Pines City Colleges

Magsaysay Avenue, Baguio City 2600 Philippines

www.pcc.edu.ph

Institutional
Research
Guidelines
a.Y. 2018-2019

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I. Research Writing Mechanics
A. General Writing Requirements:
1. Size of Paper: Standard Size Paper (8.5”x11”).
2. Page Margin: 1 Inch on all sides. (1.5” to the left side for BINDING PURPOSES)
3. Font Style: Times New Roman
4. Font Size: 12
5. Spacing: Double Space
6. Pagination: Arabic page numbers (i.e. 1, 2, 3) begin on the abstract, top-right
7. Prepare three (3) hardbound copies and (adobe acrobat format) of the
revised and edited manuscript (final copy) as a final requirement for
Graduation. The College Department, The Research Center and The school
library should receive one copy each.
8. Prepare two (2) CD copies. The College Department and the Research Center
should have one copy each.

B. Sections and Descriptions

1. Title Page
The title page must be considered as page 1 of the final study output. This
section contains the title of the study, name of the authors, institutional
affiliation and date of completion. The following must be observed for each
part:

1.1. Title of the Study: A title should clearly state the main topic and
purpose of the study. It is suggested that a study title should be limited
to 15-20 words inclusive of articles and conjunctions. Abbreviations are
strictly prohibited. The title should be centered and be in double space
in an inverse pyramidal form.

1.2. Name of the Authors: Authors should be written in a linear form with
double spacing. Family name should be written first followed by the
given name and middle initial. Author’s names should be separated
by a comma. Names must be arranged based on their actual
contribution towards the completion of the study.

1.3. Institutional Affiliation

1.4. Date of Completion: This section should be placed at the bottom of

the page. The date should include the month and year only indicating
the actual month when the final revised version of the study is
approved by the respective College Dean of the students.

2. Approval Sheet
The approval sheet serves as a completion statement indicating that the
student researchers have satisfactorily completed the requirement for their
research course as partial fulfillment to the completion of their respective
academic programs. This constitutes to page 2 of the final study output.

The approval sheet must contain the Completion Statement and the Approval
Section by the Panel as described below:

2.1. Completion Statement: Institutional Format is already provided

however this must be duly certified by the adviser of a research group
to indicate notice of final study output.

2.2. Approval Section: This section should contain all members and the
chairman of the panel and their signatures to indicate completion of
the study. Specific format for a 3-, 4- and 5-man panel is seen in the
attachment.

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 A specific format will be applied (as seen on the attachments section)
depending on the number of panels for a given study.

3. Table of Contents
The table of contents should provide an easy and quick guide on the different
sections of the paper and the corresponding page they are contained in. This
constitutes to page 3 of the final study output.

This part must be in two-columns. The first column must contain the important
sections of the paper and the second column must contain in Arabic numeral
form. The corresponding section in the first column and page number in the
second column must be connected by linear ellipses (e.g. ………….) of equal
ends.

4. Abstract
The Abstract is the concise summary the study in one paragraph form limited
to 150-250 words excluding the keywords. This is an original work, not an
excerpted passage from the different sections of the study. This constitute to
page 4 of the final study output.

The abstract must contain the main research objective, the design of the
study and its relevance to the completion of the study, a short description of
the data treatment procedure, the main findings or results of the study in
consonance to the main study objective and the general
conclusion/recommendation of the study.

The abstract must have no indention and must not contain any bolded or
italicized texts. This section must be in declarative form, hence, use of question
marks is disallowed for any of its sentences.

After the Abstract, a Keyword subsection must be included with 3-5 concepts
amounting to 1 to 3 word/s each concept. These keywords should be
representative of the important concepts of the study. The label Keyword must
be written in italics.

5. Introduction
This section provides a blueprint for the ideas that the researcher has in
coming up with the intended study. It is generally suggested that studies
conducted must follow a Deductive Form of presentation unless otherwise as
in the case of some qualitative studies. Also, introduction section must be
limited to a total of 2-5 pages.

This section must be written in paragraph form and must omit the use of
headings to indicate which subsection of the paper is being discussed. In
general, it is suggested that a maximum of 5 paragraphs would be allotted
each subsection discussion.

