Critical thinking is not only crucial to rigorous academic research, but an important life skill that is highly valued by employers.

With so much false information circulating, including opinion pieces and unsubstantiated content, it has never been more important to be able to apply critical thinking to the information we find or receive.

An uncritical thinker will accept what they are told without questioning the source, evidence or implications of it.

How to read critically

Create your own system when reading and annotating

• Read the abstract to check the relevance of the article/chapter.

• Underline the most important information (WHO, WHAT, WHY, HOW).

• Circle keywords.

• Do not skip the introduction and do pay particular attention to the conclusion.

• If not relevant or too commercial/ informal, discard it!

• Do not summarise, it takes too much time – but make brief notes in your own words of anything of particular relevance and its page number.

Critical analysis

• Consider the strengths, weaknesses and implications of your research results.

• Identify and break down your research into different themes/sub-topics/concepts/arguments relating to your topic.

• Organise and group information logically.

• Discuss any relationships between these parts.

• Think about any potential biases in yourself or that may be implicit in your research that may influence the results or how they are interpreted.

• Are the results of your research trustworthy?

• Do the results of your research support/challenge your hypothesis?

• Are there any omissions in the research?