Reading research papers
Here to turn on desktop notifications to get the news sent straight to images/justin pumfrey via getty form a truly educated opinion on a scientific subject, you need to become familiar with current research in that field. And to be able to distinguish between good and bad interpretations of research, you have to be willing and able to read the primary research literature for yourself. Reading and understanding research papers is a skill that every single doctor and scientist has had to learn during graduate school. You can learn it too, but like any skill it takes patience and g a scientific paper is a completely different process from reading an article about science in a blog or newspaper. Not only do you read the sections in a different order than they're presented, but you also have to take notes, read it multiple times, and probably go look up other papers in order to understand some of the details.
Reading a single paper may take you a very long time at first, but be patient with yourself. The process will go much faster as you gain type of scientific paper i'm discussing here is referred to as a primary research article. Most articles will be divided into the following sections: abstract, introduction, methods, results, and conclusions/interpretations/ you begin reading a paper, take note of the authors and their institutional affiliations. University of texas) are well-respected; others may appear to be legitimate research institutions but are actually agenda-driven. Be cautious of articles from questionable journals, or sites like natural news, that might resemble peer-reviewed scientific journals but aren'-by-step instructions for reading a primary research article.
Begin by reading the introduction, not the abstract is that dense first paragraph at the very beginning of a paper. You need to be able to succinctly explain why this research has been done in order to understand it. If it's the kind of research that tests one or more null hypotheses, identify it/them. For some research purposes a sample size of 10 is sufficient, but for most studies larger is better. Find out what other researchers say about the are the (acknowledged or self-proclaimed) experts in this particular field?
In genetics and to read a scientific g scientific g scientific to read and understand a scientific paper: a step-by-step guide for breaking news : / ruben’s tongue-in-cheek column about the common difficulties and frustrations of reading a scientific paper broadly resonated among science careers readers. Although it is clear that reading scientific papers becomes easier with experience, the stumbling blocks are real, and it is up to each scientist to identify and apply the techniques that work best for them. Citation lists can help you decide why the paper may be most relevant to you by giving you a first impression of how colleagues that do similar research as you do may have used the paper. Cecilia tubiana, scientist at the max planck institute for solar system research in göttingen, i’m aiming to just get the main points, i’ll read the abstract, hop to the figures, and scan the discussion for important points. Then anything i’m unclear about, i head to the i want to delve deeper into the paper, i typically read it in its entirety and then also read a few of the previous papers from that group or other articles on the same topic.
Should i need more detail, i access any provided data repositories or supplemental , if the authors' research is similar to my own, i see if their relevant data match our findings or if there are any inconsistencies. Kevin boehnke, doctoral candidate in environmental health sciences at the university of michigan, ann reading strategy depends on the paper. Sometimes i am curious to see who in the field has—or more likely has not—been referenced, to see whether the authors are choosing to ignore certain aspects of the research. Gary mcdowell, postdoctoral fellow in developmental biology at tufts university in medford, massachusetts, and visiting scholar at boston reading papers, it helps me to have a writing task so that i am being an active reader instead of letting my eyes glaze over mountains of text only to forget everything i just read. Then, in the future, i’ll only need to read this document instead of re-reading all the individual se, when i want to figure out how to conduct a particular experiment, i create a handy table in excel summarizing how a variety of research teams went about doing a particular experiment.
Most relevant points would be things that change your thinking about your research topic or give you new ideas and directions. Lachlan gray, deputy head of the hiv neuropathogenesis lab at the burnet institute and adjunct research fellow in the department of infectious disease at monash university in melbourne, i choose to read is based on relation to my research areas and things that are generating lots of interest and discussion because they are driving the way we do psychology, or science more widely, in new directions. Most often, what i am trying to get out of the papers is issues of methodology, experimental design, and statistical analysis. But when it is an area that i know very little about, i read these closely because then i learn a lot about the assumptions and explanatory approaches in that area of research. Brian nosek, professor in the department of psychology at the university of virginia and executive director of the center for open science in i read very fast: the point of the first reading is simply to see whether the paper is interesting for me.
If it is i read it a second time, slower and with more attention to the paper is vital to my research—and if it is theoretical—i would reinvent the paper. Then, if the topic of the paper is one i know well, i generally skim the introduction, reading its last paragraph to make sure i know the specific question being addressed in the paper. Fox, professor in the department of entomology at the university of kentucky in is important to realize that shortcuts have to be taken when reading papers so that there is time left to get our other work done, including writing, conducting research, attending meetings, teaching, and grading papers. Student, i have been reading the conclusions and methods of academic journal articles and chapters rather than entire books. Rima wilkes, professor in the department of sociology at the university of british columbia, editor-in-chief of science, i have to read and comprehend papers outside of my field all the time.
