Why analysing an article doesn’t have to be difficult
Analysing an article is an important part of the reading process, so why does it have to be so hard? In this short article we'll run you through how YOU can benefit from Scholarcy's new analysis tool.
What does analysing an article involve? And how can Scholarcy help?
Scholarcy’s analysis section makes approaching the harder parts of interpreting and evaluating academic literature less overwhelming.
How do you effectively analyse an article?
Analysing research papers and other academic texts involves identifying how the study fits into the wider field of research, determining the research quality, and identifying study limitations that could be significant.
Having a good understanding of this information means whether you’re a student or a seasoned researcher, you’ll find it easier to reference and discuss earlier works in relation to your own research or study.
How an article fits into the wider field of research
Learning about how an article fits into the wider field of research is really important because it adds context to the study, as well as much-needed background information.
Understanding an article on its own is fine, but it’s really worth investing the time to understand how it connects to related articles as part of your analysis.
Scholarcy’s Research Comparison feature makes analysing articles easier. It identifies any articles that the authors discuss in relation to their own work and clearly shows if the authors build on or differ from the methods and results of previous studies, making it easier to spot connections and differences.
Assessing the limitations
Why is it important to assess the limitations of an article? Surely the only important part is the results they got?
Results are important, but acknowledging limitations is a crucial part of the scientific process, it can help guide future work, and also shows whether the author has considered all factors when approaching their research.
Identifying study limitations can take time and they aren’t always obvious, which is why Scholarcy presents these to you in an easy-to-understand snapshot.
You can find the limitations, nicely formatted in the analysis section!
Understanding the supporting information
If you’re like me, the first thing you’ll do when opening an article is to flick through to the pictures, after all, a picture tells a thousand words!
But what if these pictures are complex, and the caption does nothing to help you understand what is going on?
Well, fortunately for you, Scholarcy makes approaching figures and tables as easy as cake. Simply navigate to the content you want to investigate, click explain, and read the handy summary we generate for you – it’s as easy as that!
Check it out for yourself with our handy tutorial:
How the analysis feature benefits students
Scholarcy cleverly designed the analysis section to reduce overwhelm when tackling a tricky task like analysing an article. The analysis section is also easily navigable, ensuring that students can fit their analysis around their schedule, without the time pressure to complete the task in one go.
You can learn more about how Scholarcy’s analysis feature can be taken advantage of from our short tutorial:
