0.4 How to read a scientific article  (Page 2/2)

Atypical structure

Some articles you read will deviate from the conventional content of IMRD sections. For instance, Letters to Nature appear to begin with an abstract, followed by the body of the article. Upon reading, however, you will see that the “abstract” is a summary of the work filled with extensive introduction (for the purpose of catching the attention of a wide audience), and the next paragraph begins a description of the experiments.

Therefore, when you begin to read an article for the first time, skim the article to analyze the document as a whole. Are the sections labeled with headings that identify the structure? If not, note what the structure is. Decide which sections contain the material most essential to your understanding of the article. Then decide the order in which you will read the sections.

Distinguish main points

Because articles contain so much information, it may be difficult to distinguish the main points of an article from the subordinate points. Fortunately, there are many indicators of the author’s main points:

Document level

• Title
• Abstract
• Keywords
• Visuals (especially figure and table titles)
• First sentence or the last 1-2 sentences of the Introduction

Paragraph level: words or phrases to look for

• surprising
• unexpected
• in contrast with previous work
• has seldom been addressed
• we hypothesize that
• we propose
• we introduce
• we develop
• the data suggest

Generate questions and be aware of your understanding

Reading is an active task. Before and during your reading, ask yourself these questions:

• Who are these authors? What journal is this? Might I question the credibility of the work?
• Have I taken the time to understand all the terminology?
• Have I gone back to read an article or review that would help me understand this work better?
• Am I spending too much time reading the less important parts of this article?
• Is there someone I can talk to about confusing parts of this article?

After reading, ask yourself these questions:

• What specific problem does this research address? Why is it important?
• Is the method used a good one? The best one?
• What are the specific findings? Am I able to summarize them in one or two sentences?
• Are the findings supported by persuasive evidence?
• Is there an alternative interpretation of the data that the author did not address?
• How are the findings unique/new/unusual or supportive of other work in the field?
• How do these results relate to the work I’m interested in? To other work I’ve read about?
• What are some of the specific applications of the ideas presented here? What are some further experiments that would answer remaining questions?

Draw inferences

Not everything that you learn from an article is stated explicitly. As you read, rely on your prior knowledge and world experience, as well as the background provided in the article, to draw inferences from the material. Research has shown that readers who actively draw inferences are better able to understand and recall information.

As an example, in the box below is an excerpt from the Introduction of an article in the journal Biochemistry (Ballestar et al., 2000). The comments in italics are questions and inferences that might be drawn by a student reader.

Take notes as you read.

Effective readers take notes—it improves recall and comprehension. You may think you’ll remember everything you read in researching class assignments, professional papers, proposals, or your thesis, but details will slip away. Develop a template for recording notes on articles you read, or adapt the template below for use. As you accumulate a large collection of articles, this template will help you distinguish articles and quickly locate the correct reference for your own writing. The time spent filling out the form will save you hours of rereading when you write a Background, Related Work, or a Literature Review section.