## 4.5 Assessing academic articles

When using academic articles it is also important to critically assess whether the information is relevant, reliable, up to date, and complete.
Reading order

Do not begin by reading an academic article from start to finish. Follow the reading order below to get a quicker idea of its relevance to your research:

1. Abstract (summary).
2. Introduction.
3. Methods.
4. Results.
5. Discussion/Conclusion

Ask yourself three questions when reading the article:

1. To what extent does the information in this article help you formulate an answer to your main and sub-research questions or problem statement?

2. Does the information in this article contribute to your theoretical framework? In other words, does it enrich the theory you have already found? Does the content of this article perhaps stimulate dialogue or discussion?

3. Do the authors use literature that might also be worth using for your own research?