How to Read a Scientific Paper

What is a scientific paper? ………………………..…….. 2 
Scientific papers are peer‐reviewed....……….....… 3
Anatomy of a scientific paper ……………………….... 4
How to read a scientific paper ………………………… 5
Ethics in research and publishing ………………….... 6
Understanding numerical data ……….…………….… 7
What does “statistical significance” mean? ....... 8
Case study: Buy My Oranges ……………..……………..9
Appendix: Numerical analysis .....……………….... 12
Additional resources and credits  ………………… 13
 What is a scientific paper?
Scientific papers go straight to the use in new ways to address different
source questions.
If someone asks you about a new
movie you haven’t seen yet, what do The authors of scientific papers also
you say? Maybe, “I haven’t seen it, but provide an interpretation of what they
I’ve heard it’s good.” We generally try to think their new information means and
distinguish first-hand from second-hand how it contributes to our understanding
of how the natural world works. By
presenting the data itself as well as the
analysis, other authors can evaluate
these interpretations for themselves.
Because our understanding is always
changing, sometimes the
interpretations of the data can be re-
evaluated in light of new ideas and new
data.

Society needs scientific literature

Much scientific research is publicly
funded, and the knowledge and
information. Like the children’s game of technologies that emerge from
“telephone,” information can change as research have social impacts.
it is passed along. To get the real story, Traditionally, the output from scientific
whether a film review or the results of a research has been published in
new research study, go to the source. journals that are not widely available
outside of university libraries, but in the
Scientific papers present data and past decade there has been a trend
interpretations toward increasing openness in science
Scientists report the results of their and a desire to make research articles
research by writing and publishing more broadly available. However, it is
scientific papers, which are written in a not sufficient to make these resources
very formal style. One of the objectives available, as in many cases they are
of a scientific paper is to make written for experts and practicing
available the data from a set of studies scientists and therefore not readily
so that others can learn from them and comprehensible to those who haven’t
build on them to address new been trained in the discipline. We’ve
questions. By publishing and sharing written this article as a guide to help
data, scientists work together to people learn to read the scientific
advance our understanding. Some literature, with the goal of increasing
articles include results from a few access to science and communication
targeted studies, and others present about science.
large datasets that other scientists can

Copyright 2013 American Society of Plant Biologists. www.aspb.org 
 
 Sc
cientiific paper
p rs are
e pee
er-rev
view
wed
Peer revieew is a trad
dition in sccholarly e performe
be ed or that the analysis of the
publication. Prior to publication n, an article re
esults be re
evised.
is evaluated by othe er experts, usually
anonymou usly, and these evalu uations are e Most of the articles of the “masss media”
M
used to im
mprove the e paper. Th he reviewers (n
newspaperrs, magazin nes, and blogs)
b are
may recom mmend tha at additional data be noot subject to
t peer revview. Altho ough they
collected and analyzzed or thatt claims no ot an be effecctive at intrroducing scientific
ca
well suppoorted by thhe data be removed. to
opics to a broader
b audience, the ey are not
allways sufficiently cauutious in th
heir
In the stan
ndard
process, sshown
to the righ
ht, the
authors suubmit
their papeer to a
journal edditor,
who evalu uates
whether thhe topic
is a good match
for the jou
urnal. If
so, the paaper is
sent to tw
wo or
more expe erts,
who read it and
provide thheir
frank evalluations, annalysis of the
t results of the stud dy and
including wwhether thhe conclusiions are ometimes overstate the
so t conclussions. For
supported d by the evvidence andd whether exxample, the mass me edia often states
the study is novel, immportant, and
a th
hat high fruuctose cornn syrup cau uses
g. The edittor forward
interesting ds the obbesity, alth
hough there e is little co
onvincing
commentss to the authors, alon ng with a daata to supp aim. Similarly, a
port this cla
decision to accept th he paper, to requestt re
esearch rep port might show that under
revision, o
or to rejectt it. la
aboratory conditions,
c a new dru ug slows
th
he rate of growth
g of cultured
c cancer cells,
The role oof the revie
ewer is to evaluate
e th
he buut the med dia may describe it ass a new
experimen ntal design
n and the data
d cu
ure for can ncer.
presented d, as well as
a the interrpretation of
o
the resultss. Sometimmes, the reeviewer will If you want to
t know more about a news
find that th
he experimmental desiign was no ot re
eport on a scientific breakthroug
b gh, find
rigorous eenough to support
s the
e th
he original, peer-revie
ewed articlle and
interpretations made e by the au uthors, in re
ead what thhe researcchers actuaally
which casse the revieewer mightt diiscovered.
recommend that add ditional expperiments
 Anatomy of a scientific paper
TITLE
AUTHOR INFORMATION
 
  ABSTRACT: A summary of the study and findings,
 
   
written by the author.

