Research articles constitute the backbone of research in medicine, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. These articles include original research. The majority of research articles include the following sections, typically in the order listed.
Abstract: A brief summary of the article's contents, including its research question, methodology, and results. Read this first to get a sense of how relevant the article is to your research.
Introduction: This section typically includes some background information about the article's topic and the motivations behind the research. It may also include a Literature Review, an overview of previously published works on a topic.
Methods/Methodology: This section contains a description of how the research was conducted and how data was collected.
Results/Findings: This is a presentation of the data from the research. It may include tables or charts.
Discussion/Analysis: The authors analyze the data and evaluate whether their results answer their research question
Conclusion: This section discusses how their article contributes to the body of research on the topic and outlines potential avenues for future research on the topic.
References: List of references to the works cited in the article.
Review articles synthesize or analyze research conducted in original research articles (primary sources). These articles are helpful for understanding where the research stands on a particular topic and pointing to important research articles.