate, and detailed information in the M&M section. In this review, the structure, the principles, and the most common recommendations for writing the M&M section are provided, both in general and study-specific; these could help authors effectively prepare the M&M section of a scientific biomedical manuscript.

The principal mission of scientific writing is to convey the researcher’s message clearly and concisely to the scientific community ( 1 ). Although publishing a scientific paper is not the ultimate goal of a research, it contributes much to the progress of science and evidence-based decision-making ( 2 ). During the last decades, efforts have continued to improve the structure and content of research papers, which have resulted in the unified structure and style of scientific writing ( 3 ), that is the IMRAD (Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, and Discussion) structure.

Although the materials and methods (M&M) section is the heart of a paper, it is very often poorly written ( 4 ). Despite this section seeming to be easier than other parts, the author encounters many challenges ( 5 ). Approximately 30% of rejections by journals are related to the M&M section ( 5 ). A well-written M&M helps the peer review process ( 6 ), enhancing the chances of acceptance of the manuscript ( 5 ); it also increases the chance of inclusion of study findings in secondary analysis of existing data, in systematic reviews and/or meta-analyses ( 7 ).

The M&M section of a scientific paper is a crossroads connecting the introduction to the results section to create a clear story line ( 8 ); it should clearly present the approach to answer the main study question(s) ( 9 ), i.e. questions like who, what, where, when, why, and how ( 10 ). We could also refer to this section as the Experimental section, Method description and Validation, or Patients/subjects and Methods ( 5 , 11 ).

Following our previous report about the writing of the introduction section ( 12 ), in this review, we describe the main principles, general structure and common recommendations that can help authors to prepare the M&M section of a scientific biomedical manuscript more effectively. In addition, specific recommendations will be provided regarding the M&M section of clinical, experimental, epidemiological, and genetic studies.

2. Functions of the Materials and Methods Section

The M&M section of a paper has two main functions ( 13 ): To allow readers to repeat the work and to convince them that the work has been done in an appropriate way. For hypothesis-testing papers, the most important function of the M&M section is to provide information on “what procedures were used to answer the main question(s) stated in the introduction” ( 14 ). The ultimate mission of this section is providing clear and precise descriptions to enable the readers to ascertain exactly how the authors implemented the experimental design ( 15 ). The M&M section should include sufficient details and references to allow other scientists to repeat experiments accurately ( 14 ). The M&M section provides sufficient details on when, where, why, and how the study procedures were performed, what materials were used, and who was included in the study.

Other functions of the M&M section are to facilitate interpretation of study results and convince readers regarding their validity of the results ( 8 , 15 ) and to help them to understand how the results and conclusion were derived from the experiments ( 4 ); in addition, this section must explain how the study avoided or corrected for potential bias in selecting participants/subjects, measuring variables, and estimating associations between variables ( 7 ). In observational human studies, the M&M section also provides justification on how the findings from the sample studied can be generalized to the target population ( 7 ).

3. Components of the Materials and Methods

The basic elements of the M&M section of an original quantitative manuscript include Materials, Study design, Study population/subjects or animals, Methods of measurements/assessments, and Statistical analysis ( Table 1 ). Ethical considerations of research (both for humans and animals) should also be reported in this section, and based on the journal policy, these are reported under the subheading Study population or under a separate heading. This section can be separated under corresponding subheadings to help readers to understand the various stages or components more easily ( 11 ). A common suggestion is that each paragraph or subheading in the M&M section should correspond with the related paragraph/subheading in the results section ( 5 ).

3.1. Materials

3.1.1. chemicals.

In this section, the authors should describe the chemicals (e.g., drugs, culture media, buffers, and gases) used in the research ( 14 ). Specifying the source (manufacturers) is not required for basic laboratory chemicals, but it needs to be clarified for other chemicals ( 16 ). In addition to details on the manufacturer, their location needs to be mentioned when first cited ( 16 ). These details should be used with appropriate punctuation; for example, we used N-(1-naphtyl) ethylene diamine dihydrochloride (NEDD; Sigma-Aldrich Chemical Co., St. Louis, MO).

For drugs, the authors need to mention some essential details including generic name, manufacturer, purity, and concentration; for solutions, the solvent, pH, temperature, total volume infused, and rate of infusion, should be specified if required ( 14 ). If the drug is placed in an organ bath or reservoir, its concentration should be calculated in fluid ( 14 ). For culture media and buffers, the components and their concentrations, temperature, volume, and pH, need to be specified if appropriate ( 14 ).

To avoid advertising, use of generic or chemical names is usually preferred to trade names ( 17 ). In contrast, it is also believed that if the name of the material is registered as trademark, the authors should include the superscript TM or ®, as provided by the supplier ( 16 ). In case of a complicated name of a chemical, its abbreviated name is suggested ( 16 ).

3.1.2. Experimental Materials/Animals/Humans

3.1.2.1. experimental materials.

Experimental materials including molecules, cell lines, and tissues should be described in this section. For plants and micro-organisms, genera, species, and strain designations should be accurately identified ( 17 ). If organisms were collected for the experiment, the dates and locations of collection should also be included.

For cell lines, the sources, species, sex, strains, race, and age of donor should be clarified; whether the cell lines were primary or established and which specific tests were used for their preparation should also be mentioned ( 17 ). Some guidelines for using cell lines are available online ( Table 2 ).

Abbreviations: RCT, randomized clinical trial; STROBE, strengthening the reporting of observational studies in epidemiology; UKCCCR, United Kingdom Coordinating Committee on Cancer Research; WMA, World Medical Association.

3.1.2.2. Experimental Animals

In case of animal studies, source of animals, species, strains, weight, sex, and the number of animals used should be mentioned; conditions of evaluation of experimental animals as well as details of their care and treatment should be specified ( 14 ). Details regarding method and agents used for anesthesia in surgical procedures should be clearly provided ( 5 , 18 ). For treatment/intervention, the authors need to clearly mention chemical names, doses, routes of administration, and duration of treatment ( 5 ). Details should be specified regarding housing of animals, including type of facility, type and size of the cage, breeding program, light/dark cycle, temperature, quality of water, type of food, access to food and water, and environmental enrichment ( 19 ). It is recommended that authors use the name of the animal (e.g., rat or mouse) and specify the type of animal model (e.g., db/db mouse) ( 14 ).

3.1.2.3. Participants/Subjects/Patients

For human observational studies, the eligibility criteria, the sources and methods of selection of participants, and methods of follow-up (in cohort studies) should be described ( 20 ). For case-control studies, the sources and methods of sampling of the control group and the rationale for the choice of cases and controls must be described ( 20 ). The number of exposed and unexposed participants (for cohort studies) and the number of controls per case and the criteria for matching (in case-control studies) should be stated ( 20 , 21 ). For molecular epidemiologic studies, further details including any habits, clinical conditions, physiological factors, working or living conditions that might affect the characteristics or concentrations of the biomarker should also be specified for study populations ( 22 ).

For clinical trials, this section is expected to include the target population, sample size and sampling method, sample representativeness, recruitment and randomization procedures, the basic demographic profile of the study population (e.g., age, gender, and the racial composition), and inclusion and exclusion criteria. Such information are needed to evaluate both the internal and external validity of the study ( 15 , 23 ). Selection criteria and rationale for enrolling patients into the study must be clearly stated ( 15 ). If the study includes a control group, more details on sampling, source of recruitment, and matching (e.g., age, ethnicity, and clinical condition) should be provided ( 24 ).

3.1.3. Ethics Statements

Ethical issues are important components of biomedical studies ( 25 ). The ethics section in a scientific biomedical paper should consist of a statement regarding obtaining approval from the ethics committee with its registration number; otherwise, they need to state that the study was conducted according to the protocols previously outlined such as the Declaration of Helsinki, a set of ethics principles developed by the World Medical Association ( Table 2 ) to provide guidance to scientists and physicians in medical research involving human subjects ( 26 ).

In case of clinical trials, the registration number of study protocol obtained from the clinical trials’ registries ( Table 2 ) should be mentioned. According to the Declaration of Helsinki-2008, “every clinical trial must be registered in an easily accessible database for the public before recruitment of the first participant” ( 27 ). This approach is believed to contribute substantially to the improvement of clinical trial transparency and reduce publication bias and selective reporting ( 28 , 29 ). Practical guidelines for the registration of a clinical trial can be found elsewhere ( 30 , 31 ).

