Manuscript and Its Types
A self-written article consisting of scientific content, script, or literature with a combination of data fabricated in an organized format is referred to as manuscript. There are several different types of manuscripts based on the scope and requirements of the journal including:
Original Research
This is the most common type of journal manuscript. It may be called a Research Article, or just Article, depending on the journal. It reports substantial and original scientific results within the journal’s scope. The research article includes the Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion sections.
Rapid Communications
These papers communicate brief reports of data from original research that editors believe will be interesting to many researchers, and which are relevant for scientific investigations within the journal scope. They can also be referred to as Brief or Short communication. It should have a maximum of 3 figures and/or tables, not more than 20 references, and an abstract length not exceeding 100 words. Brief Communications are usually published soon after submission to the journal, therefore, this format is useful for scientists with results that are time-sensitive. Due to strict length limits, some experimental details may not be published until the authors write a full Original Research manuscript.
Review Articles
Review Articles provide a comprehensive summary of research on a certain topic often identifying specific gaps or problems and providing recommendations for future research. They generally do not present new data from the author’s experimental work. Reviews are often widely read and highly cited. Reviews can be of varying lengths depending upon the journal and subject area and commonly cite approximately 100 primary research articles. Review articles should be no more than 30 journal pages otherwise it will be considered as a thesis.
Case Studies
These articles report specific instances of interesting phenomena. These cases contribute significantly to the existing knowledge of the field. This type of study is often used in medicine presenting the details of real patient cases from medical or clinical practice.
Invited Perspective Articles
They form an occasional series of solicited reports on topical and emerging fields of research of particular interest. Invited articles are authored by leading experts in the discipline.
Commentary
These are short articles that address significant aspects and present a criticism of a previously published article, book, or report. They should address non-trivial points of interest to readers.
Book Review
These are published in most academic journals. Book reviews provide insight and opinion on recently published scholarly books. They are relatively short articles and less time-consuming. Book reviews allow the researcher to stay abreast of new literature in the field and are a good publication option for early-career researchers.
Special Issue Editorials
They may be referred to as introductory or overview articles. They provide a general overview and intuitive approach to the main topic and further summarize the findings of the special issue papers.
Mini-Reviews
They include the most salient concepts in the specified subject area rather than simply a summary of the author’s own research. They are usually based on one or more recently published articles.
Research Notes
They are basically discussion notes, seeking to advance a new idea, research program, theoretical perspective, or methodological approach in organization studies. Authors should be capable of advancing an intelligible and solid argument in favor of a particular study, or methodology, and ensuring a novel view to the attention of the journal’s readers.
Image Articles
Authors are encouraged to submit high-quality figures for peer-review purposes. Changes to figures can create misleading results when research data are collected as images, therefore, authors should declare where the manipulations have been made.