ABC 123Strategies for Reading Academic Articles

Whether you are new to reading academic articles or just need a refresher, you may be asking yourself, "Where do I begin?" You are not alone. Scholarly works can be intimidating at first, and while it will get easier with practice, consider these strategies as you begin your practice.

Strategies

Get to know the overall structure of scholarly articles

Some sections, such as the abstract, introduction, discussion, and conclusion, will provide a more overall summary of the research, while other sections, such as methodology and results or data, will be very specific. While both are important, it is easy to get lost in the body of the article where specific details are provided. By understanding the overall structure, you will be able to read (and skim) strategically.

Be sure to look towards the end of the article for the author's analysis of strengths and limitations of their study, as well as suggestions for future research. This can be good information to note as you are determining where the gaps are in the literature.

Skim strategically

Skimming or pre-reading an article will help anchor your understanding before you dive into the details.

Read the abstract first! The abstract will help you determine what are the most important and relevant elements of the article. Follow the abstract with the Introduction and Conclusion. Once you have a good understanding of what the main idea or argument is, look at the body for more details.

Summarize to engage your memory

Summarizing what you have read in your own words actively engages the brain in creating new memories. By summarizing your understanding of the article (even if you miss a few details), you are more likely to recall what it was about in the future.

This module is built around supporting you as you set up a system for summarizing, organizing, and storing academic works. The next page will focus on the summary form to keep with each article you read.

Use that highlighter very sparingly

Although highlighting is a common practice, it is significantly less effective than summarizing. Highlighting is a passive act that does not engage the brain in memory storage. However, there are some times that highlighting can make your work more efficient.

If you want to be able to quickly access a quote from the article, highlighting is a great strategy to help you find that quote again.
If you are annotating while you read, the highlighter can help you recognize the content you are referring to in your annotation.

Consider the context

Why are you reading this article? If it was assigned by your instructor, consider why he/she/they would assign it. What is the idea or argument and how does that fit in with what you are learning? If you are reading it for your own research, consider why you selected this work and what understanding you are hoping to gain from it.

Make it social

Learning doesn't happen in a vacuum. Discuss your thoughts and questions with your peers and instructors. The act of discussing not only helps you expand your knowledge and deepen your understanding through gaining different perspectives, but it also helps you commit more of the details to memory.

Practice makes progress

As you read more articles, it will get easier, but it does take time and practice. If your first few articles are difficult or you feel lost, remember that is normal. Discussing articles with peers can be a helpful way to process the information too.