Thread by @chrmosimann

As undergrad, I struggled immensely with this: reading and omg understanding papers.

Especially as non-native English speaker.

I did develop a system that helped me back then.

Bear with me it is pretty...mundane. 1/n

#reading #PhDLife #PDlife #undergradlife #papers #science

https://twitter.com/JunellieG/status/1307757902149672960

I printed each paper. And while reading I used a yellow, a green, and a pink highlighter.

When reading, I labeled every first mention of an abbreviation in green.

This helped me to find their meaning quickly again when deep into the text.

2/n

In pink, I labeled key questions and take-home messages.

If done correctly, you can look at pink sentences alone and recap the whole paper.

Peo-rip: first and last sentences of paragraphs often are pink sentences.

Pro-tip 2: write papers that have pink sentences.

3/n

In yellow, highlight text that you deem important to the story.

Caveat: at first you might as well pour yellow paint over the paper as you feel EVERYTHING is important.

(spoiler alert: it is not)

4/n

Structuring a paper this way facilitates understanding (find abbreviations,, key concepts), helps conceptualizing (what is important?), and shows how to get from A to B.

Add another color for techniques, external data, key references, et al.

5/n

Having such, uh, colorful papers (we printed papers as no tablets or laptops then) helped me tremendously when discussing papers in class and with fellow students.

@nmatasci will recall many a paper discussion with Walter Schaffner or Markus Noll....

6/n

More importantly though, this selective highlighting helped me to concentrate on what is what in a paper.

And it developed a (mundane) habit for me.

But wait a sec, you ask, what about figures....buckle up, folks.

7/n

Having terrible ideal printers (and for sure not color), figures became secondary when reading papers.

Yes, I love imaging and biology is beautiful - but hear me out. You can show me whatever you want in a figure. If the text doesn't hold up, you don't convince me.

8/n

Lots of folks put major emphasis on figures. Heck I do with our papers as they provide the evidence for the narrative!

But again, how can I tell you didn't cherry-pick your nicest staining/embryo/blot? How can you tell WE didn't?

Show me the context. In the text.

9/n

This leads to my original response to the tweet and @rita_strack's answer:

a well-written paper can be condensed to its first and last sentences in the results paragraphs (the "pink" sentences).

Not all the time for all paragraphs, but try it. Observe. Write this way.

10/n

Example:

Frist sentence explains what the experiments aims to show/hypothesis/idea. Fluff fluff fluff how we did stuff more fluff and fluff and fluff fluff fluff. Taken together, our observation suggests/supports the hypothesis/establishes X.

Cool, no? Rinse. Repeat.

11/n

I always love good discussions. A good discussion in hourglass style (starting broad, narrowing on the addressed problem, widening again) in itself can be the whole paper. And more literate, fluid than results.

Context. Significance. Impact. All in a good discussion.

12/n

Intros have been vilified as "cheap reviews" or "unnecessarily long".

But: many of a paper's readers might have never heard of a topic before. A good intro provides an awesome way to get into a field and a paper.

Intros have been my micro-reviews to learn lots of #devbio.

13/n

Still can't get over my take on figures? Maybe this helps:

Read the text first.

After you read it all, go only through the figures and trace back what the text told you.

Pro-tip: good figure titles strung together are a micro version of the paper (pink sentences!).

14/n

These steps and details helped me at least to make sense of papers when I started getting into science.

Over time, reading skill and speed refines, and you get better at capturing relevant info.

You train this. By doing. Like a sport.

15/n

I still recognize remnants of my initial reading system in how I read papers now.

Cool figures? Fine, but show me the narrative. The pink sentences that make sense.

And you can never ever stop reading. It is hard. Don't feel stupid. It is a struggle.

So is writing.

16/n

I could ramble on, but stop here. Read papers. Follow the references.

Find a way that suits YOU.

And remember. This is hard. And you will get better by continously working on paper reading.

Mundane but effective.

17/n

...ok one last thing:

Get your uni's VPN so you can access journal subscriptions/your library from home or from your phone.

Then you have no excuse not to read a particular paper right now ;).

You got this!
#keepreading

/fin