Acknowledgements in Research Paper: Examples & Tips

Acknowledgement is a special section dedicated to appreciating personalities, funding bodies, organizations, and more for their input during the course of creating the paper. This page usually comes before the bibliography, references or after the conclusion. 

To write acknowledgements in research paper you should:

• identify the main contributors;
• be sincere;
• write carefully and professionally;
• be concise;
• carefully proofread.

Many students struggle to write a perfect acknowledgement. This article will provide you with useful information for writing the acknowledgement section in research papers.

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Who to Acknowledge in a Research Paper?

From supervisors to collaborators, many people contribute to a successful acknowledgement. However, students are often confused about whom to express gratitude to in academic papers. Below are some significant categories to acknowledge when compiling your research:

Who to acknowledge primarily consists of those listed above. However, students should learn how to prioritize their rankings, with the first starting with the advisors/ supervisors.

Professional Acknowledgements

Overlooking those who professionally assisted you during your research, proofreading and other aspects may be unfair. As such, you must show appreciation by mentioning their name. Before you begin writing, it's helpful to create a clear table of contents for your research paper, ensuring that acknowledgements are properly placed and easy to locate. Consider minding the following tips when writing your professional acknowledgements. 

• Using titles appropriately. Write full names and other academic qualifications properly to follow academic conventions. 
• Mention group members collectively if they helped you during the research process. Avoid naming or listing them one by one. 
• Thank anyone who helped you when compiling your professional acknowledgement, whether directly or indirectly, to avoid partial snubbing. 
• Identify private persons with their first name only. You may also genetically identify them with titles like “interviewee.” Ethical considerations are a significant part of an excellent professional acknowledgement. So always remember them around anonymized data. 

Personal Acknowledgements

Mentioning everyone, even family members, in personal acknowledgements is unnecessary. But if someone specially offered motivation or provided financial support, you can be specific with their names. Students often thank their parents, partners, and colleagues, but you can be specific with some names if they encouraged you or offered moral support while carrying out the research process. 

Some also choose to dedicate their academic writing to a “late” person or someone who has significantly influenced them. It is better to acknowledge people in cases like these, even before professionally acknowledging anyone.

How to Write Acknowledgements for Research Paper?

After compiling the lists of those you would express your deepest gratitude to, you may consider ranking the entities. One of the best ways to go about this is by sorting and separating them into different “thanks” categories, which are, major, big, and minor. 

• Major thanks: If you have lists of persons who you think your research would almost be impossible without them, they belong to this category. Predominantly, major thanks are for professional acknowledgements or those who financially assisted you, such as institutions or funding sources. 

• Big thanks: This specific appreciation is for those who intellectually contributed to the growth and success of your research. Big thanks are usually in between major and minor. A few persons belonging to this category include coursemates, support staff, librarians, or peers. 

• Minor thanks: This is a kind of “catch-all” appreciation for everyone else when writing your acknowledgement section. People who offer moral support or encourage you during the research process belong to this category. They usually come in personal acknowledgements. They include your parents, spouse, pets, and so on who do not meet authorship criteria. 

You may have a dull and redundant acknowledgement section if you don't know how to come up with it. This is why you should consider changing your phrasing. Below are the commonly used sentence starters for any of the categories of “thanks” discussed above.

It is pertinent to state that writing any kind of summary or conclusion at the end of the acknowledgement is not necessary. A better way to end your acknowledgement in research paper is to say thank you. 

Acknowledgements Dos and Don’ts

Some dos and don'ts can help your acknowledgement stand out. Check out what to do and what not to do below: 

Dos:

• Use professional terms and formal language. Ensure to write in first-person.
• Your professional contacts must come first when acknowledging or thanking people. 
• Write names in full, titles, and professional acknowledgement roles. 
• Mention and acknowledge supporters, whether animate or inanimate.  
• If you've received funds or scholarships from funding sources, mention and acknowledge them. 
• Acknowledge groups, participants, or non-individuals.

Don’ts:

• Include any informal language or slang in your journal manuscripts.
• Talk about people who cared less or contributed less to your academic writing. 
• Go over one page in length.

Example of Acknowledgement in Research Paper

A good example of acknowledgement can help you draft the best acknowledgement section. This will help you merge ideal sentences to show gratitude to those who deserve it. When you have a good example of acknowledgement , it helps you to be more direct and concise. 

Example of Acknowledgement in a Research Paper

Example of Acknowledgement in a Research Paper

The acknowledgement example in the PDF file shows a simple sentence construction starter (highlighted in green). The next (yellow highlights) sentences indicated personalities, while the (red highlights) the reason or role. 

Purpose of an Acknowledgement in Research Paper

Acknowledgement in research paper has many purposes. Some of these are:

• Gratitude expressions: This helps to expressly appreciate bodies and individuals for their inputs, such as morals or finances, to ensure your project's success. 

• Appreciating efforts and contributions: The acknowledgement section appreciates people's contributions and efforts who may not have directly authored the project but significantly contributed to its success. It helps to thank and recognize their efforts. 

• Ethical considerations: Recognizing and appreciating other researchers is an ethical practice that promotes honesty and transparency. It is also an integral part of avoiding conflict of interest.

Role of an Acknowledgement in Research Paper

From building relationships between the research and administrative staff to improving integrity, an acknowledgement section has several roles to play.

• It serves as a thoughtful hook that highlights the importance of gratitude and recognition in academic work.

• Acknowledgement helps to polish positive relationships with people who morally, financially, and intellectually assisted you in your project. Acknowledging them shows you don't undermine their input and also build goodwill to work with them at a later date. 

• Fine-tuning academic integrity: The acknowledgement section fine-tunes existing academic integrity. It helps to give honour and credit to those who deserve it. It is a good way to avoid misinterpretation or intellectual theft. 

• Credibility: An acknowledgement section helps to promote credibility among the author and co author. It also fosters the job’s readability, support, and feedback from reliable sources. 

Sum Up

We round up our acknowledgement in a research paper guide by summing up the primary steps you need to create an ideal acknowledgement section 

• Outline your document 
• Create ideal headings 
• Choose page numbers 
• Professionally structure your work
• Work with the best available software 

If you're struggling to come up with the above-recommended formatting for your acknowledgement section, always remember that DoMyEssay is an ideal service to help you. We have many experienced writers for super fast delivery for your crafting research and other academic works. 

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