Reading, scribbling, highlighting, taking notes and organizing information from a journal article or book chapter – walking through my digital and analog processes

I have written several Twitter threads about how do what many people call “active reading“: I read, highlight, scribble on the margins, take notes and then store these in digital and analog media. I use highlighting and writing marginalia to engage more deeply with the reading materials I am working with. I’ve also posted here on my website the most recent iteration of my colour-coded highlighting and scribbling process. This note-taking process generates material that I then store either in analog form (Everything Notebook, index cards, Cornell Notes), or in digital form (memorandums, synthetic notes, rhetorical precis or Conceptual Synthesis Excel Dump rows)

A couple of days ago, I posted a Twitter thread showcasing my highlighting and scribbling and note-taking, as well as summarizing and organizing information digitally (and analogically). I decided to transfer my Twitter threads to a more permanent medium (my blog) so those who are interested in following similar approaches to active reading, literature reviewing and note-taking can do so. In this post I included several threads in order to make it easier for people to see different examples.

First I write the author and year on the plastic tab. I use rigid ones, other people use Post-It notes. For me, the rigidity allows for easier sorting (I file them in magazine holders labeled with the topic or name of the paper I am writing). Colour of label not relevant here. pic.twitter.com/fzKnHVx9uy

— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) February 27, 2019

This post describes how I organize my books and printed materials https://t.co/K4148sP8Nr and this one describes the AIC summarization method https://t.co/nVzDQtYocy I re-emphasize: AIC is NOT a substitute for deeper engagement. You may need to re-read in more depth, again.

— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) February 27, 2019

I did a second search (organizing by Author). I thought I had read EVERYTHING that Karen Bakker had published, but apparently not. What I'll do is add this PDF to my "PDFs" folder associated with this particular paper I'm writing, and have Mendeley automagically import it. pic.twitter.com/MNtXVv08o2

— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) February 27, 2019

Now, you know I organize my readings through a Conceptual Synthesis Excel Dump. I have a CSED for "Water Privatization". Therefore, this paper will end up there. I use Mendeley's "Copy as Formatted Citation" function to copy the reference on to my CSED. pic.twitter.com/HmP5HuL761

— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) February 27, 2019

I use a multilevel approach to highlighting – yellow for key idea, orange for second level of importance, pink, green, blue, purple for 3, 4, 5, 6th levels of relevancy. Note how I scribble not only a summary but also my own insights, reflections, opinions, contrasting views. pic.twitter.com/D42XGk22Eo

— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) February 27, 2019

What ends up happening when I am not happy with an entire set of highlighters is that I end up with a mix-and-match melange (mixture in French). I use a combo: pastel purple and pastel blue (Stabilo Boss Original) and yellow, pink, green and orange (Staedtler Triplus Hilight). pic.twitter.com/oKWuJP2wVC

— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) February 27, 2019

This thread walks you through how I highlight and scribble an entire journal article. In my thread, each tweet shares analytical insights that I then use to write a memorandum. https://t.co/r42S7pXLWz

— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) February 27, 2019

Here I explain how I expand from a Synthetic Note to a Memorandum (using the previous Twitter thread on Dr. Alida Cantor's paper https://t.co/YhY32vb7uG) I use those memorandums to create text for my book chapters, books and journal articles. #AcWri #PhDChat #GetYourManuscriptOut

— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) February 27, 2019

For literature reviews and reading and note-taking, I use both digital and analog methods, as shown here.

Since this paper will provide me with stuff I need for 3 pieces, I will write a memorandum AND store key details in my Conceptual Synthesis Excel Dump. Somebody asked me if I can do this digitally. Yes, in Mendeley you can highlight and add notes (see here) pic.twitter.com/ysvv4rldR3

— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) February 28, 2019

As I mentioned above, I’ve written SEVERAL Twitter threads showcasing my highlighting and scribbling. Here is another one, that also includes the process of filling out a Conceptual Synthesis Excel Dump (CSED) row.

I only did an AIC for this paper as it’s related to what I study but not exactly to the paper I’m working on at the moment. pic.twitter.com/JnKGkwQNFj

— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) August 16, 2018

Note how the text I marked as "for CSED" is actually written in one of the "Notes" columns of my CSED. pic.twitter.com/SO7VsFLL6c

— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) August 16, 2018

Hard to do a good visual, but do note that info for my “Cross-Ref” (i.e. related works) cell comes from the article’s conclusion. Sometimes I note these conexiones between different scholars/papers on the paper, sometimes directly in my CSED. But this point resonated strongly. pic.twitter.com/ySjJDMzOJa

— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) August 16, 2018

You can see my completed CSED row entry for the Cote et al 2017b article I linked to above. Common questions: you can change the headings of your Excel dump. You can add > 3 notes (I usually add 4th, 5th and 6th in the row underneath the main one). You can add more quotations too pic.twitter.com/lGqYOBPiAE

— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) August 16, 2018

I often use Twitter threads to showcase my highlighting and as pedagogical tools for my students, but at the same time live-tweet insights I gain from reading specific articles, books or book chapters. This is one of these examples.

This paper triggered thoughts and reflections on two fields I've researched quite a lot: environmental activism and waste governance. So, writing by hand would have slowed me down and I wouldn't have been able to capture my thoughts as quickly as I need to. Also, I want to share.

— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) December 7, 2018

Rootes (2009) highlights the importance of networks as core properties for social movements. Protesting in isolation is NOT a social movement. Engaging in protests randomly is NOT a social movement. You need the networked property: collective action as a result of the network.

— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) December 7, 2018

This memorandum is still very, very drafty, but captures several of my thoughts on this topic in a way that I can share with my students. I linked my own work (e.g. Pacheco-Vega 2015) https://t.co/DY3zAXSmxn with work by Keck and Sikkink, plus Rootes' own definitions. pic.twitter.com/QEpE9gFtWG

— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) December 7, 2018

That's why I suggest using "prompts" that can encourage you to write. One of the best prompts, for me, is an article that is very dense in key ideas and concepts that I need to share with colleagues, students or friends in the field. https://t.co/psTEwumZaE </micro-thread>

— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) December 7, 2018

At the end of my writing session, if I generate a memorandum, I always make sure that the bibliography is inserted at the end. This is where Mendeley's Cite-O-Matic plug-in comes handy. Once you're done, click "Create Bibliography" where you want to place it, and VOILA. pic.twitter.com/RFfCFZ5mEb

— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) December 8, 2018

And here is yet ANOTHER Twitter thread where I highlight, scribble and store my thoughts in memoranda or CSED rows. This particular thread focuses on argumentative writing, and explains each highlighter colour, which relatese to my colour-coded hierarchical organization of ideas. This is a nested approach.

Notice my yellow highlights: "Garbage is a problem in Mexico, HOWEVER we have no estimates of litter". Then notice the orange ones: "we've studied garbage, BUT litter receives very little attention". Then, look at the pink ones: "there are several reasons why we should worry"

— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) May 10, 2018

This is my post on Graf and Birkenstein's They Say/I Say https://t.co/yDXHawbez1 note also how Hilburn 2016 doesn't only describe issues about garbage management in Mexico, but analyzes them. https://t.co/oxz8uIY3Pd this is why it's important to use these rhetorical moves.

— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) May 10, 2018

This is why I recommend AIC to give yourself an overview of an article, and why I think it's important to show how the paper contributes to the literature (empirically, theoretically or both) within the introduction https://t.co/dn3D9gDaf4 (as many scholars do, and I show here)

— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) May 10, 2018

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