INTRODUCTION: A statement of what is currently

 
known about the study subject that articulates the
  questions being investigated. It cites other
 
scholarly works, lays the foundations for the study,
 
  and sometimes states a hypothesis to be tested.
 
 
RESULTS: A description of the
research conducted and the results
obtained.  

 
Results are presented as tables,
 
large datasets, and figures, which  Figure legend
 
  can include graphs, videos,
  diagrams, and photographs.
   
Some papers include additional
supporting data as a supplement.
 
  DISCUSSION: An analysis and interpretation of the
data presented that integrates the new information
     
with prior findings, states the implications of the
 
work, and sometimes generates new hypotheses
 
tobe tested.

METHODS: A description of how the studies were

 
conducted, with sufficient detail so that others can
  repeat them exactly.
   

 
REFERENCES: The list of the articles cited in
 
the paper that provide information on the research
topic and the methods used.
 How
w to read
r a sciientiffic pa
aper
Although scientific papers
p see em short, off the Results. Once you’ve
y read
d the
they are qquite dense e, and it takes a bit of
o auuthors’ con
nclusions and
a interprretations,
time and eeffort to rea
ad one! He ere are a goo back to the
t Resultss section to
o examine
few tips to
o help you get used to t the format th
he data on which theyy based their
and make e sense of the paper. co
onclusionss.

