Reading Research Papers

Question 1

In the 3 pass approach to reading papers, what are the 4 things the student should focus on in the first pass ?

Answer 1

• Read the abstract, introduction and title of the paper
• Read the sections and sub-sections ignoring everything else
• Read the conclusion
• Check the references and make a mental note of those one has read

Question 2

At the end of the first pass, the student should be able to answer the 5 C’s.
What are they ?

Answer 2

1. Category - what type of paper it is
2. Context - what theoretical basis where used for the analysis
3. Correctness - are the assumptions valid ?
4. Contributions - what are the paper’s main contributions
5. Clarity - is the paper well written

Question 3

When reading a paper in the second pass it is important to ?

Answer 3

1. Read the paper more carefully, taking notes on the main ideas it presents, while ignoring things like proofs.
2. Pay special attention to figures, diagrams an other illustrations in the paper
3. Make a note of unread references

Question 4

What is the main idea of the third pass ?

Answer 4

Virtually re-implement the paper, ie making the same assumptions as the authors recreate the work.