Various Types of Scholarly Articles

In this article various types of papers which a researcher can publish in academic journals will be

discussed. Notices that it is the “types of papers” and not the “types of research” as the latter is a

whole different concept which refers to the nature of the research which has been conducted such

as observational, descriptive or experimental research. Here we will focus on different types of

scholarly articles. So let’s begin:

1. Research Article/ Empirical Research:

It is the most common type of article which reports on the results of one or more studies or

experiments, written by one or group of researchers who have conducted the research. It is the

original research in which data are derived through direct observation or original experiment.

The data is then used to answer the research question or test the hypothesis. The results are based

upon actual evidence. One of the essential features of this type of articles is that it must be

replicable, i.e. other researchers should be able to conduct the research again and reach the same

results.

2. Meta-Analysis:

A meta-analysis is al synthesis of the results of two or more studies that have addressed the

same hypothesis in the same way. In Meta-Analysis the authors use the data published in other

researches for analytical purposes. In this type of paper specific techniques are used in order to

provide a structured and standardized approach for analyzing prior findings in a specific topic in

the literature. Although Meta-analysis is often quantitative, it can also be qualitative and reveal

biases, strengths, and weaknesses of existing studies. [1]

3. Communications/Letters:

Assume you have concluded something which must be disseminated urgently. For instance,

you have detected a process, a method or a medicine for improving HIV treatment. Of course,

you must inform everybody about this new method quickly. Maybe other laboratories are

working on that at the same time with you and you want them to follow this process to improve

HIV medicine. Since this has to do with human's health, you want people to get informed about

this immediately. You don't have time to research several years to get to the final conclusion.

Such things are usually printed as a "Communication" or "Letter".

4. Notes/Technical Notes:

It is usually called "Note". Technical notes are not as urgent as letters but are also short

descriptions that need to be broadcasted soon. Their importance is one level lower than Letter.

So, when you submit a technical-note to a journal it means the editor of the journal has enough

time to investigate it, but when you name it "Communication" or "Letter" that means the journal

editor must review and investigate it quickly. Why? Since the topic is very urgent and vital.

5. Letter to Editor:

Letter-to-editor is the fastest way for printing an article. What does that mean? Say you have

read an article and found a terrible mistake in that article. Technically, the article suffers from a

fundamental problem. You immediately write a letter to the editor of the journal which has

published that article and state that you have read the article and found a problem. If you are

right, the editor must print your letter in the first upcoming publication and reject the previous

article (in case the problem fundamentally affects the outcome of that research). This way the

other scientists who want to use that article will refer to your revision, not to the previous wrong

claim.

6. Literature Review Paper:

It is an article which summarizes the results of significant studies or experiments based on a

topic or research question and the existing literature available regarding that topic or question.

Literature Reviews often attempt to identify trends or draw broader conclusions. When you are

preparing the second chapter of your thesis, from the set of data you have gathered, you can

publish a "Review paper" or "Literature review paper". So you have read a vast number of

articles and books, and out of that large number you have come to a conclusion. You can then

write an article and report your findings in the literature and indicate if there is a gap, problem or

conflict. You can find many valuable tools which help you in writing your literature review here.

7. General-Review:

General reviews usually cover a vast scope in various areas - unlike literature reviews, which

as stated above, are very narrow and examine one problem or are based on a research question or

topic.

8. Viewpoint:

Different types of papers might qualify as Viewpoint. In general, Viewpoints are subset of

articles that reflect a particular position adopted by a person or a group. It is an articulated

organized perspective about a particular topic or issue. A Viewpoint is a scholarly view on a

topic of importance in a given field of study. A Viewpoint must be clearly expressed, and

demonstrate a thorough and broad understanding of the literature and practices in the field. The

opinion expressed must be cogently presented and lead to insights and possibly new and

interesting perspectives. [2]

9. Conceptual/Theoretical Paper:

A conceptual paper addresses a question that one cannot simply answer by providing factual

information or empirical data; in fact a purely conceptual question might be one to which factual

information is not even relevant. This type of paper often refers to a dilemma and then provides

opinions and arguments. Conceptual papers can be highly subjective.

10. Case Study:

Case studies study an individual or small group of individuals over long periods of time, thus

they are often longitudinal and provide thick descriptions. For instance, one such study can be

observing children for 6 to 12 months to record and discover the pattern of acquiring the sound

system of their first language. Of course there are two types of case study. Sometimes the case

study is conducted to discover a problem, and sometimes to approve a discovery. For instance,

you go to a factory, to a system or to a specialist group. You do some research as case study -

either to discover or to solve a problem. Then you keep working on the matter and try to solve it.

Additionally, sometimes in your thesis you come to a result and in order to prove that the

obtained result is correct or prove that your model is actually applicable, you implement the

model somewhere as a case study.

References

[1] Taken from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3099299/

[2] Taken form Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly