I came across this tweet recently by Dr. Olivia Rissland, Assistant Professor at the University of Colorado, School of Medicine.
On Jan 1, 2018, I decided to read more papers and started trying to read a paper a day. As of today, I have read 899 papers in 899 days. I never would have imagined 2.5 years ago how much I would learn through this and how this would make me a better scientist and human.
— Dr Olivia Rissland (@BeAScientist) June 17, 2020
I’ve always wanted to be that person. That person that reads a paper a day. In fact, I didn’t think it was humanly possible until I came across this tweet. Naturally, my first question was HOW?
My process is really simple. I use Papers as my pdf/reference manager, and I have a ‘To Read’ folder. Every day I just pick a paper that strikes my fancy. I keep track of what paper I read in what day with google sheets because I really enjoy seeing my progress!
— Dr Olivia Rissland (@BeAScientist) June 18, 2020
Even though Dr. Rissland is molecular biologist with a passion in understanding mRNA decay, she found herself reading papers beyond the scope of her field.
The breadth of science I’ve been able to learn about is incredible. I love love love learning about new things, and this habit has given me the intellectual freedom to explore new fields, even those that aren’t directly related to our research.
— Dr Olivia Rissland (@BeAScientist) June 17, 2020
I read really broadly. One of the most freeing things for me has been that I’ve given myself space every day to read… so I’ll often wander away from our core research, which is usually when I read the most fun stuff. It’s a meander through science!
— Dr Olivia Rissland (@BeAScientist) June 18, 2020
Scientists love to spot trends and Dr. Rissland also noted that more of the papers she was reading were preprints. Preprinting your papers is a gamechanger for scientific research and is slowly gaining momentum.
One interesting trend is that preprints are making up a larger and larger fraction of these papers. In 2018, I read 54 preprints. In 2019, 72. For 2020, I’m on track to read 100+. Reading preprints has accelerated our science.
— Dr Olivia Rissland (@BeAScientist) June 17, 2020
Dr. Rissland’s top tip was to develop the habit of setting time aside for reading. And not surprisingly, after 1000 papers, she was getting much faster at reading papers.
Finally everyone reads differently and has different time constraints. I think reading based on time (20-30 min) is another great way to frame the idea. The key point is to read the literature, often, and make it a habit—how you get there depends on what works for you!
— Dr Olivia Rissland (@BeAScientist) June 18, 2020
And perhaps most comfortingly, if I do try this one paper a day challenge, it’s okay to miss a day or two.
Also, I’m kind to myself if I miss a day. Life happens. BUT I do have to double up later to make it up!
— Dr Olivia Rissland (@BeAScientist) June 18, 2020
Well and truly inspired by this tweet and will attempt this a paper a day challenge! Who’s with me?
Daisy Y. Shu @eyedaisyshu on Twitter/Instagram