The following are the required subsections for discussion in any type of study
(although no labels are required to be placed for each):

5.1. Background of the Study: Incorporate Review of Related Literature

that will support the topic. The literature review does not need to be
absolutely exhaustive, but should be illustrative. That is, it should have
enough background material to give a reasonable complete account
of knowledge of the topic. These pieces of knowledge should end with
a brief discussion of the underlying conceptual/theoretical framework
that is intended to be employed in the study.

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 5.2. Statement of the Problem/Objectives: Supported by the background
of the study, this portion should illustrate the gap in knowledge of a
given topic and the need to study such gap. From this gap in
knowledge, the researcher should state the main problem of the study
in declarative form followed by specific problems, which are to be
written in interrogative form. These specific problems, which are the
specific question/s that need/s to be answered to achieve the main
goal, must present the descriptive objective first before inferential
objectives.

5.3. Thesis Statement/ Hypothesis: This section follows after the statement of
the research problem which attempts to provide the researchers’ initial
answer to the research problem as supported by the data that will be
gathered in the research process.

5.4. Significance of the Study: This states the reason as to why the specific
topic or issue needs to be studied. This section should simply identify
the specific groups that will benefit in the study and how they will
commonly benefit from the said study, hence, lengthy discussion on
the benefits for each group is not required.

5.5. Limitations of the Study: This section should include the initial limitations
of the study in terms of the target population group and data
variables to be collected as reflected in the research goal and to
foreshadow the discussion on the Methods section.

6. Methods
This section provides a detailed discussion on how the researcher intended to
achieve the goals of the study. This will also serve as a quick reference to
validate whether the intended goal is achievable or not. It is suggested that a
total of 2-4 pages should be allotted for this section.

Also, headings for the specific subsections are not required. Hence, it is
suggested that each paragraph should represent one subsection of the
Methods.

The following are the required subsections for discussion in the Methods
Section (although no labels are required to be placed for each):

6.1. Research Design: This includes the specific basic methodological

orientation/approach to underpin the study (i.e. Qualitative:
Grounded Theory, Phenomenological, Case Study etc.; Quantitative:
Experimental, Quasi-Experimental, Cohort, Cross-sectional, Case
Control etc.; Systematic Literature Review/Meta-analysis). Additional
methodological standpoints (i.e. Emergent, Declarative, Exploratory
etc.) should also be discussed in this section. In sum, this section must
provide a brief explanation how these approaches allow the
researcher to achieve the main problem of the study and should be
the basis for all other subsections of this section. Ergo, a short
explanation of the intended variables that must be gathered and their
interplay with the over-all goal must be foreshadowed in this section.

6.2. Population and Locale of the Study: This should provide a narrative
presentation of the population of the study, as well as the sampling
(probability vs. non-probability) if determined and the sampling
technique used. For probability-based sampling, a brief discussion on
the specific tool used and the alpha level used and the corresponding

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 sampling size from the base population is required to be shown (the
detailed process of calculating the sample is not required to be
shown). For use of non-probability sampling, a brief justification for the
lack of use of probability sampling technique should be provided
followed by the specific number of respondents and the inclusion and
exclusion criteria used to select participants. For experimental and
longitudinal types of studies, appropriate description of randomization
process to determine the control and case/treatment groups must be
included at the last part of this subsection.

6.3. Instrumentation and/or Treatment: This should include a narrative

description of the data gathering instrument used and the specific
variables (indicating the level of data) that are to be collected. For
newly developed instruments, a detailed discussion of the validation
processes covering for all possible areas of validity (e.g. face validity,
content validity, construct validity etc.) and the results of reliability
testing, if applicable, should be provided. For instruments adopted
from other studies, a basic profile of the validity and reliability of the
said instrument must be provided including specific figures of reliability.
For experimental and longitudinal types of studies, appropriate
description of the treatment process must be indicated on the first part
of this subsection to clearly establish the step-by-step procedures
employed for the control and the experimental groups before data
was gathered.

