‘Do research.

Feed your talent

Scientific Literature

Scientific literature basically consists in all permanently documented knowledge about

science. It is the result of the need to share and discuss science with peers and the
general public. Thanks to scientific literature, the world is exactly how we know it today,
with state-of-the-art technology that supports our modern way of life.

Worldwide scientific literature dissemination is particularly important for articulate

planetary responses for global problems. For example, during the COVID-19 outbreak at
the beginning of 2020.

There are some types of scientific literature, depending mostly on the originality of the
approached topic or question:

 Primary scientific literature (commonly referred to as “paper”) results from

research conducted by an individual scientist or collaboration by a group of other
scientists. Most primary literature is published in scholarly journals, under their
particular formats or guidelines. Normally, a title, abstract, keywords,
introduction, methodology, results, discussion, acknowledgments and references
are required elements for its submission. The given paper for submission will be
appraised by the editor, who in turn will ask a number of referees (experts in a
scientific area) to give their opinion on whether the work presents new scientific
information or not. According to their reports, the editor may accept the paper or
not. There can also be the case that the paper is accepted, but with a certain
amount of revision and amendments. For that, don’t forget Elsevier’s
proofreading services, with professionals that can advise you on how to follow
the journal’s requirements for a successful submission.
 Secondary scientific literature is a type of literature that relies on primary
sources of information (primary literature). Its objective is to summarize and
synthesize information in a specific area. Like in primary literature, this type also
has a scientific discourse but may not have to be so strictly organized as the first.
 These publications include reviews, books (whether monographs, textbooks or
handbooks) and manuals. They are particularly useful for having a general
overview over a topic.
 Tertiary scientific literature emerges from primary and secondary scientific
literature and aims for a more lay-audience or researchers in completely different
fields of knowledge. Because of its typical consumer, these publications are
written in a more simplified and popular-language format versus a scientific style.
You can find examples of tertiary scientific literature in science magazines,
newsletters, articles in newspapers, and encyclopedias. They can also be widely
found and consumed on the internet.

Title:

The title summarizes the main idea or ideas of your study.

A good title contains the fewest possible words that adequately describe the contents and/or
purpose of your research paper. The title is without doubt the part of a paper that is read the
most, and it is usually read first.

Definition and Purpose of Abstracts

An abstract is a short summary of your (published or unpublished) research paper,
usually about a paragraph (c. 6-7 sentences, 150-250 words) long.

A well-written abstract serves multiple purposes:

 an abstract lets readers get the gist or essence of your paper or article quickly, in
order to decide whether to read the full paper;
 an abstract prepares readers to follow the detailed information, analyses, and
arguments in your full paper;
 and, later, an abstract helps readers remember key points from your paper.

Keywords:

Keywords are important words/concepts found in your research question or thesis. 

A quick and dirty way to pull keywords from a research question/thesis is
to choose the most important nouns; all other words are irrelevant.
Using keywords to search will always retrieve more results than phrases or
sentences.

Introduction:

The introduction to a research paper is where you set up your topic and approach for the
reader.
The five steps in this article will help you put together an effective introduction for either
type of research paper.

Table of contents

1. Introduce your topic

2. Describe the background
3. Establish your research problem
4. Specify your objective(s)
5. Map out your paper
6. Research paper introduction examples
7. Frequently asked questions about the research paper introduction

Methodology:
It explains what you did and how you did it, allowing readers to evaluate the reliability and
validity of the research.
It should include:

 The type of research you did

 How you collected your data
 How you analyzed your data
 Any tools or materials you used in the research
 Your rationale for choosing these methods

Results:
 Definition
The results section of the research paper is where you report the findings of your study based upon
the information gathered as a result of the methodology [or methodologies] you applied. The results
section should simply state the findings, without bias or interpretation, and arranged in a logical
sequence. The results section should always be written in the past tense.
A section describing results [a.k.a., "findings"] is particularly necessary if your paper includes data
generated from your own research

What to Include in Your Acknowledgments Section

Most academic papers have many people who have helped in some way in the preparation of
the written version or the research itself.
This could be someone from a sponsoring institution, a funding body, other researchers, or even
family, friends or colleagues who have helped in the preparation.
 
