Texts for Comprehension

and Summary

Este material es propiedad de la Cátedra de Inglés Médico, Facultad de Ciencias Médicas de la UNLP y debe
ser usado solo con fines educativos.
The structure of a research article
Research articles are typically divided into four main sections:
- Introduction
- Methods
- Results
- Discussion
This is sometimes called the IMRaD structure of articles.

 The Introduction contains background information; in other words, it reminds the reader
what is already known about the subject. It includes information about previous studies,
and explains what has not been investigated previously. Finally, there is usually a
statement of the objective, or purpose of the research (why they did it).

Statements about objectives often contain the following verbs:

assess We assessed whether ...
determine The aim of our study was to determine whether ...
investigate We investigated the ...
evaluate This study evaluated the ...

 In the case of clinical research, the Methods section gives details of the people who were
studied - the participants in the research. The method section also contains information
about any intervention carried out, for example medication, advice, operations. It gives
details of the steps taken in the study, how the participants were chosen, and includes the
main things measured, such as blood levels. Finally, there is information about statistical
analysis.

The list below provides examples of verbs that express research actions:
apply We applied Laklöter's principle to . . .
assess We assessed the effects of larger doses of . . .
calculate We calculated the photoluminescence spectrum of . . .
compare We compared the effects of . . . to those of . . .
compute We computed the velocity predicted by . . .
derive We derived a new set of rules for . . .
design We designed a series of experiments to . . .
determine We determined the complete nucleotide sequence of . . .
develop We developed a new algorithm to . . .
evaluate We evaluated the efficacy and biocompatibility of . . .
explore We explored the relationship between . . .
implement We implemented a genetic algorithm for . . .
investigate We investigated the behavior of . . .
measure We measured the concentration of cadmium in . . .
model We modeled the diffraction behavior of . . .

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 The Results section tells what was found, the findings of the study.
 The Discussion section contains explanations, and claims for the importance of the
study. It may also list limitations, or parts of the study which were unsatisfactory, and suggest
what research needs to be done in the future.

The Discussion section usually begins with a summary of the main findings. This is related to the
objective of the study. Typical verbs include:

show We have shown that ...

confirm Our study confirmed that ...
provide evidence These findings provide strong evidence that…
If the results are less certain:
suggest These results suggest that…
And with negative results:
fail to This study failed to show that…

 There is usually a Conclusion, which is sometimes a separate section. It presents the

outcome of the work by interpreting the findings at a higher level of abstraction than
the Discussion and by relating these findings to the motivation stated in the Introduction.

 At the beginning of most articles, there is usually an Abstract. It is a quick overview of the
entire paper and also gives us an insight into whether the paper fulfills the expectations of the
reader. It is written at the end and by this time, the author has a clear picture regarding the findings
and conclusions and hence the right message can be put forward.

 At the end of most articles, there is a short section called Acknowledgements. In this the
authors thank people who have helped them in their research. Finally, there is a list of References
- the books and articles which the authors have used.

(Papers reporting something other than experiments, such as a new method or technology,
typically have different sections in their body, but they include the
same Introduction and Conclusion sections as described above.)

 Research Article:
Plasma Concentrations of Oseltamivir and Oseltamivir Carboxylate in Critically Ill Children
on Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Support

 Review Article:
Legume consumption and CVD risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis

 Case Report:
Acute liver failure caused by metastatic malignant melanoma of liver

(Los tres textos están disponibles en el entorno en formato pdf. )

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