Studying an entire culture while immersed within it.
Qualitative research seeks to understanding some aspect of social life, and its methods (usually) generate words, rather than numbers, as data for analysis. These research methods seek to understand the experiences and attitudes of the people being studied. They answer questions about the “what,” “how, “ or “why” of a phenomenon rather than “how many” or “how much,” which are answered by quantitative methods.
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Structure of typical research article.
The basic structure of a typical research paper includes Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion. Each section addresses a different objective.
A substantial study will sometimes include a literature review section which discusses previous works on the topic. The basic structure is outlined below:
Sources consulted.
Anatomy of a Scholarly Article: NCSU Libraries . (2009, July 13). https://www.lib.ncsu.edu/tutorials/scholarly-articles/
Evelyn, S. (2021). LibGuides: Evaluating Information: How to Read a Scholarly Article . https://libguides.brown.edu/evaluate/ Read
Rempel, H. (2021). LibGuides: FW 107: Orientation to Fisheries and Wildlife: 5. The Anatomy of a Scholarly Article . https://guides.library.oregonstate.edu/ c.php?g=286038&p=1905154
Tutorial: elements of a research article.
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When you write a research paper, many instructors will ask you to find scholarly research articles as a basis for your research. A scholarly research article presents original research and is written and reviewed by experts in a field. A typical scholarly research article has several sections that can include the:
Bibliography or reference list, definitions.
Each part of the research article above has a specific purpose for the reader.
The abstract is a succinct summary of a research article, usually only a paragraph long. The abstract should tell readers whether an article will be useful for their research.
The introduction gives background information on the topic or problems that the research article addresses. The introduction usually includes a problem statement, which describes a specific problem that the researchers are trying to solve. The introduction can also include a literature review, intended to critically evaluate material that has been published on a certain topic or research problem. A literature review is often included as a separate section within a research article.
In the Methods section of a research article, the researchers describe the design of their study and how it was carried out. This may include a description of any instrument used to collect quantitative or qualitative data, the sample or participants, how data was gathered, and any statistical analysis of data.
The Results section of a research article reports the findings of the study, whether they come from quantitative or qualitative measures. In this section the findings are presented to the reader, but it does not include an interpretation of the findings
In the Discussion section, researchers interpret the findings of the study and comment on whether the study answered the problem/s it was attempting to solve. Researchers may also discuss the limitations of the study and suggestions for further research.
The bibliography or references section is a list of all the resources cited within the body of the article.
| Brief summary of the article. |
States the topic, purpose, and argument of the article. | |
Mentions steps taken to support argument of the article. | |
Shares results of the research. | |
Analyzes and talks about the findings of the research. | |
Synthesizes the article's findings and argument. | |
List of cited sources. |
Click on image to view full page
Publication, introduction, charts, graphs, etc., article text, methods or methodology.
Knowing about the different sections of a scholarly article and the type of information presented in each section, will make it easier to understand what the article is about. Also, reading specific parts or sections of an article can help save you time as you decide whether an article is relevant.
The title of a scholarly article is generally (but not always) an extremely brief summary of the article's contents. It will usually contain technical terms related to the research presented.
Authors and their credentials will be provided in a scholarly article. Credentials may appear with the authors' names, as in this example, or they may appear as a footnote or an endnote to the article. The authors' credentials are provided to establish the authority of the authors, and also to provide a point of contact for the research presented in the article. For this reason, authors' e-mail addresses are usually provided in recent articles.
On the first page of an article you will usually find the journal title, volume/issue numbers, if applicable, and page numbers of the article. This information is necessary for you to write a citation of the article for your paper.
The information is not always neatly outlined at the bottom of the first page; it may be spread across the header and footer of the first page, or across the headers or footers of opposite pages, and for some online versions of articles, it may not be present at all.
The abstract is a brief summary of the contents of the article, usually under 250 words. It will contain a description of the problem and problem setting; an outline of the study, experiment, or argument; and a summary of the conclusions or findings. It is provided so that readers examining the article can decide quickly whether the article meets their needs.
The introduction to a scholarly article describes the topic or problem the authors researched. The authors will present the thesis of their argument or the goal of their research. The introduction may also discuss the relevance or importance of the research question.
An overview of related research and findings, called a literature review, may appear in the introduction, though the literature review may be in its own section.
Scholarly articles frequently contain charts, graphs, equations, and statistical data related to the research. Pictures are rare unless they relate directly to the research presented in the article.
The body of an article is usually presented in sections, including an introduction , a literature review , one or more sections describing and analyzing the argument, experiment or study.
Scientific research articles typically include separate sections addressing the methods and results of the experiment, and a discussion of the research findings.
Articles typically close with a conclusion summarizing the findings.
The parts of the article may or may not be labeled, and two or more sections may be combined in a single part of the text. The text itself is typically highly technical, and assumes a familiarity with the topic. Jargon, abbreviations, and technical terms are used without definition.
The methods section of a scholarly article generally outlines the experimental design, the materials, and the methods (procedures) of the experiment.
The results section of a scholarly article is generally devoted to discussing the type of analysis conducted regarding the data as well as the results.
A scholarly article will end with a conclusion, where the authors summarize the results of their research. The authors may also discuss how their findings relate to other scholarship, or encourage other researchers to extend or follow up on their work.
The discussion of a scholarly article generally includes a description of how the study contributes to the existing body of research, an analysis of the research questions and hypotheses, and a discussion of the research in connection to the real world.
Most scholarly articles contain many references to publications by other authors. You will find these references scattered throughout the text of the article, as footnotes at the bottom of the page, or endnotes at the end of the article.
Most papers provide a list of references at the end of the paper. Each reference listed there corresponds to one of the citations provided in the body of the paper. You can use this list of references to find additional scholarly articles and books on your topic.
Research methods.
Here is a citation for a journal article from a library database:
Here is the first page of that article as it appears in the journal:
The first few paragraphs of a journal article serve to introduce the topic, to provide the author's hypothesis or thesis, and to indicate why the research was done. A thesis or hypothesis is not always clearly labled; you may need to read through the introductory paragraphs to determine what the authors are proposing.
This section of the article describes the procedures, or methods, that were used to carry out the research study. The methodology the authors follow will vary according to the discipline, or field of study, the research relates to. Types of methodology include case studies, scientific experiments, field studies, focus groups, and surveys.
This section gives discussion, conclusions, or implications, of the research. Here, the authors summarize what the results of the research might mean to the field, how the research addresses the original hypothesis, weaknesses of the study, and recommendations for future research about the topic.
Typically, the names of the academic or research institutions the authors are affiliated with will be stated on the first page of the journal article, either near the author's names, or lower on the page.
Abstracts are often written by the author or authors of the article. The abstract provides a concise summary of the research, including its purpose, significant results, and implications of the results. Reading the abstract can be a good way to determine whether the article is suitable for your needs. The abstract appears on the first page of the journal article, and may or may not be labeled. As a general rule, you only will find abstracts on papers of five or more pages in length.
A literature review describes previous research or discussion that has been published on the topic. This review of the literature can provide a good overview of the topic and will outline what other researchers have found. The passage below shows references to the work of other researchers throughout the text, with their names and the year their research was published in parenthetical citations.
This section gives all of the data that was collected as a result of the research. Typically, results are reported in statistical terms, often in the form of tables, charts, and graphs.
The list of references, or works cited, provides publication information for all of the materials the authors used in the article. The references list can be a good way to identify additional sources of information on the topic.
The information contained on this page comes from a Research Guide entitled, "How to Read an Article in a Scholarly Journal" from Cuyuga Community College's library: http://libguides.cayuga-cc.edu/c.php?g=172035&p=1134040
419-783-2481 , library@ defiance.edu , click the purple "ask us" side tab above.
Training videos | Faqs
PhD students are expected to write and publish research papers to validate their research work and findings. Writing your first research paper can seem like a daunting task at the start but must be done to validate your work. If you are a beginner writer new to academic writing or a non-native English speaker then it might seem like a daunting process at inception. The best way to begin writing a research paper is to learn about the research paper structure needed in your field, as this may vary between fields. Producing a research paper structure first with various headings and subheadings will significantly simplify the writing process. In this blog, we explain the basic structure of a research paper and explain its various components. We elaborate on various parts and sections of a research paper. We also provide guidance to produce a research paper structure for your work through word cloud diagrams that illustrate various topics and sub-topics to be included under each section. We recommend you to refer to our other blogs on academic writing tools , academic writing resources , and academic phrase-bank , which are relevant to the topic discussed in this blog.
The Introduction section is one of the most important sections of a research paper. The introduction section should start with a brief outline of the topic and then explain the nature of the problem at hand and why it is crucial to resolve this issue. This section should contain a literature review that provides relevant background information about the topic. The literature review should touch upon seminal and pioneering works in the field and the most recent studies pertinent to your work.