6.4. Data Collection Procedure: This should mainly discuss the specific
modalities of data collection (e.g. interview, survey, field notes etc.)
and under which conditions (e.g. face-to-face, e-mail, etc.) were they
conducted. This should also identify the step-by-step process involving
the first-step (e.g. participant orientation) until the last step of data
collection (e.g. provision of further instructions). This should include the
appropriate setting and timeframe as to which the data was
gathered. Also, follow-up procedures like repeat interviews, return of
transcripts, and follow-up assessments, must provide how, where, when
and why such was/were conducted. For longitudinal and
experimental studies, withdrawal criteria for participants must be
included in this section.

6.5. Treatment of the Data: This section must start with the blinding
procedure employed by researchers to ensure objectivity of data
treatment. This should also determine the specific coding technique
(e.g. axial coding for qualitative studies) or data transmutation process
(e.g. number coding for quantitative studies). The specific software
used to transcribe the data must also be identified. Afterwards, the
initial data treatment procedure, which focuses on the descriptive
problems of the study, should identify the specific steps and statistical
tools used (e.g. frequency counts, means etc.) to achieve the
objective. This will be followed by the discussion on how the inferential
objective was answered including the specific tests used (e.g. t-test, z-
test, ANOVA, Chi-square, etc.).

6.6. Ethical Consideration Discussion: This section should provide the basic
steps undergone by the researchers to achieve confidentiality of data,
anonymity of test subjects, participation of vulnerable groups etc. If
possible, the reference number of an ethical reviewing committee
must be included to show that the study did not violate any ethical
issue.

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 7. Results and Discussion
For qualitative studies, Results must be reported as Findings. This section deals
with the specific objectives/questions set in the study. This should not also be
taken as separate headings, although, the discussion must present all the
relevant results first before the discussion. Also, it is suggested that this section
should only be 3-8 pages in total.

The Results present the new knowledge derived from the study; therefore, it is
the core of the paper. The results should plainly present the facts from the
study (may it be presented in numerical estimates or word form). It is
suggested that only 2-3 main tables of results (if present) should be present
incorporating a) the Baseline Data showing the demographic profile of
respondents; b) the Descriptive Results which will show results involving
frequency counts, means, median, mode etc.; and c) the Inferential Results
showing the statistical treatment used in testing the hypothesis and the results
of such tests. If possible, Results must follow the order as presented in the
Statement of the Problem subsection of the Introduction. Also heading of
table name should be above the table presented.

The discussion is the section where the authors explain meanings and
implications of the results. The section pulls everything together and shows the
importance and value of the work and is therefore the most innovative and
difficult part of the paper to write. This section contains interpretation and
explanation of results; it gives a verbal description that encapsulated the
critical findings. However, in doing so, the researcher must not overanalyze the
discussion section as to avoid error, thus, it is suggested that discussion of a
specific result should:

a. Discuss the implications to the study hypotheses, current theory and

other relevant studies in the literature.

b. Comment on the study limitations including any potential sources of

bias, that may have association with the results.

c. Describe any implications of the results to the replacement,

refinement or reduction of existing knowledge.

Note that the Discussion section is written in both present and past tenses.
Current knowledge (from literature) is stated in present tense, whereas the
work being reported and discussed in the paper (your own work) is presented
in past tense; e.g., ‘‘Treatment A was better than Treatment B, which suggests
that ….’’

8) Conclusion and Recommendation

This serves as the concluding section of the paper and is recommended to be 1-
2 pages long. Similarly, no separate headings are required.

Unlike Results and Discussions which deals with the specific objectives/problems
of the study, the Conclusion section deals with the main problem of the study by
corroborating individual results to a single synthesis. Hence, Conclusions should
not be taken as short repetition of discussion, hence, it is recommended that the
conclusion should be a narrative response to the main problem of the study.
Thus, the conclusion should avoid re-statement of numerical results unless
necessary to answer the main problem of the study.

Finally, the Recommendation section should briefly suggest future lines of

research based on a) the results of the study, b) the limitations of the study that
could have potentially impact the desired results), or c) suggested course or

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 action or policy. In sum, this should provide the specific recommendation and
rationale for the said recommendation, hence, detailed discussion of the
specific steps of a given recommendation should be omitted.

9) References
All works referred to in the paper appear on the reference page, listed
alphabetically using APA format. It is suggested that references should be limited
to iscopus-indexed/h-indexed peer-reviewed journals, books and internationally
acclaimed organizations.

