Why write a research article?

“Curiosity is the fuel for discovery, innovation, and growth” – by A Curious Mind.

A research article is evidence of curiosity. It reports the new findings by the scientists. It is necessary to write research articles for record keeping. It adds to the online repository, where others can access it. And further research can be done based on that. An efficient therapy or medicine is built upon many years of research. This is the foundation for development. Even the failed study gives some information about what not to do. Furthermore, academic success is measured by the quality and quantity of research articles. They are necessary for acquiring more funds for research and career growth.

Research article structure

A research article consists of an abstract, introduction, materials and methods, results, and discussion.

1. Abstract – It is a summary of the article, usually around 250-350 words. It explains the purpose of the research and its conclusion.
2. Introduction – It provides background to the study. It states the problem, its current solution, its approach, and how it is better than the current solution.
3. Materials and methods – It enlists all the reagents and procedures required to conduct the experiments. This information is necessary to reproduce the experiments in other labs to further build upon the research.
4. Results – To answer one research question and prove the hypothesis, many sub-questions need to be answered. The result section is subdivided based on these smaller questions. It describes why the experiments were conducted and what was their conclusion.
5. Discussion – Finally, the authors state their overall conclusion. They discuss the potential underlying mechanism, limitations of the study, and future investigations.
6. Reference – The authors cite all the resources they used in the article. This format is journal-specific.

Where do these articles get published?

Various journals publish research articles based on the subject and kind of research—basic, translational, or clinical. Each journal is associated with an impact factor. The impact factor indicates how much the article is read and cited by someone. Greater citation of an article indicates more usability and significance.

Some of the top journals in the field of biomedical research are: