How do patients find research? And how do we recognize “good research”?
Some academic journals are accessible to patients, but free journals can be hard to find. Here are some resources on accessing as many articles as possible and reading an academic paper.
- Find an organization or resource related to the specific content you are looking for and start there when looking for research.
- Look at the website! URLs ending in .org and .edu are more reputable than .com websites.
- If you don’t know where to start, talk to your school librarian and professors to help you find good sources.
- Use other patients’ experiences as a starting point to find resources.
- Look at multiple sources to check the consistency of the information.
- Be wary of bias and misinformation in research.
A "good" research source is...
- Written by credible authors with a background and experience in research.
- Published through well established institutes.
- Always peer-reviewed.
- Cite other reputable sources.
- Cited by other reputable sources.
"Good" research content...
- Focuses on a specific topic.
- Follows a scientific structure that includes an introduction, the methods, the results, a discussion, and a conclusion.
- Is easy for all audiences to read and understand.
- Avoids jargon.
- Conveys results that are consistent with similar studies.
- Uses methods that can be replicated.
- Address its strengths and weaknesses.
- Gives the next steps for the outcomes.
Looking for research specific to your health?
There are many disease-specific organizations that publish and share research through their website, scholarly journals, and scientific papers.You can find research through these resources and other search engines, such as Google Scholar, NCBI, PubMed, and Healthline.
When reading research shared through news outlets or social media, use the previously mentioned resources to check for credibility.
Ask your doctor about current research; they might be able to direct you to books and articles written by clinicians and researchers or websites full of current research.
