Article reading techniques

Reading Strategies

what to consider

Title and subtitle

Author

Date

Abstract, Introduction or Preface

References, Bibliography, Index

title and subtitle

Title and sub-title: "The Right to Have Rights: Citizenship Practice and the Political Constitution of the EU."

The title is usually shorter; the sub-title often gives more information about the focus.

Author and date

Is the writer well-known in his/ her field? What else has he/ she published? Is the article up to date? If it's from too long ago, chances are some of it may have become irrelevant.

Abstract, introduction and preface

A summary of the contents of the article. This is also where the author often explains his/ her reasons for writing, and also how the text is organised.

references, bibliography and index

References : List of all the sources used and referred to in the text. Bibliography : These are the sources used but not necessarily referred to in text. Index : An alphabetical list of all the topics and names mentioned in a book. If, for example, you are looking for information about a person, the index will tell you if that person is mentioned, and how often.

Abstracts

Abstracts normally have a standard structure, including the following:

• Background position
• Aim and thesis of article
• Method of research
• Results of research

sections

Aim and Thesis

• This study will investigate the relationship between coffee consumption and productivity.
• This study investigates the relationship between coffee consumption and productivity.

Background

• What is already known about the subject, related to the paper in question
• What is not known about the subject and hence what the study intended to examine (or what the paper seeks to present)

sections

Results The most important part of the abstract and nothing should compromise its range and quality. The results section should be the longest part of the abstract and contain as much detail about the findings as the journal word count permits.

Methods It should contain enough information to enable the reader to understand what was done, and how. It gives a quick insight into the overall approach and procedures you used.