Research: Navigation Search
Research: Navigation Search
Research: Navigation Search
Olin Levi Warner, Research holding the torch of knowledge (1896). Library of Congress
Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C.
Research can be defined as the search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation,
with an open mind, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new
ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method. The primary purpose
for basic research (as opposed to applied research) is discovering, interpreting, and the
development of methods and systems for the advancement of human knowledge on a
wide variety of scientific matters of our world and the universe.
Artistic research, also seen as 'practice-based research', can take form when creative
works are considered both the research and the object of research itself. It is the debatable
body of thought which offers an alternative to purely scientific methods in research in its
search for knowledge and truth.
The phrase my research is also used loosely to describe a person's entire collection of
information about a particular subject.
Contents
[hide]
• 1 Etymology
• 2 Research processes
o 2.1 Scientific research
• 3 Artistic research
• 4 Historical method
• 5 Research methods
• 6 Publishing
• 7 Research funding
• 8 See also
• 9 References
• 10 Further reading
[edit] Etymology
The word research is derived from the French recherche, from rechercher, to search
closely where "chercher" means "to look for" or "to search".
The historical method comprises the techniques and guidelines by which historians use
historical sources and other evidence to research and then to write history. There are
various history guidelines commonly used by historians in their work, under the headings
of external criticism, internal criticism, and synthesis. This includes higher criticism and
textual criticism. Though items may vary depending on the subject matter and researcher,
the following concepts are usually part of most formal historical research:
The research room at the New York Public Library, an example of secondary research in
progress.
In social sciences and later in other disciplines, the following two research methods can
be applied, depending on the properties of the subject matter and on the objective of the
research:
[edit] Publishing
Academic publishing describes a system that is necessary in order for academic scholars
to peer review the work and make it available for a wider audience. The 'system', which
is probably disorganized enough not to merit the title, varies widely by field, and is also
always changing, if often slowly. Most academic work is published in journal article or
book form. In publishing, STM publishing is an abbreviation for academic publications in
science, technology, and medicine.
Most established academic fields have their own journals and other outlets for
publication, though many academic journals are somewhat interdisciplinary, and publish
work from several distinct fields or subfields. The kinds of publications that are accepted
as contributions of knowledge or research vary greatly between fields; from the print to
the electronic format. Business models are different in the electronic environment. Since
about the early 1990s, licensing of electronic resources, particularly journals, has been
very common. Presently, a major trend, particularly with respect to scholarly journals, is
open access. There are two main forms of open access: open access publishing, in which
the articles or the whole journal is freely available from the time of publication, and self-
archiving, where the author makes a copy of their own work freely available on the web.
Most funding for scientific research comes from two major sources: Corporate research
and development departments; and government research councils such as the National
Institutes of Health in the USA[2] and the Medical Research Council in the UK. These are
managed primarily through universities and in some cases through military contractors.
Many senior researchers (such as group leaders) spend a significant amount of their time
applying for grants for research funds. These grants are necessary not only for researchers
to carry out their research, but also as a source of merit.