How to read an academic paper properly

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Post

Created date

Jun 15, 2022 06:01 AM

On difficult texts

Steps on reading academic paper

How to read : three-pass approach

How to Read for Grad School - By Miriam

pdf

Insights

Read Strategically, Not Linearly.

Be purposeful by asking:

What is the author trying to say?

What is motivating her exploration of this topic?

What does this research contribute?

What academic conversations is the author trying to align with?

What are the main arguments of this piece?

What are their assumption?

How does this relate to my other assigned readings?”

Read critically

Steps to read (Here)

Start with the title. This should give you an idea what you're going to read about and help you decide if the paper will cover what you need to know.

Read the abstract. This is a summary of the paper a should tell you the hypothesis, scope of investigation, and conclusions. If you don't have time for anything else, you want to abstract.

Look at the authors and date. Consider where they're from, what kind of collaboration and facilities were involved, and the age of the paper. It may be outdated or superceded by more in-depth work with better equipment or techniques, so don't assume this paper is the final word on the subject.

Read the conclusions. This should better explain the limitations and nuances of the work than the abstract.

Read the introduction. This should explain the reasons the authors undertook the investigation, and detail the conditions of the work, sample sizes, test vs control groups, etc.

Finally, if you're not satisfied yet, read the body of the paper. This is where the authors spell out the methodology, discuss data sets, perform analyses, and otherwise get into the 'meat' of the work performed.

Structure of an academic paper [Post]

Read in this order

Abstract :

the main question of the paper

What are the process of investment?

what the paper does

Why the paper

what results they get, the authors get

Bare in mind it is just a idea, that cannot really buy

Introduction (What, Why)

Introduce the domain, and who the readers

The importance of investment in few words

The perplexity of finding stocks to invest

The importance of this project

What is the overall research question the paper seeks to answer?

Why is it important that we have evidence about the question?

What are the specific hypotheses?

Are the hypotheses drawn or inferred correctly from the underlying theory?

Conclusion

Related work

To know the overview in this area >> so that you know how to amplify your contribution when writing a paper.

Can write according to

Here mentioned how to write a section of related work.

Findings

Do the authors’ inferences actually follow from the tests?

Do the authors overreach in the interpretation (Over-interpret)? Underreach?

Methodology

Where does the datasets come from?

Do the tests in the paper actually test the hypotheses of interest?

Are the data well suited for the tests? Are the proxies reasonable?

Are the econometric methods appropriate given the data and the tests?

The process of visualising, how is it presented?(What, How)

Discussion

The process of visualising, why is it presented?(Why)

Insight about :

Use of finding

Who will benefit

Who can give more advice or do more related work

What could have been done better? Is it worth doing better?

What are the remaining questions?

Are there any clever methods or approaches that could be applied to another study?

Are there any interesting by-product results that could be extended?

Advice on before and after reading

Opinion 4 - Questions to ask when reading papers (Similar to here) *More important* (Here)

1. Research Questions

a. What is the overall research question the paper seeks to answer?

b. Why is it important that we have evidence about the question?

c. What are the specific hypotheses?

d. Are the hypotheses drawn or inferred correctly from the underlying theory?

2. Research Design

a. Do the tests in the paper actually test the hypotheses of interest?

b. Are the data well suited for the tests? Are the proxies reasonable?

c. Are the econometric methods appropriate given the data and the tests?

3. Research Interpretation

a. Do the authors’ inferences actually follow from the tests?

b. Do the authors overreach in the interpretation? Underreach?

4. Next Steps

a. What could have been done better? Is it worth doing better?

b. What are the remaining questions?

c. Are there any clever methods or approaches that could be applied to another study?

d. Are there any interesting by-product results that could be extended?

Opinion 2 (Here)

Get your requirement. You could start from the end and work backwards. Specifically, what are the requirements of your assignment? Outline the headings of the final paper you imagine having to turn in. For example: introduction; brief summary of article; stuff the author did well, things you question, have concerns about, etc,; summary of your thoughts/recommendations (if applicable). So, once you've matched your "planned output" to the structure/assessment criteria supplied by your instructor, you're ready to read!

Given the headings I outlined in my example, you'll want to read with questions that would help you write each section (under each of those headings and their subsequent sub-headings). For example, what is being studied, who has sponsored it, who has written it and whit which institutions/orgs are they affiliated? What is their stated purpose, research questions, etc? What have they said in their lit review? Does it seem thorough? Can you understand why they'd have done their study the way they did based on how they wrote about the literature? What are their methods? Are they reasonable given the lit review, field, etc? Are the conclusions they've reasonable given what they said they did and how they managed the data? Do those data mgmt techniques make sense, etc.

I could go on. You get the picture.

Jot notes under each of your headings. So, read with those things in mind. Jot notes under each of your headings. Gradually sentences emerge and you begin to see your ideas come together bit by bit. You may find your headings don't work. Change them. Do what you need to do with the structure (within the constraints of the assignment) to communicate your thoughts.

It's not meant to be your magnum opus so don't worry about how everything sounds at first. Just type simple sentences. Bullet points, even. Just peck away. Then go do something else then come back and read your big messy document of headings with lists, sentences, words, maybe quotes from the article, etc. You'll have something good. Use it, keep building. Check your progress against the assignment criteria. Keep writing/reading. Go do something else. Edit your brilliance. Rinse repeat. Edit. Submit.

I realize your question was about reading but it also seemed to be a question about (your) writing, too. Good luck! PM if you have any questions.

Opinion 3 - Do and Don’t *More important* (Here)