reading a journal article from the primary scientific literature can be a daunting task for anyone  especially for k to 12 students and teachers . the barriers that inhibit people who are not professional scientists from being able to read a scientific article include : finding and accessing an article of interest ; comprehending the field - specific jargon ( 8) ; and understanding how to navigate the structure of the article to locate the desired information . we at the journal of emerging investigators ( jei , www.emerginginvestigators.org ) aim to lower these barriers for middle and high school students and their mentors . ( for a deeper discussion of these issues and how jei addresses them , please see the accompanying perspectives article in this issue ( 3 ) . ) increasing student engagement with the scientific literature is important because it is the most unbiased and direct way to learn scientific information . moreover , it encourages students to think critically about the process of how scientific  facts  are discovered and teaches them how to apply the scientific method to their own questions . we also believe that making students comfortable with primary literature articles will break down the damaging stereotype that science is impenetrable and only for experts . eliminating this commonly held but incorrect belief is one of the critical first steps in empowering scientific competency in all citizens . the internet is a powerful tool to help students hurdle the first two barriers described above . articles now exist that can be easily accessed and searched for articles of interest , which can be downloaded in full ( table 1 ) . however , once an article is in hand and jargon is defined , primary literature can still be very difficult to navigate for anyone unfamiliar with its foreign , formal structure . we sought to create a fun , easy learning tool to help familiarize students and their teachers , parents , and other mentors with the structure of a scientific article . our main learning objective was for the student to realize that science writing is formulaic  that specific information is found in predictable and defined locations within an article  and that , with an understanding of the formula , anyone can comfortably navigate any journal article and accurately predict what to expect to find in each section . therefore , we designed the journal article scavenger hunt to require the user to find and identify a series of commonplace features of a primary research article ( fig . 1 ) . this activity quickly highlights the similarities found across all journal articles , and it can be scaled up or down in difficulty to the level of the user . at jei , we have had success using the scavenger hunt with students of all ages , from elementary school children to lay adult - learners , and in a variety of settings , from the classroom and lab to outreach booths at fairs . while many pedagogical approaches already exist to help students learn from primary literature ( e.g. , create ( 5 ) , figure facts ( 7 ) , and others summarized in 7 and 6 ) , most are geared toward using articles to teach college students scientific content and/or processes and require significant investments of classroom time . jei s journal article scavenger hunt complements these approaches by providing a novel focus on teaching the structure of a scientific article , rather than its content , in a manner that is accessible to school - aged children and can be accomplished in as little as five minutes . each website contains thousands of scientific articles that are all  open - access  and can be downloaded for free for use in the classroom , lab , or for personal interest . to find an article of interest note : all articles from the journal of emerging investigators are written by students , whereas all other sources contain articles written by professional researchers . this generic template for the journal article scavenger hunt can be modified to suit the needs of the instructor . the questions can be adjusted to be more or less challenging , and/or more or less specific to the content of the journal article of choice . 1 ) , writing utensils , and one or more primary research articles . for outreach events that engage the public , such as booths at science festivals , supplemental materials can be helpful , including visual aids that relate to the articles ( e.g. , sealed moldy agar plates for articles on microbes ) and inexpensive incentives ( e.g. , neon bouncy balls for kids who complete the scavenger hunt ) . however , these items do not directly relate to the scavenger hunt itself and are not necessary to complete it . primary research articles to be used with the scavenger hunt can be pre - selected by the instructor and distributed with the activity , or they can be found as part of the student s preparation for the activity ( see table 1 for where to find articles ) . for example , when working with older teenagers and college students , we choose articles like  the relationship between sleep and wake habits and academic performance in medical students : a cross - sectional study  ( 2 ) . this research asks whether late bedtimes and daytime sleepiness correlate with poor grades in school  a question that this age group easily relates to and enjoys . for younger or broader audiences we recommend using articles published in the journal of emerging investigators , where the research is designed , performed , and written by student authors in grades 6 to 12 . these articles tend to have simpler methodologies and intuitive subjects such as  the effect of music on heart rate ( 1 ) or the  isolation of microbes from common household surfaces  ( 4 ) . while being approachable , jei articles are still peer - reviewed , primary research articles and so they conform to the standard of professional literature in terms of structure and layout and serve as excellent introductions to the science writing format . the activity itself is straightforward : each student receives one copy of the scavenger hunt for each article ( fig . the worksheet is comprised of fill - in - the - blank questions that alert the reader s attention to common features in all primary research articles , such as the authors , the main research question being asked , the publication dates , and the main conclusion of the work . the instructions state  every scientific primary research article contains the following items  can you find them all ?  