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How To Read An ACADEMIC JOURNAL

The document discusses how to effectively read scientific papers and academic journals, noting that there are two main types of papers - review articles which summarize existing research and primary research articles containing original experimental data. It provides a four-step method for reading papers, including skimming the paper, understanding key vocabulary, reading each section for comprehension, and reflecting critically on the paper's conclusions.

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Naufal Fadli Amzar
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27 views18 pages

How To Read An ACADEMIC JOURNAL

The document discusses how to effectively read scientific papers and academic journals, noting that there are two main types of papers - review articles which summarize existing research and primary research articles containing original experimental data. It provides a four-step method for reading papers, including skimming the paper, understanding key vocabulary, reading each section for comprehension, and reflecting critically on the paper's conclusions.

Uploaded by

Naufal Fadli Amzar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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How to read a

scientific
paper/Journal

Dr. Sudirman,MN
Scientific papers / an academic journal are the
heart of the science community.

It is essential to learn how to read an academic


Journal quickly but insightfully.
…… otherwise
Two Types of Scientific Papers
Containing Two Types of Information
There are two types of scientific papers:
 Review articles: give an overview of the scientific
field or topic by summarizing the data and
conclusions from many studies.

 Primary research articles: contain the original


data and conclusions of the researchers who were
involved in the experiments and how the
experiments were done.
Few easy ways to distinguish between
Review & Primary research
I. Many reviews will be labeled as "review“ on the
first page of the article.
II. Reviews don't have a "methods" section.
III. In a review article, graphs, tables, It is also wise to
read several
or figures containing actual data will reviews by
different authors
contain citations in the figure legend
to the primary research papers that
originally reported the findings.
EXAMPLES....
REVIEW ARTICLE RESEARCH ARTICLE
• Breast cancer pain • Depression and anxiety
management a review of releated pain in patient with
current and novel breast cancer.pdf
theraphies.pdf
• Effectivenes of nursing
intervetion on pain.pdf
Question: How should we READ
a scientific paper/ an academic
journal?
Answer: not necessarily in order!
A four-step method based on: Ann McNeal, School of Natural
Science, Hampshire College, Amherst MA
http://hampshire.edu/~apmNS/design/RESOURCES/HOW_READ.html
A general rule of thumb, regarding what
goes where, when Both reading and
writting a scientific article/JOURNAL is

Note: Some journals will


allow the Results and
Discussion sections to be
combined. In this case, the
What and the why are
presented together.
STEPS ON READING AN ACADEMIC JOURNAL

STEPS ON READING AN ACADEMIC


JOURNAL
Step 1: Skim the entire paper
• Look at the major headings (do they follow
the “anatomy” we just described?)
• How many figures are there, what kinds of
figures are they (gels, graphs, microscopic
images?)
• What is the conclusion of the paper?
– (It may not make sense to you at the moment,
but note what it is.)
Step 2:Vocabulary
• Go through the paper as a whole simply
underlining words and phrases you do not
understand.
• You are not reading the paper for
comprehension of the whole paper yet,
just making sure you have understanding
of the words to then comprehend it.
Step 2: Vocabulary continued
• Look up simple words and phrases, where?
– Biology textbooks
– Online at biology dictionaries or encyclopedias
(www.wikepedia.com seems to be a good resource for basic
definitions and procedures)
– Look up methods that you are not familiar with
(i.e. what is an immunoprecipitation or a transformation?)

• Note important phrases that are part of a major concept


and are bigger than just vocabulary (i.e. “risk reduction”).
You will come back to them in context while reading for
comprehension.
Step 3: Read for comprehension,
section by section
(as already mentioned)
• Introduction
– What is the accepted state of knowledge in
the field (take notes and even draw your own
figures)?
– What data led directly to this work?
– What question are they answering? (Is there a
clear hypothesis?)
– What are their conclusions?
Step 3: Read for comprehension,
section by section
• Materials and Methods and Results:
– Read the methods first or read them as you read the
results. (I prefer the latter)
– With each experiment/figure you should be able to
explain
• 1) the basic procedure
• 2) the question it sought to answer
• 3) the results
• 4) the conclusion

• You should be able to explain all of these (1-4)


to another classmate clearly!
Step 3: Read for comprehension,
section by section
• Discussion
– What conclusions do the authors draw? Be
sure to separate fact from their
opinion/interpretation?
– Describe for yourself why these data
significant. (Does it contribute to knowledge or
correct errors?)
Step 4: Reflection and criticism
• Do you agree with the authors’ rationale for setting up the
experiments as they did?
• Did they perform the experiments appropriately? (Repeated a
number of times, used correct control groups, used appropriate
measurements etc)
• Were there enough experiments to support the one major finding
they are claiming?
• Do you see patterns/trends in their data that are problems that were
not mentioned?
• Do you agree with the authors’ conclusions from these data? Are
they over-generalized or too grand? Or are there other factors that
they neglect that could have accounted for their data?
• What further questions do you have? What might you suggest they
do next?
Tips for success:
• Spend a lot of time on each paper NOW look up
every detail that you are unsure of. (Time you
invest now will payoff in the long run).
Discovering the answers for yourself is one of
the best ways to learn and have the information
be retained.
• Imagine yourself teaching the paper or figures to
classmates—teaching something to others is
also another great way to learn.
Tips for success:
• Start a database of procedures that you take the
time to look up and teach to yourself. What are
some of the common procedures that are used
in various papers? (e.g. western, immunoblots,
RT-PCR, apoptosis assays, yeast two hybrids,
etc.)
• Watch others in your lab experiences and find
out what they are doing…you may never get the
opportunity to do RT-PCR, but the more you
understand the procedure, the more critical you
can be of data you need to interpret.
Tips for success:
• Read papers when you are awake and
interested in reading. If you are going to break
up a paper and read it over several days be sure
to summarize before continuing each day.
• If you are already in the field you plan to stay in,
consider starting a database on papers that
relate to your lab/project. You will want to be
able to impress your P.I. with your quick analysis
and summary of a monumental paper from
another lab!

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