Types of Articles

Types of articles according to APA manual are as follows;

1. Report or empirical studies
These are report s of original research. They typically consist of distinct sections that reflect the stages in research process and that appear in the sequence of these stages :
Introduction: development of problem under investigation and statement of the purpose of the investigation.
Method: description of the method used to conduct the investigation.
Results: report of the results that were found
Discussion: interpretation and discussion of the implications of the results.
Thus an experimental report typically includes the following sections

• Title page


• Abstract


• Introduction


• Method


• Results


• Discussion


• References


• Appendixes (if necessary)


• Tables and/or figures (if necessary
  2. Review articles
  These include meta-analysis and critically evaluate the material that has already been published. By organizing, integrating and evaluating previously published material, the author of the review articles consider the progress of current research towards clarifying a problem. In a sense, a review article is tutorial in that the author ;
  a. Define and clarifies the problems;
  b. Summarize the previous investigations in order to inform the reader of the state of the current research;
  c. Identifies the relation, contradictions, gaps and inconsistencies in literature;
  d. And suggest the next step for solving the problem.
  A literature review typically contains the following sections:
• title page
• Introduction section
• List of references
• The components of review articles unlike the sections of reports of empirical studies are arranged by relationship rather than by chronology
  3. Theoretical articles
  These are the papers in which the author draws on existing research literature to advance theory in any area under study.
  Review and theoretical articles are similar in structure but theoretical articles present empirical information only when it effects theoretical issues.
  The author trace the development of the theory to expand and refine theoretical construct.
  Ordinarily the author presents present a new theory.
  Alternatively the author may analyses the existing theory , pointing out flaws and demonstrating superiority of one theory over the other.
  In this type of theoretical analysis the author customarily examines the internal and external consistency, that is whether the theory is self-contradictory and whether the theory and empirical observations contradict each other.
  The sections of the theoretical articles, like those of the review articles are usually ordered by relationship rather than by chronology.
  4. Methodological articles
  These are the papers in which new methodological approaches, modifications of existing methods and discussion of quantitative and data analytic approach are presented to the community of the researchers.
  These papers should focus on the methodological or data analytical approach at hand and should introduce empirical data as an illustration of the approach.
  These should be presented at a level that makes them accessible to the well read researcher and should present sufficient detail that the researcher can assess the applicability of the methodology to their research problems
  The articles should allow the reader to reasonably compare the proposed approach to currently used alternative approaches and to execute the approach.
  In these articles highly technical material should be presented in appendix to improve the over all readability of the article.
  5.Case study
  These are the articles in which the writer describes case material obtained while working with an individual or organization to illustrate a problem, to indicate a means for solving the problem, or to shed light on needed research or theoretical matters.
  The author should carefully consider the balance between providing important illustrative material and using confidential case material responsibly.
  Confidentiality is generally handled by one of two means one option is to prepare the descriptive case material, present it to the subject of the case report, and obtain written consent for its publication from the subject.
  The other option is to disguise some aspects of the case material so that neither the subject nor those who knows the subject would be identifiable.
  Such disguising of case is dialect issue because it is essential not to change variables related to het phenomena being described.
  Three main strategies have been emerged by achieving this;
  a. Altering the specific characteristics
  b. Limiting description of specific characteristics
  c. Obfuscating case detail by adding extraneous material.