Abstract: Getting all the information out of a dense academic article is a challenge no matter what point you’re at in your physics career. Even if you’re reading a paper very close to your field, language, figures, and presentation style can act as barriers to understanding the take-home message of the work. I’ll cover strategies for approaching articles geared towards overcoming these barriers. You’ll improve your research efficiency by being able to interpret the motivations, methods, results, and implications of an article after a 5-minute read.