4a. Read

4a. Read#

Introduction#

Reading is an important part of studying and an essential part of the research process. The most important starting tip: don’t start reading randomly. This might take you a lot of time and not deliver the value you were hoping for. Instead, prepare your reading carefully by prioritising which sources to read first, using different types of reading effectively and knowing what you want to get out of it. There are multiple types of reading you will encounter and use for different purposes as you are reading for research:

What is it: Skimming is quickly glancing over a text to take in key text features that give clues about the context of the text, such as sub-headings, graphs and figures. This type of reading is really useful when you are still deciding whether a resource is relevant and reliable for your research project in a broad sense. When you scan an article, you are looking at specific parts of a text. Maybe you are looking for specific information on keywords or methodologies mentioned in a text, or maybe you want to first evaluate a source in more detail before you decide to read and process it (Leiden University ATC Academic reading & writing, n.d.).

When to use it:

  1. During evaluation of sources

  2. To prioritise which sources to read and in what order

What is it: Close reading, also called active reading, is a deliberate, focused and slow type of reading where you carefully examine a text to understand it - which includes actively asking yourself questions about the text, annotating/circling the text and taking notes while reading. It requires you to understand the authors’ thought sequence, how different parts of the text relate to each other, and what data and argumentation the conclusions are based on (Leiden University ATC Academic reading & writing, n.d.).

After you have close read a source you should be able to understand and summarise it. This may require multiple re-reads, and perhaps looking up terminology or parts that you do not understand yet in other resources.

When to use it: To really understand a text (and as a start to summarise it and gather key bits such as quotes and findings, that will help you answer some of your specific information search questions).

Now that you know about the different types of reading, let’s see how you can use them while reading for research. A good practice is to first skim and scan to decide your reading order, followed by close reading of your selected sources, and finally, also knowing when you should stop reading.

Step 1

Decide Your Reading Order
Skim and Scan your sources and decide which ones to prioritise

Step 2

Close Reading, Note-taking and Updating Your Search
Read in more detail and take notes. Use your knowledge to update your search strategy

Step 3

When to Stop
Evaluate if you have read and found enough information

Step 1: Deciding Your Reading Order#

After your initial search and evaluation of your sources, you might end up with 10 academic articles, a book, and a more popular source like a newspaper. Where to begin? How much time should you spend on what? To help you prioritise, do a skim and scan of your stack of sources, keeping in mind a couple of key questions to help you decide which ones to read first:

  1. How much do I already know about my topic? If your knowledge is limited, first reading sources that have more foundational knowledge (for example, definitions of terms, context of the topic and basic explanations), or sources with more accessible language and sentence structures can help you build more understanding of a topic before going to dense sources with more complex language or more specific articles.

  2. Which sources seem the most relevant to my specific information search question? You already checked for relevance when you were selecting these resources, but when prioritising check again the titles and abstracts and decide which resources are most likely to provide you with the information you are looking for. These can, for example, include resources that are recommended by your lecturer or peers, or other influential resources.

  3. How much time do I have? There will often be more resources to read than you have time, so you must prioritise! Check the number of pages of the resources and their complexity and relevance to your information search question. How much time do you estimate it would take to go through each of them? Which ones seem worth your time?

When deciding your reading order, and also when close reading, continue examining if the sources you selected are relevant or reliable. A resource might have slipped through during your previous CRAAP assessment or your understanding of your topic might have changed, and a source that originally looked good might now seem less relevant or reliable. If so, drop it (record why in your reference manager or research notes) and move on. If you notice that a lot of your resources are not relevant, you may need to return to your search strategy and refine it to find more relevant resources.

Tip: Be flexible

Be flexible towards your initial reading order. As you are reading through your sources your knowledge will grow, and you may realise that a certain article lower on the list is actually more important and should be reprioritized, or the other way around.

After finalising your preparation, you are ready for the next step: close reading & notetaking.

Step 3: When to Stop Reading and Searching#

As discussed in Overview of Information Skills, there are multiple moments during your thesis when you will need to search, evaluate and read information from others. In the beginning of your project you will conduct an in-depth review on what others have done, when conducting your project you might need to periodically search for sources, based on new concepts you encounter, the results you are finding, and to check if any new research has come out. Throughout your project you also synthesise your findings with what others have done.

This means that you do not stop searching and reading entirely throughout your project.

However, at the beginning of the project you do a more in-depth review and search of the literature, and at some point you need to move on from the literature review phase and start conducting your research. To avoid staying stuck in this phase for too long you can follow the guidelines below:

You stop searching and reading for your literature review when you either don’t find any new literature anymore, or the literature you find doesn’t have any new approaches, or your time has run out. Watch this video from Erasmus University, where Professor Liesbet van Zoonen explains approaches to evaluate how far you are in your literature review process:


"When to stop reading and start writing" by Erasmus University Library is licensed under CC-BY

Below you can find three practical guidelines you can take into account when you are reading to find out when you should either stop, or continue reading and searching for more academic sources:

  1. Check if you have enough understanding in relation to your information search question. Have a look at your information search question and the information you have gathered. Are you able to answer your question based on enough relevant and reliable information? This potentially means that it is time to stop reading.

  2. Check with your lecturer or supervisor. Share your findings and ideas. They can help you figure out whether you have found enough literature, or if you should continue.

  3. Check how much time you have and plan accordingly. Dividing your time for a literature study can be done using the following rules of thumb from Erasmus University:

  • 1/3 of your time reading

  • 1/3 of your time searching

  • 1/3 of your time writing up your findings

Take these guidelines into consideration and try to plan accordingly (Erasmus University Library, 2020)

  1. Keep a narrow focus on your information search question. If you feel like after a significant time reading and searching you are still overflowing with research articles, maybe revisit your literature search question. Can you make it more specific? Sometimes this cannot be avoided, as on some topics a lot of research is available. In this case, consult with your lecturer if you can make some changes to your search and reading strategies.

References#