Discussion and Conclusion in Research Manuscript: Difference Explained with Examples
Blog Highlights:
- Discussion section answers the question “WHAT” to let the readers know what the findings of your study exactly mean. It is a detailed interpretation of the data reported in the Results section.
- Conclusion section provide a snapshot of your study implications without delving into the details of the findings interpreted.
- Conclusion can either be a standalone section or a sub-section under Discussion, depending on the study reported and journal’s requirements.
Introduction
The Discussion and Conclusion sections in a research paper are often confusing for authors. Both are meant to bring the paper to a close with interpretations and deductions; yet the contents of these sections vary significantly. This blog explains the best way to write the Discussion section, what should NOT be included in it, and how to avoid overlapping Discussion with Conclusion.
What Should the Discussion Section Include
How to Structure the Discussion Section: 3-Step Approach
Which Tenses Should You Use in Discussion Section
What to Avoid in Discussion Section
Effective Action Points to Write Discussion
How to Write the Conclusion Section
Discussion vs Conclusion: Know the Difference
Final Tips to Write Effective Discussion and Conclusion
What Should the Discussion Section Include
Broad picture
The Discussion section must follow the Results sections in your paper and focus on the larger picture of the purpose of your research. Remember the aims and objectives that were highlighted in the Introduction section? You should revisit them in the Discussion and align the interpretation of your findings with the research aims.
Study limitations
The Discussion section is also the perfect place to recognize the limitations of your study. Explaining the limitations does not signify that your study is flawed. It simply acknowledges that because of certain factors you could not address a few aspects pertaining to your research. However, do not dwell too much on the limitations and emphasize the strengths of your research convincingly before mentioning the limitations.
Future directions
Identifying the limitations can also help you lay the foundation for future research, which should be another key aspect covered in the Discussion. Based on your study’s limitations, you can indicate the potential future lines of investigation you foresee for your research, thereby opening up new avenues for the scientific community to focus on.
How to Structure the Discussion Section: 3-Step Approach
An effective way to structure the Discussion is to start with a statement of your main findings and then broadening the flow of information, like an inverted funnel. Here are 3 simple steps to write the Discussion.
Step 1: State a clear answer to the research question
Start by answering the original research question that you posed in the Introduction to ensure that the reader understands that your study is answering the hypothesis established at the beginning of the paper. This is crucial because the way you formulate this statement determines whether the reader has internalized why your study was important to reach the conclusions interpreted from the findings.
Example: Our study is the first to show that migratory bats respond with positive phototaxis towards green light at night, thus demonstrating that migratory bats are Particularly susceptible to artificial light at night.
Step 2: Support, explain, and defend results
Whatever research findings you have reported in the Results section should be explained and defended clearly in the Discussion section. You need to make sure that your interpretations are evidence based. You can also refer to previously reported literature to support your claims.
Example: Our estimated mortality for those with MDR HAI is higher than those previously published by Sook et al. (2020), probably because we used the 30-day mortality rate rather than in-hospital mortality rate.
Step 3: Establish the importance of findings, implications, and limitations
Next, you need to establish that your study findings contribute significantly to existing literature. Highlight the strengths of your findings and clarify why you reached the conclusions you have discussed. Once the implications are sufficiently highlighted, go on to specify the limitations of the study.
Example 1: Our study highlights the need for public health officials and international health organizations to improve the systems to track and reduce the burden of antimicrobial resistance in low- and middle-income countries.
Example 2: Our study confirms the importance of this species as a leading cause of hospital acquired MDR infection in a developing tropical country.
Example 3: A limitation of this study is that more complete clinical data were not available. In the future, we intend to address this by expanding…
Which Tenses Should You Use in Discussion Section
The Discussion section should ideally use a mix of tenses depending on what is being covered: the findings, the interpretation of the findings, or future scope for your research.
- Past tense: The past tense or the present perfect tense must be used to summarize the research findings. Even though you need not elaborate, the major findings should be briefly mentioned for you to make interpretations.
Past tense is also used when reiterating the research objectives at the beginning of the Discussion.
Example: We tested whether X responds… - Present tense: Any interpretation or conclusion drawn from the findings to show the significance of your results must be written in the present tense.
