How to read a research article for your academic writing?

University or college students need to read research articles for their assignment and thesis.  

I have struggled with reading research papers. I easily get distracted. One paper takes me to the rabbit hole full of other research. After years of struggle, I learnt the lesson – do not read a paper in its own sequence!!!!

That’s correct!

I used to read the abstract and while I read the introduction cum literature review; I am lost into the piles of other research articles. To avoid the fog, do not read a paper from top to bottom, left to right, word to word. Instead choose your sequence. Here is mine:  

I skip the introduction or literature review part of a paper and come back to it at the end.

If I find the abstract relevant, I read the study design and method of the study. This saves me time because I can focus the current study instead of other relevant ones.

After the study design I read the result/analysis followed by the discussion section.

I take notes as I read the research design, analysis and discussion section. Then I re-write or refine my notes about the article. It helps me draw my conclusion or some evidence for my assignment from the CURRENT PAPER.

The introduction or literature review is the last part I attend to if I choose to indulge in other literature for my specific assignment. The introduction part introduces me to the wider literature that I read if I choose to.

There, you also make a good alignment between the discussion and the introduction as mostly other references are used in these two sections of a paper.

So learn this strategy. Do not read any research paper in the sequence of the paper.  The introduction/literature review section at the front of the paper can be a big distraction from the current study. If you want to draw something from the current paper, focus on ITS design, result and discussion.