How to Read a Scholarly Article

Reading a scholarly article is very different from reading other types of information. Scholarly articles often contain very "academic" terminology and concepts. When you first begin reading scholarly articles, they may seem intimidating. Knowing more about how they are structured will make reading them easier. Most scholarly articles have a set structure:

Title: The title of an article should contain the keywords necessary to give the reader an idea of what to expect the article will focus on.

Abstract (Summary): The abstract, generally written by the author(s) of the article, provides a concise summary of the whole article. Usually, it is under 250 words and highlights the focus, study results and conclusion(s) of the article. It is provided so that readers examining the article can decide quickly whether the article meets their needs.

Introduction (Why): In this section, the authors introduce their topic, explain the purpose of the study, and present why it is important, unique or how it adds to existing knowledge in their field. Look for the author's hypothesis or thesis here. 

Literature Review (Who else): Many scholarly articles include a summary of previous research or discussions published on this topic, called a "Literature Review".  This section outlines what others have found and what questions still remain.

Methodology / Materials and Methods (How): This section of a scholarly article explains the details of how the study was performed. There should be enough specifics so that you could repeat the study if you wanted. 

Results  (What happened): This section includes the findings from the study. Data gathered and statistical results are often found in the form of tables, charts, and graphs. Some papers include an analysis here.

Discussion / Analysis (What it means): This section should tell you what the authors felt was significant about their results. The authors analyze their data and describe what they believe it means.

Conclusion (What was learned): Here the authors offer their final thoughts and conclusions and may include: how the study addressed their hypothesis, how it contributes to the field, the strengths and weaknesses of the study, and recommendations for future research. Some papers combine the discussion and conclusion.

Reference list All scholarly articles end with a list of works cited throughout the article.