Active reading

Journal articles usually provide information on a specific research topic and are often subject to review by discipline experts before publication. Learn more about this expert review process in the Peer Review Resource Guide. Sometimes you may hear journal articles called academic articles, scholarly articles, or peer-reviewed articles.

Journal articles have a distinctive structure. Typical sections are:

• Title
• Author details and affiliations
• Abstract
• Introduction or Literature Review
• Methodology
• Findings
• Discussion
• Conclusion
• Reference list

Understanding this structure can help you speed through an article to evaluate it for your need. The good news is that you don’t have to read every word to make that decision. Abstracts and Conclusions are good places to start with when reading articles!

For help with reading journal articles take a look How to Read a Paper.

Check out the slides below to learn about what information is provided in each section of an academic article.

Experimental or design paper journal articles are focused on an approach to a problem. The article should state the problem and put forward an idea to test a hypothesis through a scientific process. Most published articles are peer-reviewed which means they generally higher quality. You can find information about a journal's peer review process on their homepage. You can also look for submission guidelines to see how the review process is managed. Learn more about this in the Peer Review Guide.

When selecting papers to read, read through the abstracts first to identify readings to focus on.

When selecting papers to read, scan the Abstracts first to identify readings to focus on. Skim read the article and analyse it as a whole. You can look for section headings, figures, and tables. Start with reading the Findings section. If this is helpful for your assessment then read the article more comprehensively.

When reading this type of research, make sure you familiarise yourself with abbreviations and key terminology early on.

These journal articles are a review of published experimental or design papers about a problem. Different research is critically compared and evaluated.

Reading review articles can be a good way to get the scope of research done on a problem. Remember to check for any biases or how relevant the focus of the article is for your assessment needs.

Like experimental or design papers, when selecting papers to read, read through the Abstracts first to identify readings to focus on.

Review articles can be a good way to identify other key readings in their Reference lists!

Books usually compile broad research on a subject area. They are a great starting point for an overview of your topic or background information. E-books are books that are available online or digitally. You can learn more on our e-book help page.

If a book is on your reading list be sure to check which sections of the book you need to read. Often particular chapters or pages are set as readings. Your Reading List should tell you what you need to read.

Most books have a Contents Page towards the start of a book. This is a good place to start if you are looking for particular concepts, topics, or chapters.

At the back of the book there is often an Index. You can look up key concepts or words in the Index to see what pages cover this content. Words are organised in alphabetical order. This is helpful when starting to undertake readings for your assessments.

Some books have a Glossary of terms. If a book has a Glossary you can look up key concepts or words in alphabetical order for a definition and explanation of the word. This can help you with understanding key concepts in your field.

Most books provide the publishing information you need to reference after the Title Page. This is often called the Reverse Title Page or Copyright Page. If the book is edited and has different authors for each chapter, then reference it as a chapter in an edited book. If the whole book is written by the same author(s), then reference it as a book.

For help with reading books take a look How to read a book.

Conference papers are based on presentations given by researchers and typically focus on new or cutting-edge research. These papers may be published in conference proceedings, in journal articles, or another online format.

Use the same approach when reading conference papers that you do when reading journal articles.

Most reports have a Contents Page towards the start of the report, this is a good place to start if you are looking for particular concepts or topics.

There are different types of reports, including those produced by Governments, industry bodies, companies, and other organisations. Reports have corporate or collective authors, such as a Government department or company board. They can be a good source of data. Reports usually include a summary of findings on a specific topic, often recommending changes in policy, guidelines, or behaviours.

You can look for overview sections or Executive Summaries to get a general idea of the report.

News articles can provide details of cultural, economic, political, and social issues. They are not considered scholarly information. They are written by journalists and may be biased.

News articles may help you see how people viewed an event when it happened. Importantly, news articles provide multiple points of view about an issue, particularly if you read widely.

If you have been given an article to read on your reading list you may be interested in seeing what other news sources reported on this issue. You can explore the Library A-Z Journals and Newspapers to discover more.