Critical reading and notetaking

Make an appointment with a Senior Research Librarian to learn about the most useful databases in your field and how to set up search alerts. You can book a consultation here:

Investigate the use of literature search applications to help you identify connections between articles, evaluate citation metrics and set up alerts. A couple to try:

For more information about literature searches, go to the Writing Literature Reviews section.

When dealing with a large volume of reading, you need to be strategic.

Key tip: Paraphrasing the key points of an article immediately after you have read it will help you both retain information and practise your writing skills. It can also provide that quick summary for when you need it.

You should think of your reading as a conversation between yourself and the text; that conversation should be lively, inquisitive, respectful, and critique should be central. The specific nature of the questions you will ask when reading will be determined by your research project and discipline. However, there are some general questions that you can use to help guide your critique.

• What is the overall purpose of the article/chapter?
• What is the intellectual/historical context for the argument?
• Does the theoretical perspective introduce any potential bias?
• Do the response options, or measurement categories or techniques used affect the data that were collected?
• How well-developed are the arguments? What kind of evidence is offered in support?
• Does the line of reasoning make sense?
• Are there any hidden assumptions that need to be questioned?
• Does the writing assume a causal connection when there may not be one?
• Are other explanations possible?
• How important is this research to your own project?

Key tip: Respond to some of these questions in prose (full sentences) to consolidate your thinking and to give you practise writing.

Keeping clear records of your reading will help you select, recall and synthesise literature when it comes to writing your literature review. How you do this will depend on your own learning style, but it can be useful to use a spreadsheet or reference management system (such as EndNote) as a repository to store your thoughts as you read. At a minimum, you should ensure you always record the following information as you read.

• Author and title
• All bibliographic details
• Context/Historical position
• Purpose
• Approach/Methodology
• Argument
• Evidence
• Strengths and Weaknesses
• Relevance to your own research.

A reading journal is not the same thing as the notes and summaries you make about your reading. It is more creative and free flowing, a place to write down key ideas and random thoughts about what you have read and plan to read. It can be a helpful adjunct to the more detailed and formal records you make.

Some prompts for a reading journal from Patter:

Reading groups are effective way for you to get to know other researchers in your area and become familiar with the nature, style and approach of your disciplinary discourse. They are especially useful early in your project when you will have more time to focus on the literatures that will inform your research. Reading widely in your field and sharing that with others similarly engaged with texts will engage you with differing interpretations and help build your critical stance towards the scholarly discussions taking place in your discipline.

Talk to others in your department about setting up a reading group.