Getting started with research but overwhelmed by THOUSANDS of papers each year? How could one stay sane keeping track of the literature? π±
Here are some tricks I found useful. π§΅
*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
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.
Writing an effective rebuttal helps answer questions, address reviewers' concerns, clarify misunderstandings, and help the AC make an informed decision.
But it takes work to write a good one. π
Sharing some tips I found useful. π§΅
*Start positive*
Start with summarizing all the strengths noted by the reviewers and adding quotes to provide evidence.
Remind the reviewers and AC of
"Why should this paper be accepted?"
*Neutralize negative comments*
AC and other reviewers may only see all the NEGATIVE comments you responded to.
Some tips on why, what, and how to do experiments. π§΅
*Why? π€*
β Do an experiment to get improved performance.
β Do an experiment to test a hypothesis.
Many students trying to show improved results with experiments are missing the point.
Your goal of experiments should be to validate/test your research questions.
*What? π€*
What experiments should we do?
This involves three main steps:
1β£ identify key research questions
2β£break them down into baby steps
3β£design experiments that best answer those questions