From a health article to its original sources
A practical reading guide: identify a claim, follow its reference and keep the original context in view.
Practical guide · Draft prepared September 11, 2026View draft
Research explained
Reading a health study: questions to take to the paper
Use a consistent set of questions to organise what a paper reports and what you still need to understand.
Before you read
- Record the study question, participants and comparison.
- Keep results and limitations together in your notes.
What was the question?
Begin with the question stated by the authors. Write down the material or intervention, the setting and the outcome the study set out to examine.
Who or what was studied?
Locate the methods section. Record how the authors describe their participants or samples, the comparison groups and the follow-up period. Mark information you cannot find instead of guessing it.
What do the results leave open?
Read the results alongside the authors’ limitations and disclosures. List the questions you would want to discuss with an appropriately qualified professional before relating the paper to your own care.
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