Read the Title Read the Results

R R andd Methods s
The title sshould indiccate the to
opic of the The Results s section describes th he
research, including thet name of o the exxperimentss carried out and the data
subject orrganism. obbtained. Bee sure to examine
e the figures
annd tables as
a you read d through tthe text.
Read the Abstract D the data support th
Do he authors’
The abstrract should summarizze the co
onclusionss? The Metthods sectiion
question bbeing addrressed, the
e approach
h prrovides mo ore informaation aboutt the
taken, andd the majo
or findings and
a their exxperimentss and statisstical methhods,
significancce. in
ncluding cittations to other
o papers that
deescribe staandard methods. Som me of the
Read the Introducttion m
methods an
nd terminology in thesse
The Introdduction secction of thee paper will se
ections ma ay be unfam miliar, but yyou can
provide thhe necessa ary backgro ound offten find more
m mation in other online
inform
informatioon to help you
y undersstand the so
ources or a textbook.
goals of th
he study and why the e study is
important and intere esting. It also will cite
e Look at the e Referenc ces
references to previo ous publica ations and The cited reeferences can
c lead yo ou to
other relevant work. The refere ences with hin ad
dditional in
nformation that may h help you
the text arre often citted by auth
hor and nderstand the paper.. Often the
un ese
year, but ssometimes s by a nummber. The re
eferences can
c be found through ha
complete citation forr each refe erence is hyyperlink in the online
e article.
found at th t paper. If you are
he end of the
reading thhe paper online, there e are oftenn Look at Citting Article es
hyperlinkss to the citeed referencces. A online arrticle that has
An h been p published
a year or more ag go usually
Read the Discussio on lists links to articles that
Most peop ple find tha
at the have ciited it. Thiss
paper is e
easier to informa ation is use
eful
understannd if they reead it becaus se from theese
out of order and rea ad the papers you can fiind out
Discussioon section ofo the how oth her authorrs interpret
paper beffore the Re esults the results and co onclusionss
The Discussion
section. T of the paper
p you are
summarizzes the find dings reading g and how other
of the rese
earch and studiess have exte ended
explores tthe implicaations these findings.
f
 Etthics
s in resea
r arch and
a p
publishin
ng
Scientific research anda publish hing are R
Resources
governed by ethical principles and a cod de Th
he America an Society of Plant Biologists
of conducct. Researcchers and authors
a has develo oped a suite of policiess for ethics
must carryy out their work with honesty, in publishiing:
integrity, ffairness, and respectt. Serious (http://www w.aspb.org//publication ns/editoriale
e
thics.cfm).
misconduct, such ass data fabrrication,
Th
he US Offic ce of Resea arch Integrrity (ORI;
falsificatio
on, or plagiarism, is ra
are, but ca
an
http://ori.h
hhs.gov/). One
O of the manym
make hea adlines. training toools the ORI has develo oped is an
interactivee video dramma called “T The Lab,”
Journal edditors and reviewers are held to o in which th he viewer selects a cha aracter andd
a code of conduct thhat requires they makes cho oices as ann issue of reesearch
suspend ttheir persoonal biasess and act as misconduct unfolds
objectivelyy as possib
ble. For exxample, a (http://ori.h
hhs.gov/TheLab/TheLa ab.shtml).
reviewer hhas to trea
at the unpublished Th
he Committtee on Pub blication Etthics
work as confidentiall and cannot pass (COPE; htttp://publica ationethics.oorg/)
along the informatioon to otherss. The provides guidelines,
g t
training, and codes of
conduct fo or editors annd publishe ers of peer-
reviewer a o fairly evaluate the
also has to
reviewed journals.
j
work in the paper, even
e if it thrreatens to
Th
he Scientificc Research Society Sig gma Xi
“scoop” or contradicct the reviewer’s own has a wea alth of resou
urces aboutt ethics in
work. research anda publish hing
(http://www w.sigmaxi.oorg/program ms/ethics/in
dex.shtml). A set of six
s essays on o ethics
published in its journa al American n Scientist
is availablle as a free PDF
(http://www w.sigmaxi.oorg/program ms/ethics/F
orTheRec cord.pdf).
Th
he U.S. Nattional Acad demies of Sciences
S
has publisshed a bookk called On Being a
Scientist: A Guide to Responsiblle Conduct
in Researrch, which iss free to dow wnload and d
includes in nteresting case
c studiess for
discussion n
(http://www w.nap.edu/catalog.php p?record_id d
=12192).
Scientific misconducct undermines the
public’s trrust, disruppts the proggress of
research, and if und detected, can lead to
wasted effforts as others try to build on
unsubstan se, or fabricated
ntiated, fals
claims. Many organizations ha ave
developed d materialss that explicitly define
e
ethical guidelines an nd that cann be used
for trainingg young sc cientists; a few of
these are listed belo ow.
 Understa
andin
ng nu
umerrical data
Scientistss use manyy complementary an
nd distributtion of the values aree very
methods iin their inveestigationss and often
n diffferent in each
e sample. (These data are
include nuumerical da ata. For exxample, a represented as a histo ogram, in w
which the
scientist w
who wants to develop p drought- x-aaxis showss the value e of the
tolerant sooybeans might
m countt the numbber me easuremen nt, and the
e y-axis sho
ows how
of seeds p produced by
b the stan ndard and ma any times that measu urement was
w
drought-toolerant varriety, or mig
ght quantiffy co
ounted).
the amount of oil or protein contained in
those see eds. Thhe standarrd deviatio on of the mean
m
Thhe standard deviation n of the me
ean (often
Numerica al data are very powe erful but can simmply called
d the stand dard deviattion) is a
be easily misunders stood or me easuremen nt of how much
m
misrepressented. The e methodss used to thee set of da
ata varies
analyze numerical datad must be
b arround the mean.
m The
appropriate for the method
m useed to collect staandard devviations of the
the data, tthe distribu
ution of the
e data daata sets beelow are 3.2 2,
values, annd the para ameters measured. 133, and 23, from
f left to
o
When me easurements are colle ected from rig
ght. The mo ore spread d out
independe ent sample es, the valu
ues can be e thee data, the
e larger the e
used to deetermine th he average e value and d staandard devviation. On n the
also how much varia ation theree is in the rig
ght, we’ve represente ed
sample po opulation. thee mean of each sample
ass a bar of height
h 10, with
w
The arithmetic mea an ann error bar that extends
The arithmmetic mean n is the vallue we beeyond the mean
m by one
o
usually haave in mind d when we e talk aboutt staandard devviation.
an averag ge. It is calculated byy adding upp
the value of each measurement and he simplest way to
Th
dividing th
he sum by the numbe er of ca e standard deviation is to use
alculate the
measurem ments. a spreadshe
s eet program
m like Exceel (see the
Ap
ppendix forr more info
ormation).
Sometime es the mea an value caan also Clearly, a sinngle value such as th
he mean
coincidently be the most
m commmon value dooes not con nvey enouggh informaation to be
(the mode e) or fall rig
ght in the middle
m of th
he infformative on
o its own.. A measurre of the
range of vvalues (the e median), but not va
ariation of the
t data, such as thee standard
always. For example e, the mea an of each of deeviation, is also necessary and should be
the three datasets shown
s belo
ow is 10 inccluded in a research article.
(indicated
d by a red arrow),
a butt the rangee

