Often, researchers find themselves overwhelmed by the vast number of papers they have to read and keep track of.
One of the biggest reasons for this is that we are not using existing tools and services to make our lives easier by managing research papers. In addition, it’s hard to find a versatile product that meets all our needs under one interface, but that is a topic for another post.
Our search for the best research paper management system might not be as straightforward as we think.
Manage research papers is an art that can be developed over time, starting with some handy resources.
Here are some tools I use to keep track of my favorite research papers and also keep up to date with the latest studies.
The main focus of this blog post will be on consumption (rather than writing), and I will cover:
- Managing the input
- Managing the process
- Managing the output
Managing the input
Choose a place to keep unread papers.
Some people like printing papers and some don’t, and that’s okay! I used to print relevant papers for my research that I found interesting.
In the long run, printing all the papers might be overwhelming.
A designated place for unread papers is important, whether a physical folder on your desk or a virtual folder on your desktop.
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The folder should serve more than just as a storage area; it should also be a reminder to read your unread papers. You may be tempted to download papers and forget about them, falling victim to PDF alibi syndrome, whereby you fool yourself into thinking you’ve read them.
So, schedule time to review papers every few weeks (on your calendar if necessary). A quick skim and a few notes are all you need to do. You won’t necessarily read each paper in detail.
Avoid the temptation to leave notes like “finish reading later.” However, if necessary, consider using notes like “need to read again before citing” for papers that were skimmed too quickly.
TIP: In case you don’t want to download the papers or have a file system like the one described above, try using an internet plugin such as “MyMind“. You can sort your files, color code them and use tags.
Managing the process
Choose a reference manager.
An automated system will save a great deal of time in manuscript preparation if you are still manually formatting your references.
I downloaded all the research papers that interested me in the past, but now I realize that’s a bad idea. In addition to not reading even 10 percent of those papers, they also took up a lot of space and were messy without adding anything to my knowledge. I could have sorted the papers properly with a system after downloading them.
A little research led me to a solution.
While taking an online course, I heard about the reference manager, Zotero. I have been using Mendeley, but Zotero has some interesting features that I enjoy. One of these reasons is linking notes with Obsidian (which is my primary note-taking app).
As a result, I started using Zotero, and managing research papers has never been easier.
It is possible to create a poster or two without a reference manager, but citing references by hand for manuscripts and grants is extremely risky.
You can also track papers as you collect them by using a reference manager, especially since most reference managers offer powerful search functions. There are many options to choose from.
In addition to Zotero, Mendeley could be a good alternative. These two reference managers are both free. Several paid software may be free through your institution, including Papers and EndNote.
Take your time to choose the research paper manager that suits your needs, but don’t get overwhelmed. If you decide to switch later, you can always do so. Over the past several years, I have successfully transferred references from RefWorks to Mendeley to Zotero.
A reference-management tool such as Zotero, Mendeley, or Endnote helps you create lists of references, store them, and organize them in a database of folders, keywords, and tags. A browser plugin is available for saving a paper with a single click, and a word processor plugin is available for creating bibliographies and adding in-text citations.
Whenever I find a paper I’m interested in reading; I add it immediately to my reference manager. Once it’s safely stored, I can close the browser tab, knowing it’s easily accessible in the future.
TIP: It might be better to add papers to your reference manager through their web plugin rather than manually (by downloading a .pdf file) since manually adding them might not update all the necessary metadata.
Managing the output
Choose how to keep track of your notes.
Writing a summary of each paper as you read it is a great idea, but where do you store it?
Keeping track of your thoughts on papers you read is one of the most important aspects of managing research papers.
It is common for people to write separate documents for each paper, while others don’t write anything at all but simply tag papers (either virtually or physically) with keywords.
In the past, I kept a running a document with a few sentences about each paper I read.
However, this workflow can sometimes be overwhelming.
I’ve realized I was spending more time managing research papers than reading them. For me, it was not a very constructive methodology.
I wanted to use the most straightforward research paper managing system to store my output, so I took notes directly in my reference manager (Zotero has an in-built PDF reader for taking notes).
The annotations I take are extracted into a new file and kept in the same location as the paper.
Later, I extracted these notes to my primary note-taking app, Obsidian, and made some additional notes there.
Choose how to file papers.
The importance of having a system probably outweighs the importance of choosing a system.
But, no matter the system you have, it would be better to file the papers properly.
It can be difficult to file by topic due to the interdisciplinary nature of science.
The best thing to do would be to develop a file name system (per each .pdf file). However, if you had to do it manually, you might only do it for the first few papers. Therefore, you may need to automate the file renaming process.
I use the Zotero plugin “Zotfile.” to do this task.
By using research paper information, you can name a file. Using the first author’s name, the year the article was published, and the first three words of the article title, you might name the file “azamSelectiveProbingThinFilm2019“(first author first name: Azam, first three words of the title: Selective Probing ThinFilm, year of publication: 2019).
Alternatively, you can use Zotero’s “Citekey” feature to generate a filename.
Final words
It is important to create a system to manage research papers so that they can be easily accessed in the future. You can easily keep track of what you’ve read if you follow the steps above.
However, there is no “one” right way to manage research papers, and I’m curious about how others do it. Feel free to comment, and we will update the post with any interesting responses!
This is the second post of the four-part blog series: The Bulletproof Literature Management System. Follow the links below to read the other posts in the series:
- How to How to find Research Papers
- How to Manage Research Papers (You are here)
- How to Read Research Papers
- How to Organize Research Papers
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