Turn to my personal blog https://blognas.hwb0307.com . Welcome to follow!
foreword
Scientific research staff have a strong demand for literature reading . Keeping abreast of other people's work is very helpful for broadening research horizons and research ideas. For newcomers who have just entered the field of scientific research, in order to quickly understand the foundation and progress of the industry, in addition to reading classic books and papers in this major, it is essential to track new progress in the field. For questions such as " how to quickly improve the level of personal research ", most of the suggestions of senior scientific researchers will include " read more literature "; but when you ask a certain teacher for advice, everyone's strategies and methods are different. There is quite a feeling of "Eight Immortals crossing the sea, each showing their magical powers". I have also asked myself more than once: For researchers, how to read literature efficiently ? By some chance, I've found some pretty good strategies and practical approaches lately. The content of this article has a lot of overlap with my other blog posts. Here is mainly to rearrange the ideas to make the answer to this question clearer.
Things will start in April 2022. At that time, due to some incentives, I wanted to start a WordPress blog to record my life and study, so I bought a VPS and fiddled with it. In the process, I accumulated some experience in managing Linux/Docker and website operations. One day I stumbled across a feed link on my blog. Driven by curiosity, I found out about RSS , an artifact of tracking updates. Under normal circumstances, friends will use RSS to catch up with some weird things (such as anime, fan dramas, movies, Douban group comments); however, I realize that RSS has unique advantages in literature reading . Soon, I discovered that PubMed (an essential database for biomedical research) supports generating personalized RSS links through search queries , and the technical route has basically been clarified here. I made some plans and tested them for about two months, and I feel that they are very helpful, so I recommend them to everyone (mainly scientific research rookies, the big guys probably know it)!
in principle
Before formally explaining the method, it is important to establish the basic principles . After all, everyone's preferences may be different, but there should be similar pursuits. According to experience, a good literature reading plan should have the following characteristics:
-
Passive push : Push reading based on RSS or similar to RSS (such as mail service). In this way, there is no need to spend a lot of energy on finding the target documents.
-
Easy retrieval and archiving : important when the literature accumulation is large. For example, if you want to find a document that you read a long time ago, as long as it has been recorded, you can easily use a search engine (based on the Web) to find it.
-
Community interaction : The notes of reading literature are public and can be communicated with others. Of course, you can also choose to be private.
As long as your process abides by these three basic principles, then the process of literature reading promoting your growth will be stable, long-term, scalable, and spiral upward . The methods mentioned below are also based on these three principles, and are mainly used to attract new ideas; you have to toss and try to find the most suitable solution for you.
method
As shown in the figure, the method framework of this literature reading is a summary of my experience in the past six months. The elements in the diagram are interconnected and not completely isolated. Let's talk one by one!
Markdown
If you are engaged in computer science or programming, you can skip this section and understand everything you understand. For those of other professions, it is necessary to introduce it. Regarding Markdown, I have introduced it in detail in the two blog posts " Linux Basics What to Prepare Before Learning Linux " and " Typora One of the Most Powerful Markdown Editors on the Surface ". In short, Markdown is a programming language that can be started in half an hour , and there are many free/paid editors to choose from. The most important feature of Markdown is to focus on content rather than format , so it is widely used among programmers (the visualization of code blocks often relies on more complex highlighting rules), and is also adopted by websites such as Github as the main text format of technical documents . The feature of focusing on content rather than format is naturally suitable for note-taking , because the time and cost-effectiveness of maintaining the layout of document reading notes is very high, and authors can focus most of their energy on content creation, so Markdown notes are often well-structured and highly readable . All the articles in my blog are based on Markdown (see " WordPress Best Practices for Uploading or Updating Markdown " for details), and the layout is well-proportioned, neat and concise.
