A Beginner's guide to reading research paper

Table of Contents:

This is a short yet comprehensive guide on how we should read research papers during our pediatric training and residency. You will find nothing more than "How to effectively read a research paper?"

Even though this post may sound boring, you need to read this, period ! I am sure this will also provide a fair insight of thesis for those who just begun their Pediatric residency

Before we dwell any further, let us first dissect the structure of a research paper. There will be some variations for sure but more or less it is built using the following blocks.

This is a summary of the entire paper, literally an extract of every useful thing, the paper has to offer.

This is why and where the question/idea or hypothesis comes from. In short, why did they do this research in the first place?

This is all about how the way, they performed the research. Why and how they collected particular data and how they processed it to arrive at the conclusion.

This is the excerpt of the findings and the results obtained.

This is the author/author's way of looking at the results they obtained. What is their thought process for the original question/hypothesis of the study?

what the authors will do next or suggest to do based on the analysis they made. This also includes caution for you or the limitations of their work and analysis.

Most of the papers will be mapped like this. The thesis we do during residency has to follow a similar pattern and building blocks

Why am I reading this? - The first important question

If it is just for getting an overview of the topic probably just reading the abstract may suffice, however, you should be aware that you can not arrive at any conclusion just by reading a bunch of abstracts.

There are many papers that frankly admit that the conclussion arrived at in the study cannot be applied to a certain population or there are significant biases or what is lacking in the study.

This is placed generally in the analysis so you are missing the very fact that the study may or may not be applied to your scenario. Beware of reading just the overview.

For these reasons, abstract reading will never give you a full picture and can be dangerous if you are clinically using the paper or debating with your colleagues on a certain topic.

If you are just beginning with a particular paper, start with an Introduction. This will set the stage for you. It will act as an anchor for you throughout further reading.

It might even tell you, even more reason on why you should read that topic. You can now jump to conclusions for rapid reading.

In-depth reading, like a pro

Now that you have developed a taste, you are ready for the deep dive.

When you intend to read a research paper, you must ask the following questions

1. why are they doing this study?
2. how are they doing it?
3. Are they doing it right?
4. Why do others agree or disagree with them?
5. Who is correct?
6. what is my take-away?

What is the Three Pass approach?

None of us would like to read a research paper from top to bottom, do we? This is exactly where the three-pass approach comes into the picture.

Instead of reading the paper from top to bottom, using this method, you can now decide what you must read and what you can skip. Each pass or step will help you achieve a goal you have set before reading the paper.

Each pass has a different goal and therefore the first question - why I am reading this? holds great value.

This is to get an overview of the topic and what is going on recently.

1. Read the title, abstract, and introduction.
2. Read the headings of section and sub-section, but ignore everything else.
3. Read the conclusions

This is to get a grasp over the paper’s content, but not its details.

The second pass focuses on figures, diagrams, graphs, and illustrations in the paper. The properly labeled and explained infographics separate a good, high-quality research paper from the rest of the junk.

Remember this applies to your thesis also.

Mark underline relevant information and references which you feel may be worth reading. You can use the highlighter as well.

The second pass allows you to summarize the contents with greater understanding and clarity.

Understand that this step is important if you are

The third pass is virtually experiencing the steps the authors have gone through!. It also involves challenging and creating - every 'if and but' question for the paper.

It's a bit time taking than the above two methods of reading but more rewarding. At the end of the third pass, you should be able to speak for or against the paper with reasoning.

Schema of reading a scientific paper for presenting a paper in a journal club.

Undertaking a literature survey

This is how you read what others have to say on the same topic. Understanding how to take a literature survey is an important step when you are preparing a review of literature for the thesis.

Imagine this as your google search for a movie review from different sources. The topic in questions for which you are referring a paper needs further exploration with other research papers. But you cannot simply make a google search, can you?

So, those are a few very basic things I have learned while preparing for my journal clubs. If this helps you all the better!

References

1. Ellen Moran -How to read a scientific paper efficiently
2. How to read and understand a scientific paper: a guide for non-scientists
3. S. Keshav - How to Read a Paper (pdf)
4. Subramanyam R. Art of reading a journal article: Methodically and effectively. J Oral Maxillofac Pathol. 2013;17(1):65-70. doi:10.4103/0973-029X.110733 (full article)

Author

Ajay Agade | DNB(Pediatrics), FNB(Pediatric Intensive Care), Fellowship in Pediatric pulmonology and LTV

Ajay is a Paediatric Intensivist, currently working in Pediatric Pulmonology & LTV at Great Ormond Street Hospital NHS, London