How to read scientific papers? Ali Sharifara Summer 2017 CSE, UTA

Transcription

1 How to read scientific papers? Ali Sharifara Summer 2017 CSE, UTA

2 Outline Why we should read scientific papers? What kind of paper? Where we can find scientific papers? Organization of a scientific paper Introduction to Mendeley Introduction to EndNote

3 Our Objectives By the end of the session, you should know: What kind of paper you should read How to read a scientific paper efficiently How the organization of a paper looks like How to manage your library and organize your references How to create a reference library and add references into your EndNote library How to export your references into your Word document as well as to make a bibliography

4 What is research paper? A substantial piece of academic writing, which the author does independent research into a topic and writes a description of the findings of that research. It is a new and personal experience in specific field or topic.

5 Why we should read scientific papers? Journal papers are current (Textbooks are often years out of date- they are reference, not recent). You can get enough details to replicate what you read about. To seek evidence to support or refute your ideas. For general interest or background information (Survey papers). To find out how a certain piece of research was done. To find out exactly what the latest developments are in a field. Because one day soon you could be writing papers too!

6 What kind of paper? Original research? Review, opinion, hypothesis? Peer-reviewed? or invitation only High-impact journal? author s reputation? Conference Papers?

7 What kind of paper? Papers and journals are judged by their citation rates and Impact Factors (IF). Impact factor (IF) of an academic journal is a measure reflecting the yearly average number of citations to recent articles published in that journal. Journals with higher impact factors are often deemed to be more important than those with lower ones.

8 Background of the Study Need to discover the Literature Review of Related study

9 What is Literature Reviews? A literature review surveys and summarizes scholarly research on your topic. It should critically evaluate and explain why the chosen articles are significant in relation to your research topic.

10 Benefits of Literature Review for Your Research There are several reasons for spending time and effort on a review of the literature before embarking on a research project. These reasons include: To identify gaps in the literature To avoid reinventing the wheel (this will save time and it can stop you from making the same mistakes as others) To carry on from where others have already reached (reviewing the field allows you to build on the platform of existing knowledge and ideas) To identify other people working in the same fields (a researcher network is a valuable resource)

11 How do I read the Literature Reviews? Read the articles and synthesize the material presented. It might help to summarize the articles in your own words to avoid the risk of plagiarism and to make sure you really understand the author s intent and the outcomes of his/her research. Many of these articles are complicated, advanced-level research. You may need to read the articles more than once.

12 Reading a scientific paper Struggle with the paper This is not a novel or love story!! Active not passive reading (choose the best time to read) Use highlighter, underline text, write comments or questions on it, make notes If at first you don t understand, read and re-read, spiraling in on central points Try to find out their contribution Try to criticize the their papers!!!

13 How to read a paper at first Look at Title Abstract Figures, Tables Introduction, results, discussion

14 Abstract & Introduction Abstract should give you a brief summary of the paper s main finding Introduction provides a background to the paper and a rationale for the investigation in more detail than is possible The abstract and introduction help you to decide whether, why and how to read The abstract & introduction should tell you whether it is worth reading in depth or only worth skimming

15 Organization of a scientific paper Title & Abstract Objective (Contribution) Intro Methods Result Discussion Conclusions Relevant? Background Information Quality? Look at the Figures, Tables, & Legends Value of Results Opinion Only! Opinion Only! Opinion Only! Throw out entire paper Throw out entire paper We have to always look for the objective (Contribution) of a paper

16 Reading a scientific paper Get into question-asking mode Doubt everything Find fault (Contradiction) Just because it s published, doesn t mean it s right! Get used to doing peer review (evaluation of scientific)

17 Reading a scientific paper Move beyond the text of the paper Talk to other people about it Read commentaries Consult, dictionaries, textbooks, online links to references, figure legends to clarify things you don t understand

18 Ethical Issues Falsification - misrepresenting own results or the work of others. Fabrication - presenting speculations or general claims of others as if they were facts. Sloppiness - not providing correct citations. Nepotism - citing reference of scholars that are not directly addressing the point that the citation is used for Plagiarism - the act of knowingly using another person s work as passing it off as your own.

19 Where we can find scientific papers?

20 Summary of reading paper Most research papers are divided into 6 main sections: 1. Title and Abstract 2. Introduction (you can skip if you are already familiar with the topic) 3. Methods 4. Results 5. Discussions (opinion of authors) 6. Conclusions The abstract and introduction should explain why the paper was written (They give you an insight into the authors starting point and approach to the subject) Sometimes you need to go through everything in details, but it works most of the time to discriminate between a relevant and irrelevant papers.

21 How to manage the research papers? No more writing out and organizing citations by hand (Manually)

22 What is Mendeley? Mendeley is a reference manager allowing you to manage, read, share, annotate and cite your research papers Free Academic Software Cross-Platform (Win/Mac/Linux) All Major Browsers

23 Reference Manager

24 Adding Documents

25 Scopus and Science Direct

26 Sync

27 Search Your Documents

28 Annotate and Highlight

29 Generate In-Text Citations in Word

30 Inserting Your Bibliography

31 Share Your Papers

32 EndNote EndNote is one of a number of referencing software programs that are available today. It allows users to: Create, organize and maintain a personal database of references called an EndNote Library. Manually insert references or download them from other databases into your library Enter references into documents (e.g. Microsoft word) Generate a bibliography in the correct style for publication

33 EndNote interface

34 Cite While You Write (CWYW)

35 Why Is EndNote Web Useful? Easy to use. Web-based, once created on campus, can be accessible anywhere with web connection. Ability to collect/import, organize, export and format references. A good complement to EndNote desktop program and can be transferred to EndNote desktop easily. Ability to share references with others who have EndNote Web accounts.

36 Knowledge areas of computer science Programming Fundamentals Discrete Structures Architecture & Organization Computer Vision Intelligent Systems Knowledge areas of CS Software Engineering Information Management Programming Languages Net-Centric Computing Human Computer Interaction

37 Assignment (presentation) Find and read a research paper about Software testing and highlight the main parts of the paper and make a presentation max ~5 mins about the contribution of their work. Sample keywords to search : Embedded software testing, model based software testing, software testing verification and validation, software testing quality assurance, software testing effort estimation, automated software testing, etc. You should talk about: Title Abstract Contribution (use their figures, tables) Discussion

38 Question?