Dictionary domainTrack A
Research outputs (expanded)
Modern outputs taxonomy beyond articles — preprints, datasets, models, protocols, more.
For implementers
Operational deployment checklist for Research outputs (expanded): prerequisites, five deploy steps, integration notes for Pure, Symplectic Elements, Worktribe, DSpace, and more, plus the pitfalls that recur in the field.
Terms in this domain
43 terms
Container image (as output)
A reproducibility-supporting container image (Docker, Singularity/Apptainer, OCI) packaging a complete computational environment — operating system, dependencies, software, configuration — deposited in a container registry with a persistent identifier and treated as a citable research output.
Workflow (as output)
A computational workflow — a structured description of a multi-step analysis pipeline, expressed in a workflow language (Nextflow, Snakemake, CWL, WDL) or platform-specific format, with dependencies, parameters, and provenance — deposited in a repository with a persistent identifier as a citable research output.
Model (as output)
A trained machine-learning model — including its weights, architecture, training metadata, and accompanying model card — deposited in a model repository (Hugging Face, Zenodo) with a persistent identifier, treated as a citable scholarly output independent of any paper that may describe it.
Dataset (as output)
A research dataset deposited in a FAIR-aligned repository with a persistent identifier (typically a DataCite DOI), metadata, licence, and access conditions, treated as a citable scholarly output in its own right rather than only as supporting material for a paper.
Translation (work)
A scholarly publication that renders a previously-published work from one natural language into another, with the translator(s) credited and the original work referenced, treated as a distinct research output for purposes of credit, citation, and intellectual contribution.
White paper
An authoritative document — published by a government, industry, or research organisation — that provides analysis and recommendations on a specific issue, typically intended to inform policy, position the issuing body, or guide implementation, with a more formal and longer treatment than a policy brief.
Technical report
A scholarly document published by a research-performing organisation (laboratory, government agency, company) reporting technical work in detail, typically not peer-reviewed in the journal sense but vetted internally, and bearing an institutional report number for citation.
Policy brief
A short document — typically 2-8 pages — synthesising research evidence for a policy-maker audience, with explicit policy implications or recommendations, structured for accessibility rather than for academic readers, and issued by research institutions, NGOs, or government-aligned bodies.
Discussion paper
A scholarly document — published by institutions, learned societies, think-tanks, or government bodies — that presents an argued perspective, policy proposal, or position for community deliberation, sometimes formally inviting structured response.
Working paper
A scholarly document circulated through institutional working-paper series (e.g., NBER, IZA, CEPR), academic websites, or repositories, presenting research in progress for community feedback prior to (or sometimes instead of) formal peer review and journal publication.
Conference abstract
A short summary of research findings or planned work submitted to a conference for selection of oral or poster presentation, published in a conference abstract book or supplement, citable as a publication but typically lacking full peer review of the underlying research.
Conference proceeding
A peer-reviewed scholarly publication appearing in the published proceedings of a conference, workshop, or symposium, typically representing original research presented at the meeting, with a citation that includes the conference name, date, and proceedings location.
Null result publication
A peer-reviewed publication reporting that a study's primary analysis returned results statistically consistent with no effect (or, in equivalence/non-inferiority designs, consistent with no clinically meaningful difference), explicitly framed and interpreted as informative about the absence of effect.
Negative result paper
A peer-reviewed publication whose primary finding is that a tested hypothesis was not supported, an intervention did not produce the predicted effect, or an expected relationship was not observed, framed as a contribution to evidence rather than as a failure.
Lab notebook (electronic)
A digital record of laboratory experiments, observations, protocols, and analyses maintained in an electronic lab notebook (ELN) system, providing tamper-evident timestamping, attribution, and increasingly serving as a citable research output via DOI assignment of selected entries.
Living systematic review
A systematic review that is continuously updated — typically by re-running the registered search, screening newly-identified studies, and incorporating eligible ones into the synthesis — with explicit triggers for major versus minor updates and a publicly maintained version history.
Living review
A review article — systematic or otherwise — that is continuously or periodically updated as new evidence emerges, maintained as a single citable resource with version history rather than being supplanted by a fresh standalone review on each update.
Narrative review
A literature review that synthesises existing scholarship on a topic through expert judgement and discursive argument, without using the pre-specified protocols, reproducible search strategies, or quality-appraisal frameworks that characterise systematic and scoping reviews.
Meta-analysis
A quantitative synthesis of effect estimates from multiple studies on a common question, using statistical methods (typically random-effects models) to compute a pooled estimate with confidence interval and heterogeneity diagnostics.