The literature review should end with a few lines about the research gap in the chosen domain. This is where you explain the lack of adequate research about your chosen topic and make a case for the need for more research. This is an excellent place to define the research question or hypothesis. The last part of the introduction should be about your work. Having established the research gap now, you have to explain how you intend to solve the problem and subsequently introduce your approach. You should provide a clear outline that includes both the primary and secondary aims/objectives of your work. You can end the section by providing how the rest of the paper is organized. When you are working on the research paper structure use the word cloud diagrams as a guidance.
The Materials and methods section of the research paper should include detailed information about the implementation details of your method. This should be written in such a way that it is reproducible by any person conducting research in the same field. This section should include all the technical details of the experimental setup, measurement procedure, and parameters of interest. It should also include details of how the methods were validated and tested prior to their use. It is recommended to use equations, figures, and tables to explain the workings of the method proposed. Add placeholders for figures and tables with dummy titles while working on the research paper structure.
Suppose your methodology involves data collection and recruitment. In that case, you should provide information about the sample size, population characteristics, interview process, and recruitment methods. It should also include the details of the consenting procedure and inclusion and exclusion criteria. This section can end with various statistical methods used for data analysis and significance testing.
Results and Discussion section of the research paper should be the concluding part of your research paper. In the results section, you can explain your experiments’ outcome by presenting adequate scientific data to back up your conclusions. You must interpret the scientific data to your readers by highlighting the key findings of your work. You also provide information on any negative and unexpected findings that came out of your work. It is vital to present the data in an unbiased manner. You should also explain how the current results compare with previously published data from similar works in the literature.
In the discussion section, you should summarize your work and explain how the research work objectives were achieved. You can highlight the benefits your work will bring to the overall scientific community and potential practical applications. You must not introduce any new information in this section; you can only discuss things that have already been mentioned in the paper. The discussion section must talk about your work’s limitations; no scientific work is perfect, and some drawbacks are expected. If there are any inconclusive results in your work, you can present your theories about what might have caused it. You have to end your paper with conclusions and future work . In conclusion, you can restate your aims and objectives and summarize your main findings, preferably in two or three lines. You should also lay out your plans for future work and explain how further research will benefit the research domain. Finally, you can also add ‘Acknowledgments’ and ‘References’ sections to the research paper structure for completion.
In this blog, we will look at some examples of good and bad research questions and learn how to formulate a strong research question.
In this blog, we will go through many research question examples and understand how to construct a strong research question for your paper.
In this blog, we will look at five common mistakes to avoid while writing the methodology section of your research paper.
In this blog, we will go through many materials and methods examples and understand how to write a clear and concise method section for your research paper.
In this blog, we will explain how to write a survey questionnaire paper and discuss all the important points to consider while writing the research paper.
In this blog, we will go through many results section examples and understand how to write a great results section for your paper.
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Parts of an article.
The academic articles that you will find and use can be difficult to understand and use if you are unfamiliar with the formalized way they are assembled. Therefore, it is very important that you understand that academic/peer-reviewed/scholarly articles have a conventional structure, one that cuts across disciplines. The overwhelming majority of academic articles are broken down into sections with subheadings and make similar rhetorical moves in the same order. Knowing what this structure is and what important information is contained in each section will save you a great deal of confusion. The more frequently you practice navigating such articles in your discipline, the easier they will become for you to decipher. We will now look at the these sections and at what they contain. Then, in a research toolbox, we will look at some representative articles and their sections so that you can see how they all use a structure that recurs across the disciplines.
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Nearly all journal articles are divided into the following major sections: abstract, introduction, methods, results, discussion, and references or literature cited. Usually the sections are labeled as such, although often the introduction (and sometimes the abstract) is not labeled. Sometimes alternative section titles are used. The abstract is sometimes called the "summary", the methods are sometimes called "materials and methods", and the discussion is sometimes called "conclusions". Some journals also include the minor sections of "key words" following the abstract, and "acknowledgments" following the discussion. In some journals, the sections may be divided into subsections that are given descriptive titles. However, the general division into the six major sections is nearly universal.
The abstract is a short summary (150-200 words or less) of the important points of the paper. It does not generally include background information. There may be a very brief statement of the rationale for conducting the study. It describes what was done, but without details. It also describes the results in a summarized way that usually includes whether or not the statistical tests were significant. It usually concludes with a brief statement of the importance of the results. Abstracts do not include references. When writing a paper, the abstract is always the last part to be written.
The purpose of the abstract is to allow potential readers of a paper to find out the important points of the paper without having to actually read the paper. It should be a self-contained unit capable of being understood without the benefit of the text of the article . It essentially serves as an "advertisement" for the paper that readers use to determine whether or not they actually want to wade through the entire paper or not. Abstracts are generally freely available in electronic form and are often presented in the results of an electronic search. If searchers do not have electronic access to the journal in which the article is published, the abstract is the only means that they have to decide whether to go through the effort (going to the library to look up the paper journal, requesting a reprint from the author, buying a copy of the article from a service, requesting the article by Interlibrary Loan) of acquiring the article. Therefore it is important that the abstract accurately and succinctly presents the most important information in the article.
The introduction section of a paper provides the background information necessary to understand why the described experiment was conducted. The introduction should describe previous research on the topic that has led to the unanswered questions being addressed by the experiment and should cite important previous papers that form the background for the experiment. The introduction should also state in an organized fashion the goals of the research, i.e. the particular, specific questions that will be tested in the experiments. There should be a one-to-one correspondence between questions raised in the introduction and points discussed in the conclusion section of the paper. In other words, do not raise questions in the introduction unless you are going to have some kind of answer to the question that you intend to discuss at the end of the paper.
You may have been told that every paper must have a hypothesis that can be clearly stated. That is often true, but not always. If your experiment involves a manipulation which tests a specific hypothesis, then you should clearly state that hypothesis. On the other hand, if your experiment was primarily exploratory, descriptive, or measurative, then you probably did not have an a priori hypothesis, so don't pretend that you did and make one up. (See the discussion in the introduction to Experiment 5 for more on this.) If you state a hypothesis in the introduction, it should be a general hypothesis and not a null or alternative hypothesis for a statistical test. If it is necessary to explain how a statistical test will help you evaluate your general hypothesis, explain that in the methods section.
A good introduction should be fairly heavy with citations. This indicates to the reader that the authors are informed about previous work on the topic and are not working in a vacuum. Citations also provide jumping-off points to allow the reader to explore other tangents to the subject that are not directly addressed in the paper. If the paper supports or refutes previous work, readers can look up the citations and make a comparison for themselves.
"Do not get lost in reviewing background information. Remember that the Introduction is meant to introduce the reader to your research, not summarize and evaluate all past literature on the subject (which is the purpose of a review paper). Many of the other studies you may be tempted to discuss in your Introduction are better saved for the Discussion, where they become a powerful tool for comparing and interpreting your results. Include only enough background information to allow your reader to understand why you are asking the questions you are and why your hypotheses are reasonable ones. Often, a brief explanation of the theory involved is sufficient.
Write this section in the past or present tense, never in the future. " (Steingraber et al. 1985)
In other words, the introduction section relates what the topic being investigated is, why it is important, what research (if any) has been done prior that is relevant to what you are trying to do, and in what ways you will be looking into this topic.
An example to think about:
This is an example of a student-derived introduction. Read the paragraph and before you go beyond, think about the paragraph first.
"Hand-washing is one of the most effective and simplest of ways to reduce infection and disease, and thereby causing less death. When examining the effects of soap on hands, it was the work of Sickbert-Bennett and colleagues (2005) that showed that using soap or an alcohol on the hands during hand-washing was a significant effect in removing bacteria from the human hand. Based on the work of this, the team led by Larsen (1991) then showed that the use of computer imaging could be a more effective way to compare the amount of bacteria on a hand."
There are several aspects within this "introduction" that could use improvement. A group of any random 4 of you could easily come up with at 10 different things to reword, revise, expand upon.
In specific, there should be one thing addressed that more than likely you did not catch when you were reading it.
The citations: Not the format, but the logical use of them.
Look again. "...the work of Sickbert-Bennett...(2005)" and then "Based on the work of this, the team led by Larsen (1991)..."
How can someone in 1991 use or base their work on something from 2005?
They cannot. You can spend an entire hour using spellcheck and reading through and through again to find all the little things to "give it more oomph", but at the core, you still must present a clear and concise and logical thought-process.
The function of the methods section is to describe all experimental procedures, including controls. The description should be complete enough to enable someone else to repeat your work. If there is more than one part to the experiment, it is a good idea to describe your methods and present your results in the same order in each section. This may not be the same order in which the experiments were performed -it is up to you to decide what order of presentation will make the most sense to your reader.
1. Explain why each procedure was done, i.e., what variable were you measuring and why? Example:
Difficult to understand : First, I removed the frog muscle and then I poured Ringer’s solution on it. Next, I attached it to the kymograph.
