The following tips can help you make sense of articles and retain what you've read in them.
- Keep your research question in mind while reading the article. Focus on material in the article that is relevant to your research, while skimming content that doesn't relate to you.
- Think critically while reading. Ask yourself if you feel the author is proving their point, and build your own argument about the topic.
- Write down questions that arise as you're reading the article, and look for answers to them as you work your way through it.
- Look up words or academic jargon that you're unfamiliar with. Be sure you understand them before moving on, or you may end up getting lost later in the article.
- Take notes on the article:
- Use Adobe Reader's highlight text and/or sticky note features if reading online.
- Or print out a hardcopy and underline/highlight important passages and take notes in the margins.
- Try color-coding your highlighting, using different colors for different topics or ideas.
- Don't overdo it and underline/highlight everything--only focus on the most important passages for your research.
- Use active learning strategies to help retain what you've just read:
- Write a brief summary of what you learned while reading the article.
- Paraphrase the article's main points by putting them in your own words.
- When finished with the article, ask yourself if the article taught you anything new, and what questions the article answered.
