Use the interactive tutorial below from NCSU Libraries to familiarize yourself with the parts of a research article. Click on the image below to begin.
Original research articles are based on an experiment or study. The authors will report the purpose of the study, the research methodology, and results. This is a familiar structure for original research articles > IMRAD: introduction, methods, results, and discussion.
Review articles summarize or synthesize content from earlier published research and are useful for surveying the literature on a specific research area. Review articles can lead you to original research articles.
Scientific and medical research articles include original studies and review articles that contribute to the current scholarship on a given topic.
The table below describes the components of scholarly articles. The majority of articles in these disciplines will have the sections listed below.
| Abstract | Brief summary of the article, including research question, methodology and results. |
| Introduction | Background information about the topic, leading up to why this study is being done, and may include a brief literature review. |
| Methods | Description of how the study procedures, set-up and how data was collected. |
| Results/Findings | Presentation of the data from the study. This section often includes tables, charts, or other visualizations of the data. |
| Discussion | Analysis of the data and how the study relates to existing knowledge of the topic. The authors evaluate whether their results answer their research question. |
| Conclusion | The authors wrap up the article by discussion how their study contributes to the research on this topic and outline future potential research questions or studies. |
| References |
List of resources that the authors consulted when developing their research and subsequently cited in their article. |
Primary Sources
Secondary Sources