INTRODUCTION TO

SCIENTIFIC PAPERS
Joe Pozdol, MLIS
Evans Whitaker, MD, MLIS
Norris Medical Library
University of Southern California
2003 Zonal Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90089-9130
pozdol@usc.edu
ewhitake@usc.edu

Before We Begin
Ask!
PowerPoint at www.usc.edu/nml under
Key Resources for Students
Interactive questions
Handouts
Article later
Evaluation
Unwanted handouts

Outline For Today

I. Parts of a paper
A. Abstract
B. Introduction/Background
C. Methods
D. Results
E. Discussion
F. References (Bibliography)
II. Study types
A. Primary
1. Observational
2. Experimental
B. Secondary
III. Group work
IV. Evaluations

PART I
SECTIONS OF A PUBLISHED
SCIENTIFIC PAPER

Part I Objectives
Learn the basic structure of papers
Develop an approach to reading papers
Learn how to interpret an article citation

The Basic Parts

Title
Abstract
Introduction
Methods
Results
Discussion
References

Read In This Order

Title
Abstract
Introduction/
Discussion
Methods/ Results

The discussion section occurs

before the author presents the
results of the study.
1. True
2. False

Which occurs first in a

scientific journal article?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Abstract
Discussion
Introduction
Methods
Results

Abstract

Summarizes
Often only part read
Dont act on abstracts alone
Structured abstracts are norm
Background
Methods
Results
Conclusions

Introduction

Context
What is known
Supporting literature (citations)
Gaps in literature
The research question
Newness
Relevance to field

Methods
Steps taken to
gather data
analyze data

Statistical methods
Not a cookbook
Replicable

Results

Report of data
Tables and graphs
Statistical results
No interpretation

Discussion
Interpretation of results
Answer to research question
Goals met?
Often includes
relation to previous research
limitations
future directions

Which should allow other

researchers to replicate the study?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Abstract
Discussion
Introduction
Methods
Results

Limitations of the study are

found in the
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Abstract
Discussion
Introduction
Methods
Results

References
List of sources cited in intro
Usually other journal articles
Previous studies in same field
Citation styles differ depending on
field of study (e.g. AMA vs. APA)
journal

EndNote and RefWorks

Understanding Journal Article

References
Weiss, PA. Does smoking marijuana contribute to the risk of developing
lung cancer? Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing. 2008;12(3):517-519.

Journal
Volume Number
Issue Number
Researchers Article

Which cannot be determined

from a reference list citation?
1. Title of the journal
2. Title of the journal article
3. Number of pages in the
journal
4. Number of pages in the
journal article
5. None of the above

Whether marijuana use causes lung cancer

is still unknown and will likely be a subject of
research in the next 5 years.

1. True
2. False

PART II
TYPES OF SCIENTIFIC PAPERS

Part II Objectives
Learn the common study types
Be able to extract the research question
Be able to identify an articles study type
Be able to determine the conclusions

Outline For This Section

Focus on 4 study designs
o Case-control
o Cohort
o Randomized Control Trial
o Review
Narrative
Systematic
Meta Analysis

3 questions to get your bearings *

1. What was the research question?
2. What was the research design?
3. Was the research design
appropriate to the question?
Will try to find answers to 1 and 2 in
excerpts of 4 articles (A-D) provided
* - Greenhalgh, T. (2006). How to read a paper: the basis of evidencebased medicine. Malden, MA: Blackwell

Study Designs
Primary Literature

oObservational
Case-Control
Cohort
oExperimental
Randomized Control Trial

Secondary Literature
oNarrative

(Subject/Journalistic)

Reviews
oSystematic Review
oMeta Analysis

Case-Control
Patients with a disease or exposure
--compared to-Similar group without disease or exposure
Best uses
o
o

Rare conditions
Diseases or conditions that may take a long
time to develop

Background: DES
Used in the United States from 1947 until 1971
Boston area doctors noted an unusual cancer
Study compared the group with the cancer to
similar people without the cancer
The major difference between the cases and the
controls was DES exposure

Example: DES and Cancer

Herbst, A.L., Ulfelder, H., & Poskanzer,D.C.
(1971). Adenocarcinoma of the vagina:
association of maternal stilbestrol therapy
with tumor appearance in young women.
NEJM, 284(16), 478-481.
Look at article:
Last sentence in Introductory area = research question
First paragraph in methods = research design

Why did the authors match cases

and controls by the type of
service mothers received?*
1.
2.

3.

4.

To reduce socioeconomic
differences
To examine whether the
cancer was related to
infectious disease exposures
To decide if chemical
disinfectants used to clean
wards caused cancer
All of the above

* -see page 879

Cohort
Two groups compared over time
One group with exposure,
the other without the
exposure
Best used:
o when exposures cant be controlled
o when outcomes occur infrequently
o when RCT is not ethical

Example: Smoking vs. Non-Smoking

British Physicians

Doll, R., Peto, R., Boreham, J., & Sutherland, I.

(2004). Mortality in Relation to Smoking: 50
years' observations on male British doctors.
BMJ, doi:10.1136/bmj.38142.554479.AE
50 years (and counting) Cohort Study of British
doctors
Most recent of a series of reports
Compared health outcomes of smokers vs.
health outcomes of non-smokers
Research question =
Research design =

When was there enough evidence from this

study to show the link between smoking and
lung cancer?
1.
2.
3.
4.

