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One catalogue of research methods — learn how each one works, when to use it, and what it can’t do.

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118 methods in Research Practice · Research PracticeClear
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academic writing

Abstract Writing

An abstract is a self-contained, concise summary of a research article that enables readers to quickly understand the study's purpose, methods, results, and conclusions without reading the full paper. Abstracts are the primary gateway to published literature: they appear in journal issues, bibliographic databases (MEDL

2 sources1950
research skills

Altmetrics and Article-Level Metrics

Altmetrics (alternative metrics) measure the online attention and societal impact of research by tracking mentions in social media (Twitter), news outlets, policy documents, blogs, videos, and other online sources. Introduced formally in 2010 by Jason Priem and colleagues, altmetrics address limitations of citation-bas

3 sources2010
research ethics

Animal Research Ethics — 3Rs Principle

The 3Rs (Replacement, Reduction, Refinement) is the ethical framework governing humane animal research, established by Russell and Burch (1959) and now adopted globally by research institutions, funding agencies, and regulatory bodies. The 3Rs require researchers to: replace animal research with non-animal methods wher

3 sources1959
academic writing

APA Style Guide

APA (American Psychological Association) Style is a citation and formatting standard widely used in psychology, education, social sciences, and increasingly in health sciences. APA uses author-date in-text citations (e.g., Smith, 2021) linked to a reference list at the end of the manuscript. The 7th edition (2020) is t

2 sources1957
publication ethics

Article Retraction Process

An article retraction is the invalidation of a published article due to serious flaws (data fraud, major methodological errors, ethical violations) that undermine its conclusions. Retractions are distinct from corrections (which address minor errors) and are initiated by authors, editors, or institutions when integrity

3 sources1948
research ethics

Belmont Report

The Belmont Report (1979) is the foundational US ethical framework for human subjects research, established by the National Commission following the Tuskegee Syphilis Study scandal. It articulates three core principles—Respect for Persons, Beneficence, and Justice—that form the basis for institutional review and regula

1 source1979
bibliometrics

Bibliographic Coupling

Bibliographic coupling is a method that identifies intellectual relationships between documents by measuring their shared references. Two papers are considered 'coupled' when they cite the same sources, indicating they address related research questions or draw from the same conceptual foundations. Introduced by Kessle

2 sources1963
scientometrics

Bibliometric Analysis

Bibliometric analysis applies statistical and mathematical methods to bibliographic records — publications, citations, authors, journals, and keywords — to measure and map the structure, output, and intellectual evolution of a research field. It is widely used to identify influential works, prolific authors, productive

2 sources1969
bibliometrics

Bibliometric Laws: Lotka, Bradford, Zipf

Three foundational empirical laws describe the structure and distribution of scientific information: Lotka's Law characterizes author productivity (most authors publish few papers; a few publish many), Bradford's Law describes journal concentration (a small number of core journals contain the majority of papers on a to

3 sources1926
scientometrics

bibliometrix-assisted bibliographic coupling

Bibliometrix-assisted bibliographic coupling applies the open-source R package bibliometrix to construct and analyse bibliographic coupling networks, in which two documents are linked by the number of references they share. The workflow automates record import, network construction, community detection, and summary sta

2 sources1963
scientometrics

bibliometrix-assisted bibliometric analysis

bibliometrix-assisted bibliometric analysis is a structured quantitative approach to mapping a scientific field using the bibliometrix R package. Developed by Aria and Cuccurullo (2017), it provides an integrated environment for importing bibliographic records from Scopus or Web of Science, computing performance indica

2 sources2017
scientometrics

bibliometrix-assisted citation analysis

Bibliometrix-assisted citation analysis uses the bibliometrix R package to systematically retrieve, clean, and analyze citation data exported from major databases such as Web of Science and Scopus. By automating reference parsing, frequency counting, and network construction, it enables researchers to identify the most

2 sources2017
scientometrics

bibliometrix-assisted co-citation analysis

bibliometrix-assisted co-citation analysis combines Henry Small's co-citation measure with the open-source R package bibliometrix to map the intellectual structure of a research field. When two documents are frequently cited together by third papers, they are considered intellectually linked; the bibliometrix package a

2 sources2017
scientometrics

bibliometrix-assisted mapping review

A bibliometrix-assisted mapping review combines the structured scope-and-search logic of an evidence mapping review with the analytical power of the bibliometrix R package. Instead of manually categorising studies, the researcher leverages bibliometrix functions — keyword co-occurrence networks, thematic clustering, an

