Learning Commons at the
The abstract is a summary of the article. It briefly talks about the research, results, and conclusions. Below are 2 examples.
Sample images for each section were taken from the following:
References
Facco, E., & Zanette, G. (2017). The Odyssey of Dental Anxiety: From Prehistory to the Present. A Narrative Review. Frontiers
in Psychology, 8, 1155. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01155
Valencia, C., Currier, K., Lindsay, S., Lemperis, P., Hughes, T., & Sowers, J. (2018). Levels of Arousal in Positive Moods: Effects
on Motor Performance. The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy, 6(3). https://doi.org/10.15453/2168-6408.1447
This section introduces the reader to the study and discusses background/historical information about the research/topic. Below are 2 examples. One is labeled as the introduction and the other had no label but it is also located at the beginning of the article.
The Literature Review section talks about existing studies and how they relate to the research in the article. As you can see in the examples below, there are different ways of writing your literature review. Some include it in the introduction and some create separate sections by topic.
The Methodology tells the reader how the researcher(s) conducted their research: who the subjects are, what kinds of tests they used, the testing conditions, etc. Below is a sample methods section. Some articles may not have a specific section.
The Results show what was discovered in the research. This section usually includes charts/graphs to show the data. Below is an example results section.
The discussion summarizes the research findings. The author's will discuss any issues that arose during the study and they will discuss how their research proved, or didn't prove, their thesis. Below is a sample discussion section.
The conclusion restates the findings and results. This is also the time when the author will talk about holes in the research and future research. Below are 2 sample conclusions.
The references/bibliography section lists all of the sources you used in your research. This usually includes articles, books, websites, etc. Make sure to use the appropriate citation style for your class. Below are 2 examples of reference listings.
Reading Diagram - Handout
Cunningham, April and Hannon, Richard (2013)"Academic Reading Diagram Handout." Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Additional Resources
- Fitchburg State: Reading a Scholarly Research ArticleTalks about the sections of an article, tips on which sections to read first, and how to use citations to get a better idea of the information covered in the article.
- VIDEO: Western University-How to Read an ArticleVideo that explains the parts of an article.
- Bridgewater College: How to Read a Scholarly ArticleIncludes a video and additional resources.