Guidance for Review Articles

Review Articles summarise the current understanding of a specific topic. They should still provide new insights, but these take the form of the author’s evaluation of the original research undertaken by others. There are specific sections that should be included in review articles - following this guidance carefully will speed up our article peer-review process.

Writing Style

All sections of your article should be clear, accurate and concise. It should be understandable to a broad audience of 12-22 year olds, but primarily to others who are at your educational stage. All articles should be written in past tense, and an impersonal voice (i.e. avoid I, my, we, us, etc.).

Sections

The article should contain the following sections, in this order:
Title Page, Abstract, Introduction, Literature Review/Main Body, Conclusion, Acknowledgements (optional), References, Definitions of Key Words, and Appendices (optional).

Title Page

All submissions should have a title page which contains:

• Title of the article

• Author(s) name(s)

• Author(s) institution(s) when the work was undertaken - i.e. the name and address of your school/college/university

• Email contact details for the corresponding author.

Abstract

The abstract provides a short and concise summary of the entire paper. It should be one paragraph, of less than 250 words, and should include a brief outline of: why the research was conducted, the key literature findings, major discussion points, the conclusion and the overall significance of the project's findings. Generally, the abstract should not contain information which needs references to be cited. The reader should be able to read only the abstract and have a good idea of the contents of the entire paper. Though it is right at the start of the paper, when you are writing your article, it should be the last section you write.

Introduction

The introduction sets the scene for the article by introducing the topic and presenting the scientific motivation for the project - this isn't looking for your personal motivations, but rather, why the research is important. It gives the reader the crucial context and background information they will need to be able to understand the rest of the paper, so may include the underlying science of the topic, for example. All important terms and processes should be explained, but dictionary definitions should be avoided. Citations should be included throughout, and only information directly relevant to the study should be included (e.g. in a Review Article about zebrafish swimming behaviour, information about their feeding or reproductive behaviours probably isn't relevant enough to include, unless the literature review has found links between the two). Be careful to avoid 'storytelling' or describing the entire history of the topic - it is much more effective to develop a clear and concise summary of current knowledge.
Overall, the introduction should begin very broad and become increasingly focussed on the aims of the review. It should include the significance of the research that is being presented (i.e. the 'real world' importance of what you are doing), and you should state how your project provides a novel perspective. The introduction should conclude by stating the aims of the investigation - it is vital that your paper has a clear and specific focus.

Literature Review/Main Body

This will likely be the longest section of your Review Article, and is the main body - much like the main body of the discursive/persuasive essays written in an English class.

Your aim in the literature review should not be to re-tell the entire history of the topic, or teach the reader about it, but rather it should develop your argument which is based on the aim you stated in the introduction. It is therefore important that this section includes constant, critical evaluation of the sources you have reviewed. The following structure can be a useful starting point in developing your evaluations:

• Point: what is the point you are wanting to make?

• Evidence: reference to how you know your point to be true (this could be from one or more of your sources - remember you’re trying to bring together and critically evaluate current knowledge) – this needs to be linked to the topic you are exploring.

• Explain: explain how this works – here you can start to draw comparisons, for example, to other methods or techniques. Use diagrams here to aid explanation, where appropriate, and refer to them in the text.

• Evaluate: you need to evaluate your argument, find counter arguments to support this and come to a judgement. Consider long term vs short term advantages & disadvantages, effectiveness, efficiency, cost/price of use, wider context of their use, scale of use in different disciplines and time. You do not have to address all of these for every point, but should have enough scope for evaluation.

• Repeat Evidence/Explain/Evaluate as necessary to develop the point.

• Link: link back to your main thesis argument.

• Repeat entire process for next point.

It is vital to ensure that all of the information included in this section is relevant to your specific focus.

You should also relate your findings both to similar studies, and also any wider applications that your proposed solution may have - could it also have a positive impact in other context? Or would the side-effects be less desirable? Think carefully about 'bigger picture' (i.e. what is the relevance and implications of the results).

Top Tip! Use subheadings in this section to allow for thematic analysis of points. For example, if you were analysing assay methods, subheadings of "chemical assay", "enzyme assay", "chromatography assay" etc. would help the reader navigate your paper.

Conclusion

To be valid, a conclusion must be related to the aim and supported by all of the literature/data that has been presented. The conclusion should be its own section, distinct from the results or any other section. An effective conclusion will sum up the findings of the project and should be objective and concise. Start the conclusion by very briefly reiterating the specific problem that your research was investigating, and then the major findings of your literature review. The conclusion should not restate the literature review - it should instead focus on the significance of the paper’s findings. Ask yourself: why are these findings important? What real world difference can they make to the problem being investigated? After reading this section, the reader should be left thinking critically about the topic and the viability of the suggestions you have made to alter the ‘status quo’. This would also be an opportunity to draw on possible extensions - What could you or others do to build on your research? Has answering your research question led to many further questions?.

Acknowledgements (Optional)

A short acknowledgements paragraph is a good way of thanking people who have supported you to complete your project. This could include funders, a supervisor or teacher, or others whose help allowed you to carry out the project.

References

A full list of references should be given in the IEEE style. We know writing references can be a pain, so we've picked a style that Microsoft Word can format almost automatically for you - check out our guide to doing this! Your sources can include; scientific papers, web pages, books, interviews, or videos. All sources consulted should be reputable and trusted, ideally with peer-reviewed papers being the main type of source used. If you've got any questions about the suitability of your sources, send us an email.

Definitions of Key Words

This section is important in ensuring that the articles we publish are accessible to our audience. When deciding whether to include words in this section, think about whether a student at your educational stage could be reasonably expected to know what the word means, and whether it is easily searchable on the internet - if the answer to both is no, please include the definition. This list doesn't need to be exhaustive, just include up to 8 of the most important terms that will help readers understand your findings.

Appendices (Optional)

Most Review Articles will not need any appendices, but these can be included if there is specific information or data that the author feels readers would benefit from seeing in full.

Still have questions? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions, or send us an email.

Ready to go? Head back to the Submit Your Article page to submit!