Research Guides: Read a scholarly article: Introduction

Scholarly articles are usually written by professional researchers and college/university professors, and they're usually written for an audience of people in their discipline (ex. chemistry, philosophy, etc.). They can often be challenging to understand, even if you have expertise in that subject. Here are some tips on how to read scholarly articles strategically. We think this guide will be helpful for undergraduate and graduate students!

How this guide is organized

Most scholarly articles have the same general format, so if you understand the format, you're more than half-way to understanding the real essence of the article.

The Structure of a Scholarly Article page goes over the main parts of a scholarly article, offers advice on what sections to read, and in what order.
The Interactive Article Diagram shows two pages from an actual scholarly article, with spots you can click on to get more information.

There are a few reasons you might be looking at a scholarly article. Our page on Reading for different purposes offers advice on which sections to read depending on your purpose, as well as some questions to keep in mind.