Written by Bess Chan

When preparing for any assessment, one of the first steps is conducting thorough research and reading different sources. At this stage, some students may struggle to read efficiently and critically. If you’d like more guidance on efficient reading, additional support is available on LEARN.

However, if you’d like to learn more about critical reading, which is an active, analytical approach to reading that goes beyond simply understanding the words, you’ll find some advice below.

---

Read with a clear purpose

Before reading a text, you need to ask yourself why you are reading it. Is it because you want to understand the theoretical framework, evaluate the methodology, or find empirical evidence? It’s important for you to be clear about your purpose, as it’ll help you focus on relevant sections. For example, if you’d like to understand the theoretical framework, you may want to spend more time reading the introduction, literature review, and research questions or hypotheses.

Find out more about reading different sections of research articles here.

---

Question the argument systematically

You should keep asking yourself a few questions while reading.

• What is the central argument?
• Is there a problem that the author is addressing? If so, what is it, and why does it matter?
• What assumptions are being made?
• What evidence is used? Is it appropriate and sufficient?

Throughout the process, you need to pay attention to what is emphasised and what is omitted. By doing so, you may be able to find out some possible areas for research.

Click here for more questions which can help you better understand a text.

---

Evaluate theoretical/conceptual frameworks, methodology, and evidence

When you’re working on long pieces of work, like dissertations, you’re usually required to include a theoretical framework. This provides a foundational structure for your research. You’ll use existing theories, concepts, and assumptions to guide your study, explain phenomena, and interpret your findings. Therefore, when reading, you need to find out:

• Whether the theoretical framework is clearly defined and justified
• Whether alternative theories are acknowledged or ignored
• If the framework constrains or enables the analysis.

In addition, you should evaluate the methodology and evidence. For example:

• Are the methods appropriate to the research question?
• Is the sample, dataset, or corpus adequate?
• Are interpretations warranted by the data?

In short, awareness of methodology is essential for judging the truthfulness and validity of published research.

Find out more about critical reading here.

---

Take analytical notes

When reading sources, you shouldn’t just read without making notes, as you can forget the details very easily. To ensure that you’re actively engaging with a text, you should go beyond summarising the sources and take analytical notes. These include strengths and weaknesses, questions raised by the text, points of agreement or disagreement, and relevance to your research.

Click here for notetaking techniques and here for a critical notetaking template.

---

Compare and contrast sources

Students are usually advised not to read only a few sources because you can develop a biased view on a particular issue. Therefore, one way to become objective is to read widely and understand the different views in the existing literature on a specific topic. Throughout the process, you’re expected to find out the relationship between different texts – whether a source confirms, challenges, or extends existing knowledge – and the patterns, tensions, and unresolved debates.

A good way to organise different ideas is to put them in a research matrix. Find out more about research matrices here.

---

Position sources within the literature

After comparing and contrasting different texts, you’ll be able to find out how sources are related to each other – whether one confirms, extends, or challenges other established work. This step is crucial in research, especially when you’re writing the literature review. In this section, you should identify the gaps in existing literature and show how your research is going to address them. Therefore, when you’re familiar with the sources, it’s likely that you’ll find out what’s missing in the current literature through understanding the relationships among various sources.

Click here for more information on the relationship between critical reading and literature reviews.

---

Maintain intellectual scepticism

Critical reading is not about dismissing work but engaging with it rigorously. Therefore, you should not accept claims at face value but check for overgeneralisations, unsupported claims, and methodological flaws. Remember: we accept different viewpoints even they are against our stance, and we need to readily reject arguments if they are not strong enough, even if they may support our point of view.

---

Developing critical reading skills takes time and practice! If you have any questions about the tips shared, you can book a 1-2-1 meeting with me, Bess Chan, your London-based EAP Tutor, via email or the booking form.