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Leadership and Sustainability

How to read a research article

What characterizes a scientific article?

  • Presents research
  • Is written by researchers
  • Follows a academic research structure describing research question, method and result
  • Peer reviewed by other experts in the same area of research
  • Is published in a scientific journal

IMR(o)D

Academic structure of a research article

Scientific articles are characterized by a formal, objective style. The research process should be described clearly enough that other researchers can follow how the researcher proceeded. This structure is commonly referred to as IMRoD, an acronym formed from the article's four main parts:

  • Abstract
  • Introduction
  • Method
  • Result
  • Discussion
  • References

Target audiences

Target audiences and language 

The target audience for scientific articles is primarily other researchers. Journals provide a way for researchers to disseminate their research and get an overview of research in their area. To reach as many people as possible, most researchers write in English.

Peer review

Peer review

Peer review is a process where scientific publications are read and evaluated by subject experts before they are accepted for publication. In summary, it is a form of quality assurance that ensures that the published research maintains a high standard.

Types of scientific articles

Types of scientific articles

There are different types of scientific articles, like whether the article is a primary or secondary source. A primary source consists of first-hand information that reports original data, while a secondary source builds on previously conducted studies.

  • Original article: An original article is a primary source that uses original data (such as interviews or surveys, qualitative or quantitative methods) and publishes new research.
  • Review article: In a review article or overview article, original articles are collected and the results are compiled. Review articles are a way of getting an overview of the subject. A review article is considered a secondary source.
  • Systematic literature reviews: Is a certain type of review article where all key studies or articles have been reviewed and quality checked before compilation.  A systematic review article is considered a secondary source.
  • Meta-analysis: Systematic literature reviews may contain a meta-analysis that weighs the results from several studies and draws statistical conclusions.

How to read a research article

How to read a research article

1. Title, abstract and key words

Title, abstract and keywords give you information about the content of the article. The abstract is a short summary of the article. If you recognize concepts from your question in these details, you can make an initial assessment of whether the article is interesting to continue reading.

2. Introduction

The introduction provides the background to the article and presents the aims and scope. After reading the introduction, you should have a clear idea of ​​whether the scope of the article is going to answer your question.

3. Discussion, method and result

The discussion is where the author presents the most important results and discusses them in relation to other research. If you think the article continues to be relevant, you can move on to read the two remaining parts, method and results. There you will get a detailed description of the research method and a factual account of the results.