DEFINITIONS AND EXPLANATIONS OF BASIC CONCEPTS RELATED TO RESEARCH
Basic Concepts Here are some explanations of key words or concepts that beginner researchers should be familiar with. Abstract: a brief summary of a research article, thesis, review or conference paper. It is placed at the beginning of a work or text and is used to help the reader quickly ascertain the paper’s purpose. It is especially helpful in succinctly summarizing research that might otherwise be fairly complex. Abstracts are often indexed and listed in research database search engines as a point of entry into other scholars’ work/s. Article: a piece of writing about a particular subject that is included in a published magazine, newspaper, website, etc. Review articles: articles that report, summarize and evaluation other authors’ works on a given subject. While they are not considered research articles, they can be useful as they give an overview of recent research or recent publications on a particular subject. Research articles: are those that describe new research, ideas or theories. They give background information on the research already conducted in the field, the methods used for the research of the author/s, the results of the research, and the interpretation and significance of the findings. Bibliography: within the field of academic research, bibliography refers to the lists of works or sources that an author references or cites in their own writing. This is sometimes called a “Works cited” page or section. Works or sources that can be formally referenced and therefore mentioned in a bibliography include books, magazines, newspapers, scholarly journals, websites, encyclopaedia entries, videos, audio documents, technical reports, pamphlets, images, interviews, etc. Annotated bibliography: a bibliography with a summary and/or evaluation of each of the sources. They are often used or prepared before the writing of a scholarly writing or publication as they help the writer or scholar determine what type of information each sources offers, if the information is relevant and valid for the writer’ s new research, and how the cited source will fit into the writer’ s arguments. Annotated bibliographies are also published at the end of longer research projects or books to let readers know about key works, authors, research out there already. Citation: a quotation from or reference to a book, paper, or author, especially in a scholarly work. It usually appears as an abbreviated expression in a body of work, which is further detailed or explained in the bibliography of the same work. The purpose of a citation to uphold intellectual honesty (not plagiarize), give proper credit to the source or creator of specific words or phrasing, an original idea or innovative research, help defend or bolster a new line of research or intellectual thinking, and allow the reader to evaluate if the usage of the citation properly supports the material and arguments of the text in which it is being used. There are several different international styles or procedures for creating a formal citation. To cite: to formally and clearly refer to a passage, book or author as evidence for or justification of an argument or statement, especially in a scholarly work. Not citing
others’ words, ideas, thoughts, research or art that you use in your research writing is an act of plagiarism, which is a form of cheating. Journal: a collection of scholarly, academic or technical articles that is published regularly throughout the year. Journals presents the most recent research and journal articles are written by researchers with a target audience of fellow researchers in mind. Journals are not be confused with magazines (see table below) as their purpose and reader audiences are often very different. Also, journals tend to be published less frequently in comparison to most popular magazines. Journal articles are an important source of information for many researchers and represent a key element in most research database and university library collections. They also tend to be rather in-depth and often require some previous knowledge about a field of study. There are some different types of journals: Scholarly journals: often know as academic journals or even peer-reviewed journals. These feature articles with original research from experts in a particular field of study. Peer-reviews journals: also known as academic or scholarly journals, these publications are refereed, or presided over or judged by a committee (or editorial board) of researchers or scholars who evaluate the quality and originality of the research and ideas featured in the article so as to determine if the article should be included in the final publication of a particular journal edition. Plagiarism: the act of using another person’s word or ideas without giving credit to that person. It usually involves taking another author’s language, ideas, concepts, expressions or work products and presenting them as your own. While not a crime, it is an ethical offense and usually carries with it serious punishment in academic or educational institutions. Research database: a large collections of listings of formally published research and/or information sources (newspapers, magazines, websites, etc.). These collections are organized for rapid search and information retrieval. Open access databases: open access mean free to read or use on the open internet. In the case of research, open access is used to refer to publications or journal articles that, while still written and published with a high level of scholarly rigor, can be downloaded, copied and distributed freely, as long as the authors and the text are cited properly or given their due recognition when referenced in other research writings. Open access database are those information collections that feature organized listings of open access publications. Also, these databases do not require payment to use, which is in contrast to many major, important, international databases traditionally used in universities. Source: a person, book, text, publication, etc. that gives information. There are two types: Primary source: something (artefact, document or recording) or someone that provides firsthand information; this source features the original words of the creator or eye witness. This source was produced during the period of time or history that is being studied. This type of source can include music, art, films, interviews, diaries, speeches, recorded oral histories, original film footage, manuscripts, official reports, pamphlets, and posters, among other things. Secondary source: generally, this is a document or text that relates, discusses or reviews information originally presented elsewhere. They evaluate, analyse or interpret
primary sources and can include criticism of creative works. These include textbooks, biographies and encyclopaedias, among others. Comparison chart Differentiating a Scholarly or peer-reviewed journal from two other prominent Periodicalsmagazines and Trade publications. The following chart help give you a better idea of the key characteristics of a scholarly journal, which features the type of articles that you would mostly find in academic research databases, or the essential search engines that students will need to know how to use for future academic projects. The chart also compares scholarly journals with the more common magazines and with trade publications, which are magazines produced for a specific business or industry sector.
CRITERIA AUTHOR
NOTES CONTENTS STYLE AUDIENCE REVIEW APPEARANC E ADS
SCHOLARLY JOURNALS
POPULAR MAGAZINES
TRADE PUBLICATIONS
Expert (scholar, professor, researcher, etc.) in field covered. Author is always named. Usually includes notes and/or bibliographic references
Journalist; nonprofessional or layperson. Sometimes author is not named
Business or industry representative. Sometimes author is not named
Few or no notes or bibliographic references
Few or no notes or bibliographic references.
News and research (methodology, theory) from the field
Current events; general interest
Business or industry information (trends, products, techniques)
Written for experts using technical language
Journalistic; written for nonprofessional or layperson
Written for people in the business or industry using technical language
Scholars or researchers in the field
General public
People in the business or industry
Usually reviewed by peer scholars (referees) not employed by the journal
Reviewed by one or more editors employed by the magazine
Reviewed by one or more editors employed by the magazine
Plain; mostly print, sometimes with black and white figures, tables, graphs and/or charts
Glossy with many pictures in color
Glossy with many pictures in color
Few or none; if any, usually for books or other professional materials
Many, often in color
Some, often in color
Usually monthly or quarterly
Usually weekly or monthly
Usually weekly or monthly
Developmental psychology (published by the American Psychological Association)
Rolling Stone (commercially published)
Monitor on psychology (published by the American Psychological Association)
FREQUENCY EXAMPLES
Chart from San Diego State University Library, http://library.sdsu.edu/research-help/peer-reviewed-articles