For specific cases of literature reading notes, you can see my "Frontier Newsletter/Literature Intensive Reading" series in " Learning Map ". For example, in " Frontier News Issue No. 1 Sleep and Tumor Metastasis, etc. ", I will simply record the title (including links), magazines, and Chinese abstracts (fine-tuned on the basis of machine translation) of a certain document, and roughly classify it. In this way, the basic characteristics of the document are described, and it is very convenient to review and trace the source in the future:
There is actually no hard and fast rule on how to take notes when reading documents . Because I showed it to myself and others (after all, it was published on a blog), so I recorded it in detail. Generally speaking, reading ordinary documents can be simpler, such as writing a descriptive title, a full-text title, and a few comments; for some more important documents, you can remember more. It is comfortable to look at and convenient for review , and you can write whatever you want. For very important literature, you can also do some exercises similar to "literature intensive reading" (such as " Literature Intensive Reading Phase 2 Targeting cGAS-STING-IL6 in the Treatment of CIN Tumors "). Although it is time-consuming and laborious, it is also rewarding. . For those papers with a more complex structure, this kind of notes is also convenient for repeated chewing. More importantly, the notes on the blog can be seen by others, and enthusiastic viewers will help you correct mistakes (provided that someone reads it, haha).
When reviewing the literature, you can quickly browse, and the effect is still good:
Ctrl + fRetrieval is also very convenient. The search box of the browser is directly invoked in the browser , and the retrieval speed is extremely fast. Ordinary Markdown editors also have similar functions:
In short, Markdown is a programming language that is very suitable for note-taking, and literature reading notes are no exception . All my notes are currently recorded in Markdown. If you have used Markdown long enough, you will naturally appreciate its benefits! It is worth mentioning that there are many well-known knowledge management systems (such as Notion), and the writing experience is very similar to Markdown, perhaps partly borrowing its ideas . Therefore, learning Markdown will have no pressure to migrate to other mainstream note-taking platforms. In my opinion, Markdown can be used as a basic tool to externally reflect your knowledge and experience .
Basic Knowledge Framework
Basic knowledge framework is very important. Because when we discuss issues, we all discuss within certain established facts and paradigms. The established facts and paradigms vary depending on your field . But the basic method is similar, that is, reading classics , reading classic textbooks, classic literature, or codes of classic projects. There will be big cows in every field, and there must be people who write textbooks. Ask your tutors, brothers/sisters, and colleagues, and combine Google Zhihu to compile a high-quality book list , get their PDF versions, and read them whenever you have time, or even read them systematically. Over time, the basic knowledge framework in this field can naturally be constructed. The basic knowledge framework is still very important, so that when you see a brand new research in this field, you can roughly know its research framework and judge its importance instead of being confused. Read more and see more. You can use Markdown to take notes.
VPS
Friends who are not in touch with programming may not know what a VPS is. VPS, full name virtual private server, virtual private server. Generally speaking, a VPS is a computer equipped with a Linux system that can be remotely controlled, and is generally managed through the ssh background:
You can think of VPS as a general-purpose tool that can be used to build video platforms, note-taking platforms, sketchpads, and other weird network applications (based on Docker). In literature reading, the function of VPS is to build a series of auxiliary tools for literature reading , such as picture bed, RSS reader, personal blog, data backup platform, etc. You can think of VPS as a mobile phone, which can install APPs with various functions . Generally speaking, VPS is a paid resource (Oracle's big plate chicken is not listed), and the tariff level can refer to the VPS I use :
3x vCPU Core
45 GB SSD Cached RAID-10 Storage
3 GB RAM
6500GB Monthly Premium Bandwidth
1Gbps Public Network Port
Full Root Admin Access
1 Dedicated IPv4 Address
KVM / SolusVM Control Panel - Reboot, Reinstall, Manage rDNS, & much more
LOCATION: Los Angeles
JUST $24.28/YEAR or $47.06/2 YEARS
As far as I know, the VPS I use is very cost-effective among big brands. With a VPS and a domain name, you can build the following applications:
- Image bed : Take Chevereto image bed as an example. Image used to host Markdown.
-
Personal blog : Take WordPress personal blog as an example. Used to publish and manage notes.
-
RSS Reader : Take Tiny Tiny RSS Reader as an example. Used to receive RSS feeds.
- Data backup platform: Take Duplicati as an example. Used to backup image beds, blogs and RSS readers.