10) Appendices
Any additional information that is relevant to the paper, but is of secondary
importance. These could include but not limited to the following:
a) Secondary Figures: This includes the figures created to represent a certain
process in the study (e.g. conceptual framework) or results reported using
figures.
b) Secondary Tables: This includes individual tables that form part of the 2-3
main tables reported in the Results Section of the Study. This could also
include other tables that were essential in data treatment but not necessary
to be reported in the Results discussion (e.g. Validity Test Result, Normality Test
Result etc.)
c) Statistical Computations or Proof of Data Treatment: Shows the proof that
statistical computations were actually performed.
d) Informed Consent Form for Respondents/Participants: Shows the appropriate
IFC form used in the study as recommended by WHO depending on the
study design and nature of respondents.
e) Letter to Respondents and Sample Data Collection Tool: This shows the
general cover head and the actual questionnaire provided to respondents.
f) Gantt Chart of Major Events: A tabular representation of the different major
activities conducted in accomplishing the study.
g) Curriculum Vitae of Researchers and Adviser: Shows the curriculum vitae of
investigators arranged on the basis of their contribution and the supervising
instructor.

Other possible attachments that may be included would be the actual print out
of the research’s data bank, a research protocol if required, photo
documentation of actual processes etc.

* Additional Note: It must be noted that the afore-mentioned discussion provides

the basic minimum required contents for any type of study that will be
conducted in Pines City Colleges. Other parts that are not stated that are
essential in reporting certain types of studies are encouraged. As such,
researchers are hereby encouraged to consult the following internationally
accepted guidelines for certain types of studies based on their Study Design:

Study Design Guideline Guideline Name

Acronym
Qualitative Studies Consolidated Criteria for
COREQ Reporting Qualitative Research
Guidelines
Systematic Reviews/ Preferred Reporting Items for
Meta-analysis PRISMA Systematic Reviews and Meta-
analyses Statement
Randomized Control Consolidated Standards of
Trials/ Experimental CONSORT Reporting Trials Statement
Designs
Observational Studies Strengthening the Reporting of
(Longitudinal, Cross- STROBE Observational studies in
sectional and Case Epidemiology Statement

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 Control)
Diagnostic Studies Standards for Reporting of
STARD
Diagnostic Accuracy Statement

VIII- Research Ethics Policies

1. Research Title/Proposal

2. Written Consent –Permission from the institution/office custodian of the subject/

respondents shall be made in writing
• Informed consent should always be observed
• Respondents must be informed and give their consent before participating
in research and/or being interviewed or observed.
• Written permission from the author in whose jurisdiction would be the locale
of the study will also be secured if necessary for security purposes of the
researchers and in compliance with Free Prior Informed Consent (FPIC)
required in some indigenous places.
• Participants in research should give their consent before participating.
Participation MUST BE VOLUNTARILY.
• Participants have the right to be informed about the risk (if there are any)
and the potential consequences of the study.
• All letters of communication related to research should pass through the
college and always signed by the adviser.

3. Responsible Publication- Publish an aggregate data only in case of publication.

4. Use of Samples – Use sample rather than complete population so that fewer
persons are harmed or distributed (in case of so numerous targets).

Sampling shall still comply with the “Guidelines for Determining Adequate
Sampling.”

5. Respect for Intellectual Property

• Never plagiarize; that is, to present portions of another’s report or data as
our own.
• Cite clearly all sources of information (authors of book, journals, articles)
and data used.
• Give proper acknowledgment and credit to resources.

6. Respect for Individual’s Right and Privacy

• Researchers should respect the rights, privacy, dignity, confidentiality, and
sensitivity of their targets or respondents and the integrity of PCC as the
institution within which the research occurs.
• Respect cultural, individual and role differences among research
participants and consumers, including those based on age, sex, gender,
identity, sexual orientation, nationality, ethnicity, disability, language or
socio-economic status.

7. Adhere with Fundamental Principles and Standards of Honesty, Courtesy, and

Truthfulness.
• No fabrication/ falsification/misrepresentation of authorship, evidence,
data, finding or conclusion.
• Conduct research activities in accordance with the accepted standard of
discipline.
• Avoid making exaggerated claims that are not warranted by the results of
our research inquiry.