For human studies, a statement regarding informed consent/assent forms should also be mentioned in the ethics approval section. Briefly, informed consent is a process by which an adult human subject confirms his/her willingness to participate in a research after being properly informed of the research protocol ( 25 , 32 ). General principles like potential harm/benefit of the research, study protocols and registration, use of placebo, post-trial provisions (post-trial access to treatment for patients participating in a clinical trial) ( 33 , 34 ), and research publication should be considered in written informed consent forms ( 25 , 35 ). Table 2 provides useful links regarding clinical trial regulations. Assent, as a fundamental part of pediatric research ethics, is given by children in addition to parental consent ( 36 ).

It should be noted that any information that might allow someone to identify human subjects (e.g., names, initials, or hospital identification numbers) is not allowed to be included in the M&M section ( 16 ).

In animal studies, in addition to state approval of the institutional ethics committee ( 19 ), the authors need to determine whether they have applied the 3Rs, namely, replacement, refinement, and reduction of the number of animals used in experiments ( 6 ).

3.2. Methods

3.2.1. study design.

The study design section of a scientific paper is the road map of the study method, which leads to a clear understanding of the data obtaining approach and helps the reader to interpret the results properly ( 37 ). The study design should be the first subsection of the methods in a hypothesis-testing paper ( 37 ). It provides an overview of the procedures used to answer the question(s) and is followed by the relevant details in separate subsections ( 14 ). For hypothesis-testing papers, study question(s), intervention(s), variables measured, and the order of the measurements should be explained ( 14 ). Furthermore, it is expected that this section covers the information including dependent and independent variables, controls (e.g., baseline, control group, and placebo), study duration, and sample size ( 14 ).

The authors should present the specific design of the study, for example, randomized controlled trial, prospective/retrospective cohort study, case-control study, cross-sectional survey, and experimental study, or describe its key components (interventional vs. observational study, longitudinal vs. cross-sectional design) ( 8 ). An overview on observational and interventional study designs can be found elsewhere ( 38 , 39 ).

For observational studies, study location and relevant dates (i.e., period of recruitment, period of exposure, follow-up, and data collection) should be described ( 20 ). An extension of the STROBE statement ( Table 2 ) suggests more details for the study design section in molecular epidemiologic studies ( 22 ); these details describe the specific study designs (nested case-control and case/cohort) ( 40 ) and the setting of the biological sample collection (amount of sample, nature of sample collection procedures, participant conditions, time between sample collection and relevant clinical or physiological endpoints), biological sample storage and processing until biomarker analysis (centrifugation, timing, and additives), and biomarker biochemical characteristics (half-life of the biomarker and chemical and physical characteristics).

For human clinical studies, the authors are requested to specify the trial design (e.g., parallel and factorial), phase of clinical trial (phase I, II, III, or IV), and the allocation ratio (ratio of intended numbers of participants in each of the comparison groups) ( 41 ). More information regarding common terms and designs of clinical trials are provided as useful links in Table 2 .

A further subheading entitled procedures or interventions may also be considered for clinical trials. In this section, authors need to provide detailed information for randomization procedures, including the method used to generate the random allocation sequence (computer-generated random numbers) and mechanisms used to implement the random allocation sequence (sequentially numbered containers), stratification, and random block sizes (if applicable) ( 41 ). According to the CONSORT statement ( Table 2 ), it also should be described who generated the random allocation sequence, who enrolled participants, and who randomly assigned participants to interventions ( 41 ).

If applicable, the authors should state which type of blinding was used (single or double) and who was blinded (participants, care providers, or data analyzer) ( 41 ). Details of interventions, including how and when the interventions were implemented for each group should be specified. Information about the assessment of compliance and adverse events throughout the study should be included ( 41 ). When applicable, it is expected that any interim analysis and cessation of the trial be clarified ( 41 ).

According to ARRIVE (Animal in Research: Reporting In Vivo Experiments) statement ( Table 2 ), for animal studies, the number of groups, randomization procedure, blinding, and experimental unit (i.e., single animal, group, or cage of animal) should be mentioned ( 19 ); for complex designs, a time-line diagram or flowchart can be useful ( 19 ).

For genetic studies, the authors need to consider nomenclatures of genes and variants ( Table 2 ) and follow recommendations for the description of sequence variants ( 42 ). For genetic association studies, an extension of the STROBE statement, namely STREGA, advises authors on how to provide further details in the study design section; details on the criteria and methods for the selection of subsets of participants from a larger study should also be described in this section. Furthermore, genetic exposures (genetic variants) and variables associated with population stratification should be clarified ( 43 ).

3.2.2. Methods of Measurements/Assessments

Although describing details in the M&M section depends on the type of study and the target audience, authors need to maintain a balance. As a rule of thumb, the details of the procedures should be included if the study replication would fail without them. All that reader needs to understand is how the key findings in this paper were derived. However, this section should not be like a procedure manual or a cookbook ( 4 ).

The term “condensed” or “extended” has been used to describe levels of details used in the methods section ( 44 ). In the condensed methods, little elaboration or justification is provided, whereas in the extended methods, authors need to provide a rationale of why and how the procedures were performed ( 44 ). In practice, depending on the novelty of the methods used in the study, different levels of details may need to be described ( Table 3 ). To summarize documented methods, authors may begin with “in brief”; use of “briefly” instead is a common mistake because “briefly” describes the following verb and does not indicate the author’s intention to be brief ( 16 ).

The rationale for method choices and characteristics of the study design may also be provided in the methods section ( 10 , 11 ). From an editor’s point of view, advantages and disadvantages, values and limitations of the techniques and methods, especially new ones, are better to be described using a general background of the field ( 45 ).

In this section, the authors need to clearly describe how study variables (i.e., exposures or independent variables, outcomes or dependent variables, covariates, or potential modifiers) were measured ( 8 , 15 ). If applicable, diagnostic criteria need to be clarified for the variables (i.e., exposure, outcome and/or confounder); moreover, sources of data and details of methods of assessments (measurements) should be described for each variable of interest.

In animal studies, details of how, when (time of day), where (home cage and laboratory), and why (rationale for dose and route of administration) for each procedure should be reported ( 19 ).

According to minimum information for publication of quantitative real-time PCR experiments (MIQE), details about sample processing and storage, RNA and DNA extraction and quantification, primer and probe characteristics, reverse transcription details, sample normalization, PCR efficiency, and data analysis should be provided in real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) experiments ( 46 ).

For genetic association studies, authors need to describe laboratory methods, including source and storage of DNA, genotyping methods and platforms (including the allele calling algorithm used and its version), and error and call rates. The name of the laboratory or center where genotyping was performed and comparability of laboratory methods (if there is more than one group) needs to be clarified. According to the STREGA statement, authors should specify whether genotypes were assigned using all the data from the study simultaneously or separately in smaller batches ( 43 ).

To describe instruments, the manufacturer and model as well as the calibration procedures should be described; in addition, it should be clearly described how measurements were taken ( 10 , 15 ). Details of measurement characteristics (i.e., reproducibility, validity, and responsiveness) that influence the interpretation of the main results should also be described ( 8 ); validity and reliability, key indicators of the quality of measurement instruments (e.g., equipment and questionnaires) used for data collection or measurement should be appropriately reported ( 18 ).

3.2.3. Statistical Analysis

The basic requirement of writing the statistical section is providing description and justification for the statistical approaches and selection of statistical tests ( 14 ). General considerations for preliminary, primary, and supplementary analyses derived from statistical reporting guidelines ( 47 , 48 ) and the common pitfalls ( 49 , 50 ) in writing the statistical section are provided in Box 1 . The Vancouver guideline states “describe statistical methods with enough details to enable a knowledgeable reader with access to the original data to verify the reported results” ( 51 ).

Statistical tests should be discussed in order to be applicable for data analysis ( 52 ). Typically, this section is initiated by preliminary analysis and descriptive statistics, describing the study population, and then it is followed by specific tests describing the association of variables or assessing the effect of experiments ( 52 ).

The exact value of sample size, e.g., the number of human subjects, animals, or cells for each analysis and how the data were presented (mean, median, standard deviation, standard error, or confidence intervals) should be specified. Furthermore, the statistical methods used to determine strategies for randomization/stratification and sample size estimation need to be clarified ( 14 ). Appropriate identification (i.e., name, version, company, city, state, and country) for the statistical package or program used for analysis must be mentioned.

4. General Considerations for Materials and Methods Section

4.1. length.

