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Top tips
Top tips
Taking lots of books out of the library, photocopying chapters or downloading papers is not the same as reading them, unfortunately. Make sure you actually do the reading.
Take notes whilst you read. This helps you stay alert and makes sure you understand what you are reading.
Have different reading techniques for different tasks – skim if you are just working out whether something is relevant, read more closely if you are gathering evidence to go in your assessment.
Don’t just underline or highlight – all you do is turn the paper a different colour and it won’t mean anything to you in 3 months. Try summarising the paper in a few sentences or make brief notes in the margin.
Always note the bibliographical details of everything you read (author, date, title, publication details). You will need these for referencing later.
Critical reading questions
Critical reading questions
A good way of ensuring you are reading and including appropriate resources is to develop a critical reading checklist – a series of questions you ask yourself about any source of information or evidence .
We’ve suggested some questions below.
Date
Date
What is the date of publication?
Does this affect the value of the text?
Is it out of date? Any changes in legislation since it was written (e.g. research on smoking before/ after the ban)?
Author
Author
Who wrote the text?
Am I told anything about their background?
What are their qualifications? Are they an authority on the subject?
Are there any biases or vested interests I should be concerned about?
Kind of publication
Kind of publication
What kind of text is this – journal, book, website?
Is it from a respectable source?
Is it peer-reviewed? (Has it been reviewed by experts before publication?)
Evidence
Evidence
Has sufficient and relevant evidence been included to support the argument the author makes?
Has the author shown a good understanding of the topic and other research in the area?
Are any recommendation made?
Relevance
Relevance
Is the text on the right topic?
Is it of suitable reliability for use in university work?
Do I have time to read it?
Downloadable resources
Downloadable resources
Additional resources
Additional resources
The Critical reading techniques (opens in another tab) tutorial from Open University is an online tutorial on reading. It looks at ways to read efficiently and how you can critically process what you read.
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