Tips on How to Read a Research Paper

1. What is a research paper?

   A research paper describes an original research result. That result may be a new product, new idea, new theory, or the results of an experiment that has never been conducted before. It has been submitted and accepted to a conference or journal. Conferences and journals are refereed, which means that scholars in the field review all submitted papers. This referee system is intended to ensure that any spurious research results are rejected. If a paper submission contains nothing but lies, it gets rejected. If a paper contains work that has already been done before, it also gets rejected. In addition, there are limits to how many papers can get accepted at any one conference or journal, and so even work that isn't lies or hasn't been done before might get rejected if it isn't considered high-quality enough. To be a high quality paper, the result should considerably advance the field. It's also important for a research paper to contain enough information about the result that it can be repeated by other scientists.

2. Why would I want to read a research paper?

   A research paper contains the only detailed explanation of a result. If you are really interested in a result, the best way to truly learn about it is to read the research paper associated with it. Books and surveys will gloss over important details and also add their own interpretation and bias. To make your own decisions and opinions about the work, you need to go straight to the source. If you want to do research, then reading research papers is essential. It's your way to learn what new things are being invented and what open problems still remain.

3. How do I read a research paper?

   Research papers can be hard to read. They are terse, detailed, and formal. Most journals and conferences have strict page limits, so researchers must write as concisely as possible. Don't worry about whether you understand every word of a research paper. Instead, focus on understanding the fundamental ideas in the paper.

   • What is the problem?
   • What is the solution being suggested by the paper?
   • Is the proposed solution compared to previously known solutions?
   • Is the solution evaluated? If so, what is the result of the evaluation?

   Then comes the critique. Since conferences and journals are competitive, research papers have a persuasive quality to them. The authors are trying to convince you that this is high-quality, high-impact work. But you have to be the judge. What do you actually think of this work?

   • What do you think of this problem? Do you think it's an important problem?
   • What do you think of the authors' suggested solution? Do you think the solution suggested by the authors is better than previously known solutions?