How to Read a Technical Paper
Locking and Consistency
10/7/05
Two goals for today
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J.N. Gray, R.A. Lorie, G.R. Putzolu, I.L. Traiger,
“Granularity of Locks and Degrees of
Consistency in a Shared Database”, in
Hellerstein and Stonebraker (Eds), Readings in
Database Systems, 4/e, MIT Press:Cambridge
MA, 0-262-69314-3, 2005.
How to read a technical paper (and by example,
how to write one), using Gray, et al as our
concrete exemplar.
An initial understanding of the basic content of
Gray, et al.
What kind of readings are
there? (1/3)
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Quick sample, approximately 5 minutes,
used:
to decide if the paper is worth further effort
 to note citation for possible future literature
review/background survey, I.e., to discover
the relation of this paper to your own
research.
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What kind of readings are
there? (2/3)
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Cursory (aka “first reading”), depending on
length 0.5 to 2.0 hour, used:
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To discover the problem solved, approximately, the
solution, and whether or not you’ll do an in depth
reading.
To discover the impact this paper has on your work
and, more importantly, vice versa!
A cursory reading will cover between 75 and 100% of
the paper.
What kind of readings are
there? (3/3)
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Careful (aka “in depth”, aka “detailed”),
depending on how much material, could be 0.5
to 6.0 hours:
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To understand, as well as the authors do, the
contribution of all or part of the paper.
A more accurate understanding of how this paper
relates to your own work.
A careful reading will often cover 25-50% of a paper,
but may occasionally go as high as 100% and, very
occasionally go lower.
In your journal - during the
Quick Sampling
Citation
 1 sentence description that you compose
after your first sampling.
 Your initial opinion of the relevance and/or
caliber.
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Get yourself oriented before
starting.(1/3)
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What kind of paper is this?
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Estimate the time required for the first reading.
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Experimental vs Conceptual
GLPT --> conceptual
Look at number of pages, number of figures, density
of text, etc.
Understand the title.
Get yourself oriented before
starting (2/3)
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Note authors’ names and affiliations.
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In computer science, the authors will be
ordered in one of the following:
• By contribution to the research
• Alphabetically (usually means equal collaboration)
• Lead author first, followed by alphabetical or level
of contribution.
Get yourself oriented before
starting. (3/3)
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Note caliber of references and how citations are
made.
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In early days, few references are common.
Now, expect between 5 and 20 papers referenced for
a good quality paper.
“Caliber” refers to where/when published, how much
authors reference their own work, peer-reviewed,
technical report versus conference versus journal.
Cursory reading (1/2)
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The goal is to discover the problem solved,
approximately the solution, and how you think this
paper relates to your own work.
Read every word of the abstract.
 The abstract gives a “long distance” view.
 The authors use the abstract to tell the reader what
is in the paper and why he should read it.
While you read the paper, make an outline that
corresponds to the paper’s structure.
Cursory reading (2/2)
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If there is an introduction, skim the first and last
(and sometimes the penultimate) paragraphs.
If there is a conclusion, skim the entire
conclusion, reading the first and last
paragraphs carefully.
Skim through the rest of the paper.
Make your journal entry description more
accurate -- this is what you go back to when
you write your own paper.
Detailed reading
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Focus in on the particular areas you are
interested in.
Read them as though you’re reading a
textbook!
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Make annotations in the margins
Try to understand, in detail, what is being said.
Write down, in the margins, possible future research
topics (“the authors said ‘x’, but what if I were to try
‘y’? “)
Work through their examples and make up your own.
Detailed reading
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There will be too much information from a
detailed reading to record in your journal.
So either:
Place a copy in a binder with your notes on
the paper, or
 Place your notes in a binder with complete
citation (so you can find this work again).
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Web and other transient work
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For transient items,
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If the paper is worthy of a detailed reading, it is
INCUMBENT upon you to make a hard copy of the
paper.
If the paper is not worthy of a detailed reading, you
won’t be citing it in any of your work. Keep the
reference in your journal, but you won’t actually be
using it.
If the paper cannot be referenced by readers of your
work for (at least) 5 years, you may not cite it (worthy
or not).
Web and other transient work
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Some Web sites are very stable -- e.g.,
major universities (UM, CMU, Caltech,
CMU, …), professional organizations
(ACM, IEEE, …). Papers published on
those sites can be cited by you, and you
don’t need a hard copy.
How to use a paper in your
work (1/2)
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You’ll see the style of citation that is expected
by the publisher.
[1], [2], … in order of appearance in the paper is
tough to modify while you’re editing your paper.
[1], [2], alphabetized by first author, is also
tough to maintain.
I like an alphabetized list of strings, e.g., for this
paper I would use the string [GLPT76]. In the
references section, these would be given in
lexical order.
How to use a paper in your
work (2/2)
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The best way to learn how to do this is by
observation.
Frequently there is a literature review section
that groups related, cited work together with a
brief statement on how they relate to your work.
Frequently your work is specifically related to a
cited work, as in p 258’s reference to [1].
End of “how to read a paper”