Scanning and skimming

During your time at uni and especially when you are researching topics, you will need to read longer texts than you may be used to. There are lots of techniques for reading faster. Two very useful ones are scanning and skimming.

You skim to get a general sense of the text. Is it interesting? What's it about? And you scan to get details like times, names and other individual facts. These techniques are just as useful in leisure reading as they are in academic work.

Scanning and skimming (and skipping completely) save you time because you don't have to read every word. Another technique is to read straight down the middle of the page without moving your eyes across the lines. Your peripheral vision will tell you if you've missed anything crucial.