How to read an original scientific research paper.docx
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Howtoreadanoriginalscientificresearchpaper
Howtoreadanoriginalscientificresearchpaper
SomeSuggestionsforFinalists
S.V.Hunt--DunnSchoolofPathology
Thisnotedoesnotcoverhowtoselectwhichpaperstoread-animportantissue,butitmustwaitforsomeothertime.
1.Thebasicrules
1.1Anoriginalpaperoughttobebaseduponmakingonecentralobservation.Thisdoesnotmeanitwasmadeonlyonce-muchofthepapermaybespentconvincingthereaderthatitwasareproducibleobservation,andfitswithothersubsidiaryobservations.Butthe"onepaper-oneobservation"ruleisthekeytounderstandinghowtoreadapaper.
1.2Youshouldreadpapers"actively",i.e.toanswerquestionswhichinterestyouinabroadercontext(evenifit'ssimplythecontextofgettinganessaywritten).Thereisaplaceforbrowsing,butblotting-papermindssoongetoverwhelmedandconfused,andtheirownersoftenfindthereistoolittletimeandenergytocompletethemaintaskstheyareset!
2.Howapaperiswritten
2.1AuthorsoughttostartbyassemblingtheirdataconcerningthecentralobservationintoaTableorFigure,asparteventuallyoftheaccountoftheirResults.Theothersupportingobservations(controls,preliminaryinvestigations,extensionsofthemainfindingtoothersystemsorbyothertechniques)arealsoorganisedintoTablesorFigures.
2.2ThentheydoMaterialsandMethods(becauseit'seasy),andIntroduction(becausetheyshouldhavethoughtlongagowhytheyaredoingit)
2.3ThenResults.Thesework"outwards"fromthekeyTable/Figure,i.e.withpilot/preliminaryground-clearingexperiments;othersupportingobservations;extrapolationstorelatedsystems;controlexperiments.
2.4ThenDiscussion.Thisoughttostartwithare-hashofthemainobservation,recapitulatingsimplywhatwasfound.Thenthelimitationsoftheobservation(perhapstechnical,perhapsconceptual)shouldbediscussed.Thiscouldleadtoapieceaboutcontrols,andtherelativeemphasistobeputonthedifferentobservationspresentedintheresults.Thentheremustbeaconsiderationofthefindingsofotherauthorswhichrelatetothepresentfindings(contradictionsaswellasagreements);thenperhapsamorespeculativepartabouttheories/models/futurehypothesesworthtesting,andhowtogoaboutit.Aconclusionshouldsummarisetherelativeweightwhichcanbeputonthesedifferentaspects(howmuchisprettycertain;howmuchisspeculativestill).Goodpapersusuallyendonanupbeatnotetoshowwheretheworkisleadingto.
2.5References,anabstractandatitlefollow.
3.Deconstructionofthefinishedproduct-thereader'sjob
3.1Thefinishedarticleisamixtureofdispassionateobservationandopinionatedinterpretation,whichisnormallyveryheavilyinfluencedbythecurrentfashions.Itisalsoanadvertisementoftheauthors'opinions(itevensometimessaysthat:
forlegalreasonsAmericanjournalsmarkarticles"advertisement"whenpage-chargeshavebeenleviedforpublishinganarticle).Beawarethatthereisnotalittlesellinggoingon.Yourjobistodisentanglewhatisreliablefact,solidlybasedingoodexperiment,andwhatisinspiredguessworkoropinionorprejudiceorunfoundedfaithorvapidverbiage.Offyougo:
3.2Familiariseyourselfwithwhattheauthorssaythepaperisabout.Read,inthefollowingorder:
∙theabstract
∙thepartoftheIntroductionthatisproperlybackground(becareful-manyIntrosthesedaysbecomeglorifiedAbstracts,withananticipationoftheresults.Thisispartofthesellingprocess)
thefirstparagraphoftheDiscussion:
thisshouldidentifywhattheauthorsthinkistheirmainfinding.
DONOTREADTHEPAPERLINEARLYTHROUGHFROMBEGINNINGTOEND;
youaremuchtoolikelytofallfortheauthors'viewsthisway.
