Efficient Reading Of Papers In Science And Technology

Taking Notes:
Summary:
React to what you read
How to read a paper
Efficient Reading of
Taking notes will help you to understand what you read
Papers in Science
and will save you effort in the future. When you have
Preparation
just read a paper, you may understand it well. The deﬁ-
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Quiet place.
nitions are clear, the charts show correlations at a
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Pencil, paper, photocopy of article.
and Technology
glance. But next week, when you are writing a report
on this subject, or next year, when you need to refer to
Deciding what to read
the paper again, it may not be so clear.
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Read title, abstract.
Highlight major points
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Read it, ﬁle it or skip it?
On papers you plan to keep, underline main points
or mark them with a line in the margin; make notes so
Read for breadth
that new ideas will stand out. When you ﬁnd a deﬁni-
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What did they do?
tion of a new term, abbreviation or acronym, write
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Skim introduction, headings, graphics, deﬁni-
“def ” in the margin. When you ﬁnd an example that
tions, conclusions and bibliography.
clariﬁes a point, note that in the margin.
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Consider the credibility.
When you see a chart or table, examine it. Figure
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How useful is it?
out what its signiﬁcance is. What trends does it show?
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Decide whether to go on.
What correlations? Write a note explaining it in your
This brochure provides an approach to help you
own way.
read scientiﬁc papers efﬁciently and effectively.
Read in depth
React to the points in the paper
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How did they do it?
If you see a correlation to other work, note it in the
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Challenge their arguments.
margin. If you doubt a statement, note your objection.
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Examine assumptions.
If you ﬁnd a pleasing quotation, write it down.
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Examine methods.
Construct your own example
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Examine statistics.
This can tell you if you understand the deﬁnitions
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Examine reasoning and conclusions.
and terminology, give you insight on why a theorem or
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How can I apply their approach to my work?
result holds, and expose aspects not covered by the
examples in the paper.
Prepared by:
Take notes
Summarize what you read
Michael J. Hanson
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Make notes as you read.
Updated by:
When you have digested an article, write a short
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Highlight major points.
Dylan J. McNamee
summary. In your own words, state what you learned
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Note new terms and deﬁnitions.
from the paper. What were the main points for you?
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Summarize tables and graphs.
Keep the summary with the article for future reference.
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Write a summary.
Reacting to what you are reading gets you emotion-
ally involved in the argument. Emotion emphasizes
An online version of this document can be found here:
what is said, making it easier to remember. Writing a
http://www.cse.ogi.edu/~dylan/efﬁcientReading.html
summary helps to relate the paper to what you already
Thanks to Dave Maier for additional suggestions.
know, again aiding memory by tying into your frame-
work for the subject. The summary also serves as a ref-
Copyright © 1989, 1990 Michael J. Hanson,
erence when you need to return to the paper.
revised by Dylan J. McNamee (dylan@cse.ogi.edu)
version of January 6, 2000

Introduction:
Reading for Breadth:
Reading in Depth:
Why Read?
Build a framework
Challenge what you read
Before beginning to read a paper, consider why you are
If you decide to read the paper, ﬁrst skim it.
There is a lot of junk published, so you should be selec-
doing it. What do you want to get out of it? Your needs
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Read the introduction.
tive in what you read and what you believe. When you
control how you read. If you only need an overview, a
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Read the section headings.
read a paper in detail, approach it with scientiﬁc skep-
brief skim may sufﬁce. If you will present the paper to
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Look at the tables and graphs to see what they say
ticism. You can do this by trying to tear the arguments
others, you will need to dig deeply, to challenge the
and read the captions.
apart.
paper’s arguments until you understand it fully. If you
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Read the deﬁnitions and theorems.
will use the information later, taking notes will help
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Read the conclusions.
Examine the assumptions
you remember it. If you don’t know what you hope to
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Consider the credibility of the article:
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Do their results rely on any assumptions about
gain from the paper, you can not tell whether reading it
Who wrote it? Are they well-known?
trends or environments?
will be beneﬁcial or a waste of time.
Where do they work? What biases might they
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Are these assumptions reasonable?
In order to get the most from your reading, you
have as a result of their employer?
should be properly prepared. Find a quiet place to
Where was the article published? What is the
Examine the methods
work where you will not be disturbed or distracted,
reputation of the journal? Was the journal
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Did they measure what they claim?
have a pencil and note pad at hand, and bear in mind
refereed?
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Can they explain what they observed?
exactly what you expect to get from this paper.
When was it written? Might it be outdated or
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Did they have adequate controls?
The following method for reading a scientiﬁc paper
superceded?
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Were tests carried out in a standard way?
offers you ideas about the process of reading a paper,
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Skim the bibliography:
how to decide what to read, how to build a broad
How extensive is it?
Examine the statistics
framework by skimming, and how to challenge the
Are the authors aware of current work?
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Were appropriate statistical tests applied properly?
paper to get depth of understanding. Finally, it will
Does it reference classic papers in this ﬁeld?
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Did they do proper error analysis?
show you how to take notes so that the key points won’t
Have you read any of the papers that are
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Are the results statistically signiﬁcant?
be lost as soon as you set the paper down. Since read-
referred to?
ing is the process of getting ideas from the author, you
Do you know relevant research that isn't cited?
Examine the conclusions
must focus on the author’s thoughts, not just read the
words on the paper.
By skimming the paper ﬁrst you can learn what the
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Do the conclusions follow logically from the obser-
authors did, and develop a framework to understand
vations?
the parts of the paper. Developing a framework adds to
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What other explanations are there for the observed
Deciding what to read
your general understanding of the ﬁeld, and gives you a
effects?
basis to understand the paper. If you know what con-
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What other conclusions or correlations are there in
When you ﬁrst approach a paper, ask yourself “What
clusions they draw, you can follow their arguments
the data that they did not point out?
did the author do?” Reading the title and the abstract
more easily. Knowing where they are going can help
should tell you this. Then decide if the paper is useful
you to follow their path and give you a chance to ﬁnd
By challenging what you read, you will understand
to you now. If so, read it. If not, might the paper be use-
shortcuts or places where they missed a turn.
better what the author is saying and why they say it.
ful to you later? If so, ﬁle it. If it is not relevant to you,
Once you have skimmed a paper you have a broad
You will also be able to decide whether the evidence
skip it.
idea of what they did. Then you can decide if you want
supports their conclusions, and to draw your own con-
to know more. If you are interested in how they did it,
clusions from their data. Once you understand the
then read the body of the paper for details. If not, ﬁle
paper, ask yourself how you can apply their approach
away what you have learned and congratulate yourself
to your own work.
for saving the time of reading the paper in depth.