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BB 3870: Cell Culture Models Laboratory: Types of Sources

Peer Review

In Biology, researchers primarlily share their research findings in academic journals. These journals use a process called peer review.

peer review (noun): a process by which something proposed (as for research or publication) is evaluated by a group of experts in the appropriate field (Merriam-Webster)

Each journal has its own policy for peer review, but typically at least 2 experts will review the work and provide feedback. The process may be blind, meaning the reviewers don't know who the authors are, or double-blind, meaning the authors also don't know who the reviewers are. If an article is accepted by the journal, it will typically go through some revision before publication.

Check out these examples of peer-review policies from some of the top biology journals:

Anatomy of an Original Research Article

In the sciences, original research articles typically contain the following parts:

  • Title and Authors
    • Topic of the article
    • Who wrote it and where they work
  • Abstract
    • Summary of the article
    • Helps you decide if you should read further
  • Introduction/Literature Review
    • Background and context for the research question being addressed in this paper
    • A brief literature review of previous work done on this topic
    • The significance of this paper
  • Method
    • How the study was conducted
  • Results
    • The data collected in the study
  • Discussion/Conclusion
    • Interpretation of the results
    • Key takeaways
    • Strengths and limitations
    • Real-world implications
    • Areas for future research
  • Reference List
    • Identification of all the sources listed in the text

Types of Articles in the Sciences

Most academic journal articles in the sciences fall into one of two categories: primary/original research articles and review articles. 

Primary/Original Research Articles​ Review Articles​

  • detailed accounts of research activity written by the scientists who did the research​

  • contain a hypothesis or research question, description of research methods, results of the research, and analysis of the results

  • summarize the current state of understanding on a topic​

  • survey and summarize previously published studies​

  • Synthesize existing literature for a research question or a current area of research

 

Anatomy of a Review Article

In the sciences, original research articles typically contain the following parts:

  • Title and Authors
    • Topic of the article
    • Who wrote it and where they work
  • Abstract
    • Summary of the article
    • Helps you decide if you should read further
  • Introduction/Literature Review
    • Rational for conducting this review
    • What questions are being addressed
  • Method
    • How the articles for the review were gathered
      • What databases, keywords, and search filters were used
      • What were the inclusion and exclusion criteria
  • Results
    • What studies were selected
    • What were the characteriestics of the studies
    • What was the risk of bias within the studies
    • What were the results of the individual studies
    • Synthesize and analyze the studies
  • Discussion/Conclusion
    • Summary of the main findings
    • Strengths and limitations of the review
    • Real-world implications
    • Areas for future research
  • Reference List
    • Identification of all the sources listed in the text