How to read and critique a scientific research article : notes to guide students reading primary literature (with teaching tips for faculty members) / Yeong Foong May, National University of Singapore, Singapore.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Given the explosion of information and knowledge in the field of Life Sciences, adapting primary literature as materials in course work as part of active learning seems to be more effective in improving scientific literacy among science undergraduates than the pure transmission of content knowledge using traditional textbooks. In addition, students also read research articles as part of undertaking laboratory research projects useful for preparing them for graduate school. As such, a good grasp of reading and analytical skills is needed for students to understand how their research project contributes to the field that they are working in. Such skills are being taught at UK and USA universities. In Asia, this approach in teaching has not yet been as widespread, although similar ideas are beginning to be used in education. Written as a quick guide for undergraduate students and faculty members dealing with scientific research articles as part of a module or research project, this book will be useful, especially in Asia, for students and faculty members as the universities look to incorporating the use of scientific research articles in their undergraduate teaching.For Life Science students, the first time they encounter a primary literature can be rather daunting, though with proper guidance, they can overcome the initial difficulties and become confident in dealing with scientific articles.This guidebook provides a structured approach to reading a research article, guiding the reader step-by-step through each section, with tips on how to look out for key points and how to evaluate each section.Overall, by helping undergraduate students to overcome their anxieties in reading scientific literature, the book will enable the students to appreciate better the process of scientific investigations and how knowledge is derived in science.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• List of Figures (p. vii)
• List of Tables (p. ix)
• Preamble (p. xi)
• 1 Introduction (p. 1)
• 2 How to Search for an Article (p. 7)
• 3 Anatomy of a Typical Scientific Article (p. 11)
• 4 A Brief Insight into How Scientific Articles Get Published in Journals (p. 17)
• 5 The Introduction Section: Background Information on the Topic of Research (p. 23)
• Points to Look Out for in the Introduction (p. 28)
• 6 More on the Introduction Section: Hypothesis or Question that the Authors were Investigating (p. 33)
• Issues to Consider Regarding the Hypothesis or Question (p. 36)
• a Premise of the work (p. 36)
• b Logic of the work (p. 38)
• c Novelty of the work (p. 39)
• 7 The Materials and Methods Section: Reagents and Techniques Used in the Study (p. 43)
• What is Important in the Materials and Methods Section? (p. 47)
• 8 The Results Section: What were the Important Observations Made? (p. 51)
• Research Strategy Versus Individual Experiments (p. 56)
• Critique of the Results (p. 58)
• a Coherence of data and description (p. 59)
• b Reliability of the data (p. 61)
• i Are the data reproducible? (p. 61)
• ii Is there consistency in the data? (p. 64)
• c Validity of the data (p. 67)
• i Was there proper use of controls? (p. 67)
• ii Are the findings validated using statistical analysis? (p. 69)
• iii Are experiments selected to answer the questions that the authors set out to investigate? (p. 71)
• d The approach used for the study (p. 72)
• i Strengths and weaknesses of the approach taken (p. 72)
• ii Suitability of the experiments (p. 74)
• 9 The Discussion Section: What were the Main Conclusion(s) Made by the Authors Arising from the Data? (p. 77)
• Critique of the Conclusions (p. 79)
• a What were the significant points of the findings in the article? (p. 79)
• b Did the authors make the right conclusions based on their interpretation of their data? (p. 81)
• c Did the data answer the questions/hypothesis raised by the authors? (p. 82)
• 10 What arc Your Views on the Article? (p. 85)
• 11 Writing Activities Related to Critiquing an Article (p. 89)
• 12 Final Words (p. 95)
• Bibliography (p. 99)
• Index (p. 201)