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Journal articles normally contain the following parts. For each part, try to identify the following:
Click on the different tabs below to expand more information.
Abstract
- The abstract is normally one paragraph that appears before the article.
- The abstract provides a summary of the entire article
- You should read it carefully to determine the following:
- What topic are the authors studying?
- What was their primary finding?
Literature Review
- The literature review is often at the beginning of the article. You can identify it because it contains citations, like “(McCloud and Miller, 2008)”
- The literature review provides information about past studies that have been done on this topic
- You should read it carefully to determine the following:
- What are some of the most important past findings on this topic?
- How have these past studies led the authors to do this particular study?
Methods
- The methods section follows the literature review. It can often be identified because it will have a title of “methods” or “methodology”
- The methods section provides information about the individuals that the authors studied and the way that they conducted their analysis
- You should read it carefully to determine the following:
- Who were the participants in this sample? What makes them unique?
- Is the sample a good representation of the entire population? If not, how are they different?
- Is the study qualitative (based on interviews, ethnography, participant observation, or content analysis), quantitative (based on statistical analysis), or multi-method (includes both qualitative and quantitative analysis)
- Please note: you are not expected to understand the exact methodology used to analyse the study, but you should be able to answer the above questions
Results
- The results section follows the methods. It will often have the title “results” or “findings”
- The results section provides information about what the authors found when they analysed their data
- You should read it carefully to determine the following:
- What were some of the authors’ main findings?
- Please note: you are not expected to be able to read the tables/graphs or to understand the numbers provided by the authors. Instead, you should focus on the text of the results section.
Conclusion/Discussion
- The conclusion or discussion section follows the results section. It will often have the title “conclusion” or “discussion”
- The conclusion or discussion section summarizes the authors’ main findings and explains why the findings are so important
- You should read it carefully to determine the following:
- What were the authors’ overall findings?
- Why are these findings important?
- What limitations of the study do the authors identify (if any)?
- What suggestions for future research do the authors make (if any)?