Typical length of the M&M section is 2 - 3 pages (each page is considered one page in a word processor, with conventional margins, 1.5 line spacing, and font size of 11), consisting of 6 - 9 paragraphs (each paragraph usually contains 100 - 200 words, not exceeding 750 words) ( 19 ); however, depending on the discipline and field of study, the length of this section may vary from the condensed to the extended form ( 44 ). Method sections of chemistry, mycology, and molecular biology may be categorized as condensed-form, whereas public health and medical research are considered as intermediate, and psychology, sociology, and education are organized in the extended-form ( 44 ). To keep the M&M more concise, some details of materials and methods may be allowed as appendix or supplementary documents that are published online ( 45 ).

To organize paragraphs, topic sentences can be used to signal the topic of a paragraph, especially when a subsection has more than one paragraph ( 14 ). Use of linking or transition phrases/clauses (purpose phrases, time-related linking phrases, or causal linking phrases) to signal the topic of a paragraph is highly recommended ( Table 4 ) ( 11 , 14 , 44 ).

The M&M section may include up to 5 - 15 references ( 19 ). Never reference a document that you have not read ( 53 ).

4.2. Tables and Figures in Methods: Yes or No?

Use of appropriate tables and figures helps authors to summarize large amounts of complex information of the study procedures; a common recommendation to reduce the word count ( 11 ). Flowchart of the study design may be a common form of figure referenced within the M&M section. Some guidelines are available to organize study flowcharts for different study designs, for instance, the CONSORT flow diagram for clinical trials ( 54 ) and the STROBE flowchart of study participants for observational designs like cohort studies ( 21 ), as shown in Table 2 . This section does not include results ( 14 , 55 ), although intermediate results such those used for calculations that are used for obtaining results for the study question such as standard curves are recommended to be included in this section ( 14 ).

4.3. Ordering Procedures in the Materials and Methods Section

Several parts of the M&M section should be written in a logical or chronological order; presenting the methods in a logical order helps the text to make complete sense; however, the actions should be mentioned in chronological order within a paragraph or sentence. Some believe that the use of numbers or bullets to describe a sequential procedure, provided that be acceptable by the journal, make the M&M section easier to read ( 11 ). As a general suggestion, no more than two actions should be presented in a sentence. To increase readability, the subject and verb in a sentence should preferably be close together ( 11 ).

4.4. Tenses and Voices

A general recommendation is that the M&M section should be written in the past tense, either in active or passive voice ( 5 ). Depending on the author’s field, the journal style, or the action described in the M&M section, the present simple tense may also be used, for example, this tense is required when a standard method is described or when the authors present their procedure, model, software, or device ( 11 ).

Although passive voice (e.g., was/were investigated, was/were evaluated, or was/were performed) is the more common form of verbs in this section, using the active voice to show the ownership of the investigators (e.g., we performed, we evaluated, or we implemented) have recently taken priority ( 5 ). However, there is a belief that the active voice is not appropriate for the M&M section because the focus would be shifted from the research to the researchers ( 11 , 56 ).

4.5. Self-Assessing the Quality of the Materials and Methods Section

Self-assessment of the quality of the M&M section may be the last, but it is certainly not the least important step in the writing of the M&M section. Authors need to ask themselves “would a researcher be able to reproduce the study with the information provided in the method section?” ( 8 ). Using this approach, the authors would be reassured that all the critical information has been included, and unnecessary and redundant data have been excluded from this section; this process is useful to keep the paper’s storyline ( 8 ). In Box 2 , a checklist comprised of the most important questions for general quality assessment of the method section is provided.

To ensure all the necessary information is included in the methods section, referring to reporting guidelines that are available for the most common study types (e.g., CONSORT for clinical trials, STROBE for observational studies, STARD for diagnostic research, PRISMA for systematic reviews and meta-analyses, and ARRIVE for animal studies) is highly recommended ( Table 2 ).

5. Conclusions

The M&M section is the most important part of a research paper because it provides detailed information to other scientists/researchers to reproduce the study and judge the validity of the study’s findings. In the M&M section, “materials” refers to what was examined (e.g., humans, animals, cell lines, or tissues) and various chemicals and treatments (e.g., drugs, culture media, and gases), and the instruments used in the study. “methods” presents how subjects or objects were employed to answer the study question, that is, how measurements and calculations were made and how data analysis was carried out. Useful tips and common pitfalls in the M&M section are briefly reviewed in Box 3 .

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to acknowledge Ms. Niloofar Shiva for critical editing of English grammar and syntax of the manuscript.

Training videos   |   Faqs

Materials and Methods Examples and Writing Tips

Abstract | Introduction | Literature Review | Research question | Materials & Methods | Results | Discussion | Conclusion

In this blog, we look at how to write the materials and methods section of a research paper. In most research papers, the materials and methods section follows the literature review section. This is generally the easiest section to write because you are simply reproducing what you did in your experiments. It is always a good idea to start writing your research paper with the materials and methods section.

1. What is the purpose of the materials and methods section?

Materials and methods should describe how you did your research and detail the experimental procedure. One of the most important things to bear in mind while writing the materials and methods section is that it should have enough detail so that other researchers in your field can replicate your experiments and reproduce your results.  You should provide all the steps in a logical order so that your readers can follow your description easily.

2. Materials and Methods Examples

The structure of the methods section will very much depend on your discipline. If you are not sure about the structure, then the best place to start will be to go through the methods section of some previously published papers from your chosen journal. We will look at some examples of materials and methods structure in different disciplines. 

2.1. Materials & methods example #1 (Engineering paper)

If you are writing an engineering sciences research paper in which you are introducing a new method, your materials and methods section would typically include the following information.

You can start with the top-level summary of the method. You can try to answer these questions. Are you proposing a new method? Or,  Are you using a standard method from the literature?  Or, Are you extending a previously published method? If so, is it your previous work? or work published by a different author?

Then you can talk about the reasons for choosing this method. You can quote previous papers that have used this method successfully to support your arguments. Then, you can talk about the actual implementation details of the methods.

Then you can talk about how the methods were validated to confirm that they are suitable for your research. You can also include information about any pilot or preliminary studies you conducted before the full study. Then you can explain how you propose to test and evaluate the methods to prove that they are better than the existing methods. Here, you can talk about metrics and statistical tests you will be using to evaluate your method.

2.2. Materials & methods example #2 (Measurement paper)

If you are writing a paper that deals with measurements, you would typically include the following information in your materials and methods section.

You can start by talking about the experimental setup. You can try to answer these questions. What equipment was used to perform the measurements? What was the make and the model of the equipment?  How many technicians took the measurements?  How experienced were the technicians?

Then you can talk about the parameters that were measured during the experiment. Then you can talk about the actual measurement procedure. How were the samples prepared for the measurements?  How many measurements were taken? Were the measurements repeated for consistency? Was there a time interval between successive measurements?

Then you can talk about measurement conditions and constraints. Were the measurements performed at room temperature or under special conditions? Were there any practical difficulties while performing the measurements, if so, how did you overcome them?

Most importantly, you must list all the calculations in the form of detailed equations and formulas so that readers know exactly how the data was produced.

2.3. Materials & methods example #3 (Survey questionnaire paper)

If you are writing a survey questionnaire paper , you would typically include the following information in your materials and methods section.

You can start by talking about your participants. Who is your target population? What are their demographics? How did you recruit them?  How did participants provide consent for your study? What sampling method did you use to select the participants?

Then you can talk about the survey type. Was it a phone interview? Was it a personal interview? Was it an online survey? Or, Was it a written survey?

Then you can talk about the questionnaire design. How did you choose the questions? How many questions were there? What type of questions were they? Were they open ended questions, or close ended questions, or rating scale questions, or a mixture of different types of questions?

Then you can talk about how the questionnaire was administered. If it is an online survey, how did you get the questionnaire to the participants? Did you email them? Or did you post the survey forms?

If you are doing a personal interview. How did you conduct the interviews? Was it one to one interview, or was it done in batches, or did you use focus groups? How did the participants behave during the interview?

Then you can talk about questionnaire testing. Did you test your questionnaire before the main study? Did you have to make any changes after initial testing?  Did you have to translate the questionnaire into multiple languages? Then finally you can talk about different types of statistical tests you used to analyze the survey responses.

2.4. Materials & methods example #4 (Medical clinical trial paper)

If you are writing a medical research paper , your materials and methods section would typically include the following information.

You can start by providing information about the study design. Was it a randomized trial, or an observational trial? Was it a prospective study, or a retrospective study? Was the study double-blinded, or single-blinded?

Then, you can talk about how the ethical approval was obtained for the study and clarify if the clinical trial was registered. if so, then provide the registration number.

