How To Read Papers Effectively 2024 | Scanning like a Scientist

Summary

This video offers a comprehensive guide for scientists and researchers to manage extensive literature effectively. It's divided into strategies for exploring unfamiliar fields and staying current in known ones. For new fields, the speaker suggests selecting reputable papers, utilizing a three-pass reading technique, and engaging with various resources for deeper understanding. In familiar fields, a 'fast reading' approach is recommended, emphasizing critical analysis and the use of tools like Paperpile for efficient reference management. The video concludes with general reading tips, including forming habits, seeking creative inspiration, and writing mini-essays to solidify learning.

Takeaways

• 📚 Reading a large volume of scientific papers is a common challenge for researchers, with the speaker having read up to 200 papers for a narrative review.
• 🔎 The speaker suggests starting with paper selection by consulting professors or reputable sources for top recommendations in a new field.
• 📈 For unfamiliar fields, the speaker recommends a reading strategy that begins with skimming titles, abstracts, and figures to gauge relevance.
• 🧠 To deepen understanding, the speaker advises looking up unfamiliar terms, visualizing content with figures, and engaging with the material critically.
• 🗣️ Listening to author talks, exploring related codes, and reading accessible blog posts can provide alternative perspectives on the research topic.
• 🤔 The speaker emphasizes the importance of discussing papers with peers to enhance comprehension and to test one's understanding of the material.
• 📝 For keeping up with known fields, the speaker uses a 'fast reading' approach, quickly dismissing papers with red flags and focusing on key sections like figures and methods.
• 📊 The speaker uses an Excel sheet to organize key points from papers, which aids in remembering and comparing different studies for reviews.
• ⏰ Establishing a dedicated reading time and making reading enjoyable are tips for forming a reading habit, along with joining a reading group for accountability.
• 💡 Reading outside of scientific papers, such as pop science books, can inspire creative ideas and improve reading skills in a more enjoyable way.

Q & A

What is the main challenge scientists face when trying to keep up with a large volume of academic literature?

The main challenge is the sheer volume of papers that need to be read, which can be over 100 a day, and the difficulty in organizing, remembering, and reflecting on the content of all the papers read.

What are the two sections the video presenter divides their literature review technique into?

The two sections are: 1) Reading papers in fields that are not familiar, and 2) Keeping up with the literature in a field that one is already familiar with.

How does the presenter suggest selecting papers when entering a new field of study?

The presenter suggests asking a professor for recommendations, looking at online platforms like Coursera for recommended papers, or reading recent reviews that are typically no older than 5 years.

What is the 'three passes' reading strategy mentioned in the script?

The 'three passes' reading strategy involves initially looking at the title, abstract, and figures, then reading the introduction, methods, results, and conclusion, and finally focusing on the figures and unfamiliar terms.

Why is it important to visualize the paper while reading, according to the presenter?

Visualizing the paper helps in understanding the content better by keeping the figures in mind and referring back to them while reading, which aids in comprehending what is being discussed in the text.

What resources does the presenter recommend for gaining a deeper understanding of a paper in an unfamiliar field?

The presenter recommends listening to talks by the authors, finding related codes, reading relevant blog posts, and discussing the paper with peers or colleagues.

How can explaining the results without referring back to the paper help in understanding a paper deeply?

Explaining the results without referring back to the paper tests one's deep understanding of the paper, ensuring that the reader can interpret and communicate the findings independently.

What is the 'fast reading' approach the presenter uses for fields they are already familiar with?

The 'fast reading' approach involves quickly reading the abstract, figures, results, and methods to assess the paper's relevance and validity, and then checking if the discussion matches the results.

How does the presenter use an Excel sheet to organize their literature review?

The presenter uses an Excel sheet to note down elements of each paper, such as key findings and potential follow-up questions, which helps in remembering the details and critiquing the papers effectively.

What are some tips for making reading a habit and enhancing effective reading according to the presenter?

Tips include setting a dedicated reading time, making reading enjoyable, forming a reading group, reading for creative ideas, and writing mini essays on topics of interest to improve retention and understanding.

