Description: Tutor Christy reflects back on the very beginning of university as a Biomedical Science undergraduate student when she was faced with the seemingly daunting task of comprehending scientific literature. Here’s a description to her experience.
Met with the obstacle of not knowing where to start, with the pages upon pages of writing littered with unfamiliar scientific jargon, my hours of input in the library were futile. Before I knew it, I had spent an entire day reading research publications but with no overall progress. It was not long until I grew weary and became disheartened.
By asking my peers and academic professionals, I gained a few tips on the matter and thereafter, devised an optimal method for myself. It is imperative to appreciate that the skill is one which definitely takes time and experience to refine. Nevertheless, I hope this article sheds some light if you are struggling or even if you are just looking for some additional information.
Where to begin?
A successful researcher challenges the frontier on what is already known, but the first step to achieve this is to be aware of where the frontier lies. This can prove to be extremely demanding especially in the constantly evolving scientific field.
The first and arguably the most fundamental step is to familiarise yourself with the various forms of scientific literature. This umbrella term encompasses two main categories of publications: primary and secondary. Primary sources present original research (i.e. clinical trials) and are generally published as peer-reviewed journal articles. Secondary sources (i.e. review articles and meta-analyses) provide a summary with the use of primary research.
Making use of scientific articles
Conducting my very own research project in my final year really placed things into perspective and the significance of published articles was apparent early on. By identifying the gaps in knowledge in my specific subject area, I was able to tailor my project to provide some novel results.
The two types of scientific articles I concentrated on were research and review articles. By initially focusing on the latter type, I was able to attain a broad understanding of the subject area. Despite not delivering any new information, review articles provide a summary using all the relevant research available at the time.
It is for this exact reason, that they are limiting in their usefulness as they only offer a snapshot of the topic in question. Yet, it acts as a starting point, giving a sense of the consensus, debates, and conjectures within the field at the time that they are published.
Once I increased in confidence, I proceeded to research articles. This allowed a deeper insight into one specific research study. They are distinctively structured, with the main body of text divided into the following sections:
- Abstract (structured): a summary of each of the sections below.
- Introduction: outlines the significance of the study, addressing limitations in research conducted to date and states the research objective(s).
- Methods: explains how the study was performed, from sampling and data collection methods to data analysis techniques. It includes adequate detail to allow for replication of the study, if desired.
- Results: describes the data collected, often diagrammatically displayed as charts or graphs and any statistical analysis performed.
- Discussion/Conclusion: contextualises the results obtained to the research objective(s).
I was able to utilise the methods, data, and interpretations from these primary research papers to not only optimise my protocols, but to troubleshoot when I reached a stumbling block. Additionally, it aided in the process of writing up my own dissertation, in terms of structuring and prose.
Final tips
The most effective way to prevent feeling overwhelmed is by knowing what to search for. Using appropriate search engines alleviate the unnecessary stress of filtering search results to your subject area. For instance, PubMed is an interface used to search the MEDLINE database, specifically for literature relating to biomedicine and life sciences.
When accessing literature, it can be useful to take note of the author(s) to explore other scientific research that they may have been involved in. Similarly, pay attention to the reference list and the literature that has been cited. It may be of relevance to you, to go back to the original research papers, however, be extremely cautious of publication dates to ensure your academic writing stays current.