How to read scientific papers part 1
So, my major challenge when I first went into researh were the research papers I had to read. I used to just read them, without understanding a word of what was said there (seriously), so it was just really tedious to me, not productive at all and I wasn’t learning anything or making the most of my time in the lab since I wasn’t able to apply new concepts properly. But as time passed and I got more experienced, I found and developed a method that works pretty well for me, it helps me analyze and understand so I can later apply what I learned in my own research and time in the lab. It does take more time that just skimming through it, but it’s so worthy, trust me. But note that this may not work for everyone, it’s just a method I developed by experience (and honestly it’s pretty simple and typical) and also learning from others, which happened to be very effective to me.
2 highlighters: one for findings in the research you are reading, one for general and “universal” concepts mentioned.
A notebook (try to have one exclusive for the research project you’re doing, if that’s the case, with a section for articles read that can be helpful)
The first thing you’ll do is write the title in the notebook, because this will help understand the whole article. The title ususally has the ability to summarize everything in a sentence: it’s basically the hypothesis and procedure in one.
Second, we’ll work a little with the abstract. It’s a really small summary of everything but it contains the most common abreviations used throughout, so, we’ll extract and write them down to have them in handy while we read.
3. Usually the abstract has it too, the hypothesis, we have to find what was done or what was tried to prove with this research.
4. Now, we analyze the introduction, tough simple and general, it can help us understand concepts better so we can later apply them. I like to make maps, charts and diagrams with the info so I can make sure I’m processing it correctly, and if I have any doubts I’ll just look it up!
If important information is regarding the research itself, like a result or something like that, I’ll highlight it with one color
If and important concept is mentioned, but it’s a universal or general concept, I’ll highlight it using another colorm because it might be useful later, (like what are anthocyanins, or the explanation of a procedure commonly used)
It is indeed and extensive post, so I’ll write the rest later.
Completely new to this studyblr community, I would like to say that @hexaneandheels has been my principal motivation to make this blog! I love how her tips are always useful and practical, that she always creates great and original content and I admire so much that hardworking and productive personality of hers, besides she’s so beautiful!
