Research guides: Journals &amp; magazines: Finding and using them....: Reading scholarly articles

Tips for reading scholarly articles

Scholarly articles in the social sciences/sciences are written by academics and specialists in the field and include findings from primary/original research. It is not recommended that you read a scholarly article from beginning to end, rather....

1. Read and consider the article title	Will give you clues about the topic
2. Scan the headings/sections of the article
3. Read the abstract	This is the summary of the article, usually dense with information. New articles may include keywords supplied by the author(s). Scan these keywords to: give you additional information about the scope of the article help you develop search terms for database searches Ask yourself: is the article relevant for your research topic?
4. Read the first few paragraphs of the Discussion section	This section may also be called the Conclusion will include a summary of the major findings from the study will explain why findings are important to the field of study will highlight limitations of the study and recommend possibilities for future research Ask yourself: is the article still relevant for your research topic?
5. Read the remaining sections of the article	Before you read a section, take the heading and convert into a question. This will set the context for what you will learn in that section. Seek out the answer to this question as you read the section. Read the Introduction carefully - spend time here! The Introduction will provide background information about the topic and summarize previous research in the area. Make note of the hypothesis found in the Introduction section. Suggested order of reading: Introduction, Discussion, Results, then the Methods section.
6. Re-read the abstract and Discussion section
7. Examine the Works Cited/References	Make note of other relevant studies on the topic and locate these publications through Library databases