CÁCH ĐỌC MỘT BÀI BÁO KHOA HỌC// Read like a PhD

Summary

In this educational YouTube video, Dr. Chi Nguyen offers a comprehensive guide to efficiently reading scientific articles, particularly those in English. With a focus on an open-access article co-authored by Nguyen, the video delves into the standard structure of scientific literature, including the importance of the Abstract, the significance of the Introduction and Methodology sections, and the value of the Findings. Nguyen shares strategies for quickly identifying key ideas and main findings, emphasizing the utility of the References for further research. The video is designed to enhance viewers' ability to read and understand scientific articles at a faster pace, while maintaining academic rigor.

Takeaways

• 📚 The video is a guide on how to effectively read scientific articles, particularly those in English, for literature review purposes.
• 🔍 The presenter, Dr. Chi Nguyen, uses a co-authored article as an example to demonstrate the reading process due to its open-access and standard international structure.
• 📝 The importance of the article's title, authors, publication date, and abstract is emphasized for initial assessment of relevance and content.
• 🔑 Keywords are highlighted as a quick way to determine if the article aligns with one's research interests.
• 📈 The standard structure of a scientific article includes sections like Introduction, Literature Review, Theoretical Framework, Methodology, Findings, Discussion, and Conclusions.
• 🔍 For a quick read, the presenter advises focusing on abstracts, introductions, and headings to grasp the main ideas without delving into every detail.
• 📊 The difference between qualitative and quantitative research methods and their presentation in the findings section is explained.
• 🔎 The video provides tips on how to skim through sections like Theoretical Framework and Methodology to extract essential information.
• 📖 The value of the Recommendations section and its optional nature depending on the publisher's requirements is discussed.
• 🔗 The References section is highlighted as a resource for further reading and building upon existing research.
• 💡 The video concludes with a call to action for viewers to apply the reading techniques discussed to enhance their research and publication capabilities.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the scientific article discussed in the video?

The main focus of the scientific article is to explore how participating in religious organizations affects the integration of international students, specifically Chinese students in the US, into the countries they study in.

Why did the author choose to use the specific article they co-authored as an example in the video?

The author chose this article because it is open-access, they are intimately familiar with its structure as a co-author, and it follows the standard structure of an international scientific article.

What are the key components of an abstract in a scientific article according to the video?

The key components of an abstract include a concise summary of the study's topic, the research method used, the significant findings, and recommendations, if any.

What is the significance of the publication date in a scientific article?

The publication date is significant because it indicates the currency of the information. Older articles may have been superseded by more recent research.

What is the role of keywords in a scientific article?

Keywords in a scientific article help readers quickly identify whether the content aligns with their research interests or needs.

How does the structure of a scientific article aid in efficient reading according to the video?

The standard structure of a scientific article, including sections like Introduction, Literature Review, Theoretical Framework, Methodology, Findings, and Conclusions, aids in efficient reading by allowing readers to focus on the most relevant sections for their needs.

What type of research method was used in the example article, and why was it chosen?

The example article used Ethnography as the research method. It was chosen to conduct a systematic study of individual cultures and societies, which was fitting for the qualitative exploration of the topic.

What are some tips for quickly identifying the main ideas of a scientific article without reading it in full?

Some tips include focusing on the abstract, introduction, and headings or subheadings, as well as identifying topic sentences and keywords that summarize the main points.

Why is the 'Limitations' section included in some scientific articles, and is it necessary?

The 'Limitations' section is included to demonstrate critical thinking and transparency about the study's constraints. It is not always a requirement but can be valuable for readers to understand the scope and applicability of the research findings.

How can the 'References' section of a scientific article benefit a reader's own research?

The 'References' section provides a list of sources that have been cited in the article, which can serve as a starting point for further reading and research on the topic, saving time and effort in finding relevant literature.

What is the importance of understanding the structure and standards of scientific articles for PhD students?

Understanding the structure and standards of scientific articles is crucial for PhD students as it enables them to read and comprehend a large volume of literature efficiently, conduct their own research according to international standards, and prepare their work for publication.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Introduction to Reading Scientific Articles

Dr. Chi Nguyen, a university educator and researcher, introduces a video tutorial on effectively reading scientific articles, particularly those in English. He acknowledges previous requests from viewers for a detailed guide and chooses an open-access article he co-authored for demonstration. The article, which discusses the impact of religious organization participation on international students' integration, is selected for its standard structure and relevance. Nguyen emphasizes the importance of the title, authors, publication date, and abstract in quickly grasping an article's content and research methodology. He also provides a link to the article in the video description for further reference.

