When Do You Stop Reading?

You don't, of course.

But it's impossible to have read everything, and at some point, we need to start publishing--otherwise no one will ever be able to publish anything.

Some of my grad students in the research methods course last semester asked, "When can we say we've read enough?"

This may seem like a complicated question, but here is my rule-of-thumb answer: When you know more than your audience.

Then, read as you write and read more after you write, always keeping in mind that what we can say at any given moment is limited by what we know, and that there is always more to read if we were to reach a wider audience and to continue to be a viable voice in the field.

It also keeps me humble to think that my audience is always reading more and more to catch up with me. In order to stay current in the field, I must read on.

Relevant past posts:

Read Widely
Read Everything Again
Read Everything