The goal of using this template is to provide a structured approach to note-taking by providing a list of features that will likely be relevant to reading and synthesizing scholarly sources across the field of behavior genetics. The primary audience for this template is yourself in the future. Many papers will have multiple phenotypes, methods, and findings - it’s up to you to decide which parts are of primary interest for you to take away from the article personally.

This template in particular is for use with Empirical sources. Empirical sources are scholarly sources that report a new analysis of data (that is, they are NOT just summarizing previous empirical work, as in a review paper). In most cases, Empirical sources will be identifiable by having a Methods section and a Results section.

Copy and paste the empty template below into your article summary document. See the detailed instructions at the bottom for information about how to fill out each field.

Template

Citation:

Primary method(s):

Participants:

Phenotype(s):

Primary finding:

Primary effect size:

Which themes does the paper address?

Click here to view the list of 20 themes common in behavior genetics. You are not limited to only these themes.
  • Theme:
    • Explain how:
  • Theme:
    • Explain how:
  • Theme:
    • Explain how:
  • Other major topic(s)?
    • Describe:

What is your favorite table or figure? Why?

Has the finding been replicated? How can you tell?

Detailed Instructions

Citation

Provide the citation in APA format. The Purdue OWL website is a handy free guide for APA formatting. If you find a reference on Google Scholar, click the image of the quotation mark to copy the APA-formatted citation.

Primary method(s)

Briefly list the analytic approaches that the paper takes. Common methods include GWAS, twin/family study, polygenic scores, candidate gene, and meta-analysis (which combines many studies into a single analysis).

Participants

Report information about the participants in the study, including the number (often labeled as N), demographic characteristics, and any inclusion/exclusion criteria that seem important.

Phenotype(s)

List the phenotypes (the participants’ measured non-genetic trait of focus). Include a brief description of the operationalization: how did they measure or define the construct?

Primary finding

There may be many findings reported; you are welcome to select & focus on the ones that are most relevant to you/your research.

Primary effect size

This is the question not just of did they find a statistically significant effect (which is a yes or no question) for the Primary Finding that you identified, but rather how much of an effect was there? Be sure to include the metric that the effect size in, for example, an odds ratio (usually labeled OR), regression coefficient (b), correlation (r or beta), variance explained (r2), or estimates of heritability/environmentality (a2, d2, c2, e2; typically expressed as a percent). A p-value is NOT an effect size - it is used for the yes-or-no evaluation of statistical significance, and it is a combination of the effect size and the sample size (for example, a low p-value can happen with a big effect in a small sample, or a small effect in a big sample). If there are a lot (say, across multiple phenotype operationalizations or from many samples), you can use summaries, such as a range (e.g. “significant correlations ranged from 0.1-0.2”) or rough estimates of an average (e.g. “heritabilities were around 40% for all phenotypes”).

Which themes does the paper address?

This is useful for organizing the way that a report fits into the bigger picture of our understanding of the topic. You will likely find many instances that fit within the 20 themes in human behavior genetics, but you are welcome to also identify other themes that seem particularly relevant to the specific paper or topic. Aim for about three themes per summary.

What is your favorite table or figure? Why?

A picture (or any display item) is worth a thousand words. Make a note for yourself to remember what pieces were most helpful.

Has the finding been replicated? How can you tell?

To view papers that have cited your target paper (as replications usually should), click on the “Cited by ##” link below the paper’s search result listing on google scholar. If the paper is itself a replication of a previous study, that information will probably show up in the form of comparing their results to results from previous similar studies either in the Introduction or in the Discussion. Some empirical articles (especially GWAS) will include internal replications (a replication sample & analysis included in the original paper itself) - those count, too.

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