A research article is an academic work of a short or medium length, which aims to expose the result of an investigation of scientific aspirations, whether experimental or theoretical.
The purpose of a research article is to disseminate the results of a study, which are a contribution in the field of expertise, whether it is natural science or social science.
Consequently, these documents are exposed to the community of scientists and intellectuals, which means putting them to the test in front of other experts to verify their validity. For this, the research articles are intended to be shared in congresses and conferences, as well as publication in specialized journals, whether printed or electronic. In this way, a research article is an essential part of the knowledge building process.
This type of work is also called scientific articles or papers , in English, a term that has been extended in academic communities of different languages.
Structure of a research article
A research article, due to its scientific nature, is usually structured as follows, even when there may be differences according to the area of knowledge:
- Title (in Spanish and English);
- Authors;
- Summary (in Spanish and English);
- Keywords (in Spanish and English);
- Introduction;
- Theoretical bases, methods and materials;
- Results and Discussion;
- Graphs and tables duly numbered and identified (if applicable);
- Conclusions;
- Bibliography.
As for the format and extension, these will depend on the final destination of the text (publication or conference) and on the norms determined by the receiving institution.