Improved: I removed the frog muscle and poured Ringer’s solution on it to prevent it from drying out. I then attached the muscle to the kymograph in order to determine the minimum voltage required for contraction.
Better: Frog muscle was excised between attachment points to the bone. Ringer's solution was added to the excised section to prevent drying out. The muscle was attached to the kymograph in order to determine the minimum voltage required for contraction.
2. Experimental procedures and results are narrated in the past tense (what you did, what you found, etc.) whereas conclusions from your results are given in the present tense.
3. Mathematical equations and statistical tests are considered mathematical methods and should be described in this section along with the actual experimental work. (Show a sample calculation, state the type of test(s) performed and program used)
4. Use active rather than passive voice when possible. [Note: see Section 3.1.4 for more about this.] Always use the singular "I" rather than the plural "we" when you are the only author of the paper (Methods section only). Throughout the paper, avoid contractions, e.g. did not vs. didn’t.
5. If any of your methods is fully described in a previous publication (yours or someone else’s), you can cite work that instead of describing the procedure again.
Example: The chromosomes were counted at meiosis in the anthers with the standard acetocarmine technique of Snow (1955).
Below is a PARTIAL and incomplete version of a "method". Without getting into the details of why, Version A and B are bad. A is missing too many details and B is giving some extra details but not giving some important ones, such as the volumes used. Version C is still not complete, but it is at least a viable method. Notice that C is also not the longest....it is possible to be detailed without being long-winded.
In other words, the methods section is what you did in the experiment and has enough details that someone else can repeat your experiment. If the methods section has excluded one or more important detail(s) such that the reader of the method does not know what happened, it is a 'poor' methods section. Similarly, by giving out too many useless details a methods section can be 'poor'.
You may have multiple sub-sections within your methods (i.e., a section for media preparation, a section for where the chemicals came from, a section for the basic physical process that occurred, etc.,). A methods section is NEVER a list of numbered steps.
The function of this section is to summarize general trends in the data without comment, bias, or interpretation. The results of statistical tests applied to your data are reported in this section although conclusions about your original hypotheses are saved for the Discussion section. In other words, you state "the P-value" in Results and whether below/above 0.05 and thus significant/not significant while in the Discussion you restate the P-value and then formally state what that means beyond "significant/not significant".
Tables and figures should be used when they are a more efficient way to convey information than verbal description. They must be independent units, accompanied by explanatory captions that allow them to be understood by someone who has not read the text. Do not repeat in the text the information in tables and figures, but do cite them, with a summary statement when that is appropriate. Example:
Incorrect: The results are given in Figure 1.
Correct: Temperature was directly proportional to metabolic rate (Fig. 1).
Please note that the entire word "Figure" is almost never written in an article. It is nearly always abbreviated as "Fig." and capitalized. Tables are cited in the same way, although Table is not abbreviated.
Whenever possible, use a figure instead of a table. Relationships between numbers are more readily grasped when they are presented graphically rather than as columns in a table.
Data may be presented in figures and tables, but this may not substitute for a verbal summary of the findings. The text should be understandable by someone who has not seen your figures and tables.
1. All results should be presented, including those that do not support the hypothesis.
2. Statements made in the text must be supported by the results contained in figures and tables.
3. The results of statistical tests can be presented in parentheses following a verbal description.
Example: Fruit size was significantly greater in trees growing alone (t = 3.65, df = 2, p < 0.05).
Simple results of statistical tests may be reported in the text as shown in the preceding example. The results of multiple tests may be reported in a table if that increases clarity. (See Section 11 of the Statistics Manual for more details about reporting the results of statistical tests.) It is not necessary to provide a citation for a simple t-test of means, paired t-test, or linear regression. If you use other more complex (or less well-known) tests, you should cite the text or reference you followed to do the test. In your materials and methods section, you should report how you did the test (e.g. using the statistical analysis package of Excel).
It is NEVER appropriate to simply paste the results from statistical software into the results section of your paper. The output generally reports more information than is required and it is not in an appropriate format for a paper. Similar, do NOT place a screenshot.
Should you include every data point or not in the paper? Prior to 2010 or so, most papers would probably not present the actual raw data collected, but rather show the "descriptive statistics" about their data (mean, SD, SE, CI, etc.). Often, people could simply contact the author(s) for the data and go from there. As many journals have a significant on-line footprint now, it has become increasingly more common that the entire data could be included in the paper. And realize why the entire raw data may not have been included in a publication. Prior to about 2010, your publication had limited paper space to be seen on. If you have a sample of size of 10 or 50, you probably could show the entire data set easily in one table/figure and it not take up too much printed space. If your sample size was 500 or 5,000 or more, the size of the data alone would take pages of printed text. Given how much the Internet and on-line publications have improved/increased in storage space, often now there will be either an embedded file to access or the author(s) will place the file on-line somewhere with an address link, such as GitHub. Videos of the experiment are also shown as well now.
The function of this section is to analyze the data and relate them to other studies. To "analyze" means to evaluate the meaning of your results in terms of the original question or hypothesis and point out their biological significance.
1. The Discussion should contain at least:
2. Trends that are not statistically significant can still be discussed if they are suggestive or interesting, but cannot be made the basis for conclusions as if they were significant.
3. Avoid redundancy between the Results and the Discussion section. Do not repeat detailed descriptions of the data and results in the Discussion. In some journals, Results and Discussions are joined in a single section, in order to permit a single integrated treatment with minimal repetition. This is more appropriate for short, simple articles than for longer, more complicated ones.
4. End the Discussion with a summary of the principal points you want the reader to remember. This is also the appropriate place to propose specific further study if that will serve some purpose, but do not end with the tired cliché that "this problem needs more study." All problems in biology need more study. Do not close on what you wish you had done, rather finish stating your conclusions and contributions.
5. Conclusion section. Primarily dependent upon the complexity and depth of an experiment, there may be a formal conclusion section after the discussion section. In general, the last line or so of the discussion section should be a more or less summary statement of the overall finding of the experiment. IF the experiment was large enough/complex enough/multiple findings uncovered, a distinct paragraph (or two) may be needed to help clarify the findings. Again, only if the experiment scale/findings warrant a separate conclusion section.
The title of the paper should be the last thing that you write. That is because it should distill the essence of the paper even more than the abstract (the next to last thing that you write).
The title should contain three elements:
1. the name of the organism studied;
2. the particular aspect or system studied;
3. the variable(s) manipulated.
Do not be afraid to be grammatically creative. Here are some variations on a theme, all suitable as titles:
THE EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE ON GERMINATION OF ZEA MAYS
DOES TEMPERATURE AFFECT GERMINATION OF ZEA MAYS?
TEMPERATURE AND ZEA MAYS GERMINATION: IMPLICATIONS FOR AGRICULTURE
Sometimes it is possible to include the principal result or conclusion in the title:
HIGH TEMPERATURES REDUCE GERMINATION OF ZEA MAYS
Note for the BSCI 1510L class: to make your paper look more like a real paper, you can list all of the other group members as co-authors. However, if you do that, you should list you name first so that we know that you wrote it.
Please refer to section 2.1 of this guide.
The blood microbiome is probably not real.
Up until recently, if bacteria were detected in your blood you would be in a world of trouble. Blood was long considered to be sterile, meaning free of viable microorganisms like bacteria. When disease-causing bacteria spread to the blood, they can cause a life-threatening septic shock.
But the use of DNA sequencing technology has allowed researchers to more easily detect something that had been reported as early as the late 1960s: bacteria can be found in the blood and not cause disease.
As we begin to map out and understand the complex microbial ecosystem that lives in our gut and elsewhere in the body, we contemplate an important question: is there such a thing as a blood microbiome?
Our large intestine is not sterile; it is teeming with bacteria. But there are parts of the body that were long thought to be devoid of microorganisms. The brain. Bones. A variety of internal fluids, like our synovial fluid and peritoneal fluid. And, importantly, the blood.
Blood is made up of a liquid called plasma filled with red blood cells, whose main function is to carry oxygen to our cells. It also transports white blood cells, important to monitor for and fight off infections, as well as platelets, involved in clotting.
In the 1960s, a team of Italian researchers published multiple papers describing “mycoplasm-like forms”—meaning shapes that look like a particular type of bacteria that often contaminate cells cultured in the lab—in the blood of healthy people. This finding was confirmed in 1977 by a different team, which reported that four out of the 60 blood samples they had drawn from healthy volunteers showed bacteria growing in them. These types of tests, however, were rudimentary compared to what we have access to now. In the 2000s, they were mostly supplanted by DNA testing.
