Reading should be straight forward. Books draw the reader in and make you want to read more. News articles have catchy titles and cool images. Scientific papers, however, seem to do everything in their power to detract from an enjoyable reading experience.
The culture of science and scientific writing praises those who find more complex ways to say the otherwise mundane, to make up new words and acronyms that could more easily be explained in normal language, to formulate titles that are as convoluted as possible with equally complex figures. Why?
Why are scientific papers so difficult to read?
The scientific community agrees scientific writing is getting ever more complex and more difficult to read, even among experts in the field. Scientists have a duty not only to report the science they find but in a way that everyone can understand.
A 2017 study of over 700,000 scientific abstracts published between 1881 and 2015 from 123 journals identified the readability of science is steadily decreasing. One trend identified in the paper that may explain part of this decline in readability is due to the increased use of scientific jargon in papers.
Scientific Jargon
Part of the reason scientific jargon has increased is because there is more to explain today than there was 150 years ago, creating ever more specialized terms. However, this need for specialized terms alone cannot explain why scientific papers are increasingly more difficult to read.
Another reason scientific jargon has increased is because of the impact of positive “power” words such as “novel, amazing, innovative” which, when included in papers, are more likely to be read and cited. The word “novel” in a title now appears in over 7% of all the titles and abstracts of papers published on PubMed.
Tangled Sentence Structure
Not only has scientific jargon increased in scientific papers, but also normal words being used in tangled and roundabout ways. Readers expect a certain order of words and concepts, but often this is overlooked in scientific papers.
Assuming Knowledge
In addition, many papers leave large gaps in detail which they assume the reader should know because they have read the other 20 papers on the topic that preceded this one. Even experts in the field are unable to jump some of these leaps in reasoning, such as assuming everyone knows a specific acronym or the definition of the latest technical terminology.
The Main Tips: How to make the most of a scientific paper?
While scientific papers are universally accepted as difficult to read, it is also important that every scientist keeps up to date on reading scientific papers. This skill is just expected of you once you enter the field, rarely being taught. So, I’m here to give you a quick crash course on how to read a scientific paper!
- Take Notes. I know so many professional scientists who didn’t start doing this when they first read papers and are now kicking themselves. It’s never too early to start! You never know when you may need to reference a paper you read years ago, and instead of hunting for that paper and re-reading it to make sure it is the right one, have a list of all the papers you read and the take-aways. I keep a Word Document of mine so I can quickly find something as I need. Below is how I organize it.
- Keep a folder of all the papers you read. I keep both a physical and a virtual folder. The most commonly used virtual paper folders are on platforms such as Endnote (Subscription), Zotero (Free), or Mendeley (Free). Most universities and organizations will have free subscriptions for some of these paid services so check if your school/company provides access to any of these!
- These reference management sites not only help keep all your papers in one place but are easy to use to make bibliographies.
- Give yourself the right mind space to read a paper. Paper reading takes all of your concentration so try to give yourself the best chance at reading by having a quiet place to focus.
- Read a hardcopy, printed paper when you can. It is easier for you to focus on and you can take notes directly on the paper.
- Keep a list of all the terminology and acronyms you need to remember. Having a list of all the important scientific terms in one place makes it easy to reference when you forget what something means and don’t want to go look it up again. I keep a Word Document titled “Definitions” which I always have open and add to as I read papers.
- Be Skeptical. Don’t take everything they say as fact and if you aren’t sure whether something is right, fact check it!
- Modify your paper reading approach as needed. There is no one universal way to read a paper. Even the most senior professors go about reading in different ways. Sometimes you may care about the figures of the paper, other times the methods, or perhaps the introductory work of the field in the introduction. Be willing to adapt your strategy to get what you most need out of each paper.
- Don’t feel discouraged if it seems difficult at first. It is difficult for everyone when they start, even the experts. The most important strategy to master reading scientific papers is practice, practice, PRACTICE.
10 Steps to Master Critical Paper Reading
- Start with the abstract
- Skim the introduction and conclusion
- Analyze the figures
- Critically read the discussion
- Identify the big question of the paper
- Research any terminology you didn’t understand
- Take another go, reading the paper from start to finish
- Try summarizing the paper in 1-2 sentences
- Go through the methods
- Research what other scientists have to say about this paper
1. Start with the abstract
Some people say don’t start with the abstract because it can bias you to the author’s interpretation of the data, which may or may not always be correct. I believe the whole point of the abstract is to summarize what the paper is going to be about, so you should start by reading the abstract. Even if you are worried it will bias you, I find that after you look at the figures closely (Step 3) you can make your own interpretation.
