Understanding Research: Reading Tips

Hey Everyone,

I mentioned before that I my current rabbithole of interest is Russia, the Cold War, etc. That being said, my first text is on "Modernization and Russian Culture." I want to make sure that I not only discuss the text, but also give some tips on how to read papers. I will always cite the articles I read at the bottom and include the link to the paper, which I plan on using open access journals. If you want to read the paper before reading my posts, I would love for you to do so, and feel free to email me if you want to talk. Now onto my tips for understanding research.

I really like either printing off a paper I am reading or downloading it onto OneNote, this makes it a lot easier to annotate the paper. I suggest annotating the paper as much as you need to understand it.

Do not feel like you have to grasp everything after reading the paper once, that is not really how papers work. These papers are full of information, so it is always a good idea to go back over papers to understand it, especially if you are using them for a paper in a class or trying to understand a topic.

It is okay to have a colorful paper, so you can take your highlighters, but try to have a goal in mind. For example, if I am reading to learn more about a topic, I might highlight something I want to write down in my notebook on that topic or a fact I did not know. If I am writing a research paper, I am answering a question, so my highlights will reflect important information that pertains to my question. Consider what your goal is and annotate or highlight based on what that goal is.

Do not think that you have to always read the paper in order. I know it sounds funny because we read books, poems, short stories, etc. from the beginning to the end, but you do not have to with research papers, especially if you are new to the process. Depending on your purpose for the reading, you do not even necessarily have to read the entire paper. That being said, if you do read the whole paper, I started learning to read papers by first breaking down what I could make sense of first. Here is a little bit more about the breakdown of papers:

Abstract: researchers commonly read first to determine if they should even invest in the entire paper, so think of it as like the paper's SparkNotes.

Introduction: this gives background information on the topic and why those conditions were chosen for the research.

Literature Review: this discusses pertinent papers or topics to the question, sometimes this is mixed in with the introduction.

Theoretical Framework: depending on the area of study or expertise this might be included, theories are many times in conflict with one another, so a researcher might choose to look at a topic from that specific lens.

Methodology: this is the process a writer took to answer the question, how the paper is set up. This can take many forms, from demographic information (like taking data like age, sex, race, religious affiliation, ethnic heritage, etc. of certain groups into context) to watching or taking interviews of people that were there.

Analysis: this is the information part, it might be further separated by case studies to show consistency across multiple situations which is typically beneficial to an argument.

Discussion/Conclusion: this explains how the pieces fit together and are applicable on a broader context. Depending on the paper, these might be together or broken up.

When I first read research papers, I broke it up by reading the Abstract, Introduction, Literature, Discussion/Conclusion, Theory, Methodology, and Analysis. This way, when I was unfamiliar with larger jargon or theories, I could have a pretty good idea of what the paper was about by starting with the background information and summaries of the research.

Now these are some basic practices for reading papers that I use. Sometimes I change tactics depending on my goals, but you can find what fits for you. My next post on this category will be about the most recent paper I am reading for this blog. Thanks everyone!

Sincerely,

ROC