1954
1966
1978
1991

Randomized Control Trial

A treatment group is compared to a
control group
Group members are assigned randomly
Best uses:
Drug therapies
Medical treatments

Example: Smoking cessation

intervention

An, L.C., Klatt, C., Perry, C.L., Lein, E.B., Hennrikus,

D.J., et al. (2008). The RealU online cessation
intervention for college smokers: a randomized
control trial. Preventive Medicine, 47(2)194-199.
Look at the article:
o The last paragraph of the introduction - research question
o The last paragraph of the introduction - research design
o Study flow chart - pg. 196

25,000 UM students were recruited by email

How many UM students ended up in the
intervention group?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

24,007
2,407
257
107
7

What percent of RealU participants had

30 days of no smoking at week 30?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
none

30

Narrative (Journalistic/Subject)
Reviews
The traditional or classic review
Review limit in Ovid/PubMed includes:
Narrative reviews
Systematic reviews

Authors choose articles included

Author bias is a concern research
verifies this effect

Systematic Review
Reproducible methods to find and select
articles are included
Should include both inclusion and exclusion
criteria
Why? Decrease author bias

Example: Is HPV Vaccine

Cost-Effective?
Techakehakij, W., Feldman, R.D. (2008). Costeffectiveness of HPV vaccination compared to
Pap smear screening on a national scale: a
literature review. Vaccine,
doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2008.09.036
Look at article:
Pg. 2, Section 3.1, first paragraph = research question
Pg. 3, Section 4.1, first to third paragraphs =
research design

It is recommended that HPV vaccine be

given as a 3 shot series. How much do
3 doses of vaccine cost?
1.
2.
3.
4.

$500-$1000
$300-$500
$200-$300
$100-$200
30

Meta Analysis
Similar to Systematic Review except
Numeric data from separate studies
combined in meta analysis
Uses statistical/mathematical methods to
combine numerical data from studies
Combining data increases the confidence
we have in the conclusions reached by a
meta analysis

GROUP WORK

Group Work
Groups of 3
Everyone in group gets same article (#1, 2, 3, OR 4)
Spend 10 min. working together on questions
Class discussion

ADDITIONAL SLIDES

Article Type

What kind of
question is it
good for?

Strengths

Weaknesses

Identifying
Characteristics

Case-Control
(Herbst, 1971)
(Peled, 2008)

-Rare disorders or
conditions
-Slow developing
disorders
-Causation*

-Short time frame

to examine
correlations
between disorder
and other factors

-Susceptible to bias
-Limited validity

-Cross sectional

Cohort**
(Doll, et al, 2004)
(Metcalf, 2008)

- Prognosis
-Causation*

- Feasible when
studying conditions
or exposures over
which the
investigator has no
control

-Susceptible to bias
-Limited validity
-May require large
groups, long
durations, great
cost

-Longitudinal
-Usually
prospective
-Can be
retrospective (less
cost)

Randomized Control
Trial (RCT)
(An et al, 2008)
(Gordon, 1997)

-Drug treatment
-Medical
interventions

-Strong level of
evidence
-Low susceptibility
to bias

-Feasibility (e.g.
Ethical limitations)
-Generalizability**

-Randomization
method
-Experimental and
control groups

Systematic Review
(Techakehakij,2008)
(Gallicchio, 2008)

-Drug treatment
-Medical
interventions

-Low susceptibility
to bias
-Strongest level of
evidence

-Many topics have

no systematic
review

-Methods section
has explicit
information about
information
sources, how
articles were
chosen or excluded

* - used loosely here; not distinguishing between correlation and causation

(in medicine etiology is used for the cause of a disease or condition)
** - can results of an RCT be applied to groups that do not match the study group?

Thanks for your attention

We will post these slides on the
Student Portal on the Norris Medical
Library website
Contact us with questions
Joe Pozdol pozdol@usc.edu
Evans Whitaker ewhitake@usc.edu

Please complete evaluations!

References

An, L.C., Klatt, C., Perry, C.L., Lein, E.B., Hennrikus, D.J., et al.
(2008). The RealU online cessation intervention for college
smokers: a randomized control trial. Preventive Medicine,
47(2)194-199.
Doll, R., Peto, R., Boreham, J., & Sutherland, I. (2004). Mortality in
Relation to Smoking: 50 years' observations on male British
doctors. BMJ, doi:10.1136/bmj.38142.554479.AE
Gallicchio, L., Boyd, K., Matanoski, G., et al. (2008). Carotenoids
and the risk of developing lung cancer: A systematic review.
Am.J.Clin. Nutrit., 88, 372-383.
Gordon, C.M., Carey, M.P., & Carey, K.B. (1997). Effects of a
drinking event on behavioral skills and condom attitudes in
men:
Implications for HIV risk from a controlled experiment.
Health Psychology, 16(5), 490-495.
Greenhalgh, T. (2006). How to read a paper: the basis of evidencebased medicine. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Guyatt, G., Rennie, D. (eds.). (2001). Users guides to the medical
literature: essentials of evidence-based clinical practice.
Chicago: AMA Press.

References

Herbst, A.L., Ulfelder, H., & Poskanzer,D.C. (1971).

Adenocarcinoma of the vagina: association of maternal
stilbestrol therapy with tumor appearance in young women.
NEJM, 284(16), 478-481.
Metcalf, B.S., Voss, L.D., Hosking, J., & Wilkin, J.T. (2008). Physical
activity at the government-recommended level and obesityrelatedhealth outcomes: a longitudinal study (Early Bird 37).
Archives of Diseases of Childhood (Early Bird 37). 93,722-777.
Peled, R. Carmil, D., Siboni-Samocha, O., & Shoham-Vardi, I.
(2008). Breast cancer, psychological distress and life events
among young women. BMC Cancer, 8, 245-250.