Reading scholarly, peer-reviewed articles is a major time investment given the academic jargon and complexity of themes being explored. You will need to read an article more than once to fully understand the points being made by its authors, as well as be able to synthesize those ideas and discussions into your own work as a student and researcher.
This page in particular will go over how to read scholarly articles published in the sciences. This page will identify the core components to look for in academic articles, tips on reading scholarly articles, and additional resources for further enrichment.
Scholarly articles in the sciences contain the following components:
Abstract: This section is found at the very beginning, prior to the introduction of a scholarly article. The focus of the abstract is to summarize the contents of the article and the studies conducted.
Introduction: This comes after the abstract of an article. The point of the introduction is to orient researchers to the topic; this section states the purpose of the study and provides the argument(s) of the article in question.
Methods (or methodology): The methods section is to provide a step-by-step overview of how the study was conducted (and why) and will provide the data collected during that time. Sometimes, authors will provide an explanation for why their chosen methodology was limited.
Results (or findings): This refers to the presentation of the data after the conclusion of the study. The results section of a scholarly article are often graphical and usually contain charts, images, maps, tables, etc.
Discussion: This is where the authors discuss their findings and how it relates to the current topic; the authors will evaluate if the collected data answered their question.
Conclusion: This is where the authors wrap up and discuss the importance of their research, mention any limitations experienced during the study, and identify future directions the topic will take.
North Carolina State University Libraries created a handy, interactive tutorial contextualizing the above components concerning the anatomy of a scholarly article. Click the above image and hover over each section to learn more about what to look for when conducting research.
As stated in the introduction to this section, reading an academic paper is a major time investment and is a vastly different experience from reading a work of fiction or a newspaper. You will need to read an academic paper more than once to fully understand the authors' arguments and how it will guide your own research.
The following sections will provide tips on how structure your first time reading an academic paper and what to be looking for when considering your own research.
1) Abstract: Read the abstract first. This is considered the bird's-eye view of the academic paper in question, it will give you the best opportunity to decide whether the article is going to be relevant to your research. It acts as the overall preview for the paper and might include its methodology and results from the study (or studies) conducted.
2) Introduction and conclusion: Upon reading the abstract and determining it's pertinent to your research, take the time to read through the introduction and conclusion of the paper. The introduction will provide salient information about any previous research related to the current topic at hand, and the conclusion will have a summary of the current study's findings, as well as an explanation as to how this research contributes to the field in question.
3) Data: Take the time to review any graphs, data, charts, images, or results associated with the study in the academic paper; reviewing the data will give you a better idea of the results of the current study. Make a note of the conclusions you've drawn, and when you've read the academic paper in its entirety, compare your conclusions to that of the authors' results and data.
4) Read the entire paper, from start to finish: Now you can conduct an in-depth reading of the academic paper after doing the necessary prep work from the preceding steps. As you read the paper in its entirety, be sure to take notes and summarize sections or paragraphs as you move forward. When you come across any words or concepts you're unfamiliar with, highlight the terms and consult a dictionary. The library has CREDO Reference as part of its reference collection, which provides access to dictionaries, encyclopedias, biographies, and more.
5) Lastly, citations: Who is the author citing in the paper you're currently reading? Do they have any relevance to your topic? Always take the time to review the articles' citations; there's a strong possibility of other scholarly works that will help your understanding of a topic and create arguments in your own research. This is known as citation mining, which essentially means using citations to track down other informational sources that are related to a research topic. Citation mining is a valuable technique to help you locate other literature for your research!