While we can sequence the entire DNA of any bacteria found in the blood, the technique most often used is 16S rRNA gene sequencing. I have always admired physicists’ penchant for quirky names: gluons, neutrinos, and charm quarks. Molecular biologists, by comparison, tend to be more sober. Yes, we have genes like Sonic hedgehog and proteins called scramblases; usually, though, we have to contend with the dryness of “16S rRNA.” You see, RNA is a molecule with many uses. Messenger RNA (or mRNA) acts as a disposable copy of a gene, a template for the production of a specific protein. Transfer RNA (or tRNA) actually brings the building blocks of a protein to where they are being assembled. And ribosomal RNA (or rRNA) is the main component of the giant protein factories in our cells known as ribosomes. One of its subunits is made up of, among others, a particular string of RNA known as the 16S rRNA.
The cool thing about the gene that codes for this 16S rRNA molecule is that it is very old and it mutates at a slow rate. By reading its precise sequence, scientists can tell which species it belongs to. Most of the studies of the putative blood microbiome use this technique to tell which species of bacteria are present in the blood being tested. The limitation of this test, however, is that dead bacteria have DNA too. The fact that DNA from the 16S rRNA gene of a precise bacterial species was detected in someone’s blood does not mean these bacteria were alive. For there to be a microbiome in the blood, these microorganisms need to live.
Which brings us to another important point of discussion. In order for scientists to agree that a blood microbiome exists, they first need to decide on the definition of a microbiome, and this is still a point of contention. In 2020, while companies were more than happy to sell hyped-up services testing your gut microbiome and claiming to interpret what it meant for your health, actual experts in the field met to agree on just what the word meant. “We are lacking,” they wrote , “a clear commonly agreed definition of the term ‘microbiome’.” For example, do viruses qualify? A microbiome implies life but viruses live on the edge, pun intended: they have the genetic blueprint for life yet they cannot reproduce on their own.
These experts proposed that the word “microbiome” should refer to the sum of two things: the microbiota, meaning the living microorganisms themselves, and their theatre of activity. It’s like saying that the Earth is not simply the life forms it houses, but also all of their individual components, and the traces they leave behind, and the environmental conditions in which they thrive or die. The microbiome is made up of bacteria and other microorganisms, yes, but also their proteins, lipids, sugars, and DNA and RNA molecules, as well as the signalling molecules and toxins that get exchanged within their theatre. (This is where viruses were sorted, by the way: not as part of the living microbiota but as belonging to the theatre of activity of the microbiome.)
The microbiome is a community, and this community has a distinct habitat.
So, what does the evidence say? Is our blood truly host to a thriving community of microorganisms or is something else going on?
Initial studies of the alleged blood microbiome were small . The amounts of bacteria that were being reported based on DNA sequencing were tiny. If this microbiome existed, it seemed sparse, more “asteroid field in real life” than “asteroid field in the movies.”
An issue looming over this early research is that of contamination. If bacteria are detected in a blood sample, were they really in the blood… or did they contaminate supplies along the way? When blood is drawn, the skin, which has its own microbiome, is punctured. The area is usually swabbed with alcohol to kill bacteria, and the supplies used should be sterile, but suffice to say that from the blood draw to the DNA extraction to the DNA amplification to the sequencing of this DNA, bacteria can be introduced into the system. In fact, it is such common knowledge that certain bacteria are found inside of the laboratory kits used by scientists that this ecosystem has its own name: the kitome. One way to rule out these contaminants is to simultaneously run negative controls alongside samples every step of the way, to make sure that these negative controls are indeed free of bacteria. But early papers rarely reported when controls were used.
Last year, results from what purports to be the largest study ever into the question of whether the blood microbiome exists were published in Nature Microbiology . A total of 9,770 healthy individuals were tested. The conclusion? Yes, some bacteria could be found in their blood, but the evidence contradicted the claim of an ecosystem. In 84% of the samples tested, no bacteria were detected. In most of the other samples, only one species was found. In an ecosystem, you would expect to see species appearing together repeatedly, but this was not the case here. And the species they found most often in their samples were known to contaminate these types of laboratory experiments.
So, what were the few bacteria found in the blood and not recognized as contaminants doing there in the first place if they were not part of a healthy microbiome? The authors lean toward an alternative explanation that had been floated for many years: these bacteria are transient. They end up in the blood from other parts of the body, either because of some minor leak or through their active transportation into the blood by agents such as dendritic cells. Like pedestrians wandering off onto the highway, these bacteria do not normally live in the blood but they can be seen there when we look at the right moment.
This blood microbiome story could end here and simply be an interesting example of scientific research homing in on a curious finding, testing a hypothesis, and ultimately refuting it (or at the very least providing strong evidence against it). But given the incentives of modern research and the social-media spotlight cast on the academic literature, there are two slightly worrying angles here that merit discussion.
Scientists are more and more incentivized to find practical applications for their research. It’s not enough, for example, to study bacteria that survive at incredibly high temperatures; we must be assured that the DNA replication enzyme these bacteria possess will one day be used in laboratories all over the world to conduct research, identify criminals, and test samples for the presence of a pandemic-causing coronavirus.
In researching this topic, I came across many papers claiming the existence of “blood microbiome signatures” for certain diseases that are not known to be infectious. We are thus not talking about infections leaking in the blood and causing sepsis. I saw reports of signatures for cardiovascular disease , liver disease , heart attacks , even for gastrointestinal disease in dogs . The idea is that these signatures could soon be turned into (profitable) diagnostic tests. The problem, of course, is that these studies are based on the hypothesis that a blood microbiome is real; that its equilibrium can be affected by disease; and that these changes can be reliably detected and interpreted.
But if the blood microbiome is imaginary, we are just chasing ghosts. This is not unlike the time that scientists were publishing signatures of microRNAs in the blood for every possible cancer. When I looked at the published literature in grad school, I realized that the multiple signatures reported for a single cancer barely overlapped . They were just chance findings. Compare enough variables in a small sample set and you will find what appears to be an association.
My second concern is that the transitory leakage of bacteria into the blood, as evidenced by the recent Nature Microbiology paper, will be used as confirmation of a pseudoscientific entity: leaky gut syndrome. At the end of their paper, the researchers hypothesize that these bacteria end up in the blood because the integrity of certain barriers in the body are compromised during disease or during periods of stress. The “net” in our gut gets a bit porous, and some of our colon’s bacteria end up in circulation, though they are not causing disease as far as we can tell. A form of leaky gut is known to exist in certain intestinal diseases , likely to be a consequence and not a cause. But leaky gut syndrome, favoured by non-evidence-based practitioners, does not appear to be real, yet many websites portray it as the one true cause of all diseases, a real epidemic. Nuanced scientific findings have a history of being stolen, distorted, and toyed with by fake doctors to give credence to their pet theories. Though I have yet to see examples of it, I suspect work done on this hypothesized blood microbiome will similarly get weaponized.
You have been warned.
Take-home message: - Our blood was long considered to be sterile, meaning free of viable microbes, unless a dangerous infection leaked into it, causing sepsis - Studies have provided evidence for the presence of bacteria in the blood of some healthy humans, leading to the hypothesis that, much like in our gut, our blood is host to a microbiome - The largest study ever done on the topic provided strong evidence against this hypothesis. It seems that when non-disease-causing bacteria find themselves in our blood, it is temporary and occasional
@CrackedScience
The story linking nutrition and health has unexpected twists 28 jun 2024.
Office for science and society.
The development of molecular formulations that become drugs to treat or cure diseases is at the heart of the pharmaceutical industry. Development is so fundamental that pharma spends a full 15 percent of its sales on R&D—a huge sum that accounts for more than 20 percent of total R&D spending across all industries in the global economy. This investment goes hand in hand with innovation: constantly seeking to improve the R&D process, pharma companies have for decades been early adopters of computational chemistry’s digital tools, such as molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and density functional theory (DFT). More recently, pharma R&D has taken advantage of artificial intelligence (AI). The next digital frontier is quantum computing (QC).
In a recent article , we analyzed the impact of QC on the chemical industry, which, similarly to pharma, relies on the development and manufacture of molecules, and concluded that it will be one of the first industries to benefit. In this article, we explain the profound impact that QC could have on the pharma industry and present use cases for its application. We also provide a set of strategic questions to get clarity on the path forward for industry players.
Identifying and developing small molecules and macromolecules that might help cure illnesses and diseases is the core activity of pharmaceutical companies. Given its focus on molecular formations, pharma as an industry is a natural candidate for quantum computing. The molecules (including those that might be used for drugs) are actually quantum systems; that is, systems that are based on quantum physics. QC is expected to be able to predict and simulate the structure, properties, and behavior (or reactivity) of these molecules more effectively than conventional computing can. Exact methods are computationally intractable for standard computers, and approximate methods are often not sufficiently accurate when interactions on the atomic level are critical, as is the case for many compounds. Theoretically, quantum computers have the capacity to efficiently simulate the complete problem, including interactions on the atomic level. As these quantum computers become more powerful, tremendous value will be at stake.
