Definition of review, promotional and research articles
In order to create consensus among the editorial members and judges, as well as for the knowledge of the authors and respected readers of the journal, it is necessary to explain the acceptable articles in the review research journal. Although different or similar definitions of these three types of articles can be found in different sources, in order to avoid arbitrary judgments about articles and to resolve misunderstandings, it is necessary to differentiate between these three types of articles based on precise concepts.
1. Explanation of basic concepts
Context of discussion: Each of the main or sub-branches of different human sciences and knowledge is said to be based on the efforts of the scholars of those sciences and knowledge at the global level, an accumulation of concepts related to each other has emerged in them, questions about the nature of each of those concepts or the relevance of each Some of them have been raised with others, sources related to those concepts and questions have been known, and answers have been given to these questions or at least possibilities have been raised as answers to them. For example, the dating of hadiths, the influence of the Umayyad government on forging hadiths, the role of Shia imams (PBUH) in preserving the prophetic hadith, and the like, which are considered branches of the history of hadith, should be considered as grounds for discussing the history of hadith.
Problem: Any uncertainty is said to be potential or actual from a methodical and scientific point of view for the scholars of a field of discussion at the global level about the nature of the concepts of that particular field or about the connection of those concepts with each other.
Theory: It is said to be a methodical, scientific and innovative answer (at the global level) given to a problem in that context by looking at the sources related to a topic of discussion or even the sources that are not yet related to that topic but can be considered authentic and tell the truth. has been.
2. Definition of types of articles based on their relationship with scientific theories
Review article: It is an article in which scientific theorizing is not done; Rather, all or part of the first-hand or second-hand data and sources and opinions related to a discussion field or related to the answer to a particular question are interpreted, categorized, described, and criticized.
Promotional article: It is an article in which a method or a source or an approach for analyzing a problem is presented, and the probability of the effect of that method or approach or source on the results is explained; Without presenting or testing a theory.
Research article: It is an article in which a scientific theory is presented or a scientific and methodical critique.
3. Explanation of the mentioned definitions
In order to explain more, it is necessary to get acquainted with the different stages of the development of knowledge. If no research has been done in a field so far, basic studies should be done first (for example, proofreading manuscripts, cataloging manuscripts, collecting evidence, etc.). All these tasks also require knowledge of skills to collect data, and in some of them it is very important to observe the standards of scientific writing. Someone who has to search a lot to track down a manuscript in a private library, or recognize that correcting a certain copy is a priority, is actually giving a scientific opinion based on studies.
After the basic studies are done, the attention of the people of science is gradually drawn to the phenomenon or phenomena. They try to explain the connection of new concepts and evidence with the theories of previous scientists and show whether this new evidence supports or rejects the previous views. Such studies are theoretical studies. Now, if the discovery of agreement or inconsistency of new materials was something that was considered new at the level of the global scientific community, we would say that an original research has taken place and a research study has been authored.
Similarly, if a study leads to the discovery of agreement or inconsistency of new evidence with opinions that were not accepted at the global level and were known only in a more limited scientific community (for example, the community of people of a particular science at the country level), we say that a promotion study has taken place. Also, the study will be extensional if it evaluates and categorizes well-known or less-known methodological approaches, develops conceptual frameworks for adapting and extending past research, and describes research insights, existing gaps, and possible future research directions.
After the development of theories, if different opinions emerge in a field and people express opinions with different language and terms, and possibly each of them adheres to evidence, it will be necessary for someone to categorize scattered opinions or widespread evidence or the opinions of some people based on Evaluate and criticize other people's evidence in order to better draw conclusions from the discussion in that particular field. All these efforts will be of the nature of review studies. Of course, such studies are necessary so that people can better communicate with previous first-hand studies and have a clearer understanding of them.
In the review article, an attempt is made based on what is known to the scholars of a particular field: to resolve the ambiguities of the definition, to specify the scope of the subject, to provide an integrated and combined overview of the current state of knowledge, inconsistencies in previous results and possible explanations of the causes and causes of those inconsistencies. be identified
4. Types of scientific innovation
A scientific article includes a methodical, standard and innovative study in a field. Scientific innovation in an article can occur at the following six levels:
1) Explaining the discussion in one of the following ways:
1-1) Systematic review: review and compare and categorize all or part of the remaining evidence and data about a problem that scientists need to know in order to answer scientific questions; provided that, from the point of view of the scientists in that field, the connection of those data and evidence with the context of the discussion is completely clear and exempt from discussion, and the discovery of those data or their classification does not require theorizing and the application of complex scientific methods for data management and interpretation. In this way, the knowledge and scientific productions of the contemporary era are not reviewed; Rather, the sources on which the current knowledge is based are reviewed.
1-2) Historical Review: review and compare and categorize all or part of the views of the pre-modern period and ancient answers to a problem or critique all or some of them; Provided that those views are generally known and expected opinions from the eyes of the scholars of that field, and its rereading
It is also possible with a simple review and does not require theorizing.
1-3) Literature Review: review and compare and categorize the opinions of all or some modern scientists who have given an answer to the debate issue based on modern scientific methods (review of the debate literature); Provided that those theories are more or less known from the eyes of scholars in that field; Not that the connection of those theories with the field of discussion is unknown in the tradition of that scientific field. Its purpose is to find out what scientific opinions and methods have been presented in examining a field of discussion, and what sources and articles have been authored.