05:02

🔍 Understanding the Structure of Scientific Articles

The video continues with an overview of the typical structure of a scientific article, including the Introduction, Literature Review, Theoretical Framework, Methodology, Findings, Discussion and Conclusions, Recommendations, and References. Nguyen explains the purpose of each section and how they contribute to the overall research narrative. He contrasts the presentation of findings in qualitative and quantitative research, using examples from his own work to illustrate the differences. The video aims to help viewers quickly identify the most relevant sections for their research needs and to understand how to efficiently navigate a scientific article.

10:03

🚀 Tips for Efficient Scientific Article Reading

Dr. Nguyen offers strategies for quickly assimilating the key points of a scientific article without exhaustive reading. He advises starting with the abstract and introduction to grasp the main ideas and research questions. Nguyen suggests focusing on the first sentences of each section, especially in the Theoretical Framework and Methodology, to understand the underlying theories and research methods. He also highlights the importance of the Findings section, where headings and subheadings provide a summary of the research outcomes. The video emphasizes the value of skimming through sections like Methodology and Limitations for a general understanding, while detailed reading is reserved for areas of specific interest or relevance to one's own research.

15:05

🌟 Conclusion and Encouragement for Research Excellence

In the final part of the video, Nguyen summarizes the techniques for rapid yet comprehensive reading of scientific articles. He stresses the importance of understanding the structure and standards of scientific writing to conduct and publish high-quality research. The video concludes with an invitation for viewers to share their learnings and reflections in the comments section. Nguyen encourages viewers to apply the reading strategies discussed to enhance their research skills and to consider how the video's content can be integrated into their academic pursuits.

Keywords

💡Literature Review

A literature review is a comprehensive summary of previous research on a particular topic. In the context of the video, it is a section within a scientific article that synthesizes existing knowledge, providing a foundation for new research. The video emphasizes the importance of literature reviews in establishing the context and necessity of the current study, as it explains why the author's research is relevant despite prior work.

💡Abstract

The abstract is a concise summary of a scientific article, typically including the study's purpose, methods, results, and conclusions. In the video, the abstract is highlighted as a crucial component for quickly understanding the essence of a study, allowing readers to determine if the article is relevant to their research interests before delving into the full text.

💡Ethnography

Ethnography is a qualitative research method that involves immersive study of a cultural group to understand their behaviors, practices, and social dynamics. The video mentions that the author used ethnography to study the impact of religious organizations on international students' integration. This method is exemplified in the video as it involves in-depth interviews and observations to gather rich, context-specific data.

💡Theoretical Framework

A theoretical framework in research outlines the theoretical concepts that guide the study and help interpret the findings. The video explains that the authors used theories such as social capital and 'weak ties' to conceptualize their research on international students and religious organizations. This framework is crucial for situating the study within existing academic discourse and for providing a lens through which to analyze data.

💡Methodology

Methodology refers to the procedures and strategies used in a scientific study to collect and analyze data. The video discusses how the methodology section of an article details the research design, data collection, and analysis processes. In the context of the video, the methodology is key for understanding how the study was conducted, including the use of ethnographic methods and interviews.

💡Findings

Findings in a research article present the results of the study, often supported by data and evidence. The video script mentions specific findings, such as the church providing a caring community for international students, illustrating how findings are derived from the data collected and analyzed within the study.

💡Discussion and Conclusions

The discussion and conclusions section of a scientific article interprets the findings, places them in the context of existing research, and draws conclusions. The video emphasizes the importance of this section for understanding how the study's results contribute to broader academic discussions and for summarizing the research's implications.

💡Recommendations

Recommendations in a research article suggest practical applications or future research directions based on the study's findings. The video points out that while not all articles include this section, it can be valuable for translating research into practice, as seen in the article's recommendations for educational institutions regarding international students' integration.

💡References

References are the citations of sources used in a research article, providing a roadmap for further reading and research. The video script notes that the references section is a valuable resource for readers interested in exploring related studies, as it lists all the works cited in the article.

💡International Standards

International standards in academic publishing refer to the guidelines and practices that ensure research is presented in a clear, consistent, and rigorous manner. The video discusses how understanding these standards is crucial for conducting and publishing research that meets global academic expectations, as exemplified by the article's structure and content.

