Here's a short video explaining the parts of a scholarly article and how to read it:
Anatomy of a Scholarly Article (4:47) (NC State University Libraries page)
Here's an article explaining how to read a journal article:
Art of Reading a Journal Article: Methodically and Effectively (Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology). See the section on Types of Journal Articles, which gives a good short description of the different types of medical journal articles, differentiating between primary and secondary sources.
Reading deeper: Here's a web site that has checklists for what to examine when evaluating research articles:
Critical Appraisal Skills Program (CASP) website: "This set of eight critical appraisal* tools are designed to be used when reading research. CASP has appraisal checklists designed for use with Systematic Reviews, Randomised Controlled Trials, Cohort Studies, Case Control Studies, Economic Evaluations, Diagnostic Studies, Qualitative studies and Clinical Prediction Rule. (*Critical Appraisal is the process of assessing and interpreting evidence, by systematically considering its validity, results and relevance to your own context.)"
