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Biochemistry (CHE 451): How to Read a Research Article

Welcome

Understanding and engaging with Scientific research articles can be challenging. Work through the tabs on the box below for some tips and tricks to make it easier!

Please reach out to me or Dr. Hicks at any point if you need help!

Strategies for Reading Scientific Articles

Before reading the article straight through:

1) Read the ABSTRACT and try to get a good handle on it.

2) Read the CONCLUSIONS/DISCUSSION

3) Read the INTRODUCTION

 

Skimming You are bouncing along the surface of an article. You are:

  • reading bits and pieces quickly to get a general overview
  • not reading carefully.

Close reading means reading an article carefully. It may mean:

  • reading sentences or sections multiple times.
  • Looking up concepts with which you aren't familiar. 
  • Taking breaks and coming back to it if you're struggling.

Use Skimming FIRST:

  • To decide: will this paper give me the information I need?
  • Skim the abstract, conclusion and introduction BEFORE reading them carefully
  • You may also skim the whole article linearly (beginning to end) before attempting a close reading
  • You will get a strong sense of where the article is going before you deal with the nitty gritty.  

Use close reading AFTER skimming:

  • To read the abstract, figures and conclusion after that initial skim of them
  • Then read the article linearly and start to wrestle with the stuff you might not understand initially.

Don't skip the close reading! You'll need it to understand the article well enough to use it in your lesson plans. Just don't start there!

 

If needed, you may also use scanning:

  • If you looking for a particular word somewhere in the paper.
  • For online articles, hit CTRL + F on a PC, or Command F on a Mac, type in the word and hit enter. Boom!
  • This works for any website or PDF.
  • There are ways to do this on phones--google it if you're interested!

 

Search for this article in ONESearch:

Fisher, Jenny C., et al. “Urban Microbial Ecology of a Freshwater Estuary of Lake Michigan.” Elementa (Washington, D.C.), vol. 3, 2015, https://doi.org/10.12952/journal.elementa.000064.

AI tools can also help you make sense of scientific papers:

  • define terms
  • explain figures
  • summarize in layman's terms

Free tools you could try:

CAVEAT: make sure to ACTUALLY READ the article!