My three-pass method for reading papers efficiently, adapted from S. Keshav.

Pass 1 — The bird’s-eye view (5–10 min)

Read the title, abstract, introduction, section headings and conclusion. Decide: is this paper worth reading further?

Pass 2 — The content (~1 hour)

Look carefully at figures and tables. Note the key claims and the evidence for each. Mark unfamiliar references to read later.

Pass 3 — Virtual re-implementation (several hours)

Try to reproduce the paper in your head (or in code). This is where you find hidden assumptions and weaknesses.

Template I keep for every paper

**Problem:**
**Key idea:**
**Method:**
**Results:**
**Limitations:**
**What I can reuse:**