Academic articles can be challenging to navigate, especially when you're encountering unfamiliar terminology, complex research methods, or discipline-specific writing styles. This workshop introduces practical strategies for reading scholarly articles more effectively across a variety of disciplines. Participants will learn how article structures differ between the humanities, social sciences, STEM fields, and professional disciplines, explore the common IMRD (Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion) format, and practice evidence-based reading strategies—including the Three-Pass Approach—to improve comprehension while saving time. Whether you're new to scholarly literature or looking to refine your research skills, this session will help you approach academic reading with greater confidence and purpose.
By the end of this workshop, attendees will be able to:
- Describe how the structure and purpose of scholarly articles differ across major academic disciplines.
- Identify the major components of the IMRD (Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion) structure and explain the purpose of each section.
- Apply effective strategies for deciding where to begin reading an academic article based on their information needs.
- Use the Three-Pass Approach and other active reading techniques to efficiently read, evaluate, and understand scholarly articles.
- Recognize strategies for engaging critically with academic literature, including note-taking, questioning, and evaluating evidence.
This is part 5 of the Pre-Health workshop series.