Reading Research Literature

What is Research Literature?

Research literature, or published research in the form of articles or books, is typically written by experts in the field, including scholars, researchers, practitioners, or professionals often affiliated with universities, research institutions, or other organizations. Through research literature, researchers can share what research they have worked on and report on their findings to other researchers in their fields. Sharing research via publications is an important way for researchers to communicate with others in their field and join in the scholarly conversation.

Why Read Research Literature?

Reading research literature is essential for enhancing your knowledge and understanding of what research has already occurred in your area of interest. If you are a researcher or aspiring researcher, it is important to read research literature to keep up to date with what other researchers are doing in your field. Reading the literature can help you understand what work has already been published and what research still needs to be done.

Where to Find Research Literature?

Scholarly research articles are published in research journals. Research journals are scholarly periodicals or publications that contain articles written by experts in which they report the results of their research. All research and scholarly fields have multiple journals, each with its regulations, requirements, aims, and purposes.

Common strategies for finding research literature include accessing electronic databases such as PubMed, PsycInfo, ProQuest, JSTOR, AGRICOLA; searching for papers using Google Scholar; reviewing the reference lists of relevant articles; and conducting targeted searches using specific terms or names of researchers specializing in your topic.

What is Peer Review?

An important quality of research literature that is facilitated by research journals is the Peer Review Process. Peer review is a process by which a research paper is checked or “reviewed” by other experts in the field. Experts reviewing the paper help each journal make decisions about the quality, importance, rigor, and clarity of the research presented in a research paper. Based on peer reviewer’s feedback, the journal decides whether they should publish a research paper, request it be revised, or reject it. This process allows a body of experts to ensure that published research papers are high-quality and accurate. To identify peer-reviewed journal articles, search for the journal in which it was published or use your campus’s library database.

Common Components of Research Literature

In this section, we break down the typical components of research literature. While not all research articles will have all these components, the five components below are prevalent and likely to occur in many research papers.

Abstract

The abstract is an overview or mini summary of the article in about 250 words or less. It describes all research components and provides a clear preview of what you are about to read, including the purpose, importance, method/approach, results, and discussion.

Literature Review

A paper's introduction or literature review section can vary significantly in length and detail. Introduction sections provide brief overviews and help the reader understand the overarching purpose of the study. If there is an accompanying literature review, it will often synthesize and cite existing research to help set the stage for the research. It includes:

Purpose: What the problem is and an explanation for writing the paper
Background information: Highlights the importance of the topic and why it is worth studying
Research question: The main question the author is attempting to answer in a study. This section may also include a list of hypotheses.
Gap in the Literature: Brief information that identifies unresolved issues and gaps in the literature the study aims to answer.
Tools and Methods: Depending on the field, a description of the tools and methods used may be included. This section should be expanded on in the “Methods” or “Methodology” section of the paper.

Methods

The methods section describes how the research was conducted. This section may vary across disciplines but can include subsections like:

Overview of Study Design: This subsection summarizes the approach to investigate the research question or topic of interest.
Materials: This includes instruments or equipment used to conduct the research or measure specific variables. Common instruments include software, tests, scales, and hardware. For example, if a scale was used to measure variables, the authors should report the manual or article where the scale was published and provide one or two sample items. Additionally, the reliability and validity of each instrument will be discussed.

Participants: A description of the participants (or people) that were involved and how they were chosen. Basic demographic information such as age, gender, and race of the sample can be included.

Variables: This section can provide a description of what variables or factors were important in the study.

Procedures: A detailed description of the procedures or steps taken to conduct the study. The formatting of the steps will depend on the field.

Data Analysis: This subsection discusses how the data was analyzed. Approaches used to analyze the data will differ by field but may include statistical tests, descriptions of lab procedures, or cite literature on data analysis methods and methodologies.

Results

The results section provides the study's findings with limited interpretation. This section may vary by field but often includes:

Data Representation: Quantitative data can be presented in tables, charts, and graphs. Qualitative data can be presented in prose tables, lists, and much more.
Statistical Analyses: Statistical analyses and calculations that were used to run data
Figures and Tables: The results section may outline figures and tables.

Discussion

Typically, the discussion section provides an interpretation of the results. In some cases, results and discussion sections can be combined. However, a typical discussion section may include the following:

Interpretation of Results: This section describes what was learned from the research and contextualizes findings in the existing research literature.
Expectations: If researchers did not expect certain results, they may explain why and how this possibly affected their data.