A conventional computer, built on transistor-based classical bits operated by voltages, can be in only one of two states: 0 or 1. A quantum computer, instead, uses systems based on quantum physics, such as superconducting loops or ions hovering in electromagnetic fields (ion traps), which are operated by microwave radiation or lasers, respectively. As a result of the laws of quantum mechanics, such systems can be held in a special physical state, called a quantum superposition, in which quantum bits (qubits) exist in a probabilistic combination of the two states—0 and 1—simultaneously.
The implications of these effects for QC are dramatic. Qubits can process far more information than conventional computers can. Qubits use the characteristics of quantum-mechanical systems to solve complex equations in a probabilistic manner, so a computation solved with a quantum algorithm enables sampling from the probabilistic distribution of being correct. The combination of greater speed with probabilistic solutions means that quantum computing fits well with a certain subset of computing needs and applications, such as optimization, the simulation of chemicals, and AI.
While the technology behind quantum computing is rather difficult to understand intuitively (see sidebar, “The basics of quantum computing”), its impact is much easier to grasp: it will handle certain kinds of computational tasks exponentially faster than today’s conventional computers do. Thus, once fully developed, QC could add value across the entire drug value chain—from discovery through development to registration and postmarketing.
While QC may benefit the entire pharma value chain—from research across production through commercial and medical—its primary value lies in R&D (Exhibit 1).
Currently, pharma players process molecules with non-QC tools, such as MD and DFT, in a methodology called computer-assisted drug discovery (CADD). But the classical computers they rely on are sorely limited, and basic calculations predicting the behavior of medium-size drug molecules could take a lifetime to compute accurately. CADD on quantum computers could increase the scope of biological mechanisms amenable to CADD, shorten screening time, and reduce the number of times an empirically based development cycle must be run by eliminating some of the research-related “dead ends,” which add significant time and cost to the discovery phase. Exhibit 2 shows where QC-enhanced CADD would improve the development cycle.
QC could make current CADD tools more effective by helping to predict molecular properties with high accuracy. That can affect the development process in several ways, such as modeling how proteins fold and how drug candidates interact with biologically relevant proteins. Here, QC may allow researchers to screen computational libraries against multiple possible structures of the target in parallel. Current approaches usually restrict the structural flexibility of the target molecule due to a lack of computational power and a limited amount of time. These restrictions may reduce the chances of identifying the best drug candidates.
In the longer term, QC may improve generation and validation of hypotheses by using machine-learning (ML) algorithms to uncover new structure-property relationships. Once it has reached sufficient maturity, QC technology may be able to create new types of drug-candidate libraries that are no longer restricted to small molecules but also include peptides and antibodies. It could also enable a more automated approach to drug discovery, in which a large structural library of biologically relevant targets is automatically screened against drug-like molecules via high-throughput approaches.
One could even envision QC triggering a paradigm shift in pharmaceutical R&D, moving beyond today’s digitally enabled R&D toward simulation-based or in silico drug discoveries—a trend that has been seen in other industries as well.
The following QC use cases apply to different aspects of drug discovery and will emerge at different points over an extended timeline. All of them, however, may enable more accurate and efficient development of targeted compounds.
During target identification, QC can be leveraged to reliably predict the 3-D structures of proteins. Obtaining high-quality structural data is a lengthy process often leading to low-quality results. Despite all efforts, researchers have yet to crystallize many biologically important proteins—be it due to their size, solubility (for example, membrane proteins), or inability to express and purify in sufficient amount. Pharma companies sometimes develop drugs without even knowing the structure of a protein—accepting the risk of a trial-and-error approach in subsequent steps of drug development—because the business case for a given drug is potentially so strong.
AlphaFold, developed by Google’s DeepMind, was a breakthrough in AI-driven protein folding but has not resolved all of the challenges of classical computing-based simulation, including, for example, formation of protein complexes, protein-protein interactions, and protein-ligand interactions. It’s the interactions that are most difficult to classically solve and, thus, may benefit from QC, which allows for the explicit treatment of electrons. Additionally, QC may allow for strong computational efficiencies here given that Google’s AI model—which is trained on around 170,000 different structures of protein data—requires more than 120 high-end computers for several weeks.
QC’s ability to parallel process complex phenomena would be particularly valuable during hit generation and validation. With existing computers, pharma companies can only use CADD on small to medium-size drug candidates and largely in a sequential manner. Computing power is the bottleneck. With powerful enough QC, pharma companies would be able to expand all use cases to selected biologics as well, for instance, semi-synthesized biologics or fusion proteins, and perform in silico search and validation experiments in a more high-throughput fashion. This use case would go beyond the identification of the protein and eventually encompass almost the entire known biological world. With a robust enough hit-generation and validation approach, this step would already deliver potential lead molecules that are much easier and quicker to optimize.
During lead optimization, which is a top-three parameter to improve R&D productivity, 1 Steven M. Paul et al., “How to improve R&D productivity: The pharmaceutical industry’s grand challenge,” Nature Reviews Drug Discovery , March 2010, Volume 9, pp. 203–214, nature.com. QC may allow for enhanced absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME); more accurate activity and toxicity predictions for organ systems; dose and solubility optimization; and other safety issues.
The metalevel of R&D very much consists of linking appropriate data together—for instance, creating sensible connections between data points through effective (semantic) management. The more complex the biological information that can be processed, the more extensive the graphs that inform the drug discovery research process become. There is currently research on “topological data analysis” under way that aims to identify “holes” and “connections” across large data sets. 2 Silvano Garnerone, Seth Lloyd, and Paolo Zanardi, “Quantum algorithms for topological and geometric analysis of data,” Nature Communications , January 2016, Volume 7, Article 10138, nature.com. This may at some point enable R&D specialists to identify concrete cases and “industry verticals” where such algorithms are applicable, for example, in identifying connections across brain cells in response to a drug.
Moreover, QC could be used to “deepfake” missing data points throughout the research process, that is, generate a type of fake data by using ML algorithms. This could be particularly useful wherever there is a scarcity of data, such as in rare diseases, that can then be mitigated through artificial data sets. QC will set a new bar here regarding speed in training ML models, amount of initial data needed, and level of accuracy.
Clinical trials could be optimized through patient identification and stratification and population pharmacogenetic modeling. 3 Paul et al., 2010. In trial planning and execution, QC could optimize the selection of the trial sites. QC could also augment causality analyses for side effects to improve active safety surveillance.
While the potential value of QC in pharma R&D is immense, it will also likely play a role further down the value chain. In the production of active ingredients, QC may aid in the calculation of reaction rates, optimize catalytic processes, and, ultimately, create significant efficiencies in the development of new product formulations. In the business-related value pools, QC in pharma could include the optimization of logistics (for instance, the optimization of on-site flows of materials, heat, and waste in production facilities) and improvements in the supply chain. Finally, toward market access and commercial, QC may even enable automatic drug recommendations.
The development of quantum computers began nearly four decades ago, but it is the gains in QC technology realized over the past few years that paved the way for practical applications in pharma. We see the key, value-adding QC activities in pharma unfolding over two distinct eras as the technology further matures (Exhibit 3):
Exactly when a particular company begins to capture QC’s benefits will depend on its tech starting point (that is, its current level of R&D digitization) and its business focus: the number of small active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) in its portfolio. Pharma companies that have a strong footprint in CADD and focus their R&D on smaller molecules will be among the first to take advantage of emergent QC. Exhibit 4 maps key CADD methods along the drug-discovery continuum and offers an indication of the applicability of QC. It’s expected that QC will be mostly applicable in the discovery phase of hit generation, hit-to-lead, and also in lead optimization.
In the next five to ten years, we expect that the first QC tools pharma players deploy will rely on hybrid methodologies that use classical algorithms alongside QC subroutines when they can create additional value. The prominent examples are the imaginary time evolution (an algorithm to find the ground-state and excited-state energy of many-particle systems) and the variational quantum eigen-solver, or VQE (an algorithm to calculate the binding affinity between an API and a target receptor). The value that algorithms such as VQE will add depends on the size of the quantum hardware. Describing small-molecule drugs generally requires less-mature quantum computers, while biologicals will be tackled only as QC matures.
The pharma sector is well positioned to take full advantage of this opportunity. Its tech-ready culture already embraces a wide array of digital tools: CADD, AI, ML, and non-QC DFT- and MD-simulation tools already play a big role in the sector’s R&D. On top of this, pharma players are already working with quantum-chemical simulations, so the barrier to entry is quite low. Scientists will not have to change the way they develop drugs in any fundamental way—they will just be working with more capable tools.
That said, companies will make their own decisions regarding whether and how to move toward a QC-enabled business. Some pharma players may take a pass on deploying QC, others may wait and observe, while still others are going “all in,” ginning up early in-house development. Most pharma players, however, will likely undertake joint-development strategies with upstream players. No matter what, answering some key strategic questions will help companies make more informed decisions on their stance for QC.
