Often undergraduate (and graduate) students struggle to read academic work, and even textbooks, effectively. Reading academic work is a skill, and it differs drastically from reading for pleasure. Here, I offer you advice on how to effectively and efficiently read for class. 

When reading an academic journal article, begin by identifying the research question and the main argument (thesis) of the article. This is the most important part of reading: understanding the main argument. You should be able to distill the main argument of an article in to two to three sentences that clearly capture the findings and significance of that work. Once you have identified the question and thesis, you can begin to discover how the author makes their case.

• When reading an academic article, you'll typically want to begin by identifying the dependent variable and the independent variable. In case you're not familiar with those terms, let me summarize them for you. An independent variable is a thing that you believe changes (happens) independently, on its own. For instance, an independent variable might be a person's age. A dependent variable is the thing that the researcher believes changes in response to other variables, and which he or she is trying to measure. For example: if the research question is "how much does lobbying matter for policy making in the age of mass emails?" then the independent variable is mass email (as it is used in lobbying), and the dependent variable is legislator responsiveness to lobbying. 
• One of the main tools in academic writing is "they say, I say." Identify the author's "I say," and "they say." How is the author setting up their argument in opposition or as an addition to a body of knowledge? What is novel about what you're reading? 
• What data are they using to answer their research question? Is the data appropriate to the question? If the author wants to talk about women on city councils, then they need to have data that addresses that level of government. 
• How are the variables "operationalized"? What do I mean by that? Essentially, consider how they measure various concepts. In the above example of lobbying during the age of mass emails, you would want to know - how does the author capture "responsiveness" to emails? 
• Finally, what conclusions does the author (authors) come to? Did you find their evidence convincing, or were their conclusions a bit of a leap? 
• Finally, here is a list of questions you can use to structure your reading of an academic journal article. 

In an ideal world, you will go through each of those steps to deconstruct an article and analyze what you're reading. But we all know that you may be reading under time pressures or constraints, and you may not realistically be able to sit down and deconstruct every article you are assigned. What then? 

You'll still need to begin by identifying the thesis of the article, but instead of mapping out the argumentation, variables, and methods, you can use heuristics to grasp the basic point of the article. Here is a great resource on how to best use heuristics and keywords to improve comprehension when doing quick reading. A few additional pointers are as follows: 

• The most important thing to do is still (likely) to grasp the basic research question and the thesis / findings. 
• However, you should bear in mind the type of class you are reading for. If you are reading for a research methods class, by the love of all that is holy, do not skim through the research methods section. 

Ultimately, if you have to take shortcuts, consider what the purpose of the reading is - are you doing this as part of constructing a literature review? Is it an assignment for a research methods class? Are you using it as a model for writing style? There are many different reasons to read academic work. Allow your reading approach to be guided by your particular needs. 

Let's break down the research process a little. For college classes, and even for future jobs, you may be required to do research from time to time. While it's tempting to go straight to wikipedia, and that's a fine starting place, it's not a good ending place. In fact, you should NEVER cite wikipedia in an academic paper. So what should you do? How do you start to write a paper on a topic you know very little to nothing about? 

1. Start by googling the topic. It's fine to use wikipedia to begin with, just don't stop there. Read a few news articles from reputable sources. Look for .gov pages when you're doing policy research. Indeed, the U.S. Government is unique in the fact that the most detailed and reputable information on government, comes from the government itself (usually from government agencies or bureaucracies). 
2. Once you feel that you have a very basic understanding, move on to more academic sources. Google Scholar can be a great place to find academic literature on subject areas you're interested in. Your university library will also have a variety of resources, and the librarians can help you figure out where to start if you're feeling stumped on a particular topic. I know it sounds old fashioned, but reading even a few chapters from an actual book can do wonders (you don't even necessarily have to read the entire book, try starting with the intro and conclusion!). 
3. Once you find a few books or articles on your topic, you're set, you can begin to step into the academic "conversation." Go to the references section of the article or book you like, and skim through their citations. You'll suddenly have an enormous list of potential sources of information - other articles and books on the subject, all of which have their own citations that will lead your further into the subject. As you do this you'll likely begin to see patterns emerge. Writers are talking to each other, engaging with each others work, and responding to each others ideas.
4. As you're doing all this reading, take notes. You can use a word document, an excel spread sheet, or a notebook. But be sure you make note of the sources so you can properly cite them later. Personally, I like to create an excel workbook. I make a column for the article title, for the author, for the date written (and date accessed if a website), a column for a link if using a website, and a column for a 3-4 sentence summary. 

Once you feel like you've done enough background research and are ready to start writing, then it's time to get serious. Why does it matter if you write a good paper anyway? Because, there is a growing consensus that strong writing skills are necessary to succeed in the workplace. The reality is, I can't teach you how to write a strong paper in this blog post. But your university almost certainly has lots of resources to help you develop your writing skills, perhaps even a writing center. However, I will give you a few tips for getting started. 

1. The worst part of starting a new paper is staring at that blank page in front of you. So don't jump right in to trying to write a paper. Start with an outline. This can be extremely broad. 
2. Map out the sections of the paper: introduction, theory, evidence, analysis, and conclusions. Make a few bullet points under each section, and write one or two sentences about what you want to cover in those sections. 
3. Begin filling in more details, you can use bullet points for this still. Map out the argument you're trying to make or research you want to cite. 
4. Once you have your ideas down on paper, you can begin to fill in the sentences and turn your work into a real paper. And don't forget to delete all the bullet points before you turn in your paper. Which brings us to... 
5. Editing! The final step of any paper is editing. Have you read through your paper from start to finish to look for typos, grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, and so on? If this is hard for you consider changing the font to 18 point, changing the color of the font, or reading the paper out loud (remember to change everything back again before submitting). Doing these things can help your brain notice mistakes it may have overlooked before. 

Our mantra for this post: a goal without a plan is just a wish. What is your plan for this week? 

1. Begin by mapping out major milestones, goals, and deadlines for the semester.

2. Look at your calendar for the week and month and identify those major deadlines and goals you set for yourself. 

3. Fill in your guideposts - when do you have classes? If you have a job, when will you be at work? When will you workout, rest, or relax? Allow yourself to have a work/life balance. 

4. What are your MUST DOs for the week and what do you need to work on to move toward other goals? What are the things you'd like to do, if you have time? 

5. Start with your MUST DO tasks. Do the hardest and most important things during the times of day when you are at your best and most focused. 

6. Every day this week look at the calendar you made and stick to it. Reach those goals. Do the studying, write the papers, apply for that job or grad school or internship or sign up for that GRE. Whatever it is that you need to do to make it happen.  
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7. Celebrate your achievements!