Journal Club Turns Complex Research into Conversation

Tucked into a classroom in Allwine Hall, scholarly students are staring at a presentation about scientific advancements in complete silence. They look from their notebooks, to their laptops, to their fellow learners surrounding them, waiting for someone to break the ice.

Finally, a lone hand reaches into the air. As they begin to speak, the energy in the room shifts. More hands climb, and more voices join the conversation.

It’s another evening at Journal Club. The group, led by Profs. Paul Denton and Karen Kim-Guisbert, convenes every other week to dive into a different academic journal article. Every semester they focus on articles around a specific subject— from following a drug from idea to FDA approval, to neurogenerative diseases.

At each meeting, groups of two-to-three students present a new article. After pouring over the evidence, they pose questions to the audience and prompt discussions that range from the methods used by the researchers, to the interpretations of the data, and to the broader implications of the findings.

Attendees come from all levels of science – from students still in their first few semesters of undergraduate courses, to those pursuing graduate degrees, to professors with cemented scholarly experience.

Together, they dig through the daunting journal articles as a collective. No question is wrong, no statement straightforward — they break down the paper line by line, measurement by measurement, examining every part of the study to help them understand its intentions, findings, and applications.

Rachel Ma is a first-year student and active Journal Club member. For Ma, the club provides an opportunity to gain familiarity with journals — something she’s sure she’ll see often in her future medical career.

“As a pre-health student, I think it just gives a lot more exposure to these different scientific concepts, even if it's just a short glimpse,” Ma said.

Patricia Harte-Maxwell also joined Journal Club as a first-year student. Even now as a graduate teaching assistant in the biology department, Harte-Maxwell still attends Journal Club as a regular practice.

“One of the greatest things about Journal Club is sort of reminding people... okay, you don't just know everything,” Hart Maxwell said. “Reading science, learning, is a constant thing. It's a muscle that you keep using.”

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Announcements and notification regarding the journal club are made via a Canvas module. If you are interested in participating in the journal club and you have not previously been added to the Journal Club Canvas module, please reach out directly to Dr. Paul W Denton: pdenton@unomaha.edu