Example: These findings confirm our hypothesis that… - Future tense: Use future tense when making recommendations for further research or to indicate a future course of action based on your study’s findings.
Example: To address this shortcoming, we will explore the possibility of…
What to Avoid in Discussion Section
Here’s a checklist of DO’s and DON’Ts in a Discussion section.
| DO |
| a) Include the importance of your study b) Explain your results in the context of existing literature c) Highlight the strengths of your study’s contribution d) Specify the limitations of your study e) Mention the potential future lines of investigation |
| DON’T |
| a) Simply write another Introduction! b) Repeat the results or introduce new findings c) Exaggerate or over-generalize the results d) Criticize other studies to make your study look good |
Effective Action Points to Write Discussion
| Action | Ways to address the action | Sample sentences |
| 1. Providing background information | a) Reference to literature | a) Prior studies have noted the importance of…. |
| b) Reference to research question | b) With respect to the first research question, it was found that… | |
| 2. Restating, comparing, and explaining results | a) Summarizing results | a) The results of this study show/indicate that… |
| b) Supporting/contradicting previous findings | b) This finding is consistent with that of Hopps et al. (2019)… OR This finding contradicts the results of Hopps et al. (2019), who found that… | |
| c) Indicating an unexpected outcome | c) One unanticipated finding was that… | |
| d) Justifying the findings with a rational explanation | d) This discrepancy could be attributed to… | |
| 3. Advising cautious interpretation of findings | Being cautious to avoid misinterpreting results | Although exclusion of X did not…, these results should be interpreted with caution |
| 4. Suggesting general hypothesis | Drawing informed conclusions | Therefore, it is likely that connections exist between X and Y… |
How to Write the Conclusion Section
Placement of Conclusions
The conclusions from your research should be presented either in a separate Conclusion section or at the end of the Discussion section. The placement of conclusions depends on your own discretion or even the target journal requirements.
- If journals say that the Conclusion must be a separate section, add it after the Discussion.
- If the journal does not specify this or recommends merging conclusions with discussion, you may keep it as a sub-section under Discussion.
What Should You Write in Conclusion
This is where your research wraps up! And here are a few key points to include in your Conclusion section:
- By the time readers reach the conclusions, they are familiar with all information about your research. So, start by restarting your research problem succinctly.
- Include ONLY the key findings of your study in a persuasive manner without repeating all the results.
- The final take-home message should be clear and simple, without exaggerations.
- You can specify both short-term and long-term implications of your study.
- Acknowledge the study limitation in a single sentence rather than explaining in detail. And then you may end the Conclusion with the scope for future research and the potential opportunities for investigations on your chosen topic.
What NOT to Write in Conclusion
- Do not introduce new arguments or data in Conclusion.
- Avoid oversimplifying the implications.
- Do not draw conclusions that are not directly based on evidence.
- Avoid making tall claims regarding future research directions. Be realistic and reasonable when recommending the anticipated lines of investigation.
Discussion vs Conclusion: Know the Difference
Here’s a snapshot of Discussion vs Conclusion:
| Discussion | Conclusion |
| Interpret the findings reported under Results | Restate the research hypothesis/research problem/research aim |
| Compare results with previous results or existing literature. Explain unexpected results (if any) with proper justifications | Highlight ONLY the key findings without reiterating the details |
| Discuss the study’s limitations in detail | Briefly highlight the study limitation |
| Explain the importance/significance of your research | Underscore the research’s strengths and contribution |
| Include potential lines of investigation with details | Mention future research directions |
Final Tips to Write Effective Discussion and Conclusion
- Explain what the results mean and highlight why they are important
- Compare your findings with previously reported results. If there are contradictory results, justify it with a thorough explanation.
- If some results failed to attain statistical significance but you manage to identify trends, you could explain whether the difference is coincidental.
- Describe how your study has contributed to moving the scientific knowledge forward.
- Outline the limitations of your work and suggest future lines of investigation.
- Sum up the Discussion with key conclusions without exaggerating. Avoid undue speculation and keep your interpretations evidence based.
- Ensure that the take-home message is clear for the readers.
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