The Challenges of Writing a Research Paper

Writing my BE research paper was an excellent learning experience and a fun process. I went to the biomedical library and checked out the only three books I could find on the shelves about contact lenses, only to find that they were from the 1980s, largely outdated, and of minimal usefulness. I then struggled for hours to find sources online.

Once I actually started writing the paper, things only got worse. At one point, I came across two sources that disagreed on one of the causes for dry eyes among contact wearers. I looked further into the situation and found that among the 9 sources cited by those two sources on the subject, 3 supported one position, 3 others argued the opposite, and 3 were neutral. At this point I was completely confused. Finally, I concluded that the lack of scientific consensus indicates that this topic, the influence of lens dehydration on dryness in the eye, is not yet fully understood

Later on, I finished my detailed analysis only to find that my analysis was much more specific and detailed than my diagram to the point where the two seemed almost unrelated. I quickly rushed to create a second diagram exploring certain parts of the process in more detail to show the link between the analysis and the main diagram.

While I was concluding my paper with a more general discussion of the topic, my skepticism was aroused at the sight of a company (AC Lens) claiming that "some clinical studies" suggested that preservatives caused dryness and discomfort in patients' eyes. AC lens used this to endorse a specific brand, probably one that they sell. In my paper, I mentioned this information but warned of the dangers of blindly believing such dubious sources and went on to outline suggestions from more reliable authors.

Finally, I submitted my paper in the dropbox on Blackboard. This was possibly the most frustrating part of the process. My paper was titled Nelson-Sundaram-Report, as required, but when submitting it, I entered my name in the slot labeled "name" (seems logical, doesn't it)? I was promptly informed by my TA at recitation that this was incorrect and Nelson-Sundaram-Report, the DOCUMENT'S name, should go in the "name" slot while submitting document, even if the document itself had the proper name. Not surprisingly, several other students had similar problems with these confusing instructions, although I seemed to be the only student foolish enough to enter my own name in place of the document's. Most other students who messed up used the COURSE name, BE 100. If you ask me, when there are so many different names that could be used, everything would be much simpler if only Blackboard could specify "Document name" in the data entry field.

Seriously, though, the most challenging part was writing the actual paper. It was a refreshing feeling to be finished. I enjoyed writing the paper and I think I learned a lot.