Psychology

Empirical research articles report results of research that use data from actual observation or experimentation. Empirical research derives knowledge from actual experience rather than from theory or belief. 

Key characteristics of empirical research include:

• Specific research question(s) to be answered;
• Definitions of the population, behavior, or phenomena being studied;
• Description of the methodology or research design used to study the population or phenomena;
• Enough detail that someone could replicate the research

Possible keywords to find empirical articles:

• Empirical
• Methodology
• Experiment
• Studies
• Observation
• Clinical trial or Trial
• Interviews
• Focus Groups
• Surveys
• Questionnaire
• Ethnography
• Field Studies
• Sample size
• Methods
• Methodology
• Results
• Correlation
• Qualitative
• Quantitative
• Longitudinal
• Participants

Empirical articles may include the following sections:

• Introduction
• Literature Review
• Methods or Methodology
• Results
• Discussion
• Conclusion
• References

Empirical research articles often include charts, tables, graphs, or appendices.

Empirical articles are typically lengthy; usually 7 to 25 pages or longer.

Literature review and meta-analysis articles

• These articles summarize and / or systematically describe and / or evaluate previous research in the field. There is no new data collection.

Theoretical articles

• These articles systematically discuss and propose concepts and methods without data collection.

Editorials, opinion, commentary articles

• Authors discuss their thoughts or opinions about a topic. There is no data collection.

Reviews

• These articles describe and evaluate items, such as books, products, or services.