Not all articles in academic/peer-reviewed journals are original research. "Original research" means the article:
- is the report of a work written by the researchers who actually did the study, experiment, etc.
- the researchers describe their hypothesis or research question and the purpose of the study.
- the researchers detail their research methods.
- the results of the research are reported.
- the researchers interpret their results and discuss possible implications.
Keywords to look for as HEADINGS within the article:
- Abstract
- Methods (description of the research procedure)
- Results
- Discussion or Conclusion
The most common type of article to avoid is a "Literature Review." It's okay to see this phrase as one section of an article that meets the rest of the criteria above, but if the article is only describing previously published articles, it is not original research. Also avoid "systematic reviews" and of course book or media reviews.