I've seen a lot on #AcademicTwitter about people struggling to read journal articles that they've flagged. Like many others, I need to stay up to date on the latest literature. Here's are 10 tips about how I was able to "read" 500+ articles in the past 3 yrs.
A 🧵
1/10
A 🧵
1/10
This process takes me between 2 and 10 minutes.
1⃣I email myself articles that sound interesting or relevant.
2⃣I “snooze“ the article so that one article a day shows up in my inbox at 6 AM.
2/10
1⃣I email myself articles that sound interesting or relevant.
2⃣I “snooze“ the article so that one article a day shows up in my inbox at 6 AM.
2/10
3⃣Reading the article is the first thing I do in the morning. If I don’t read it in the first 30 minutes of my day, I know I won’t get to it.
4⃣I skim through the abstract (30 seconds)
3/10
4⃣I skim through the abstract (30 seconds)
3/10
5⃣If the article doesn't look relevant or helpful, I reply to the email I sent myself saying, “Article does not seem relevant” and then copy & paste the abstract. That way I can search my emails for keywords in that abstract if I ever need to find it again. 🛑for the day.
4/10
4/10
6⃣If the article seems helpful, I actually read the abstract and figure out which sections seem relevant specifically for my work (often the results or discussion).
5/10
5/10
7⃣I skim the intro (HUGE🙏to authors who include good headings). That means I read the first sentence of every paragraph and skim for words I might be interested in. For example, if I’m looking for work on "adaptations" I'll keep an eye out for that word.
6/10
6/10
8⃣I jump to the section that seems most relevant to my work and skim through the entire section (by reading the first line of every paragraph).
9⃣When something seems really relevant, I pause, take a deep breath, and read it in detail, paying attention to every word.
7/10
9⃣When something seems really relevant, I pause, take a deep breath, and read it in detail, paying attention to every word.
7/10
🔟To complete the process, I email myself a one-sentence takeaway from the article, and then copy & paste the abstract below it.
8/10
8/10
The approach isn't perfect and sometimes I go back to articles that I skimmed and had passed on. But despite its flaws, it has helped me to stay on top of the #impsci literature. On some days I don’t have any articles left on my list and have to go searching for new ones 🤯
9/10
9/10
It works much better when I’m reading literature on a topic that I’m very familiar with. When I’m learning about something new, I often print the article, pull out my highlighter and read in more detail.
If you have other tips, I would love to hear them!
10/10
If you have other tips, I would love to hear them!
10/10
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