the student must then scan the research article to find the items and write in the correct answers . the student should not statically read the article from beginning to end ; rather , the activity should be done quickly by scanning for the pertinent information , with most students completing it within five minutes . for more mature and independent students , the activity can be performed individually but it is often more fun and interactive when done in small groups . in classroom settings , format , where the pairs share their explanations with the entire class to generate discussion . we have found that the best way for students to grasp the structural similarities that all articles share is to have students perform the scavenger hunt iteratively with multiple , disparate articles . the students quickly recognize the pattern of where to find the desired information and can then more quickly find the same information in a new article . to emphasize this point and to build excitement , we make it a race : we use stopwatches to time how quickly a student can accurately complete the scavenger hunt for one article , and then see if s / he can beat that time when finding the same information in a new article . we have used it as a pre - lab assignment or as homework with high - school students and college freshmen to guide their reading of a primary research article . we have also had great success with the scavenger hunt as an outreach activity at science fairs , where we use prizes and races to incentivize engagement from children as young as elementary school - age . we find that students of all ages find comfort in the predictability of where to find specific information within the foreign format of the article , and we see their scavenger hunt completion times decrease and their confidence grow in real time as they quickly succeed in finding correct answers . similarly , we have used the scavenger hunt in professional development seminars for middle and high school science teachers to de - mystify the structure of the journal article and to encourage teachers inclusion of primary literature in their classrooms . teachers evaluations of the scavenger hunt were universally positive , with one teacher writing that she now feels able to  introduce the structure of science writing to my [ 6 grade ] students for the first time .  to more formally measure the efficacy and impact of the journal article scavenger hunt , jei is currently in the process of developing summative assessments of its publication and outreach efforts ( see our accompanying article published in this themed issue ( 3 ) for further information ) . not only is the scavenger hunt activity beneficial for various audiences and settings , the hunt itself is adaptable to the instructor s needs . the questions within the scavenger hunt can be modified by the instructor to add variety to the assignment each year or to accommodate different learning styles . the content of the scavenger hunt can also be tailored to specific articles of interest to meet the instructor s learning goals . for example , when we at jei use the scavenger hunt to teach about the peer - review process , we include a bonus question that draws the reader s attention to the difference between the submission date and the publication date . an example of a modified scavenger hunt used with college freshmen can be found in appendix 1 . 1 ) , writing utensils , and one or more primary research articles . for outreach events that engage the public , such as booths at science festivals , supplemental materials can be helpful , including visual aids that relate to the articles ( e.g. , sealed moldy agar plates for articles on microbes ) and inexpensive incentives ( e.g. , neon bouncy balls for kids who complete the scavenger hunt ) . however , these items do not directly relate to the scavenger hunt itself and are not necessary to complete it . primary research articles to be used with the scavenger hunt can be pre - selected by the instructor and distributed with the activity , or they can be found as part of the student s preparation for the activity ( see table 1 for where to find articles ) . for example , when working with older teenagers and college students , we choose articles like  the relationship between sleep and wake habits and academic performance in medical students : a cross - sectional study  ( 2 ) . this research asks whether late bedtimes and daytime sleepiness correlate with poor grades in school  a question that this age group easily relates to and enjoys . for younger or broader audiences we recommend using articles published in the journal of emerging investigators , where the research is designed , performed , and written by student authors in grades 6 to 12 . these articles tend to have simpler methodologies and intuitive subjects such as  the effect of music on heart rate ( 1 ) or the  isolation of microbes from common household surfaces  ( 4 ) . while being approachable , jei articles are still peer - reviewed , primary research articles and so they conform to the standard of professional literature in terms of structure and layout and serve as excellent introductions to the science writing format . the activity itself is straightforward : each student receives one copy of the scavenger hunt for each article ( fig . the worksheet is comprised of fill - in - the - blank questions that alert the reader s attention to common features in all primary research articles , such as the authors , the main research question being asked , the publication dates , and the main conclusion of the work . the instructions state every scientific primary research article contains the following items  can you find them all ?  