Highlights

Introduction to the video and the presenter's background.

Request from viewers for a detailed guide on reading scientific articles in English.

Importance of reading scientific articles for literature reviews.

Selection of an open-access article co-authored by the presenter for demonstration.

Explanation of the article's relevance to international students and religious organizations.

Emphasis on the importance of the title, authors, and publication date in scientific articles.

The role of the Abstract in summarizing the study's content and methods.

The significance of Keywords in determining the article's relevance to one's research.

Overview of the standard structure of an international scientific article.

Description of the Introduction section's purpose in setting the stage for the research.

Explanation of the Literature Review section's role in contextualizing the study.

Discussion on the Theoretical Framework and its grounding in foundational theories.

Details on the Methodology section, including the research methods and data collection.

Presentation of the Findings section with a focus on the main results and supporting evidence.

Differentiation between qualitative and quantitative research findings.

The function of the Discussion and Conclusions section in expanding on the research's implications.

Optional Recommendations section for practical applications of the research.

Importance of the References section for further research and literature exploration.

Tips for quickly identifying the most important ideas in a scientific article.

Techniques for efficient reading of scientific articles to save time and focus on key points.

Encouragement for viewers to apply the presented techniques to enhance their research skills.

Conclusion and call to action for viewers to share their learnings and engage with the content.

Transcripts

Hi everyone!

Welcome back to my Youtube channel.

I'm Chi Nguyen.

I have a PhD in Education

and I'm currently teaching and doing research at a university in the US.

In a video from a long time ago,

I showed you how to read and take notes from books and scientific articles.

But recently, many of you have contacted me

asking if I could make a more detailed video about reading scientific articles,

especially those written in English.

Once you write a literature review,

you'll need to read not just one but many scientific articles in double-quick time.

So for English scientific articles,

how to read them in the most effective way without missing important information?

So in this video, I'm going to guide you through the process of reading a scientific article

by using an English article which I co-authored.

Why did I choose this article?

Firstly, it is one of the few open-access articles.

I'll leave the link to it in the description.

And because I'm also the co-author of it, I know its structure inside out.

Additionally, this article has the standard structure of an international scientific article.

There are articles I have written in Vietnam

which are rather compliant with Vietnamese standards than international ones.

So I hope that by reading this article,

you will understand how to reach such standard English articles

at a great pace and with full concentration.

Let's get started.

This is the scientific article that we're going to read together.

Basically, this article is about a topic I find very interesting.

That is how participating in religious organizations

affects international students' integration into the countries they study in.

This article addresses Chinese international students in the US

and how participating in religious organizations, which are new to them, affects their studies.

To begin with, you should pay attention to the title.

From this title, you can somewhat guess what the main content is about.

Next is the authors.

You can tell if the authors have published other articles related to this topic

or if their names sound familiar to you.

Not because you saw them somewhere on youtube, but because of their articles on this topic.

Next is the date of publication which is very important.

For old articles published long ago,

you can read them but should be aware that they could have been updated.

And this study is from 2019, which is relatively new.

Next, you should pay attention to the Abstract.

It is basically the gist of the study.

You should read it and it's very short and concise.

Then you will understand what topic this article is about and which research method was used.

For this article, I used Ethnography, which is a type of qualitative research.

You may notice that in this Abstract, I present all of my significant findings.

Here we have the first point and then the second one.

Very explicit.

I also make some recommendations for education institutions in this article.

Just by reading the Abstract, you can understand what this article is all about

what the findings are, and whether it matches your study.

And if it doesn't, you can just read it for fun or just stop reading it

and move on to another article that could be a better match for your study topic.

Next, we have Keywords.

You can check whether the set of keywords in this article is what you're looking for.

That's the first and most important part you should focus on.

Many people, who are short of time, only read the Title and the Abstract.

Then they can decide if the article is suitable for their studies.

If not, okay next.

You don't have to read the whole long article.

I think that this is the best part about international standards for scientific articles.

I find it really helpful for reading faster.

Before diving deeper into the article,

I'd like to show you the standard structure of a published scientific article.

First, we have the Introduction.

This section gives an overview of the topic and the findings.

The next section is Literature Review.

It is a summary of what has been published on this topic, what they're all about

and explains why previous findings are not enough for answering my questions

so I had to conduct my research to dive deeper into some aspects of the topic.

