Examples
Worked examples
- Is an instance
A 2,500-word short communication in an Elsevier journal with one figure and abbreviated methods
Counter-examples
Looks similar, but isn't
- Not an instance
A full 8,000-word original article is not a short communication regardless of how 'short' the author considers it
Editorial commentary
Different journals use the label inconsistently: some use it as a synonym for research letter, others as a distinct middle-length category. The operational identifier is the journal’s stated word-limit, structure (often abbreviated methods/discussion), and category in the table of contents.
References
- NLM Publication Type Vocabulary
- Elsevier Short Communication format guidelines
Also known as
Brief communication · Short paper
Machine-readable encodings
Use in your systems
xml
<role vocab="credit"
vocab-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/"
vocab-term="Short communication"
vocab-term-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/short-communication" />json
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "DefinedTerm",
"name": "Short communication",
"identifier": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/short-communication",
"description": "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.",
"inDefinedTermSet": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/domain/research-outputs-expanded/",
"url": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/short-communication",
"sameAs": [
"Brief communication",
"Short paper"
],
"license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
}
