Recommendations in Research: Examples & Tips

A good recommendation in a research example tells readers who should do what, and why. It ties one clear action to one clear finding. This guide shows you how, with simple templates and short examples.

Quick answer: Write each recommendation as one action sentence. Say who should act, what they should do, and which finding supports it. Put the most important ones first, and stay within what your data can prove.

What Are Recommendations in Research?

Recommendations are the "what should happen next?" part of a research paper. They translate your research into actions. Those deeds could be for teachers, doctors, managers, lawmakers or other researchers.

People often mix up conclusions, implications, and recommendations. Here's the difference.

	Conclusion	Implication	Recommendation
Question it answers	What did I find?	What might it mean?	What should be done?
Example	Students who took short quizzes remembered more.	Quizzes may help memory.	Teachers should add a short quiz every two weeks.

Where do they go? Usually in the discussion section or the conclusion section. A long thesis may have its own recommendations chapter. Check your journal guidelines or ask your supervisor, because rules differ.

A Simple Recommendations in Research Example

Let's use a made up study. (It's only for practice, not real data.) Imagine researchers interviewed new teachers. Most said they felt unprepared to check student progress during lessons. That skill is called formative assessment. It means quick checks while teaching, like asking the class to hold up answer cards.

Weak version: "Schools should improve teaching."

Strong version: "Primary schools should add supervised practice in quick classroom checks to new teacher training, because most new teachers in our interviews said they had never practised it."

Why is the second one better? It names who (primary schools), what (supervised practice), and why (what the interviews showed). A reader knows exactly what to do next.

Types of Recommendations

Most recommendations fall into a few groups. Pick the ones that fit your study.

Practical recommendations: Changes people can make in daily work. Example: "Clinics should call patients within a week of discharge."
Policy recommendations: Changes to rules, funding, or laws. Example: "Funders should ask researchers to share their study plans before they begin."
Future research recommendations: Ideas for the next study. Example: "Future studies should follow students for a full year."
Methodological recommendations: are ways to improve the study of a topic.For example, use a tested survey instead of one question.

If you're writing for different groups, sort your list by group. Teachers, managers, and policymakers each want to find their own part quickly.

How to Write Recommendations in a Research Paper

Follow these six steps.

List your main findings. Only include findings you can support.
Ask who could act on each one. Every recommendation needs one clear person or group.
Write one action sentence. start to art with a strong verb like try, add, test, or require.
Add a short "because." Link the action to your data in one phrase.
Put them in order. Start with the ones that matter most and are easiest to do.
Check each one against your findings. If a recommendation has no finding behind it, remove it or move it to future research.

Here's a simple template: "[Who] should [do what] in [where or when], because [finding]."

Match Your Words to Your Evidence

Your wording should match how strong your evidence is. A small survey can't prove a big claim.

A correlational study shows two things move together. Think of ice cream sales and sunburns. Both rise in summer, but ice cream doesn't cause sunburn. So you shouldn't write recommendations that claim one thing causes the other.

Your study	Safer wording	Wording to avoid
Survey or correlational study	"Consider," "try," "explore whether"	"Will fix," "must adopt"
Small sample size	"Future studies should confirm this with more people"	Big rules for whole countries
Strong, repeated results	"Should adopt," "we recommend using"	Claiming bigger effects than you measured

Also mention study limitations honestly. If you only studied one school, say your advice may not fit every school. That makes your recommendations more trusted, not less.

More Examples From Different Fields

These are made up to show wording. They aren't real results.

Field	Finding	Recommendation
Education	Students who used spaced quizzes remembered more.	Teachers should add short quizzes every two weeks and check results at term end.
Business	Many shoppers left at the shipping cost step.	Online stores should show the full price earlier and test two versions of the page.
Health	Patients forgot their discharge instructions.	Hospitals should give a one page summary and ask patients to explain it back.
Environment	Air pollution peaked at rush hour.	City planners should try new traffic flow near the sensors and measure any change.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Adding topics your research never covered.
Writing "more research is needed" without saying what kind.
Saying one thing causes another when you only showed a link.
Listing ten or twelve ideas with no order.
Ignoring your own limits.
Copying a recommendations in research example word for word instead of using it as a pattern.

How Many Recommendations Should You Write?

It depends on your school or journal. One UK guide suggests about 3 to 5 for undergraduate and master's dissertations, and more for a PhD. Treat that as a rough guide only. Your department handbook comes first.

FAQs

What is a good recommendations in research example?

"Hospitals should try a handover checklist at shift change, because errors were most common then in our data."

How are recommendations different from conclusions?

A conclusion says what you found. A recommendation says what people should do because of it.

Do all research papers need recommendations?

No. Some journals only want implications and limitations. Always check the author guidelines first.

Can a recommendation be about future research?

Yes. Just be specific. Say what group, method, or question the next study should use.

Where can I find more writing help on this website?

Look through the other writing guides here, or use the contact page to ask the team.

Final Thoughts

Strong recommendations are short, clear, and based on your findings. Start with one recommendations in research example from this guide, change the details to fit your study, and check it against your data. Then ask your supervisor or a friend whether the next step is obvious.