Paper Types — Scope and Form of Belief

Paper types are not "ranks." They differ only in the scope of belief

A paper is not an achievement. It is a device for accountability toward a belief (Chapter 01). The appropriate form differs by the scope and purpose of the belief. Original / Review / Technical / Short / Case Study / Perspective — these sit side by side, with no hierarchy. They differ in the zoom level at which the same "belief" is fixed. First discard the idea that "Original is superior and Short is second-rate."

The research phase changes which type you write

Which type you write is largely decided by the phase your research is in.

A PhD has an axis. A Review is one form of it. A thesis is not a page count but a coherent system of belief that connects Paper 1 → Paper 2 → Paper 3 (Chapter 08).

Misjudge the phase and you either try to write an Original in the exploration phase and stall for lack of figures, or write a Short in the stabilization phase and sell off your claim in pieces.

The question and the contributions decide the type

Once the Core Question of Chapter 03 and the Key Contributions of Chapter 04 are decided, the type is decided almost automatically.

1 Original Research Article

• Purpose: support a new claim with data or theory
• Required: Core Question (one sentence) / Compared to X, we Y / 2–3 Key Contributions / one-figure-one-claim structure / reproducible methods
• Typical scope: new hypothesis, new data, new theory, revision of existing understanding
• Common failures: the data become the protagonist / ending at "We propose…" / overstating novelty
• When to choose: when the hypothesis has stabilized and the structure to make claims with figures is in place

2 Short Communication / Letter

• Purpose: present a limited but sharp claim
• Required: one clear question / one contribution / 1–2 figures / a strong axis of comparison
• Common failures: scope too wide / becomes a half-baked Original
• When to choose: when the claim is limited but clear. Also good training for a first paper

3 Technical Note / Method Paper

• Purpose: present a new method, apparatus, or analysis technique
• Required: what became possible / difference from existing methods / range of validity and limitations
• Important: do not end at "We propose…". Show what improved or changed (the "We show that…" of Chapter 04)
• Common failures: becomes technical boasting / becomes a tale of implementation hardship / unclear application value
• When to choose: when the method itself is the center of the claim

4 Case Study / Field Report

• Purpose: verify under specific conditions
• Required: explicit conditions / limits of generalization / why this case matters
• Common failures: overclaiming generalization / leaving condition-dependence vague
• When to choose: when, before generalizing, it is worth confirming in one field site

5 Review Article

• Purpose: organize the field's belief structure and redesign the question
• Required: the field's question archetypes / unresolved gaps / structural organization (not a mere summary)
• Typical scope: redefining the question, structuring research trends, indicating future directions
• Common failures: a mere literature summary / no critical stance / vague position
• When to choose: when your research axis is clear and you can survey the whole field (mainly the latter half of the PhD and beyond). D1 starts with a Narrative / Scoping Review

6 Perspective / Commentary

• Purpose: present a direction or position for the research
• Required: a clear position / grounds / contrast with the existing structure
• Common failures: becomes unsupported opinion / ignores the existing debate
• When to choose: when your research axis is established and you have a viewpoint on the field

Don't choose by format. Choose by question

Question → Format → Venue

1. Question — the question first. The Core Question and Key Contributions are decided
2. Format — choose the type that fits the scope of the question and contributions (table above)
3. Venue — decide the venue last. Conference or journal, and which journal. How to choose a venue and the practicalities of submission are in Lab Forum Lectures "Writing Papers — Overview"; the timing guide is in Notion Lab OS "年間の節目" (milestones of the year)

"I want to present at that conference, so I'll write this kind of paper" — reverse the order, and you usually get lost.

Four questions when choosing: What is my Core Question? / How many contributions, and what is their scope? / Can figures support them? / Is the comparison target clear?

Choosing a paper type is deciding the scope of your own belief.