{"id":2921,"date":"2023-06-28T06:20:47","date_gmt":"2023-06-28T04:20:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alexander-zureck.de\/outline-of-a-scientific-paper\/"},"modified":"2025-07-31T20:27:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T18:27:08","slug":"outline-of-a-scientific-paper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alexander-zureck.de\/en\/outline-of-a-scientific-paper\/","title":{"rendered":"Outline of a Scientific Paper"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The outline is the common thread of every scientific paper and makes it easier for the reader to understand by giving them a logical overview right from the start. I have supervised well over 100 theses, so I have been able to gain extensive experience through this and through my work as a reviewer for scientific journals. For this reason, I recommend that students <strong>strictly<\/strong> adhere to the following example:  <\/p>\n\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_82_2 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/alexander-zureck.de\/en\/outline-of-a-scientific-paper\/#Sample_Outline\" >Sample Outline<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/alexander-zureck.de\/en\/outline-of-a-scientific-paper\/#Chapter_Titles\" >Chapter Titles<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/alexander-zureck.de\/en\/outline-of-a-scientific-paper\/#Notes_for_Seminar_and_Bachelor_Theses\" >Notes for Seminar and Bachelor Theses<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Sample_Outline\"><\/span>Sample Outline<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n<p><strong>1. Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p>1.1. Problem statement and objectives<\/p>\n\n<p>1.2. Method of investigation<\/p>\n\n<p><strong>2.  &lt; Theoretical framework &gt;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p>2.1. &lt; Thematic basics &gt;<\/p>\n\n<p>2.2. &lt; Basics of the justifying scientific theory &gt;<\/p>\n\n<p>A first overview of business management theories can be found in the article \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/alexander-zureck.de\/en\/theoretical-foundation-in-seminar-bachelor-and-master-thesis\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"853\">Theoretical Foundation<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n\n<p>2.3. &lt; Linking Chapters 2.1. and 2.2. &gt;<\/p>\n\n<p><strong>3.  &lt; Elaboration of the topic &gt;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p>3.1. &lt; Deepening the content from 2.1. with concrete reference to the topic &gt; <\/p>\n\n<p>3.2. &lt; Topicality of the topic &gt;<\/p>\n\n<p>3.3. &lt; Transition to empiricism\/practical example (case study) &gt;<\/p>\n\n<p><strong>4.  &lt; Empiricism\/practical example &gt;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p>4.1. &lt; State of research &gt;<\/p>\n\n<p>4.2. &lt; Data and methodology &gt;<\/p>\n\n<p>4.3. &lt; Hypotheses\/research questions &gt;<\/p>\n\n<p>4.4. &lt; Critical discussion &gt;<\/p>\n\n<p>4.5. &lt; Research limitations &gt;<\/p>\n\n<p><strong>5. Conclusion and outlook<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p>For a detailed example topic including notes on the individual chapters, please <a href=\"https:\/\/alexander-zureck.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Beispielgliederung.docx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">click here<\/a>. Please note that the WORD template is the official template from the \u201cScientific Work\u201d module. However, even this is not always 100% compliant with the guidelines!  <\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Chapter_Titles\"><\/span>Chapter Titles<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n<p><strong>Chapter titles<\/strong> are often not <strong>meaningful<\/strong>. The meaningfulness is important because the outline has a recognizable common thread and the reader has understood the essential aspects and intentions by reading the outline. For orientation, I recommend a look at my publication \u201cCritical Analysis of Credit Risks of Asset Securitization &#8211; Analysis of a Securitization Transaction of Volkswagen Financial Services\u201d (click <a href=\"https:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.2139\/ssrn.3989155\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a> to access) to get inspiration for your own outline.  <\/p>\n\n<p>Another important point in this context is that you should <strong>avoid generalizations<\/strong>. \u201cTheoretical foundation\u201d or \u201cEmpiricism\u201d are not sufficient, as your reader cannot directly imagine anything by this. So, when naming it, always ask yourself the following questions: Theoretical foundation of what? What kind of empiricism? &#8230;<\/p>\n\n<p>\u201cThe theoretical foundation\u201d, \u201cThe problem of the work\u201d, etc. &#8211; That really reads badly! For this reason, you should <strong>avoid any articles at the beginning of a chapter title<\/strong>. Or would you search the internet for \u201cThe problem with sustainability\u201d? Probably not, so pay attention to short, meaningful but also concise names that you yourself would search for on the net at Google etc.   <\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Notes_for_Seminar_and_Bachelor_Theses\"><\/span>Notes for Seminar and Bachelor Theses<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n<p>In a seminar or bachelor thesis, the empirical chapters are not absolutely necessary. However, the structured literature analysis is also a method that must be described accordingly within the framework of the work. However, this does not have to be as extensive as shown in the previous example.  <\/p>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Status:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><div class=\"wp-block-post-date__modified-date wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2025-07-31T20:27:08+02:00\">31. July 2025<\/time><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The outline is the common thread of every scientific paper and makes it easier for the reader to understand by giving them a logical overview right from the start. I have supervised well over 100 theses, so I have been able to gain extensive experience through this and through my work as a reviewer for [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"iawp_total_views":20,"footnotes":""},"categories":[133,114,132],"tags":[125,126,135,128,123,127],"class_list":["post-2921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-seminar-paper","category-teaching","category-thesis","tag-bachelor-thesis","tag-master-thesis","tag-outline","tag-scientific-work","tag-seminar-paper","tag-thesis"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alexander-zureck.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alexander-zureck.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alexander-zureck.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alexander-zureck.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alexander-zureck.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2921"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alexander-zureck.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2921\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2922,"href":"https:\/\/alexander-zureck.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2921\/revisions\/2922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alexander-zureck.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alexander-zureck.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alexander-zureck.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}