Why reading more won’t fix your PhD literature review

As a PhD researcher, you do a lot of reading. It comes with the territory, obviously.

There are things about academic literature that you didn’t quite understand until you started studying for a PhD. For example, the sense of achievement when you finally tracked down that article you’d been after for ages - whether that was through a convoluted inter-library loan process or a detective-style hunt across all corners of the internet. Ah, the satisfaction.

Then there are the no-so-gratifying moments, like that graveyard of PDFs on your desktop that judge you every time you open your computer.

There is never a shortage of things to read as a PhD researcher, you can always be reading more.

Why reading more isn’t always the best thing to do

Reading is important, don’t get me wrong, but it can have a problematic side to it if you start reading for the wrong reasons.

Like when you read to feel productive, when you feel the need to do something that feels like progress.

Perhaps it’s the first thing you reach for when you have that stuck feeling, when you’re trying to work something out and you’re just getting super frustrated about it. Reading can fill that gap.

Not sure what to write next in the middle section of your literature review? Okay then, I’ll read.

Not sure if this area of the literature is relevant? Perhaps reading will clear things up.

Erm, no. It likely won’t.

Focus on what you’ve already read

Most literature review problems are not reading problems. They’re not going to be solved by reading more.

The issue is usually understanding the value of what you've already read.

There is likely something in the reading you’ve already done that you haven’t quite made sense of yet.

Adding more papers on top of that is not going to make it any clearer, it’s just going to add to the mental load.

It's a bit like your finances. Sometimes it's easier to dream up ways of making more money than it is to look at how you're already spending it.

Reading more can be the PhD equivalent of sorting through your wardrobe to find things to sell on eBay or Vinted, rather than opening your banking app and noticing you've spent an alarming amount of money on coffees and pain au chocolats this month.

One activity feels productive and proactive. The other requires you to stop, look closely, and make sense of what's already there.

Reading another paper can feel productive in the same way. It gives you something to do. But it doesn't necessarily solve the problem.

Questions to ask instead

Sometimes the real work isn't finding more literature. It's sitting with the literature you already have and asking:

Where in my literature review do I currently feel most confused?

What do I think I need to understand better?

What patterns, tensions, or ideas keep appearing in the literature I've already read?

Don’t worry if you feel confused whilst you’re doing this.

Confusion is often evidence that you're in the middle of making sense of something complex, and the most productive thing you can do right now isn't to read more, but to ask better questions of the literature that's already sitting in front of you.

If you’re currently wresting with your literature review, my guide will help you work out what matters and get words on the page. Learn more here - Literature Review PhD Survival Guide.