Scientific research is usually reported in peer reviewed journals or as conference proceedings. For your research, you'll likely use the journal literature, and here at DACC that will almost all be in electronic format.
What's peer review? Evaluation by others working in the same field.
Watch the 3 minute video below for a quick explainer.
Primary Research Articles* (original research articles)
Research articles report the results of research activity or findings. The author explains why and how the research was done and what the results mean. Published in peer reviewed or referreed publications (journals). Research articles are primary sources in the sciences.
Parts of a research article:
*Supplementary materials including data are often available online.
Communications and Letters
Concise reports of recent, significant research findings. Authors want to publish before someone else publishes similar findings. The focus is on rapid communication and broad dissemination. Communications are published in peer reviewed journals. Communications and letters are primary sources in the sciences, as well.
Examples: Chemical Communications, Physical Review Letters, and the Letters sections of journals such as Nature and Science.
Review Articles^
Review articles attempt to summarize and synthesize prior research. These articles can provide useful background about the major developments, important contributors, gaps in research, and current debates on a particular topic and may suggest future directions for research. Review articles are a great way to identify key articles and provide lots of references or citations. They are published in peer reviewed journals. Review articles are considered secondary sources because the author did not conduct the research.
^Most databases/indexes such as the Science Citation Index or PubMed allow you to select "Review" as a document type or article type.
Conference Proceedings or Proceedings
Describe research presented at a conference. Conference proceedings may be long papers or limited to an abstract. These publications may or may not be peer reviewed.
Pre-Print or Post-Print
A pre-print is the original version of a manuscript prior to peer review and formatting.
A post-print is the final version of the manuscript submitted for publication.
Published version/PDF is the version of record with full formatting and copyediting.
Example of pre-print repositories: arXiv.org (pronounced like "archive")
What's in a name?
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences is a peer reviewed journal with original research articles - not conference proceedings.
Physical Review Letters are rapid communications or letters - not review articles.
When in doubt, ask a librarian.
Portions of this content were adapted from a Wesleyan University Library Library Guide.
