Reading Scientific Papers

1. Start by skimming the article. Read the abstract and conclusion (unless only a specific section is relevant).
2. If the article is relevant, skim the introduction, then read through the results (start with figures) and discussion.
3. Highlight words & phrases you don’t understand, and look them up.

Exception: If the article is required reading, just read it front to back. In the results, it may be useful to read through the figures first. If you already know the topic, skim the introduction rather than reading it all the way through.

AI

• Use ChatGPT to summarize whole papers
• Use ChatGPT to ELI5 sections that you don’t understand, or explain terminology and methodology you’re unfamiliar with.

Zotero to Obsidian

• Take notes and annotations in Zotero, then go through those annotations in Obsidian and convert the good stuff into atomic notes, linking those notes directly to the paper

Key Sections

Abstract

Gives a quick overview of the article, including purpose/rationale, methodology, results, and conclusion.

Introduction

Provides background information on the article and sets out specific questions to be answered by the author.

If you aren’t familiar with the topic, the introduction is a good place to focus on.

Methods

Technical details of how the experiment was carried out. It’s not worth reading the methods in-depth, unless you need to identify the methods the researchers used, or replicate the experiments yourself.

Results

Obvious. Spend time looking at the graphs, figures, and diagrams.

Discussion

This is where the authors are allowed the space to share their opinions. These are the authors’ interpretation, and not necessarily fact. This is a good place to look for unanswered questions (that you may want to answer in your own research!) & future research the authors think is necessary/important.

References

Reading through the references can be a useful way to find useful resources, and attain a better understanding of the basic terminology, key concepts, and major researchers in the area you’re studying.