Significance: The discussion often includes a description of why the study is important within the context of the research field.

Strengths & Limitations: The discussion often includes a description of the strengths and potential limitations of the study. These are often things that the researcher could not control or aspects of the study that may have impacted the results.
Future Research: The author may describe what questions their research raised or which remain unanswered despite their study.

How to Optimize Your Approach When Reading Literature

In this section, we provide some suggestions on how to go about reading a research paper.

You might notice that our approach has you read the paper out of order, such that we suggest you look around for different parts of the paper rather than read the paper from beginning to end. Why would we have you do that? Didn’t the author write it in a specific order on purpose?

Research papers often follow a common structure, but just because many papers are presented in a specific layout does not mean you must read them from top to bottom. Few researchers read every article in its entirety. You can (and should) jump around to different parts of the paper to quickly:

1. Identify if the paper is relevant to your research, and
2. Find important information.

This will help you optimize the time you spend reviewing papers to better gather the information you need to help you with your research. After you gather the information you need from the article, it can be beneficial to go back and review parts you may have missed or skimmed - especially if the article is highly relevant to your research topic!

Below, you will find our suggestions on using this approach to quickly review articles for information.

Determine Your Purpose

Before you begin reading, take a minute to think about what you are hoping to learn from the article. Doing this will allow you to read more effectively. Consider asking yourself the following questions to determine your purpose:

What about the paper are you interested in?

A specific topic covered in the paper?
Results of their paper?

Are you interested in a broad overview of what has been on the specific topic?

Are you looking for a specific piece of information in the study?

Are you interested in learning more about the methods used in the study and less about the topic itself?

Read the Abstract

To optimize your approach when reading literature, start by reading the abstract.
Why?

The abstract summarizes the article's focus, purpose, importance, approach, and results. After reading the abstract, you will likely have a sense of whether the article will be relevant to your research question. This can help you determine if it makes sense to read the rest of the paper or move to another, more relevant paper.

Identify the Research Question/Purpose

Once you determine if the article is relevant, focus on identifying the research question or statement of purpose. These are often found near the beginning of papers at the end of the introduction/literature review section.
Read this section to get an idea of the specific questions the author aims to address. This should help you frame the results that will be shared at the end of the paper.
Make note of how the paper’s research questions or purpose relate to your own research.

Introduction and Discussion/Conclusion

Next, read the introduction and the discussion or conclusion sections.
- Note: The introduction and literature review are also a place to look out for other papers on the topic that support the research paper (and may be relevant to your own research).

The Introduction/Literature Review will help you understand the background of the study. It should help you understand why the study was conducted and how it connects with other similar studies.
The Discussion and Conclusion Sections should provide clear information on what the researchers found. Their “results” will often be explained in detail, and connections between results and other research papers will often be described. These sections can also provide some insight into what questions the authors still have about the research topic, the unique contribution the research paper makes to the field, and any recommendations the authors make for future researchers (like you)!

Methods

After reading the abstract, research question, introduction, and discussion/conclusion proceed to the methods section. The methods section will explain how the authors conducted their study and how they gathered information for their research. This section will vary based on discipline, but it is important to note how the researchers conducted their study if you are interested in doing something similar.

Results and Analysis

Next, review the results and analysis sections. These sections will provide the results of the study and how the data was analyzed with limited interpretation. Non-textual elements, such as figures and tables, may be presented to visualize the results of the study.
Since you read the interpretation of the results before this (in the Discussion Section), reflect on the conclusions that can be drawn from the reported data. Consider if all of the data were reported, interpreted, and discussed.

References

Finally, examine the list of references. These sources include prior research that the authors utilized for their study. Reviewing the references can help you identify additional sources of information on the topic!

References

Subramanyam, R. (2013). Art of reading a journal article: Methodically and effectively. Journal of oral and maxillofacial pathology: JOMFP , 17 (1), 65–70. https://doi.org/10.4103/0973-029X.110733

Attributions

“How to read (and Understand) a Social Science Journal Article” by Frederique Laubepin is licensed under CC BY 4.0

“Reviewing the Research Literature” by Paul C. Price, Rajiv Jhangiani, & I-Chant A. Chiang is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

“Learning Framework: Effective Strategies for College Success, Strategies for Academic Success” by Heather Syrett is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

“How do I know if my articles are scholarly (peer-reviewed)?” by the University of Washington Libraries is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0

Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike 4.0 International license.