Dissecting a Journal

Paper
Lobna Mourad
Types of Scientific Literature
• Primary research article:
 Report on the findings of a scientist’s work.
 They include a description of how the research was done and
what the results mean.
• Secondary:
 Also published in peer reviewed journals.
 Seek to synthesize and summarize the work of a particular sub-
field, rather than report on new results.
 Often lack a “Materials and Methods” section.
• Tertiary:
 Works based on primary and secondary but aimed at scientists
in a different field.
Primary Research Articles
• Original scientific reports of new research findings.
• Reports the results of experiments, observations, and other scientific
investigation.
• Published in journals.
• Usually include the following sections: Abstract, Introduction,
Methods, Results, Discussion, References.
• Are usually peer-reviewed- examined by expert(s) in the field before
publication.
• Journal articles are ranked using the impact factor:
 A measure of the frequency with which the average article in a
journal has been cited in a particular year.
 It is used to measure the importance or rank of a journal by
calculating the times it's articles are cited.
Title
• The title should be specific and indicate the problem the
research project addresses using keywords that will be helpful
in literature reviews in the future.
• Example:
Molecular Characterization of Extended-Spectrum Beta
Lactamase (ESBL) Producing Klebsiella pneumoniae and
Escherichia coli Among Hospitalized Patients in Oman
Abstract
• Brief summary of the entire paper (250-300 words).
• Used by readers to quickly review the overall content of the
paper.
• Includes: aims, background, materials and methods, main
findings, and conclusion.
• Because it is really a summary of the entire research paper, it
is often written last.
Keywords
• An average of 5 words/terms.
• Helps those interested in your topic locate and find your
paper.
Background
• Background/Introduction/Literature Review.
• Addresses the WHAT & the WHY.
• Summarized description of the history.
• Presentation of previous research on the issue in question.
• Towards the end it leads to the aims/objectives of the study, and
how the study will address a gap of knowledge.
• This is where most citations are.
Materials & Methods
• Addresses the HOW?
• A detailed description of how the experiment was done.
• What type of experimental design.
• Detailed explanation of the study group.
• Specific techniques used, and why these in particular?
• What equipment/kits/chemicals were used and their
brand names.
• Statistical analysis and software packages used.
Results
• How the results are presented depends upon whether the
research study was quantitative or qualitative in nature.
• Graphs and tables are commonly used to efficiently
present the data.
• This section should present the results, but NOT discuss
their significance.
Data Analysis
• Quantitative analysis of the data is usually done using
statistics:
 Mean- the average
 Standard deviation- a measure used to quantify the
amount of variation or dispersion of a set of data values.
 Test statistic
 P-value
Test Statistic
• A test statistic is used in a hypothesis test when deciding whether to support
or reject the null hypothesis.
• The test statistic takes your data from an experiment or survey and compares
your results to the results you would expect from the null hypothesis.
• Example:
You think Drug X will cure facial acne. The currently accepted fact (the
null hypothesis) is that about 30% of acne will go away on their
own. You conduct a clinical trial and find that 57% of your patients are
cured with drug X. Is this a significant result? Does the drug work? Is
the 57% a fluke result?
You can answer these questions with a test statistic.
Confidence Levels
• A 0% confidence level means you have no faith at all that if you repeated the
experiment that you would get the same results.
• A 100% confidence level means there is no doubt at all that if you repeated the
experiment you would get the same results.
• In reality, you would never publish the results from a survey where you had no
confidence at all that your statistics were accurate.
• A 100% confidence level does NOT exist in statistics.
• The most common level is 0.95.
• The finding has a 95% chance of being true.
• It is misleading though because it’s not expressed as 0.95 (95%), but rather ".05“
(5%) MEANING the finding has a five per cent (.05) chance of NOT being
true
• In general, the higher the coefficient, the more certain you are that your results
are accurate.
P-Values
• When you perform a hypothesis test in statistics, a p-value helps you determine
the significance of your results.
• P-value is evidence against null hypothesis.
• All hypothesis tests ultimately use a p-value to weigh the strength of the
evidence (what the data are telling you about the population).
• The p-value is a number between 0 and 1 and interpreted in the following way:
1. A small p-value (typically ≤ 0.05) indicates strong evidence (SIGNIFICANT)
against the null hypothesis, so you reject the null hypothesis.
2. A large p-value (> 0.05) indicates weak evidence against the null hypothesis,
so you fail to reject the null hypothesis.
3. If p-values ≤ 0.01, then your data is HIGHLY SIGNIFICANT.
• Therefore, the smaller the p-value, the more important (“significant”) your
results.
P-Values & Confidence Intervals
P-value Meaning

Less than 0.01 (so 99% or more) Null Rejected, Alternate Accepted
(often indicated by ** next to test statistic Hypothesis very highly likely
value) HIGHLY SIGNIFICANT
Between 0.05 and 0.01 (95-99%) Null Rejected, Alternate Accepted
(often indicated by * next to test statistic Hypothesis highly likely
value) SIGNIFICANT
Between 0.10-0.05 (90-95%) Null Accepted, Alternate Rejected
Closer to 0.05 NOT SIGNIFICANT

Greater than 0.10 (less than 90%) Null Accepted, Alternate Rejected
NOT SIGNIFICANT
Discussion/Conclusion
• Depends on the study aims.
 Testing a new technique: discuss strengths and weaknesses,
benefits, etc.
 Study that supports/refutes previous research: thorough
analysis of both the past and current studies, how
different/similar the studies are, implications.
• Reasonable speculation.
• Limitations.
• Future perspectives.
Acknowledgments
• As part of the ethics code in science, EVERYONE who
participated in that research should be acknowledged.
• Funding entities should be clearly mentioned.
References
• CITATIONS ARE A MUST!
• APA & MLA formats.
• APA
Harlow, H. F. (1983). Fundamentals for preparing psychology
journal articles. Journal of Comparative and Physiological
Psychology, 55, 893-896.
• MLA
Bagchi, Alaknanda. "Conflicting Nationalisms: The Voice of the
Subaltern in Mahasweta Devi's Bashai Tudu." Tulsa Studies in
Women's Literature, vol. 15, no. 1, 1996, pp. 41-50.