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CHEM 433 - Advanced Organic Chemistry

Research vs. Review Article

Research Article: Primary literature article where the main focus is research, experiments or theory similar to a lab report.  The article is narrow in scope and often cited within reviews.  It is less connected with the literature discussion.   The authors describe experiments that they did.  A methodology/ experimental section is included.  

Review Article: Secondary literature where the main focus is the literature and what is being discussed on a topic.  They are often cited within background or introductions of research articles to help others come up to date.  They are a good entry point into the literature on a topic and are broad in scope similar to an encyclopedia article.  The authors summarize and evaluate other research.  Methodology could include what searches were used and what documents were included or excluded and why.