Make your reading more productive. While reading, briefly write down the main points: What is the author trying to say? Do you have any reaction? Even if you are short on time these notes will be helpful as you write--so you won't have to reread the article later.

"I am having trouble making sense of this scholarly stuff. How can I read the articles efficiently?"

So far, we have been talking about evaluating the "container" the content comes in. Now let's look at ways to evaluate and break down the content itself. Sometimes reading scholarly writing can be difficult.

1. Read the title of the piece before you read the whole thing.
2. Form the title into a question that will help you understand the meaning of the article or chapter.
3. Read the article and keep the question in your mind.
4. Determine the article or chapter's main idea.