Outlines

00:00

📚 The Challenge of Keeping Up with Scientific Literature

The author discusses the overwhelming task faced by scientists in staying current with scientific literature, often needing to read over 100 papers daily. They share their experience of having to read up to 200 papers for a narrative review and emphasize how organizing, remembering, and reflecting on what you've read is a difficult skill to master. This video aims to share techniques for tackling these challenges, focusing on reading papers in unfamiliar fields and maintaining knowledge in familiar fields.

05:02

📝 The Paper Selection Process in New Fields

The speaker explains the importance of selecting quality research papers when exploring new fields. They highlight that not all papers are reliable or represent established facts, as research is an iterative process. To ensure the validity of papers, the speaker recommends asking professors for recommendations or using resources like Coursera or specific websites. They also advise looking for recent, well-regarded review papers to guide initial research in unfamiliar areas.

10:03

🔍 A Strategic Approach to Reading Papers

A detailed reading strategy is presented for new fields, focusing on scanning the title, abstract, and figures before reading the paper fully. This method helps ensure the paper aligns with your learning objectives. The speaker highlights the importance of visualizing and understanding key terms and figures, using multiple resources such as talks and related code to deepen understanding. They also emphasize the benefit of discussing papers with peers to clarify complex concepts and ensure a deeper understanding of the material.

15:04

💻 Utilizing Code, Blogs, and Peer Discussions for Deeper Understanding

The speaker discusses how to enhance comprehension of unfamiliar papers by exploring related code (available in sections like 'code availability'), reading blog posts, and discussing with peers. These steps are designed to foster a deeper understanding of the paper's content. The speaker stresses the importance of explaining the paper’s results without referring to it and critically evaluating the research by identifying gaps and proposing follow-up research questions.

📊 Comparing Multiple Papers and Critical Reading

When reading multiple papers on the same topic, the speaker suggests comparing different authors’ interpretations of similar results to recognize biases. They advocate for keeping a critical mindset, recognizing that no research is perfect, and considering the limitations of each study. The speaker also introduces the importance of having a good reference manager, such as Paperpile, to organize papers and references effectively. This tool is recommended for streamlining the research process.

⚡ Fast-Reading Strategies for Familiar Fields

For staying current in familiar fields, the speaker advises using a fast-reading strategy, focusing on abstracts and figures to quickly assess the relevance of new papers. They emphasize being strict about red flags, such as small sample sizes or problematic statistical methods. The speaker compares results with methods to ensure consistency and scans discussions for discrepancies between results and interpretations. This method helps sift through numerous papers efficiently, avoiding those with weaker foundations.

📑 Organizing Research with an Excel Sheet

The speaker shares their method of organizing research papers using an Excel sheet, where they track key elements for future reference. This system helps identify overarching themes and track differences and similarities between papers. Additionally, they propose noting down follow-up questions, which indicates critical engagement with the material. The speaker finds this method helpful for managing a large volume of papers and ensuring thorough and organized reviews.

📖 Tips for Developing Reading Habits

To make reading a habit, the speaker recommends setting a dedicated time and place for reading, such as a library. Making the process enjoyable, for example, by having a coffee while reading, can help. They also suggest forming reading groups for discussion and accountability. For a broader perspective, the speaker encourages reading outside of scientific literature, particularly in adjacent fields like popular science, to develop a more creative and engaging approach to writing about research.

🧠 Developing Creative Approaches and Writing Mini Essays

The speaker advocates for reading creatively by exploring books and writing mini essays on topics of interest. This practice helps in retaining information and engaging with material on a deeper level. They emphasize the value of continually updating reading skills, expressing a willingness to improve their methods further. The speaker concludes by inviting viewers to share their own reading tips and hints at a future video on note-taking techniques.

Keywords

💡Literature Review

A literature review is a comprehensive examination of previously conducted research on a particular topic. In the video, the speaker discusses the challenges of keeping up with a vast amount of scientific literature and shares techniques for effectively reading and organizing research papers, which is crucial for conducting a literature review. The speaker's narrative review, which required reading up to 200 papers, exemplifies the extensive reading necessary for such a task.

💡Paper Selection

Paper selection refers to the process of choosing academic papers that are relevant and of high quality for reading and research. The video emphasizes the importance of selecting good papers, as not all research is equally reliable. The speaker suggests asking professors for recommendations or looking for papers recommended in online platforms like Coursera, which is a strategy for ensuring that the papers read are valuable and contribute to a solid understanding of a field.

