1. 3 Simple Steps to Reading Scholarly Articles
This workshop is part of Research Toolkit Workshop Series.
Or how to read these long boring articles my professor wants me to read
September, 2014

2. Which one would your professor want you to use? Why?
Which one is more appropriate for a college paper? Why? [Go over characteristics of each that make it acceptable or not acceptable, as the case may be]. Especially authority
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3. Who is the intended audience for scholarly articles?
Who’s the audience? The primary audience is other scholars, not students, necessarily. So, given that you are not the primary audience, the author is assuming prior knowledge, so of course you won’t understand everything. Don’t be surprised if the writing is not interesting/appealing to you. There are ways to get around these obstacles, though.
September, 2014

4. What’s the purpose of a scholarly article?
What’s the purpose of a scholarly article? To share the results of research with other experts in the field, to further the conversation about your discipline in the published literature.
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5. What are the reasons you might read a scholarly article?
So, why do you have to read it in the first place?
If you don’t know why your professor assigned the article, ask! Or pay attention to your syllabus or in class for clues. They may tell you why the article is relevant to what you’re covering in class.
September, 2014

6. How to read a scholarly article
We’re going to jump now to talk about some strategies for how to read a scholarly article. These strategies will help you get the lay of the land before you go to deep.
Let’s watch a short video that shares some great strategies for tackling the daunting task of reading scholarly articles.
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7. Step 1
Don’t panic!
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8. Tip!: Titles give you clues
University students and "the all nighter": correlates and patterns of students' engagement in a single night of total sleep deprivation
‘Like the beating of my heart’: A discourse analysis of Muscovite musicians’ letters during the Russian Revolution.
Let’s start with the basics. Most scholarly articles have titles that have colons. They have subtitles to the right of the colon. To the left of the colon is the attention grabber (again, you aren’t the primary audience, so don’t be surprised if that part doesn’t really grab your attention). To the right of the colon is typically more straightforward and offers and explanation of what the article is about and sometimes even tells you the method that the author used to conduct his or her study. These two titles provide great examples. The first one mentions “correlates and patterns” – so it’s pretty clear that the researchers have some data to share in this article. In the second title, “discourse analysis” is used – so it sounds like the researcher analyzed some writing to draw conclusions.
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9. Step 2: Hop Around
Read the Abstract, then the Conclusion (Discussion.)
Then read the Introduction, followed by other sections as needed.
Step 3: Make notes on key points as you read.
As the video suggested, you can hop around the article a bit first. They recommend starting with the abstract.
Abstract: one paragraph that helps you understand the main point of the article. It can tell you: main problem or question, the approach or method the author used to answer the question or problem, the “shiny new thing” that this article does – if it’s published, the author should be arguing that the research does something new that hasn’t been done before, and why other professionals/scholars in this field should care.
Conclusion/Discussion: helps restate the introduction so you can better understand the article; also this is where authors may point out the limitations of their work.
Introduction: should summarize the whole piece, present the main idea and tell us why we should care; it can also offer a road map for the rest of the article.
After hopping around a bit in the article, you’ll have a better understanding of the main idea of the article, and then reading it in its entirety may not be so overwhelming. (You might skip the statistics or results, for example, unless you need specific numbers. Most of what you need, you may be able to grab from the conclusion).
Figuring out the main argument is THE KEY to reading the text effectively and efficiently.
September, 2014

10. Step 3: Take notes while you read
1. The main purpose of the article is The key question or thesis that the author is asking is The author’s findings (facts and data that support the author’s argument) were The main conclusion/inference in this article is/are . . .
You can also increase your understanding by talking over articles with your professor or classmates. Remember that academics write to join scholarly conversations. Your professors assign you their texts so that you can join them, too. How can you have a conversation with a text? By answering these questions and taking notes to understand it better.
First, the “main purpose” of the article – we’ve already established that the purpose of scholarly articles are to be a part of a conversation on that topic and share results with peers. So, what conversation is this article adding to?
Second, what’s the main idea? What is the key question or thesis asked/posed by the author? (you’ll often find this in the abstract and introduction, sometimes repeated in the conclusion, too)
Next, What are the author’s findings (in the results section, usually)
Finally, what is the main conclusion of this article?
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11. Let’s practice
Each group will get a scholarly article. You will be responsible for reading a section of the article and summarizing it for the entire group. [Go in order of “hopping around” abstract, conclusion, introduction, then method, etc.]
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12. Acknowledgements
Presentation adapted from “Scholarly Articles Simplified” developed by Cheryl Lauricella, Reference Specalist , as part of the Wright State University Namastudy workshop series
Note-taking exercise adapted from an assignment created by Dr. Sarah Twill, Chair, Department of Social Work, Wright State University
Rosenberg, K. (2011). Reading games: Strategies for reading scholarly sources. In C. Lowe, & P. Zemliansky (Eds.), Writing spaces: Readings on writing, volume 2. Parlor Press.
“How to read a scholarly article” by Western University,
Reading exercise adapted from Dr. Christine Harrington & Alice Picardo’s presentation at the First Year Experience Conference, 2012
September, 2014