Strategies for Reading Scholarly Articles

Because scholarly articles are written by experts for other experts in their field they can be complex and difficult to read. The most effective way of reading a scholarly article is to NOT read the article from beginning to end as you would a magazine or news article. Instead it is best to jump around between different sections and to put more focus on some sections than others. 

Here is one way you can approach reading a scholarly article strategically:

Remember: Don’t read the article from start to finish the first time!

• Skim the article and identify its structure (review article structure if needed)
• Start with the Abstract
• Read the Introduction & Discussion/Conclusion
• Skim Methods*
• Skim Results (esp. any graphs or charts)
• Take notes as you read!

*Note: - Unless you want to replicate the experiment you don't need to understand every detail in the Methods section. Focus on identifying basic methods used in the study.

For more information about how to read scholarly articles visit:

• Reading a Scholarly Article (short) Links to an external site.
• How to Read a Scientific Article (more detailed) Links to an external site.