💡Reading Strategy

A reading strategy is a methodical approach to reading academic papers, designed to maximize understanding and retention of information. The video describes a strategy that involves initially reading the title, abstract, and figures to gauge the paper's relevance. This strategy is particularly useful for navigating unfamiliar fields of study, as it allows for a preliminary assessment of the paper's content and relevance before delving deeper.

💡Iterative Process

The iterative process in research refers to the continuous cycle of hypothesis testing, results analysis, and refinement of understanding. The video script mentions that research is not static but evolves as new evidence emerges, which can lead to the disproval of previous hypotheses. This concept is crucial for understanding the dynamic nature of scientific knowledge and the importance of critically evaluating each paper's contribution to the field.

💡Critical Reading

Critical reading involves not just reading the text but also evaluating its content, arguments, and conclusions. The video encourages viewers to be critical of the papers they read, questioning the validity of the research, the appropriateness of the methods used, and the soundness of the interpretations. This is exemplified when the speaker advises considering what further research would be needed to make a paper more convincing, demonstrating a deep level of engagement with the material.

💡Reference Manager

A reference manager is a tool used to organize, store, and cite academic sources. In the video, the speaker mentions using a reference manager called PaperPal, which integrates with Google environments and simplifies the process of adding references, organizing them into folders, and adding notes. This tool is highlighted as a means to streamline the research process, especially when managing a large number of sources.

💡Fast Reading Approach

The fast reading approach is a technique for quickly assessing academic papers to determine their relevance and value. The video describes a method that involves a quick review of the abstract, figures, results, and discussion to decide if a paper is worth a more thorough read. This approach is particularly useful for keeping up with a high volume of new literature in a field where the reader is already well-versed.

💡Research Alarms

Research alarms are notifications set up to alert a researcher when new papers are published in their field of interest. The video mentions using Google Alerts to stay updated on new research, which is a strategy for keeping up with the latest literature. This tool is valuable for researchers who need to stay current with the rapid pace of scientific publications.

💡Narrative Review

A narrative review is a type of literature review that provides a descriptive summary and interpretation of the existing research on a topic. Unlike systematic reviews, narrative reviews are less structured and more focused on the reviewer's synthesis of the literature. The video script describes the speaker's experience with a narrative review, where they read over 50 papers and used an Excel sheet to organize their notes and reflections on each paper.

💡Excel Sheet for Organization

Using an Excel sheet for organization is a method mentioned in the video for keeping track of research papers and their key elements. The speaker used this technique during their narrative review to note down important aspects of each paper, which helped in identifying patterns and differences among the papers. This approach illustrates a practical way to manage and recall information from a large volume of literature.

Highlights

Scientists face the challenge of reading over 100 papers daily to keep up with literature.

The presenter shares their technique for managing the vast amount of academic literature.

The video is divided into two sections: reading about unfamiliar fields and keeping up with familiar fields.

For unfamiliar fields, the presenter suggests starting with paper selection by asking professors or using online resources.

The importance of reading only high-quality papers is emphasized due to the iterative nature of research.

A reading strategy is introduced, starting with the title, abstract, and figures to gauge the paper's relevance.

The presenter recommends reading introductions, conclusions, and focusing on figures for new fields.

Highlighting unfamiliar terms and looking them up later is a suggested approach.

Visualizing the paper through figures is a helpful technique for understanding the content.

After reading, diving into the math and finer details using multiple resources is advised.

Listening to top talks by authors and finding related codes can deepen understanding.

Discussing papers with peers or online communities can lead to a deeper understanding.

The presenter suggests explaining the results without referring back to the paper as a test of deep understanding.

Being critical of research papers and considering the next research question is encouraged.

Reading multiple papers simultaneously can reveal different interpretations of similar results.

Using a reference manager like PaperPal is recommended for organizing literature.

For familiar fields, a fast reading approach is suggested to keep up with the literature.

The presenter uses an Excel sheet to note down elements of papers for future reference.

Tips for making reading a habit include setting a dedicated reading time and making it enjoyable.

Reading for creative ideas and outside of science can enhance reading skills and enjoyment.

