Conflict of interest exists when a researcher’s personal interests influence the objectives of a study, the ability to make fair judgements or relationships are put at risk.

The regulatory bodies set standards of conduct, require certificates of ethics and have the power to veto research projects. Today’s researcher is bound by these regulations, as well as their personal codes of ethics.

Theoretical articles provide overviews of empirical research, although the studies reviewed are selected based on their relevance to the theory examined.

Experiential reports may provide creative ideas for educational practice, and as they provide systematic collection of data and results are based on the experience of one practitioner, they may also provide strong evidence.

A review of literature is a summary, analysis, and interpretation of the theoretical, conceptual and research literature related to a topic or theme.

Nonempirical sources are more likely to discuss the general issues related to a topic whereas empirical sources are more likely to describe the groups studied and the methods used in the study (e.g., surveys, observations).

Books, monographs, and references books may also provide overviews of research, although these are likely to be several years older than comparable reviews from similarly dated journal articles.

Professional journals include both primary and secondary sources as well as empirical and nonempirical sources.

The way a review of literature is presented in a journal article or short research proposal doesn’t differ from that found in a dissertation or thesis.

A primary source is any article written by someone who is describing research done by others. It may also describe empirical research, but it usually gives less information on the research methods and so is usually considered to be a weaker type of source.