Welcome back to Easier Science, the blog that aims to make complex scientific concepts more accessible to everyone. Today, we're diving into the world of scientific papers. These documents are the building blocks of scientific progress, but they can sometimes feel like a dense, impenetrable forest of jargon and data. Fear not! In this post, we'll provide you with a compass and a map to navigate this forest and extract valuable knowledge from scientific papers with ease.
The first step in reading a scientific paper is to choose your paper wisely. While this is pretty obvious you would be surprised at how much easier a paper is to read if you find a paper that you enjoy. Additionally, a great way to find a paper that may interest you is by reading the papers Abstract. An Abstract for a scientific paper is basically an overview of the paper and is a quick and easy way to see if a paper aligns with your interest. After reading the abstract you should jump all the way down to the conclusions section in order to quicky understand the result of the experiment. If you want to learn more about how they got their result then I would recommend to finish reading the paper as the other sections(methods, result/figures, and discussion) will take a deep dive into the subject at hand.
However, you may now be asking where do I find scientific papers to read? Well, that depends on what types of papers you are trying to read. For example, if you are trying to read medical research I would recommend a site like PubMed while if you are looking for research for mathematics I would recommend a site like MathSciNet. Finally, if you are unsure what field you want to read about Google Scholar is a comprehensive website that has research papers about nearly any field.
In conclusion, reading scientific papers may seem daunting at first, but with practice and a structured approach, you can unlock a treasure trove of knowledge. Remember, it's perfectly normal to struggle with complex papers—science is a journey of continuous learning. So, go ahead, pick up that scientific paper, and embark on your own adventure in the world of knowledge!
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