Proven Tips on How to Read Scientific Literature

Posted on by Gabriel Ascoli

A printed article with yellow highlighting under a blue pen with the hands of the person reading and annotating.
A person reads and annotates an article printout. Photo Credit: Y.Arcurs/iStockphoto

In our undergraduate years, as we get involved with research and science, it can be incredibly overwhelming to read scientific literature. It’s easy to drown in hundreds of thousands of articles with fancy-sounding titles, pages and pages of complex writings, and dozens of figures that you have no idea what they mean. However, reading scientific literature is a necessary skill to have, and you must be able to understand what scientists know, and what they don’t. 

Therefore, I’ve created a list of tips and advice to tackle scientific literature as an undergraduate. Follow my advice, and you’re on your way to impress your supervisors with your knowledge, and create a nuanced understanding of where your research lies within the body of knowledge that scientists have been cultivating!

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Begetting Books, on and off Campus: How, What, Where, and Why

Posted on by Ignacio Arias Philippi

Spanish Law Library
On and off campus, Princeton offers many opportunities to build up one’s own library. (Leather-bound editions not guaranteed.) Photo credit: Iñaki del Olmo.

Reading is a fundamental part of one’s time at Princeton. Whether for sciences or the humanities, a great deal of coursework and independent research consists in careful and active reading. Reading for pleasure by oneself or as part of reading groups is also a common pastime, or at least a shared aspiration, of many students on campus. Moreover, Labyrinth Books’ and the University’s decision to cease coursebook sales has sparked a mix of dissatisfaction, outrage, and inventive solutions. With the end of textbook resales paired with personal interest for especially thought-provoking class readings, it is not uncommon for students to keep (at least some of) their coursebooks. It is quite natural, then, that over the course of one’s four years at Princeton, undergraduates tend to amass a good number of books and start to build up their own personal library. Thus, beyond our formidable library system and Labyrinth, it is good to know where and how to get books, even if such scholarly scavenging will not supply all of one’s textbook needs. Besides, building up one’s store of knowledge (and thought-provoking entertainment) is a worthwhile pursuit in itself.

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Reading for Fun: How and Why

Posted on by Shane Patrick

Often when I mention the subject of reading for pleasure’s sake in conversations with other Princeton students, I hear the same story repeated with a twinge of sadness and a sense of resignation to the seemingly-inevitable. Most of us seem to have begun our respective childhoods as avid readers who could barely be seen apart from a book. We enjoyed all sorts of reading, and it was not a tiring task but an exciting opportunity. Over the course of many grueling years of schooling filled with assigned readings and the like, this voracious appetite for literature seems to have been largely snuffed out. If you, like me and many others, have drifted away from the pleasurable pastime of reading for fun and wish that you could regain a bit of that excitement which marked your early years, this article will give a few suggestions for how and why you might go about effecting this turnaround. 

A few books on a bookshelf.

A few books on my shelf in my dorm— not for class.

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Starting New Research: How to Learn What You Don’t Know

Posted on by Saira Reyes

“I don’t know what I don’t know.”

That is what I was thinking when my summer internship mentor asked me if I had any questions. Having only taken MOL214 and CBE245, I was uncertain about what research at a bioenginnering lab on campus would be like. After attending a lab meeting the first day of my internship, I was overwhelmed by all of the new information I was receiving and thought I would never understand metabolic engineering. By the end of my internship, however, I was working independently and designing my own experiments.

When beginning a new research project, particularly in a new field, getting up to speed can be challenging. But if you approach the project efficiently, you will find that this task is not as daunting as it sounds. These are a few strategies that helped me when I entered my summer internship.

Understanding complex mechanisms was challenging, but these strategies helped me along the way.

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Fitting Pleasure Reading into a Busy Schedule

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Growing up, I always enjoyed reading books. While some of my friends complained about having to read short chapter books for homework, I was busy devouring book after book. One summer, as I went to check out a stack of books for the next week at my library, the librarian scanned my card and suddenly exclaimed, “Ah hah! It’s you! You’re the one who’s read most of the Young Adult section this summer!” I frequently argued with my parents over the merits of bringing half a suitcase full of books on every vacation. They constantly asked if I wanted an eReader for whatever holiday was coming up, but I was far too set on physical, paper books and refused each offer.

An eBook nestled between print books.

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