Reading the Scientific Literature

1. Read the title and abstract first.

Provides a summary of the paper and should help you decide whether to read the rest of the paper.

2. Acquire some background knowledge.

Papers from the primary literature are generally written for a relatively specialized audience and assume some knowledge of the subject matter and vocabulary.  Review articles, book chapters, and textbooks are a good source of background material.  Review papers provide historical perspective, summarize the seminal research papers, and often point out the current limitations.

3. Understand the basic aims of the study.

Read the Introduction.  Why was the study conducted?  Is there a hypothesis being tested? 

4. Understand the experimental design.

Is the use of controls, sampling techniques, or other methods related to specific objectives? Generally, you need not understand the precise details. If necessary, go back to the Methods section after you understand the major findings and conclusions.

5. Look at the figures and tables and carefully read the figure legends.

The figures and tables are the “bread and butter” of the paper.  You need to make sure that you understand what is being displayed in the figures and tables.

6. Read and possibly reread the results.

Don’t worry if you don't understand 100% of the details (e.g., the statistical analyses).  However, you should be able to grasp the main qualitative findings.  After figuring out the main findings you can then move on to the more difficult material.  Sometimes it may be helpful to read through the Discussion and before returning to the Results.

7. Understand the Discussion

What does the author believe is the primary contribution of the study?  Would you have derived the same conclusions from their data?  What is the significance of these experiments?

8. Plan on rereading important papers

You may miss important details with a single reading.  You may gain new insight into a paper if you come back to it at a later date and after becoming more familiar with the subject.