So, you’ve spent months of in-depth research, writing, and formatting to submit a perfect term or research paper, but your professor doesn’t think you did the best job possible. Simply put, your academic work has been rejected.
Even though rejection is a common thing in the college routine, it is quite demotivating. Nobody likes seeing their research papers getting back to them with loads of comments and issues that should be fixed.
In this article, we have listed the most common reasons that may lead your written piece to rejection. If your college work has been rejected, make sure that you stay away from the issues discussed below when you submit your next work.
First, Relax – It’s OK
Let’s face the truth, rejection is far from the best thing in life. However, there’s nothing wrong with being upset about it (you did loads of work, after all!). Take a deep breath and let yourself get upset. However, never let your emotions control you as you start fixing your writing. Make sure to take a break after hearing/reading your professor’s comments. Make sure that neither anger nor frustration can impact the process of work.
- Your research is too narrow. Who knows, perhaps, the reason why your research paper was rejected lies in the fact that your study is too narrow. Many professors look for research works that are based on rather large data that back up your conclusions. It is recommended to compare the size of your research to the ones previously done in the chosen field of study or on the assigned topic. Have you explored the same number of different parameters? It is important to make sure that your research is neither too broad nor too narrow.
- Your writing is incomprehensible. This problem may come up if your English is poor, or you include jargon in your research work. The reality is that your college professor expects you to write in the simplest way to ensure your research paper is easy to understand and comprehend. Other issues like spelling mistakes, poor grammar, missing sections such as tables, figures, bibliography, or table of contents can lead college professors to reject your piece without giving much thought. If English isn’t your first language, you’re welcome to use online apps or custom research papers writing services to help yourself on the way. On the one hand, you can buy a custom written paper from some trusted service and use your purchase as an example. On the other hand, you can approach professional writers and pay for a piece of advice on how to write or edit your research paper. In addition to cheap papers available for sale, you can always find someone competent enough to help you make your research writing better.
- You used the wrong research methodology. If the new research methods already exist, make sure to choose them, don’t give preference to the old ones. The point is that a newer methodology will provide you with more accurate results that won’t lead to rejection. If you use outdated methods, the results of your research will most likely be considered flawed.
- Your data isn’t presented properly. The visual presentation of your research paper is crucial. First of all, you need to make sure that your professor will find and understand your figures within a short period of time. In order words, you need to make sure s/he won’t have to search for this or that fragment of information for hours while browsing loads of chaotically presented pages.
- Your research paper lacks solid supporting evidence. The information that you managed to collect during the research stage is not enough if you need to arrive at some significant results. In other words, it is important to support the key points of your research paper with some solid evidence taken from trusted sources. If the chosen evidence doesn’t support your thesis statement, you’re going to face rejection inevitably.
- You chose the dated topic. Regardless of the field that your research paper comes from, some topics can be quite dated. Even though it doesn’t mean that these topics have zero educational value, a lot of materials have been produced about these issues. In other words, you have no chance to give a completely new insight on these topics.
- Your hypothesis is not clear. What is a hypothesis? It is a statement that you, as the author of the research paper, make based on the research conducted before. Then, based on that research work, the hypothesis is proven either wrong or right. If your research paper doesn’t make a clear hypothesis or is based on a hypothesis that has been explored multiple times, you should get ready for rejection.
- You include dated references. When a college professor reviews your research paper, one of the key things s/he considers is the list of references. Even a quick look at the references shows whether or not you did use the most relevant and trusted sources while working on your research. If your references are dated, chances are your work will be rejected.
- You violated research ethics. When working on your research paper, your task is to acknowledge the consent of every participant in the process. What is more, you also have to declare that you have performed your research and produced a research paper free from plagiarism. If you fail to do any of the things mentioned above, the possible rejection is unavoidable. Feel free to use plagiarism detection programs in order to scan your research paper and make sure that you will submit a non-plagiarized work.
- Your paper lacks adequate discussion. This is one of the most typical mistakes made by college and university students. Even though they present accurate results of the research, the overall quality of the piece might suffer if they fail to include an adequate discussion. The point here is that the discussions of your findings should have an obvious reference to the research studies and theoretical framework. In order to boost the credibility of your research, make sure to cite some big players in support of your research paper findings.
Most of the issues discussed above can be avoided if you make sure to do in-depth research competently. As a result, you will have a well-written research paper. What is it that your college professor is looking for in an academic assignment? First of all, you have to include original information that is clear and accurate. Second, your reviewer expects to see a valid and significant contribution to the field of study in which your research paper is submitted. Besides, you have to do your best to convey your message briefly yet effectively. And finally, your work should comply with the existing writing standards in the chosen area. Do not try to cram everything that you happen to know about the chosen topic in one academic project. After all, quality is what matters the most when it comes to a college research paper.