the student must then scan the research article to find the items and write in the correct answers . the student should not statically read the article from beginning to end ; rather , the activity should be done quickly by scanning for the pertinent information , with most students completing it within five minutes . for more mature and independent students , the activity can be performed individually but it is often more fun and interactive when done in small groups . in classroom settings , format , where the pairs share their explanations with the entire class to generate discussion . we have found that the best way for students to grasp the structural similarities that all articles share is to have students perform the scavenger hunt iteratively with multiple , disparate articles . the students quickly recognize the pattern of where to find the desired information and can then more quickly find the same information in a new article . to emphasize this point and to build excitement , we make it a race : we use stopwatches to time how quickly a student can accurately complete the scavenger hunt for one article , and then see if s / he can beat that time when finding the same information in a new article . we have used it as a pre - lab assignment or as homework with high - school students and college freshmen to guide their reading of a primary research article . we have also had great success with the scavenger hunt as an outreach activity at science fairs , where we use prizes and races to incentivize engagement from children as young as elementary school - age . we find that students of all ages find comfort in the predictability of where to find specific information within the foreign format of the article , and we see their scavenger hunt completion times decrease and their confidence grow in real time as they quickly succeed in finding correct answers . similarly , we have used the scavenger hunt in professional development seminars for middle and high school science teachers to de - mystify the structure of the journal article and to encourage teachers inclusion of primary literature in their classrooms . teachers evaluations of the scavenger hunt were universally positive , with one teacher writing that she now feels able to  introduce the structure of science writing to my [ 6 grade ] students for the first time . to more formally measure the efficacy and impact of the journal article scavenger hunt , jei is currently in the process of developing summative assessments of its publication and outreach efforts ( see our accompanying article published in this themed issue ( 3 ) for further information ) . not only is the scavenger hunt activity beneficial for various audiences and settings , the hunt itself is adaptable to the instructor s needs . the questions within the scavenger hunt can be modified by the instructor to add variety to the assignment each year or to accommodate different learning styles . the content of the scavenger hunt can also be tailored to specific articles of interest to meet the instructor s learning goals . for example , when we at jei use the scavenger hunt to teach about the peer - review process , we include a bonus question that draws the reader s attention to the difference between the submission date and the publication date . an example of a modified scavenger hunt used with college freshmen can be found in appendix 1 . the journal article scavenger hunt is a fun , adaptable activity that quickly familiarizes the user with the structure of a primary scientific research article . over many years of using this activity , we have received positive feedback from students of all ages , from elementary school students to lay adult - learners as well as science teachers themselves . by making the unknown seem predictable and approachable , the scavenger hunt helps a variety of audiences feel more comfortable with science and more confident in their ability to engage directly with the scientific literature .
primary scientific literature can be difficult to navigate for anyone unfamiliar with its foreign , formal structure . 
 we sought to create a fun , easy learning tool to help familiarize students of all ages with the structure of a scientific article . 
 our main learning objective was for the student to realize that science writing is formulaic  that specific information is found in predictable locations within an article  and that , with an understanding of the formula , anyone can comfortably navigate any journal article and accurately predict what to expect to find in each section . 
 to this end , we designed a journal article scavenger hunt that requires the user to find and identify a series of commonplace features of a primary research article . 
 the scavenger hunt activity is quick and easy to implement , and is adaptable to various ages and settings , including the classroom , lab , and at outreach events . 
 the questions in the scavenger hunt can be scaled in difficulty and specificity to suit the instructor s needs . over many years of using this activity 
 , we have received positive feedback from students of all ages , from elementary school students to lay adult - learners as well as science teachers themselves . by making the unknown seem predictable and approachable 
 , the scavenger hunt helps a variety of audiences feel more comfortable with science and more confident in their ability to engage directly with the scientific literature . 
 journal of microbiology & biology education