5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
5 50 55 60 65 70
0 75
 Wha
at doe
es “sttatistiical siignific
cance
e” mean?
whhich is the probability
p that the nu
ull
Significan nt, but stattistically significant?
s ? hyypothesis iss true. By convention, biologists
When com mparing sam mples or po opulations, typ
pically rejecct the null hypothesis
h if p<0.05.
the differences in me easured vallues can be e Thhat is, unlesss p<0.05, there is no o differencee
small but nevertheles
n ss meaning gful. To beetween the samples, and a the alte ernative
determine if observed difference es are hyypothesis (tthat the sam mples are different)
d iss
meaningfu ul, scientists use statisstical tests. If rejjected.
a measure ed differenc ce is suppoorted by thee
statistical ttest, it can be said tha
at the W
When we apply the t-tesst on our height
difference between th he sampless is sa
amples, the e calculated d p-value iss 0.5.
“statistica ally signifiicant.” Notte that this Thherefore, we do not re eject the null
does not m mean that the t differen nce is real, hyypothesis, and
a we con nclude that there is
just that th
here is a strrong probability that th he noo statisticallly significan
nt differencce between
samples a are differentt. thee heights of
o people att the west-sside
resstaurant (WWR) and the e east-side e
Taller, or not? resstaurant (EER).
As an example, let’s see if peop ple who livee
on the easst side of toown are talller than tho
ose W
We can also measure the height of o people
on the wesst side of toown. It wouuld be in a school ca afeteria in the
t west side of town
extremely difficult to measure th he height of
o (W
WS). In this s sample, th he mean an nd
every persson in the town, so insstead we willw staandard dev viation of th
he heights measured
m
measure a subset off people and then apply at the school are 145.4 cm (18). We W can
a statistica
al test to he pret the data.
elp us interp coompare thes se values tot those me easured at
thee west-side e restauran nt, which haad a mean
We measu ure the heig
ght of 20 pe eople at fasst- of 163.0 cm (11).
( Now when
w we apply the t-
food restaurants on the
t east or west side of o tesst to these samples, the result iss p<0.05.
town and ccalculate thhe mean an nd standard d Thherefore, we reject the e null hypotthesis and
deviation of
o each sam mple (the standard
s saay that the difference
d in height be
etween
deviation is
i often indicated in pa arenthesess peeople at WR R and at WSW is
following tthe mean). On the west side of staatistically significant. In
I the *
town, the m mean of measured he eights is graaph to the right, the mean
m
163.0 cm (11) and on n the east, 163.3 cm vaalues and standard de eviations
(11). Theyy don’t look
k different, but
b are theyy? forr the three samples are
To find out, we can use
u a statistical test th hat shhown. To indicate that
is common nly used to compare twot sets of me easured va alues in thee WS
related but unlinked data,
d called
da saample differr significanttly, we
Student’ss t-test (whhich can be done in higghlight them m with a staar.
Excel; seee the Appen ndix).
Sttatistically
y significan nt, but sign nificant?
By conven ntion, a t-test calculate
es the Ju
ust because e a result iss statisticallly
probabilityy that the null hypoth hesis is true
e. meeaningful doesn’t
d mak ke it important. Is it
The null hyypothesis states
s that the two ne
ewsworthy to t find that school kids are
samples a are the sam me. The alteernative horter than adults?
sh
hypothes sis is that th
he two sam mples are
different. The outputt of a t-test is a p-valuue,
 Cas
se stu
udy: Buy my oran
o ges
You like frresh orangge juice, an
nd you also
o Iff I haven’t convin
nced youu to buy
like to gett some vita
amin C in th
he morningg. m orang
my ges, how can I coonvince
I have devveloped a new varietty of
y
you? Whaat other question
q ns do
oranges, BETTER (B), that I’m m marketing
based on their highe er-than-usuual vitamin
n
y
you have? How would
w youu get
C contentt. y
your ques
stions an
nswered d?

You’ve alwways boug ght AVERA AGE (A)

oranges, but when youy go to the farmers s
market, yoou notice me
m selling the new
variety. To
o show you u how ama azing my
oranges a eze the juice from an
are, I squee n

A and a B orange an nd let you taste themm

both. They’re both delicious,
d a you
and
don’t noticce any diffe
erence in their
t flavorr.
They alsoo produce exactly
e the
e same
volume off juice per orange.
o

Now I use e my portabble spectroophotometer

and an inddicator dyee, which re
eacts with
vitamin C to give a color
c that in
ndicates thhe
amount off vitamin C in the juicce. I show
you the reesults. The
e data show w that A ha
as
18.3 mg o of vitamin C per 100 ml
m juice,
and B hass 19.8 mg ofo vitamin C per 100
ml juice.

