This document outlines steps for effectively reading scientific papers. It begins by explaining why scientific papers are important to read rather than books. It then discusses different types of academic publications and levels of sources. The presentation guides the reader through getting prepared, deciding if a paper is relevant, skimming it, assessing quality and credibility, challenging assumptions and conclusions, summarizing key points, and filing papers for future reference. The goal is to teach researchers how to efficiently and critically read scientific literature.

1. ‫العلمي‬ ‫البحث‬ ‫مهارات‬ ‫برنامج‬(10)
‫محاضرة‬«‫العلمية‬ ‫الورقة‬ ‫قراءة‬»
‫والطبية‬ ‫العلمية‬ ‫الدراسات‬ ‫بحوث‬ ‫مركز‬
‫سعود‬ ‫الملك‬ ‫جامعة‬

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Heba A. Kurdi
Associate Professor
CS Department, KSU, SA
Research Fellow
AeroAstro Department, MIT, US
O Why read?
O Why papers not books?
O Types of scientific papers
O Paper organisation
O Reading steps
10/18/2017 How to read scientific papers 2
10/18/2017 How to read scientific papers 3
Keep
updated
Write a
review
Present
the Paper
Add to the
work
Learn how
to write

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10/18/2017 How to read scientific papers 4
An academic publication describes a subfield or
subfields of knowledge with an aim to distribute
academic research and valid scientific findings.
O white papers?
O are not scientific papers: marketing tool, use selected
facts and logical arguments to build a case favorable to
the company sponsoring the document.
O Grey literature?
O are materials and research produced by organizations outside of
the traditional commercial or academic publishing and distribution
channels. E.g. technical reports, project report.
10/18/2017 How to read scientific papers 5
•Original work, completeprogress papers
•Thesis
•Patent
Primary
•Review, survey, tutorial, etc.
•Case study
•Book
Secondary
•Dictionary
•Encyclopedia
•Handbook “manual”
Tertiary
10/18/2017 How to read scientific papers 6
Research
idea Background
information
Primary
Pub. Second.
Pub.

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10/18/2017 How to read scientific papers 7
• What problem was studied, why, who
did this before, what is missingI = Introduction
• How was the problem studied
• in CS and Eng. we have sys design and imp.M = Methods
•What are the findingsR = Results
A = and
•What do these findings meanD = Discussion
O If a number of methods were used to achieve directly related
results:
M + R = Experimental Section
O The results are so complex that they need to be immediately
discussed:
R + D = Results and Discussion Section
O Work in progress papers may not include R + D
10/18/2017 8How to read scientific papers
How to read scientific papers10/18/2017
Get Prepared
Decide if
relevant
Skip it Skim the paper
Assess quality
Challenge the
paper
Summarize
the paper
File it
9
not relevant relevant
not
relevant
relevant

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10/18/2017 How to read scientific papers 10
• Place Quite & convenient
• Time Free or planned
• Tools Pencil, rubber, paper, highlight,
sticky notes etc.
How to read scientific papers10/18/2017
Get Prepared
Decide if
relevant
Skip it Skim the paper
Assess quality
Challenge the
paper
Summarize
the paper
File it
11
not relevant relevant
not
relevant
relevant
10/18/2017 How to read scientific papers 12
O What did the author do? (abstract level)
O Read title and abstract
O Relevant? Continue
O Not relevant? skip

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How to read scientific papers10/18/2017
Get Prepared
Decide if
relevant
Skip it Skim the paper
Assess quality
Challenge the
paper
Summarize
the paper
File it
13
not relevant relevant
not
relevant
relevant
10/18/2017 How to read scientific papers 14
O If not relevant:
O Write down a note
O Congratulate yourself for saving the
time of reading the paper in depth.
How to read scientific papers10/18/2017
Get Prepared
Decide if
relevant
Skip it Skim the paper
Assess quality
Challenge the
paper
Summarize
the paper
File it
15
not relevant relevant
not
relevant
relevant

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10/18/2017 How to read scientific papers 16
O What did the author do? (more detailed level)
O Read introduction, section headings, tables,
graphs and conclusions
O Relevant? Continue
O Not relevant? skip
How to read scientific papers10/18/2017
Get Prepared
Decide if
relevant
Skip it Skim the paper
Assess quality
Challenge the
paper
Summarize
the paper
File it
17
not relevant relevant
not
relevant
relevant
10/18/2017 How to read scientific papers 18
Authors Publisher Date References

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10/18/2017 How to read scientific papers 19
O Who wrote it?
O Are they well-known?
O Where do they work? What biases might they have as a result
of their employer?
O What is the journalconference quality?
O Where was the article published?
O What is the reputation of the publisher? Was the publication
refereed?
10/18/2017 How to read scientific papers 20
O When was it written? Might it be outdated or superseded?
O Skim the bibliography/references:
O How extensive is it?
O Are the authors aware of current work?
O Does it reference classic papers in this field?
O Have you read any of the papers that are referred to?
O Do you know relevant research that isn't cited?
How to read scientific papers10/18/2017
Get Prepared
Decide if
relevant
Skip it Skim the paper
Assess
credibility
Challenge the
paper
Summarize
the paper
File it
21
not relevant relevant
not
relevant
relevant

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10/18/2017 How to read scientific papers 22
Conclusions
Statistics
Methods
Assumptions
10/18/2017 How to read scientific papers 23
O Examine the assumptions
O Do their results rely on any assumptions about trends or environments?
O Are these assumptions reasonable?
O Examine the methods
O Did they measure what they claim?
O Can they explain what they observed?
O Did they have adequate controls?
O Were tests carried out in a standard way?
10/18/2017 How to read scientific papers 24
O Examine the statistics
O Were appropriate statistical tests applied properly?
O Did they do proper error analysis?
O Are the results statistically significant?
O Examine the conclusions
O Do the conclusions follow logically from the observations?
O What other explanations are there for the observed effects?
O What other conclusions or correlations are there in the data
that they did not point out?

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How to read scientific papers10/18/2017
Get Prepared
Decide if
relevant
Skip it Skim the paper
Assess quality
Challenge the
paper
Summarize
the paper
File it
25
not relevant relevant
not
relevant
relevant
10/18/2017 How to read scientific papers 26
O Take notes and highlight major points as
you read
O After finishing, write a short summary in
your own words,
O What you learned?
O What were the main points?
O How do you feel about the paper?
O –ves & +ves .
How to read scientific papers10/18/2017
Get Prepared
Decide if
relevant
Skip it Skim the paper
Assess quality
Challenge the
paper
Summarize
the paper
File it
27
not relevant relevant
not
relevant
relevant

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10/18/2017 How to read scientific papers 28
O Keep the summary with the article for future
reference.
O Is review is required then if it is a structured review
then fill the review form based else rewrite your
summary as points that help to improve the paper
10/18/2017 How to read scientific papers 29
O http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~hgs/netbib/efficientReading.
pdf
O http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-
projects/top_science-
fair_how_to_read_a_scientific_paper.shtml
O http://www.monash.edu.au/lls/llonline/quickrefs/12-
reading-strategies.pdf