Scientific literature
Scientific literature encompasses a vast body of academic papers that spans various disciplines within the natural and social sciences. It primarily consists of academic papers that present original empirical research and theoretical contributions. These papers serve as essential sources of knowledge and are commonly referred to simply as "the literature" within specific research fields.
The process of academic publishing involves disseminating research findings to a wider audience. Researchers submit their work to reputable journals or conferences, where it undergoes rigorous evaluation by experts in the field. This evaluation, known as peer review, ensures the quality, validity, and reliability of the research before it becomes part of the scientific literature. Peer-reviewed publications contribute significantly to advancing our understanding of the world and shaping future research endeavors.
Original scientific research first published in scientific journals constitutes primary literature. Patents and technical reports, which cover minor research results and engineering and design efforts, including computer software, are also classified as primary literature.
Secondary sources comprise review articles that summarize the results of published studies to underscore progress and new research directions, as well as books that tackle extensive projects or comprehensive arguments, including article compilations.
Tertiary sources encompass encyclopedias and similar works designed for widespread public consumption.
Types of scientific publications
Scientific literature can include the following kinds of publications:- Scientific articles published in scientific journals.
- Patents in the relevant subject.
- Books wholly written by one author or a few co-authors.
- Edited volumes, where each chapter is the responsibility of a different author or group of authors, while the editor is responsible for determining the scope of the project, keeping the work on schedule, and ensuring consistency of style and content.
- Presentations at academic conferences, especially those organized by learned societies.
- Government reports such as a forensic investigation conducted by a government agency such as the NTSB.
- Scientific publications on the World Wide Web.
- Books, technical reports, pamphlets, and working papers issued by individual researchers or research organizations on their own initiative; these are sometimes organized into a series.
The significance of different types of the scientific publications can vary between disciplines and change over time. According to James G. Speight and Russell Foote, peer-reviewed journals are the most prominent and prestigious form of publication. University presses are more prestigious than commercial press publication. The status of working papers and conference proceedings depends on the discipline; they are typically more important in the applied sciences. The value of publication as a preprint or scientific report on the web has in the past been low, but in some subjects, such as mathematics or high energy physics, it is now an accepted alternative.
Scientific papers and articles
Scientific papers have been categorized into ten types. Eight of these carry specific objectives, while the other two can vary depending on the style and the intended goal.Papers that carry specific objectives are:
- An original article provides new information from original research supported by evidence and embodies the scientific method.
- Case reports are unique events that researchers read to obtain information on the subject. While a case study may focus on only one case, it can account for context rather than an original research article.
- A technical note is a description of a technique or piece of equipment that has been modified from an existing one to be new and more effective.
- A pictorial essay is a series of high-quality images published for teaching purposes.
- A review is a detailed analysis of recent developments on a topic. Three essential elements of performing a review article are the study's purpose, the selection of documents, and the data assessment method. They are interconnected and shape several categories of literature reviews, including a "narrative review", "descriptive review", "scoping review", "meta-analysis", and so on.
- A commentary is a short summary of an author's personal experience.
- Editorials are short reviews or critiques of original articles.
- Letters to the editor are communications directed to the editor of an article to ask questions and provide constructive criticism.
- Nonscientific material: This type of material comes from the result of an article being published. It does not advance an article scientifically but instead contributes to its reputation as a scientific article.
- Other: Other types of papers not listed under non-scientific material or in any of the above eight categories. They can vary depending on the objective and style of the article.
Scientific article
Preparation
The actual day-to-day records of scientific information are kept in research notebooks or logbooks. These are usually kept indefinitely as the basic evidence of the work, and are often kept in duplicate, signed, notarized, and archived. The purpose is to preserve the evidence for scientific priority, and in particular for priority for obtaining patents. They have also been used in scientific disputes. Since the availability of computers, the notebooks in some data-intensive fields have been kept as database records, and appropriate software is commercially available.The work on a project is typically published as one or more technical reports, or articles. In some fields both are used, with preliminary reports, working papers, or preprints followed by a formal article. Articles are usually prepared at the end of a project, or at the end of components of a particularly large one. In preparing such an article vigorous rules for scientific writing have to be followed.
Language
Often, career advancement depends upon publishing in high-impact journals, which, especially in hard and applied sciences, are usually published in English. Consequently, scientists with poor English writing skills are at a disadvantage when trying to publish in these journals, regardless of the quality of the scientific study itself. Yet many international universities require publication in these high-impact journals by both their students and faculty. One way that some international authors are beginning to overcome this problem is by contracting with freelance copy editors who are native speakers of English and specialize in ESL editing to polish their manuscripts' English to a level that high-impact journals will accept.Structure and style
Although the content of an article is more important than the format, it is customary for scientific articles to follow a standard structure, which varies only slightly in different subjects. Although the IMRAD structure emphasizes the organization of content, and in scientific journal articles, each section has unique conventions for scientific writing style.The following are key guidelines for formatting, although each journal etc will to some extent have its own house style:
- The title attracts readers' attention and informs them about the contents of the article. Titles are distinguished into three main types: declarative titles, descriptive titles, and interrogative titles. Some journals indicate, in their instructions to authors, the type of permitted titles.
- The names and affiliations of all authors are given. In the wake of some scientific misconduct cases, publishers often require that all co-authors know and agree on the content of the article.
- An abstract summarizes the work and is intended to represent the article in bibliographic databases and to furnish subject metadata for indexing services.
- The context of previous scientific investigations should be presented, by citation of relevant documents in the existing literature, usually in a section called an "Introduction".
- Empirical techniques, laid out in a section usually called "Materials and Methods", should be described in such a way that a subsequent scientist, with appropriate knowledge of and experience in the relevant field, should be able to repeat the observations and know whether he or she has obtained the same result. This naturally varies between subjects, and does not apply to mathematics and related subjects.
- Similarly, the results of the investigation, in a section usually called "Results", should be presented in tabular or graphic form. These display elements should be accompanied by a caption and should be discussed in the text of the article.
- Interpretation of the meaning of the results is usually addressed in a "Discussion" or "Conclusions" section. The conclusions drawn should be based on the new empirical results while taking established knowledge into consideration, in such a way that any reader with knowledge of the field can follow the argument and confirm that the conclusions are sound. That is, acceptance of the conclusions must not depend on personal authority, rhetorical skill, or faith.
- Finally, a "References" or "Literature Cited" section lists the sources cited by the authors.
Peer review