Given tha
at the juice from B tasstes just ass
good, andd the orangges producce the sam me
amount off juice, butt B produce
es more
vitamin C, will you start
s buying
g B insteadd
of A? Whyy or why no ot?
Are they really diffferent? caan begin too figure out which of these
You proba ably are cooncerned th hat the sccenarios iss supportedd.
differencee between the amoun nts of
vitamin C in the two juices is faairly small A histogram m plot showwing the me easured
(B has abbout 8% mo ore than A)) and vitamin C va alues from type A (blue) and
wonder if that differe
ence is reaal or tyype B (orannge) for the
e two differrent
random. M Maybe I jusst got luckyy and sccenarios iss shown be elow. Just looking
l at
picked a B orange with
w a sligh htly higher- thhe data, wee can get a sense tha at the
than-averrage level of
o vitamin C.
C You vaalues for B tend to bee higher thhan the
probably wwant to knoow if the difference I vaalues for A in the botttom plot, but
b we can
observed is repeata able and wh hether a acctually asssign a certa
ainty to thiss
small diffe ess than 10% has an
erence of le ny in
nterpretatioon by analyyzing the numbers.
n
real mean ning. In
n the first dataset,
d the
e mean (wiith the
It is possible to answ
wer both thhese sttandard de eviation shoown in parrentheses)
questionss by measu uring the vitamin C off A and B respectivel
r ly are 18.9
95 (0.67)
content froom severa al oranges of each annd 19.09 (0 he second dataset,
0.67). In th
variety annd analyzinng the meaan and th
he values are
a
standard d deviation of
o both datasets. 188.39 (0.39)) and
199.44 (0.35)). The *
Let’s look at two sce enarios. In one, the Student’s t-ttest
two types of oranges are not really
r coonfirms tha at the
different a
and I just got lucky. We’ll
W call th
hat seecond data aset
the null hyypothesis, meaning thatt there is re
eally is diffe
erent:
no difference. In thee alternativve p<<0.05, whe ereas
hypothesiis, the two types of oranges are e fo
or the first set,
s
different. If we meas sure the vittamin C p==0.5.
content off lots of diffferent oran
nges, we 18 -
Therefore, by repeating the depend on the conditions in which it was
measurement, we can work out whether grown. Perhaps next year the vitamin C
the two samples are different or the level will not be different between A and
same. Because scientists regularly B. It would be nice to see a difference that
measure small but meaningful extends over more than one harvest
differences, replication, numerical season and more than one growing
analyses, and statistical testing are region.
essential tools for scientists.
Science provides us with a set of very
Other considerations powerful tools with which to understand
Which of these statements are supported the world, but our knowledge accrues in
by this study? small steps. Any single study provides an
incremental advancement, but also lays
 B oranges are healthier. the groundwork for further studies.
 If I eat B oranges I will get fewer colds.
 B oranges are a better value. Caveat emptor
 B oranges always have more If you wanted to buy a car, you wouldn’t
vitamin C. take the advice of the salesperson on the
car lot, would you? You would first do a
The answer is that none of these side-by-side analysis of the cars you like
statements are supported by the data to compare fuel efficiency, safety ratings,
presented in this study. Based on the and the reputation of the manufacturer.
distribution of values shown in the An educated consumer makes good
second, “alternative hypothesis,” dataset choices by looking at evidence. We are all
our study showed that there is slightly consumers of science, whether it informs
more vitamin C on average in the B our decisions about voting, health care,
oranges, but any claims beyond that are eating, purchases, energy use, or merely
unjustified extrapolations. To investigate how we understand the world. Although
these issues, we would have to design the scientific literature can be a bit
and perform additional experiments. We daunting, it is an important resource.
could also examine the scientific literature Learning to read scientific papers
to investigate the relationship between empowers you to cut through the
vitamin C consumption and the incidence hyperbole and hype, to see for yourself
of colds. Furthermore, the characteristics the evidence that lies behind the claims,
of a fruit are somewhat variable and and to draw your own informed
conclusions from the studies.
 Appendix – Numerical analysis
Here are the numbers graphed on the Here are the numbers used on the page
page titled “Understanding numerical titled “What does ‘statistical significance’
data.” mean?”
  West 
  Graph 1  Graph 2  Graph 3 East  Rest.  West Rest.  School 
  4  0  0    154  182  125 
  5  0  0  166 166  140
  6  0  0 
  172  159  136 
  7  1  0
  148  155  160 
  7  1  0 
  8  1  0    158  143  125 
  8  2  0  173 177  150
  8  2  0  161 156  158
  9  2  0   180  172  136 
  9  2  0    175  168  124 
  9  4  0    155  165  180 
  10  6  0 
159 145  172
  10  6  0
  10  7  0    183  156  124 
  11  9  0    174  154  118 
  12  10  0    165  157  156 
  12  12  0    147  172  145 
  13  16  0 164 167  136
  13  20  0    167  154  145 
  14  20  37 
  177  177  154 
  14  22  51 
  15  33  66   150  184  167 
  16  54  76  173 158  158
       