Scoping review
A literature review that maps the breadth and nature of evidence on a broad topic — characterising what exists, where, and in what form — using systematic search methods but without typically appraising study quality or synthesising effect estimates, following PRISMA-ScR.
Systematic review
A literature review that follows a pre-specified, registered protocol to systematically identify, appraise, and synthesise all evidence relevant to a focused research question, using reproducible methods for searching, screening, data extraction, and quality assessment.
Case report
A peer-reviewed publication describing in detail one or a small number of individual cases — typically clinical, sometimes legal or social — for educational, hypothesis-generating, or rare-presentation-documenting purposes, structured according to discipline-specific reporting standards (e.g., CARE guidelines for clinical cases).
Brief report
A peer-reviewed publication format for compact original research findings, particularly in clinical and applied fields, with tight word and figure limits, used for results that warrant rapid or focused communication of a single result or small study.
Short communication
A peer-reviewed publication format for compact original research findings, typically with word limits below those of full original articles (2,000-3,000 words) but greater than letters or research letters, used for results meriting publication but not requiring full-article treatment.
Research letter
A short peer-reviewed publication presenting original research findings in a compressed format (typically under 1,000 words, limited tables/figures, abbreviated methods), used by journals for results that warrant rapid or concise communication.
Letter to editor
A short scholarly communication submitted to a journal in response to a previously-published article in that journal, raising questions, corrections, alternative interpretations, or additional evidence, typically published with a reply from the original authors.
Commentary
A short scholarly publication that responds to, contextualises, or critiques other recently-published work or a current development in the field, presenting an argued perspective rather than original empirical findings.
Methods paper
A peer-reviewed publication whose primary subject is a research methodology — a new analytic technique, experimental procedure, instrumentation approach, or computational method — described in sufficient detail for independent reuse, sometimes with worked examples.
Protocol paper
A peer-reviewed publication that fully describes the methodology of a planned or ongoing research study (clinical trial, systematic review, cohort study, laboratory protocol) prior to or alongside execution, sufficient to enable replication and to fix the methods against post-hoc revision.
Software paper
A peer-reviewed scholarly publication whose primary subject is a research software package — describing its functionality, architecture, dependencies, testing, and intended uses — published in a venue that issues this format (JOSS, SoftwareX), accompanying the software release in a citable repository.
Data paper
A peer-reviewed scholarly publication whose primary subject is a dataset — describing its collection, structure, processing, quality, and intended uses — published in a journal that specifically issues this format, accompanying the dataset itself in a FAIR-aligned repository.
Replication study
A study whose primary purpose is to re-test a specific claim from a previously-published study, using methods and analyses designed to closely match the original (direct replication) or to test the same hypothesis with deliberately different operationalisations (conceptual replication).
Stage-2 results paper
The completed registered report submitted after data collection, containing the results, discussion, and any exploratory (clearly labelled) analyses beyond the pre-registered plan, peer-reviewed only for adherence to the Stage 1 protocol and quality of conclusions — not for the direction of findings.
Stage-1 protocol
The introduction, methods, and analysis plan submitted as the first of two stages of a registered report, peer-reviewed for theoretical motivation, design adequacy, and analytic appropriateness, and (if accepted) granted in-principle acceptance for publication.
Registered report
A publication format in which a study's introduction, methods, and analysis plan are peer-reviewed and granted in-principle acceptance (IPA) before data collection or analysis, with the completed paper published regardless of the direction of the results provided the pre-registered methods were followed.
Version of record (VoR)
The final, formally published version of a scholarly work as issued by the publisher — including typesetting, pagination, copy-editing, and an assigned bibliographic citation — which is the canonical citable form of the work absent subsequent corrections.
Postprint
The author-accepted version of a manuscript after peer review and editorial decision of acceptance but before publisher typesetting and final layout — synonymous with 'author-accepted manuscript' (AAM) in many usage contexts.
Preprint
A scholarly manuscript posted to a public preprint server prior to formal peer review and journal publication, made openly accessible, citable via a persistent identifier (typically a DOI), and bearing a clearly identified version state.
Read only
Online content (data or information) that is capable of being displayed but not modified or deleted.
Publish
A broad process or system that involves, at minimum, scholarship and writing, certification (most commonly via peer review), registration (commonly formal publishing in a journal or some other version of record), dissemination (awareness, making accessible, distribution), and archiving.
Pre-print
Preliminary version of an article that has not undergone peer review but that may be shared for comment.
Post-print
A manuscript draft after it has been peer reviewed.
Author accepted manuscript
The author's final, peer reviewed and corrected manuscript, usually created in Word or LaTeX.