Just remember as you are reading, don’t take the abstract as solid fact, perhaps more of a synopsis of the story from how the author sees it!
2. Skim the introduction and conclusion
This is an important place to learn all the background in the field which led up to this paper. But, for your first go around, don’t get bogged down in all the details. Focus on the subheadings and if you see any words or acronyms you aren’t sure what they mean, jot them down in your notes so you can learn them later.
3. Move into analyzing the figures
To me, the figures are the most important part of any paper. This is where the author’s whole argument comes from, and it is very important to pick apart the figures and come to your own conclusions about what each figure shows.
Try first by looking at each figure and figuring out the basic technique, what they are showing. If you need help, look at the caption which should explain the basics of the figure without giving you their conclusions on the figure (that will be in the results and discussion).
Again, write down any term, technique, or acronym you aren’t familiar with. At first this may seem like all the words, but once you start reading a couple of papers you will realize most papers of a certain topic use the same techniques.
4. Critically read the results/discussion
Now is time for the fact-checking. Do the author’s conclusions line up with the conclusions you made? Most of the time, the answer will be yes. But scientific papers love to overstate conclusions, drawing them beyond the scope of what they actually proved. Be careful of this, and write down any place where you disagree with the author.
5. Identify the big question
Now you have read a big part of the paper. What is the big question they are trying to solve? The over-arching theme of their project?
6. Search online to learn about any terminology you don’t understand
Hopefully, you now have a list of terms and acronyms you have to look up to understand what they mean. (If you don’t, go back and do steps 1-5 again because even every time I read a new paper I have at least a handful of terms to look up.)
Start by scouring the introduction of the paper, looking for whether the paper explains any of the terms or acronyms on your list. (Don’t focus on understanding the introduction at this point; you are just looking for definitions.)
More often than not, you will be left wanting more information. This is where I turn to the handy-dandy internet! Google will almost always have an answer for you.
7. Take another go, reading the whole paper start to finish
Once you have answered your list of unknown words, it’s time to take a proper read of the whole paper, from abstract through conclusions!
8. Try summarizing the whole paper in 1-2 sentences
Now you have read through most of the paper twice, what are the main takeaways of the paper, as you see it? Don’t just summarize the conclusion but look through each figure and come to a decision about what these figures prove. This will be very useful to you later when looking back at the list of papers you read, trying to find a specific one, you can quickly look at the summaries you wrote in your notes.
9. Go through the methods
I always leave going through the methods to the end, partly because I think they are the most boring part, but also because I don’t see any use in them until I understand the rest of the paper.
I sequentially go through each part of the methods section and get a visual representation of the technique from the internet as I go. For more specific techniques used on a figure or a handful of figures, I will refer back to the figures as I read the methods so I can see the final product of the method.
I also find it useful for a technique I’m not familiar with to search online and see in other papers how a graph or image might look when doing that technique. This can help tell you whether what this paper did is what most labs do or not.
10. Research what other scientists have to say about this paper
Now you have a good grasp of the paper, but what does the scientific community think of this work? I often go to who cited this paper which is an easy way to check whether other experts of the field agree enough on the findings to cite it in their own research. The major red flags are either when the paper is cited to be proved wrong or there are not any citations (this only applies if it is an older paper as it should have citations).
How the next generation of scientists can improve scientific writing
It is crucial to learn how to read and, at times, decode scientific literature, but we can also be a part of the change. As the next generation of scientists, one of the most important skills we can learn is how to write effectively. Most people don’t think of scientists as great writers, but let’s fix this! Take a class on how to write clearly and concisely in high school or university, or maybe take up writing a blog (like me!).
As a good writer, one of the great skills you will learn is how to de-jargonify, aka adding fewer jargon words in your writing. (See what I did there, making up jargon words to explain how to use less jargon!) Don’t feel like you have to add jargon just to fit the mold of what scientific writing sounds like, and let’s be the positive change the science world needs to make science more accessible!
Goodluck and happy reading!
Other Resources
I’m not, by any means, the first person to write about how to read scientific papers and different people like to read scientific papers differently. If you want to learn more, check out some of my favorite articles for how to read a scientific paper below!