Mean  10  10  10 Mean  165.05  163.3  145.4 
StDev  3.23  13.01  23.16  StDev  10.80  11.54  17.63 
t‐test  0.633    0.005 (WS 
The mean and standard deviation were (ER vs. WR)  vs. WR) 
calculated using functions in Excel
(2010). To calculate the mean of a group The mean and standard deviation were
of numbers, in an empty cell below them, calculated as described previously. The t-
type “=average(…)”. The space between test was also calculated using a function
the parentheses is filled with the first and in Excel. Click on the function box (fx)
last cell in the column—for example, icon at the top of the page. In the pop-up
(A6:A29). After you type the left window, select the category “statistics”
parenthesis, you can use your mouse to and then T.Test. In the pop-up box, select
draw a box around the column of one set of numbers for Array 1, the
numbers and then type the right second for Array 2. For this kind of data,
parenthesis. To calculate the standard (independent, Gaussian distributed),
deviation, type into an empty cell select “2” for tails and “2” for “type.”
“=stdev(A6:A29).”
 Additional Resources and Credits
Additional Resources
American Statistical Association: Education.
(http://www.amstat.org/education/onlineresources.cfm)
Benchpress Project. (2012). Resources to teach journalists about scientific papers and statistics
(http://www.benchpressproject.org.uk/)
Hans Rosling. (2010). The Joy of Stats (Video)
(http://www.gapminder.org/videos/the-joy-of-stats/)

Sense About Science

Making sense of statistics
(http://www.senseaboutscience.org/resources.php/1/making-sense-of-statistics)
Peer review: The nuts and bolts
(http://www.senseaboutscience.org/resources.php/99/peer-review-the-nuts-and-bolts)
I don’t know what to believe: Making sense of science stories
(http://www.senseaboutscience.org/resources.php/16/i-dont-know-what-to-believe)

University of California Museum of Paleontology

Understanding Evolution
The journal club toolkit
http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/teach/journal/index.php
Understanding science: How science really works
The social side of science: A human and community endeavor
(http://undsci.berkeley.edu/article/0_0_0/socialsideofscience_01)
Publish or perish?
(http://undsci.berkeley.edu/article/0_0_0/howscienceworks_15)
Scrutinizing science: Peer review
(http://undsci.berkeley.edu/article/howscienceworks_16)
A blueprint for scientific investigations
(http://undsci.berkeley.edu/article/0_0_0/howscienceworks_03)

Visionlearning
Scientific communication: Understanding scientific journals and articles
(http://www.visionlearning.com/library/module_viewer.php?c3=&mid=158&l=)
Scientific communication: Peer review
(http://www.visionlearning.com/library/module_viewer.php?mid=159)
Scientific communication: Utilizing the scientific literature
(http://www.visionlearning.com/library/module_viewer.php?mid=173&l=)
Scientific research: The case of the ivory-billed woodpecker
(http://www.visionlearning.com/library/module_viewer.php?mid=174&l=)

Produced by Mary Williams for the American Society of Plant Biologists (www.aspb.org).

About the American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB)

WHAT IS ASPB?
ASPB is a professional society devoted to the advancement of the plant sciences. It publishes two
world-class journals and organizes conferences and other activities that are key to the advancement
of the science. Membership in the American Society of Plant Biologists is open to anyone from any
nation who is concerned with the physiology, molecular biology, environmental biology, cell biology,
and biophysics of plants and other related matters.

WHAT IS A PLANT SCIENTIST?

A plant scientist specializes in the scientific study of plants. Within plant biology there are many areas
of interest, including cellular and molecular biology, genetics, development, evolution, physiology,
and biochemistry. Plant scientists are working worldwide in nearly all sectors including academia,
corporations, pharmacology, research, nonprofits, and government.