Research

Research is a subcategory of the Logbook throughout the Metroid Prime series, alongside Creatures, Lore, and hints toward the location of keys to the final area.

Role in the Prime series
Research collects data about important objects in the environment, such as obstacles, pickups and devices that can be used with Samus Aran's abilities. The amount of research entries collected increases over the course of the series, and not every object that is categorized as research in one game is categorized as such in another. For example, Red Blast Shield scan data is added to the Logbook in Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, but not in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, and pickups are only Logbook scans in Prime.

Organization
While Prime and Corruption simply lists the entries either alphabetically or in order of encounter, Echoes organizes the Logbook into various subcategories: Aether Studies, Biology, Luminoth Technology and Mechanisms. From there, they split off into more subcategories, such as Plantforms, Cocoons, Darklings and Ing Storage under Biology (not to be confused with the Creatures section of the Logbook). As with other sections of the Logobok, Research entries display images of the subject generated by the Scan Visor and/or a 3-D model of the subject.