Published scientific research, like any piece of writing, is a peculiar literary genre.

A lot of people are reading scientific papers for the first time these days, hoping to make sense of the coronavirus pandemic.

It is hard to think of another moment in history when so many scientists turned their attention to one subject with such speed.

In mid-January, scientific papers began trickling out with the first details about the new coronavirus.

The National Library of Medicine’s database at the start of June contains over 17,000 published papers about the new coronavirus.

But now the world can surf the rising tide of research on the new coronavirus.

But just because scientific papers are easier to get hold of doesn’t mean that they are easy to make sense of.

Just like sonnets, sagas and short stories, scientific papers are a genre with its own unwritten rules, rules that have developed over generations.

The first scientific papers read more like letters among friends, recounting hobbies and oddities.

Journal editors sent papers to outside specialists who understood the details of a particular branch of research better than most scientists.

Sometimes the reviewers rejected the paper outright; other times they required the fixing of weak points — either by revising the paper or doing additional research.

As a science writer, I’ve been reading scientific papers for 30 years.

I’d guess that I’ve read tens of thousands of them, in search of new advances to write about, or to do background research for stories.

Reading a paper can be like reading a novel and realizing only at the end that Chapters 14, 30, and 41 were published separately.

The coronavirus pandemic now presents an extra challenge: There are far more papers than anyone could ever read.

If you use a tool like Google Scholar, you may be able to zero in on some of the papers that are already getting cited by other scientists.

Papers like these will be cited by generations of scientists yet to be born.

When you read through a scientific paper, it’s important to maintain a healthy skepticism.

A number of studies of flu, rhinovirus, coronavirus and other microbes have shown that respiratory illnesses, including the new coronavirus, can spread by touching contaminated surfaces, particularly in places like day care centers, offices and hospitals.

If you’ve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor.

But just because a paper passes peer review doesn’t mean it’s above scrutiny?

In April, when French researchers published a study suggesting that hydroxychloroquine might be effective against Covid-19, other scientists pointed out that it was small and not rigorously designed?

In May, a much bigger paper was published in the Lancet suggesting that the drug could increase the risk of death.

A hundred leading scientists published an open letter questioning the authenticity of the database on which the study relied.

When you read a scientific paper, try to think about it the way other scientists do.

One shortcut that can sometimes help you learn how to read a paper like a scientist is by making judicious use of social media.