This brief guide is written for journalists and others who may not consider themselves fMRI experts, but would appreciate some advice about how to read an fMRI paper with an appropriate degree of informed skepticism. It is not meant to be prescriptive (or indeed exhaustive), but a few ideas of what to look for will hopefully benefit those wanting to report fMRI papers accurately in the media, as well as people who might simply wish to know how much they can reliably interpret from articles they read.
Like all science, fMRI is constantly evolving, so it is difficult to establish absolute standards that will be agreed by everybody. However, here are some pointers about common problems to look out for: