Research can't rely on papers alone - book-learning is shallow at best.
Tips
history
From a poem by Southern Song poet Lu You, 《冬夜读书示子聿》, written to instruct his son: book knowledge alone is shallow, and real understanding requires putting it into practice.
usage
Often quoted together with the following line 绝知此事要躬行 ('to truly know a thing you must do it yourself'), stressing that genuine knowledge comes from practice.
