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THE ART OF READING SCIENCE

LESS STRUGGLE, MORE UNDERSTANDING

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OUTLINE

Reasons for reading scientific literature
Where to find astronomy resources
What to get from each section in an article – with examples

Abstract
Introduction
Discussion/Analysis/Conclusion
Results
Methods
References

Note taking

https://journals.aas.org/astrophysical-journal/

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WHY YOU SHOULD READ SCIENTIFIC ARTICLES?

Up-to-Date
Data and/or methods
Explanations and conclusions
Next steps

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WHERE CAN YOU FIND ASTRONOMY INFORMATION?

The latest articles: https://adsabs.harvard.edu/ads_abstracts.html
Specific objects: https://simbad.cds.unistra.fr/simbad/sim-fbasic
Data: https://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/VizieR?-source=J/A%2BA/694/A172

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ABSTRACT

What was done?
How was it done?
What is the most important result(s)?

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ABSTRACT

Summary of the paper

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INTRODUCTION

Prior studies – history of the investigation
Current understanding of the problem
Motivation for their research

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EXAMPLE INTRODUCTION

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DISCUSSION/ANALYSIS/CONCLUSION

What did the author identify as important?
What are the next steps?
Is the paper relevant to your investigation?

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DISCUSSION

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RESULTS

Figures/Tables/Data

If you find the article is useful by reading the introduction and discussion sections, you may wish to proceed to the results section. This section will include the data that could be useful in your analysis.

Be sure you understand the information given in a graph or table. The information can be very densely packed to save space.

Figure 1: Slit positions of long-slit spectrometer superimposed on a smoothed contour plot of a Hubble image of the core of M15. Total field is 34” x 34”. This plot mimics 1” viewing on the pre-fixed Hubble.

Figure 2: Mass-to-light ratio profile for the best FP models. M/L is calculated as the ratio of surface mass density to surface brightness. Strong rise in M/L at small radius is due to the concentrated populations of nonluminous remnants. The 1.2 and 1.4 mass groups (neutron stars and heavy WDs) are strongly concentrated in the core.

Note the log scales: suggests that both the collapsed and intermediate core models have a rapid rise within the inner 0.01” from the core.

Table: gives star name, location, distance from center in “, position angle relative to center, number of observations, radial velocity, std dev of velocity measurement,

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METHODS

Identifies the basic methods used for the study.
Gives you an opportunity to determine how the methods in the paper related to the methods you are using or hope to use.

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REFERENCES

A link to earlier studies.

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SUMMARY

Read articles – define new terms while reading
Start with the sections that are easiest for you
Take notes – find the best way for you