What type of research do you need?
Types of scholarly articles
Scholarly journals may contain various types of scholarly literature. Knowing the different types of articles will help you find the best resources for your research needs.
- Research articles (aka empirical articles) - primary sources of authors reporting their own studies.
- Theoretical articles - concepts, frameworks, models, and perspectives.
- Review articles - summarize studies in a field while identifying trends and drawing conclusions.
- Literature reviews - summary of literature on a given topic.
- Meta-analyses - use statistical methods to summarize studies.
- Systematic reviews - high-level summary of literature to answer focused--often clinical--question.
- Case studies and clinical trials - describe real patient cases/treatments.
- Conference materials - proceedings, notes, etc.
- Commentaries, book reviews, opinions, letters, etc. - opinion and thought pieces.
Hierarchy of evidence
Find image at https://guides.library.nymc.edu/c.php?g=944467&p=6807843
The concept of Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) emphasizes the need to use the "best available evidence." The evidence pyramid illustrates a hierarchy that ranks health information resources and study designs based on quality and bias, from the most reliable at the top to the least at the bottom. This structure serves as a useful tool for guiding the process of acquiring evidence during literature searches.
Filtered information: Critical appraisal of study quality has already been completed (huge time saver!) and literature is appropriate for application in practice.
Unfiltered information: Original research has not been synthesized yet--may be more difficult to interpret and apply to practice.
Note: Pyramid applies to human subjects.