Types of research articles: A research paper is the most common of academic writing. It is basically a presentation or evaluation of research data.
In this blog post: we are explaining the different types of research articles.
Research papers are the final products of researchers’ learning process, critical thinking, and various assessment data. By writing a research paper, one can improve in-depth knowledge of the subject.
Usually, research articles (journals, books, chapters) undergo a peer-review process before getting published on an academic platform. Research papers are usually longer and written in a more detailed way than other essays.
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Types of Research Articles
There are different styles of writing a research paper. Following are some of the common types of research papers:
1. Original Article (Imp type of Research paper)
It is the most common type of manuscript for any journal. It is used to publish full information on any research data. The original article is commonly known as a research article or empirical research. It should not exceed more than 8000 words.
It is usually a presentation of experimental data in a research study from different research areas. The original Research article format contains an Introduction, a Review of the literature, methodologies, and results/conclusions. It can be organized in the following way.
- Abstract: It should include brief summary of the research problem, research findings, and objectives of the paper. It should be written within 250 words. 5-10 keywords are most commonly used in the abstract for any original research paper.
- Introduction: It is usually written in 1 or 2 pages with a maximum of 1500 words. It gives an outline of the research study in the paper. It explains the importance of writing a research paper.
- Literature review: It explains the research gaps from past publications of relevant studies. It also helps us in finding a research problem.
- Methodologies: It usually explains how the research data is collected in a paper. The experimental data can be derived either quantitively or qualitatively. Quantitative data is usually collected by performing experiments or through surveys. The results are usually numeric in this type of data. On the other hand, Qualitative data can be analyzed by organizing group discussions or interviews. It is mainly used to produce a hypothesis.
- Results and Discussion: Results are usually derived by analyzing the research data. Nowadays, data can be analyzed through software. The commonly used software are Matlab, Simapro, IBM SPSS, and nvivo. Discussions are written by interpreting the result data. Results and Discussions are usually formatted in the form of tables, figures, and graphs.
How to write and publish a research paper for journal publication?
2. Review the article
Review articles are also considered an important part of research articles. It usually provides a comprehensive summary of research studies on a particular topic. These articles are usually longer and can range from 9000-11000 words.
Review articles are the most widely read manuscripts by researchers. Generally, articles in this type of paper cite more than 100 original research articles.
There are mainly 3 types of review articles.
- Systematic Review: Researchers write systematic reviews to identify the methods that help in eliminating bias in research findings.
- Literature review: Here, Review articles involve in-depth analysis and critical evaluation of a particular topic in any subject.
- Meta-analysis: This type of review article involves assessing the results of previous research to derive conclusions.
How to write a scientific review paper?
3. Book Chapter
Chapters are usually a section or divisions of a book with individual chapter titles and numbers. Each chapter explains a particular theme given by a book editor.
The length of book chapters depends upon the given topic. Generally, publishing houses, research institutes, and universities invite authors for writing a book chapter.
The leading book publishers across the world are Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley, Oxford university press, etc. An ideal book chapter should meet the following requirements:
- It should have a short, interesting, and informative title.
- It should be approximately 3000-4000 words.
- It should be able to explain over the specific issue in a single article.
4. Short Communications/ Notes
It is a type of review article which is written in less than 3000 words. It usually explains the original research data in a brief manner.
Short notes usually address a few research questions from the original research articles. It should comprise of methodologies, and conclusions, and suggest a few research priorities. Usually, all short communications are peer-reviewed before getting accepted for publication.
The ideal short notes should include the following:
- Title and Abstract
- Introduction
- Main Body
- Conclusions
5. Conference Materials
These are generally peer-reviewed, permanent, and can cite within the journal. It usually accepts manuscripts that are presented at various workshops, seminars, and international conferences. Generally, the conference materials can be presented in the following way;
- Conference Abstracts: It is usually a part of a full research paper that is presented at the conference. The abstract should be written between 300-500 words. The conference proceedings are later published as an article or in a book.
- Poster Extracts: Here the researchers can present their scientific research data in the form of posters. This type of pictorial presentation looks very informative.
- Presentation Extracts: Here, the researchers can present their research data in the form of PowerPoint presentations. Usually, the number of slides varies from 10-15.
6. Book Review
It provides the key findings of a research study at a glance. It is usually a brief report of the book. It is usually written in less than 1000 words. Researchers generally write book reviews to improve their writing skills. The book review should be formatted in the following manner.
- Introduction: It should provide the background information such as objectives and research problems that are reported in the book. It should also include the name of the author and title.
- Author Profile: It should provide information about all the authors like the academic institution he/she working for, his/her research achievements, and the area of interest of authors.
- Book Format: It should include content, a list of tables and figures, number of book chapters. It should also provide information about the bibliography listed in the book.
- Content: Here summary of all the book chapters should be written paragraph-wise. It should include a preface and conclusions.
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Dr. Sunny is an Assistant Professor in higher education. He has completed his Ph.D. He has a depth of knowledge in the research field and in higher education.