How to Read Academic Papers Without Losing Focus

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This semester, I’m taking a Stress & Immunity class for my advanced biology seminar, and we read a new academic paper for almost every class. At first, I thought it would be pretty straightforward: open the paper, read, take notes. But academic papers have a way of making even the most focused reader drift off halfway through the methods section. With so many different acronyms and scientific jargon, it can be easy to get lost and have to read everything again. After a few weeks, I’ve figured out a system that actually helps me stay focused and understand what I’m reading: 

1. Start with the Big Picture

Don’t dive straight into the dense parts. Read the abstract first to get the main question and key findings. Then skip ahead to briefly review the discussion or conclusion to see how it all fits together. Once you know the why and what, the rest of the paper should make a lot more sense when you go back to the details.

2. Have a Purpose Before You Start

Ask yourself what you need from the paper. Are you looking for background info, understanding an experiment, or finding something to cite? Knowing your goal keeps you focused on the relevant sections instead of trying to absorb everything.

3. Highlight Intentionally

I know I’ve been guilty of highlighting entire pages with different colors and then looking back and realized that it just made it harder to determine what’s really important.Try to highlight only what’s essential (ex. the hypothesis, main results, or key terms). 

4. Summarize Each Section in a Sentence

Another great tip for making sure you understand everything is summarizing. After finishing each section, pause and summarize it in your own words. 

5. Read in Small Chunks

Most academic papers are dense enough that you can lose focus after even a couple pages. Breaking your reading into smaller chunks is a great way to try to maintain energy. 

7. End with a Quick Recap

Similar to summarizing by section, writing a short summary of the entire paper can help pull together the intro, methods, and conclusions all in one place.