1) Do not read a paper chronologically! Read it in the following
order:
a) Author's names and year
b) Introduction
c) Abstract
d) Discussion
e) Results
f) Methods
Item a) above sounds unusual - why not read the title? It turns
out that people are very important. Ecologists generally refer
to a paper by the author's names and the year, and often forget
the title. Make a habit of looking for the author's institutional
affiliation. This will help you learn where the major centers
of research are in various aspects of ecology.
Read b) through d) repeatedly as necessary. These sections usually
define the intellectual context of the paper. They will also
stress the implications and the relevance the author believes
his/her work has for the wider scientific community.
Read e) and f) to evaluate the work technically. Do the experiments
prove or indicate what the authors claim they do? Are there major
limitations? Then read the discussion again. Do not be preoccupied
with details. The detail is presented to allow highly expert
readers to evaluate the technical quality of the research. This
detail is not generally easily interpretable by people new to
the field, and is often not relevant to understanding the more
important scientific objectives and the strategies of the authors.
2) Decide exactly which technical details are relevant to understanding
the author's argument. Then study those particular details.
It may be necessary at this point to consult other primary and
secondary literature to retrieve critical details. The author
will cite such literature (if they have not, the paper never should
have been published!)
3) Analyze the paper by answering the following questions to your
satisfaction:
a) What is the argument of the author(s)? Remember, the author
would usually not be writing a paper in less there was some message
she or he wishes to say.
b) What experimental strategies did the authors use to achieve
their objectives? Only describe the most relevant details.
c) Do you believe the evidence is conclusive or merely suggestive?
This page was created and is maintained by Dr. Mike Palmer.
carex@okstate.edu