Science and Word

Simple English for Complex Research

Category: How to Read Research

Learning how to read research papers can be painful but rewarding. These blogs help beginners interpret hard-to-understand scientific articles.

How to read a research paper

Whether you’re a student or a self-motivated fact-checker, there will likely come a time when you’re face-to-face with an academic research paper. Should you read it… or just click close? Although it’s tempting to skim the title and simply confirm it’s about the topic at hand, it might be worth your time to learn how to dig deeper into primary literature. Read on if you want to learn how to judge the evidence for yourself.

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Why are research papers hard to read?

The first time I read a research paper was in college. Or, what I really mean to say is that I tried to read a research paper – it felt like my brain was going to melt.

Instead of finishing reading the scientific article, I dropped the class and switched majors.

If you’ve ever tried to read primary literature and felt completely overwhelmed, you are not alone. That confusing jumble of words, numbers and charts was practically designed to be complicated and boring. But why? Read on for a little history about academic literature and its current crisis.

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