The third section is Theoretical Framework.

It explains the theories I used to conceptualize the topic and the findings.

And it shows the foundational theories behind my research.

Next is Methodology.

This describes the methods based on which the research was conducted.

If you want to re-conduct this research, you can take a look at this section.

If you have similar questions and are curious about how the authors addressed them,

this is the section where you can find the information.

The next section is Findings.

In some articles, they give this section a separate heading - "Findings".

But for this article, as I can recall,

according to a comment by the editor or the reviewer,

our team decided to include the findings in the next section.

In this section, you can find the first finding.

It's that the church provides a caring community for international students.

That's the first finding.

And below are all the evidence and results that help to support this finding.

Because this is qualitative research,

the evidence is the excerpts from the tapes of the interviews

between me and the research subjects.

Based on that, I wrote the narrative

where I explained the evidence further.

I combined all the information from previous studies, my literature review and scientific rationales

to understand and analyze the data collected from the interview tapes.

For studies using quantitative research, their findings section is different.

Let me show you an example.

This is a study on a very different topic: Leadership in education.

I'm also the co-author of it.

This is quantitative research.

You may notice that the findings are different.

You may also find a lot of tables and statistics.

The evidence for the findings no longer comes from interview tapes

but data from the analysis of statistics or probability.

As you can see in this article, our team built lots of models to research into the topic of leadership.

Here you can see Model 1, Model 2.1, Model 2.2, Model 3.

We used some methods in quantitative research

such as the Chi-square and the comparative fit index, etc.

That's a different example.

A study using qualitative research will have a different set of statistics and evidence.

But basically, it still follows the format/structure I introduced earlier.

Let's get back to the article on international students and religion.

You can see that the findings section includes evidence and analysis of many aspects.

After completing the findings section,

we come to the Discussion and Conclusions.

This is the part where we discuss the topic further.

It means we address it even beyond the extent of our research.

We discuss it in relation to other scholars

or in terms of philosophical, academic, scientific aspects

to see how this research will complement the academic system

and the comprehension of this small topic.

Furthermore, we have some conclusions that help to encapsulate this topic and this research.

Next is the Recommendations.

This section is not compulsory for all scientific articles.

If your publisher only focuses on the academic field,

you don't necessarily have to add the Recommendations section.

However, this magazine publisher really wants to see

how this research can be put into practice.

Especially, some reviewers and editors also asked me a lot about its applications.

Therefore, I saved a whole separate page for the Recommendations section.

This section is optional and not all scientific articles need it.

It actually depends on your publisher.

The last and also the equally important section is References.

It includes all the in-text citations which have been used in the article.

It could be a very long list.

But it is highly recommended that you take a look at these references.

If you're interested in this topic,

you won't have to start from scratch.

Just check the list at the end of the article

and you'll find suitable references for your research topic.

Take them right from the article and no need to start finding everything from scratch.

Pretty handy.

That is the most common structure of a published scientific article.

Next, I will show you some tips to read this scientific article quickly

but still get the gist of it.

This is to see if it is suitable for your research topic.

If yes, you can go back and read it more carefully.

But the very first thing to do is identify the most important ideas of the article.

You don't need to read the whole article and go through every single line,

which is very time-consuming.

These tips can help you focus on the most important ideas.

Let's say I'm not the co-author, just an ordinary reader who, for the first time, reads this article

The first thing I will focus on is the Abstract, which is important as I've already said.

Next, I will check the Introduction to identify some sentences that help to summarize this article.

You should check the keywords.

For example, "this study explores...".

They may use some other similar keywords to introduce the topic.

Once you can identify these keywords, you will grasp the main idea of the article.

You may also notice that they give us some outlines of the article.

They first provide a preview of the literature,

followed by the theoretical frameworks.

Then they discuss the methodology, the findings

and conclude the article with Recommendations.

Then you form a mind map, okay so this is the topic and this is the main idea.

You don't need to dive too deep into it.

For the second tip, you can jump to the Theoretical framework.

In this section, you check the first sentence of each paragraph.

So here they mention that the first theory is the theory of social capital,

developed by Robert Putnam, James Coleman, etc.

Alright, so the first thing we know

is that the authors use the theory of social capital.

If you already knew the theory of social capital,

you can skip this part and no need to read the remaining parts.

But you can keep going if you find it interesting.

