Many new graduate students do not know much about their future research direction and how to do it well, or even feel confused.Reading literature becomes a compulsory course for freshmen, because reading literature not only helps to understand the development of research direction, but also helps to accumulate basic knowledge, and is an important way to find research problems and determine research points.
However, there is a lot of literature for a research direction, it is impossible to read all the literature in a short time, fast and efficient reading is especially important for freshmen, it can not only achieve half the effect, but also help to improve confidence.
How do you read documents efficiently and quickly?
First, choose the appropriate topic.For a research direction, the topics covered are very broad.Once the topic of the paper of interest has been identified, the amount of literature read can be greatly reduced.When reading the literature, pay attention to where these documents are published (journals, conferences, etc.), and quickly screen papers that are relevant and valuable to your research direction.In addition, pay attention to the quality and authority of the paper, and choose a paper from a well-known journal or written by an authoritative scholar to ensure that the information obtained is reliable.
Second, preparatory work.Understanding the structure and organization of a paper usually includes abstracts, introductions, methods, experimental results, discussions and conclusions.Second, preview the title, keywords, and catalog of the paper in order to understand the content and focus of the paper.In addition, finding relevant background information and terminology explanations helps to understand technical terms and concepts in the paper.
Third, focus on the reading method.Not every paper needs to be read, and a combination of intensive and skimming should be used.First, take a skim through the various parts of the paper, grasp the key points and conclusions, and understand the overall content and structure of the paper.Then, we will focus on the introduction, methods and experimental results of the paper, understand the author's research ideas and experimental design, and think about its rationality and innovation.
Fourth, classification.Classify and summarize the literature according to the topic, method, model, mechanism or experiment.This allows for a detailed reading of the different categories the next time you read them, identifying the problems they have in common, and helping to quickly identify research points.
Fifth, take notes.When reading a paper, maintain critical thinking, not just accepting the author's opinions and conclusions, but also thinking about its rationality and possible biases.Pay attention to distinguish the hypotheses in the paper, the limitations of the experimental method, the reliability of the data analysis, and put forward their own questions and thoughts.At the same time, it is recommended to take notes and extract important points, key data and references for subsequent research and writing.
Sixth, sharing and discussion.The reading of a paper should not be done in isolation, and discussion and sharing with others is an important way to improve reading effectiveness and understanding.You can discuss the content and perspectives of the paper with peers, mentors, or research team members, and exchange your understanding and questions.In addition, you can organize your reading notes into blogs or share them on academic social platforms to communicate and interact with a wider range of academics.
In short, reading literature is a compulsory course for graduate students, an important part of their study and research, and mastering effective reading skills can improve reading efficiency and understanding depth.However, this does not happen overnight, and needs to be transformed into an important skill through continuous practice and experience, which not only achieves half the results, but also helps to increase confidence in doing research and produce more scientific results.