Communication Studies Research Methods - Undergraduate

How to read a journal article

Reading research is a different skill set than reading a novel. As a student at EIU, you'll be asked to search for scholarly journal articles on a topic, read them, think about the ideas presented there and cite them in research papers you write.  However, depending on how well you know the subject, scholarly journal articles can be hard to understand.  Here is a step-by-step guide to reading scholarly & peer reviewed journal articles.

Step 1: Before you read

Take a minute to scan your article for the following:

• The title, helping you think about keywords

• The authors and where they work

• The date of the article so you can think about if you need newer or older information

• From the title, do you think there might be bias in the article?

Also write down some goals for yourself so you know what you are trying to learn from reading the article. Think about:

• Why am I reading this?

• What specific information am I looking for?

• How thoroughly do I need to understand this information?

Step 2: Get an overview

• Read the abstract (usually at the top of the page) and the keywords provided. The abstract is a paragraph long and sums up the article. This will help you build an overview of what the research is about and words you may or may not know. Reading the abstract can also help you decide if you want to move forward with the article or abandon it for other pieces.

Step 3: Fast read

Reading a peer reviewed article is completely different from reading a novel or story. You don’t read everything in order, straight through. Follow this pattern for your fast read.

• Read all the headings

• Read the summary/conclusion/findings at the very end of the paper

• Read the introduction and literature review at the start

• Skim the materials and methods in the middle

• Skim the results; look at the graphs and tables if provided in the middle

• Skim the discussion towards the end of the paper

Step 4: Re-read sections you find relevant to your work

Article used above: Lee, Y.-F., Hwang, G.-J., & Chen, P.-Y. (2022). Impacts of an AI-based chabot on college students’ after-class review, academic performance, self-efficacy, learning attitude, and motivation. Educational Technology Research & Development, 70(5), 1843–1865. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-022-10142-8

Read more about what scholarly (peer-reviewed) journals are and how to search for them in Booth Library databases. See also the Booth Library guide on how to evaluate your article search results.

For further reading