Introduction: This paper reports empirical results of the survey focusing on reading practices in state research institutes. State research institutes are, along with universities, important actors in national innovation systems in producing especially applied research. Majority of earlier studies on scholarly communication have focused on universities. Method: This study is based on survey data (N = 747) collected from researchers working in 18 state research institutes in Finland in 2010. Researchers were asked to indicate their reading activity in various academic and other publishing forums. Analysis: Quantitative analyses were made using SPSS. Principle component analyses were used to identify reading orientations. Chi-squared tests and variance analyses were used to study statistical differences. Results: Three reading orientations typical in state research institutes, including academic, professional, and factual, were identified from the survey data. These results offer new information about reading orientations typical in state research institutes in different disciplines. Conclusion: The results indicate the variety of reading in different disciplines in academic work. Different types of publications are needed to carry out the variety of tasks assigned for state research institutes. In consequence, examining only the reading of academic literature may give an incomplete picture of researchers' reading practices.