ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC &

PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES
L3| WRITING CONCEPT PAPER: ART OF DEFINING

What is concept paper in research?

A concept paper in research or academia refers to a critical and detailed summary of a research project by
reflecting the interest and issues pertinent to a particular academic field or study. In academia, concept papers are usually
written by a university student who is on the verge of conducting a research. A concept paper outlines the research about
to be conducted with the purpose to have a structured goal and direction while conducting research.

Concept papers are also known to be rare proposals, which on average consists of 5000 words or less and is
considered the first crucial step in proposal development. It is written by a professional, student, or a researcher in an
institution or organization with the intention of providing a brief summary about a research project during the course of
being conducted. It forms an assessment of an idea in a balanced manner, giving an in-depth explanation of a particular
idea.

What is a concept paper in general?

1. It clarifies a concept: Dissecting or breaking ideas into parts to give a collective idea about a concept.
2. It conveys the essence of an idea and explains it.

Point of view

There are two types of point of view in a concept paper

• Subjective (personal) – light, informal, familiar, or literary: This point of view is usually found in
newspaper articles where the information presented is informal for the reason that the
audience can understand the language easily and enjoy having a brief overview or general
idea about a particular subject without the need to emphasize deep learning. For example, articles
that present concepts related to everyday living, such as inspirational philosophy written with the
purpose to correlate with the common man.

• Objective (impersonal) – serious, formal, or literary: Objective point of view refers to

information that is mostly part of academic journals, academic books, and scholarly
magazines that are written and presented in a highly analytical tone. For example, journal
essays, articles based on philosophy, or any subject related to the academic discipline that is written
with the purpose of study and reflects subject matter expertise, contributing to scientific discussions and
theories. It involves enumerating of parts, structure, levels, stages, etc. of the concept being dealt
with, as well as explaining of various supporting details and stating of implications.

How to create a concept paper?

A concept paper requires an academic format to structure and follow in order to explain a concept appropriately. The
following consists of 11 fundamental ways on how a writer can explain an idea or concept in a professional and organized
manner.

1. Defining: Giving the meaning of the concept

2. Describing: Characterizing the concept by providing its characteristics.
3. Comparing: Equating with other concepts to ascertain similarities between concepts.
4. Making an analogy: This is similar to comparing, but also includes any deduction about of what has been compared.
5. Contrasting: Pairing or linking it with another concept with the purpose of identifying the differences between the
concepts.
6. Classifying: Arranging concepts into groups, based on ways they are alike.
7. Illustrating: Giving proof or evidence, so the reader could understand the concept.
8. Narrating: Talking about the concept elaborately in a narrative manner.
9. Explaining a process: Explaining the different aspects of the process.
10. Analyzing cause and effect: Giving a critical explanation about the causes and effects of the idea or concept.
11. Listing: Enumerating, trying to take a rundown about what these kinds of concepts are.

What is concept paper in research?

A concept paper in research or academia refers to a critical and detailed summary of a research project by
reflecting the interest and issues pertinent to a particular academic field or study. In academia, concept papers are usually
written by a university student who is on the verge of conducting a research. A concept paper outlines the research about
to be conducted with the purpose to have a structured goal and direction while conducting research.

Concept papers are also known to be rare proposals, which on average consists of 5000 words or less and is
considered the first crucial step in proposal development. It is written by a professional, student, or a researcher in an
institution or organization with the intention of providing a brief summary about a research project during the course of
being conducted. It forms an assessment of an idea in a balanced manner, giving an in-depth explanation of a particular
idea.

Outline for an Academic Research Paper

I. TITLE PAGE contains
o Research title
o Name and school
o Date of submission
II. BACKGROUND of the STUDY contains
o State the field you are researching on
o State the problems to be addressed by the research, provide statistics and previous studies to prove your
claim
o Reasons in conducting the research
III. PRELIMINARY LITERATURE REVIEW contains
o Provide theoretical framework
o Provide major related literature review at least 5
o Provide brief synthesis of the reviewed literature and studies.
IV. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM/OBJECTIVES contains
o State the general problem in one sentence
o State your specific research questions or objectives.
V. METHODOLOGY contains
o Context and participants of the study
o Instruments to be used
o Data collection procedures
o Data analysis scheme to be used
VI. TIMELINE contains
o Duration of the research (Gantt chart)
VII. REFERENCE contains
o List of books, journals, and other resources cited in your paper