How to read papers
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This document provides guidance on how to effectively read and evaluate research papers. It recommends beginning by scanning the abstract, introduction, and conclusion to determine if the paper contains interesting information. If so, the next step is to identify which sections contain the key ideas. Finally, carefully read the entire paper while considering questions about how the ideas could be applied, evaluated, and extended. The document also provides tips on where to search for papers, managing references, and common paper components to examine like related work, new contributions, evaluations and assumptions.
![What’s in a paper [see also how to write papers: http://www.auburn.edu/~xzq0001/WritePapers-Part 1.ppt]AbstractIntroductionMotivationProblem descriptionSolution...Performance AnalysisConclusionsFuture Work](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/howtoreadpapers-qin-110228151800-phpapp01/85/How-to-read-papers-16-320.jpg)
How to read papers
- 1. How to Read Research Papers?Xiao QinDepartment of Computer Science and Software EngineeringAuburn Universityhttp://www.eng.auburn.edu/~xqinxqin@auburn.eduSome slides are adapted from notes by Nitin H. Vaidya at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign1
- 2. Three Steps in a Research ProjectIdentify a ProblemSolve the Problem: a solutionPresent the solution
- 3. Why read papers?To know what’s happeningAvoid reinventing the wheel does happen commonly, too many wheels alreadyFind interesting research topicsWrite a good “related work” section
- 4. Why not to read papers?Cannot read everythingShould not read everythingCan suppress innovation
- 5. once you see solutions using a particular theme, often hard to think differentlyRead or not to read,that is the questionRead, of courseKnow what’s importantKnow what can be ignored without significant loss of information
- 6. Where to search? When I was a Master’s student…When I was a doctoral student…
- 7. Now…‹#›
- 8. Where to search papers? (1) IEEEXploreACM Digital Library‹#›
- 9. Where to search papers? (2) Google ScholarPersonal Web Pages‹#›
- 10. Where to search papers? (3) Top Conference ProceedingsAREA: System Technology Premium:SOSP: ACM SIGOPS Symp on OS Principles OSDI: UsenixSymp. OS Design and Implementation Leading:ICPP: Intl Conf on Parallel Processing ICDCS: IEEE Intl Conf. Distr. Comp Systems Reputable:GLOBECOM: Global Comm ICCC: Intl Conf on Comp Communication
- 11. Where to search papers? (4) Top JournalsAREA: System Technology Premium:Jnl of Parallel and Distributed Computing IEEE Trans on Parallel and Distributed Systems Distributed Computing Leading:Jnl of Network and Computer ApplicationsParallel Computing Reputable:ACM Mobile Computing and Communicatons ReviewIntl Jnl of High Speed Computing
- 12. What to read? Major conferencesJournals are a few years behind, but still can be usefulTech reports from active research groupsneed to know which groups to look upSurvey / overview papersACM Computing SurveysCACM, IEEE Computer, Spectrummore technical - IEEE Personal Communications, …newsletters - ACM SIGCOMM, ACM SIGMOBILE, ...
- 15. References Management SoftwareEndNoteEndNote WebZoteroRefWorksReference ManagerMendeleySee Comparison at:http://workspace.imperial.ac.uk/library/Public/Reference_management_software_comparison.pdf
- 16. What’s in a paper [see also how to write papers: http://www.auburn.edu/~xzq0001/WritePapers-Part 1.ppt]AbstractIntroductionMotivationProblem descriptionSolution...Performance AnalysisConclusionsFuture Work
- 17. How to read a paper? Three levelsKnow why you want to read the paperTo know what’s going on (e.g., scanning proceedings)title, authors, abstractPapers in your broad research areaintroduction, motivation, solution description, summary, conclusionssometimes reading more details useful, but not alwaysPapers you may want to improve onread entire paper carefully
- 18. What to note?Authors and research groupNeed to know where to look for a paper on particular topicTheme of the solutionShould be able to go back to the paper if you need more infoApproach to performance evaluationNote any shortcomings
- 19. So this paper is in print ...Be skepticalIf it sounds too good to be true, it often is ……
- 20. More Advice …
- 21. Three phases to readingDetermine if there is anything interesting at all in the paper.Determine which portion of the paper contains the interesting stuff.Should I read the whole paper?Read the whole paper if necessary.
- 22. Is there anything interesting?Ideally, the abstract should tell you this, but frequently it does not.Need to jump aboutRead conclusionRead introductionLook at the bibliographyGlance at the TOC – Table of Content (if any)
- 23. Which portion contains interesting stuff?A paper typically outlines its organization at the end of the introduction. Use this to determine which portion contains the exciting stuff. Quickly scan the titles of each sections in the paper.
- 24. Read the whole paperRead with the following questions in mindHow can I use this stuff?Does this really do what the author claims to do?What if the assumptions and choices that the author made are discarded (or made invalid)?Is source code available?More questions ……
- 25. Context and problem statementWhat problems are the author trying to solve or trying to convince you of?Are they important problems?Why?Why not?What is the author’s thesis?
- 26. Related work evaluationDoes the author describe other work in the field?If so, how does this research differ from the other work?
- 27. New ideaWhat new idea is the author proposing?ArchitectureAlgorithmMechanismMethodologyPerspectiveIs the idea useful and practical?26
- 28. What to evaluate?What need to be evaluated to confirm the worthiness of the new idea?RuntimeThroughputResource utilizationModel validation27
- 29. How to evaluate?How did the author go about conducting the evaluation?Formalize and prove theoremsRun simulationsArtifact design and constructionCollect traces from existing systems
- 30. Was the evaluation correct and adequate?How was the data collection done?Do you agree with the analysis of data?Do you agree with the conclusions about the data?Do you have any new interpretation of the data?Can you suggest new ways to evaluate the data?
- 31. Assumptions, drawbacks and extensionsCan you think of other aspects of the idea that need to be evaluated?Can you think of extensions or modifications to the idea to improve it?How would you evaluate your improvement?
- 32. Assumptions, drawbacks and extensionsCan you apply the idea or method of evaluation to your own project?Do the authors make any assumptions that are not valid or realistic?Can you come up with a more general solution that does not rely on one or more of the assumptions?
- 33. Future workDoes the author indicate how the work should be followed up on?Does the paper generate new ideas?Does the paper implicitly or explicitly provide a new way of doing other things or of thinking about problems?
- 34. SummaryIf you remember nothing else:Where to search papersScan papersRead papers with questions in mind
- 35. Download the presentation slideshttp://www.slideshare.net/xqin74Google: slideshare Xiao Qin
- 38. Download Slides at slidesharehttp://www.slideshare.net/xqin74
- 39. Questions
Editor's Notes
- #3: How many of you feel that reading too many papers can suppress innovation?