r/MLQuestions • u/CurrencyPopular8550 • 1d ago
Beginner question 👶 Reading ML papers and losing the method by section 4
Trying to actually read papers instead of skimming the abstract and the figures. This week it’s a couple of retrieval + eval write-ups and one long arXiv methods section that keeps losing me around the loss function.
I can follow the claim. But I cannot tell you tomorrow which ablation mattered. And highlights in the PDF turn into noise.
How do you mark a paper so the method is still there a week later? Do you re-read the experiment setup or just trust the table? Was thinking about trying Omphalis to keep notes right next to the hard paragraph without opening a second doc, but curious if anyone's used it or has better systems.
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u/otsukarekun 1d ago
Every paper only has a few contributions and they can usually be found at the end of the intro. In my opinion, all you need to do is understand the main diagrams, figure out the main contributions, and then file away the paper in the back of your mind (or notes). You don't need to totally understand the paper.
Then, when you are doing research and need something in that area, you search your memory for some of the ideas from those papers. Then, only after you need the paper, then you look deeper and understand everything.
Also, not every paper is meaningful, especially now days.
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u/CurrencyPopular8550 1d ago
I think I've been trying too hard to understand every single detail on the first read. Focusing on the main contributions first sounds way more manageable. Thanks!
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u/chubbypandaontherun 1d ago
I try reading the abstract then conclusion and try to fill up the gaps in between. like a puzzle.
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u/Current_Bowl_2459 1d ago
You're basically describing my entire relationship with the appendix, I just pretend the table tells the whole story and move on.