HSC 210 and HSC 225: Scholarly vs. Popular

How do you tell if an article is considered original research? Signs that is include...

• it is the report of a study written by the researchers who actually conducted the study
• the researchers describe their hypothesis or research question and the purpose of the study
• the researchers outline their research methods
• the results are reported
• the researchers interpret their results and discuss possible implications

Other key indicators that will help you determine if your article is based on original research include the inclusion of...

• Methods section
• Results section
• Discussion

A quick skim of an article will reveal if these sections are present. Sometimes the article's abstracts will include summaries that correspond to these key sections.