An introduction to software development
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# 8.1 A workflow for reading the academic literature

The academic literature consists of papers and other resources, some of which you may wish to read. To be read they need to be found. This section presents a simple workflow by means of which the academic literature can be accessed.

There are five stages to this workflow:

- Stage 1: Preparation

- Stage 2: Discovery

- Stage 3: Assimilation

- Stage 4: Recording

- Stage 5: Relating

These can be arranged as in Figure 1.

We will consider each stage in turn. As you work through this process you will find that the assimilation stage itself consists of another workflow.

Figure 1 The M813 workflow for reading academic literature
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The simple workflow outlined in this section can underpin research in many areas of computing and in other science-based disciplines. The workflow is lightweight but structures any future research you may do – for instance, as part of other taught or research modules – and will underpin your studies as you progress through the programme.

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