Reading a scientific paper can be a daunting task. I remember the first time I was asked to present a paper related to the field of biochemistry for a class and immediately felt overwhelmed by the dense scientific language (and I was already halfway through my bachelor’s degree!!). 

Many scientific fields often rely on incredibly specific language to communicate, sometimes so hyper-specific that it can be difficult to read, even as a scientist. But what about those of us that are just starting out?  Or simply want to learn more about their health and advance their knowledge in a field? 

Science shouldn’t be just for scientists; it should be for everyone!  In this article I want to break down scientific papers and empower you with the tools to be an effective and informed consumer of science. 

Scientific papers can generally be broken down into 5 sections.

Abstract

Abstracts are almost like a summary of the paper. They give you the key points, including a couple sentences of introduction, key results, and discussion/conclusions. This can be a great place to start when trying to understand the highlights of the paper. Keep in mind that abstracts usually have strict word limit guidelines, so they may not contain ALL the ideas in a paper.

Introduction

This section frames the question at hand. If this is a new topic to you, the introduction can be helpful in understanding where the field currently stands and what gaps in knowledge still exist. This section will also contain a large number of citations! If you’re trying to learn more about the question(s) being framed, these citations offer a wealth of related resources that can help get you more acquainted with the topic.

Methods

This section contains the materials and methods used to conduct the experiments described in the paper. The Methods section can be particularly useful if you are trying to replicate an experiment you see in the paper or want to know more about the specifics of an experiment, such as the machine that was used, or other information that can help you read the paper more critically.

In terms of understanding the main ideas of the paper, this section will not generally be helpful, but can provide more granular insight if that’s something you seek.

Results

The results section will walk you through the major experiments and findings of the paper. This section will be relatively straight forward, describing the figure that is referenced in text. Within this section, you will find information for most of the figures in the paper. This section is the real “meat” of the paper.

Discussion/Conclusions

Often, writers will leave the discussion for a more in-depth narrative about the impact of the findings in the paper. There may be some citations here that can also be helpful and help frame the questions that were asked in the paper. The discussion section is where you’ll find the main conclusions of the paper and what the findings mean for the field at large. This will be the big impact section!

References

The number of references that a paper contains can vary widely. References are a great place to start when expanding your knowledge library. These references usually offer the historical premise for why a group pursued a certain question. Ideally, a good paper will reference peer-reviewed articles from a multitude of sources.

Additional sections that might be found in a paper

In my opinion, as you’re first starting out, it’s okay to focus first on the Abstract, Introduction, and Discussion/Conclusion sections. These sections help you find the main ideas of the research and are your real “takeaway” portions.  

Once you feel comfortable, including the results section is a great way to start reading and evaluating papers more critically. I often find that taking notes and highlighting key points can be incredibly useful, especially if you maintain these documents for future reference.  

As always, give yourself plenty of time and patience when you’re first starting out. You’re doing great!