04/08/2026
Research isn’t just about reading. For me, it’s about interacting with the literature.
My process is fairly simple:
🖨️ Print the journal article.
🖍️ Highlight key insights.
📝 Synthesize the findings into a Word document.
🔍 Follow the references and, inevitably, disappear down a few rabbit holes.
I’ve found that I don’t absorb information by simply reading page after page.
Instead, I learn by questioning, comparing, connecting ideas and looking for patterns across multiple studies. The process becomes analytical rather than passive.
At the moment, my desk is covered with papers exploring the intersection of textiles, water and the circular economy. Every article seems to answer one question while raising three more—and that’s probably my favourite part of research.
As I work towards my Master of Environmental Engineering, I’m continually amazed at how interconnected these disciplines are. One paper on textile manufacturing leads to water quality, which leads to circular economy frameworks, which opens an entirely new avenue of investigation.
Curious to know—what’s your research process?
Do you read digitally, annotate PDFs, or are you still a highlighter-and-paper person like me?
