2020-08-20 22:27:32 +00:00
|
|
|
# Paper reviews
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
!!! attention
|
|
|
|
|
* Paper reviews are for students in time zones who **cannot** attend live
|
|
|
|
|
lectures.
|
2020-08-24 23:19:45 +00:00
|
|
|
* Students who are able to attend live lectures are required to complete a
|
|
|
|
|
paper presentation and presentation summary instead.
|
2020-08-20 22:27:32 +00:00
|
|
|
|
2020-08-24 23:19:45 +00:00
|
|
|
Starting from the first week of paper presentations (**September 14**), students
|
|
|
|
|
who cannot attend live lectures will complete **two paper reviews per week**,
|
|
|
|
|
**16** in all. We will be using HotCRP---standard conference management
|
|
|
|
|
software---to manage reviews. Reviews must be uploaded **before the paper is
|
|
|
|
|
presented in class**.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The HotCRP instance for this course is available here:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
- <https://wisc-cs763-20.hotcrp.com/>
|
2020-08-20 22:27:32 +00:00
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
## What makes a good review?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A good review accomplishes several things:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
- It **summarizes** the main contributions of the paper.
|
2020-08-24 23:19:45 +00:00
|
|
|
- It highlights **strengths and weaknesses** of the paper. Note that these
|
|
|
|
|
points do not need to be purely technical.
|
2020-08-20 22:27:32 +00:00
|
|
|
- It **evaluates** the paper, explaining why the reviewer thinks the paper is
|
2020-08-24 23:19:45 +00:00
|
|
|
strong or weak, interesting or not interesting.
|
2020-08-20 22:27:32 +00:00
|
|
|
- It gives authors **suggestions to improve** the paper.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
## FAQ
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
- **Can I switch from doing paper presentation/summary to paper reviews or vice versa?**
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
No: if you are doing paper reviews, you must let me know on the first week of
|
2020-08-24 23:19:45 +00:00
|
|
|
class so that I can add you as a reviewer to HotCRP.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
- **How long should reviews be?**
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
You should aim for around 400 words, total. We will not be counting words, but
|
|
|
|
|
if your review is three sentences long we will probably not be too happy.
|
2020-08-20 22:27:32 +00:00
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
- **Are late reviews accepted?**
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
No: reviews must be uploaded before the paper is presented in class.
|
|
|
|
|
|
2020-08-24 23:19:45 +00:00
|
|
|
- **Can I submit more than two reviews a week?**
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
No: should submit exactly two reviews per week.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
- **I was not sure how to evaluate the paper: what should I do?**
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
You should say so, and explain the strengths and weaknesses of the paper.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
- **It takes me too much time to read through two papers. What should I do?**
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Given the short reviewing schedule, you will not have time to read through every
|
|
|
|
|
single word in every single paper. Instead, you should skim over parts that are
|
|
|
|
|
not so crucial. More concretely, you should do the first **two passes** of the
|
|
|
|
|
three-pass system described
|
|
|
|
|
[here](http://ccr.sigcomm.org/online/files/p83-keshavA.pdf)---the third pass is
|
|
|
|
|
**not** required.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
- **I found a review of the paper online. Can I look at it for inspiration?**
|
2020-08-20 22:27:32 +00:00
|
|
|
|
2020-08-24 23:19:45 +00:00
|
|
|
Definitely not: doing so is an academic honesty violation. Anyways, there is
|
|
|
|
|
absolutely right or wrong conclusion when reviewing a paper---the idea is to
|
|
|
|
|
give **your opinion** of the paper based on **your understanding**, and then
|
|
|
|
|
argue why your opinion is correct.
|
