Rasha Shanaz Profile picture
A Physics PhD student hovering over the edge of epiphany 💜 complex systems▪️machine learning▪️reservoir computing Visiting Researcher 📍 TU Berlin

Mar 17, 2022, 14 tweets

Have you ever searched for "How to do a #LiteratureReview quickly/in 1 day/3 hours"?
And then spend the entire time getting lost in searching/ wallowing in tangential directions?

Here is a🧵on Quick #LitRev technique...

#AcWri #AcademicTwitter #PhDtips #phdlife #ScienceTwitter

From my fair share of struggle with literature reviews, I devised a technique that helped me do *quick* literature surveys, especially when I needed to
- write a #grant #proposal
- improve a half-written #manuscript
- learn a new method/theory

So, here you go...

1️⃣Collecting literature: Research Rabbit App

My go-to tool for literature discovery+visualize connection b/w them. (very essential for writing your LitRev, as you will need to draw connections between different works.)

...#ResearchRabbit

- In the app, search the topic you need articles for, create a collection
- It will automatically make connections b/w the articles & suggest papers based on your selections

(Make sure to stop when you find yourself going down the Rabbit Hole ;) )

2️⃣Extracting info: Skim&Annotate📑

After collecting the literature,
- quicky read the abstract and decide which ones are important/relevant.
-Now skim the chosen papers & annotate the most important things you find. (I use paper&highlighters / annotator in @mendeley_com)

...#Skim & #Annotate

- Optional: categorize the articles and assign a colour for each paper.

(Don't spend more than 10 minutes per paper. You can always go back and read the article thoroughly after completing this task)

3️⃣Organizing thoughts: The Sticky Note Method 🗂

Here comes my favourite part. I developed this technique inspired by a lot of tools I found on the internet. The #StickyNoteMethod is to capture, rearrange and construct coherent thoughts.

...#StickyNoteMethod

- write down the essence of each article in a separate sticky note.
(use different coloured sticky notes for different categories)
- After doing this for all the papers, stick them in a board/notebook
- Rearrange them till you get a coherent flow!

That's it.🤓
Now you can start writing your review!!

Did you find this useful?
I'd love your comments on my technique
& pls RT for this to reach more people❤️

5000 likes!??? Omg people, thank you so much for making this reach soo many people!!! ♥️

Check out my instagram page 🤓instagram.com/thephdpensieve…
I share more of such tips and tools there!

Also, check out this tweet if you want a simple, functional AND ✨pretty✨ tool for planning your PhD/projects: #GanttChart

You'll find the link to a FREE template in the tweet🔗

Here is a good bunch of tips that complement my technique!

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