Reading and Analyzing Research Papers
Objective: Read a research paper and identify its
contributions and limitations. Summarize the paper's contributions and
limitations clearly, succinctly, and articulately. You can return to the review later and quickly refresh
your memory about what the paper was about.
Reading: What to Look For
While reading a research paper, look for (and mark) the following key
things:
- problem they're solving (how large is the problem? how important
is the problem?)
- their approach to solving the problem and the benefits to their approach
- how they evaluated their approach and the results
- the limitations to their approach
- related work
- their conclusions
In addition, think about any limitations you see to their approach. For
example, is it too specific (doesn't handle enough different cases)?
After reading the paper, you'll summarize your findings in a review.
Look at the content of the review below to help guide you in what
you're looking for when reading a paper.
Review Content
Your review should contain the following information. Clearly label the information in your review.
Statement of the Problem/Goals
- In one sentence in your own words, state succinctly the overall
problem being addressed in this paper.
- What particular goals do these researchers have in addressing this
problem?
- What contribution are they seeking to make to the
state-of-the-art?
Technical Approach
In a few sentences in your own words, what is the key insight of this
group's
approach to tackling the stated problem? What is their overall
approach/strategy to solving the problem?
Discussion/Critique
- How did the researchers evaluate their efforts?
- What conclusions did they make from their evaluation results?
- What application/useful benefit do the researchers/you see for this
work?
- What limitations do the researchers mention with their approach?
- What additional limitations do you think there are?
- Write one interesting question to ponder with regard to this paper
beyond content understanding.
Submission
Post your review on the Sakai
forum, as a response to the appropriate topic for the paper.