{"id":1618,"date":"2015-09-02T12:35:56","date_gmt":"2015-09-02T12:35:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/a-young-researchers-guide-to-perspective-commentary-and-opinion-articles\/"},"modified":"2025-01-15T06:42:36","modified_gmt":"2025-01-15T06:42:36","slug":"a-young-researchers-guide-to-perspective-commentary-and-opinion-articles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/a-young-researchers-guide-to-perspective-commentary-and-opinion-articles","title":{"rendered":"A young researcher’s guide to perspective, commentary, and opinion articles"},"content":{"rendered":"

Perspective, opinion, and commentary articles are scholarly articles which express a personal opinion or a new perspective about existing research on a particular topic. These do not require original research, and are, therefore, less time-consuming than original research articles. However, the author needs to have in-depth knowledge of the topic. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Since perspective, opinion, and commentary articles do not involve original research, they are considered as secondary literature. However, they are definitely an immense value-addition to the existing plethora of scientific literature.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Perspectives <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Perspectives present a new and unique viewpoint on existing problems, fundamental concepts, or prevalent notions on a specific topic, propose and support a new hypothesis, or discuss the implications of a newly implemented innovation. Perspective pieces may focus on current advances and future directions on a topic, and may include original data as well as personal opinion.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

These are usually short peer-reviewed articles of around 2000-3000 words. A perspective article usually includes a short abstract of around 150 words and a few tables and figures, if required.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Opinion articles<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Opinion articles present the author\u2019s viewpoint on the strengths and weaknesses of a hypothesis or scientific theory. Opinion articles are generally based on constructive criticism and should be backed by evidence. However, opinion articles do not contain unpublished or original data. These articles promote scientific discourse that challenges the current state of knowledge in a particular field.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Opinion pieces are also relatively short articles, of around 2000-2500 words, typically with a short abstract of about 150 words, at least five references, and one or two figures or tables.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Commentaries<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Commentaries draw attention to or present criticism on a previously published article, book, or report, often using the findings as a call to action or to highlight a few points of wider relevance to the field. Commentaries do not include original data and are heavily dependent on the author\u2019s perspective or anecdotal evidence from the author\u2019s personal experience to support the argument.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Commentaries are usually very short articles, of around 1000-1500 words, and are in most cases invited by Editors from reviewers or experts in the field. They include a few references, and one or two tables and figures. Some journals require abstracts for commentaries, while others do not. The desired word count for these articles is also journal-specific. Authors should, therefore, read the guidelines provided by the journal carefully before they begin writing.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Why write a perspective, commentary, or opinion piece rather than an original research article?<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Authors usually consider writing a perspective, commentary, or opinion article when:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n