How to Read a Scientific Research Paper : an overview

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How to Read a Scientific Research Paper an
overview

• Asst.Prof.K.Chinnasarn, Ph.D.
• krisana_at_buu.ac.th

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Outline of session

• Identifying the literature - where do you start?
• Searching the literature
• Sourcing the documents
• Reading getting the gist
• Evaluating what you read
• A good literature review
• More help and guidance
• Exercise

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Identifying the literature where do you start?

• Define your research area
• Essay/dissertation title
• Break this down into key areas
• Choose search terms (keywords) that express those
  areas
• This will be your search strategy
• Example
• Dissertation Adaptive Binarization Document
• Key areas Adaptive, Binarization, Histogram,
  Threshold
• Search terms Adaptive, Binarization, Histogram,
  Threshold

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Identifying the literature where do you start?

• 2. What sort of literature will there be?
• Journal articles print and online
• Conference papers print and online
• Monographs (books)
• Dictionaries/encyclopaedia entries print and
  online
• Reports print and online
• Theses and dissertations at Bath and elsewhere
• Statistics print and online
• Grey literature print and online
• Email discussion lists/online forums
• The type of literature will dictate to some
  extent which sources of information you will need
  to search.

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Identifying the literature where do you start?

• Choose your sources of information
• Sources of information for social sciences
• Resources for your subject
• Examples
• For journal articles
• Web of Knowledge SSCI
• International Bibliography of the Social Sciences
• For books COPAC
• For theses Library catalogue Index to Theses
• For reports and grey literature SOSIG
• For statistics UK statistics site, Eurostat,
  Library statistics collection, ESDS

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Searching the literature

• Sample searches
• Web of Knowledge
• COPAC
• UK Statistics
• SOSIG

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Source your documents

• From an online index
• Available online? click on Links button
• Available in Library? click on Links button
• OR if your online index doesnt have the Links
  button
• Available online? check the A-Z of e-journals
• Available in Library? check the Library
  catalogue
• IF your document is not online or in the Library
• Use Inter-Library Loans to get a photocopy or
  borrow a book from the British Library

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Reading - getting the gist

• Read the authors' names.
• Read and digest the title.
• Check the abstract or executive summary and
  conclusion for the main points
• Picture time
• Read the Introduction and be sure the author
  knows the field
• Check to see if the Results adequately and
  accurately describe the data presented in the
  paper.
• Now re-read the Discussion.

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Reading - getting the gist

• Title
• Short,
• succinct,
• eye-catching,
• all-encompassing
• Abstract
• Summary of Methods,
• Results, and
• Discussion starting off with a statement of why
  the research was done and with emphasis on why
  the results are significant.

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Reading - getting the gist

• Introduction
• What is the overall purpose of the research?
• How does the research fit into the context of its
  field?
• When was past work done, by whom, why was their
  work important,
• what you plan to do in your paper, and
• why what you did is important.
• Do you agree with the author's rationale for
  studying the question in this way?

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Reading - getting the gist

• Materials and Methods
• How you did what you did,
• Where you did it--nothing more. and
• Were the measurements appropriate for the
  questions the researcher was approaching?

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Reading - getting the gist

• Results
• What the data show you--nothing more.
• What is the one major finding?
• Were enough of the data presented so that you
  feel you can judge for yourself how the
  experiment turned out?
• Did you see patterns or trends in the data that
  the author did not mention? Were there problems
  that were not addressed?

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Reading - getting the gist

• Discussion
• Why the data show what they show, and
• how your analysis relates back to your objectives
  from the Introduction.
• Do you agree with the conclusions drawn from the
  data?
• Are these conclusions over-generalized or
  appropriately careful?
• Are there other factors that could have
  influenced, or accounted for, the results?
• What further experiments would you think of, to
  continue the research or to answer remaining
  questions?

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Evaluating what you read

• Think about
• Relevance to your topic
• Intended audience
• Currency of the information
• Coverage of the topic that the information
  provides
• Accuracy of the information
• Authority of the author or information source
• Level of objectivity of the author

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Record your sources

• Download references from online indexes
• Keep systematic notes of the full records use A
  guide to citing references
• This will form the basis of your bibliography for
  your dissertation
• A good method is bibliographic software the
  SORTED programme offers training in
• Reference manager
• Endnote
• Keep a note of the content of each document
• e.g. Includes discussion of the idea of
  originality in postgraduate research projects.

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A good literature review

• Goes beyond simply listing relevant literature
• Is a critical essay
• Refers to the bibliography at the end of your
  dissertation
• Assesses the range of literature available
• Is a critical summary of the literature
• Examines the background against which your own
  research is set
• Forms a significant section of your dissertation

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A good literature review

• Offers opinions and personal response to the
  different writings
• Relates different writings to each other,
  compares and contrasts
• Does not take the literature at face value
• Shows an awareness of the theories and values
  that underpin the research
• Uses particular language authors assert, argue,
  state, conclude, contend

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Have fun even if you fail sometimes

• It is easy to burn out on research
• Both triumphs and tragedies are a part of the
  process
• Risk taking
• Do successful people fail?
• What can you do with a stack of failures?
• Research takes more time than you thought.
• Make research a part of your everyday life.
• Rate of progress varies radically.
• Set goals. Tell someone!

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Reading to Different Depths

• Some work is central to your concerns, some less
  so.
• Need to vary reading depth.
• Some need only skim.
• Some read in depth.
• Some in between.
• Could be 20 papers in total,
• but only 3 or 4 in depth.

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