File:Top advice researchers would give someone reading (a) scientific paper(s) for the first time.png

English: "Thematic analysis of advice researchers gave to someone reading a scientific paper for the first time"

"Experienced researchers recommend a selective approach to scientific reading"

"A more detailed qualitative analysis of the responses identified four major themes of the advice; reading selectively within a paper, practical suggestions for reading the paper, reading critically and reading with a specific purpose or question in mind (Table 1). 60 of the 88 participants recommended selective reading, with 28 researchers advising reading the paper in a specific order. There was no clear consensus within the responses of which order the sections of a paper should be prioritised in, although starting with the abstract (n = 16) and figures (n = 6) were the most common suggestions. Some researchers recommended reading the abstract, then looking at the figures then reading the text, while others recommended starting with the abstract, then reading the introduction and discussion before looking at the figures. Some recommended prioritising particular sections of the paper (e.g. figures, n = 7) without giving specific instructions on which order the paper should be read in. Others did not make reference to particular sections, but gave more general advice such as identifying the key questions or hypotheses of the paper (n = 8). Some survey participants recommended ignoring the methods section of the paper altogether (n = 3)."

"A pilot survey of both students and researchers was designed to answer the following lines of enquiry for both students and researchers:

• How frequently did participants read scientific papers?
• How did participants feel about reading scientific papers?
• How easy to read did participants find different sections of papers?
• How important did participants think different sections of papers were?
• [Students only] How much training had they had in reading papers?
• [Researchers only] What advice would they give to someone reading a paper for the first time."

Note that what is referred to could be most common approach which can deviate heavily per case or e.g. depending on purpose. This is basically a list of tips of things that are often useful to apply when reading papers.