After you have obtained a set of references that pertain to the topic of your research paper, you will need to carefully read and evaluate them. Some references may turn out to be very useful, while others may not. Here we discuss ways to read and evaluate scholarly references, as well as ways to take notes on references.
There are many different ways to read a peer-reviewed journal article or
Some approaches to reading articles include: initially skimming the article by reading the Abstract, examining any Figures and Tables, before accomplishing a more thorough, in-depth, and careful reading of the entire article. Then taking notes or creating a summary of the article before reading it again.1 You might also try creating a list of questions that one uses when reading multiple articles on a given topic. For instance:
A number of professors in this department recommend the QALMRI method (an acronym which stands for Question, Alternatives, Logic, Methods, Results
Write down the broad research question that is being addressed in one sentence. A broad research question is an overall or main question that is often too general to be completely answered by a single study or series of experiments. Then, write down the specific research question that the study will actually answer in one sentence. A specific research question is a focused question that the study can directly address. For example,
What is the authors’ main hypothesis as it relates to the specific question? What would be an alternative hypothesis or hypotheses to the specific question? Write down both types of hypotheses. For example,
How exactly will the study address the specific question? First, identify and write down the dependent and independent variables of the study. For example, a study might have “number of vocabulary words recalled” as the dependent variable and “whether sleep occurred prior to the recall test or not” as the independent variable. Then, write logical statements which relate the study hypotheses to potential results. These should take the form of if-then statements. An example logical statement is, “If sleep supports declarative memory consolidation, then
Write down details of the design of the study, including the participants, how the dependent and independent variables were measured, and the procedure that was used. You should focus on the details which are relevant to the logic of the study.
Write down what was observed in the study. What did the researchers find? Note how reliable or robust the results appeared. Were statistics performed on the results? How likely are the findings due to chance?
What do the findings reveal about the alternatives (that is, the main and alternative hypotheses)? The results should allow ruling out of at least one hypothesis (in most cases). Additionally, what do the findings reveal about the broad and specific research questions? Are there any limitations or unanswered questions?
Overall, the QALMRI method is a useful framework for critically evaluating and interpreting journal articles. It enables readers to focus on the critical aspects of each article that they read by “pulling out” (that is, identifying and writing down) key information. Moreover, it helps readers better understand the scientific merit of research by (a) identifying the underlying logic of a research design, (b) relating data to specific research questions, and (c) evaluating the degree to which the results of a study support various conclusions.
When reading articles, it is often helpful to take notes. As alluded to above, notes can aid the process of critically evaluating an article. Notes can also be valuable when it comes time to preparing to write (or actually writing) the research paper. When taking notes, you might wish to focus on:
Taking notes as you read can expedite the writing process because you do not have to go back to the source articles as often. Instead, if your notes are well-organized and in one place, you can simply refer to them (and go back to the source articles as needed).
How-To Videos
UCSD Resources
QALMRI Resources
External Resources on Evaluating Sources