Transcripts

so scientists have to read over a 100

papers a day and to keep up with this

literature is almost impossible for my

last narrative review I also had to read

up to 200 papers I believe and to keep

up with this and to truly organize

remember and reflect on everything you

have read is the hardest skill to learn

in this video I want to show you my

technique for doing this and I have

divided it into two sections first is to

read as much about Fields you do not

know about and the second part is to

keep up with the literature in a field

that you are quite familiar with I truly

wished I had this video at the beginning

of writing my narrative review but I

hope by giving it to you that it will

help you a little bit with writing any

type of review you're writing or with

reading and keeping up with the

literature in your field so let's get

straight into it so the first part I

want to talk about is reading papers in

fields you do not know about and this is

because I think that a lot of us want to

learn about new topics and we try to

read academic papers to do so but find

it quite hard and I think I've kind of

developed a technique that can help with

this and to allow you to understand a

new field as much as possible through

Reading papers so the first part of this

process is paper selection so you need

to ensure that you have papers that are

actually good and that's because

different from reading that you do at

University is that papers are not always

set in stone and they're just the latest

type of research but they're not

necessarily true research or always good

research so there are a lot of papers

that are just not so good or even papers

that were written 5 years ago that were

trusted by the scientific community and

that turned out to have a hypothesis

that was disproven later so research is

more of an iterative updating process

than true knowledge set in stone and

because of this fact you need to be

quite careful about the research that

you choose to read Because in research

there are just a lot of facts that were

disproven so the way I do this is I

usually ask my professor for the top 10

papers that he recommends in a new field

and if you don't have a professor you

can also look at this online for example

through corsera there are usually a few

papers recommended or if you're

interested in Neuroscience on the neurom

match website there are also a lot of

papers recommended for specific Fields

another thing you can do if you don't

have access through this type of

information is to look at a good review

that was written I would say in the last

5 years but maybe even in the last one

or two years if that is possible and it

exists out there so the second bit is

the reading strategy and the reading

strategy that I use is quite similar to

reading strategy here that's called

three bosses except that it's a little

bit less extensive I believe but also

have a look there if you're interested

in common reading strategy that a lot of

PhD students use so the way I go about

reading a paper is I usually first look

at the title the abstract and the

figures so I read the title perfectly

read the abstract and then look at the

figures and that's just to see is this

paper actually in the topic that I want

to learn about cuz sometimes a paper has

a certain topic or a certain title that

you think maybe suits what you want to

learn about but when you read the

abstract it's actually about something

different so this can already help you

kind of curate the reading list that you

want to read afterwards I do read it

sequentially in a field that I do not

know so for the second part of this

video I will talk about fields that I do

know about but for fields that I don't

know about I usually do read the

introduction M's conclusion and focus on

the figures as well and this is because

usually there are some terms that I am

unfamiliar with and that I will need to

look up as I'm reading through the paper

so as I'm reading through the paper I

usually highlight certain terms that I

don't know so much about and I would

look them up afterwards on and also

something that I personally really like

to do is to kind of visualize the paper

as well so I usually have the figures in

mind and as I'm reading through it I

keep referring back to the figures to

see if I can understand what's actually

being said so after you have read the

paper in full it's time to kind of like

dive into the math and the finer details

and I usually use multiple resources for

this because this is a field that you're

probably unfamiliar with you want to use

different type of resources than just

the paper because personally for me I

find really hard to only read in a topic

that I know nothing about and truly

understand what's written so usually I

listen to the top talks and you find

these by just looking at the first

author or the last author and kind of

Google their name and then quite often

there are talks of them in conferences

for example that you can kind of listen

to and understand a little bit more

about their topic cuz usually that's

introduced in a gor way during their

presentation another thing I do is I

find related codes so for example a

website is papers with code but also a

lot of papers nowadays have at the

bottom of their paper a section that is

called code availability and there they

list where you can find the code of

their paper and I find personally if I

have the time and I reimplement some of

the bits that they've done that I

understand it a little bit better also I

would try to find relative uh relevant

blog posts for example quite often for a

little bit older papers you can find

good blog post that explain it in a more

easy Manner and lastly I would also try

to discuss it with peers so this is

something that I've noticed that I find

really nice as a PhD student so as a PhD

student you usually have access to

people in your lab that are interested

in the same topic and I noticed when I

really struggled with a paper I would go

