Understanding Academic articles

1. Understanding Academic articles Research Workshop Series

2. Presentation Overview • Introductions (Name, classes you’re taking?) • Important Terms • How to find academic articles • Major Sections of an Empirical Study • 4-Step Reading Strategy

3. Popular Sources and Academic Sources—What’s the Difference?

4. Important Terms • Academic Journals • Published by experts in field for other experts in the field • Sourced • Objective

5. Important Terms • Peer Reviewed • Many academic journals are peer reviewed • Panel of experts who review/approve for publication • Highest standard of publication

6. Important Terms • Empirical Research • Data from actual observation or experimentation • Primary audience: other experts • Contributes to an ongoing “discussion” of important issues in the field • Found in academic journals

7. How do you find academic articles? • Google Scholar vs. databases

8. EBSCO Search

9. Narrowing Your Search You can narrow your EBSCO search to only search for Scholarly Journals (AFTER finding good search words)

10. Once You’ve Found an Article

11. 6 Key Sections of an Empirical Study

12. Why learn how empirical research is organized? • Is the article relevant?

13. Why learn how empirical research is organized? • Know which section contains what you need

14. Why learn how empirical research is organized? • To save time

15. 6 Key Sections to an Empirical Study • Abstract • Introduction and literature review • Methods/methodology • Results • Discussion and/or Conclusion • References

16. Abstract What it is • A brief summary of the study • Lets other researchers know if article is relevant to their research

17. Abstract How to Read it • Skim to see if the article fits your research topic • If a good fit, read again and break it down into the different parts of the study

18. Back to the Abstract…

19. Read Abstract First

20. Introduction and Literature Review What it is • Describes the research problem • Summarizes key research to date • Shows need for current study • States research question(s) and hypotheses

21. Introduction and Literature Review How to Read it • Read first and last paragraphs, first sentence of other paragraphs • Identify research questions and hypotheses (at end of section) • Note sources that sound relevant to your topic

22. Method/methodology What it is • Describes how the experiment was conducted

23. Method/methodology How to Read it • Skim to identify participants, measures, and procedures • Don’t stress the statistics • Tip: Imagine yourself as a participant in the study to make experiment more real to you

24. Results What it is • Describes findings reached through analysis of the data • Often includes charts, graphs

25. Results How to Read it • Skim to identify the findings • Don’t be scared by statistics or tables. You don’t need them to understand the key results.

26. Discussion and/or Conclusion What it is • Summarizes, suggests implications, explains importance of findings

27. Discussion and/or Conclusion How to Read it • Read first and last paragraphs, first sentence of other paragraphs • Identify what the findings tell us about the research topic • Find suggestions for the practical use of the findings (especially at end of section).

28. References What it is • Full citations of all sources referenced in article

29. References How to Read it • Skim for other sources you can use for your paper • Find references for any interesting sources you saw in previous sections

30. Sample Empirical Study • In this sample abstract, let’s identify the following sections: • Introduction • Methods • Results • Discussion • What is the most important point the author wants to make? • What might be some future areas for research? • What are some other studies on topic?

31. What did we learn? • How does knowing the parts of an empirical study help you find important content?

32. A Reading Strategy? • What would you tell another student about how to read an academic article? • What would you skim/skip/read in detail?

33. 4-Step Reading Strategy • Step 1: Read the Abstract • Step 2: Skim the Introduction and Discussion • Step 3: Skim the Methods and Results • Step 4: Read the Introduction and Discussion in Depth

34. What we’ve seen • Academic Journals, Peer Review, Empirical Studies • How to find academic articles • Major Sections of an Empirical Study • Breaking down the abstract • 4-Step Reading Strategy

35. Takeaways?

36. Need more help? Writing Center Schedule an appointment or drop in Hours: Monday-Thursday 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM Friday 8:00 AM-1:00 PM Email Phone Library Live chat: http://www.gavilan.edu/library/askalibrarian.html E-mail reference@gavilan.edu Phone: (408) 848-4806

37. Join us at our upcoming workshops! • Flyers for everyone!