

How to read research papers  - cwan
http://drezner.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/07/09/how_to_read_research_papers

======
jff
How to read research papers:

1\. Read the abstract thoroughly 2\. Skim the results 3\. Read the conclusion

I'm only part kidding. The abstract will tell you if it's even relevant to
your area of research and outline what they hope to accomplish. The results
give you an idea how well it worked, then the conclusion ties it up nicely. By
this point, you should be able to say "So-and-so did this, and it
worked/didn't work". Then you can decide if it needs to be a short note in
your "Prior work" section or if it deserves deeper re-reading.

------
clay
Is it too silly to suggest that people check the status of of the authors and
their institution or the importance of the journal that published the paper?

~~~
rortian
Sadly, this is pretty much done by the citation count bit. People that write
quality papers were either scooped up by a quality institution, or could move
to one. Good work is done at a lot of places, but its more visible when done
at a famous place.

