Why read articles? To convert information requirement into answerable questions (formulate the problem) Acquire best source of information with least efforts To assess the source of information for its validity and usefulness

How to read an article? What kind of article is it? Review Technical 2. What to look for? Author credentials Introduction/Abstract Materials and Methods Results Discussion

Post-reading analysis Have the authors accomplished what they set out to do? Why or why not? What more needs to be done? What needs to be repeated? What would you do next?

How to read an article? Practical issues (first round) Skim the article (headings, figures etc.), just to get an overview. (second round) Go through the article line by line highlighting what you do not understand. Then try to find the context of those items. Actual reading: Read whole article. Reflection and criticism: Your own opinion about methods, results and discussions

Parts of the article Introduction: Context is set Author should summarise the previous research and introduce actual current study (both distinguishable) Hypothesis of the article Ways in which hypothesis is tested

Parts of the article Introduction: What is the overall purpose of the research? How does the research fit into the context of its area of research? What is your opinion on authors’ rationale for studying the problem in this way?

Parts of the article Methods: Get a clear picture of what was done at each step. Outline (sketch) of the procedures and instruments. Note down your questions (both technical and fundamental)

Parts of the article Methods: Were the measurements appropriate for the questions the authors were approaching? Were the measures directly related to the variables in which authors were interested? Were the subjects true representative of the population they were supposed to represent?

Parts of the article Results: Look carefully at the figures and tables (they will/should give you enough idea of the content of the article). You should be able to redraw the figures and explain them in plain English words.

Parts of the article Results: What is the one major finding? Was there sufficient information to judge how the experiment turned out? Did you see patterns or trends in the data that the authors did not mention? Were there problems that were not addressed?

Parts of the article Discussions: Conclusions that the authors wanted to draw from the data. May/should contain lots of interpretation. Authors should reflect on the work and its meaning in relation to other findings and to the field in general.

Parts of the article Discussions: Do you agree with the conclusions drawn from the data? Are these conclusions over-generalised or appropriately careful? Are there other factors that could have influenced the results? What further experiments should be started/continued for further research?