Efficient Reasoning for LLMs through Speculative Chain-of-ThoughtJikai Wang, Juntao Li, Jianye Hou et al.
Large reasoning language models such as OpenAI-o1 and Deepseek-R1 have recently attracted widespread attention due to their impressive task-solving abilities. However, the enormous model size and the generation of lengthy thought chains introduce significant reasoning costs and response latency. Existing methods for efficient reasoning mainly focus on reducing the number of model parameters or shortening the chain-of-thought length. In this paper, we introduce Speculative Chain-of-Thought (SCoT), which reduces reasoning latency from another perspective by accelerated average reasoning speed through large and small model collaboration. SCoT conducts thought-level drafting using a lightweight draft model. Then it selects the best CoT draft and corrects the error cases with the target model. The proposed thinking behavior alignment improves the efficiency of drafting and the draft selection strategy maintains the prediction accuracy of the target model for complex tasks. Experimental results on GSM8K, MATH, GaoKao, CollegeMath and Olympiad datasets show that SCoT reduces reasoning latency by 48\%$\sim$66\% and 21\%$\sim$49\% for Deepseek-R1-Distill-Qwen-32B and Deepseek-R1-Distill-Llama-70B while achieving near-target-model-level performance. Our code is available at https://github.com/Jikai0Wang/Speculative_CoT.
18.1AIJul 23, 2025
Can One Domain Help Others? A Data-Centric Study on Multi-Domain Reasoning via Reinforcement LearningYu Li, Zhuoshi Pan, Honglin Lin et al.
Reinforcement Learning with Verifiable Rewards (RLVR) has emerged as a powerful paradigm for enhancing the reasoning capabilities of LLMs. Existing research has predominantly concentrated on isolated reasoning domains such as mathematical problem-solving, coding tasks, or logical reasoning. However, real world reasoning scenarios inherently demand an integrated application of multiple cognitive skills. Despite this, the interplay among these reasoning skills under reinforcement learning remains poorly understood. To bridge this gap, we present a systematic investigation of multi-domain reasoning within the RLVR framework, explicitly focusing on three primary domains: mathematical reasoning, code generation, and logical puzzle solving. We conduct a comprehensive study comprising four key components: (1) Leveraging the GRPO algorithm and the Qwen-2.5-7B model family, our study thoroughly evaluates the models' in-domain improvements and cross-domain generalization capabilities when trained on single-domain datasets. (2) Additionally, we examine the intricate interactions including mutual enhancements and conflicts that emerge during combined cross-domain training. (3) To further understand the influence of SFT on RL, we also analyze and compare performance differences between base and instruct models under identical RL configurations. (4) Furthermore, we delve into critical RL training details, systematically exploring the impacts of curriculum learning strategies, variations in reward design, and language-specific factors. Through extensive experiments, our results offer significant insights into the dynamics governing domain interactions, revealing key factors influencing both specialized and generalizable reasoning performance. These findings provide valuable guidance for optimizing RL methodologies to foster comprehensive, multi-domain reasoning capabilities in LLMs.
24.1CLAug 28, 2025
A Survey of Scientific Large Language Models: From Data Foundations to Agent FrontiersMing Hu, Chenglong Ma, Wei Li et al. · pku
Scientific Large Language Models (Sci-LLMs) are transforming how knowledge is represented, integrated, and applied in scientific research, yet their progress is shaped by the complex nature of scientific data. This survey presents a comprehensive, data-centric synthesis that reframes the development of Sci-LLMs as a co-evolution between models and their underlying data substrate. We formulate a unified taxonomy of scientific data and a hierarchical model of scientific knowledge, emphasizing the multimodal, cross-scale, and domain-specific challenges that differentiate scientific corpora from general natural language processing datasets. We systematically review recent Sci-LLMs, from general-purpose foundations to specialized models across diverse scientific disciplines, alongside an extensive analysis of over 270 pre-/post-training datasets, showing why Sci-LLMs pose distinct demands -- heterogeneous, multi-scale, uncertainty-laden corpora that require representations preserving domain invariance and enabling cross-modal reasoning. On evaluation, we examine over 190 benchmark datasets and trace a shift from static exams toward process- and discovery-oriented assessments with advanced evaluation protocols. These data-centric analyses highlight persistent issues in scientific data development and discuss emerging solutions involving semi-automated annotation pipelines and expert validation. Finally, we outline a paradigm shift toward closed-loop systems where autonomous agents based on Sci-LLMs actively experiment, validate, and contribute to a living, evolving knowledge base. Collectively, this work provides a roadmap for building trustworthy, continually evolving artificial intelligence (AI) systems that function as a true partner in accelerating scientific discovery.
7.1LGJul 19, 2025
Explainable Graph Neural Networks via Structural ExternalitiesLijun Wu, Dong Hao, Zhiyi Fan
Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) have achieved outstanding performance across a wide range of graph-related tasks. However, their "black-box" nature poses significant challenges to their explainability, and existing methods often fail to effectively capture the intricate interaction patterns among nodes within the network. In this work, we propose a novel explainability framework, GraphEXT, which leverages cooperative game theory and the concept of social externalities. GraphEXT partitions graph nodes into coalitions, decomposing the original graph into independent subgraphs. By integrating graph structure as an externality and incorporating the Shapley value under externalities, GraphEXT quantifies node importance through their marginal contributions to GNN predictions as the nodes transition between coalitions. Unlike traditional Shapley value-based methods that primarily focus on node attributes, our GraphEXT places greater emphasis on the interactions among nodes and the impact of structural changes on GNN predictions. Experimental studies on both synthetic and real-world datasets show that GraphEXT outperforms existing baseline methods in terms of fidelity across diverse GNN architectures , significantly enhancing the explainability of GNN models.
9.6CLJun 3, 2025
Unleashing the Reasoning Potential of Pre-trained LLMs by Critique Fine-Tuning on One ProblemYubo Wang, Ping Nie, Kai Zou et al.
We have witnessed that strong LLMs like Qwen-Math, MiMo, and Phi-4 possess immense reasoning potential inherited from the pre-training stage. With reinforcement learning (RL), these models can improve dramatically on reasoning tasks. Recent studies have shown that even RL on a single problem can unleash these models' reasoning capabilities. However, RL is not only expensive but also unstable. Even one-shot RL requires hundreds of GPU hours. This raises a critical question: Is there a more efficient way to unleash the reasoning potential of these powerful base LLMs? In this work, we demonstrate that Critique Fine-Tuning (CFT) on only one problem can effectively unleash the reasoning potential of LLMs. Our method constructs critique data by collecting diverse model-generated solutions to a single problem and using teacher LLMs to provide detailed critiques. We fine-tune Qwen and Llama family models, ranging from 1.5B to 14B parameters, on the CFT data and observe significant performance gains across diverse reasoning tasks. For example, with just 5 GPU hours of training, Qwen-Math-7B-CFT show an average improvement of 15% on six math benchmarks and 16% on three logic reasoning benchmarks. These results are comparable to or even surpass the results from RL with 20x less compute. Ablation studies reveal the robustness of one-shot CFT across different prompt problems. These results highlight one-shot CFT as a simple, general, and compute-efficient approach to unleashing the reasoning capabilities of modern LLMs.