Pharmaceutical companies should assess QC now and potentially lay the groundwork to reap the benefits of the technology later. QC may give many of them a huge opportunity, yet each pharma player needs to figure out how much exposure it has and the size of its QC opportunity in the context of its current pace of development. Thus, pharma players should consider three key strategic questions to determine their optimal QC strategy (Exhibit 5):
Subject to the above answers, moving early can help secure valuable intellectual property for the algorithms that drive QC and can also address a key issue: pharma won’t be the first industry sector to benefit from QC, so late-moving players could face a lack of suitable talent.
Some pharmaceutical players have already realized the need to join forces on the topic of QC and have started to collaborate and/or form partnerships. For example, QuPharm formed in late 2019 by major pharmaceutical players to pool ideas and expertise around QC use cases. QuPharm also collaborates with the Quantum Economic Development Consortium (QED-C), which was created in 2018 by the US government as part of the National Quantum Initiative Act and aims to enable commercial QC use-case efforts. Additionally, the Pistoia Alliance is a life sciences membership organization, which was organized to facilitate precompetitive collaboration and foster R&D innovation.
Partnering with pure quantum players taps into their existing expertise to test early use cases and facilitate development. At the moment, there are more than 100 QC-focused companies—both start-ups and established firms—around the world, focusing on software, hardware, or enabling services. Approximately 25 companies are targeting applications in the pharma industry. Less than 15 focus on algorithms or solutions for pharma players, and very few are focusing exclusively on the needs of pharma players.
Digital talent gaps are already a reality, and QC may only exacerbate them. Unlike other important digital tools, such as AI, quantum computing depends on niche know-how. Pharma companies already struggle to attract people with capabilities in the less specialized digital technologies, and hiring quantum-computing experts may prove to be even more of a challenge.
A pharma company’s “way of working” will also be central to its success in QC. The traditional walls that separate the work of the organization’s various functions and units—for example, research, tech, business—will have to fall away. Cross-functional collaboration in both spirit and action will characterize the pharma companies that are able to take full advantage of QC.
Quantum computing could be the key to exponentially more efficient discovery of pharmaceutical cures and therapeutics as well as to hundreds of billions of dollars in value for the pharma industry. Experts predict, for example, that today’s $200 billion market for protein-based drugs could grow by 50 to 100 percent in the medium term if better tools to develop them became available. Given QC’s vast potential, we expect global pharma spending on QC in R&D to be in the billions by 2030. Pharma companies would be well advised to assess the QC opportunity for themselves and begin laying the groundwork in securing their place in this new competitive and technological landscape.
Matthias Evers is a senior partner in McKinsey’s Hamburg office, and Anna Heid is a consultant in the Zurich office, where Ivan Ostojic is a partner.
The authors wish to thank Nicole Bellonzi, Matteo Biondi, Thomas Lehmann, Lorenzo Pautasso, Katarzyna Smietana, Matija Zesko, and the many industry/academia experts for their contributions to this article.
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Our Analyzing the Financing Contingency article series takes a closer look at the Florida Realtors/Florida Bar financing contingency. The first article (which ran in June) provided an overview of the contingency and showed how the rights and obligations of parties shift as a contract progresses down different paths. This article is the second part of the series and will cover defined terms in the financing contingency.
ORLANDO, Fla. – What’s a defined term? While it’s always possible to look up a definition in a dictionary, it’s also possible to give a word a unique definition that applies only within the confines of a specific contract. Contract drafters usually identify a defined term by capitalizing an otherwise commonly used word to signal that it has its own contract-specific definition. Let’s take, for example, the word property.
In standard context, the noun property is not capitalized. However, in this contract it is. The third line of the contract provides, “Seller shall sell and Buyer shall buy the following described Real Property and Personal Property (collectively ‘Property’).”
Of course, now you must look up the definition of Real Property and Personal Property (notice that they’re capitalized), which are found in the first paragraph of the contract. Real Property is all the land located within the legal description, “together with all existing improvements and fixtures...” unless the parties exclude any of the improvements or fixtures from the sale. Personal Property includes all the listed items owned by the seller and existing on the property as of the effective date (range(s)/oven(s), refrigerator(s), dishwasher(s), etc.) plus any additional items the parties add to the standard list. This “Property” provides a precise definition of what the buyer will get at closing.
If it looks like a lot of work to be precise about contractually defined terms, it is. But it’s important to be precise, since not understanding the right definitions can lead a party to suffer consequences of not understanding what a defined term means.
There are five terms specific to the financing contingency:
The Loan Amount is a specific number. Section 2(c) is where the parties negotiate the Loan Amount, which is either a dollar amount or percentage of the purchase price. The precise Loan Amount is important, since it ties into the next defined term, Financing.
Financing means all the terms of the loan a buyer must apply for. These are specific terms, so the buyer needs to apply for a loan that meets all these criteria.
Most lenders will require some form of appraisal, so this has been added to the financing contingency. The definition of “Appraisal” is “...an appraisal or alternative valuation of the Property satisfactory to the lender, if either is required by lender, which is sufficient to meet the terms required for lender to provide Financing for Buyer and proceed to Closing.
Note that there’s no set amount the appraisal needs to hit. The amount of an appraisal isn’t the key factor – the question is whether the lender has everything they need (if anything) to move forward.
The definition of “Loan Approval” is “approval of a loan meeting the Financing and Appraisal terms...” This definition refers us back to the two defined terms we just reviewed, Financing and Appraisal. The loan that gets approved needs to check all the Financing boxes (amount, type, rate, and term), and the lender also needs to be satisfied with their appraisal or alternative valuation (deciding not to obtain one is treated the same as getting a satisfactory appraisal).
There is some confusion about whether a Loan Approval can have conditions. The definition of Loan Approval doesn’t offer much insight, but there is a brief phrase later that indicates the answer is yes. The phrase is “Property related conditions of the Loan Approval have not been met...”
If the buyer receives Loan Approval, the buyer “shall notify Seller of same in writing prior to expiration of the Loan Approval Period.” There is no form for this notice, so the buyer (or their attorney, broker, or associate) will need to send a letter, email, or fax to the seller (or the seller’s attorney, broker, or associate) to satisfy this requirement.
The Loan Approval Period is the buyer’s deadline to cancel the contract if the buyer doesn’t yet have Loan Approval, or if the application is denied. The parties can negotiate the deadline, and it’s 30 days if left blank.
The end of the Loan Approval Period is an important inflection point, so it’s worth running over the buyer’s options if they don’t have Loan Approval.
Click here to read Analyzing the Financing Contingency (Part 1 of 2)
Joel Maxson is Associate General Counsel
Note: Information deemed accurate on date of publication
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Key finding.
The Trump administration imposed several rounds of tariffs on steel, aluminum, washing machines, solar panels, and goods from China, affecting more than $380 billion worth of trade at the time of implementation and amounting to a tax increase of nearly $80 billion. The Biden administration has maintained most tariffs, except for the suspension of certain tariffs on imports from the European Union , the replacement of tariffs with tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) on steel and aluminum from the European Union and United Kingdom and imports of steel from Japan , and the expiration of the tariffs on washing machines after a two-year extension. In May 2024, the Biden administration announced additional tariffs on $18 billion of Chinese goods for a tax increase of $3.6 billion.
Altogether, the trade war policies currently in place add up to $79 billion in tariffs based on trade levels at the time of tariff implementation. Note the total revenue generated will be less than our static estimate because tariffs reduce the volume of imports and are subject to evasion and avoidance (which directly lowers tariff revenues) and they reduce real income (which lowers other tax revenues).
In March 2018 , President Trump announced the administration would impose a 25 percent tariff on imported steel and a 10 percent tariff on imported aluminum. The value of imported steel totaled $29.4 billion and the value of imported aluminum totaled $17.6 billion in 2018. Based on 2018 levels, the steel tariffs would have amounted to $9 billion and the aluminum tariffs to $1.8 billion. Several countries, however, have been excluded from the tariffs.
In early 2018 , the US reached agreements to permanently exclude Australia from steel and aluminum tariffs, use quotas for steel imports from Brazil and South Korea , and use quotas for steel and aluminum imports from Argentina.
In May 2019 , President Trump announced that the US was lifting tariffs on steel and aluminum from Canada and Mexico .
In 2020 , President Trump expanded the scope of steel and aluminum tariffs to cover certain derivative products, totaling approximately $0.8 billion based on 2018 import levels.
In August 2020 , President Trump announced that the US was reimposing tariffs on aluminum imports from Canada . The US imported approximately $2.5 billion worth of non-alloyed unwrought aluminum, resulting in a $0.25 billion tax increase. About a month later, the US eliminated the 10 percent tariff on Canadian aluminum that had just been reimposed.
