John Sydney Vinuya 12-C EAPP

WHAT IS A CONCEPT PAPER?

- The Concept Paper provides an opportunity to disclose new ideas early in their gestation period and before full
validation. Concept Papers should be brief and contain a maximum of 2500 words and 1-3 figures and/or tables.
The format of Concept Papers should be similar to regular papers, and must contain an abstract and keywords
section, with the length and detail of the remaining sections adapted to focus on the novelty of the contribution.
This can best be achieved by writing in a direct style and only incorporating background and experimental
details as seems sufficient to disclose the concept to readers familiar with the general subject matter.

- Concept Papers will be subject to the regular review process of the journal with every effort made to expedite
the review process in keeping with the limited length set for these contributions. Comments on Concept Papers
by readers of the journal is encouraged in the form of a Discussion Paper, as it is current practice for regular
papers.

HOW TO WRITE A CONCEPT PAPER?

1. Come up with a research topic that genuinely interests you. The research topic should span areas that interest
you as an individual and are still relevant to your area of study or course.

2. Write down the research questions you need to research on depending on the idea you have chosen. You can
come up with as many questions as possible. The more the questions, the longer your research paper will be as
it will seek to answer each of them.

- Exploratory questions, where you want to find out more about the topic under study,

- Explanatory question, where your aim is to explore the relationship or lack thereof between two or more
variables, and

- Descriptive questions such as determining the averages, means, and modes of a variable or variables in the
topic under study.

3. Develop a research hypothesis from each of the research questions that you have listed. A hypothesis, also
known as a thesis or theses in plural, is a tentative, usually informed or educated guess about a certain scenario.
It is referred to as ‘an educated or informed guess’ as it is based on some prior knowledge about the topic either
by some pre-known theory, or a previous research you may have carried out.
4. Identify the kind of data you need to answer these hypothetical questions and how you will gather the data.

- Depending on the type of research you are carrying out, data that you may need may include actual numbers,
averages, and so on. Data can either be primary or secondary, qualitative or quantitative.

- Primary data is first-hand information obtained from the ground, for example, by carrying out interviews and
site visits.

- Secondary data is second-hand information obtained from reading books, watching news, videos, the internet,
and other already documented material.

- Qualitative data is based on subjective factors such as people’s opinions, while quantitative data is based on
actual numbers and is, therefore, more objective.

5. Identify how you will analyze, interpret, and present the data. Come up with conclusive and tangible
evidence to prove or disprove all the hypotheses you had stated earlier. Methods of data analysis include the use
of statistical analysis such as mean, totals, income, or the general relationship between variables which can be
enhanced by the use of graphical methods where possible.

6. Ending with a project summary helps the sponsor retrospect and put each component of your project into
perspective.
Anne Patricia Espiritu 12-C EAPP

• WHAT IS A CONCEPT PAPER?

The concept paper, the research proposal, and the research report are all parts of a
formulated research project that culminates in a final research paper. The concept paper is
the initial writing step of the research project in which you gather your initial thoughts. The
concept paper allows you to think about and record what the core questions and focal
components of your research project are.

All research projects need a concept paper: a short summary that tells the reader what the
project is, why it is important, and how it will be carried out. Even if no one else ever reads it,
the concept paper helps researcher spot holes in her or his project that might later prove
fatal. It is far better to be clear at the beginning than to put in a lot of effort for nothing!

• HOW TO WRITE A CONCEPT PAPER?

1. Grab your reader’s attention. Concept papers are meant to persuade sponsors,
convincing them to fund or adopt your idea. This means it’s critical to “hook” them right at
the beginning. Giving your concept paper a descriptive title.

2. The concept paper should be neat and tidy.

3. Describe the problem your project addresses. The next section of a concept paper will
devote a few sentences or short paragraphs to the specific purpose of your project.
Describe the problem you want to solve, and illustrate how you know it exists.

4. Put the problem in context to explain why it matters. Show how your project relates to
current issues, questions, or problems. Statistics and other numerical data can help build a
convincing case for why your problem matters. Some readers might also be moved by
narratives or personal stories, so consider including those as well.

5. Include a timeline. You can’t expect a donor or foundation to be willing to fund a

completely open-ended project. Part of your concept paper should explain the projected
timeline for implementing your project.

6. Share the basics of your method. Even if readers are convinced you have identified an
issue that matters, they’ll still want to know that you have an idea for how to solve or
investigate it. Spend some time in your concept paper describing the methods you will use.

7. Giving detailed examples. How you would review your project at different stages would
show your sponsors that you are serious about your project. This would lend credibility to your
paper as well.