How to Read a Paper

Full Paper PDF

This useful guide from S. Keshav outlines a three-pass method for reading scientific papers.

In summary, the three passes are:

1. Quick scan, extract Category, Context, Correctness, Contributions, and Clarity (5-10 minutes)

2. Full read, ignore details (e.g. proofs), focus on figures, unknown terms, relevant references (up to 60 minutes)

3. Virtually re-implement the paper, great attention to detail, jot down ideas for future work (1 to 2 hours)