Share your findings
You did the research — now tell the world. Writing it up clearly and honestly is what turns your work into real science that others can understand, trust, and build on. It's also how your project makes it into the YRP journal.
Research isn't finished until it's shared. This step is about communicating what you did and what you found so that a stranger could follow your reasoning, trust your evidence, and even repeat your study. Good research writing isn't fancy — it's clear, honest, and well-organized. Nail that, and your project is ready for the world.
The shape of a research report
Almost every research paper follows the same six-part skeleton. The good news: you've already done the thinking for each part in the earlier steps. Tap each to see what goes inside.
A clear title, then a short paragraph (the abstract) summarizing the whole thing: your question, what you did, what you found, and what it means. Write it last, once you know the story.
Your question and why it matters — plus a quick tour of what's already known (straight from your Step 2 literature review). End with exactly what you set out to find.
Exactly what you did (from Step 3), in enough detail that someone else could repeat it: your design, sample, materials, and procedure. Write it in the past tense.
What you found (from Step 5) — the numbers, charts, and themes, with no spin. Just report what happened here; save the meaning for the next section.
What it all means for your question, how it fits with what others found, your limitations (be honest!), and what someone could study next. This is where your interpretation lives.
A full list of every source you cited, in a consistent citation style. This is how you give credit and let readers trace your work back to the evidence.
Write so a stranger gets it
You know your project inside out — your reader doesn't. Write for someone smart who's never heard of it.
- Lead with the point. Say what you found, then explain — don't bury it at the end.
- Plain words win. Use the simplest word that's accurate, and define any term you must use.
- One idea per paragraph. If a paragraph is doing two jobs, split it.
- Let charts do the heavy lifting. A good figure beats a paragraph of numbers.
- Cut the fluff. Shorter is almost always clearer. Delete words that don't earn their place.
Is your write-up ready to share?
Before you hit submit, run it through these six checks. The more it passes, the more polished and trustworthy it reads.
Honesty and giving credit
The fastest way to sink a good project is to cut corners here. Two rules, no exceptions.
Cite everything, invent nothing
Put every borrowed idea in your own words and cite where it came from — copying without credit is plagiarism, even by accident. And never fudge or make up data to get a cleaner result; an honest “it didn't work” is worth far more than an impressive lie. Not sure if you've paraphrased closely enough? Run your draft through the Originality Checker first.
Share it with the world
A finished project that nobody sees is a missed opportunity. Put your work where people can read it.
The YRP Journal
Submit your write-up to be published alongside other students' research. It's free, and it's exactly what this journal is for.
Fairs & competitions
Science fairs, essay contests, and research competitions love a well-documented project like yours.
Your school & teachers
Present in class, to a club, or to the teacher who mentored you. Practice explaining it out loud.
Online
A blog post or a shared doc lets anyone find and build on your work — and shows off what you did.
Traps beginners fall into
- Overclaiming — saying more than your data supports.
- Hiding limitations or the results that didn't fit.
- A wall of text with no charts to break it up or show the pattern.
- Jargon that hides your meaning instead of sharpening it.
- Forgetting citations — or copying wording without credit.
- Never actually sharing it. A finished project in a drawer helps no one.
Pro tip · the stranger test
Hand your draft to someone who knows nothing about your topic. If they can explain back what you did and found, it's clear. If they get stuck, that's exactly where to rewrite. And remember: done and shared beats perfect and hidden — get it out there.
That's the whole process.
You went from a vague curiosity to a finished, shared piece of real research — question, background, method, data, analysis, and a write-up. That's exactly what researchers do. Now go get it published.