If you’re a tech enthusiast, it’s probably important to you to stay up to date with the latest developments about the technologies that matter most to you, whether you’re most interested in artificial intelligence or advancements in Internet-connected medical devices. In any case, you should consider reading scientific journals as a way to understand what’s happening in the field at large.
Learn the Names of Notable Scientists
When you read a scientific paper, the names of all of the contributors are listed at the top of an article. There’s also a lead author who is usually the cited author associated with the study, as well as the person with the majority of the research attributed to them.
It’s a good idea to become familiarized with all of the people associated with the study. Then, look at other studies they’ve been involved with over the years. Once you start understanding which people are at the forefront of the technologies you like most, it’ll be easier to create a list of people worth knowing about that you can follow consistently as you stay up to date about scientific news.
Laboratories Are Often the Places Where Pioneering Things Happen
It’s one thing to read a brief article or a press release about a scientific achievement. But, if you get into the habit of reading scientific journals to keep learning about tech news, you can get engrossed in the extremely detailed specifics of how the scientists set up the experiments to eventually reach the milestones that they did.
When you start reading scientific journals, one of the best things to do as a starting point is to look at the accompanying graphs and graphics. They can give you a sense of the different stages the scientific team went through as they tested different materials, formulations, and other seemingly minute details.
After you come to realize the hours of hard work that occurred before the scientists had successful results, you’ll almost certainly realize that amazing things happen in science labs long before they occur in the manufacturing plants that make tech devices.
You’ll Likely Become Smarter About More Than Tech
Many scientific journals have strict submission requirements, and they don’t accept publications that fail to meet a minimum standard of excellence. But, there are less-restrictive journals, too. You’ll get the most from reading scientific journals if you learn how to identify the reputable publications. There are several ways to do that.
As a start, you can read information about the publication companies behind the journals you want to read. If you find out more about Bentham Science, for example, you’ll get details that tell you how the company publishes more than 100 subscription-based academic journals.
The impact factor is another thing worth paying attention to regarding scientific journals. It represents the average number of times that scientific journals get cited by other sources, indicating their legitimacy. Concerning Bentham Science Publishers, 41 of their journals received impact factor ratings.
When you take the time to learn about the things that set some academic journals apart from the rest, you’ll be well on your way to using those publications to further your tech enthusiasm. Then, you’ll spend your time wisely.
There will probably be one or two articles that catch your interest in the journal, but you should also think about exploring the other topics mentioned in a given journal. By doing that, you could get tuned into other topics you hadn’t heard about before that align with your overall tech interest.
A Worthwhile Way to Spend Time
You may not have initially thought of turning to scientific journals as part of your interest in technology. But, it should now be clear why that’s a worthwhile thing to do. Check at your nearest library to see if they offer journal access that you can enjoy for free by having a library card or a temporary access token.