This is a shameless plug for a document that I wrote entitled, "On Graduate Studies in Biology". A pdf version can be downloaded from this link http://www.biol.ttu.edu/Graduate.aspx?#11 or you can email me directly if you would like me to email you a pdf version directly.
This is an educational document. The three main sections are: 1. Getting into Graduate School, 2. Philosophy and Tactics for Graduate Studies in Biology, and 3. Tips Every Graduate Student Should Know from the Start. Near the start of section, "Tips Every Graduate Student Should Know from the Start" (On page 12 of 19) is a paragraph providing some tips on reading scientific papers efficiently. Admittedly, these are probably more advanced tactics that assume students can already interpret figures, tables, etc. Cheers, Kurt Reinhart