Journal Club
Join your fellow students once a month for informal discussions of a selected paper. ACS journal editors select a different article each month and lead the discussions. It’s a great way to meet the editors, get to know other students, and learn about new areas of chemistry!
Watch here for information about the next ACS Journal Club!
Join a Journal Club meeting
- Register for the meeting when it's announced.
- Read the paper chosen by the participating editor, even if you find it challenging. The paper is normally announced two weeks before the meeting.
- Join the meeting to ask your questions and discuss the paper.
Tips for reading journal articles
Whether it’s your first time reading a journal paper or you’re just struggling with the topic, don’t worry if you have a hard time with this month’s article. Here are some tips for reading papers:
- Start with the abstract, introduction, and conclusions to get a broad idea of the work.
- Take a deep dive into the article to understand the work.
- Review the results and graphs; ask:
- Are the results reasonable, given the procedure used?
- Do the conclusions match the data?
- What does this mean for the field? For my research?
- What would be an intriguing follow-up study?
- Take notes and highlight key passages.
How to Organize a Chemistry Journal Club
A journal club is a great way to build your chemistry literature skills in conversation with fellow students. Get together with new friends you met at a Social Distancing Social, or team up with your ACS Student Chapter to start a journal club.
- Use your goals to identify your strategies. If you want to:
- Keep up with the latest research... have participants find and present different papers in your common field.
- Improve your journal reading skills... find a single paper to share and discuss.
- Learn about different fields... have everyone present papers from journals in any field or focus at each meeting.
- Build comaraderie. Include social time and snacks.
- Meet at a regular time.
- Choose a leader/facilitator for each meeting.
- Try different formats, such as:
- Presentation by facilitator or members
- Team debates
- Discussion questions from the group
- Guest facilitators
- Keep the atmosphere friendly and inviting.
How to Find Articles to Read
- Find interesting articles in the news (C&EN is a good starting place), then read the referenced journal article.
- Try open access journals, like:
- Most schools have access to peer-reviewed journals. If you are cut off from those, ACS members can download 50 articles per year for free.