Here is a video in which I offer ten ideas about reading academic articles, especially for students and early-career researchers in psychology and the social sciences. These are ideas to consider, experiment with, and perhaps consciously reject; but even if the style you adopt differs significantly from what I describe here, I still believe this consideration would help you identify what works for you.
I discuss why reading is slow when we enter a new field, the importance of foundational articles, the value of writing summaries and discussing papers with others, and the differences between empirical, theoretical, historical, and critical contributions. I also consider some broader questions: Why are we reading what we are reading? What assumptions and styles of thought are we acquiring? And why do academic programs often privilege recent journal articles over books and older works?