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National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health

Know the Science: How To Make Sense of a Scientific Journal Article

How To Find Information About Complementary and Integrative Health Practices on PubMed®

The words “Scientific Article” appear at the top of the page, with a fictional title, Clinical Study of Integrative Health Practices, below them. A fictional list of authors, James A. Smith, Ph.D., Karen B. Jones, M.D., Michael C. Helix, Ph.D., M.D., Lauren B. Smartz, Ph.D., R.N., F.N.P., Bryan S. Miller, Ph.D., M.D., appears under the title. The left column shows labeled sections of the journal article: Abstract, Methods, Results, Discussion, Key Words, References. All sections except Key Words are clickable. Gray lines appear in place of the text in each section in the left column and in the entire right column. These words appear at the lower right: Medical Journal Volume 30, Issue 8, August 2022AbstractMethodsResultsDiscussionReferences

Click on one of the highlighted areas to learn more

Discussion and Conclusion

What the results mean.

This is where you can often find out how the study relates to your own health.

  • This section includes the authors’ explanation of, and own opinions about, what the results mean.
  • Since the conclusions are the authors’ own, others may or may not completely agree with their explanation of the results.

Discussion and Conclusion

View more resources from the Know the Science Initiative.

Know the Science is now available in Spanish!