Why Read Research Papers?

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• The primary reason academic papers are written is for the author(s) to communicate their ideas, theories, and discoveries with others, by:
  - Reporting new results
  - Relating the results to previous knowledge in the field
  

• The reasons we read papers include:
  - To understand the context of a specific research area
  - To help formulate our own research problems
  - To see good and bad writing as well as good and bad research
  - To learn the techniques used in a particular research area

• What should we focus on when we read a research paper?
  - Identify the problem being addressed
  - Identify the results of the research
  - Identify the importance of the results
  - Identify which parts of the paper are worth studying in detail