This document provides guidance on reading academic papers. It discusses the common structure of research papers, including an abstract, introduction, literature review, method, results, discussion and conclusion. It advises previewing the abstract, introduction and conclusion. It also provides frequently asked questions to consider when reading a paper, such as the research questions addressed and evidence collected. The document outlines the IMRaD structure and key elements to look for in the introduction, methods, results and discussion sections of a paper. Exercises are suggested to help readers practice extracting important details from research papers.

1. Chapter 4
Reading
academic paper

2. Discussion questions
1. What is an academic paper?
2. What is the general structure of
a research paper?
3. What should we do to preview a
research paper?
4. What should be focused while
reading a research paper?

3. General structure
•Abstract
•Introduction
•Literature review
•Method
•Result
•Discussion
•Conclusion
•Suggestions for implication (opional)
NOTE: There is no
fixed structure for
writing.

4. Previewing
•Abstract
•Introduction
•Conclusion and suggestions

5. Frequently asked questions
1. What research questions or hypotheses are being
addressed in the article? Are the questions relevant?
(Stating the research questions or hypotheses as yes or no
questions will help you identify the focus of a paper as well
as evaluate the evidence and conclusions. In our
experience, a question such as Does herbal tea cause tooth
decay can be more useful in guiding your thinking than can
a simple statement establishing the topic, as with This paper
is about herbal tea and tooth decay.)

6. Frequently asked questions
2. What kind of evidence was collected to explore the
research questions?
3. Are there any evidences that should be collected but did
not?
4. Are the evidences clearly explained?
5. What conclusion does the author draw from the
research?
6. Does the research make an original contribution to the
field?

7. IMRaD Structure
1. Introduction
What question was studied?
2. Methods
How was the question studied?
3. Results
What was found?
4. Discussion
What do the results mean?

8. Introduction
What question was studied?
- Research questions
- Purpose of the research
E.g. What is the effect of online-based
reading on reading comprehension
comparing to paper-based reading?

9. Methods
How was the question studied?
- Participants (dependent
&independent variable)
- Data collection
- Data analysis
E.g. 5 students from the Department of
Foreign Langauges was selected
randomly to join the experiment. The
result will be used to find the relation
between paper-based test and online-
based test.

10. Results
Main points which
author highlight
Answering questions
one by one
Tables or figures to
show data
What was found?

11. Discussion
What does the result mean?
- Explain why the result appear like that
- Link to other research paper which
have similar or different result in order
to explain the reasons.

12. Conclusion
and
suggestions
Even thought we have a
suggested structure, it is also
depended on our reading
purpose as well.

13. Exercises
Read the following research paper
and answer the questions below:
1. What is the title of the paper?
2. What are the purpose(s) or research
question(s)?
3. Who are the participants?
4. What tools are used to collect and
analyze data?
5. What are the results?
6. Are there any suggestions?

14. Title
Purpose(s)/
Research
question(s)
Participants Tools Results Suggestions