Academic Terminology

A reference for terms that come up while you’re writing, citing, and publishing academic work. If you need more than a definition, the linked pages go deeper.

Citations & referencing

• In-text citation — a short reference inside the body of your paper. The parenthetical form puts it in brackets: (Smith, 2020). The narrative form works the author into the sentence: Smith (2020) found that….
• Bibliography / Reference list / Works cited — the full list of sources at the end of your paper. Different styles use different names. APA and IEEE say “Reference list.” MLA says “Works Cited.” Chicago usually says “Bibliography.” The formatting rules vary, but the job is the same: give readers enough detail to find each source.
• DOI (Digital Object Identifier) — a permanent URL for a publication, like 10.1016/j.example.2024.001. A DOI won’t break even if the publisher redesigns their site. You can paste one into Jenni to cite a source directly.
• et al. — Latin for “and others.” Saves you from listing every author when a source has three or more. The full list still appears in your reference list.
• Ibid. — Latin for “in the same place.” Shorthand for repeating the previous citation, mostly seen in Chicago footnote style.

See Citation Management for how Jenni handles insertion and formatting.

Citation styles

You can switch styles in Jenni at any time from Citation Management.

Journals & publishing

• Peer review — independent experts evaluate a manuscript before a journal publishes it. Most reputable journals require at least two reviewers.
• Impact factor (IF) — the average number of citations per article a journal receives over two years. An IF of 5.7 means articles in that journal averaged 5.7 citations. This is a journal-level number, not a quality score for any single paper.
• h-index — a measure of researcher output. You have an h-index of h when h of your papers have each been cited at least h times. So an h-index of 10 means 10 papers with 10+ citations each.
• Open access — research anyone can read without a subscription. Gold means the publisher hosts the open version. Green means the author deposits a copy in a repository. Diamond (or Platinum) means open access with no fees charged to the author. See Open Access Papers for how Jenni surfaces these.
• Preprint — a manuscript shared publicly before peer review, usually on servers like arXiv or bioRxiv. Preprints get findings out fast, but they haven’t been formally vetted.
• Postprint — the accepted version of a manuscript after peer review, before the publisher applies final formatting.
• Retraction — a formal withdrawal of a published paper, typically due to errors or misconduct. Retracted papers stay in databases but get flagged.
• Predatory journal — a publication that charges author fees without real peer review or editorial oversight. They tend to have misleading names and send aggressive solicitation emails.

Paper structure

Most academic papers follow a standard layout:

• Abstract — a standalone summary, usually 150 to 300 words.
• Introduction — states the research question and explains why the work matters.
• Literature review — surveys prior research on your topic and points out gaps.
• Methodology — describes how the study was designed and run, in enough detail for someone else to replicate it.
• Results — presents findings without interpretation. Tables, figures, and statistical output go here.
• Discussion — interprets the results, ties them back to existing literature, and addresses limitations.
• Conclusion — wraps up the key findings and points toward future work.
• Appendix — supplementary material (raw data, extra figures, survey instruments) that supports the paper without being part of the main argument.

Frequently asked questions