Learn to read beyond the headline.
An accessible guide to research papers: how a study was designed, what was measured, how results were analysed and what its conclusions can support.
Read the guideRecord the experience before the story changes.
The SPR offers a route for people to report unusual experiences. Its questions are a useful reminder to preserve context and detail rather than rely on a memory retold many times.
Academy reading guide · Source reviewed
Why it is on the Academy shelfA question worth
A question worth
spending time with.
In your own private notes, record the date, circumstances and exact impression first. Keep later interpretations separate, and record misses as carefully as apparent matches.
Put the source in context
An experience report is testimony, not a controlled test or proof of its cause. Review the SPR’s privacy information before sharing personal details.
A note for your journal
What can I write now that someone else could check later without needing my interpretation?
Academy discussion prompt · not a quotation from the author.
Write your first response in your own words. Add what you observed, what you inferred and what could change your interpretation. Keep identifying details about other people out of shared notes.
Continue with an Academy exercise