How to Read, Take Notes On and Understand Journal Articles | Essay Tips

The first pilot to my Essay Tips series! I share my method for reading and understanding a journal article or paper quickly and efficiently including how to take good, concise notes and remember useful citations.

If your method differs from mine or you think you can give me some pointers then let me know in the comments!

This is the first in a series of videos I'm hoping to produce while undertaking my PhD at the University of Exeter on tips for students at university or college whether undergraduate, postgraduate or otherwise.

Note: The programme to the left (which I highlight in) is Mendeley. Apologies for forgetting to state this in the video!!

If you've enjoyed this video then please do check out the rest of my channel. I generally put out new videos every Tuesday and Friday discussing theatre and playwriting from the perspective of an aspirant and (some might say) emerging playwright, theatre maker and academic.

Further Reading

The Academic Skills Handbook by Diana Hopkins and Tom Reid

The Study Skills Handbook by Stella Cottrell

[The above are affiliate links. I receive a small kickback from anything you buy which, in turn, helps to support the channel.]

[peffiSCsource]

So, I use the "absolute chaos" method. It includes finding way too many cool sources that may or may not include a single sentence that is crucial for my papers and which I will frantically try to remember when I actually need it.

[ahmedalshimmari]

I like when someone have a smiley face and explain same time.

[arpitanayak]

this was actually sooo helpful coz as someone who's been an undergrad for just three weeks and knows nil about this ish i was close to having a breakdown before finding this

[eric.slyfield]

Using Evernote and preemptively writing your citations is actually a huge tip! I've spent way too much time at the 11th hour trying to get my references sorted. 😓

[beyzaa.]

We social scientists in so much trouble keeping in mind the articles. As an undergraduate psychology student, it will help me a lot! Thank you📚

[kimaldunate]

Who is actually searching videos on how to study instead of actually studying lol 🙈

[martinrose]

The idea with writing down the full reference line is so good. I have no idea why I never do this. Good reason to start now.

[LaLoutreDanoise]

That's so useful Tom! Especially the parts about highlighting the text and how you take notes in Evernote. Been using Mendeley to get the citations right and downloading PDFs, just to avoid typos when copying them. Would love more tips, your entire playlist is so helpful!

[xueyanli]

many thanks to your sharing! I feel so lucky that I found your channel at the beginning of my senior year! This is life-saving!!!

[lesegotsheole]

ma guy!! thanks I actually felt a bit overwhelmed few minutes ago but seeing this kinda shed some hope - best way to get where you going is to get started, that's my psychological sense kicking in. I couldn't figure out which is the best way to take notes 🥳.

[renatafolcci]

This is JUST what I've been looking for. Thank you very much from Brazil! 🇧🇷

[boitumelomel]

Oooh my. You are heaven sent! I have two weeks to submit a 3000 word report😭. I have been doubting whether I'm doing the right thing in terms of sourcing information. Many thanks to you❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️. I feel confident to get a lot of work done this week!

[coralbow]

If *Ramsey Snow* would have pursued a career in literature instead of torturing people xD

[jasonports]

I used to take notes like you, but since I’m quite chaotic I’ve found that it is a lot easier for me to just write a small paragraph (citations and all) for all the info that I find, and then at the end copy the document with 30+ pages of writing for my 10 page essay and in the second document I cut and rewrite and boil down the whole thing to a clear and condensed essay.

[nddyary]

Hi Tom,
Yay! I am happy that I found your channel. I've been looking for this such technical sharing. Good to know how other people doing in 'technical' part of PhD like organising journal articles, reviewing literature, note taking, writing research paper, etc. Not so many people share their methods and I'm glad I found yours.

Just subscribed and looking forward for more updates!
cheers

[nima]

Thanks Tom! I've just finished my first semester of uni and have found reading and digesting journal articles a bit of challenge - this method should help put me on the right track!

[denizsibelvural]

Dear Tom,

thank you very much for sharing and explaining your effective way of reading articles with us in a simple 5-minute video. This is such a useful time-saver method that we all can apply, we really appreciate you!!

All the best,

[ArtfulAfrica]

Thanks for taking your time to share with us those awesome note taking methods that makes learning very easy and enjoyable. Thank you

[hanasikova]

Mendeley has the options of different colors, so I use that for diferentiating the reason I highlighted it - green "to cite", blue "very relevant", pink "key take-away". Plus, when I copy the sentences to Word, where I write my papers, I color it the same color as it is highlighted, so going back is very easy.

[Lizwix]

your joy and excitement for Essay tips made this video for me