I have been given a load of papers by my new PhD supervisor to read before I start. Any tips on how to go about obtaining the most useful information from them?

Its important not just to read the paper, but critically assess its relevence to your work. The more papers in your field you read, the better you get.

It is also hugely benificial to use a program like Endnote or Reference manager to keep a searchable record of papers you have read, with your own notes. Save time and do this as you go along, not after you've read stacks of papers like me! :-)

If the papers you've been given are a mixture of review articles and research papers make sure you start by reading the reviews. They'll be easier to read and will help put the research papers in context when you get to them.

Make a (short) summary of each paper while you read it. Start with the reviews, and see which papers are referenced there. Look at the quality of the papers, where were they accepted? Rate the importance of Nature/Science papers higher than other papers (and read them more carefully). Write down any questions that arise, for example how does this technique really work?

Ask your supervisor for the pass words of the journals that they subscribe if you would like to read up on other papers (saves you looking through the library). If you need some more information on a side matter look for a review.
Group the papers according to subjects or autors. Make a list of new terms and find a definition for them. Make a list of abbreviations, ie. NER = "Nucleotide Excision Repair".

Oh- and obviously read the papers of your supervisor especially carefully! Especially the discussion part ...

lol u are lucky that ur supervisor has sent u those papers! read them carefully and form an opinion in how it relates 2 ur work. Enjoy

A question-what exactly is a review article is this a summary of work carried out in a field?

Pretty much. A review article would not usually present any new results.

Yes Tim, that is exactly what a review article is. Usually there are no experiments included and the author(s) are well known in their field. They will have the correct references of the papers they cite so if you would like to know more you can look for the reference mentioned. I'm doing a molecular biology PhD, so if I'm looking for a review I type "review" and whatever I am looking fot, like " V(D)J" into the search engine of PubMed.

I think that the findaphd team answered that question anon german. there was no need to butt in

With pubmed, you don't need to type "review" you can just put the search term in then click on the "review" tab.

I think that anon german had some relevant comments Stu. There was no need to butt in.

Anon German always gives very helpful, non-judgemental and polite advice. I hope she continues to 'butt in' on a regular basis! :o)

I agree! Anon German is great!