Introduction

When you start your research on certain topics in science and technology field, the reading paper is an inevitable work. What and how to read a paper efficiently? What is the efficient reading? The brochure “Efficient Reading of Papers in Science and Technology” tries to solve this problem. In the rest of this review report, I will provide the credibility, assumption, methodology, a summary of it. This article is some kind of introductory material, it is concise and useful but not new since those methodology can be find in many active reading or critical thinking books, such as the book written by Shirley Quinn and Susan Irvings[1].

Creditbility

The brochure “Efficient Reading of Papers in Science and Technology” was written by Michael J. Hanson and updated by Dylan J. McNamee in January 6, 2000. J. Hanson I cannot determine who he is, but the Dylan J. McNamee previously worked in the OGI School of Science and Engineer, located in Hillsoboro, Oregon. In the Google Scholar, this article has been cited by 7.

Assumptions

In this brochure, the author provide us a methodology for reading papers in science and technology field more efficiently. They assume the papers in these fields have specific logical structure. Such structure includes:

1. Introduction to give you the idea and an overview of the paper,
2. Sections with headings to provide you some supporting ideas and details
3. Tables and graphs for explaining some ideas,
4. Concluding part.

They also assume the readers and the readers to the scientific and technical papers belong to the same group.

Methodology and Smmuary

What is the efficient reading? The author thinks the answer is to read right things with right way. What is the right thing? The paper is useful for you. Some of them can be used immediately, then reading it; some of them will be used later, then you file it. What is the right way? When you have chosen a right paper for reading, then the strategy is

1. Skimming the introduction, headings of each section, tables and graphs and concludes to build a conceptual framework for this paper.
2. Reading deeply to examine the assumption, methods and statistics and conclusions find out whether the errors or fallacies existed in it.
3. Taking the notes for the paper. In your notes, you highlight the major points, writing you doubt/question to the ideas. If you find other works related to it, you can also write it on the paper, then building your own examples and writing a summary of what have read.

Conclusion

In authors’ opinion, if you can make a smart choice on what you will read and apply the strategy above, you will read the paper in science and technology more efficiently.

Reference

1. Quinn, Shirley, and Susan Irvings. Active Reading: Reading Efficiently in the Arts and Sciences. Houghton Mifflin, 1987.