UNDERSTANDING ACADEMIC ARTICLES Research Workshop Series

Presentation Overview Introductions (Name, classes youre taking?) Important Terms How to find academic articles Major Sections of an Empirical Study 4-Step Reading Strategy

Popular Sources and Academic Sources Whats the Difference?

Important Terms Academic Journals Published by experts in field for other experts in the field Sourced Objective

Important Terms Peer Reviewed Many academic journals are peer reviewed Panel of experts who review/approve for publication Highest standard of publication

Important Terms Empirical Research Data from actual observation or experimentation Primary audience: other experts Contributes to an ongoing discussion of important issues in the field Found in academic journals

How do you find academic articles? Google Scholar vs. databases

EBSCO Search

You can narrow your EBSCO search to only search for Scholarly Journals (AFTER finding good search words) Narrowing Your Search

Once Youve Found an Article

6 Key Sections of an Empirical Study

Why learn how empirical research is organized? Is the article relevant?

Why learn how empirical research is organized? Know which section contains what you need

Why learn how empirical research is organized? To save time

6 Key Sections to an Empirical Study Abstract Introduction and literature review Methods/methodology Results Discussion and/or Conclusion References

Abstract What it is A brief summary of the study Lets other researchers know if article is relevant to their research

Abstract How to Read it Skim to see if the article fits your research topic If a good fit, read again and break it down into the different parts of the study

Back to the Abstract…

Read Abstract First

Introduction and Literature Review What it is Describes the research problem Summarizes key research to date Shows need for current study States research question(s) and hypotheses

Introduction and Literature Review How to Read it Read first and last paragraphs, first sentence of other paragraphs Identify research questions and hypotheses (at end of section) Note sources that sound relevant to your topic

Method/methodology What it is Describes how the experiment was conducted

Method/methodology How to Read it Skim to identify participants, measures, and procedures Dont stress the statistics Tip: Imagine yourself as a participant in the study to make experiment more real to you

Results What it is Describes findings reached through analysis of the data Often includes charts, graphs

Results How to Read it Skim to identify the findings Dont be scared by statistics or tables. You dont need them to understand the key results.

Discussion and/or Conclusion What it is Summarizes, suggests implications, explains importance of findings

Discussion and/or Conclusion How to Read it Read first and last paragraphs, first sentence of other paragraphs Identify what the findings tell us about the research topic Find suggestions for the practical use of the findings (especially at end of section).

References What it is Full citations of all sources referenced in article

References How to Read it Skim for other sources you can use for your paper Find references for any interesting sources you saw in previous sections

Sample Empirical Study In this sample abstract, lets identify the following sections: Introduction Methods Results Discussion What is the most important point the author wants to make? What might be some future areas for research? What are some other studies on topic?

What did we learn? How does knowing the parts of an empirical study help you find important content?

A Reading Strategy? What would you tell another student about how to read an academic article? What would you skim/skip/read in detail?

4-Step Reading Strategy Step 1: Read the Abstract Step 2: Skim the Introduction and Discussion Step 3: Skim the Methods and Results Step 4: Read the Introduction and Discussion in Depth

What weve seen Academic Journals, Peer Review, Empirical Studies How to find academic articles Major Sections of an Empirical Study Breaking down the abstract 4-Step Reading Strategy

Takeaways?

Need more help? Writing Center Schedule an appointment or drop in Hours: Monday-Thursday 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM Friday 8:00 AM-1:00 PM Phone Library Live chat: brary/askalibrarian.html brary/askalibrarian.html Phone: ( 408)

Join us at our upcoming workshops! Flyers for everyone!