What is the best strategy for gathering information from shorter sources like articles in journals or newspapers?

Shorter articles can be read more quickly, making it easier to find the relevant information, but even with a shorter article, a good strategy is to take some notes so that you don't forget the main points. Also, compare different articles about the same topic: not every newspaper or magazine covers the issue the same way. In politics, for example, I like to compare how a conservative magazine and a liberal magazine reported on the story, and then see how a neutral news magazine covered it.

But the best strategy is always to seek out the key points in the story and make sure you are using trust-worthy sources. I always recommend doing some fact-checking: there are a number of reliable websites, that fact-check the claims and assertions of politicians, or fact-check claims that are found on TV shows or debunk on-line rumors (called "urban legends").