I have introduced the installation and use of the applications mentioned above in the " Learning Map " of the blog, and they can be eaten on demand. It is worth noting that this is just my own solution, and you should configure it according to your actual situation . For example, RSS readers have a variety of software options; blogs may not be needed for some people; picture beds can prostitute Github for free; everyone may have their own plan for data backup. The main reasons why I put all these things in a VPS are:
- not expensive . See what VPS you buy. It doesn't cost money to prostitute to Oracle, and you can play with a domain name. But if it is stable, you still have to make one yourself, such as the one I use . The hard disk capacity is preferably above 20G, and the memory is preferably above 1G. And can play other things, this is just the tip of the iceberg:
- I am the master of my data . As long as I renew the VPS and domain name, the entire platform will not stop running, almost for life , and naturally there will be no data loss problem; the software used is open source and free software, you can update iteratively according to your mood, and you don’t have to worry about compatibility at all question. If you are using a certain company’s product, it’s very cool when you use it; what if it stops working in the future (similar to Sina blogs)? The process of migrating massive amounts of data makes my scalp tingle just thinking about it.
- The installation process is not difficult, a little Linux and Docker foundation is enough . Some people might panic hearing about Linux. Let me tell you from the perspective of a person who is not a programming major, you can hold the simple Linux/Docker foundation with ordinary quality . As far as I know, many junior high school students and high school students play programming very smoothly. People who read the literature are generally postgraduates, so there is no need to worry about insufficient IQ. The key is to study hard and get started soon . Mastery is another matter, which is often difficult.
- Expansion and growth : Once you enter the VPS, it is as deep as the sea . There are many interesting things waiting for you to discover, the value of which is far beyond the benefits of literature reading. For example, master some ability to solve unfamiliar problems . Experience it yourself.
That's about it. In short, it is enough that you know that VPS is a good thing ! If you really want to play with a VPS, I recommend taking a look at my "Linux Basics" tutorial. Although not very professional, it is enough for ordinary players. All articles are easy to understand and highly operable:
easySCI
easySCIIt's a small project I did recently, not to be modest, it's really small! As long as it works, haha! 1 update every year, mainly to obtain the target journal through some screening indicators, and then stratify according to the impact factor (you know) to get the ISSN number. ISSN can generate the search formula used by PubMed; then combined with the keywords in a certain field, we can generate the RSS link of the field we care about. For the specific situation of the project, please refer to Github Repo , domestic small partners can also see here: Gitee Repo . There are many tools with similar functions, such as Scholarscop, etc. You can also learn about it. In easySCIthe work, I mainly get the PubMed search query of the journal and the RSS link of the journal-keyword, so as to save everyone from having to go through a repeated process. Combined with the Tiny Tiny RSS reader, the general effect is as follows:
As can be seen from the GIF diagram, each link is dynamically updated ; there is new content behind the link, which will be pushed over immediately. This feature of RSS is very suitable for reading literature on a regular basis and with a sense of ritual . Read it once a day if you have time, and once a week if you don’t have time, and never be afraid of missing it; if you are in a bad mood and don’t want to read the literature, just Mask all read ! Of course it is not recommended to do this often, haha! In addition, using a similar strategy, you can customize any of the journals you want to read (such as CNS and the top journals in your major), or the articles of some big cows. In short, RSS is cool for tracking the latest literature , and it should be the number one method in my mind! Currently, only the biomedical field is supported. The same is true for other fields. Students who need it can raise an issue. If I have time, I can help make an RSS link. It's not troublesome. As for some majors, I mainly vote for conferences or domestic cores. I don’t have any special experience in this, so I’d better ask your mentors and seniors. In addition, it is estimated that they also have some coups for tracking documents, so you might as well ask them for advice; Google Zhihu and Baidu, and you can always find a method that suits you in the end. Good luck to you!
The figure below shows the real-time tracking of RSS research on Nature magazine (climbing every 15 minutes)
summary
This article may have certain reference value for novice Xiaobai, but not necessarily for veteran drivers. In short, please communicate more. If you have any suggestions, you can give me feedback , and I will learn from it. I hope everyone goes well and send a big paper! For this blessing, it is not too much to ask for likes and collections, right? !
(Source: Fragrant and Soft Puffs )
further reading
just looking around