In 2021 and 2022 , the Biden administration reached deals to replace certain steel and aluminum tariffs with tariff rate quota systems, whereby certain levels of imports will not face tariffs, but imports above the thresholds will. TRQs for the European Union took effect on January 1, 2022; TRQs for Japan took effect on April 1, 2022; and TRQs for the UK took effect on June 1, 2022. Though the agreements on steel and aluminum tariffs will reduce the cost of tariffs paid by some US businesses, a quota system similarly leads to higher prices, and further, retaining tariffs at the margin continues the negative economic impact of the previous tariff policy.
Tariffs on steel, aluminum, and derivative goods currently account for $2.7 billion of the $79 billion in tariffs , based on initial import values. Current retaliation against Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs targets more than $6 billion worth of American products for an estimated total tax of approximately $1.6 billion.
Under the Trump administration, the United States Trade Representative began an investigation of China in August 2017, which culminated in a March 2018 report that found China was conducting unfair trade practices.
In March 2018, President Trump announced tariffs on up to $60 billion of imports from China. The administration soon published a list of about $50 billion worth of Chinese products to be subject to a new 25 percent tariff. The first tariffs began July 6, 2018, on $34 billion worth of Chinese imports, while tariffs on the remaining $16 billion went into effect August 23, 2018. These tariffs amount to a $12.5 billion tax increase.
In September 2018, the Trump administration imposed another round of Section 301 tariffs—10 percent on $200 billion worth of goods from China, amounting to a $20 billion tax increase.
In May 2019, the 10 percent tariffs increased to 25 percent, amounting to a $30 billion increase. That increase had been scheduled to take effect beginning in January 2019, but was delayed .
In August 2019, the Trump administration announced plans to impose a 10 percent tariff on approximately $300 billion worth of additional Chinese goods beginning on September 1, 2019, but soon followed with an announcement of schedule changes and certain exemptions.
In September 2019, the Trump administration imposed “List 4a,” a 10 percent tariff on $112 billion of imports, an $11 billion tax increase. They announced plans for tariffs on the remaining $160 billion to take effect on December 15, 2019.
In August 2019, the Trump administration decided that 4a tariffs would be 15 percent rather than the previously announced 10 percent, a $5.6 billion tax increase.
In December 2019 , the administration reached a “Phase One” trade deal with China and agreed to postpone indefinitely the stage 4b tariffs of 15 percent on approximately $160 billion worth of goods that were scheduled to take effect December 15 and to reduce the stage 4a tariffs from 15 percent to 7.5 percent in January 2020, reducing tariff revenues by $8.4 billion.
In May 2024, the Biden administration published its required statutory review of the Section 301 tariffs, deciding to retain them and impose higher rates on $18 billion worth of goods. The new tariff rates range from 25 to 100 percent on semiconductors, steel and aluminum products, electric vehicles, batteries and battery parts, natural graphite and other critical materials, medical goods, magnets, cranes, and solar cells. Some of the tariff increases go into effect immediately, while others are scheduled for 2025 or 2026. Based on 2023 import values, the increases will add $3.6 billion in new taxes.
Section 301 tariffs on China currently account for $77 billion of the $79 billion in tariffs , based on initial import values. China has responded to the United States’ Section 301 tariffs with several rounds of tariffs on more than $106 billion worth of US goods , for an estimated tax of nearly $11.6 billion.
In October 2019 , the United States won a nearly 15-year-long World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute against the European Union. The WTO ruling authorized the United States to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on $7.5 billion worth of EU goods. Beginning October 18, 2019, tariffs of 10 percent were to be applied on aircraft and 25 percent on agricultural and other products.
In summer 2021, the Biden administration reached an agreement to suspend the tariffs on the European Union for five years .
In January 2018 , the Trump administration announced it would begin imposing tariffs on washing machine imports for three years and solar cell and module imports for four years as the result of a Section 201 investigation.
In 2021 , the Trump administration extended the washing machine tariffs for two years through February 2023, and they have now expired .
In 2022 , the Biden administration extended the solar panel tariffs for four years , though later provided temporary two-year exemptions for imports from four Southeast Asian nations beginning in 2022 , which account for a significant share of solar panel imports.
In 2024, the Biden administration removed separate exemptions for bifacial solar panels from the Section 201 tariffs. Additionally, the temporary two-year exemptions expired and the Biden administration is further investigating solar panel imports from the four Southeast Asian nations for additional tariffs.
We estimate the solar cell and module tariffs amounted to a $0.2 billion tax increase based on 2018 import values and quantities, while the washing machine tariffs amounted to a $0.4 billion tax increase based on 2018 import values and quantities.
We exclude the tariffs from our tariff totals given the broad exemptions and small magnitudes.
As of March 2024, the trade war tariffs have generated more than $233 billion of higher taxes collected for the US government from US consumers. Of that total, $89 billion, or about 38 percent, was collected during the Trump administration, while the remaining $144 billion, or about 62 percent, has been collected during the Biden administration.
Before accounting for behavioral effects, the $79 billion in higher tariffs amount to an average annual tax increase on US households of $625. Based on actual revenue collections data, trade war tariffs have directly increased tax collections by $200 to $300 annually per US household, on average. The actual cost to households is higher than both the $600 estimate before behavioral effects and the $200 to $300 after, because neither accounts for lower incomes as tariffs shrink output, nor the loss in consumer choice as people switch to alternatives that do not face tariffs.
Using the Tax Foundation’s General Equilibrium Model, we estimate the Trump-Biden Section 301 and Section 232 tariffs will reduce long-run GDP by 0.2 percent, the capital stock by 0.1 percent, and hours worked by 142,000 full-time equivalent jobs. The reason tariffs have no impact on pre-tax wages in our estimates is that, in the long run, the capital stock shrinks in proportion to the reduction in hours worked, so that the capital-to-labor ratio, and thus the level of wages, remains unchanged. Removing the tariffs would boost GDP and employment, as Tax Foundation estimates have shown for the Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs.
GDP | -0.2% |
Capital Stock | -0.1% |
Pre-Tax Wages | -0.0% |
Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) Jobs | -142,000 |
We estimate the retaliatory tariffs stemming from Section 232 and Section 301 actions total approximately $13.2 billion in tariff revenues. Retaliatory tariffs are imposed by foreign governments on their country’s importers. While they are not direct taxes on US exports, they raise the after-tax price of US goods in foreign jurisdictions, making them less competitively priced in foreign markets. We estimate the retaliatory tariffs will reduce US GDP and the capital stock by less than 0.05 percent and reduce full-time employment by 27,000 full-time equivalent jobs. Unlike the tariffs imposed by the United States, which raise federal revenue, tariffs imposed by foreign jurisdictions raise no revenue for the US but result in lower US output.
GDP | Less than -0.05% |
Capital Stock | Less than -0.05% |
Pre-Tax Wages | 0.0% |
Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) Jobs | -27,000 |
Since the tariffs were imposed, imports of affected goods have fallen, even before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the biggest drops are the result of decreased trade with China, as affected imports decreased significantly after the tariffs and still remain below their pre-trade war levels. Even though trade with China fell after the imposition of tariffs, it did not fundamentally alter the overall balance of trade, as the reduction in trade with China was diverted to increased trade with other countries .
Tariff and Effective Date | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | Rate |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Section 232 Steel (March 2018) | $15.90 | $15.50 | $11.40 | $7.10 | $13.50 | $9.50 | $5.50 | 25% |
Section 232 Aluminum (March 2018) | $9.00 | $9.60 | $8.40 | $5.20 | $7.50 | $9.80 | $5.60 | 10% |
Section 232 Derivative Steel Articles (February 2020) | $0.40 | $0.50 | $0.50 | $0.40 | $0.50 | $0.60 | $0.30 | 25% |
Section 232 Derivative Aluminum Articles (February 2020) | $0.20 | $0.30 | $0.20 | $0.20 | $0.30 | $0.30 | $0.30 | 10% |
Section 301, List 1 (July 2018) | $31.90 | $30.30 | $22.00 | $20.10 | $24.10 | $26.10 | $23.60 | 25% |
Section 301, List 2 (August 2018) | $13.80 | $14.80 | $8.50 | $9.60 | $10.30 | $10.70 | $8.20 | 25% |
Section 301, List 3 (September 2018, increased May 2019) | $159.20 | $181.30 | $120.00 | $107.10 | $119.60 | $111.80 | $86.50 | 10% in 2019, then 25% |
Section 301, List 4A (September 2019, lowered January 2020) | $101.90 | $112.20 | $113.90 | $101.40 | $104.70 | $102.00 | $84.90 | 15% in 2019; then 7.5% |
Biden Admin Section 301 Expansion (2024 to 2026) | $7.50 | $8.00 | $5.60 | $8.90 | $9.00 | $15.70 | $18.00 | 25% to 100% |
Tariffs have become a flashpoint in the 2024 presidential campaign as candidate Trump has proposed a new 10 percent universal tariff on all imports and a 60 percent tariff on all imports from China, as well as potentially higher tariffs on EVs from China or across the board.
