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Biology 161 - Belluzzi: Is it a Research Article?

This guide provides research strategies and recommended resources for research in Biology 161 with Professor L. Belluzzi

Features of Original Research Articles

Scientific articles that present the results of original research will include the following sections (though they may be labeled slightly differently):

  • Abstract
  • Introduction / Literature Review
  • Methods
  • Results
  • Discussion / Conclusion 
  • References

Features of Review Articles

Scientific review articles may include the following sections (though they may not be labeled this way):

  • Abstract
  • Introduction / General Literature Review
  • Subtopic Sections / Detailed Literature Review
  • Conclusion / Directions for Further Research
  • References

Is it a Research Article?

The following video was created for COMM classes to demonstrate how to look for the features of research articles. Though it uses articles from the database Communication and Mass Media Complete, it can help students from any class identify research articles in library databases.

Primary & Secondary Research

The following video will help you to understand the differences between primary research and secondary research, and the ethical considerations associated with them (from off campus you will need to log in using your Pipeline username and password):