Introduction: A correspondence has been seen between the level at which one can read scientific texts and his/her performance in writing this type of texts. Besides being able to read at the most complex levels, formulating research problems requires explicit training in writing. The objective of the present study was to evaluate whether identifying and drafting the different types of paragraphs of an experimental article improved graduate students' performance when asked to write a pertinent research question. Method: Eleven graduate students in psychology participated. The experimental group was given training which consisted of identifying and rephrasing some elements of an experimental article. The control group did not receive any type of training. The evaluation consisted of drafting and justifying a research question. Results: Before the training, students exhibited great difficulty in the drafting and justification of research questions; they were exercising reading and writing behaviors at a less complex level. After training, their performance improved substantially; they were able to behave from an extra-situational orientation. Participants in the experimental group performed better than those in the control group, both in drafting and in justifying their research questions. Conclusions: The results obtained in the present study seem to indicate that exposing researchers-in-training to the reading of complex materials, and training them in an explicit way to write scientific texts, improves their performance when drafting and justifying novel research questions. Such data suggest the need to provide training in reading and writing at more complex levels to novice researchers. (Contains 5 figures and 4 tables.)