Two ways of not reading every word
Skimming and scanning are both ways of reading selectively. They are often mentioned together because both involve moving your eyes quickly over a text instead of reading it line by line. They have different aims, though, and mixing them up is a common source of frustration.
- Skimming means getting the gist: what is this about, how is it organized, and what are the main points?
- Scanning means hunting for something specific: a date, a name, a number, a term or an answer to a question.
Neither replaces careful reading. They are tools for deciding what to read closely, and for finding things you already know are there. Because you take in less, you will miss detail and nuance, so they are poor choices for material you must understand thoroughly.
Skimming: getting the gist
Skimming works best on well-structured texts such as articles, reports and textbook chapters, where design signals the structure. A typical routine:
- Read the title and any summary or abstract.
- Look at headings and subheadings to see the outline.
- Read the first paragraph and the last paragraph, which often state the purpose and conclusion.
- Read the first sentence of each paragraph, where the topic is often introduced. This is a tendency, not a rule; some writers put the point at the end.
- Glance at bold or italic terms, lists, tables, figures and captions.
- Stop and ask: can I state what this text is about and what it concludes?
A skim often takes only a few minutes. It can help you decide whether a source is relevant to your question, and it prepares you for a deeper read, much like the survey stage of the SQ3R method. For source-hunting, it works alongside source evaluation, since a skim cannot tell you whether the content is reliable. Checking who wrote something and what other sources say, as explained under lateral reading, needs more than skimming.
Scanning: finding what you need
Scanning starts with a clear target. You know the word or type of information you want, and you move your eyes quickly over the page until it appears.
Steps:
- Define exactly what you are looking for: a name, a number, a keyword, a date.
- Predict how it will look. Dates are digits, names start with capital letters, technical terms might be in bold.
- Choose where to look: an index, a table of contents, a table, a section with the relevant heading.
- Sweep with your eyes in a pattern, such as down the page or across headings, instead of reading sentences.
- When you find the target, slow down and read the surrounding sentence or two to confirm the meaning.
On a screen, the browser’s find function lets you jump to words. Knowing a few keyboard shortcuts for search speeds this up, and the same goes for working with PDF files, where search can find text in long documents. Remember that search finds exact words, so try synonyms and alternative spellings if nothing turns up. Scanned PDFs without selectable text may not be searchable at all.
Choosing between them
| Question | Use |
|---|---|
| Is this source relevant to my topic? | Skim |
| What does this chapter cover before class? | Skim |
| Where does the author give the date of the treaty? | Scan |
| Which section answers my assignment question? | Skim, then scan |
| I need to understand this argument for an exam | Neither alone; read closely |
Many tasks combine both. You might skim a report to find the right section, scan that section for a figure, then read the nearby paragraphs closely to make sure you have understood the figure properly.
Reading faster on purpose
Speed in reading is partly about technique and partly about purpose. Some points that tend to be sound:
- Adjust your pace to the material. Familiar, easy text can be read quickly; dense, unfamiliar text should be read slowly.
- Knowing your question in advance usually makes reading more efficient because you know what to look for.
- Skipping back constantly can slow you, but occasionally rereading a hard sentence is normal and useful.
- Background knowledge helps. People generally read faster in subjects they know well.
Be cautious about claims that a course or gadget will multiply your reading speed with no loss of understanding. Research on very fast reading generally suggests there are trade-offs between speed and comprehension, and large claims should be treated sceptically. Selective reading is a different matter: you are deliberately reading less, not pretending to absorb everything faster.
What can go wrong
- Treating a skim as understanding. After skimming, you know the outline, not the argument.
- Missing qualifications. A headline claim may be softened in the body. Check the details before quoting or relying on it.
- Misleading features: a chart or heading can be misleading, so read captions and axis labels, a point discussed in graph reading.