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ENG104: Introduction to Research Writing: Reading Sources

An orange background with the words Research Process on the left. To the right are 3 arrows labeled Video, Graphics, Activity to indicate the order to engage the page content

Reading sources in order to write a paper uses a different strategy than reading something for fun. They don't need to be read front to back. Use the strategies and skills outlined below to better approach sources for research.

Step 1: Video

This video will go over strategies for reading for scholarly articles. It will help you identify important sections when researching to help you read your articles efficiently!

Reading Scholarly Articles

Step 2: Graphics

Scroll through the images below to learn about how to approach reading different types of scholarly articles. There are quite a few ways to categorize scholarly articles, but one easy way to determine the best strategy is to decide whether or not your article contains an experiment or study in it or not. These two examples below will show you how to approach each type.

 

An image labeled Review of Scholarly Articles. Text on the image are split into two columns. The left column is labeled With a Study. The text below that heading are in bullet points. 1. Abstract is the best place to start. It will summarize the article including results of any experiment and the question the author is trying to answer. 2. Keywords provide the idea of main topics covered in article. 3. Introduction (also the literature review) is less helpful, and often give more background and history than introduction. 4. Methods (sometimes labeled methodology, procedures, design or study). It will describe how researchers designed the experiment. 5. Results is the section where you will find graphs, charts, tables, etc. It will discuss results of experiments, not the answer to the research question. 6. Discussion (this is sometimes combined with the conclusion section). It's a great place to start. It describes and explains the results found and puts results in a larger scholarly context. 7. References are more than just a list of other articles cited. They can be used to find more similar or related research on your topic. The right column is titled Without a Study. The text below are in bullet points. 1. It may or may not have an abstract. 2. Introduction does a better job of introducing the article topic or question. 3. Headings are more descriptive of the content of that section. 4. Scholarly articles without a study tend to have citations throughout the article. 5. Look out for tables, graphs, charts, etc. These may have definitions, descriptions, or identifications (this information is sometimes found in the surrounding text). 6. Conclusion will explain scope of an article. It will be helpful when trying to understand the argument the article is trying to make. 7. Reference is more than just a list of other articles cited. They can be used to find more similar or related research on your topic.

A screenshot of the first page of a scholarly article. A label at the top says Scholarly article with an experiment. The abstract is circled in a blue box. In a corresponding blue text box is the following text: The abstract is the best place to start reading. It will summarize the article, including results of any experiment and the question they are trying to answer. The keywords on the article are circled in green. In a corresponding green text box is the following text: Keywords from an article will help you find more similar articles and give you an idea of the main topics covered. A purple text box is over the beginning of the article and has the following text: Introductions are less helpful places to start as they often give more background and history than introduction.
Page 2 of a scholarly article with a study in it. The first column of text has a burgundy text box. The text in the box is: The section of the introduction that has a lot of citations is called the Literature Review. It explains how this study or article fits into the scholarly conversation that already exists on this topic. It sets the stage and background about what has already been discovered. It's best to come back to this section after figuring out what this study or article is about. It also contains definitions of terms. The methods section of the article is circled in pale blue. The corresponding pale blue text box says: Method sections indicate this article contains a study. It can also be called methodology, procedures, design or study. It will describe how researchers designed the experiment (step-by-step directions), who or what is included, how they plan to measure it, and any tools or tests (sometimes called instruments) they use to do so. This is a great place to start reading to identify what they're trying to learn before reading the results and discussion.
Page 3 of an article with a study in it. On this page the Results section is circled in green. A corresponding green box has the following text: Result sections may be only statistical tables. Or they might address each variable or hypothesis in a subsection. It contains the 'results' of the study or experiment rather than the 'answer' to the research question. That is usually in the Discussion. Because of this, results sections aren't a good place to start reading.
Page 4 of an article with a study in it. A table at the bottom of the page is circled in light blue. A matching text box says: Statistical tables are helpful if you know how to read them. If not, the discussions section ought to describe and discuss the results using words rather than numbers, if the results section doesn't already.
Page 5 of a scholarly article with a study in it. The discussion section of this article is circled in green. A color coordinated text books says Discussion sections are sometimes combined with Conclusion sections. They describe and explain the results found. They put them in a larger scholarly context explaining how they ca be put into practice or use. They are a great place to start reading to learn the significance of the findings before working your way back to the results and method sections.
Page 6 of a scholarly article with a study. The subsection labeled Limitations is circled in green. The corresponding text box say Limitations, or challenges the researchers faced and future directions of research may have their own sections or be included in either the Discussion or Conclusion sections. The subsection titled Conflict of Interest Disclosure is circled in purple. The corresponding text box says Recent articles have sometimes included conflict of interest and funding disclosures. These are helpful for evaluating the quality of a scholarly source.
Final page of the scholarly article with a study. The references section is circled in purple. A corresponding text box says Reference sections are more than just a list of other articles they cited. They can be used to find more similar or related research. Searching for an article from a citation is a method many scholarly researchers use to understand all the work that has come before them in their field or area.
Page 1 of a Scholarly Study without a Study. The introduction, or first few paragraphs of the article are circled in green. The corresponding green text box says Introductions to non-experimental articles tend to do a better job of actually introducing the point or question the article is attempting to answer. The subheading
Page 2 of a scholarly article without a study. The end of a section with multiple citations at the top of the page is circled in purple. The purple text box says Scholarly articles without an experiment tend to have citations and cited ideas throughout the article, rather than relegating them to just one literature review section. A section of the article titled Practicing PEACEis circled in blue. The coresponding text box says Some articles may include what is essentially a case study of a treatment, situation, practice, etc. instead of a study.
Page 3 of an article without a study. A large table at the top of the page is circled in green. The corresponding text box says Look for tables or graphs or anything that stands out from the text in any way These may have definitions, descriptions, or identifications. Sometimes they may also summarize what is described in the surrounding or preceding text.
The last page of the scholarly article without a study. The references are circled in purple. The corresponding text box says reference sections are more than just a list of other articles they cited. They can be used to find more similar or related research. Searching for an article from a citation is a method many scholarly researchers use to understand all the work that has come before them in their field or area. The conclusion section is circled in blue. The blue text box says Many articles will still have a conclusion section. Starting there may help you better understand the argument the author is trying to make before you read their reasoning and rationale.

Step 3: Activity

Use the appropriate worksheet below to guide your reading of a scholarly article. First determine which worksheet to use. You can do this by looking for a Methods or Methodology section. Only articles discussing an experiment or study will have those. Use the categories to help you unlock these articles.