Psychology, general: Research for writing: Types of scholarly journal articles

What is an empirical study versus a literature review (also known as a "lit review")?

Empirical studies:

• are reports of original research, usually results of lab experiments
• have sections for the introduction, materials & methods, results, and discussion
• include key phrases like "we tested" and "in our study, we measured"

Literature reviews:

• are critical evaluations of material that's already been published
• define or clarify a purpose; summarize previous investigations; identify problems or gaps in knowledge; and suggest next steps
• do not include original (physical or lab) research

Image source: "Empirical vs. Review Articles" by William H. Hannon Library - Loyola Marymount University is in the Public Domain, CC0

A journal article usually includes the following:

• abstract, which provides a summary of the article
• introduction, which includes background info and description of the author's purpose
• materials & methods, which has details about the study so that other scientists could repeat the study
• results, which includes any new observations, data and findings
• discussion, which describe what the findings mean and their implications, and address potential criticisms of the study

Source: "Anatomy of a Journal Article" by Dominique Turnbow, UC San Diego Libraries