Then, you can talk about how the participants were recruited for the study, and explain the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Then, you can talk about how the participants were grouped into control and placebo groups, and explain how the medication was administered.

Then, you can talk about what outcomes were measured. What was the primary outcome? What was the secondary outcome? What was the follow up period? You can try to answer these questions. Then you can finish off with some information about the statistical tests you used to analyze the data.

3. Frequently Asked Questions

One of the common mistakes people make is using vague language in materials and methods. Reviewers won’t like it, and they will reject the paper on the basis that the section is not elaborate enough for other researchers to reproduce your experiments.

Make sure you write the materials and methods section in past tense, since you are reporting something that has already happened.

Acronyms & Abbrevations: Try to use acronyms and abbreviations for long method names. Abbreviations and acronyms are a great way to make your writing concise and save time. Define the acronyms and abbreviations during their first occurrence then use the short form in the rest of the text. The common practice is to put the acronym and abbreviations in parentheses after the full term.

Use different layouts: Another problem you are likely to face is that your methods section can sound like manual if you have too much text in it. In particular, if you are dealing with a very complex procedure, the readers might find it dry and tedious. So try to provide some variety to the layout. Try to use bullet points and numberings instead of long paragraphs to make it easy for the readers to understand the procedure. You can use flow diagrams to illustrate the process rather than describing it.

When you are using a standard method that is well described in literature, the standard practice is to reference the paper rather than repeating the entire procedure. You can also provide a brief summary of the procedure in your own words.

For example, you can say something like this, “The details of the procedure have been reported previously in…”, and reference the previous paper. And then, you can follow it up with a brief summary of the method from the previous paper.

If you are extending a previous method, then you can do something like this. You can say that, “Some minor modifications were made to the method described in…” and reference the previous paper.  And then, you can follow it up with the list of refinements you made to the previous method in order to adapt it to your work.

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• How to Write Your Methods

Ensure understanding, reproducibility and replicability

What should you include in your methods section, and how much detail is appropriate?

Why Methods Matter

The methods section was once the most likely part of a paper to be unfairly abbreviated, overly summarized, or even relegated to hard-to-find sections of a publisher’s website. While some journals may responsibly include more detailed elements of methods in supplementary sections, the movement for increased reproducibility and rigor in science has reinstated the importance of the methods section. Methods are now viewed as a key element in establishing the credibility of the research being reported, alongside the open availability of data and results.

A clear methods section impacts editorial evaluation and readers’ understanding, and is also the backbone of transparency and replicability.

For example, the Reproducibility Project: Cancer Biology project set out in 2013 to replicate experiments from 50 high profile cancer papers, but revised their target to 18 papers once they understood how much methodological detail was not contained in the original papers.

What to include in your methods section

What you include in your methods sections depends on what field you are in and what experiments you are performing. However, the general principle in place at the majority of journals is summarized well by the guidelines at PLOS ONE : “The Materials and Methods section should provide enough detail to allow suitably skilled investigators to fully replicate your study. ” The emphases here are deliberate: the methods should enable readers to understand your paper, and replicate your study. However, there is no need to go into the level of detail that a lay-person would require—the focus is on the reader who is also trained in your field, with the suitable skills and knowledge to attempt a replication.

A constant principle of rigorous science

A methods section that enables other researchers to understand and replicate your results is a constant principle of rigorous, transparent, and Open Science. Aim to be thorough, even if a particular journal doesn’t require the same level of detail . Reproducibility is all of our responsibility. You cannot create any problems by exceeding a minimum standard of information. If a journal still has word-limits—either for the overall article or specific sections—and requires some methodological details to be in a supplemental section, that is OK as long as the extra details are searchable and findable .

Imagine replicating your own work, years in the future

As part of PLOS’ presentation on Reproducibility and Open Publishing (part of UCSF’s Reproducibility Series ) we recommend planning the level of detail in your methods section by imagining you are writing for your future self, replicating your own work. When you consider that you might be at a different institution, with different account logins, applications, resources, and access levels—you can help yourself imagine the level of specificity that you yourself would require to redo the exact experiment. Consider:

• Which details would you need to be reminded of? 
• Which cell line, or antibody, or software, or reagent did you use, and does it have a Research Resource ID (RRID) that you can cite?
• Which version of a questionnaire did you use in your survey? 
• Exactly which visual stimulus did you show participants, and is it publicly available? 
• What participants did you decide to exclude? 
• What process did you adjust, during your work? 

Tip: Be sure to capture any changes to your protocols

You yourself would want to know about any adjustments, if you ever replicate the work, so you can surmise that anyone else would want to as well. Even if a necessary adjustment you made was not ideal, transparency is the key to ensuring this is not regarded as an issue in the future. It is far better to transparently convey any non-optimal methods, or methodological constraints, than to conceal them, which could result in reproducibility or ethical issues downstream.

Visual aids for methods help when reading the whole paper

Consider whether a visual representation of your methods could be appropriate or aid understanding your process. A visual reference readers can easily return to, like a flow-diagram, decision-tree, or checklist, can help readers to better understand the complete article, not just the methods section.

Ethical Considerations

In addition to describing what you did, it is just as important to assure readers that you also followed all relevant ethical guidelines when conducting your research. While ethical standards and reporting guidelines are often presented in a separate section of a paper, ensure that your methods and protocols actually follow these guidelines. Read more about ethics .

Existing standards, checklists, guidelines, partners

While the level of detail contained in a methods section should be guided by the universal principles of rigorous science outlined above, various disciplines, fields, and projects have worked hard to design and develop consistent standards, guidelines, and tools to help with reporting all types of experiment. Below, you’ll find some of the key initiatives. Ensure you read the submission guidelines for the specific journal you are submitting to, in order to discover any further journal- or field-specific policies to follow, or initiatives/tools to utilize.

Tip: Keep your paper moving forward by providing the proper paperwork up front

Be sure to check the journal guidelines and provide the necessary documents with your manuscript submission. Collecting the necessary documentation can greatly slow the first round of peer review, or cause delays when you submit your revision.

Randomized Controlled Trials – CONSORT The Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) project covers various initiatives intended to prevent the problems of  inadequate reporting of randomized controlled trials. The primary initiative is an evidence-based minimum set of recommendations for reporting randomized trials known as the CONSORT Statement . 

Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses – PRISMA The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses ( PRISMA ) is an evidence-based minimum set of items focusing  on the reporting of  reviews evaluating randomized trials and other types of research.

Research using Animals – ARRIVE The Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments ( ARRIVE ) guidelines encourage maximizing the information reported in research using animals thereby minimizing unnecessary studies. (Original study and proposal , and updated guidelines , in PLOS Biology .) 

Laboratory Protocols Protocols.io has developed a platform specifically for the sharing and updating of laboratory protocols , which are assigned their own DOI and can be linked from methods sections of papers to enhance reproducibility. Contextualize your protocol and improve discovery with an accompanying Lab Protocol article in PLOS ONE .

Consistent reporting of Materials, Design, and Analysis – the MDAR checklist A cross-publisher group of editors and experts have developed, tested, and rolled out a checklist to help establish and harmonize reporting standards in the Life Sciences . The checklist , which is available for use by authors to compile their methods, and editors/reviewers to check methods, establishes a minimum set of requirements in transparent reporting and is adaptable to any discipline within the Life Sciences, by covering a breadth of potentially relevant methodological items and considerations. If you are in the Life Sciences and writing up your methods section, try working through the MDAR checklist and see whether it helps you include all relevant details into your methods, and whether it reminded you of anything you might have missed otherwise.

Summary Writing tips

The main challenge you may find when writing your methods is keeping it readable AND covering all the details needed for reproducibility and replicability. While this is difficult, do not compromise on rigorous standards for credibility!

• Keep in mind future replicability, alongside understanding and readability.
• Follow checklists, and field- and journal-specific guidelines.
• Consider a commitment to rigorous and transparent science a personal responsibility, and not just adhering to journal guidelines.
• Establish whether there are persistent identifiers for any research resources you use that can be specifically cited in your methods section.
• Deposit your laboratory protocols in Protocols.io, establishing a permanent link to them. You can update your protocols later if you improve on them, as can future scientists who follow your protocols.
• Consider visual aids like flow-diagrams, lists, to help with reading other sections of the paper.
• Be specific about all decisions made during the experiments that someone reproducing your work would need to know.

