The Abstract is a summary of an article. An Abstract provides a big picture overview of what the article is about, synthesizing the most important information. It should also identify both the purpose of the research, as well as its conclusions.

Question to ask:

1. According to the abstract, what is the main point of the article?

The Introduction should give you an understanding of what is being researched, how, and why the research is of importance. When you read the introduction section of a journal article, you should have a clear idea of what the article is about, and what the research focus is.

An Introduction will identify the importance of the research to the academic field, and provide you with a clear hypothesis or a research question/statement.

Questions to ask:

1. What issues do the authors seem concerned about?
2. What is the authors’ research question or hypothesis?

The Literature Review is a comprehensive scan of previously published research on a specific topic. Authors use the literature review to provide readers with a current understanding of the topic, and identify existing research gaps.

Questions to ask:

1. How relevant is the literature review to the article's research questions?
2. Does the literature review include opposing viewpoints?

In the Methods section, you should be able to find information about the authors' research process. Was the research qualitative or quantitative? How big was their sample group/test population? On occasion authors will include the full research instrument in the Appendix (at the end of the article). The Methodology section might feature tables, statistical analyses, calculations, and questions asked as part of the research.

Questions to ask:

1. What type of study did the authors undertake to arrive at their results (e.g. randomized trials, case studies)?
2. How was the data collected (e.g. survey, focus groups, individual interviews)?
3. How extensive was the population sample?

The Results section is where you find information about the final results of the authors' research. Here, you should be able to read about, the analyzed results of the study, as well as have access to raw statistical data.

Are these results shared with the readers? Are they clearly stated? Is there access to supporting analysis such as graphs, charts, tables that are clear and easy to follow? do you have access to the statistics? Can you figure out the results of the experiment, survey, etc, without a discussion of why they occurred?

Questions to ask:

1. What are the authors' findings?
2. Are the findings aligned to the main research question/s?
3. Do the authors address the problems or limitations of their research methods?

Check out the discussion of the results and the authors overall observations in the conclusion of the article. Are all the results of the experiment, survey, etc discussed? Are the conclusions drawn from this experiment based on enough data? Are there previous studies done on this topic and are they part of the discussion, or are you left confused?

Questions to ask:

1. What evidence do authors provide to support or dispute their research question?
2. Do the authors provide any recommendations as a result of their findings?
3. Are any conflicts of interest disclosed?

The References section provides you with a full scope of research consulted as part of the authors' project. References are an excellent way to find additional journal articles on a specific topic.