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 • Ensure the accuracy of all data that we and our collaborators have
gathered and/or used in our research.
• Data gathered should not be altered or strictly monitored by the faculty.

8. Administration of Questionnaires
• Always introduce and explain your purpose of research to the respondents
for them to understand before floating questionnaires.

9. Social Responsibility
• Doing what is right considering humane aspects
• Maintain confidentiality and anonymity of the respondents

10. Accomplished Survey Questionnaires are well-complied and submitted to the

Dean’s Office.

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 IX- Actual Formats

APA FORMAT

Style Guides Title Page

FULL TITLE
TITLE Do Local Anesthetics Provide More Successful Anesthesia

Over Non-Buffered Solutions in Patients Requiring Dental Therapy? – A A title should

clearly state the
Systematic Review & Meta-Analysis. main topic.
Abbreviations
are not
appropriate. The
title should be
centered. Long
Titles should be
double spaced in
a pyramidal
Soriano, Elliot V., Dela Cruz, Paul B., Kattan, Sereen Q. form.
Double
Abaste, Bruno D. and Krisostomo, Johnathan M. Space
MARGINS
INSTITUTIONAL Pines City Colleges
AFFILIATION Margins
should be 1-
inch all
around and on
all pages of
the paper.

DATE March 2012

COMPLETED

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 Approval Sheets

Insert page number in short Roman

Numeral Form in the upper right corner
of the page.

ii

Pines City Colleges

(Owned and operated by THORNTONS INTERNATIONAL STUDIES, INC.)
Department
Magsaysay Avenue, Baguio City 2600 Philippines al
Tel.nos.: (074) 445-2210, 4452209 Fax:(074) 445-2208 Logo
www.pcc.edu.ph

APPROVAL SHEET

This is to certify that this Thesis entitled

________________________________ prepared and submitted by
________________________________ has been approved and
accepted as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
degree _______________________ on ____________.

__________________
Adviser

PANEL MEMBERS
_______________________ ____________________
Member Member
Note: 2 Panel Members and 1 Chairman __________________

Chairman

Note: 2 Panel Members and 1 Chairman

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 Insert page number in short
Roman Numeral Form in the
upper right corner of the page

ii

Pines City Colleges

Department
(Owned and operated by THORNTONS INTERNATIONAL STUDIES, INC.) al
Magsaysay Avenue, Baguio City 2600 Philippines Logo
Tel.nos.: (074) 445-2210, 4452209 Fax:(074) 445-2208
www.pcc.edu.ph

APPROVAL SHEET

This is to certify that this Thesis entitled

________________________________ prepared and submitted by
________________________________ has been approved and
accepted as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
degree _______________________ on ____________.

___________________
Adviser

PANEL MEMBERS
____________________ ___________________ ____________________
Member Member Member

__________________
Chairman

Note: 3 Panel Members and 1 Chairman

12 | P a g e
 Insert page number in short
Roman Numeral Form in the
upper right corner of the page

ii
Pines City Colleges
(Owned and operated by THORNTONS INTERNATIONAL STUDIES, INC.)
Department
Magsaysay Avenue, Baguio City 2600 Philippines
al
Tel.nos.: (074) 445-2210, 4452209 Fax:(074) 445-2208 Logo
www.pcc.edu.ph

APPROVAL SHEET

This is to certify that this Thesis entitled

________________________________ prepared and submitted by
________________________________ has been approved and accepted
as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree
_______________________ on ____________.

____________________
Adviser

PANEL MEMBERS
____________________ ___________________
Member Member

____________________ ___________________
Member Member
__________________
Chairman

Note: 4 Panel Members and 1 Chairman

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page ………………………………………………………………………. i

Approval Sheet ………………………………………………………………… ii

Dedication …………………………………………………………………….. iii

Acknowledgement …………………………………………………………….. iv

Table of Contents ……………………………………………………………. v

Abstract ……………………………………………………………………… 1

Introduction…………………………………………………………………. 1

Methods…….…………………………………………………………………

Results and Discussion……………………………………………………….

