4 How to read a scientific paper

Bruce E. Kirkpatrick

2021-01-22

2021 Spring Session 1 Article

(No SI)

Although research articles are structured consistently, our approach to reading them is often nonlinear.

Personal preferences evolve with experience — sharing mine as an example:

  • Abstract
  • Introduction
  • Conclusions
  • Methods
  • Results
  • SI
  • Summary (not always present; usually certain review journals)

4.1 Reviewing a paper

After your first read-through, write…

  • 1-2 sentence synopsis
  • 1-2 sentences about novelty
  • 1-2 sentences about significance

…and to think a little more:

  • Describe the quality of the research
    • Logical progression? (methods > results > analysis > conclusion)
    • Controls?
    • Ideation / justification?
  • Quality of the presentation
    • Errors / opportunities for improvement

4.2 Finding, accessing, and organizing papers

I recommend Google Scholar to find papers and the CU libraries system to access them. You can also use the CU VPN to remotely access subscription-protected journals without needing to sign into the libraries system.

There are many different “reference manager” software options. I have personally used Papers, Bookends, and Endnote; Mendeley is also very popular and free. The better you are at organizing your library, the easier it will be for you to navigate it when you’ve amassed many thousands of papers.