Reading a research paper

Research paper

The topic that was covered was on how to “read a research paper” the lecturer then explained the importance of a research paper, what is it, and the main points to look at while reading a research paper.

Figure 1.Center for economic research in Pakistan (2014)

According to Blandford (2010) a research paper is not a report that contains lots of facts from different sources, nor is it an essay that expresses a person’s opinion on a subject. As said by Blandford (2010) a research papers is a combination of both where logical facts that are collected; such as statics and examples that were found from various different sources. This information is then used to develop an opinion about the subject that relates to the research. This is done in order to provide evidence to the reader who reads the research paper to agree upon the opinion the author tries to make. This should be clearly documented and referenced. furthermore it states that using other people’s work in a research paper without giving proper credit is considered to be dishonest and unethical and is considered to be cheating and will be plagiarized if found guilty.

As stated in Suny Empire State College (2014) a research paper should be able to argue a particular point by giving evidence based on varies information gathered in a specific topic area. It’s not just a sum up of various sources of information. No matter what research paper is written a research paper should be backed up by others idea and information that is related to the authors thinking.

·         An example of a research could be that a lawyer reads many different cases to support his/her own case.

The lecturer then provided points on how to write a research paper

• Answer questions
• Provide findings
• Detailed analysis of topic/area
• Provide references
• Apply various types of research methods
• Validate findings
• Review literature

According to About Education (2014) these are the few points to be considered while writing a research paper

• Exploring a topic
• Narrowing your topic
• Collecting your research
• Developing a thesis
• Writing a paper
• Editing the paper
• Proofreading the paper
• Writing a bibliography or reference list
• Formatting the paper

Initial guidelines for how to read a paper

Read critically

While reading other research papers there might be instances where the author who wrote the research paper does not provide the correct information, therefore all research papers cannot be always correct. Always make sure to be suspicious about what the author has written and ensure it’s the right information provided.

Critical reading involves looking at possible questions while reading the research paper, some examples are is the author solving the problem, how is the author solving it, are there different or simple methods to overcome the problem etc. always ensure that questions are formed and criticized while writing reading a research paper (Harvard School of engineering and applied sciences 2014).

Read creatively

Criticizing a research paper might seem easy whereas reading it creatively involves positive thinking. For an instance by reading the research paper you can identify the good ideas that are proposed, the possible improvements, the benefits, do the applications have any additional extensions, will this be a good point to start, what would the next step to be taken etc. (Harvard School of engineering and applied sciences 2014)

Make notes as you read the paper

A good practice while reading a research paper is making notes, this can be in many ways. The simplest way is to highlight the important points, write down any questions you have, underline key points made, mark important data analysis, this would provide an insight to the paper as well as it will help the party who is re-reading the paper after a period of time to understand it with ease. This is a good method while doing a long term research (Harvard School of engineering and applied sciences 2014).

After the first read-through, try to summarize the paper in one or two sentences

The authentic and good research paper tries to provide an answer to a specific question. If you have successfully identified the question then it’s time to focus on the main idea, once this is done the next step is to summarize the research paper into one or two sentences. By doing so you can identify the more specific details of the research paper, Furthermore you can also summarize the important points that the research paper contains (Harvard School of engineering and applied sciences 2014).

If possible, compare the paper to other works.

 “Summarizing the paper is one way to try to determine the scientific contribution of a paper.” But to get a clear idea its best to compare the paper with other papers in the same area, by doing so you can identify new ideas, new techniques which weren't available at the time the author conducted his/her research. In addition to that by comparing different research papers in the same area can help identify what type of contribution a particular research paper makes (Harvard School of engineering and applied sciences 2014).

Defining and analysing the problem

The lecturer then gave the students a handout on “defining and analysing the problem”. The first task to be done is to identify the nature of the problem “what is the problem?”  a problem is basically the difference between what is, and what might or should be. The problem could be a serious one or not at all that serious, the foundation is to identifying the nature of the problem in order to lay an effective solution.

After that the problem should be clarified this is done by understanding that the problem and knowing that something is wrong, and by doing so it is the starting point of clarifying a problem. Continued by information gathering based on the problem; collection of any type of information that relates to the problem, these would most likely fall into the following categories.

• Facts
• Interference
• Speculation
• Opinion

When collecting information you will most likely collect all these types of information to support the problem; then it’s best to define the problem based on the information that is gathered. the next step is writing the problem statement.

After this is done the next is to decide on the problem solution. Based on the problem in hand then the step to take is finding an appropriate solution. This is done by analyzing the problem, answering any questions that exist about the problem, continuously asking questions, agree on the root cause of the problem.

Learning outcomes

• Understanding of how to read a research paper
• The purpose of writing a research paper; to support a opinion with evidence
• Importance of crediting/citing appropriate authors in a research paper
• Important points to consider while writing/reading a research paper
• Understanding on how to define a problem, clarify it, gather information, find a solution