Journal Club SAMPLE Worksheet

Instructions: This worksheet must be completed for ALL peer-reviewed research articles that you read in this course.

Student Name: _________________ Date Submitted: _______________ (Mandatory)

Full Article Citation being read, interpreted, and presented – in APA format:

______________________________________________________________________________________ (Mandatory)

 

Observation that led to research (look in Abstract and Introduction)

Answer the following questions in this box.  Type your responses after each question.

  • Describe 2-3 Observations in the article? What I observed from this article…
Question (try rewording the Title)

Answer the following questions in this box.  Type your responses after each question.

  • Identify the model being used? The model being described is …
  • State why the model is a good choice? The model is a good choice because…
  • State why the question is important (what did the author(s) hope to learn about the field? The research question is important because…
Hypothesis (usually not stated, but implied in the Abstract of Introduction; look for phrases like “this research shows…”)

Answer the following questions in this box.  Type your responses after each question.

  • Explain why these hypotheses make sense based on current knowledge (found in the Introduction)? The research hypotheses make sense because…
Experiment (look at the figures displayed in the article to determine what they did).

Answer the following questions in this box.  Type your responses after each question.

  • Choose 2-3 key figures that directly address the Hypotheses? Three key figures are …(if none, then state ‘no figures’)…
  • Restate the model (look at the Legend for the Figure)?  The model in the research study is…(if none, the state ‘no models’)…
  • Describe the general experimental design; what was measured/compared and how? The experimental design was … and measured/compared…
  • Describe the methods and controls (draw a flow chart that will be presented to class)? The methods in the study used…The controls were…
  • Explain why the choice of controls was appropriated? The controls were appropriate because…
Results (look at the Figures First)

Answer the following questions in this box.  Type your responses after each question.

  • Explain figures clearly; restate what is being compared to what for each one? The variables being compared are …
  • Look for trends; (e.g. what is increased over what)? Trends found in the study include…
  • Identify the controls and how they validate the trends? Controls found in the study include…
  • Look for statistical analyses (look at the Legend or Results) that validate the data? The statistical analyses that validates (or rejects) the data include…
Conclusion (based on the data, NOT on the discussion)

Answer the following questions in this box.  Type your responses after each question.

  • Does the data support the hypotheses? The data does (does not) support the hypotheses as stated in…
  • Are there other possible explanations for the data? Other possible explanations for the data include…
  • Is the data convincing (statistics)? The data is convincing because it shows…
  • How could the experiment be improved? The experiment could be improved by…
  • Why is the data interesting? The data in this study was interesting because it…
  • How does it contribute to our understanding of the field? The data from this study contributes to our understanding of the field of…

Include a 7-9 sentences summary of the article. You are limited to only one quote from each article, the rest is a summary in your own words. Read the article, summarize the findings, include the summary here – you may also include elements from your responses above to formulate the summary.  

You must use APA formatting. All paragraphs must have a proper citation at the end of the material denoting the author and year. Do not use contractions. Write in third person and do not write in first person (i.e. “me” or “I” should not be used).