Don’t

• Summarize or abbreviate methods without giving full details in a discoverable supplemental section.
• Presume you will always be able to remember how you performed the experiments, or have access to private or institutional notebooks and resources.
• Attempt to hide constraints or non-optimal decisions you had to make–transparency is the key to ensuring the credibility of your research.
• How to Write a Great Title
• How to Write an Abstract
• How to Report Statistics
• How to Write Discussions and Conclusions
• How to Edit Your Work

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How to Write a Methods Section for a Psychology Paper

Tips and Examples of an APA Methods Section

Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Emily is a board-certified science editor who has worked with top digital publishing brands like Voices for Biodiversity, Study.com, GoodTherapy, Vox, and Verywell.

Verywell / Brianna Gilmartin 

The methods section of an APA format psychology paper provides the methods and procedures used in a research study or experiment . This part of an APA paper is critical because it allows other researchers to see exactly how you conducted your research.

Method refers to the procedure that was used in a research study. It included a precise description of how the experiments were performed and why particular procedures were selected. While the APA technically refers to this section as the 'method section,' it is also often known as a 'methods section.'

The methods section ensures the experiment's reproducibility and the assessment of alternative methods that might produce different results. It also allows researchers to replicate the experiment and judge the study's validity.

This article discusses how to write a methods section for a psychology paper, including important elements to include and tips that can help.

What to Include in a Method Section

So what exactly do you need to include when writing your method section? You should provide detailed information on the following:

• Research design
• Participants
• Participant behavior

The method section should provide enough information to allow other researchers to replicate your experiment or study.

Components of a Method Section

The method section should utilize subheadings to divide up different subsections. These subsections typically include participants, materials, design, and procedure.

Participants 

In this part of the method section, you should describe the participants in your experiment, including who they were (and any unique features that set them apart from the general population), how many there were, and how they were selected. If you utilized random selection to choose your participants, it should be noted here.

For example: "We randomly selected 100 children from elementary schools near the University of Arizona."

At the very minimum, this part of your method section must convey:

• Basic demographic characteristics of your participants (such as sex, age, ethnicity, or religion)
• The population from which your participants were drawn
• Any restrictions on your pool of participants
• How many participants were assigned to each condition and how they were assigned to each group (i.e., randomly assignment , another selection method, etc.)
• Why participants took part in your research (i.e., the study was advertised at a college or hospital, they received some type of incentive, etc.)

Information about participants helps other researchers understand how your study was performed, how generalizable the result might be, and allows other researchers to replicate the experiment with other populations to see if they might obtain the same results.

In this part of the method section, you should describe the materials, measures, equipment, or stimuli used in the experiment. This may include:

• Testing instruments
• Technical equipment
• Any psychological assessments that were used
• Any special equipment that was used

For example: "Two stories from Sullivan et al.'s (1994) second-order false belief attribution tasks were used to assess children's understanding of second-order beliefs."

For standard equipment such as computers, televisions, and videos, you can simply name the device and not provide further explanation.

Specialized equipment should be given greater detail, especially if it is complex or created for a niche purpose. In some instances, such as if you created a special material or apparatus for your study, you might need to include an illustration of the item in the appendix of your paper.

In this part of your method section, describe the type of design used in the experiment. Specify the variables as well as the levels of these variables. Identify:

• The independent variables
• Dependent variables
• Control variables
• Any extraneous variables that might influence your results.

Also, explain whether your experiment uses a  within-groups  or between-groups design.

For example: "The experiment used a 3x2 between-subjects design. The independent variables were age and understanding of second-order beliefs."

The next part of your method section should detail the procedures used in your experiment. Your procedures should explain:

• What the participants did
• How data was collected
• The order in which steps occurred

For example: "An examiner interviewed children individually at their school in one session that lasted 20 minutes on average. The examiner explained to each child that he or she would be told two short stories and that some questions would be asked after each story. All sessions were videotaped so the data could later be coded."

Keep this subsection concise yet detailed. Explain what you did and how you did it, but do not overwhelm your readers with too much information.

Tips for How to Write a Methods Section

In addition to following the basic structure of an APA method section, there are also certain things you should remember when writing this section of your paper. Consider the following tips when writing this section:

• Use the past tense : Always write the method section in the past tense.
• Be descriptive : Provide enough detail that another researcher could replicate your experiment, but focus on brevity. Avoid unnecessary detail that is not relevant to the outcome of the experiment.
• Use an academic tone : Use formal language and avoid slang or colloquial expressions. Word choice is also important. Refer to the people in your experiment or study as "participants" rather than "subjects."
• Use APA format : Keep a style guide on hand as you write your method section. The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association is the official source for APA style.
• Make connections : Read through each section of your paper for agreement with other sections. If you mention procedures in the method section, these elements should be discussed in the results and discussion sections.
• Proofread : Check your paper for grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors.. typos, grammar problems, and spelling errors. Although a spell checker is a handy tool, there are some errors only you can catch.

After writing a draft of your method section, be sure to get a second opinion. You can often become too close to your work to see errors or lack of clarity. Take a rough draft of your method section to your university's writing lab for additional assistance.

A Word From Verywell

The method section is one of the most important components of your APA format paper. The goal of your paper should be to clearly detail what you did in your experiment. Provide enough detail that another researcher could replicate your study if they wanted.

Finally, if you are writing your paper for a class or for a specific publication, be sure to keep in mind any specific instructions provided by your instructor or by the journal editor. Your instructor may have certain requirements that you need to follow while writing your method section.

Frequently Asked Questions

While the subsections can vary, the three components that should be included are sections on the participants, the materials, and the procedures.

• Describe who the participants were in the study and how they were selected.
• Define and describe the materials that were used including any equipment, tests, or assessments
• Describe how the data was collected

To write your methods section in APA format, describe your participants, materials, study design, and procedures. Keep this section succinct, and always write in the past tense. The main heading of this section should be labeled "Method" and it should be centered, bolded, and capitalized. Each subheading within this section should be bolded, left-aligned and in title case.

The purpose of the methods section is to describe what you did in your experiment. It should be brief, but include enough detail that someone could replicate your experiment based on this information. Your methods section should detail what you did to answer your research question. Describe how the study was conducted, the study design that was used and why it was chosen, and how you collected the data and analyzed the results.

Erdemir F. How to write a materials and methods section of a scientific article ? Turk J Urol . 2013;39(Suppl 1):10-5. doi:10.5152/tud.2013.047

Kallet RH. How to write the methods section of a research paper . Respir Care . 2004;49(10):1229-32. PMID: 15447808.

American Psychological Association.  Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association  (7th ed.). Washington DC: The American Psychological Association; 2019.

American Psychological Association. APA Style Journal Article Reporting Standards . Published 2020.

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Research Paper Writing: 5. Methods / Materials

• 1. Getting Started
• 2. Abstract
• 3. Introduction
• 4. Literature Review
• 5. Methods / Materials
• 6. Results / Analysis
• 7. Discussion
• 8. Conclusion
• 9. Reference

Methods / Materials Overview

These sections of the research paper should be concise. The audience reading the paper will always want to know what materials or methods that were used. The methods and materials may be under subheadings in the section or incorporated together. The main objective for these sections is to provide specialized materials, general procedures, and methods to judge the scientific value of the paper.

What to include in the sections

• Described separately
• Include the chemicals, biological, and any equipment
• Do not include common supplies, such as test tubes, pipette tips, beakers, etc. or standard lab equipment
• Single out sources like a specific type of equipment, enzyme, or a culture
• These should be mentioned in a separate paragraph with its own heading or highlighted in the procedure section if there is one
• Refer to solutions by name and describe
• Describes in detail how the analysis was conducted
• Be brief when presenting methods under the title devoted to a specific technique or groups of procedures
• Simplify and report what the procedure was
• Report the method by name
• Use third person passive voice, and avoid using first person
• Use normal text in these sections
• Avoid informal lists
• Use complete sentences

Example of a Methods Section

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association Sixth Ed. 2010

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APA Methods Section – How To Write It With Examples

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The APA methods section is a very important part of your academic paper, displaying how you conducted your research by providing a precise description of the methods and procedures you used for the study. This section ensures transparency, allowing other researchers to see exactly how you conducted your experiments. In APA style , the methods section usually includes subsections on participants, materials or measures, and procedures. This article discusses the APA methods section in detail.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

• 1 APA Methods Section – In a Nutshell
• 2 Definition: APA Methods Section
• 3 APA Methods Section: Structure
• 4 APA Methods Section: Participants
• 5 APA Methods Section: Materials
• 6 APA Methods Section: Procedure

APA Methods Section – In a Nutshell

• The APA methods section covers the participants, materials, and procedures.
• Under the ‘Participants’ heading of the APA methods section, you should state the relevant demographic characteristics of your participants.
• Accurately reporting the facts of the study can help other researchers determine how much the results can be generalized.

