First, you should recognize that most academic journal articles are some form of research study.  Also, if you think of academic journals as a kind of party conversation, it may help to understand the structure. 

1. The article will usually open with a context/problem/issue in the field or discipline.


2. The first major section is generally a literature review covering the major articles and findings in the field to date.  Going back to our party model--you are late arriver reading this article, so this section is like eavesdropping on the ongoing conversation clusters.  It is also a great starting point for your research project as it compiles in one place several authors that you can also look for.


3. Following the literature review, the authors will usually present their focus, planned study, etc.  Sometimes this is a short intro to the study section; other times it will be detailed with multiple hypotheses.


4. The study--prepare for lots of statistics and data--the authors will present lots of details about sampling selections, study protocols, etc.  These details are important because the research needs to be replicable (able to be repeated to obtain a consistent result), and other researchers need to understand the scope and process of the research.  This section can be hard reading, but can also provide material for analysis.  You can look at the sample size and representation, the research protocols (the research methods used in the study), etc., to think about the strengths and weaknesses of the study.


5. After all the data, the authors will discuss their findings, especially in terms of what the findings mean for them and their particular study.


6. Since this is a conversation, no one wants to be a know-it-all, so most authors end with a discussion of the limitations of their study and ideas for carrying the research forward.

Having this framework in place can help you make sense of at least the gist of most academic journal articles.