An article published in a peer reviewed journal… (select one answer)
Quality criteria for a scientific article
The art of choosing your paper
OBJECTIVES
- Apply the criteria to evaluate the quality of a scientific article
Organize the sections of a scientific article in their customary order:
Results
Introduction
Materials and methods
References
Discussion
Anna found this article in the PNAS journal (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences).
Can she use it for her paper? (select one answer)
Can she use it for her paper? (select one answer)
Thanks to Jules, Anna now knows that articles are not all equal, and the importance of evaluating their quality before using them to support a paper.
Scientific journals use a process called peer review to publish articles, requiring the article to be read and reviewed by other scientists in the same field before it is published.
Here are some criteria to consider when evaluating the quality of a scientific article:
- Author: Is he/she an authority in the field? Which academic institution does he/she work for?
- Editor: Is the editor/journal generalist or specialized? Are the articles reviewed by peers?
- Publication date: Is the article still current? Are the data and method still current?
- Bibliographic references: Are they numerous and varied (watch out for self-citation)? Are they clear and complete?
- Structure and style: Are the language and style nuanced? Do they seem objective? The article should include the following points:
- abstract
- introduction
- methods
- results
- discussion
- conclusion
- references