Let's keep going on this part and check some keywords.

Here they use "However".

This keyword marks the transition from one idea to another idea.

Here it says that the theory of social capital is important

however, it has also been criticized.

Therefore, the authors decided to use the "weak ties" theory

in addition to the theory of social capital.

Let's go to the first sentence of the next paragraph.

The first sentence is always the most important part of all scientific articles.

Here the authors give an explanation for why they couple together these two theories

to form a theoretical framework for this article.

Next, let's get to the Methodology.

For this section, you just need to skim over it.

For example, you just need to focus on the research question and what methods they used.

Here they do address it clearly.

They used Ethnography.

In case you've never heard of Ethnography,

it is a research method including a systematic study of individual cultures, societies, etc.

If you already knew the definition of Ethnography,

just skip this part and no need to keep reading the rest.

But if you are curious about how they implemented this method, you can read on.

In the next part, they mention the Settings of this study.

Here it says that the study focused on the social experiences

of Chinese international undergraduate students.

The author studied the community around a local ethnic church called "Chinese Home Church".

You may notice that the authors used pseudonyms

to protect the identity of the participants.

So you need to check such footnotes.

The next important thing to do in the Methodology section

is to check the number of participants.

So in the next part - Data collection,

the authors mention that there were 14 interview participants.

And here they also describe how the interviews were conducted.

If you're interested in it, you can read it more.

However, basically, you just need to check how the interview was conducted

and the number of participants needed to get the results, which is very important.

Next, they describe the analysis process.

If you already had a basic knowledge of conducting and analyzing interviews,

there would be nothing special about this part.

And you can skip it.

There is another optional section for many scientific articles and our team added it here.

It is the Limitations - the limitations of the study.

A study cannot be perfect

because it is not conducted in a simulation environment.

This is an empirical study so there are things I can and cannot do

and there are things that have yet to be measured thoroughly.

I think this section is not a requirement.

However, some researchers who practice critical thinking tend to add this section.

So next, we go to the Findings.

As I said from the beginning, for the findings, you only need to pay attention to the headings.

They reflect the main ideas of the findings.

For example, from the first heading here,

the study shows that the church provided a necessary community for international students.

Let's keep scrolling down to the next headings.

Here is heading number 6.

Participating in church activities also gives students opportunities

to exchange knowledge informally.

They have a place outside of class where they can exchange academic information.

So how does it affect their integration and advancements during university?

Those are the two most important headings or findings.

Each section may include many subheadings.

For example, section number 6 includes 2 subheadings (6.1 and 6.2).

Here we also have the subheading 6.3 that addresses the drawbacks.

They are the negative parts of participating in church activities.

You can read up on this part more if you like.

But the key is that you should only focus on these headings/subheadings in the Findings section

instead of reading everything.

Next is Discussion and Conclusions section.

Again, you should focus on the topic sentence of each paragraph.

For complicated studies, especially those using quantitative research,

the Conclusions section is crucial

because it is the part where the authors try to encapsulate everything

and then make it intelligible to the readers.

So if all the statistics just make you scratch your head,

it's important to read the first paragraph of the Conclusions

so that you get the essence which the authors attempted to clarify.

Now we come to the last and also equally important tip.

For articles like this one, the authors may use some connectives like "First", "Second", "Third".

They're the signals that new ideas are going to be introduced.

All of these ideas are explicit and can be important

so you should highlight and read these topic sentences.

Regarding the References, as I said earlier,

if you find some studies cited by the authors interesting,

this is where you can find them.

In short, what I've shown you is a fast way of reading

that allows you to get the main ideas of the article.

If you want to dive deeper into it or re-conduct this study

or reapply its format/similar methods in your own study, you will need to go through each section more carefully.

But you definitely don't need to read every single word/sentence

or look up every word in the dictionary.

PhD students like me use this technique to read lots of documents in a short time.

The more frequently you read, the better your fast reading skill is.

Also, you will better understand the standards, structures necessary for a scientific article.

From that, you can conduct your own study according to international standards

and make it qualified enough to be published.

I hope that this video has shed light on how to read a scientific article.

Actually, I rarely see content like this on Vietnamese youtube channels.

I hope that this video could bring you something fresh.

If you have learned anything interesting from this video,

just leave your comments below

and let me know one thing you found interesting, two things you should do now

and one thing to get rid of.

See you in the next video.

Bye!