Introduction:

Reading original papers is fundamental in science. Medical schools have formulated strategies to improve competencies in research, including literature search and critical reading.

Objective:

To describe trends in perceptions about scientific literature and the reading of scientific papers, and to evaluate the association between the number of original papers read and perceptions about the scientific literature in human medicine students exposed to a curricular strategy to improve research competencies.

Method:

A cross-sectional study at a private university in Peru. A self-administered virtual questionnaire was applied, this evaluated the perceptions about scientific literature (eight items), motivations to read original papers (five items), importance (seven items), and ease to read (seven items) the sections of the original paper, finally asked for the number of original papers read per week. The trend of the items in the years of study was evaluated with a chi-square for trend. The association between the number of original articles read and perceptions about the scientific literature were evaluated using binary logistic regression.

Results:

227 students participated, an increasing linear trend of 43.5% to 72.7% was found between the second and sixth year of study to the statement “know how to find scientific articles on a certain topic”, a similar trend was also found from 37.7% to 77.3% for “I know how to identify scientific articles relevant to the problem I am investigating”. The number of articles readed per month increased the perception of confidence regarding some skills with the scientific literature.

Conclusions:

Medical students presented a growing trend in their perception of their ability to find scientific articles and identify those relevant to their research. In the context of a curricular strategy to build investigative skills, the more articles read, the better the perception of confidence in dealing with scientific literature.