IMRaD Structure: Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion

IMRaD is the standard organizational framework for scientific manuscripts in biomedical and natural sciences research. It separates reporting into four sequential sections—Introduction (why the research was conducted), Methods (how it was done), Results (what was found), and Discussion (what the findings mean)—enabling readers to understand, evaluate, and reproduce the work. Adopted as best practice by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) since the 1970s, IMRaD structure is now mandated or strongly recommended by most peer-reviewed journals.