What you should be doing when reading an article:

When professors say "read this article," they don't mean to read the entire article from beginning to end. Instead, they mean that they'd like you to understand a few key things about what the study is about, what they found, and why the authors believe they found what they found.

Determine your focus

Why do you need to read it? For fun? – For a class discussion?
Annotate article at key parts in margins (or in notes app if you’re on-the-go) and think of Qs along the way.
If the purpose is to include article in a paper, then a longer summary like this is valuable.

Scan the article first

Use your knowledge of APA format to locate what you’re looking for.

• the research question & reason for the study, hypothesis (Introduction)
• how hypothesis was tested (Method)
• findings (tables & figures, Results)
• how findings were interpreted (Discussion)

As you scan, highlight/underline key sentences (e.g., hypothesis, explanations). Scan for keywords relevant to your paper.

Try diverse ways to read

• Multiple incomplete reads: Chunk the article, read parts, then come back
  • Builds foundation on which new knowledge can build
  • Creates mental pathways for familiarity
  • Increases quality of information input
  • Easy to feel successful, builds momentum
  • Good when you only have brief amounts of time
• Read in new ways: Read aloud or have text read to you
  • Most internet browser will read websites and PDFs.
  • Microsoft Edge Read Aloud
  • Accessible tools like CaptiVoice, smart pens (message Candace Combs)
  • Many library databases have read aloud options