Notes Outline for Reading Scientific Papers

BIG PICTURE
What is the hypothesis? (Usually first two sentences of abstract.)


What do the authors conclude? (Usually last sentence of abstract.)


Why is this paper important?


FIGURE 1
Why did they do it?


What did they find?


Methods:


Controls:



FIGURE 2
Why did they do it?


What did they find?


Methods:


Controls:


FIGURE 3
Why did they do it?


What did they find?


Methods:


Controls:



SMALL PICTURE
What did they do right?



What did they do wrong?



Can you think of things that they could have done better?



Do the experiments support the hypothesis?



INTERPRETING THE MANUSCRIPT
What are your conclusions?



Do you agree with the authors?



Have they proven their hypothesis?



What are the next logical steps for them to pursue?



Are there interesting tangents that they could take?