In 2023, goods imports totaled $3.1 trillion and imports from China totaled $421.4 billion. With no behavioral effects, the universal tariff would raise taxes by $311 billion, while separately lifting the average tariff rate on Chinese goods to 60 percent would raise about $213 billion. Actual revenue raised would be significantly lower because of avoidance and evasion, falling imports, and lower incomes resulting in lower payroll and income tax revenues.
We estimate the proposed tariffs would reduce long-run GDP by 0.8 percent, the capital stock by 0.7 percent, and hours worked by 684,000 full-time equivalent jobs. The reason tariffs have no impact on pre-tax wages in our estimates is that, in the long run, the capital stock shrinks in proportion to the reduction in hours worked, so that the capital-to-labor ratio, and thus the level of wages, remains unchanged.
GDP | -0.8% |
Capital Stock | -0.7% |
Pre-Tax Wages | 0.0% |
Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) Jobs | -684,000 |
Economists generally agree free trade increases the level of economic output and income, while conversely, trade barriers reduce economic output and income. Historical evidence shows tariffs raise prices and reduce available quantities of goods and services for US businesses and consumers, which results in lower income, reduced employment, and lower economic output.
Tariffs could reduce US output through a few channels. One possibility is a tariff may be passed on to producers and consumers in the form of higher prices. Tariffs can raise the cost of parts and materials, which would raise the price of goods using those inputs and reduce private sector output. This would result in lower incomes for both owners of capital and workers. Similarly, higher consumer prices due to tariffs would reduce the after-tax value of both labor and capital income. Because higher prices would reduce the return to labor and capital, they would incentivize Americans to work and invest less, leading to lower output.
Alternatively, the US dollar may appreciate in response to tariffs, offsetting the potential price increase for US consumers. The more valuable dollar, however, would make it more difficult for exporters to sell their goods on the global market, resulting in lower revenues for exporters. This would also result in lower US output and incomes for both workers and owners of capital, reducing incentives for work and investment and leading to a smaller economy.
Many economists have evaluated the consequences of the trade war tariffs on the American economy, with results suggesting the tariffs have raised prices and lowered economic output and employment since the start of the trade war in 2018.
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Parts of a Research Article. While each article is different, here are some common pieces you'll see in many of them... Title. The title of the article should give you some clues as to the topic it addresses. Abstract. The abstract allows readers to quickly review the overall content of the article. It should give you an idea of the topic of ...
Knowing these elements and the purpose of each serves help you to read and understand academic texts efficiently and effectively, and then apply what you read to your paper or project. Social Science (and Science) original research articles generally follow IMRD: Introduction- Methods-Results-Discussion. Introduction. Introduces topic of article.
Journal Article. Scientific journal articles share a common anatomy, or structure. Each part of an article serves a purpose, and if you know the purpose, you can become more eficient at reading and understanding articles. Instead of reading from beginning to end, consult targeted sections according to the kind of information you need to learn ...
A complete research paper in APA style that is reporting on experimental research will typically contain a Title page, Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, and References sections. 1 Many will also contain Figures and Tables and some will have an Appendix or Appendices. These sections are detailed as follows (for a more in ...
A scholarly article, also known as a research or original article, is one of the main ways new knowledge and discoveries are communicated to a scientific or academic community. It is a full-length document on original research. A scholarly article generally consists of the background of a research topic, its study design and methodology, the ...
The research question—or study objective or main research hypothesis—is the central organizing principle of the paper. Whatever relates to the research question belongs in the paper; the rest doesn't. ... and is often the weakest part of a paper. Structured Discussion sections have been proposed by some journal editors .
Definition: Research Paper is a written document that presents the author's original research, analysis, and interpretation of a specific topic or issue. It is typically based on Empirical Evidence, and may involve qualitative or quantitative research methods, or a combination of both. The purpose of a research paper is to contribute new ...
Article Text. The main part of an article is its body text. This is where the author analyzes the argument, research question, or problem. This section also includes analysis and criticism. The author may use headings to divide this part of the article into sections. Scientific research articles may include these sections:
What is an introduction? The introduction is a review of the relevant research literature plus identification of a gap in knowledge. It usually has topics similar to these: O Overview of the research topic. O Why the research topic matters. O Previous research specific to this topic. O Where the gap in knowledge is.
Abstract: "Structured abstract" has become the standard for research papers (introduction, objective, methods, results and conclusions), while reviews, case reports and other articles have non-structured abstracts. The abstract should be a summary/synopsis of the paper. III. Introduction: The "why did you do the study"; setting the ...
Components of a Research Article. Title. The title may include terms like "outcomes," "effects," "treatments," and "reactions" that indicate the article deals with research. Example: Human touch effectively and safely reduces pain in the newborn intensive care unit. Citation. Provides the author(s) name(s) and publication ...
The basic structure of a typical research paper includes Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion. Each section addresses a different objective. what they think the results mean in Discussion. A substantial study will sometimes include a literature review section which discusses previous works on the topic.
This guide discusses the parts of a scholarly article and provides tips on how to read one.
Major Parts of a Research Article. Tutorial: Elements of a Research Article. Parts of a Research Article. See explanations the components of a scientific and scholarly research article. From the Lamar Soutter Library . Research Paper Structure. Follow this explanation of research paper structures using the APA style. From the University of ...
When you write a research paper, many instructors will ask you to find scholarly research articles as a basis for your research. A scholarly research article presents original research and is written and reviewed by experts in a field. A typical scholarly research article has several sections that can include the: Abstract. Introduction. Method.
Parts of a Scholarly Article. Brief summary of the article. States the topic, purpose, and argument of the article. Mentions steps taken to support argument of the article. Shares results of the research. Analyzes and talks about the findings of the research. Synthesizes the article's findings and argument. List of cited sources.
Scientific research articles typically include separate sections addressing the methods and results of the experiment, and a discussion of the research findings. Articles typically close with a conclusion summarizing the findings. The parts of the article may or may not be labeled, and two or more sections may be combined in a single part of ...
Locating the Author's Credentials to be sure the author (s) is/are truly experts in the topic on which they are writing. Reading an abstract - so you can determine whether the article is suitable for your research. Identifying the Hypothesis or Thesis in an article to determine the author's purpose. Additional Parts of a scholarly article:
The thesis is generally the narrowest part and last sentence of the introduction, and conveys your position, the essence of your argument or idea. See our handout on Writing a Thesis Statement for more. The roadmap Not all academic papers include a roadmap, but many do. Usually following the thesis, a roadmap is a
1. Introduction. The Introduction section is one of the most important sections of a research paper. The introduction section should start with a brief outline of the topic and then explain the nature of the problem at hand and why it is crucial to resolve this issue. This section should contain a literature review that provides relevant ...
Parts of an Article. The academic articles that you will find and use can be difficult to understand and use if you are unfamiliar with the formalized way they are assembled. Therefore, it is very important that you understand that academic/peer-reviewed/scholarly articles have a conventional structure, one that cuts across disciplines.
2019. 2. 1. Main Types of Research Papers. Research papers are broadly divided into empirical and theoretical papers. Empirical Research Paper. • The author reports on his or her own study ...
When writing a paper, the abstract is always the last part to be written. The purpose of the abstract is to allow potential readers of a paper to find out the important points of the paper without having to actually read the paper. It should be a self-contained unit capable of being understood without the benefit of the text of the article. It ...
This article was published on June 21, 2024, and updated on June 25, 2024, at NEJM.org. A data sharing statement provided by the authors is available with the full text of this article at NEJM.org.
But there are parts of the body that were long thought to be devoid of microorganisms. The brain. Bones. A variety of internal fluids, like our synovial fluid and peritoneal fluid. And, importantly, the blood. Blood is made up of a liquid called plasma filled with red blood cells, whose main function is to carry oxygen to our cells.
For example, QuPharm formed in late 2019 by major pharmaceutical players to pool ideas and expertise around QC use cases. QuPharm also collaborates with the Quantum Economic Development Consortium (QED-C), which was created in 2018 by the US government as part of the National Quantum Initiative Act and aims to enable commercial QC use-case efforts.
This article is part of: Annual Meeting of the New Champions The World Economic Forum's Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2024 report lists this year's most impactful emerging technologies. The list includes ways artificial intelligence is accelerating scientific research with a focus on applications in health, communication, infrastructure and ...
Our Analyzing the Financing Contingency article series takes a closer look at the Florida Realtors/Florida Bar financing contingency. The first article (which ran in June) provided an overview of the contingency and showed how the rights and obligations of parties shift as a contract progresses down different paths. This article is the second part of the series and will cover defined terms in ...
Key Finding. The Trump administration imposed nearly $80 billion worth of new taxes on Americans by levying tariffs on thousands of products valued at approximately $380 billion in 2018 and 2019, amounting to one of the largest taxA tax is a mandatory payment or charge collected by local, state, and national governments from individuals or businesses to cover the costs of general government ...