3.3IdentifytheFigureorTablewhichcontainsthe"meat"ofthepaper-thekeyresult
3.4UsetheMaterialsandMethodsandthetextoftheResultstounderstandsufficientlyhowtheexperimentwasdonetoproducethekeyresult,butskimthedetails
3.5STOPANDTHINK
4.Yourowninterpretation:
Ifyouhadgottheirresultwhatwouldyouhaveconcluded?
4.1Isitreliable?
Howreproducible?
Whatisthevarianceofthemeasurements?
Doesitlooklikeasubstantialeffect?
(Logscale?
linearscale?
expressedasapercentageofsomecontrol?
)Invitroartefact?
Couldaskilledbutunpractisedobservergetthesameresults?
Isitinternallyself-consistent?
4.2Ininterpretingit,whatassumptionsneedyoumake?
Isitrepresentativeofthewholesystembeingstudied?
Isitphysiological(concentrationsused?
cellpopulationshighlyselected?
celllines-hownearnormal?
)
4.3Whataboutcontrols-positive(toshowthataneffectcouldhavebeenclearlyseenifpresent);andnegative(whereakeyreagent/conditionwasalteredtosomethingsimilarwhichhadnoeffect).Absenceofevidenceisnotevidenceofabsence:
ifsomethingdoesn’thappen,itdoesn’tmeanit’snotthere.
4.4ContinuereadingtheDiscussion,andthoseotherResultsthatseemmaterial.
5.Comparisonbetweenyourinterpretationandtheirs
5.1Aslongasyouhavenottakentextbookstooseriously(avoidfundamentalism!
)andareopen-minded,youshouldhavethegreatadvantageofzeroprejudice:
notwanting(needing?
)ittoturnoutoneparticularway.Youarecomingtoitfreshandbaggageless.Yougetthischanceonlyonce!
Soon,youtoowillhaveprejudices!
Justbecausetheauthorsareprofessionalsandhavewriggleditpastacoupleofreferees,doesnotmeanyouropinionisinferior.
5.2Doyourandtheirviewsagree?
Ifnot,isitjustonrelativelyminorpoints,orisitmajor?
Ifthereisdisagreement,areyoumakingdifferentassumptions?
5.3Dotheirviewsandthoseofotherauthorsagree?
Ifthereisaconflictbetweenpapers,aretheyreallyaddressingthesameissue?
Isoneorothersetofresultstoobroadlyinterpreted?
Whichapproachtothequestionismoredirectandmorephysiological?
5.4Whatstrategywouldyouadopttotestfurtheranydiscrepanciesanddistinguishthetruthofthealternativehypotheses?
Howwouldyoufalsifythemodel/hypothesis?
Hasanyonedonesuchexperimentsalready?
6.Salesmanship-pointstobeware
6.1AssertiveSentenceTitles("ASTs"inthetrade;e.g."EatingspinachimprovessplenicIL-2production")-theheadlinesaysitall!
6.2Introductionswhichsummarisetheconclusions-pluggingthemessageearlyandrepetitiously!
6.3GlibreferencingintheIntrotobackgroundreviewsandnottooriginalpapers
7.Qualityofwriting
(Thissectionismorerelevanttothefineanalysiswhichreviewersshouldundertake)
7.1Arethereferencesaccurate?
Checkwithbibliographicdatabase.
7.2Aretechniquesdescribedinenoughdetail(orsufficientlywellreferenced)thatacompetentscientistcouldrepeatthemethod?
7.3Isthestyleclear?
Frequentusageofstringsofnounsinappositionisabadsignandoftenleadstoambiguity(e.g."HighClassFamilyButchers")
7.4IstheAbstractafairsummaryofwhatwasdone?
Withluck,andpracticenow,theseskillswillbecomesecondnaturewhenyoureadareportofanykind.Youwilldoubtlesshaveplentytoreadinyourlifetime,andimportantdecisionsmayhangonthem.Don’tbecomeapedant;butdogetcritical!
Feedbackonthisdocumentwillbemuchappreciated.E-mailmeonsimon.hunt@path.ox.ac.uk.
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