Research Paper Evaluations

Include the following in your paper evaluations. These should be short (about 1 page, 10pt font, 1-inch margins). Remember that the idea is to think critically about the work: insight is more important than quantity.

Header

Your Name, Paper Title, Paper Authors

Tweet

A very concise (Twitter style) summary of the work. I won’t check for 140 characters — but aim for a line or so. This is your chance to make a quick, insightful point.

Summary

A few lines, in your own words, that discuss the goals of the paper or specific problems that solves. What are aspects of the system/approach that make it unique?

Critical Analysis

This is the main point of the paper evaluation: thinking critically about the work. This should be the majority of your report content. Here are a few ideas for things you may discuss:

• What are the trade-offs being made in this work? What are some situations where the trade-offs do not make sense?
• Construct situations which cause the system to fail, or assumptions to break down. In other words, what are the weaknesses of the system?
• If any benchmarks were run, did they convey the intended point and make sense? Could you propose a better way to test the system?

You can also propose alternative solutions to the problems being discussed in the paper. Remember, the idea is to provide insight… Do not summarize!

Questions

Include three questions you would ask the author, or points you will bring up in the class discussion.

1. Question/point 1
2. Question/point 2
3. Question/point 3

References

If you used any external references while writing your review, list them here. Representing someone else’s work as your own violates the university honor code.

Grading

For these submissions, grading is based on a simplified scale:

In some cases, I may assign an in-between or lower grade depending on performance.

Submission

Submit your write-up in PDF format via canvas. In general, write-ups will be due on Thursdays to help you prepare for discussion on Friday.