Reading a Scholarly Article

Unlike reading novels, scholarly articles do not need to be read from start to finish, in order. There’s another, more efficient way to approach reading articles. The chart below provides a suggested reading order and questions you should ask yourself about each section.

Read These First

These four give you a high-level view of the article.

ARTICLE TITLE	ABSTRACT	INTRODUCTION	CONCLUSION
Keywords	Summary	Hypothesis & conceptual framework	Results & suggested research
Ask yourself: Does the article entice me to read further?	Ask yourself: Can I determine if it is worth reading more of the article?	Ask yourself: Why is the research important?	Ask yourself: Are the conclusions logically supported by the results?

Then, Dive for Details

These next four give you the particulars of the article.

DISCUSSION	RESULTS	METHODS	REFERENCES
Supported or failed hypothesis & limitations	Describe participants and tables & figures	Scientific procedures identified & explained	Influencing, supporting, or conflicting work
Ask yourself: Is the meaning of the results discussed?	Ask yourself: Are important results connected explicitly to the hypothesis?	Ask yourself: Are methods thoroughly explained? Are methods presented in chronological order?	Ask yourself: Are references current and comprehensive? Do I need any of these in my study?

When you are ready, answer the questions in “Part 3: Reading a Scholarly Article” of your worksheet.