to one of my colleagues or a fellow PhD

student and we would kind of sit down

and maybe even explain little bits of

the paper to each other and of course if

you cannot find this in real life it's

also possible to find this on the

internet to look for friends that maybe

are interested in the same topic yeah

and I think this is really where you go

to the part of deeper understanding of

the paper so through this deeper

understanding you really want to focus

on explaining the results to yourself

without referring back to the paper so

for example something that I do to test

if I have a deep understanding of the

paper is I would only have all the

figures and try to explain it to myself

or to a friend or a fellow PhD student

what I'm seeing in the figure and if I

can understand the results that are

being presented to me another thing that

is really good to do during this point

is to be quite critical of what you're

reading so again research is an

iterative process so no research paper

is perfect it's always just a little

test of a hypothesis that the authors

have that they're presenting to you and

you as a critical reader can decide if

you agree or don't agree with a certain

argument that is being presented and I

think a really good exercise for this

part is to think by yourself what would

be the next research question that I

think needs to be answered for me to

make this paper more convincing so this

could be for example that you think that

the sample size needs to be bigger you

think that a different type of

statistical test should be used or maybe

you feel that the way they interpret

their results are not fully sound with

what you're actually seeing on the paper

also something that I would consider

during this reading process is to read

multiple papers at the same time so I

personally refrain from just reading

only one paper fully I I usually have

about like five papers I would say on

the same topic and I kind of compare how

different authors write about the same

topic and what kind of experiments they

have done about the same topic and

something that is quite interesting is

that sometimes authors find the exact

same results but they interpret it in

different ways and that just shows you

that as scientists we also have biases

or hypothesis that we preemptively

believe and want to prove and sometimes

these go a little bit above the results

that we're actually showing and that

it's not to say that these scientists

are doing anything wrong but that they

are trying to prove their hypothesis to

you and you can choose if you believe

this hypothesis or not so something

that's very critical for me during this

process is to have a good reference

manager and that's where paper pal come

in and they were so kindly to sponsor

this video so I personally have always

used reference managers and there is a

list of them out there but I think paper

bell is very nice they have a really

intuitive interf face and I think among

all the reference managers it's probably

the fastest to learn because it's

already integrated fully with the Google

environments so I'll show you really

quickly how to use it so one of the

things that you can do with paper pal is

that you can search within paperpile

itself which I find really nice so

within the paperpile interface you can

use their search bar and you have the

ability to search online for books and

articles without leaving paper pal and

you can also search not only for words

or just the names of authors but you can

also search for full phrases which I

think is really nice if you're looking

for certain phrases within a certain

topic to add to your review for example

the second thing you can do to find

literature is to add papers through your

library through the paperpile extension

so the paperpile extension I will list

down below you can download and then you

can click on this PE button in your

browser to save the reference you can

add the reference to folders and labels

and add notes as you save the reference

so for example I've done this for my

latest review which had a lot of

normative modeling papers and I just

clicked and added it to my normative

meling Library you can also save papers

directly from academic databases which I

find really nice so for example if you

go to pet research RIT concess or Google

Scholar which are all research bases

that I use you can directly add it to

paper pal like that and lastly if you

work in Google Docs you can for example

write a small snippet of your research

paper and then automatically already add

your references as you're writing and I

find this really nice because then you

don't have to interrupt your workflow to

think about how you're going to site the

work that you're using so be mindful of

sighting correctly and definitely tools

like paper pal or other reference

managers can help a lot with that so if

you want to use paper pal to save you

some time and keep all your referenes

well organized I will list a link down

below so you can check it out so the

second part I want to talk about is

Reading in fields that you know about

quite well and the reason for this is to

keep up with the literature at least in

my field I think there are papers coming

out about like 10 15 papers a day and I

set these kind of like research alarms

in Google Al two keep me updated when an

author that I like or a certain search

term is coming up in a new paper and I

think if you see the amount of emails

that I get with like an alarm that a

paper has been published it's quite a

lot let's just keep it at that and to

keep up with this type of L you really

need to be able to read papers a lot

faster than you did in step one so I do

think the reading approach for this then

needs to be updated so the way I do it

is with this socalled fast reading

approach that I've kind of developed

based on the three pass method but also

based on my own knowledge and that is I

start with the abstract of course as

always and I just read it quickly and

