How to write and publish a scientific paper - Barbara Gastel, Robert A. Day 2022
Other definitions
What is a scientific paper?
Some preliminaries
If scientific paper is the term for an original research report, how should this be distinguished from research reports that are not original, are not scientific, or somehow do not qualify as scientific papers? Some specific terms are commonly used: review paper (or review article), conference report, and meeting abstract.
A review paper typically reviews the recent work in a defined subject area. Thus, it is designed to summarize, analyze, evaluate, and synthesize information that has already been published (research reports in primary journals). Although much or all of the material in a review paper has previously been published, the problem of dual publication (duplicate publication of original data) does not normally arise because the review nature of the work is usually obvious—often from the title of the periodical, such as Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews or Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics. Do not assume, however, that reviews contain nothing new. From the best review papers come new syntheses, new ideas and theories, and even new paradigms.
A conference report is a paper published in a book or journal as part of the proceedings of a symposium, national or international congress, workshop, roundtable, or similar meeting. Such conferences commonly are not designed for the definitive presentation of original data, and the resultant proceedings (in a book or journal) do not qualify as primary publications. Conference presentations often are review papers, presenting reviews of the recent work of particular scientists or recent work in particular laboratories. Material at some conferences (especially the exciting ones) takes the form of preliminary reports in which new, original data are presented, often accompanied by interesting speculation. But usually, these preliminary reports do not qualify, nor are they intended to qualify, as scientific papers. Later, often much later, such work may be validly published in a primary journal; by this time, the loose ends have been tied down, essential experimental details have been described (so that a competent worker could repeat the experiments), and previous speculation has matured into conclusions.
Therefore, the vast conference literature that appears normally is not primary. If original data are presented in such contributions, the data can and should be published (or republished) in an archival (primary) journal. Otherwise, the information may essentially be lost. If publication in a primary journal follows publication in a conference report, permission from the original publisher may be needed to reprint figures and other items (see Chapter 19, “Rights and Permissions”); however, the more fundamental problem of dual publication normally does not and should not arise.
Meeting abstracts may be brief or relatively extensive. Although they can and generally do contain original information, they are not primary publications. Therefore, publication of an abstract should not preclude publication of the full report later.
Traditionally, there was little confusion regarding the typical one-paragraph abstracts published as part of the program or distributed along with the program at a national meeting or international congress. It was usually understood that many of the papers presented at these meetings would later be submitted for publication in primary journals. Sometimes conference organizers request extended abstracts (or synoptics). The extended abstract can supply almost as much information as a full paper; mainly it lacks the experimental detail. However, precisely because it lacks experimental detail, it cannot qualify as a scientific paper.
Those involved with publishing these materials should see the importance of carefully defining the various types of papers. More and more publishers, conference organizers, and individual scientists have agreed on these basic definitions, and their general acceptance can greatly clarify both primary and secondary communication of scientific information.