Definition: APA Methods Section

The APA methods section describes the procedures you used to carry out your research and explains why particular processes were selected. It allows other researchers to replicate the study and make their own conclusions on the validity of the experiment.

APA Methods Section: Structure

• The main heading of the APA methods section should be written in bold and should be capitalized. It also has to be centered.
• All subheadings should be aligned to the left and must be boldfaced. You should select subheadings that are suitable for your essay, and the most commonly used include ‘Participants’, ‘Materials’, and ‘Procedure’.

Heading formats:

APA format has certain requirements for reporting different research designs. You should go through these guidelines to determine what you should mention for research using longitudinal designs , replication studies, and experimental designs .

APA Methods Section: Participants

Under this subheading, you will have to report on the sample characteristics, the procedures used to collect samples, and the sample size selected.

Subject or Participant Characteristics

In academic studies, ‘participants’ refers to the people who take part in a study. If animals are used instead of human beings, the researcher can use the term ‘subjects’. In this subheading of the APA methods section, you have to describe the demographic characteristics of the participants, including their age, sex, race, ethnic group, education level, and gender identity. Depending on the nature of the study, other characteristics may be important. Some of these include:

• Education levels
• Language preference
• Immigration status

By describing the characteristics of the participants, readers will be able to determine how much the results can be generalized. Make sure you use bias-free language when writing this part of the APA methods section.

The study included 100 homosexual men and 100 homosexual women aged between 30 and 50 years from the city of London, UK.

Sampling Procedures

When selecting participants for your study, you will have to use certain sampling procedures. If the study could access all members of the population, you can say that you used random sampling methods. This section of the APA methods section should cover the percentage of respondents who participated in the research, and how they were chosen. You also need to state how participants were compensated and the ethical standard followed.

• Transgender male students from London were invited to participate in a study.
• Invites were sent to the students via email, social media posts, and posters in the schools.
• Each participant received $10 for the time spent in the study.
• The research obtained ethical approval before the participants were recruited.

Sample Size and Statistical Power

In this part of the APA methods section, you should give details on the sample size and statistical power you aimed at achieving. You should mention whether the final sample was the same as the intended sample. This section should show whether your research had enough statistical power to find any effects.

• The study aimed at a statistical power of 75% to detect an effect of 10% with an alpha of .05.
• 200 participants were required, and the study fulfilled these conditions.

APA Methods Section: Materials

Readers also need to know the materials you used for the study. This part of the APA methods section will give other researchers a good picture of the methods used to conduct the study.

Primary and secondary measures

Here, you should indicate the instruments used in the study, as well as the constructs they were meant to measure. Some of these are inventories, scales, tests, software, and hardware. Make sure you cover the following aspects:

• Reliability
• The Traumatic Stress Schedule (TSS) was used to measure the exposure to traumatic events.
• This 10-item chart requires participants to report lifelong exposure to traumatic stress.
• For example, they could indicate whether they suffered the traumatic death of a loved one.
• The Davidson Trauma Scale was also used to assess the symptoms of trauma.

Under this subheading of the APA methods section, you should also mention covariates or additional variables that can explain the outcomes.

Quality of measurements

You can mention the strategies you applied to ensure data integrity and reliability. These may include:

• Training the interviewers
• Establishing clear data nominalization procedures
• Rigorous data handling and analysis processes
• Having multiple people assess the data

If the data was subjectively coded, you should indicate the interrater reliability scores in the APA methods section.

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APA Methods Section: Procedure

This part of the APA methods section indicates the methods you used to carry out the research, process the data, and analyze the results.

Research Design and Data Collection Methods

Data collection is the systematic gathering of observations and measurements, and you have to describe all procedures used in this process. You can use supplementary materials to describe long and complicated data collection methods.

When reporting the research design, you should mention the framework of the study. This could be experimental, longitudinal, correlational, or descriptive. Additionally, you should mention whether you used a between-subjects design or within-subjects design .

In this part of the APA methods section, you should also mention whether any masking methods were used to hide condition assignments from the participants.

• Participants are told the research takes an hour covers their personal experiences in school.
• They were assured that the reports would be confidential and were asked to give consent.
• The participants were asked to fill in questionnaires .
• The control group was given an unrelated filler task, after which they filled a questionnaire.
• It was determined the experiences of homosexual and CIS-gendered students varied.

Data diagnostics

This part of the APA method section outlines the steps taken to process the data. It includes:

• Methods of identifying and controlling outliers
• Data transformation procedures
• Methods of compensating for missing values

Analytic strategies

This subheading of the APA methods section describes the analytic strategies used, but you shouldn’t mention the outcomes. The primary and secondary hypotheses use past studies or theoretical frameworks , while exploratory hypotheses focus on the data in the study.

We started by assessing the demographic differences between the two groups. We also performed an independent samples t-test on the test scores .

What are the parts of an APA methods section?

In this section, you should include the study participants, the methods used, and the procedures.

What is included in the APA methods section?

The methods section covers the participants or subject characteristics, the sampling procedures, the sample size, the measures used, the data collection methods, the research design, the data analysis strategy, and the data processing method.

Should I use the Oxford comma when writing the APA methods section?

Yes, the serial comma is required when writing the APA methods section.

Should I use the first person to write the APA methods section?

Yes, the APA language guidelines encourage researchers to use first-person pronouns when writing the methods section.

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Materials and Methods: 7 Writing Tips

• Peer Review
• Research Process

Here are some tips for writing a good Materials and Methods section, which can lead to reproducibility of your results and credibility in the eyes of reviewers and readers.

Updated on January 2, 2011

One critical aspect of publishing research is describing the methods used in enough detail that the experiments can be reproduced by others. Some manuscripts are rejected because there is insufficient detail in the methods section.

In an editorial for the American Journal of Roentgenology , James Provenzale says, “ One of the more common reasons for rejection of a manuscript is that the reviewers cannot fully understand how the study was conducted. ” However, several journals have page limits or page charges, and the Materials and Methods section can take up valuable space.

For more tips on writing the Materials and Methods section of your manuscript, please see our downloadable white paper, Setting the Scene: Best Practices for Writing Materials and Methods .

What are the most important things to include, and how can you be sure that you're being concise AND sufficiently thorough? Here are seven tips for writing a good Materials and Methods section, which can lead to reproducibility of your results and credibility in the eyes of reviewers and readers. This list is not exhaustive; always remember to check the instructions for authors from your target journal for additional requirements or suggestions.

7 Tips for Writing an Effective Materials and Methods Section in Your Research Manuscript:

1. begin writing the materials and methods while you are performing your experiments..

Writing during the research process will prevent you from forgetting important details and save you time when you begin writing the full manuscript. You can also ask co-authors who performed specific experiments to write the corresponding parts of the Methods section.

2. Start with general information that applies to the entire manuscript and then move on to specific experimental details.

Examples of general information that you could begin with are characteristics of the study population, sources and genotypes of bacterial strains, or descriptions of samples or sample sites. Then, you could share more details about your experiment.

3. Match the order in which methods are described to the order of the results that were generated using those methods.

Also, be sure that each method you used is described, even if it is just a quick sentence (e.g., “Toxin assays were performed as described [reference]”). This practice is helpful for transparency, as well as reproducibility.

4. Always include citations for procedures that have been described previously.

If you made any modifications, be sure to list them.

5. Describe statistical tests as fully as possible.

Give as much information about the tests as possible; just mentioning a t -test is not sufficient for the reader to determine if the correct statistical analysis was performed.

6. Avoid discussing the pros and cons of certain methods or results of any kind.

Save evaluations for different methods for the Discussion section of your paper.

7. To save space, be concise, yet thorough, when listing the equipment you used.

You might consider listing all of your equipment purchased from a single company in one sentence. Or, you could create a flowchart figure of the steps in an important procedure.

Before you finish your manuscript, ask yourself the following questions about your Materials and Methods section to ensure that you have included all important information.

1. Is there sufficient detail so that the experiments can be reproduced?

2. Is there excess information that could be removed without affecting the interpretation of the results?

3. Are all the appropriate controls mentioned?

4. Are all appropriate citations included?

5. Is the source of each reagent listed?

Writing the Materials and Methods can be tedious, but a well-written section can enhance your chances of publication and strengthen your conclusions. If you have further questions, download our free white paper on writing the Materials and Methods section or send us an email . Best of luck with your research!