Finally, i move on to the paper itself, reading, in order, the intro, conclusions, scanning the figures, and then reading the paper through. If i am really struggling to proceed through the paper, i try to look up a review article or a textbook chapter to give me the necessary background to proceed, which i generally find much more are a lot of acronyms and jargon that can be subfield-specific, so i usually don't wade through the details unless it's for my own research. The rest of the reading may not make sense if i don’t understand a key phrase or jargon. If non-understandable parts appear important for my research, i try to ask colleagues or even contact the lead author directly. I now read articles in research areas well outside of my expertise, and i often don't need more than superficial knowledge of the substantive content.
If i can't do anything with the paper unless i don't understand that depth, then i do more background , i have had to read a number of papers outside my area of expertise with a lot of unfamiliar jargon. Occasionally, papers are so incomprehensible (to me, at least) that i don't bother reading you ever feel overwhelmed reading papers, and how do you deal with that? This paper may help aneously, some papers are written terribly and are not worth the effort. For really difficult papers, it also helps to sit down and work through it with a , many times. This is why i developed my own reading strategies, by talking to other scientists and by trial and error.
I also have thrown up my hands in frustration and tossed the offending papers away, never to read them , and in these cases you have to realize that some papers are the result of years of work by dozens of scientists. Mendeley helps me do my research, read literature, and write the beginning, new academic readers find it slow because they have no frame of reference for what they are reading. But there are ways to use reading as a system of creating a mental library, and after a few years, it becomes easy to slot papers onto your mental shelves. Aaas is a partner of hinari, agora, oare, chorus, clockss, crossref and : / ruben’s tongue-in-cheek column about the common difficulties and frustrations of reading a scientific paper broadly resonated among science careers readers. Aaas is a partner of hinari, agora, oare, chorus, clockss, crossref and aphic: how to read a scientific aphic: how to read a scientific ing this skill can help you excel at research, peer review – and writing your own natalia rodriguez posted on 5 august of a scientist’s work involves reading research papers, whether it’s to stay up to date in their field, advance their scientific understanding, review manuscripts, or gather information for a project proposal or grant application.
Because scientific articles are different from other texts, like novels or newspaper stories, they should be read ch papers follow the well-known imrd format — an abstract followed by the introduction,methods, results and discussion. Sometimes you will have to go backwards and forwards, take notes and have multiples tabs opened in your are some tips for reading and understanding research nceslennyrhine. How to read a scientific paper,” research4life training portal[nr1] [ab2]valerie matarese, phd (ed). Usingstrategic, critical reading of research papers to teach scientific writing,”supporting research writing: rolesand challenges in multilingual settings,”chandos publishing, elsevier (2012)allen h. Readingscientific papers,” stanford universityrelated resourcesresearch4life training portal: a platform with free downloadable resources for researchers.
The authorship skills section contains 10 modules, including how to read and write scientific papers, intellectual property and web bibliography along with hands-on activity er publishing campus: a free online platform with lectures, interactive training and professional advice on a wide range of topics, from the fundamentals of publishing to broader issues like gender in research and open advice portal of elsevier connect. Stories include tips for publishing in an international journal, how to succeed in a phd program, and how to make your mark in the world of er connect contributornatalia rodriguez (@rodrigueznats) is the communications coordinator for research4life, a public-private partnership providing access to scientific information to researchers, academics, students, doctors and other professionals in the developing world. Before joining research4life, she worked in the elsevier's global communications department in tly based in bremen, germany, natalia also works as a freelance creative for different organizations, finding innovative ways to communicate science and enable javascript to view the comments powered by ts powered by to give a dynamic scientific marilynn larkin | posted on 04 aug your ideas and enthusiasm – and avoid the pitfalls that put audiences to tions open for elsevier foundation awards for women in biological nina elsemueller | posted on 04 jun a video of this year’s winners, and find out how to nominate researchers for aphic: how to write better science natalia rodriguez | posted on 15 may for writing research articles people will want to hing campus provides free online skills training for hannah foreman | posted on 30 apr er’s new resource includes instruction on writing for books and journals, reviewing manuscripts, and grant writing – and a chance to debate hot topics. Thanks in advance for your aphic: how to read a scientific aphic: how to read a scientific ing this skill can help you excel at research, peer review – and writing your own natalia rodriguez posted on 5 august of a scientist’s work involves reading research papers, whether it’s to stay up to date in their field, advance their scientific understanding, review manuscripts, or gather information for a project proposal or grant application.
