Although each scientific journal has it's own formatting rules on things such as order of presentation, length limitations, and citation style, there are commonalities which can make them easier to comprehend. Experts in the field should be able to understand the essence of a paper after reading most of the abstract, the last section of the introduction, and the figures and tables, but everyday people can also take advantage of these tips to get a quick understanding when trying to tackle a scientific paper.
Abstract: The first sentence or two usually deal with critical background information that form the basis that the study is design upon. The next sentences present a brief description of the experimental or theoretical design, followed by a sentence or two of results. The final sentences of the abstract are reserved for conclusions or a statement to the work's significance. (250 -300 words)
Introduction: The introduction is obviously going to be focused on background information and will be the most citation laden section of the paper. The presentation goes from broad to specific, starting out with an intro to the subject matter, followed by some corollary studies. If the work is about a group of organisms, there is usually some descriptive information which will give the reader insight into the meaning of the results. Often it is in this section that an author will point out gaps in current knowledge as well as studies which were stepping stones for the research being presented. If one is an expert in the field, you can skip the beginning of the introduction completely, except to maybe check that you are up to date with the more recent citations and that your own work is being referenced! However, no inquiring mind should skip the end of the introduction, which is the place that I read first (after the abstract). The second last paragraph will present the hypotheses and the final paragraph explains how they were put to the test. The final sentence of the introduction is supposed to be the 'hook' that keeps a reader intent on delving into the details of the paper.
Methods and Materials: This section is the one most often moved around from journal to journal. If there are very strict page limits, there will be an abbreviated M&M section with supplemental information available on the web. Basically this section should provide all of the details on how the study was conducted to such a degree that the work is repeatable. If you read something in the results that don't make sense and the discussion does not resolve it for you, usually the answer will be found in this section.
Results: The results section is typically the worst section to try to read through and comprehend in one sitting. It is often easier to look at the figures and tables and read the captions and then looking through the text for where that information is described. The results are often presented in the order in which they will be discussed in the following section.
Discussion: The discussion is the most fluid section of all, but it serves a very good purpose. It is in this section that the author draws conclusions from their results and observations and has the opportunity to compare their results to those that have previously been published. It is important to read the discussion to see if the conclusions that you drew from the rest of the paper match those of the author. The discussion should present all possible interpretations of the data and settle on what the authors agree upon as the conclusion. Some journal formats allow for a full section for the conclusion, which will often tie in a global perspective to a study, but if there is no clearly designed section, the conclusion can be found in the final paragraphs of the discussion.
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