如何读一篇科学论文

Starting note: Perhaps the primary difference between reading the scientific literature and reading other kinds of documents is that linear reading is not rewarded. Reading from start to finish is not useful if you don’t extract the information that you need; likewise, you will see people who don’t read start to finish but extract all of the useful information much more quickly. Learn to “read like a scientist” by picking out a clear summary of the most important points in the paper and spot-checking the crucial details.

开始说明：阅读科学文献和阅读其他类型的文章之间的主要区别在于，线性阅读没有得到回报。如果不提取你需要的信息，从头到尾的阅读是没有用的；同样，你会看到那些没有完整阅读的人，可能会更快地提取所有有用的信息。对文中最重要的观点进行清晰的总结，并对重要的细节进行仔细的检查，可以让你学会如何像科学家一样阅读。

FIRST READING – POINTS TO RETAIN

The most important parts of reading a scientific paper is being able to extract:

1. The primary question of the article,
   

2. The claim that is made in response to the question, and
   

3. How the data support that primary claim.
   

读一篇科学论文最重要的是提取出一下3个基本信息

1. 这篇文章的最基本问题是什么

2. 对这一问题的基本论断是什么

3. 数据如何支持这一论断

• Exercise 1: Without looking at the paper, write three sentences: the question, the claim, and the data.
• 练习1：不看论文，试着写下3个句子：问题是什么，论断是什么，数据如何

(Are you happy with these? What did you not encode about the paper?)

• Exercise 2: Pick up the paper and take another 5 minutes to write a new version of these three things.

• 练习2：拿起论文，用5分钟，写下上面三个问题新的版本。

• Exercise 3: Take 3 minutes and find a sentence in the paper that best captures each of these three things.

• 练习3：用3分钟的时间在文章中分别找一个句子最好地描述了这3个问题。

• Exercise 4: Take 1 minute and find the plot or data you’d point to in order to convey the primary finding of the paper. How would you describe this plot/data in a single sentence?

• 练习4：用1分钟的时间找出能够传达这些基本问题的图或数据。你怎么用一句话描述这些图和数据？

Sometimes (but not always) this vital information is in the abstract of a paper. Whether it is will depend on how well the abstract is written, how complex the paper is, etc. But often you will have to dig somewhat deeper. Look especially at the last paragraph of the Intro and first paragraph of the General Discussion.

IN DEPTH READING – ASSESSING THE EXPERIMENT

Methods

Engaging with whether the claims are supported by the experiments in a paper requires the reader to understand the methods of the experiment, ideally in such a way that the reader can imagine being in the experiment.

Exercise 5: Put down the paper. Take 3 minutes to write a few lines about what was it like to be a participant in the experimental condition. (Describe this in the second person, e.g. “you hear a sentence.”) Now, what were the different kinds of trials?

Alternative explanations

Exercise 6: Take 3 minutes and choose an alternative explanation for this claim. Write one to two lines explaining what the authors do to rule out this claim.

Writing an abstract

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1479q2IuedT6yFY3Jzj5xKr4Z5Juvnt-SgVT0fE3nzjs/edit