Ben Mudrak, PhD

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Chapter 5:  Materials and Methods

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• ORGANIZATION
• SUMMARY OF GUIDELINES FOR THE MATERIALS AND METHODS SECTION
• EXERCISE 5.1: A CLEARLY WRITTEN METHODS SECTION
• EXERCISE 5.2: CONTENT AND ORGANIZATION IN THE METHODS SECTION
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For hypothesis-testing papers, the function of the Materials and Methods section (often referred to as the Methods section) is to tell the reader what experiments you did to answer the question posed in the Introduction. Similarly, for descriptive studies, the Methods section tells what experiments you did to obtain the message stated in the Introduction. For methods papers, the Methods section has two functions: it describes the new method in complete detail and also tells what experiments you did to test the new method. For all types of paper, the Methods section should include sufficient detail and references to permit a trained scientist to evaluate your work fully or to repeat the experiments exactly as you did them.

Hypothesis-Testing and Descriptive Papers

We saw that the first step in the story line of a hypothesis-testing or a descriptive paper is presented in the Introduction. This first step is either the question being asked or the structure being described. In either case, the second step in the story line is an overview of the experiments you did. This overview of the experiments gives the strategy of the experiments, the plan that connects the methods to each other and to the question or the message.

Where the overview of the experiments is presented depends on the type of research:

Methods Papers

For a Methods paper, the first step in the story line is a statement that you are presenting a new or improved material, method, or apparatus. The second step in the story line has two parts: a complete description of the new method, material, or apparatus; and a description of how this new method, material, or apparatus was tested. These two steps are described in the Methods section.

In this chapter, we will consider only Methods sections for hypothesis-testing papers.

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Materials and methods

The study’s methods are one of the most important parts used to judge the overall quality of the paper. In addition the Methods section should give readers enough information so that they can repeat the experiments. Reviewers should look for potential sources of bias in the way the study was designed and carried out, and for places where more explanation is needed.

The specific types of information in a Methods section will vary from field to field and from study to study. However, some general rules for Methods sections are:

• It should be clear from the Methods section how all of the data in the Results section were obtained.
• The study system should be clearly described. In medicine, for example, researchers need to specify the number of study subjects; how, when, and where the subjects were recruited, and that the study obtained appropriate ‘informed consent’ documents; and what criteria subjects had to meet to be included in the study.
• In most cases, the experiments should include appropriate controls or comparators. The conditions of the controls should be specified.
• The outcomes of the study should be defined, and the outcome measures should be objectively validated.
• The methods used to analyze the data must be statistically sound.
• For qualitative studies, an established qualitative research method (e.g. grounded theory is often used in sociology) must be used as appropriate for the study question.
• If the authors used a technique from a published study, they should include a citation and a summary of the procedure in the text. The method also needs to be appropriate to the present experiment.
• All materials and instruments should be identified, including the supplier’s name and location. For example, “Tests were conducted with a Vulcanizer 2.0 (XYZ Instruments, Mumbai, India).”
• The Methods section should not have information that belongs in another section (such as the Introduction or Results).

You may suggest if additional experiments would greatly improve the quality of the manuscript. Your suggestions should be in line with the study’s aims. Remember that almost any study could be strengthened by further experiments, so only suggest further work if you believe that the manuscript is not publishable without it.

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Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper

• 6. The Methodology
• Purpose of Guide
• Design Flaws to Avoid
• Independent and Dependent Variables
• Glossary of Research Terms
• Reading Research Effectively
• Narrowing a Topic Idea
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• Scholarly vs. Popular Publications
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• Quantitative Methods
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The methods section describes actions taken to investigate a research problem and the rationale for the application of specific procedures or techniques used to identify, select, process, and analyze information applied to understanding the problem, thereby, allowing the reader to critically evaluate a study’s overall validity and reliability. The methodology section of a research paper answers two main questions: How was the data collected or generated? And, how was it analyzed? The writing should be direct and precise and always written in the past tense.

Kallet, Richard H. "How to Write the Methods Section of a Research Paper." Respiratory Care 49 (October 2004): 1229-1232.

Importance of a Good Methodology Section

You must explain how you obtained and analyzed your results for the following reasons:

• Readers need to know how the data was obtained because the method you chose affects the results and, by extension, how you interpreted their significance in the discussion section of your paper.
• Methodology is crucial for any branch of scholarship because an unreliable method produces unreliable results and, as a consequence, undermines the value of your analysis of the findings.
• In most cases, there are a variety of different methods you can choose to investigate a research problem. The methodology section of your paper should clearly articulate the reasons why you have chosen a particular procedure or technique.
• The reader wants to know that the data was collected or generated in a way that is consistent with accepted practice in the field of study. For example, if you are using a multiple choice questionnaire, readers need to know that it offered your respondents a reasonable range of answers to choose from.
• The method must be appropriate to fulfilling the overall aims of the study. For example, you need to ensure that you have a large enough sample size to be able to generalize and make recommendations based upon the findings.
• The methodology should discuss the problems that were anticipated and the steps you took to prevent them from occurring. For any problems that do arise, you must describe the ways in which they were minimized or why these problems do not impact in any meaningful way your interpretation of the findings.
• In the social and behavioral sciences, it is important to always provide sufficient information to allow other researchers to adopt or replicate your methodology. This information is particularly important when a new method has been developed or an innovative use of an existing method is utilized.

Bem, Daryl J. Writing the Empirical Journal Article. Psychology Writing Center. University of Washington; Denscombe, Martyn. The Good Research Guide: For Small-Scale Social Research Projects . 5th edition. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press, 2014; Lunenburg, Frederick C. Writing a Successful Thesis or Dissertation: Tips and Strategies for Students in the Social and Behavioral Sciences . Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, 2008.

Structure and Writing Style

I.  Groups of Research Methods

There are two main groups of research methods in the social sciences:

• The e mpirical-analytical group approaches the study of social sciences in a similar manner that researchers study the natural sciences . This type of research focuses on objective knowledge, research questions that can be answered yes or no, and operational definitions of variables to be measured. The empirical-analytical group employs deductive reasoning that uses existing theory as a foundation for formulating hypotheses that need to be tested. This approach is focused on explanation.
• The i nterpretative group of methods is focused on understanding phenomenon in a comprehensive, holistic way . Interpretive methods focus on analytically disclosing the meaning-making practices of human subjects [the why, how, or by what means people do what they do], while showing how those practices arrange so that it can be used to generate observable outcomes. Interpretive methods allow you to recognize your connection to the phenomena under investigation. However, the interpretative group requires careful examination of variables because it focuses more on subjective knowledge.

II.  Content

The introduction to your methodology section should begin by restating the research problem and underlying assumptions underpinning your study. This is followed by situating the methods you used to gather, analyze, and process information within the overall “tradition” of your field of study and within the particular research design you have chosen to study the problem. If the method you choose lies outside of the tradition of your field [i.e., your review of the literature demonstrates that the method is not commonly used], provide a justification for how your choice of methods specifically addresses the research problem in ways that have not been utilized in prior studies.

The remainder of your methodology section should describe the following:

• Decisions made in selecting the data you have analyzed or, in the case of qualitative research, the subjects and research setting you have examined,
• Tools and methods used to identify and collect information, and how you identified relevant variables,
• The ways in which you processed the data and the procedures you used to analyze that data, and
• The specific research tools or strategies that you utilized to study the underlying hypothesis and research questions.

In addition, an effectively written methodology section should:

• Introduce the overall methodological approach for investigating your research problem . Is your study qualitative or quantitative or a combination of both (mixed method)? Are you going to take a special approach, such as action research, or a more neutral stance?
• Indicate how the approach fits the overall research design . Your methods for gathering data should have a clear connection to your research problem. In other words, make sure that your methods will actually address the problem. One of the most common deficiencies found in research papers is that the proposed methodology is not suitable to achieving the stated objective of your paper.
• Describe the specific methods of data collection you are going to use , such as, surveys, interviews, questionnaires, observation, archival research. If you are analyzing existing data, such as a data set or archival documents, describe how it was originally created or gathered and by whom. Also be sure to explain how older data is still relevant to investigating the current research problem.
• Explain how you intend to analyze your results . Will you use statistical analysis? Will you use specific theoretical perspectives to help you analyze a text or explain observed behaviors? Describe how you plan to obtain an accurate assessment of relationships, patterns, trends, distributions, and possible contradictions found in the data.
• Provide background and a rationale for methodologies that are unfamiliar for your readers . Very often in the social sciences, research problems and the methods for investigating them require more explanation/rationale than widely accepted rules governing the natural and physical sciences. Be clear and concise in your explanation.
• Provide a justification for subject selection and sampling procedure . For instance, if you propose to conduct interviews, how do you intend to select the sample population? If you are analyzing texts, which texts have you chosen, and why? If you are using statistics, why is this set of data being used? If other data sources exist, explain why the data you chose is most appropriate to addressing the research problem.
• Provide a justification for case study selection . A common method of analyzing research problems in the social sciences is to analyze specific cases. These can be a person, place, event, phenomenon, or other type of subject of analysis that are either examined as a singular topic of in-depth investigation or multiple topics of investigation studied for the purpose of comparing or contrasting findings. In either method, you should explain why a case or cases were chosen and how they specifically relate to the research problem.
• Describe potential limitations . Are there any practical limitations that could affect your data collection? How will you attempt to control for potential confounding variables and errors? If your methodology may lead to problems you can anticipate, state this openly and show why pursuing this methodology outweighs the risk of these problems cropping up.

