How to Read a Research Paper

This post summarizes an efficient three-pass approach for reading research papers, based on the article “How to Read a Paper” by S. Keshav.

Three-Pass Approach

First Pass (5-10 mins)

• Read title, abstract, intro, headings, conclusions
• Get a bird’s-eye view
• Assess category, context, correctness, contributions, clarity

Ask yourself after 1st Pass

Second Pass (up to 1 hour)

• Read in detail, ignoring proofs etc.
• Make notes on key points, questions, comments
• Grasp purpose, methods, techniques, results
• Assess assumptions, approach, validity of conclusions

Ask yourself after 2st Pass

Third Pass (1-5 hours)

• Attempt to virtually recreate the work
• Challenge assumptions, evaluate techniques, interpret results
• Compare recreation to actual paper
• Identify gaps, innovations, limitations

Ask yourself after 3st Pass

Doing a Literature Survey

• Find 3-5 recent papers with academic search, skim their related work sections
• Identify shared citations and repeated author names - download their key papers
• Identify where top researchers in that field publish
• Quickly scan recent proceedings of those top conferences
• Iterate on key papers found through backward snowball sampling

Benefits

• Estimates time needed to review papers, adjust depth as needed
• Provides systematic way to thoroughly understand papers
• Helps review papers, conduct surveys, keep up with research
• Develops skills in critical analysis and recreation of research