Acknowledgment sections are always present in both papers and academic theses. For papers,
the Acknowledgments section is usually presented at the back, whereas in a thesis, this section
is located towards the front of the manuscript and is commonly placed somewhere between the
abstract and introduction.
(However, the exact location varies between each university, as each establishment possesses
its own style guide for theses and student submissions. So, it is always worthwhile consulting
your university’s academic style guide before writing a manuscript for
undergraduate/postgraduate submission.)
 
For academic theses, there is no right or wrong way to acknowledge people, and who you want
to acknowledge is down to personal preference. However, the common types of people authors
acknowledge in their academic theses include:

 Their supervisor’s contributions

 The research group (especially if the thesis in question is a master’s and the work is
helped along by a PhD student)
 The support staff (laboratory technicians etc.)
 Any students who undertook side projects with them (e.g. final year undergraduates,
summer students, master’s students)
 Administrative staff (there can be a lot of bureaucracy for thesis submissions)
 The referees that got them onto the course (postgraduate only)
 Their funding bodies
 Any collaboration with industry and the people they worked with at said establishment(s)
 Friends
 Colleagues
 Family
Einstein peer review:
Academic review process was different in Einstein’s time. In his brilliant
career, the only time his work was subjected to blind peer review – the authors
don’t know the reviewers and vice versa – he showed contempt for what is
now the gold standard of science. Was Einstein right to be so suspicious of the
peer-review process? Should we learn from him and begin to question the
widespread use of peer review in academic science
 Review article
It is secondary literature since they generally do not present new data from
the author's experimental work.  Review articles provide a critical and
constructive analysis of existing published literature in a field, through
summary, analysis, and comparison, often identifying specific gaps or
problems and providing recommendations for future research.
Types:
Review articles can be of three types, broadly speaking:

literature reviews,
systematic reviews,
and meta-analyses.

Review articles can be of varying lengths depending upon the journal and
subject area. For narrative reviews or literature reviews, the length could
range anywhere between 8000 to 40,000 words while systematic reviews
6 

are usually less than 10,000 words long.  However, some journals also
6

publish shorter reviews, around 3000-5000 words long.

Case Studies:
These articles report specific instances of interesting phenomena. A goal of Case Studies is to make
other researchers aware of the possibility that a specific phenomenon might occur. This type of study is
often used in medicine to report the occurrence of previously unknown or emerging pathologies.
 Methodologies or Methods
These articles present a new experimental method, test or procedure. The method described may either
be completely new, or may offer a better version of an existing method. The article should describe a
demonstrable advance on what is currently available.

Letter to Editor:
While sending a letter to a journal, priorly the following questions should be answered. What is the
purpose of your letter? Is the format of your letter suitable to the format of the journal? Is your subject
matter really worth mentioning?
Research Notes:

Research notes are not full academic papers but are discussion notes,
seeking to advance a new idea, theoretical perspective, research program,
or methodological approach in organization studies.
As opposed to full research papers, research notes may follow a less strict
paper outline but still needs to make a valuable contribution to the study of
organization.
Research notes are preferable between 3,000 and 4,000 words (but up to
5,000 may be accepted under certain conditions) and are otherwise
adhering to the research paper instructions regarding e.g., referencing and
bibliographic information. Research notes are reviewed by the Editor-in-
Chief and one or more Associate Editors.

Conference proceeding is a collection of academic papers published in the context of an academic

conference or workshop. Conference proceedings typically contain the contributions made by
researchers at the conference. They are the written record of the work that is presented to fellow
researchers.
Format:
Conference proceedings may be published as a book or book series, in a journal, or otherwise as
a serial publication (see examples).[4] In many cases, impact factors are not available,[5] although
other journal metrics (such as Google Scholar h-index and Scimago-metrics) might exist.

Why Research Is Necessary and Valuable in Our Daily

Lives

1. It's a tool for building knowledge and facilitating learning.

2. It's a means to understand issues and increase public awareness.
3. It helps us succeed in business.
4. It allows us to disprove lies and support truths.
5. It is a means to find, gauge, and seize opportunities.
6. It promotes a love of and confidence in reading, writing, analyzing, and sharing
valuable information.
7. It provides nourishment and exercise for the mind.