Look carefully at the figures, diagrams and other illustrations in the paper. Pay special attention to graphs. Are the axes properly labeled? Are results shown with error bars, so that conclusions are statistically significant? Common mistakes like these will separate rushed, shoddy work from the truly excellent.
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Incidentally, when you write a paper, you can expect most reviewers (and readers) to make only one pass over it.
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The first pass is adequate for papers that aren’t in your research area, but may someday prove relevant.
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2.2 The second pass
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Using this information, you may choose not to read further.
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At the end of the first pass, you should be able to answer the five Cs: 1. Category: What type of paper is this? A measurement paper? An analysis of an existing system? A description of a research prototype? 2. Context: Which other papers is it related to? Which theoretical bases were used to analyze the problem? 3. Correctness: Do the assumptions appear to be valid? 4. Contributions: What are the paper’s main contributions? 5. Clarity: Is the paper well written?
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This pass should take about five to ten minutes and consists of the following steps: 1. Carefully read the title, abstract, and introduction 2. Read the section and sub-section headings, but ignore everything else 3. Read the conclusions 4. Glance over the references, mentally ticking off the ones you’ve already read
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2. THE THREE-PASS APPROACH
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The f irst pass gives you a general idea about the paper. The second pass lets you grasp the paper’s content, but not its details. The third pass helps you understand the paper in depth.
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The key idea is that you should read the paper in up to three passes, instead of starting at the beginning and plowing your way to the end.
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This article outlines a practical and efficient three-pass method for reading research papers.
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This pass requires great attention to detail. You should identify and challenge every assumption in every statement. Moreover, you should think about how you yourself would present a particular idea.
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This level of detail is appropriate for a paper in which you are interested, but does not lie in your research speciality.
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