Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. The Paper Trail The deep end Sources of information Textbooks Reviews Research papers Finding what you need Know your books Know your journals Hunting the needle Looking into the future References-- 2. Medium and MessageJournals Peer review Prestige or puff? The internet and other sources A tangled web Copying errors References-- 3. Scientists as Authors Truth and relative truth The world is orderly isn't it? Artefact or ugly fact? Interpretation and presentation The academic funding crisis Science meets business Stockholm beckons Sex sells Invisible science Publication bias and reference bias Calling the tune References-- 4. The Abstract and Introduction First impressions Do I need to read the paper? What is the paper about? What was the point of the research? What are Abstracts not for? Exercise-- 5. Materials and Methods The scientific method Attention pleaseMethod or madness? What are controls for? The scientific question A clear problemExercise-- 6. Quantitative Methods Significant figures Statistical significance Confidence intervals Sample size The significance of figures Exercise References-- 7. Thinking Science Assumptions and deductions Outside the box Lines of reasoning Reading research Revisiting the paper trail Exercise References.