It’s always a good to know what you’re doing.

If involvement in scientific research seems a likely part of your future, it’s important that you learn as much as you can before you actually get your hands dirty. Whether you’re interested in anything from engineering cardiac muscle to analyzing the conductive properties of graphene, it’s a good idea to establish a foundation for your future studies.

Basically, that means doing as much background research as you can before conducting your own. A good thing to look for are review articles. Review articles are professional, scientific articles that summarize everything, all research, that has been done on a specific area or field. For example, a review article on the “Propagation and Maintenance of Undifferentiated Human Embryonic Stem Cells” will list all relevant experiments that have been done by past research groups, summarize their findings, and articulate the goals and achievements of a particular field—in this case, stem cell growth and maintenance. Usually, you can distinguish review articles by their title, which will prominently display the word, “REVIEW.” Convenient, I know. These articles are a great resource if you’re beginning research, as they’ll get you up to speed on what you’re involved in.

It’s a good idea to read all the review articles you can get your hands on, in addition to the specific articles that they may cite. If you’re looking to join a lab, it’s crucial that you read the keystone works that your lab of interest has published. If there’s a specific professor or researcher that you’re interested in working under, a great way to introduce yourself is by expressing interest in their publications. Read what they’ve written and ask them questions about anything you don’t understand.

That said, at first, most scientific articles are somewhat of a pain to read. They’re extremely elaborate, very articulate, and chock-full of mysterious abbreviations and figures. Nothing goes undocumented. Don’t be intimidated by any vocabulary that may whiz over your head or methodology that might not make sense. If you’re ever frustrated, ask questions. When that’s not an option, simply read the abstract and skip to the conclusions and discussion. In most cases, knowing the procedures and middle-fluff involved in a particular study won’t be relevant to what you’ll be doing.

It’s important to understand the key features of a professional research paper, that is, how it’s organized. An article will normally follow the format described here. Typically, an abstract is 250 words long and does a nice job of summarizing the article from start to finish. More often than not, you can simply read the abstract and walk away with a decent understanding of what the study was about. The introduction eases the reader into the study, providing a real-world perspective on what was stated in the abstract and articulating why the reader should care. The materials and methods portion of a paper is something you can easily skip and still understand the gist of the study. The only reason you’d really want to read it is if you were interested in replicating the described experiment.  The results describe, qualitatively and quantitatively, what was observed in the study and what those observations mean. The discussion and conclusion will put the results in context—something that may provide valuable insight into the grand scheme of your research interest or, on a more specific scale, your own project. Use the references to lead you to your next article.

By the time you’re on your own, you should accumulate a decent-sized knowledge base from the articles you read. While conducting background research, it’s highly recommended that you maintain an annotated bibliography, something that you’ll add to throughout your entire research experience. It lists the articles you’ve read and a brief summary—written by yourself—corresponding to each article. This way, if you ever need to refer back to an article, you’ll have your own personalized library of summaries. Here’s a simple, sample one I found online: sample annotated bibliography.

With fields in science as dynamic as they are, scientists are never really, truly up-to-date.

That’s why it’s important to continue your reading whenever you get the chance. Maintaining an annotated bibliography will ensure that whatever you read is recorded and available for a reread. As arduous as it sounds to maintain, an annotated bibliography will be a valuable resource as science becomes a more apparent part of your future.

Happy researching!

See also: Lessons from the Lab: A Guide for Young Scientists