Read 6X Journal Article Review

Read 6X Method of Journal Article Review

I am frequently asked by medical students, residents, fellows, and attendings how best to review journal articles. Through the years I have developed a simple system that I believe may help those who have less experience reading articles and also provide a structure for journal clubs and when helping others gain experience.??

• If you already have a system then use that.? This is only offered as a guide for those who may need it.

• The system involves reading the article six times although, as you will see, this is much simpler than it sounds.
• This is a convenient way to break up the reading as well.? It does not need to be done at one sitting.
• Feel free to modify it as much as you need.

Here it is:

Read #1: Read only the title.??

Then ask yourself what your biases are.? Knowing what you know now prior to reading the article, what do you think the conclusion will be???

Read #2: Read only the conclusion of the abstract.?

Were your biases correct? Either way you have a better idea of what is important to look for in the article.

Read #3: Read the whole abstract.

Only the most important details are included in the abstract, so this is a good use of your time. Key details to look for are the type of study, inclusion criteria, number of subjects, primary outcome, secondary outcomes, and statistical significance.

Read #4: Read the introduction and discussion sections.

The methods and results are omitted at this point because they tend to be less interesting reading and is where many readers lose interest unless there is a specific question. The introduction, sometimes called background, is often the most succinct summary of the current state of the subject.? Similarly, the discussion section puts into perspective the impact of the article on the subject.??

Read #5: Read the entire article.

By this point you have read the title, abstract, introduction, and discussion.? You may have questions that should be answered from the details in the methods or the results.? Let your natural curiosity help guide you through those details.

Read #6: Refer back to the article as needed for details.

This is usually done at a later time and may be done multiple times.? Consider highlighting key points of the article and emailing it to yourself so you can find it under a keyword that you associate with the subject.?

I hope that some of you find this useful.? I would appreciate any feedback or discussion in the comments.?