In the library search system, you will find scientific material characterized by containing research, being written by researchers and published in scientific journals and publishing companies. A lot of material is collected and found in databases. You recognize the scientific text by the citations and by the specific text structure, the so called IMRaD- format.

Abstract - a short summary of the article that addresses the purpose, method, results and conclusion.
Introduction - the purpose and problem formulations are described and background information to the problem area is also presented.
Method - the method used is described so carefully that it is possible for the reader to follow and repeat the research process.
Results - the research results are presented in text and possibly with tables, diagrams and figures.
Discussion - this section discusses the research results and the principles, relationships or generalizations that are supported by the results of the study. Any weaknesses in the study are also addressed.

Reference list - all documents used by the author must be included in the reference list.

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A scientific/scholarly article
A scientific article is published in a scholarly journal (academic/scientific journal) and is peer reviewed by other researchers and experts before publishing. The article is written by a researcher or doctoral student (PhD student), affiliated to a university or likewise. The purpose is to spread the research findings to other researchers. There are different kinds of scientific articles.

Original articles where the author describes empirical studies and for the first time describes the results of a research project.
Review articles that are critical evaluations where the author organizes, integrates and evaluates previously published studies.
Theoretical articles where the author, based on existing research, presents a new theory, analyses or criticizes existing theories.

dissertation

Dissertation/thesis
A dissertation or thesis is thick as a book, published by a university and written by a doctoral student (PhD student). The dissertation is scrutinized and defended at a public seminar by an opponent who is a merited researcher and an examining committee of 3 or 5 highly merited academic researchers. The purpose of the text is to examine the doctoral student's knowledge in the field as well as his or her research methodology, in order to receive a doctoral degree. There is also licentiate thesis, valuing half of a doctoral degree.

Conference proceeding
A conference proceeding is published in a conference program and sometimes in a specifically published book or journal theme number after the conference. The text follows the structure of a scholarly article and presents parts of or aspects of the research project. It is sometimes peer reviewed before publishing. A conference proceeding is written by a researcher or doctoral student in order to spread research findings and to exchange ideas with peers. The intended audience is other researchers within the same area of research.

research report

Research report
A research report presents ongoing or finished research and is published by a department or research institute. A report is not peer reviewed before publication and the author can be a researcher or head the research institute. The intended audience is researchers, government, media or other persons interested in the development.

A scholarly book or chapter in a book
A scholarly book is published by an academic publisher and the content is reviewed by an editor or with a peer review process similar to a scholarly journal’s. The intended audience is other researchers, but the book can also be used as course literature. It is easy to confuse a scholarly book to course literature written solely for students, but the review process and purpose of the book differ.