Reading in Science and Technology
Why read scientific articles?
They contain the most up-to-date information about a field. They also contain information about how experiments were conducted, which can be informative. Finally, of course, they’re interesting!
Two Types of Scientific Writing
1. Review articles
Provide an overview of a field
They are a summary of an experiment or idea
They can be general interest
They combine work of different scientists
2. Experimental reports
They report original data
They discuss methods of research
They show you how experts conduct research
They require more expertise as a reader
Parts of a scientific report
• Abstract
• Introduction
• Materials and methods
• Results
• Discussion
• References
What to expect when you read science papers:
• More complicated vocabulary
• Headings and subheadings to guide you
• Figures and tables that tell part of the story
Steps for reading scientific papers
1. Read the title carefully and think about the topic.
2. Read the abstract. It gives you a complete idea of the report’s contents.
3. Look at the headings and subheadings.
4. Look at the figures and tables.
5. Read more carefully.
6. Look things up you don’t understand.
(Note: You’ll have to do steps #5 and #6 several times.)
Review articles compare to experimental ones in these ways:
• They are often short;
• They also contain an abstract;
• They do not have methods or results sections.