How to Read and Comprehend Scientific Research Articles

Importance of Scientific Articles

• Communication medium for scholars and researchers.
• Part of the scholarly conversation in your discipline.
• Current scholarly information not found in textbooks or popular sources.

Structure of Scientific Articles

• Abstract: Overview of purpose, methodology, results, and conclusion.
• Introduction: Stimulates interest and places the article in context.
• Methods: Detailed description of experimental procedures.
• Results: Key findings and data, often in figures/tables.
• Discussion: Answers research questions, supports conclusions.

Effective Reading Strategy

• Order to Read: Abstract, Discussion, Introduction, Results, Methods (A-D-I-R-M).
• Skim articles to identify key findings.
• Determine the article's usefulness to your research.

Evaluating Each Section

• Abstract: Is the article worth diving deeper?
• Discussion: Do you understand and believe the claims?
• Introduction: Why did researchers conduct this study?
• Results: Is the data appropriate and supportive of conclusions?
• Methods: Understand experiment design and validity.

Identifying Main Points

• Look for: Article title, abstract, keywords, figure/table titles, intro sentences.
• Key phrases: "we hypothesize that," "we propose," "we introduce."

Note-Taking

• Essential for saving time and clarifying thoughts.
• Use a standard template for consistency.
• Organize research and enable quick comparisons.

Conclusion

• Reading in A-D-I-R-M order is effective.
• Correctly identify main points.
• Take effective notes to streamline the research process.

Additional Help

• Contact your librarian for further assistance.