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Reading and Evaluating Sources

Introduction

When you come to college you will begin a new reading journey. Your instructors and professors will expect you to read and understand  scholarly  articles that  are much longer and complex than the reading that you now do in high school.  Scholarly articles have a structure, and if you understand this structure it can help you read more efficiently and effectively.

“Reading is the gateway skill that makes all other learning possible, from complex word problems and the meaning of our history to scientific discovery and technological proficiency
President Barak Obama. Literacy and Education in a 21st-Century Economy, American Library Association. June 25, 2005″
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Scholarship as Conversation

Think of Scholarship as a conversation between groups of scholars and researchers. This is the way researchers communicate and discuss their new discoveries, research and findings.  Just like oral communication, written communication has a purpose and most times follows specific formats and protocols.   Reading  scholarly articles  is how we find out what researchers are saying, how are they discussing issues, what are they thinking and who are they communicating with. It is an  iterative process, this means most times we read one paper more than one time until we understand what the scholar (author) is saying.  It is importance to read until you to understand the conversation, and not just to  complete the  reading task.

 

Scholarly articles have a structure. The structure helps the reader make sense of the  researcher’s thoughts, reasoning, results, and inevitably explains the final conclusions of the research.  Using the structure of the article to guide you as you read will help you focus and increase your understanding. All scholarly articles regardless of the discipline have an introduction that outlines the purpose of the paper and  connects  the paper to  related research and contributes to research discussions that are currently or have previously taken place on that subject.   The body of the paper then proceeds to outline the arguments, discussions, research methods, evidence and the results that the scholar has acquired as they carried out their investigations and  exploration.  Most papers then end with some type of discussion  and interpretation of the results, a resolution of the arguments and reasonings, an explanation of their  response,  and  finally a summary conclusion of their research.

Dividing the scholarly article into four broad  sections:

• The Introduction generally tells us WHAT  the  research  is about and WHO  else is involved in conversations about this subject.
• The Body of the paper tells us HOW the research was carried out–was it a scientific study of a population or was it an examination of ideas?–and THE OUTCOME of the exploration.
• The Discussion sections explains the MEANING of the results.
• The Conclusion explains what was learnt  from the research.  Its CONTRIBUTION to the wider scholarly conversation.

When reading scholarly articles, think about what the author is saying in each section, and interrogate the author. Ask questions and try to find out how the paper has addressed your questions. Look at some suggested questions in the slide below.

SCAN:

First take a quick scan of the reading.  The primary purpose is to get an overview of the article to confirm that it is relevant to your research.  You are also looking to see what information is given in each section of the article.

QUESTION

Now is the time to  write down  your initial questions in response to what you already know about the subject, what you have scanned in the article, and what you are curious about.

READ

Now you have an idea of what the paper is about, you can  take a close reading of each section of the article.  Read each section of the article  in this order: Introduction, Discussion and Conclusions, and then the main body of the article. Ask some  more questions and write down  the responses from the paper.

RESPOND

While you are reading, write down your response to the questions  and answers that you have gleaned from the article. Write down any  unanswered questions that you may have. Follow the author’s reasoning, the arguments, the interpretation of results, and add your own interpretation and analysis.  Think of yourself as having a conversation with the author about their views and thoughts.

REVIEW

Now that you have read sections of the article, you should now go back and read the whole article from beginning to end. Making notes, adding more details to your questions and responding to what the author is saying. Continue to read, question and respond to what you are reading. Remember reading is iterative!