2. Asking a question in a methodical, scientific and reasoned way in a field or about a part of the existing data in a field (probably based on the criticism of the first-hand evidence of the discussion or the opinions of scholars of the pre-modern period), or a methodical and reasoned explanation of the research requirements in a field and explanation Arguing the theoretical fruit of the research in that field and its contribution to solving scientific problems; Whether this question plan is aimed at reforming the mentality of scholars at the global academic level, or pursuing the goal of reforming mentalities at a smaller level.
3. Explaining how to find the answer to a question or questions in a field by using the approaches and methods of other sciences, explaining the practical results of applying a method or approach, and proposing possibilities in answering a question assuming that that method or approach works. be taken, or provide a new method or resource that could potentially be useful in answering that question;
4. Presenting a new theory (at the global level) and documented, substantiated and methodical in response to a question at the global level, re-reading an old view, a new interpretation of a theory, proposing a new category and the like, in a way that is for the community of a science. Especially if it is new at the global level and its achievement requires the use of data management methods and methodical selection of samples.
5. Presenting a new critique (at the global level) in a reasoned, methodical and scientific way on modern theories and debate literature;
6. Presenting new and innovative evidences in favor of a previous modern theory and in the position of correcting the problems of a theory and responding to a fundamental criticism of it.
5. The ratio of review and promotional and research articles with scientific innovation
Now it can be said that if innovation of type 1 and 2 occurs in an article, it is a review article. If innovation of type 3 occurs, it is a promotional article, and if innovation of type 4-6 occurs, it is a research article.
Note 1: In one article, several innovative activities of types 1-6 may have occurred. The criterion for determining the type of article is the last level; That is, if there were both type 1 and type 4 innovations in an article, the article is considered type 4.
Note 2: review, promotional or research evaluation of an article is merely a description of the type of article and does not contain any assessment of the quality of the work. A review article may be of high quality and highly influential; But a research paper may be of poor quality and may not have a lasting impact on the development of knowledge. In addition, the development of theoretical research in a field is often not completed without the development of review and promotion studies. Therefore, sometimes in prominent research journals and institutions, experienced and well-known researchers are asked to provide the necessary platform for research development by writing a review or promotion article in a field.
6. The ratio of mentioned articles with first-hand and second-hand data
Review article: It is the one in which the main body of raw data related to a discussion (information obtained from first-hand sources or opinions outside the modern academies) or a part of that body is recognized and categorized and evaluated.
Promotional article: It is the one in which the second-hand data related to the discussion (that is, the literature of the discussion or the opinions of modern researchers) or the usual approaches and methods to advance the discussion are recognized and categorized and evaluated, or a proposal for the development of the discussion based on a well-known but unusual approach or method. be presented in a discussion space or source that has not been noticed so far; Without producing an answer beyond the general possibilities for the questions raised in the discussion literature.
Research article: it is in which, in addition to the aforementioned review and promotion activities, a new approach or method for analyzing primary data or criticizing the literature of the discussion is discovered, or primary data outside of the main body of a discussion is included, or a new classification of topics. A new division of concepts, a new interpretation of a data, a new example for a theory or an example in violation of that theory should be proposed, and based on these activities, a new theory is presented or previous views are criticized.
7) Examples to create unanimity in evaluating the type of scientific articles
1. Let's suppose that someone writes an article and raises the question, "What does the word Nemal mean in the Qur'an and Hadiths", and then reviews the statements of various commentators and lexicographers about the uses of the word Nemal in the Qur'an and Hadiths and draws a conclusion. The use of this word in religious texts has the same meaning as ant, which everyone knows. Such a study is basically not a scientific study of any of the three mentioned types. A review article is an article in which the sources and opinions related to a topic of discussion or related to the answer to a particular question in that topic of discussion are reviewed, categorized, described and criticized. In this article, although sources and opinions have been reviewed; But these sources and opinions are not related to any field of discussion, and the discussion about them does not produce a specific theoretical result in a field. For this reason, this article cannot be promotional or research.
2. Suppose someone goes and finds topics that are related to that topic in sources that others have not even imagined. For example, someone should write an article titled "Saeb Tabrizi's interpretive opinions", then, by reviewing his poems, collect all his opinions on the interpretation of the verses of the Qur'an and relate these interpretive opinions to a question show the context of the discussion. If his work is limited to this level, his article should not be considered a review. An article is a review in which opinions generally known to scholars in a field of discussion are reviewed; Not when a new source of discussion is found. This effort should be considered as promotional articles. However, if the author goes beyond the compilation and presents possibilities in response to the discussion issue based on this new source, the work is still evaluated at the promotional level. If he goes beyond raising the possibility and is able to support those possibilities in a reasoned and methodical way, his work will be theorizing, and his article will be research.
3. Sometimes someone may write an article apparently similar to research articles, in which he apparently raises questions about a topic and then wants to find the answers to those questions by reviewing sources; But in practice, speak words that do not produce any new knowledge. If so, that study has no research value. Let's suppose that someone writes an article explaining the interpretation method of Saeb Tabrizi and wants to prove in it that Saeb used different methods of all commentators to interpret the Qur'an. In order to judge the scientific value of this article, one should quickly pay attention to what field the author related his discussion to. For example, if the topic of discussion is the history of interpretation, it is expected that we will gain new knowledge about the history of interpretation from the discussion about Saeb Tabrizi's method. If we see that this study does not yield new knowledge in the field of the history of interpretation, we cannot consider this article as research in the field of the history of interpretation.