Here are three key points I learned from today's lecture on reading and writing scientific articles: 1. It's important to critically analyze scientific articles by considering questions like - What evidence supports the conclusions? Do the data actually support the conclusions? What is the quality of the evidence? 2. When writing a scientific article, the structure is key - with sections like Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusion. Thorough editing is also important. 3. Databases like PubMed, Web of Science, and subject-specific databases like Food Science and Technology Abstracts are useful resources for finding relevant scientific articles. #ALES204 @JessL

1. Scientific Article – Reading and WritingKaustavMajumderALES-204, 19th October, 2011

2. Organization of a Scientific ArticleAn article layoutTitleAbstractIntroductionMaterials and MethodsResultsDiscussionConclusionTables and FiguresTable titles and Figure legends References

3. Reading a Scientific ArticleEffective reading or Selection of an article Title and AbstractHow relevant the title is?Connection between the title and the abstract. IntroductionScan the initial paragraphs.Put emphasis on the concluding paragraphs.Understand the logical flow between earlier studies and the present one.Relevance of the article Rationale of the article

4. Reading a Scientific Article Contd..Tables and FiguresRead the titles of the table and/or figure legends.Relationship with abstract. ConclusionIdentify the achievement, correlation and the future prospects. Workflow of the article Take home messagesServe Your PurposeAcceptance or Rejection of the Article

5. Reading a Scientific Article Contd..Article is closely related with your purposeResults and DiscussionMost important section of an article.Identify the novel elements discussed in this section.Understand the relationship and the context of the study.Materials and methodsIdentify the newly developed method.Source of the materials.ReferencesLook when it is required.Depth of the article Quality and compactness of the article

6. Critical Reading of a Scientific ArticleType of the articleIndividual experiment type.Cohort or population based study.Randomized control and trial study.Review articleNarrative Systematic Meta- analysis

7. Critical Reading of a Scientific Article contd..What questions does the article address?What was the research design? Is it appropriate? What are the main conclusions of the article?What evidence supports those conclusions?Do the data actually support the conclusions?What is the quality of the evidence?Why are the conclusions important?These questions are specifically for individual study, cohort study and random trial studyNOT for Review article

8. Critical Reading of a Scientific Article contd..What questions does the article address?Type of questionsDescriptive: What is there? What did the authors observe?Comparative: How does it compare to other organisms/animals/population? Are the findings general? Reproducibility and applicability?Analytical: Underlying mechanism of action or the story behind the study?

9. Critical Reading of a Scientific Article contd..What was the research design? Is it appropriate? The design of the study can answer the addressed questionThe statistical strength of the design and relevant statistical analysisCorrect use of an animal model/ cell-line or proper use of a computer simulation

10. Critical Reading of a Scientific Article contd..What are the main conclusions of the article? Did the authors properly answer the questions mentioned in the abstract section?Relevant outcome of the study What evidence supports the conclusion? The rationale of drawing the conclusion

11. Does the primary experiment supports the point?Critical Reading of a Scientific Article contd..Do the data actually support the conclusions? Do the authors properly interpret the obtained data? – find the logical connectionDo the data actually support/reject the hypothesis?Do the authors had covered required sample size to reach the statistical significance? Statistics is Important

12. Critical Reading of a Scientific Article contd..What is the quality of the evidence? The methods used in the study is well establishedA new method should be published on a peer-reviewed journal first..The methods are reproducible.Materials?

13. Critical Reading of a Scientific Article contd..Why are the conclusions important? Do the conclusions make a significant advance in your knowledge? Do the conclusions help in the advancement of future scientific research? Do they lead to new insights, or even new research directions?

14. Critical Reading of a Review ArticleNarrative or Classical Review The “traditional” or “classic” reviewArticles used in the review are chosen by the author.Author may be biased- Major concern.Systematic Review Comparative analysis…most common for analytical methods

15. Should include both inclusion and exclusion criteria.

16. Should support with the scientific evidences.Critical Reading of a Review Article Contd..Meta analysis Close to systematic review.

17. Often deals with numeric data.

18. Uses statistical/mathematical methods to combine numerical data from various earlier studies Writing a Scientific ArticleWriting StructureAnalysisBefore writing anything, Analyze Your Data!Identify the key conceptsTarget the audience, do audience analysis.Indentify the actual technical material.DesignOrganize all information and dataGroup the key concepts.Structure the layout.. (Tables and figures)

19. Writing a Scientific Article Contd..ImplementationWrite…edit…edit…edit…Strive for accuracy and clarityEmphasize the central ideaIdentify the ‘Junks’….delete them PublicationChoose the JournalRead the instructions to the authors.Maintain the style and proper formatSelect reviewers and editor.Submit for publication.

20. Writing a Scientific Article Contd..INTRODUCTIONMETHODSMEMORY GAMETITLERESULTSREFERENCESMATERIALSABSTRACTImage Courtesy: http://www.joconl.com/article/id23578

21. Publishing a Scientific ArticleSelect a specific JournalChoose the quality of the JournalImpact factorQuality of the journal in a specific field of studyCalculating Impact factor:Citation of recent items/Number of recent items. (last year Vs current year) Immediacy IndexHow the journal is currently operationCalculation of Immediacy indexCitation of recent items/Number of recent items. (current year Vs current year)

22. Journal DatabasesGeneral databasePUBMEDWEB of SCIENCESpecialized databaseFood and Nutrition : Food Science and Technology Abstracts (FSTA)AgricolaCAB AbstractsSCOPUSFoodNetBase (for e-books)CINAHLEMBASENatural StandardSCOPUS

23. Journal DatabasesAnimal ScienceCAB AbstractsBIOSIS PreviewsAGRICULTUREnetBASEKnovelPlant Science and Soil ScienceAgricolaEnvironment CompleteCAB AbstractsMore Plant Science Databases

24. Class ActivityTweet about THREE new things you learn today.Respond to ONE another students tweet.Tag #ALES204, @JessL