NOTE:   Once you have written all of the elements of the methods section, subsequent revisions should focus on how to present those elements as clearly and as logically as possibly. The description of how you prepared to study the research problem, how you gathered the data, and the protocol for analyzing the data should be organized chronologically. For clarity, when a large amount of detail must be presented, information should be presented in sub-sections according to topic. If necessary, consider using appendices for raw data.

ANOTHER NOTE: If you are conducting a qualitative analysis of a research problem , the methodology section generally requires a more elaborate description of the methods used as well as an explanation of the processes applied to gathering and analyzing of data than is generally required for studies using quantitative methods. Because you are the primary instrument for generating the data [e.g., through interviews or observations], the process for collecting that data has a significantly greater impact on producing the findings. Therefore, qualitative research requires a more detailed description of the methods used.

YET ANOTHER NOTE:   If your study involves interviews, observations, or other qualitative techniques involving human subjects , you may be required to obtain approval from the university's Office for the Protection of Research Subjects before beginning your research. This is not a common procedure for most undergraduate level student research assignments. However, i f your professor states you need approval, you must include a statement in your methods section that you received official endorsement and adequate informed consent from the office and that there was a clear assessment and minimization of risks to participants and to the university. This statement informs the reader that your study was conducted in an ethical and responsible manner. In some cases, the approval notice is included as an appendix to your paper.

III.  Problems to Avoid

Irrelevant Detail The methodology section of your paper should be thorough but concise. Do not provide any background information that does not directly help the reader understand why a particular method was chosen, how the data was gathered or obtained, and how the data was analyzed in relation to the research problem [note: analyzed, not interpreted! Save how you interpreted the findings for the discussion section]. With this in mind, the page length of your methods section will generally be less than any other section of your paper except the conclusion.

Unnecessary Explanation of Basic Procedures Remember that you are not writing a how-to guide about a particular method. You should make the assumption that readers possess a basic understanding of how to investigate the research problem on their own and, therefore, you do not have to go into great detail about specific methodological procedures. The focus should be on how you applied a method , not on the mechanics of doing a method. An exception to this rule is if you select an unconventional methodological approach; if this is the case, be sure to explain why this approach was chosen and how it enhances the overall process of discovery.

Problem Blindness It is almost a given that you will encounter problems when collecting or generating your data, or, gaps will exist in existing data or archival materials. Do not ignore these problems or pretend they did not occur. Often, documenting how you overcame obstacles can form an interesting part of the methodology. It demonstrates to the reader that you can provide a cogent rationale for the decisions you made to minimize the impact of any problems that arose.

Literature Review Just as the literature review section of your paper provides an overview of sources you have examined while researching a particular topic, the methodology section should cite any sources that informed your choice and application of a particular method [i.e., the choice of a survey should include any citations to the works you used to help construct the survey].

It’s More than Sources of Information! A description of a research study's method should not be confused with a description of the sources of information. Such a list of sources is useful in and of itself, especially if it is accompanied by an explanation about the selection and use of the sources. The description of the project's methodology complements a list of sources in that it sets forth the organization and interpretation of information emanating from those sources.

Azevedo, L.F. et al. "How to Write a Scientific Paper: Writing the Methods Section." Revista Portuguesa de Pneumologia 17 (2011): 232-238; Blair Lorrie. “Choosing a Methodology.” In Writing a Graduate Thesis or Dissertation , Teaching Writing Series. (Rotterdam: Sense Publishers 2016), pp. 49-72; Butin, Dan W. The Education Dissertation A Guide for Practitioner Scholars . Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, 2010; Carter, Susan. Structuring Your Research Thesis . New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012; Kallet, Richard H. “How to Write the Methods Section of a Research Paper.” Respiratory Care 49 (October 2004):1229-1232; Lunenburg, Frederick C. Writing a Successful Thesis or Dissertation: Tips and Strategies for Students in the Social and Behavioral Sciences . Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, 2008. Methods Section. The Writer’s Handbook. Writing Center. University of Wisconsin, Madison; Rudestam, Kjell Erik and Rae R. Newton. “The Method Chapter: Describing Your Research Plan.” In Surviving Your Dissertation: A Comprehensive Guide to Content and Process . (Thousand Oaks, Sage Publications, 2015), pp. 87-115; What is Interpretive Research. Institute of Public and International Affairs, University of Utah; Writing the Experimental Report: Methods, Results, and Discussion. The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University; Methods and Materials. The Structure, Format, Content, and Style of a Journal-Style Scientific Paper. Department of Biology. Bates College.

Writing Tip

Statistical Designs and Tests? Do Not Fear Them!

Don't avoid using a quantitative approach to analyzing your research problem just because you fear the idea of applying statistical designs and tests. A qualitative approach, such as conducting interviews or content analysis of archival texts, can yield exciting new insights about a research problem, but it should not be undertaken simply because you have a disdain for running a simple regression. A well designed quantitative research study can often be accomplished in very clear and direct ways, whereas, a similar study of a qualitative nature usually requires considerable time to analyze large volumes of data and a tremendous burden to create new paths for analysis where previously no path associated with your research problem had existed.

To locate data and statistics, GO HERE .

Another Writing Tip

Knowing the Relationship Between Theories and Methods

There can be multiple meaning associated with the term "theories" and the term "methods" in social sciences research. A helpful way to delineate between them is to understand "theories" as representing different ways of characterizing the social world when you research it and "methods" as representing different ways of generating and analyzing data about that social world. Framed in this way, all empirical social sciences research involves theories and methods, whether they are stated explicitly or not. However, while theories and methods are often related, it is important that, as a researcher, you deliberately separate them in order to avoid your theories playing a disproportionate role in shaping what outcomes your chosen methods produce.

Introspectively engage in an ongoing dialectic between the application of theories and methods to help enable you to use the outcomes from your methods to interrogate and develop new theories, or ways of framing conceptually the research problem. This is how scholarship grows and branches out into new intellectual territory.

Reynolds, R. Larry. Ways of Knowing. Alternative Microeconomics . Part 1, Chapter 3. Boise State University; The Theory-Method Relationship. S-Cool Revision. United Kingdom.

Yet Another Writing Tip

Methods and the Methodology

Do not confuse the terms "methods" and "methodology." As Schneider notes, a method refers to the technical steps taken to do research . Descriptions of methods usually include defining and stating why you have chosen specific techniques to investigate a research problem, followed by an outline of the procedures you used to systematically select, gather, and process the data [remember to always save the interpretation of data for the discussion section of your paper].

The methodology refers to a discussion of the underlying reasoning why particular methods were used . This discussion includes describing the theoretical concepts that inform the choice of methods to be applied, placing the choice of methods within the more general nature of academic work, and reviewing its relevance to examining the research problem. The methodology section also includes a thorough review of the methods other scholars have used to study the topic.

Bryman, Alan. "Of Methods and Methodology." Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International Journal 3 (2008): 159-168; Schneider, Florian. “What's in a Methodology: The Difference between Method, Methodology, and Theory…and How to Get the Balance Right?” PoliticsEastAsia.com. Chinese Department, University of Leiden, Netherlands.

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Writing the materials and methods

Affiliation.

• 1 Department of Biomedical Imaging, Biomedical Imaging and Interventional Journal, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. [email protected]
• PMID: 19037549

When writing scientific papers to share their research findings with their peers, it is not enough for researchers to just communicate the results of their study; it is equally important to explain the process by which they arrived at their results, so that the study can be replicated to validate the observations. The materials and methods section is used to describe the experimental design and provide sufficient details so that a competent colleague can repeat the experiment. A good materials and methods section will enable readers to evaluate the research performed and replicate the study, if necessary.

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