2 sources2017
scientometrics

bibliometrix-assisted narrative review

A bibliometrix-assisted narrative review combines the quantitative field-mapping capabilities of the bibliometrix R package with the interpretive flexibility of a traditional narrative review. Bibliometric indicators — publication trends, author and country productivity, co-citation networks, keyword co-occurrence — ar

2 sources2017
scientometrics

bibliometrix-assisted rapid review

A bibliometrix-assisted rapid review combines the speed and pragmatic focus of a rapid review with the computational power of the bibliometrix R package. Researchers use bibliometrix to automate citation import, deduplication, descriptive statistics, and science-mapping tasks, compressing the bibliometric phase of a ra

2 sources2017
scientometrics

bibliometrix-assisted science mapping

bibliometrix-assisted science mapping is a computational approach that uses the bibliometrix R package to retrieve, clean, and analyze large bibliographic datasets, producing structured visual maps of how knowledge in a field is organized, interconnected, and evolving over time. It combines descriptive bibliometrics wi

2 sources2017
scientometrics

bibliometrix-assisted scientometric analysis

bibliometrix-assisted scientometric analysis is a reproducible, R-based workflow that applies the bibliometrix package to analyse the structure and dynamics of scientific fields using publication metadata. It integrates descriptive statistics, citation metrics, and network analysis — co-citation, bibliographic coupling

2 sources2017
scientometrics

bibliometrix-assisted thematic evolution analysis

Bibliometrix-assisted thematic evolution analysis uses the bibliometrix R package to trace how research themes emerge, mature, decline, or transform across successive time periods within a scientific field. By combining co-word analysis with strategic diagram visualisation, the workflow maps the intellectual structure

2 sources2017
academic writing

Book Chapter

A book chapter is an original scholarly contribution comprising a single chapter within an edited academic volume (book). Unlike journal articles (independent publications in a periodical), book chapters are integrated parts of a larger work edited by one or more scholars. Book chapters allow greater length (5,000–15,0

3 sources1750
research skills

Boolean Search Operators

Boolean search operators are logical functions—AND, OR, NOT, and parentheses—used to combine and filter search terms in bibliographic databases, library catalogs, and search engines. Named after mathematician George Boole (1815–1864), Boolean logic has been applied to information retrieval since the 1960s. These operat

3 sources1847
academic writing

Case Report

A case report is a detailed clinical account of one patient's diagnosis, treatment, and outcome, typically used to describe novel, unusual, or educational cases not previously reported. Unlike controlled studies with comparison groups, case reports are observational, non-comparative, and generate hypotheses rather than

3 sources1800
research skills

Citation Analysis

Citation analysis is the systematic study of how scholarly works are cited by subsequent research, used as a proxy for research impact and influence. Founded formally by Eugene Garfield in 1955 (introducing citation indexes), the field encompasses metrics ranging from simple citation counts to sophisticated indices lik

3 sources1955
research skills

Citation Management Tools

Citation management tools are software applications that store, organize, and format bibliographic references. They allow researchers to import citations from databases and websites, annotate and tag articles, organize references by project, and automatically generate formatted in-text citations and bibliographies in m

3 sources2001
research ethics

Clinical Trial Registration

Clinical trial registration is the prospective documentation of a trial's key information (hypothesis, design, population, outcomes) in a public registry before enrollment begins or results are known. In 2005, the World Health Organization established the requirement that all clinical trials be registered in an interna

4 sources2005
bibliometrics

Co-Authorship Network Analysis

Co-authorship network analysis is a method that maps research collaboration patterns by treating authors as nodes and co-authored papers as edges in a network graph. The structure, density, and centrality patterns of this network reveal how researchers connect, collaborate across institutions and disciplines, and form

2 sources2001
bibliometrics

Co-Citation Analysis

Co-citation analysis is a method that identifies the intellectual structure of a research domain by examining how frequently pairs of documents are cited together in other publications. When two papers are frequently cited together in the literature, they are considered co-cited, indicating they are conceptually relate

2 sources1973
scientometrics

Co-word Analysis

Co-word analysis is a scientometric technique that quantifies how often pairs of keywords, subject terms, or title words appear together across a corpus of publications. By treating simultaneous occurrence as a proxy for conceptual relatedness, it constructs networks and clusters that reveal the intellectual structure,

2 sources1983
academic writing

Conference Paper and Proceedings

A conference paper is original research presented at an academic conference, typically via oral presentation or poster. Conference papers are published in proceedings (collection of papers from a conference) and indexed in databases (Scopus, Web of Science). Unlike journal articles requiring 12–24 months for publicatio

