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