Psychology: Reading Scholarly Articles

Here are a few tips about reading scholarly articles. 

• Label the article parts.

• Start with the abstract—it will help you understand what the article is going to cover.

•  Don't be afraid to read out of order.

  • Read the abstract and introduction then the conclusion/results. This will help you understand the research details covered in the rest of the paper.

• If the graphs don’t make sense, ignore them and read the explanation of the graphs instead.

• Look up words you don't know.

• Summarize as you read - this will be helpful when you get ready to start writing your paper.

Not all articles published in a scholarly journal are peer reviewed!

Scholarly journals sometimes publish reviews of books that cover a topic in their field, letters from the editor (opinion pieces), news items or updates in the field. The anatomy of a research article guide on this page gives you an idea of what to look for, but if you're not sure if something is peer reviewed, just ask!