A scientific article can be subjected to a peer review process. This consists of the assessment of the content by qualified experts to judge its formality, its level of novelty and its contribution to science.
Scientific article is the name given to any communication or research text that is disseminated from the pages of a scientific journal .
Among the most prestigious and recognized scientific journals on the planet are “Science” , which was born around 1880 in New York and became the dissemination organ of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) . A little older than it is “Nature” , a scientific magazine that was born at the impulse of a British astronomer named Joseph Norman Lockyer and had its initial issue in circulation in 1869. In 2007 , these two publications were awarded the Prince of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities .
It is necessary to point out that this type of scientific publication is characterized by offering content that is written with a formal style and specialized vocabulary , in addition to presenting an academic nature. It usually serves to accurately disseminate the results of work of scientific interest and detail findings, for example. Sometimes, in this document, also defined as paper, theses or long reports are summarized or synthesized.
Characteristics of the scientific article
The scientific article has characteristics that should be known in order to know how to distinguish in practice what and how this material is, which, to come to light, must be admitted by an editorial committee .
First of all, this type of writing must be nourished by data obtained or arising from a research process that has had scientific rigor . This is achieved using a scientifically valid and accepted methodology .
Nor should originality be neglected. Regardless of the theme that is explored and developed, the work must add knowledge by providing new features. Likewise, it must respect a standardized structure to organize information, cite references, etc.
It is even worth keeping in mind that there is a refereeing phase aimed at reviewing the presentation. At this stage, improvements, corrections or some justification or extension can be suggested before final approval .
Each scientific article must include a title (as brief and descriptive as possible), the identity of the author (or co-authors , if applicable) and a summary (which is usually classified as abstract ). Then comes the introduction (to present the topic to be addressed and indicate the hypothesis that is sought to be demonstrated through the experimentation carried out).
In scientific articles, the methods and materials used must also be specified. Here we refer to procedures , techniques , samples or objects of study .
The results , the discussion section and a citation of the bibliography that has been consulted complete the outline.
The scientific article is a text that summarizes the work or research carried out, with scientific rigor, by someone specialized in a specific field of knowledge.
Guys
By focusing on scientific articles, it emerges from practice that there is a great variety of scientific publications and multiple editorial criteria . For this reason, numerous genres or types are distinguished within this segment.
There are, to list a specific case, research articles . It may be an original article (which includes information not published until then) or a review article (offering throughout it, without being of original essence, outstanding data on a particular topic), for example.
Likewise common are opinion articles (signed by specialists in a certain field of knowledge) and letters to the editor linked to issues of academic origin.
Scientific papers or articles are disseminated through scientific journals.
Examples of scientific article
To appreciate examples of scientific articles, it is enough to pay attention to the news disseminated by the media, official organizations, academic institutions, scientific entities, etc.
It is also useful to learn about recognitions and awards that aim to reward the best scientific articles of the moment.
Some time ago, to mention a specific situation, the Journal Medical Internet Research (JMIR) published a note warning about the danger represented by the massive use of artificial intelligence . In this regard, it was indicated that through GPT Chat there are chances of creating false scientific articles and passing them off as authentic and credible. This research was carried out in Prague by Charles University .
It is interesting to note, meanwhile, the figure of David Peris Navarro because this principal researcher who works, within the University of Oslo , in the area of Genetics and Evolutionary Biology , knew how to stand out in the number one edition of the María Blasco Prize awarded for the Best Scientific Article of the Year (2023) . This award came to him thanks to material focused on the characteristic genomics of the yeast Saccharomyces , a work that appeared in “Nature Communications” .
Some time ago, on the other hand, a scientific journal called “The Journal of Clinical Medicine” included in its mental health section a scientific article arising from research carried out by members of the Peruvian César Vallejo University. The title of this somewhat extensive work appears in English and focuses on the weight that the COVID-19 pandemic had on suicidal thoughts and deaths from this cause in Spanish-speaking nations.