Tips on how to read a scientific article in the most effective way

Tips on how to read a scientific article in the most effective way

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In today's world, information is not lacking. There are many sources of knowledge that reach us all the time, including in our hands through cell phones and computers. Google search, podcast, email, newsletter, social media group… There are many ways to access information, which is extremely valid for disseminating knowledge to everyone.

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But here comes another challenge: when can this amount of information be excessive and even get in the way of updating? Because if there is a lot to pay attention to, we may not pay effective attention to anything at all.

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Knowing how to filter on what is relevant and can be applied in every day practice to improve the lives of our patients is a great challenge. It is about knowing how to filter scientific articles that we are going to talk about in this text.

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I want to start this conversation at the beginning of everything: how to choose which article to read. In recent years we have had a proliferation of scientific journals for the research publication, but it is still worth paying special attention to the most established journals, with the highest publication impact factor.

Impact Factor is a method used to qualify scientific journals based on the citations they receive. The higher it is, the more times articles in this journal were cited by others. It shows the relevance and influence that a particular publication had for the development of other scientific research.

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Newsletter: you know that email the journal sends you to let you know which publications were published in the period and usually we send to spam box? Well, I particularly consider this a very effective way of understanding what is being published in the scientific world, in addition to seeing trends in clinical, surgical or basic research evaluation. I really like the email newsletters and, from there, I enter the journal's website to select which articles I will read.

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Another way to receive updates through the newsletter is on the journals' social networks. By following the main networks of the magazines, you can see images, texts, videos and updates of what is being published on that channel. And if you are interested in knowing more, get the article to read in full. I particularly like this modality because it mixes studying with laser, since we study lightly as we are using our cell phones.

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But what if you want to get updated on a specific subject, one that for some reason made you curious, either because you saw a case at the clinic or because you attended a presentation? Hence, my suggestion is to search directly on PubMed on the subject. From that point, you have access to all publications already made on that particular subject, being able to filter by publication date, type of article (case report, clinical trial, systematic review, etc.), authors, publication journal and many other ways.

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Now I will show you a step by step of the Orbit search methodology in PubMed:

1.????Choose the subject that piqued your interest search on PubMed.

2.????Evaluate the titles of all articles and see where they were published.

3.????Choose the main ones and read the summary.

4.????Choose the ones that have more information outside of current knowledge or that answer my questions and read the entire article.

5.????Summarize with take home messages.

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By doing this we have a great chance of filtering high quality knowledge, filtering what is relevant in an agile way so that you can study and put it into practice as soon and effectively as possible to improve your daily life at the clinic.

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Did you like these tips? Share with your friends who need to receive these tips on how to read scientific articles effectively.

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See you in the next text.

Emmerson Badaro MD, PhD Emmerson Badaro