How to Read a CS Research Paper Philip W. L. Fong - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

How to Read a CS Research Paper

Philip W. L. Fong

pwlfong@cs.uregina.ca

Department of Computer Science University of Regina Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada

Classification of Research Papers

Workshop Papers: Work in progress, ideas, position

papers

Conference Papers: Refereed research results Journal Papers: Archival quality research results Technical Reports: Not refereed; companion to

conference/journal paper

Dissertatation: Not refereed; but usually has external

examiner

How to Read a CS Research Paper – p.1/9

Picking the Right Paper to Read

NO magazine articles please

High quality conference or journal publications Example: consult IEEE/ACM portal Using the library website Talk to your mentor or seminar coordinator Proper citation

How to Read a CS Research Paper – p.2/9

Reading a Research Paper

• 1. Comprehension
• 2. Evaluation
• 3. Synthesis

How to Read a CS Research Paper – p.3/9

Step 1: Comprehension

Decoding the plot of a paper:

• 1. What is the research problem the paper attempts to

address?

• 2. What are the claimed contributions of the paper?
• 3. How do the authors substantiate their claims?
• 4. What are the conclusions?

▽How to Read a CS Research Paper – p.4/9

Step 1: Comprehension

Decoding the plot of a paper:

• 1. What is the research problem the paper attempts to

address?

What is the niche?

• 2. What are the claimed contributions of the paper?
• 3. How do the authors substantiate their claims?
• 4. What are the conclusions?

▽How to Read a CS Research Paper – p.4/9

Step 1: Comprehension

Decoding the plot of a paper:

• 1. What is the research problem the paper attempts to

address?

What is the niche?

• 2. What are the claimed contributions of the paper?

What is original?

• 3. How do the authors substantiate their claims?
• 4. What are the conclusions?

▽How to Read a CS Research Paper – p.4/9

Step 1: Comprehension

Decoding the plot of a paper:

• 1. What is the research problem the paper attempts to

address?

What is the niche?

• 2. What are the claimed contributions of the paper?

What is original?

• 3. How do the authors substantiate their claims?

What makes the claims scientific?

• 4. What are the conclusions?

▽How to Read a CS Research Paper – p.4/9

Step 1: Comprehension

Decoding the plot of a paper:

• 1. What is the research problem the paper attempts to

address?

What is the niche?

• 2. What are the claimed contributions of the paper?

What is original?

• 3. How do the authors substantiate their claims?

What makes the claims scientific?

• 4. What are the conclusions?

What are the lessons?

▽How to Read a CS Research Paper – p.4/9

Step 1: Comprehension

Decoding the plot of a paper:

• 1. What is the research problem the paper attempts to

address?

What is the niche?

• 2. What are the claimed contributions of the paper?

What is original?

• 3. How do the authors substantiate their claims?

What makes the claims scientific?

• 4. What are the conclusions?

What are the lessons?

How to Read a CS Research Paper – p.4/9

Step 2: Evaluation

• 1. Is the research problem significant?
• 2. Are the contributions significant?
• 3. Are the claims valid?

▽How to Read a CS Research Paper – p.5/9

Step 2: Evaluation

• 1. Is the research problem significant?

Is the work scratching minor itches?

• 2. Are the contributions significant?
• 3. Are the claims valid?

▽How to Read a CS Research Paper – p.5/9

Step 2: Evaluation

• 1. Is the research problem significant?

Is the work scratching minor itches?

• 2. Are the contributions significant?

Are there genuine surprises?

• 3. Are the claims valid?

▽How to Read a CS Research Paper – p.5/9

Step 2: Evaluation

• 1. Is the research problem significant?

Is the work scratching minor itches?

• 2. Are the contributions significant?

Are there genuine surprises?

• 3. Are the claims valid?

Have the authors been cutting corners?

▽How to Read a CS Research Paper – p.5/9

Step 2: Evaluation

• 1. Is the research problem significant?

Is the work scratching minor itches?

• 2. Are the contributions significant?

Are there genuine surprises?

• 3. Are the claims valid?

Have the authors been cutting corners?

How to Read a CS Research Paper – p.5/9

Step 3: Synthesis

What is the crux of the research problem? What are some alternative approaches to address the research problem? What is a better way to substantiate the claim of the authors? What is a good argument against the case made by the authors?

How to Read a CS Research Paper – p.6/9

Step 3: Synthesis

How can the research results be improved? How can the research results be applied to another context? What are the open problems raised by this work? Bottomline: Can we do better than the authors?

How to Read a CS Research Paper – p.7/9

Paper Review

2–4 pages in length:

• 1. Abstract
• 2. Evaluation
• 3. Synthesis

How to Read a CS Research Paper – p.8/9

Professional Paper Review

Refereeing process Ian Parberry. A guide for new referees in theoretical computer science. Information and Computation, 112(1):96–116, 1994. Alan Jay Smith. The task of the referee. IEEE Computer, 23(4):65–71, April 1990.

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