Scholarly texts use a more advanced language than other texts, but by dividing the text and focusing on one part at the time, it becomes easier to understand the text and to assess its relevance.

There are several questions that can help you to interpret a scholarly text.

What research problem has the researcher formulated?
What are the results?
How do the results relate to what you need information about?
What is the method used?
Are there new problems that can be explored further?

TIP!
Take notes when you read, it will help you to grasp the different parts and what they are about. Remember to save information about the article for your future references, such as title, author, publication date, publication name, etc.

Which parts do I need to read?

To assess if a text is relevant for you, it’s not always necessary to read the entire text. You can ask yourself if the text is relevant for your purpose after each part that you read. When the answer is "No", you can discard the text without further reading.

EXAMPLE!

Read the short abstract describing the text. It can help you evaluate the relevancy of the text. Here is an abstract of a text that can be relevant for questions about source criticism and self-assessment:

Abstract: Markering 1: source credibility. Markering 2: credible sources should initiate self validation.
From: Clark JK, Evans AT. Source Credibility and Persuasion: The Role of Message Position in Self-Validation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. 2014;40(8):1024-36.

Depending on your purpose in reading a text, it can be useful to start by reading a specific part of it.

Relevant research results?

Which research methods?

Interesting references?

When you want to know if the research results of a text are relevant for your assignment or thesis you can start by reading the abstract and after that take a closer look at the:

Introduction to find out the background and the research questions.
Discussion and results to see the results of the research.

If you are interested in the research methods that are used within your field, it may be enough to start with the abstract and then read the:

Introduction to find out the background and the research questions
Methods to find out how the method has been used and perhaps adapted to the research.

An article that seems relevant for your assignment or thesis can be a pathway to more materials. Take a closer look at the:

List of references and use the information in the references to assess whether it may include materials of interest. In addition to the article title and the author name, you can look at when and where it was published.

TIP!

It takes practice to read academic texts. The more you read, the easier it will be. With more experience, you will become familiar with the vocabulary and the language within your field. With experience it will also be easier for you to form an idea of what the texts are about and whether they are reliable and relevant.