How to Dissect Research Articles
Scholarly research articles are peer-reviewed papers that can be found in journals, such as Nature and Journal of Neuroscience (Subramanyam, 2013). MEDLINE is a database that is available through the Gerstein Library and can provide very narrow results on topics in the medical and scientific fields. Other databases designated for various fields are also provided through the U of T Libraries website. Databases that are open to the public can be accessed through Google Scholar, Unpaywall, and PubPeer.
Research articles often contain an abstract, introduction, methods, results, and discussion section (Subramanyam, 2013). The abstract is often at the beginning of the article, because it provides a quick overview of the research topic (Subramanyam, 2013). This section should be read first in order to ensure the research article chosen is appropriate to your assignment or interests (Purugganan & Hewitt, 2004). The sentences of the abstract can be broken down into distinct categories, where the beginning sentence or two of the abstract summarizes the introduction and purpose of the study (Purugganan & Hewitt, 2004). The following sentence will quickly identify the participants or subjects and how the research experiment was conducted. Next, a few sentences will discuss the significant results that were found, and a concluding statement will follow, which connects the research to the field of study. This effectively breaks down the abstract into its components to allow for an improved understanding of the research article that one is about to read (Purugganan & Hewitt, 2004). This technique can be practiced using the abstract of this demo research paper. For guidance through this activity or to compare results, a sample visual depiction of this technique is provided in the image below.
After the abstract, it is best to read the figures and results of the study in detail. The reader should then interpret and predict the conclusions drawn from the experimental data presented before reading the figure captions. This improves critical thinking skills and ensures the reader understands how the results of the study have led to the conclusions stated in the study (Mitzenmacher, 2010). The reader’s own interpretations should be compared and contrasted to the discussion section of the article (Mitzenmacher, 2010). Any questions remaining after reading the discussion section should be noted down and researched in greater depth. These questions provide a basis for developing ideas that can be used when writing your assignments. Other articles in the field related to the topic should be used to compare and contrast information to ensure there is consistency (Mitzenmacher, 2010). Inferences should be drawn to fill the gap in understanding by relying on previous knowledge while reading these sections (Mitzenmacher, 2010).
The introduction can be read after you are certain that you are interested in reading this article, because it is best to not waste time reading a long introduction section of a research article that you are not going to use for your assignment (Subramanyam, 2013). This introduction is often just an elaboration of why the study was conducted. The section typically begins with background information about the field, followed by information on previous studies, and hypotheses generally at the end (Subramanyam, 2013). Finally, the methods section can be the last section read, because the important details from this section are often mentioned in the introduction and results sections. This section provides very specific details on how the experiment was conducted, the number of participants or subjects, and data analysis techniques (Subramanyam, 2013). It is best to read these sections last in order to save time and get the most critical information early on. However, the order in which these sections are read is highly dependent on the reader and their preferences.
A few key reminders when reading research articles include not getting overwhelmed by the terminology used by the authors (Subramanyam, 2013). The definition of novel words and keywords presented should be searched for an enhanced understanding of the article. These keywords are sometimes presented below the abstract on the first page and are crucial for the understanding of the research article. Certain terms or techniques from the methods section that are confusing should be researched separately for further clarification. Also, it is completely normal to re-read sections of the article to increase your comprehension of the information presented (Mitzenmacher, 2010). In fact, it is best to skim through the article during the first read and spend the subsequent reads on obtaining more detail on the study. Furthermore, certain websites, such as Scholarcy, can be used to summarize sections of the article if needed for your understanding.
Mitzenmacher, M. (2010, March 24). How to read a research paper. – Harvard University. Retrieved from http://www.eecs.harvard.edu/~michaelm/postscripts/ReadPaper.pdf
Purugganan, M., & Hewitt, J. (2004). How to Read a Scientific Article – Rice University. Retrieved from https://www.owlnet.rice.edu/~cainproj/courses/HowToReadSciArticle.pdf
Subramanyam, R. V. (2013). Art of reading a journal article: Methodically and effectively. Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology: JOMFP, 17(1), 65-70. https://doi.org/10.4103/0973-029X.110733
