Keeping up with the literature: a weekly workflow

A repeatable routine: follow the right sources, skim in one stream, save what matters with its source, and turn the best of it into notes you can cite.

1. Choose sources, not searches

Pick the 10 to 30 journals that publish the work you read, plus the preprint category of your field and one database feed for the topic you cannot cover by journal. Too many sources and the stream becomes noise; the point is a list you will actually open.

2. Put them in one stream

In Vite Research, Discover holds every feed you add, grouped in categories you choose. The Stream shows all new articles, with a Today view and a Bookmarked view. In another reader, import the field's OPML file from this site and do the same.

3. Skim once, decide once

Open the stream at a fixed time, once or twice a week. For each item: ignore, bookmark for later, or act. Acting means opening the article, highlighting the passages you will need with the extension, and saving the page to the Library so the source is snapshotted and citable.

4. Keep the source with the note

A highlight in Vite Research keeps the text, your comment, tags and the page it came from; a saved source keeps a copy of the page and its metadata. When you write, the Cite button gives you APA, MLA or Chicago, and the bibliography export gives you a .bib file.

5. Review monthly

Drop feeds you never open, add the journals that keep appearing in your references, and check the field page here for new validated feeds.