Given I am going to fill this blog with short notes on the papers I read, I think the first step is to learn how to read a paper. This paper provides a systematic way to read a paper.
The Three-Pass Approach
The idea is to go through the paper thrice, each time with a specific goal in mind. The first pass is to get a general idea about the paper. The second pass is to grasp the conent but not the details. The third pass is to understand the paper in depth.
First Pass
The pass should take 5 to 10 minutes. Consists the following steps:
- Carefully read the title, abstract and introduction.
- Read the section and sub-section headings.
- Read the conclusions.
- Glance at the references.
You should be able to answer the following questions after the first pass (the 5 Cs):
- Category: What type of paper is this? A measure- ment paper? An analysis of an existing system? A description of a research prototype?
- Context: Which other papers is it related to? Which theoretical bases were used to analyze the problem?
- Correctness: Do the assumptions appear to be valid?
- Contributions: What are the paper’s main contributions?
- Clarity: Is the paper well written?
This can help us decide whether to read the paper in detail. In case, it doesnt interest us or know enough about the area of research.
Second Pass
Read with greater care but ignore details like proof. Jot down key points or make comments.
- Look carefully at illustrations
- Mark relevant unread references
This can take up to an hour. We should be able to summarize the main thrust of the paper to someone else. It is possible to not under understand the paper because of complexity or subject matter. You can:
- Set the paper aside, hoping you dont need to understand the material
- Return to paper later, after reading background material
- Go to the third pass
Third Pass
I think this is optional. It is to understand the paper in depth or if you are a reviewer. The key is to virtually re-implement the paper.
To quote the paper:
This pass requires great attention to detail. You should identify and challenge every assumption in every statement. Moreover, you should think about how you yourself would present a particular idea. This comparison of the actual with the virtual lends a sharp insight into the proof and presentation techniques in the paper and you can very likely add this to your repertoire of tools. During this pass, you should also jot down ideas for future work.
The pass can take 4-5 hours for novices. This is basically learning the paper by heart.
A Literature Survey
I dont need to do a literature survey but the steps are useful for me to find papers.
There are so many papers. the author suggests the following steps:
- First, use an academic search engine such as Google Scholar or CiteSeer and some well-chosen keywords to find three to five recent papers in the area. Dp a one pass on each paper to decide which one to read in detail.
- Find shared citations. This is a good way to find seminal papers in the area.
- Gp to the website for these top conferences and look through their recent proceedings. A quick scan will usually identify recent high-quality related work.