What is scientific research?

The concept of research is familiar to most people, but it cannot be said that all
people have the same understanding of what research is. Even dictionaries may
include more than one definition, making a distinction between:

(1) a detailed study aimed at creation or discovery, and,

(2) the simple task of looking up information.

For scientists it is the first meaning, where deliberate processes are followed and
something original has been designed or discovered, which is most accurate. That is
to say, simply doing an Internet search for the term ‘what is global warming’, and
reading a few websites on the topic, does not alone constitute research in the
academic sense. This approach lacks process, and analysis, and does not contribute
anything unique. A scholar, on the other hand, would perhaps begin answering the
same question by narrowing the search to trusted sources, collecting a large set of
relevant information, analyzing and synthesizing, then finally creating a new
definition based on justifiable criteria. This approach is not necessarily limited to the
sciences, but it is on scientific research that we will focus.

Scientific research in the twenty-first century, particularly in the so-called developed

world, is based on the scientific tradition of Europe in the seventeenth century
(Ziman, 1978, p.110). The work of 'natural philosophers' such as Galileo, Newton,
Kepler, Bacon, Descartes and many others include not only what have become the
fundamental principles of modern science, but contributed enormously to the
ascendancy of the scientific method as we know it today. Challenging long held
beliefs about the universe required that conclusions be drawn from observable and
reproducible evidence obtained through systematic processes. In order for

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conclusions to be accepted as fact, it was also necessary to share
scientific work with other members of the community. This social aspect,
whereby results are shared, reviewed, and criticized by fellow members
of the academic community is another special characteristic of modern
science (Ziman, 1978, p.110). The standard method for dissemination of
research results across the academic community has become the
academic or scientific journal.

What are scientific journals?

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society became the first

published journal of science in 1665 (The Royal Society, 2010). Journals
contain articles related to a broad field (The International Journal of
Engineering), a sub-field (the Power Engineering Journal), or may be
interdisciplinary (the Journal of Biomedics Optics).

Journals belong to the family of publications called 'periodicals', due to

the fact that they come out periodically; it is common for new journal
issues to be released every one, two, or four months. In the past, journals
were ordered through the mail, usually by paid subscription.

Today, journals are most easily accessed over the Internet, where some
are freely available while others require subscription. Universities will
often provide access to a variety of selected journals through their
libraries; in electronic and/or hard copy formats.