see if the paper is interesting and here

I'm quite strict so if there's anything

that to me seems like a red flag I

automatically remove it so for example

is the sample size too small do they use

a statistical test that I find finicky

is there any type of terminology that I

don't agree with and this maybe seems

quite strict but these are true red

flags for me for papers that in my

regard then are not kind of like good to

read fully so the next thing I do is I

look at the figures and I try to

understand what the authors have done by

just looking at the figures so usually I

actually don't really need to read the

introduction and discussion because

because I already kind of know what the

authors want to present and just looking

at the figures gives me a more clear

view of what their results are without

muddling this with the preconceived bias

that these authors have and the second

thing then I like to do is I want to

compare their results with their methods

so do their methods match with their

results so sometimes what I see is that

for example in their results they

present something that looks intuitively

quite nice so in their figures but when

I actually go to the methods doesn't

really match up or it doesn't really

line so afterwards if I've seen the

figures I've read maybe the results and

uh method section then I sometimes do

like to go to the discussion quickly to

just see if their points of discussion

match with the results that I've seen

and to be very honest sometimes this

doesn't match at all so I've seen papers

where the results were very flimsy they

didn't really show True significance and

in the discussion there are words being

used like trending toward words

significant very big red flag by the way

um and this is just in general a little

bit a gripe I have with the field and I

think every field has its own pitfalls

and I think that is something that's a

pitfall in neuroscience and sometimes

also psychology that um discussion or

conclusion doesn't match the results

actually being presented so be uh wary

of this so after I've done this

something that I've done for my

narrative review so a narrative review

is not a structured review if you want

to do a structured review find good

YouTube videos on this or find a good

article on how to do this because this

is a lot more organized but in narrative

review you kind of present the

literature as you have found it and it's

a lot less organized with the Search

terms that you use but the way I've done

my narrative review I want to show you

quickly is that I used an Excel sheet so

this is the Excel sheet for all of the

research papers that I read and I in

this sheet noted down elements of the

paper that I might want to reference

later and this really helped me to see

overarching teams and remember the

differences and similarities between

papers I and I actually learned a lot

doing this and I'm considering doing

this for every paper I'm going to write

in the future because quite often you

read over 50 papers and it's really hard

to keep a clear note of which results

belong to which paper and also which

paper you can or should site when you're

looking at different results also

something that I like to add as another

column is this question of the follow-up

paper that I think these authors need to

write and usually when I can answer this

question it does show that I quite

understand what these authors have done

and also what I think is missing so it

allows me both to kind of get an

overview and also to indicate that I've

read the article critically so the last

thing that I wanted to end on is some

tips for Effective reading that I've

gathered over the last few years first

of all some tips for making reading a

habit so so I really find it truly

important that you have reading as a

habit or something that you do daily

something to do this is to make a

dedicated reading time so possibly a

specific time during the day that you

will always read one or two papers and

maybe even put it in a specific location

like a library also make it enjoyable so

make your favorite drink for example a

little coffee as you're reading and also

something that you can consider is to

have a reading group so as I said you

can gather together a couple of your

student students or a couple of students

to make it into a reading group for

discussion and accountability the second

thing for Effective reading is to also

read for creative ideas so I do think

reading papers is very important but I

also think reading outside of papers is

very important and this for me actually

taught me to speedread a lot more and to

also enjoy reading a lot more so

something that you can do is to read

outside of Science in books that are

maybe adjacent to science so for example

you can consider pop science books I

will list a few here that I personally

really liked reading and through reading

these pop science books although they're

not always accurate I do think they

teach you a way of speaking about

science that's not so dry and not so

formalized also something that you can

consider is to write these little mini

essays about topics I'm really

considering about making a video about

this as well but I think if you write a

little mini essay about something that

you're learning or something that you're

interesting interested about you will

remember it a lot better and that's

something that I've been enjoying doing

for the last few weeks and that I also

want to start posting on my blog that I

will list down below so these were some

tips for reading in 2024 that I've

gathered and kind of Quantified over the

years I'm always updating the way I read

and I always try to learn new skills and

I still don't think my reading

techniques are perfect so if you have

any tips for me I would love to hear

them so put them down below also if

you're interested in not taking and

reading I do think this video is maybe a

good follow-up video and otherwise see

you next week bye