Conclusion and Recommendation …………………………………………

References……………………………………………………………………

Appendices ……………………………………………………………………

Curriculum Vitae ……………………………………………………………

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 Page number starts

prevent the conduction of impulses by decreasing the permeability of nerve

membranes to sodium ions. By impeding the influx of sodium ions into the

neuron, local anesthetics block the conduction of impulses, prevent excitation

along a neural pathway, and give rise to anesthesia (Malamed, 2013). Two ionic

forms of the local anesthesia exist in equilibrium within an anesthetic cartridge:

RN (the uncharged, deionized, ‘active’ free base form of the drug which is lipid

soluble) and RNH+ (the ‘charged’ or ionized cationic form, which is not lipid

soluble); only the lipid soluble de-ionized form can cross the nerve membrane.

Once within the nerve, the RN picks up a H+ with the resultant RNH+ entering a

Na+ channel to block nerve conduction. Only after the body buffers the pH of the

anesthetic solution closer toward the physiologic range (7.35 – 7.45) does the

anesthetic begin to take effect. The time that this transformation requires is a key

factor in anesthetic latency (Malamed, 2013). Inflammation and infection

represent an additional obstacle in anesthetic performance. Lower tissue pH at

3
the site of inflammation/infection makes it extremely difficult for the typical

local anesthetic injection to provide adequate pulpal anesthesia.

Inflamed/infected tissue is more acidic, which makes it more difficult for the RN

conversion to occur (Hargreaves & Keiser, 2002).

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 Page number

The question in dentistry has been: “do buffered local anesthetics provide an advantage over

standard solutions in patients requiring dental therapy as well?

Sections are centered & Bold
Method Phase

All randomized double-blinded clinical trials (RCTs) on anesthetic success of

buffered local anesthetics compared with non-buffered (standard) solutions; only parallel

group RCTs are included .........

Results and Discussion

After examination of the titles and abstracts of these references, all of those that did

not match the inclusion criteria and were clearly ineligible were eliminated. Full text copies

of the remaining studies were obtained and subjected to further evaluation. Searching the

...............

Characteristics of the Outcomes Measures

Justified
All studies evaluated anesthetic success of buffered local anesthetics and controls,

which is the primary outcome of this review. In three of the included studies (Saatchi et al.,

2015; Saatchi et al., 2016; Schellenberg et al., 2015)anesthetic success …..

Conclusion and Recommendation

The present meta-analysis showed that in patients requiring dental therapy, buffered

local anesthetics is more effective ....

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 Page number

x Center
References and Bold
Alphabetically
1. Al-Sultan, F. A., Fathie, W. K., & Hamid, R. S. (2006). A Clinical
arranged with
Evaluation on the Alkalization of Local Anesthetic Solution in
single spacing
periapical Surgery. Al-Rafidain Dent J., 6(1), 71-77.
in between.
2. Gupta, S., Mandlik, G., Padhye, M. N., Kini, Y. K., Kakkar, S., &
Hire, A. V. (2014). Combating inadequate anesthesia in periapical
infections, with sodium bicarbonate: A clinical double blind
study. Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, 18(3), 325-329. Justified
doi:10.1007/s10006-013-0418-1 [doi]

3. Saatchi, M., Farhad, A. R., Shenasa, N., &Haghighi, S. K. (2016).

Effect of sodium bicarbonate buccal infiltration on the success of
inferior alveolar nerve block in mandibular first molars with
symptomatic irreversible pulpitis: A prospective, randomized
double-blind study. Journal of Endodontics, 42(10), 1458-1461.
doi:10.1016/j.joen.2016.07.004 [doi]

Follow APA Format for formats of list of references. (Available online)

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 Center Page number

x
Appendices

Appendix 1: PubMed Search Strategy November 1, 2016 Aligned Left

& Bold
Search Strategies
Search Query Items found Time
#1 Search Buffers [MeSH] 21056 13:25:33
#2 Search Sodium Bicarbonate [MeSH] 4123 13:25:45

Appendix 2: Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) Search

Strategy November 1, 2016

Search Strategies
PubMed Search Strategy November 1, 2016:
Search Query Items found
#1 "Sodium Bicarbonate":ti,ab,kw (Word variations 986
have been searched)
#2 MeSH descriptor: [Sodium Bicarbonate] explode 559
all trees

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