3 sources1900
research ethics

Conflict of Interest in Research

A conflict of interest (COI) in research exists when a researcher has financial, professional, or personal interests that might bias their research judgment or outcomes. Conflicts are inherent in research communities—researchers often have legitimate stakes in their research's success—but unmanaged conflicts compromise

3 sources2013
publication ethics

COPE Guidelines for Publication Ethics

The Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), founded in 1997, is an international organization of journal editors and publishers that promotes and advances research integrity and publication ethics. COPE provides practical guidance through flowcharts, position statements, and ethical guidelines addressing misconduct (fa

3 sources1997
research ethics

Data Fabrication and Falsification

Data fabrication and falsification are serious forms of research misconduct involving intentional misrepresentation of research data. Fabrication means inventing data that were never actually collected; falsification means altering authentic data to change the meaning. Both undermine scientific integrity, waste researc

3 sources2005
research ethics

Data Protection and Privacy in Research

Research involving human subjects generates sensitive data: medical records, genetic information, behavioral responses, economic or social information. Regulatory frameworks—HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) in the U.S., GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) in the European Union, and para

4 sources1996
publication ethics

Data Sharing and Open Science

Data sharing and open science are practices that maximize research transparency and reproducibility by making raw data, analysis code, and methods publicly available alongside publications. The replication crisis (widespread failure to reproduce published findings in psychology, medicine, and other fields) revealed tha

3 sources2010
research ethics

Deception and Debriefing in Research

Deception in research—withholding information about study procedures, hypotheses, or true purpose—is ethically permissible under limited circumstances when specific criteria are met. The regulatory framework (45 CFR 46.116(a)(5) in the U.S.; APA Ethical Code Section 8.07) allows deception if: (1) it is not reasonably p

4 sources1982
research ethics

Declaration of Helsinki

The Declaration of Helsinki (1964) is the foundational international ethical code for medical research involving human subjects, established by the World Medical Association. It extended earlier principles (Nuremberg Code 1947) to include therapeutic research and formalized the physician's ethical duty to prioritize su

2 sources1964
research skills

Digital Object Identifier System

A Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is a unique, persistent alphanumeric code that identifies a scholarly work (journal article, book chapter, dataset, preprint) and persists even if the URL changes. Introduced in 1998 by Norman Paskin and the International DOI Foundation, DOIs are now standard in academic publishing. Th

3 sources1998
bibliometrics

Directory of Open Access Journals

The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) is a community-maintained, freely accessible directory of high-quality, peer-reviewed open-access journals and articles established in 2003. DOAJ indexes over 20,000 open-access journals across all disciplines (sciences, social sciences, humanities, arts) from diverse geogra

3 sources2003
publication ethics

Duplicate Publication and Salami Slicing

Duplicate publication occurs when the same research data are published more than once without acknowledgment or justification, presenting the same or substantially similar results as previously published work. Salami slicing is the related practice of dividing the results of a single study into the smallest possible pu

2 sources1997
academic writing

Editorial and Commentary

An editorial or commentary is a peer-reviewed opinion article in an academic journal, typically authored by experts to interpret, contextualize, or critique recent research findings or practice issues. Editorials are usually commissioned by journal editors; commentaries may be solicited or submitted unsolicited. Unlike

3 sources1850
bibliometrics

Emerging Sources Citation Index

The Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) is a supplement to Web of Science Core Collection launched by Clarivate Analytics in 2015 to expand journal coverage beyond the traditional Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-E), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), and Arts & Humanities Citation Index (A&HCI). ESCI includ

2 sources2015
research ethics

Ethics Committee Application Process

Submitting a research protocol to an ethics committee (IRB, REC, or equivalent) is a mandatory procedural gateway in human subjects research. The application process requires researchers to document their study design, justify scientific rationale, disclose risks and benefits, provide participant protections (informed

4 sources1991
scientometrics

Field-mapping Meta-ethnography

Field-mapping meta-ethnography combines the breadth of a field-mapping (scoping) review with the interpretive synthesis power of meta-ethnography. It first maps the full landscape of qualitative studies on a topic to understand what has been studied and how, then applies Noblit and Hare's seven-step meta-ethnographic s

2 sources1988
scientometrics

Field-mapping Scientometric Analysis

Field-mapping scientometric analysis uses quantitative bibliometric techniques — co-citation, bibliographic coupling, co-authorship, and keyword co-occurrence — to delineate the intellectual structure and boundaries of a scientific field. By transforming large publication datasets into similarity networks and clusterin

2 sources2000
academic writing

Figure and Table Reporting

Tables and figures are the primary means of presenting research data in scientific manuscripts. A well-designed table or figure enables readers to grasp complex data patterns instantly; a poorly designed one obscures findings or misleads. The ICMJE Recommendations and APA Publication Manual establish standards for tabl

