📘 Journal Club Instructions (2025)

This week, we will introduce how the rest of the journal clubs will look.

1. How Scientific Papers Are Structured

We will begin by reading and discussing Ten Simple Rules for Structuring Papers (PLOS Comp Biol, 2017).

This paper is not a research article itself, but a guide on how scientific papers are written and structured. It will help you understand:

• Why scientific papers follow the IMRaD format (Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion)
• How titles, abstracts, and figures are designed to communicate clearly
• The importance of logical flow and storytelling in scientific writing

By working through this article, you will learn how to navigate research papers systematically — a skill that will support every future journal club.

2. The Reflection Sheet

Every week, we will use the Critical Reading & Reflection Sheet for Journal Club Papers.

This sheet is designed for the AI era:

• You can use tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, ScholarAI, or Gemini CLI to help summarize sections
• But you must critically evaluate and refine AI outputs, noting where they fail or oversimplify
• Each section includes both summary prompts (to align everyone) and critical prompts (to push deeper thinking)

3. Weekly Journal Club Format

• Assigned Paper: Each week you will be given a scientific article to read (link provided in advance).

• Preparation: Complete the reflection sheet before class.

• In Class:

  • Students will be randomly selected to answer questions from the sheet
  • Some will explain or critique figures
  • We will compare and discuss different interpretations

• Participation & Grading: Based on preparation, clarity, critical engagement, and contributions to discussion.

4. Why This Matters

Scientific papers remain the currency of science. In today’s AI era, where many texts are produced or polished by generative tools, it is even more important to train your ability to:

• Recognize assumptions and biases
• Interpret data and figures rigorously
• Identify overstatements and limitations
• Think independently and critically

The journal club is designed to be your training ground for these skills.

✨ This week:

1. Read Ten Simple Rules for Structuring Papers
2. Come prepared to discuss how this helps you approach reading other papers
3. Next week, we begin with our first assigned research article + reflection sheet