Journal Review Group

A key strength in the Human Centred Web Lab is the willingness to share and disseminate knowledge and skills between its members. The Journal Paper Review Group is one such mechanism for sharing experience and information. Sessions are held on a regular basis, the aim of which is to discuss conference and journal papers that members of the group have recently read. The aims of the meetings are to:

• Transfer scientific paper reading skills to junior members of the team. The ability to critically analyse publications in order to establish the contribution that the paper claims to make to the field is essential for research.
• Gain practice at dissecting papers and extracting the strengths and weaknesses of what is written. Just because a paper is published, does not mean it is good.
• Share knowledge of papers. A group of people independently reading and communicating papers provides an effective way of discovering publications that may otherwise have been overlooked.

To facilitate the smooth running of the sessions and to provide a guide to participants, a Journal Paper Review Form has been created, which can be printed and used to write down notes ready to bring to the next meeting. There is also a a guide to interpreting journal paper reviews that can be used to help complete the form.