Skip to Main Content

Nursing

Resources for students and faculty

How to Read Scientific Articles

 

Tips for Reading Scholarly Articles

Step 1 Read and consider the article title This will give you clues about the topic

Ask yourself: Is the article still relevant to your research topic?
Step 2 Scan the headings/sections of the article This will give you more clues about the topic

Ask yourself: Is the article still relevant to your research topic?
Step 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 still relevant to your research topic?
Step 4 Read the first few paragraphs of the Discussion section This section will include a summary of the major findings from the study and will:
  • explain why findings are essential to the field of study
  • highlight limitations of the study and recommend possibilities for future research
Ask yourself: Is the article still relevant to your research topic?
Step 5 Read the remaining sections of the article Before you read a section, convert the headings 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.

Make a note of the hypothesis found in the Introduction section.

Suggested order of reading: Introduction, Discussion, Results, then the Methods section.

Ask yourself: Is the article still relevant to your research topic?
Step 6 Examine the Works Cited/References Note other relevant studies on the topic and locate these publications through CBU Library databases.

Adapted from Camosun College research guide: Searching the Health Sciences Databases

Parts of a Research Article

Parts of a Research Article

 

Reading a Scholarly Article

Questions to ask when reading a paper

Question to ask when reading a paper

Question

Where to look in the article
Is the article of interest? Title / Abstract
Why was the article written? Introduction
How was the article done? Methods / Methodology
What has the article found? Results
What are the implications of the article? Abstract / Discussion
What else is of interest? Introduction / Discussion
Based on Crombie, I.K. (1996) Research in health care: design, conduct, and interpretation of health services research.  West Sussex: Wiley.