Concept Map: Chapter 10 and Evaluating Scientific Literature Video
Understanding the content of a scientific research article
How to successfully read a research paper
How to write a summary of a research paper
How to write a critique of a research paper
According to the video, when doing the first read through of the article, you should try to distinguish the main points of the article
You can look at the article's title, the abstract, the keywords for the article, the titles of the figures or data in the article, and review the first sentence or the last few sentence(s) in the introduction as these should give clues to the main points.
Look for keywords in the article that can provide further clues on what the main point of the article is. Look for: "we hypothesize that...", "we propose that...", "we introduce..."
How to take good notes on a research article
Create a standard template for taking notes on scientific articles to organize the research/main points of the article, make quick comparisons of articles, and save time re-reading articles
Understand what information to look for and where to find it
Look for the essential information: the overall purpose of the paper, the general experimental/study approach, the key results of the study, and the significance of the work
Know where to find the key information
Abstract: should be a 'mini summary' and include important information about the known, the unknown, the research question or purpose of the paper, the experimental approach, the results of the study, and the significance of the study
Introduction: should give background information, introduce the problem or the unknown, state the overall question or purpose of the paper and the general approach. It may state the main results and the significance of the findings.
Materials/Methods: should tell the experimental/study approach, can be very technical/detailed. You can also refer to the end of the introduction/results section for an overview of the materials and methods.
Results: Should streamline the findings. The first paragraph(s) should summarize the main results and the following paragraphs should outline the general approach and findings for each step of the research/study.
Discussion: Should present the key findings and the significance of the findings. The first paragraph(s) should summarize the main results and their meaning and answer the overall research question. The last paragraph or conclusion should explain the importance of the findings and their potential impact. It may also restate the findings and touch on the direction of possible future studies.
Read in a directed way, first gain an overview of the paper, clarify any questions or unfamiliar terminology, and take notes
Think of a summary as an expanded version of the abstract that is written in your own words.
You should be able to answer:
What is the overall purpose of the paper?
How does the research fit into the context of its field?
What was the general experimental/study approach?
What are the key findings?
How are the reported findings different or better?
What are the major conclusions drawn from the findings?
What is the overall importance?
The outline of the summary should:
Describe the main question or purpose of the study and provide brief context behind the study
Explain how the study was approached
Describe the key findings
Briefly discuss the meaning of the findings
End by stating the overall impact of the research and explain why the study is relevant
A critique of a research paper should highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the research
A critique should answer the following:
[About the introduction] Is the purpose of the study clearly stated? Are the ideas novel/original? Is there relevant background information?
[About the methods] Did the authors use appropriate measurements and procedures? Is the authors' approach needed to answer the question of the paper?
[About the results] Did the authors reach the expected results? Are the results correctly interpreted, were all the controls met? If assumptions were made, are they realistic?
Are the figures and tables explained clearly? Are the key findings clear?
[About the discussion] Has the overall research question been answered? Is it clear how the research fits into the context of its field? Does the work make an important contribution to the field?
Are the major conclusions drawn from the findings justified? What would you add to the conclusion? What would you say differently?
How important is the work?
Skim the article to find key points
Most lab reports and scientific articles share key sections including: abstract, introduction, methods, results, and discussion
First read the abstract, then the introduction, and then the conclusion
Doing so provides an idea of the overall purpose of the paper, the unknown or the problem being studied, the main findings, and the overall importance of the paper.
After reading the abstract, introduction, and the conclusion, read through the entire paper (recommended to then read results and then the methods)
Look at the figures and write down any questions that arise about the topic or any unfamiliar terminology
Look up the answers to questions about the paper and the definitions of unknown terminology and then re-read the paper
The abstract has four key kinds of information
The purpose of the paper (the 'why')
The methodology (the 'how')
The results (what was found)
The conclusion (what the findings mean)
The discussion has two main purposes
It answers the question posed in the introduction
It explains how the results support the conclusions
After reading the abstract, you should ask yourself: Should I keep reading? Is the paper interesting enough/worth continuing to read? If the answer is yes, you should read the discussion
After reading the discussion you should ask: do I understand and believe the author's claims? If the answer is yes, you should keep reading subsequent sections.
The introduction has two main purposes
It stimulates an interest in the topic
It puts the article in a larger context. It leads from the general (widely known information on the topic) to the specific (what is not known/the focused question of the paper/study).
After reading the introduction you should ask: why did the researchers do this study, does the research question match what was read in the discussion?
The results have two key points
What the authors found
The key data from the study
After reading the results, you should ask: is the data collected appropriate to answer the research question? Does the data support the conclusion?
The methods describe what experiments were done and how the were done. It can be difficult to read because of the technical language and can be lengthy.