3 sources1983
research skills

Grey Literature Search

Grey literature comprises documents and data not published through conventional commercial channels—including theses, government reports, clinical trial registries, conference abstracts, organizational policy documents, and working papers. Unlike journal articles, grey literature is not indexed in MEDLINE or Scopus and

3 sources1990
bibliometrics

H-Index

The h-index, or Hirsch index, is a quantitative metric proposed by physicist Jorge Hirsch in 2005 to measure researcher productivity and citation impact simultaneously. A researcher has an h-index of h if they have published at least h papers, each cited at least h times. For example, an h-index of 20 means the researc

3 sources2005
publication ethics

ICMJE Authorship Criteria

The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) established the most widely adopted authorship standard in biomedical research in 1978. These criteria define who qualifies as an author and distinguish authors from contributors, establishing accountability and preventing disputes over publication credit.

2 sources1978
research ethics

Idea Plagiarism and Concept Theft

Idea plagiarism, or conceptual plagiarism, occurs when an author takes another's ideas, arguments, theories, or conceptual frameworks and presents them as original work without crediting the source. Unlike verbatim or paraphrasing plagiarism (which involve copying language), idea plagiarism involves taking the intellec

3 sources1980
academic writing

IMRaD Structure

IMRaD is the standard organizational framework for scientific manuscripts in biomedical and natural sciences research. It separates reporting into four sequential sections—Introduction (why the research was conducted), Methods (how it was done), Results (what was found), and Discussion (what the findings mean)—enabling

2 sources1970
research ethics

Informed Consent in Research

Informed consent is the cornerstone of ethical human subjects research, requiring researchers to disclose material information about a study and obtain voluntary agreement from subjects before participation. Established as the first principle of the Nuremberg Code (1947) and formalized in subsequent ethical frameworks

3 sources1947
research ethics

Institutional Review Board

The Institutional Review Board (IRB) is the independent ethics committee established at research institutions to review and approve human subjects research, ensuring compliance with ethical principles and federal regulations. Created as a legal requirement by the U.S. National Research Act (1974) and now adopted global

3 sources1974
scientometrics

Integrative Review

An integrative review is a systematic method for synthesising literature that allows the simultaneous inclusion of diverse study designs — experimental, quasi-experimental, and non-experimental — as well as theoretical papers. Unlike the conventional systematic review, which is restricted to controlled trials or a sing

2 sources2005
bibliometrics

Journal Citation Reports

Journal Citation Reports (JCR) is an annual publication by Clarivate Analytics providing comprehensive citation metrics and performance analytics for journals indexed in Web of Science Core Collection. Launched in 1975, JCR publishes Impact Factor, the most widely recognized journal quality metric, alongside supplement

3 sources1975
bibliometrics

Journal Co-Citation Analysis

Journal co-citation analysis is a bibliometric method that maps the intellectual structure of a research field by analyzing how frequently pairs of journals are cited together in the same papers. Two journals are co-cited when papers cite both journals, indicating that the journals are perceived as intellectually relat

2 sources1981
bibliometrics

Journal Impact Factor

Journal Impact Factor (JIF) is a metric developed by Eugene Garfield in 1955 and published annually by Clarivate Analytics through Journal Citation Reports (JCR). It measures the average citation frequency of articles published in a journal over a two-year window, serving as a proxy for journal prestige and influence.

3 sources1955
academic writing

Journal Submission Process

Submitting a manuscript to a peer-reviewed journal is a multi-stage process: preparation, submission, editorial triage, peer review, revision, and publication. Understanding each stage helps authors avoid common pitfalls and set realistic expectations. Most journals use online submission systems (ScholarOne, Editorial

3 sources1950
bibliometrics

Keyword Co-Occurrence Analysis

Keyword co-occurrence analysis is a text mining and bibliometric method that identifies research themes and their relationships by analyzing how frequently terms or keywords appear together in abstracts, titles, or indexed keywords of scientific publications. When two keywords appear together frequently, they are consi

2 sources2000
academic writing

Letter to the Editor

A letter to the editor is a brief, rapid communication (typically <500 words) published in academic journals, usually in response to a recently published article. Letters enable scholars to raise questions, offer corrections, present supporting or contrary evidence, or highlight implications of published work. Unlike f

3 sources1750
scientometrics

Mapping Review

A mapping review (also called a systematic map or evidence map) is a form of systematic review that aims to chart the extent, range, and nature of evidence on a broad topic rather than synthesize findings into a single pooled answer. It categorizes studies by key dimensions — such as intervention type, population, outc

2 sources1990