It seems infinite really, the more I read, the more I discover that I need to read some more. References after references link me to something else.

>.<

Please, any advice on how to manage this? : /

I'm facing the same issue! I've only just started my PhD, and I don't know how I'll ever conquer the reading! I'd also appreciate advice on this.

Hi,

I managed to publish a paper out of my literature review. It took me 9 months to complete a first draft, and then I re-wrote it probably 15 times until it reached the press.

The most important advices I can give:
1. Be really focused on your topic and read only specific papers on it. It is fine to read a book to get the overall concept of a field you are not familiar with, but this is enough.
2. Keep detailed notes on every paper in a systematic way. First of all I categorise the papers on the sub-topics of my PhD. Say that my PhD is about penguin and polar bear feeding habits, then I will have two spreadsheets one for penguins and one for bears. On each excel spreadsheet I have columns: Author, Number of participants, Methods used, Statistical Analysis used and main results. In that way I can summarise and compare among studies and explain whether different methodologies might be responsible for observed outcomes, or which study is more accurate based on the population size.

Hope that helps. It takes long, but I think it is worth it. And I also started writing from day 1, even while creating these tables.

Hi Tt_dan,

Thought I'd add my experiences/opinion to the mix. Something I wish I'd realised sooner in my PhD is that the reading part is never "done". That is at no point did I ever stop looking for literature and reading it. I'd say the bulk of your reading will be done in your first year, and I certainly advocate writing as soon as you start reading. I also recommend some form of reference management. I use Mendeley as I like that you can search all your pdfs for words in the text, and words in your own reviews/tags. Don't worry that you have to keep reading more, though do make sure you're reading relevant work (you'll get better at identifying this as time goes on). Eventually you'll get to the point where you've read the majority of work which relates specifically to your area and it will just be a case of keeping on top of it.

Hope this helps.

Tt_dan - I know the feeling! I think part of the problem is the immense curiosity probably most PhD students have. There's so much I'd like to read, and I really don't have the time.

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Thanks everyone.

I'm just coming to the end of my second year and it still seems like there is a lot of reading to do as there seems to have been a spike in publications in my field recently!

With Mendeley it gives you the option to synchronise all your PDFs online so you can access them anywhere although it doesn't synchronise annotations. Alternatively you can use it offline and it still works fine. There is a very useful FAQ which should help you get started with it. I've been using it since the beginning of my PhD and I don't know what I would do without it now.