Summer Science Research: Journal Articles

Identifying Research Articles

Listed below are some clues to help identify research articles. However, it should be noted that numerous exceptions occur for all of the points listed below. Therefore, the following information should be used as a guideline when looking for research articles

• Topic: Research articles tend to be highly specific in nature, relate to a particular field, or specialty within a field, and are written by authors who have done research in the field.

• Audience: The target audience is other researchers, colleagues, students and specialists in the same field. Research articles are written for the scholarly community, rather than a general audience.

• Language: The language of research articles is formal, generally does not use the first person, and includes jargon used in the field. Research articles are written to contribute to the knowledge base of the discipline.

• Length: research articles can vary in length, but are typically five to fifty pages long.

• Authors: Research articles may have numerous authors. The organization, institute or professional society the authors belong to will be listed.

• Content: Generally the article is written at a sophisticated enough level that the reader will need to read the article more than once in order to understand and evaluate the article.

The following list of  headings within the article should be used as a guideline when looking for research articles: 

• Title
• Abstract
• Introduction/literature review
• Purpose of the study/hypothesis/problem statement
• Methodology/procedures/research design
• Major findings/results/analysis/discussion
• Summary/conclusion/ideas for future studies/implications
• Works cited/references/acknowledgements
• Notes/appendices
• Tables, charts, figures, statistical data (throughout the article)

Sources:

Finding Research Articles and Refereed Journals Tutorial Summary of Main Points. (n.d.) Finding Research Articles and Refereed Journals. Retrieved November 5, 2007 from University Library, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Section 3: Identifying Research Articles and Refereed Journals. (n.d.) Finding Research Articles and Refereed Journals. Retrieved November 5, 2007 from University Library, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Types of research

Most research uses one of the following forms of data collection: observation, questionnaires, interviews, or controlled experiments. Types of research include case studies, user studies, experimental research, and survey research. This research is captured in the form of published journal article, usually in a scholarly or peer-reviewed journal, not in popular journals or magazines.

Scholarly vs. Peer Reviewed Journals 

A publication is considered to be scholarly if it is authored by academics for a target audience that is mainly academic, the printed format isn't usually a glossy magazine, and it is published by a recognized society with academic goals and missions.

A publication is considered to be peer reviewed if its articles go through an official editorial process that involves review and approval by the author's peers (people who are experts in the same subject area.) Most (but not all) scholarly publications are peer reviewed.

Identifying Peer Reviewed Journals (also called refereed)

• Each issue will have a publishing date, volume number and issue number.
• A refereed journal may have one to fifty articles, with most having eight to eighteen.
• Very little, if any, advertising or photographs are included in refereed journals and generally they will use black print on white paper.
• The size of the journal may vary from a small paperback size to a large magazine format. Refereed journals may contain book reviews, literature reviews, and essays. Therefore, just because an article is published in a refereed journal, it does not necessarily mean that it is a research article!
• The majority of journals are published four to six times per year and are often published by a professional society, organization, or research institution.
• Refereed journals have a peer review process. The editorial board and the organizations they are affiliated with are listed in the journal. Information about what types of papers are chosen for publication, the selection process, the length of papers accepted, how to submit a paper, and a listing of where the refereed journal is indexed is often provided.
• Journal publishers will often identify their review process on their web site for authors submitting articles. To determine if the journal is refereed or peer reviewed, go their web site and look for instructions for publication.

Sources:

Finding Research Articles and Refereed Journals Tutorial Summary of Main Points. (n.d.) Finding Research Articles and Refereed Journals. Retrieved November 5, 2007 from University Library, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Section 3: Identifying Research Articles and Refereed Journals. (n.d.) Finding Research Articles and Refereed Journals. Retrieved November 5, 2007 from University Library, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.