Reading

Introduction to academic and legal reading

You will be expected to do a wide variety of reading during your studies. The most common text types you will encounter will be academic journal articles, government reports, international treaties and policies. However, you might also be expected to read legal cases and pieces of legislation relevant to your subject or assessment task.

This module provides a brief overview of the process of reading for the Transnational Crime Prevention certificate or degree. There will be in-class activities that will give you a better understanding of this complex process.

In order to manage your reading load, it is important to:

• be strategic (follow the recommended reading list and find similar material)
• select relevant parts of the material to read by using the index and chapter headings (if a book) and sub-titles (if a journal)
• read critically: think about what you are reading, ask questions and make notes rather than just copying information
• make links between what you are reading and what you need to use in your assessment tasks