Thread by @jbhuang0604

How to keep track with the literature?

Getting started with research but overwhelmed by THOUSANDS of papers each year? How could one stay sane keeping track of the literature? 😱

Here are some tricks I found useful. 🧵

*Track the people, not the papers*

There are far fewer key people who are driving the field forward than the number of papers. Check out who the authors are when you read papers. Overtime you will recognize the important ones.

*Read papers with good related work*

A good related work section saves you so much time by providing a clear, organized view for prior work.

Side note: Please save others' time by writing a good related work

*Organize the papers*

Don't read papers individually. Think about how are they related (similar in some aspects, but different in others). It often helps to build a table with columns specifying ATTRIBUTES.

With this table, reading new papers becomes easy (just add more rows).

*Avoid reading the paper*

Instead of spending time reading the actual paper, find resources that are much easier to digest, e.g., a talk, a youtube video, teaser results, introductory video, or an overview figure.

Very often understanding the gist of the paper is all you need.

*Read with a purpose*

Before investing time on reading a paper, think about WHY you are reading it. Are you reading for the experimental setup, the organization, the story, the style, the method, or the visualization?

You almost never need to read a paper from top to bottom.

*Identify the trend*

Use your favorite tools to find what's hot/trendy, e.g.,
arxiv-sanity.com
paperswithcode.com
twitter.com

Hope this helps! What's your favorite methods for keeping up with the literature in a fast-pacing field?

Excellent points from the one and only @tzumaoli!

Adding many good suggestions from @VRAdithya!