ABSTRACT
The research literature is complex. There are many types of publication, each of which has specific purposes, strengths, and weaknesses, and the number of research reports has been growing phenomenally in recent decades. Research handbooks are published periodically to synthesize the state of knowledge in a field of research. Encyclopedias are like handbooks in that they also represent the state of a field and are edited and written by recognized experts. Academic journals are periodicals that contain articles reporting the latest research findings. Most researchers are required to publish their research in journals which carry outpeer review. Most publishers of journals require authors to transfer copyright of their article to them, but many also allow authors to post the last draft prior to publication on their personal website. Authored books contain a more extensive body of work than is possible to describe in a journal article; they are written by a single author or by a team of authors.
