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A brief overview of the basic anatomy of a research paper
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How to Read a Paper
How to Read a Paper
1. What do I need?
Old School• Printed copy of paper• Pencil, pen• Highlighter
New Kid• Tablet device/computer
with PDF software capable of allowing annotations
• PDF copy of paper
How to Read a Paper
What do I need?
• Patience• Healthy dose of skepticism
How to Read a Paper
2. Read the paper
• Critical thinking process• Don’t assume the authors are always correct. • Be skeptical – apply the rigours of the
scientific model to all research
How to Read a Paper
Some questions to ask
• If the authors attempt to solve a problem, are they solving the right problem?
• What are the limitations of the solution (including limitations the authors might not have noticed or admitted)?
• Are there other solutions the authors do not seem to have considered?
• What are the good ideas in this paper?
How to Read a Paper
Some more questions
• Are the assumptions the authors make reasonable?
• Is the logic of the paper clear and justifiable, given the assumptions, or is there a flaw in the reasoning?
• If the authors present data, did they gather the right data to substantiate their argument?
• Did they gather and interpret the data in the correct manner?
How to Read a Paper
Even more questions
• Would other data or other means of collection of data be more compelling?
• Can the results or ideas be generalised to wider populations?
• Are there improvements that might make important differences?
• If you were going to start doing research from this paper, what would be the next thing you would do?
How to Read a Paper
While reading
• Make notes • Go through the references in the paper • Highlight the key points • Highlight key data• Highlight anything questionable
How to Read a Paper
Some papers may require a number of
readings
3. The Anatomy of a Paper
Authors & Affiliations
Abstract
Introduction
How to Read a Paper
Introduction
• Authors put their research into context• Make a case for what they’re doing, why
they’re doing it and why it’s important• A brief overview of prior related research• Identify gaps in knowledge that they hope to
fill
Methods
How to Read a Paper
Methods
• Explain exactly how they carried out their research
• Detailed, step-by-step explanation of all of themethods
• Theoretically replicate the research and achieve the same results
Results
How to Read a Paper
Results
• Summarises the main findings of the study• Present the results, not discuss them• Graphs, tables, etc. are often used to present
and summarise data
Discussion
How to Read a Paper
Discussion
• Implications of results• Do the results support the authors’ original
hypotheses?• Different ways to interpret the results?• Future research?• Limitations!
References
How to Read a Paper
References
• Sometimes the most useful part of a paper!• Almost always something listed in the
references that you didn’t find yourself (or didn’t even think to look for)
How to Read a Paper
4. Compare
Compare it to similar papers
How to Read a Paper
5. Archive
• File/folder• Endnote• Mendeley• Papers• Zotero• Read by QxMD