Library & Research Overview

How to Approach the Article

When you read journal articles, always remember that YOU are going to write a paper based on what you read.  So, do the following:

• Keep in mind your research question (ex. "What is leadership in the hospitality industry?")
• Focus on the information in the article that is relevant to your research question (it is okay to skim over other parts)
• Question everything you read - not everything is 100% true or correct
• Think critically about what you read and try to build your own argument based on it

Reading a Scholarly Research Article

1. First, Read the Abstract and Conclusion (these have the main points.) 
2. Then, Read the Introduction and Discussion for more detail.
3. If you find anything in the Abstract or Conclusion that is important for your paper, look for it in the text.
4. If you need more information, then read through the Methods or Results sections.

How to Take Notes on the Article

There are various ways to take notes, but this is a personal style choice.  Try different ways, but use the one that fits you best.  Below are some suggestions for note-taking:

• Pay attention to what each section is about.  The Abstract, Discussion, and Conclusion sections usually have the most important information.
• Take notes while you are reading (that way you don't have to go back and re-read it when you write your paper)
• Write summarizing notes for main points
• Highlight only very important quotes or terms

Guide adapted from Pasadena City College WAC

Steps to find a Peer-Reviewed article

Step 1. Select Peer-Reviewed or Scholarly when you search

Omnivore Article Search, and most databases, have a button to check when you search or limit/filter your search results.
Omnivore Articles screenshots 

Articles are labelled in Omnivore as "Peer-reviewed"

2. Confirm that it is a Research Article

Limiting your search results to articles published in peer reviewed scholarly journals is the first step. However, scholarly journals include other types of documents, such as essays, literature reviews, book reviews, commentary, letters to the editor, announcements, etc. So...

How do I know if it is a research article? 

A research article reports the original work of a scholar and will present evidence and conclusions.

Read the Abstract (summary of the article) or Introduction (first paragraph) to identify the type of article and the topics covered. 

A research article must have:

• a named Author
• a Bibliography or References
• PDF format available
• more than a few pages

Look at the structure of the article; most articles that report results of a research study use a standard format:

• Abstract (summary of the whole article)
• Introduction (why they did the research)
• Materials & Methodology (how they did the research)
• Results (what happened)
• Discussion (what the results mean)
• Conclusion (what they learned)
• References (whose research they read)

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  See the Anatomy of a Journal Article by APA Style below:

Find Full-Text Journals

• Search or Browse the A-Z Journal Finder
• View list of Scholarly eJournals