digest
Short Summary
Main recommendation: Do not read a scientific paper front to back; instead, use a two-phase process that surveys the paper first and only invests deep reading time if it proves relevant. Start with the title, keywords, abstract, and conclusions, then scan tables, figures, and captions before deciding whether to read the introduction, results and discussion, and experimental sections in depth. Taking written notes after each paper will save time when you later write your own work.
Key Points
- Phase one is surveying: you may stop at any point if the paper stops interesting you, which keeps time spent on irrelevant papers low.
- The abstract is described as the most important part for getting acquainted with a paper, and it is the source of the keywords that services use to send you papers.
- The conclusions are checked before the methods or results, because if they are not relevant, there is no reason to read further.
- The introduction gives essential background and explains why the authors did the study, so it is read seriously only after the survey shows the paper matters.
- The results and discussion section is where most reading time should go, while the experimental section is for papers that are highly relevant to your current work, since it shows how the authors actually did things.
Details Worth Noting
- Concrete instructions: Read in this order: (1) title and keywords; stop if uninteresting. (2) Abstract. (3) Conclusions, without reading the intermediate sections; stop if not relevant. (4) Tables, figures, and captions, to see the main work done. (5) If you continue, read the introduction. (6) Read the results and discussion carefully, where most time should be spent. (7) Read the experimental section only if the paper is extremely relevant to your current work. Then take notes in a notebook or on index cards, not on the PDF, so they are easy to flip through later.
- Reading time varies: a survey may take about 30 seconds, while a deeply relevant paper may take several hours or days.
- The notes are meant for future use, such as deciding which papers to reread before writing your own manuscript and which to exclude as references because they are not relevant.
- The speaker cites an old saying, which he attributes to China, that the faintest writing is better than the best memory, and says his experience supports it.
- The speaker is Professor Pete Carr, who reports about 38 years at the University of Minnesota and experience teaching graduate students to read papers.
Bottom Line
Efficient paper reading is a filtering process: survey quickly, go deep only when a paper clearly matters to your work, and record notes immediately so the effort pays off later.
