A Guide to Writing

a Master's Thesis

Terttu Orci

Department of Computer and Systems Sciences

University of Stockholm

March 1996

Abstract

This paper serves as a guide for the students admit-

ted to a course, quali�ed as a Master's Course, at

Stockholm University, department of Computer and

Systems Sciences. The goal of the course is to train

the students in scienti�c work and scienti�c writing,

intended to result in a Master's thesis. This paper

brie y describes the di�erent choices the students can

make, in uencing their work with the Master's thesis,

the requirements on a Master's thesis, as well as gen-

eral aspects of research, e.g. how to choose a research

topic and formulate a thesis proposal. Approximate

time tables for master's theses projects are also pre-

sented. The process of scienti�c writing is discussed in

the more detail, and the editorial requirements for a

Master's thesis are also de�ned.

1 Introduction

This paper is intended for students whoare admitted to a Master's course at theUniversity of Stockholm, department ofComputer and Systems Sciences. The pa-per presents the Master's courses and their

goals, the di�erent choices the studentscan make in uencing their Master's thesiswork, the requirements on a Master's the-sis, as well as general aspects of research,e.g. how to choose a research topic andformulate a thesis proposal. Approximatetime tables for Master's theses projectsare also presented. The process of scien-ti�c writing is discussed in the more detail,and the editorial requirements for Master'sthesis are also de�ned. The paper is alsointended to be an example of a Master'sthesis in its format.

In Section 2, the Masters courses arepresented and the goals are stated. Sec-tion 3 is states the di�erent choices thestudents can make, in uencing their thesiswork. Section 4 presents a number of ap-proximate time tables along the steps in athesis project. Section 5 is about scienti�cwork in general, how to �nd good topicideas, and how to proceed from an idea toan acceptable proposal, and �nally to anacceptable Master's thesis. Section 6 givesguidance in the process of scienti�c writ-

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ing. Section 7 gives editorial advice, and�nally, Section 8 includes some concludingremarks.

While writing the document, especiallythe parts describing thesis work in general,I have been in uenced by several sources,[Collection 80], [Winkler et al 79],[Connor et al 76], [Lamport 86]. The textabout behavioural research in Section 5.3has been written by Jacob Palme. Thetext appearing in the cited sources hasbeen intermixed, changed, cut, and com-plemented with my own ideas as well aswith the ideas of colleagues. For simplic-ity, I refer to the sources here once andfor all, instead of referring to them in thetext.

2 Courses and Goals

There are three di�erent courses qualify-ing as Master's courses, namely

� Master's thesis work (Examensar-bete) in the Computer and SystemsScience Program (DSVL), 20 credits

� Master's thesis work (Magisterexam-ensarbete), 10 credits

� Advanced course for the Master'sDegree (F�ordjupningskurs f�or magis-terexamen), 20 credits

Whatever track the student follows, apassed Master's thesis and with ful�lledcourse requirements, he will obtain the de-gree ofMaster of Science in Computer and

Systems Sciences.

The goals of a Master's thesis work areto train the student

� in scienti�c work,

� in writing scienti�c papers, and

� in oral presentation of scienti�c work,and

� in critical analysis of work done byothers.

The means towards the goals are highquality requirements on a Master's thesis,high competence requirements on the ad-visors, the mandatory presentation of thethesis work at a master's seminar, and themandatory critical analysis of other stu-dents' work as part of the requirements fora Master's course.In order to give some measure of the

quality requirements, we say that a Mas-ter's thesis should conform to the speci�cstyle in its subject area in an internationalperspective, i.e. it should be possible tosubmit it to an international conference,possibly after rewriting it in a shorterform. Further, there must be a compar-ison of the work with related work in thearea, and also, the thesis must be writ-ten in good English or Swedish, be well-structured, and easy to read, and followthe further editorial requirements given inSection 7.Each thesis project has an advisor, who

alone decides about the grade. The com-petence requirements on the advisors arehigh, a minimum requirement being thedegree Licentiate of Philosophy, but infact, a majority of the advisors have a

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PhD, and are active researchers with ex-perience in writing scienti�c papers forconferences and journals, and in present-ing papers at conferences. The advisorsrepresent the subject area computer andsystems sciences both in breadth and indepth.

Each thesis project has a reviewer. Areviewer is a person, not necessarily witha formal competence, but with a signif-icant competence in the thesis topic. Areviewer may well be a person from out-side the university, e.g. from industry. Ifthe thesis work is done in a company, thecompany might supply an advisor for thethesis project. However, an external ad-visor has never the authority to mark athesis, only to advice the student in thethesis topic.

3 Choices

A student admitted to a Master's coursehas the following choices:

� the model of work

� the group size

� the topic

� the form of work

� the reporting language

3.1 Models of Work

In Master's courses of 20 credits, the stu-dent may choose either one of the followingmodels for his work:

� 10+10 credits model

� 20 credits model

The 10+10 credits model includes two dif-ferent pieces of work, the �rst 10 creditsbeing a project work at the level of can-didate resulting in a thesis, here called C

thesis (C-uppsats), and the last 10 cred-its being a project work at master's level,resulting in a masters thesis, or M thesis,with the number of credits as index likeM10.

The 20 credits model includes a projectwork at master's level, and the associatedthesis is here called M20 thesis.

The di�erence between a C thesis andan M thesis will be characterized in termsof examples. A C thesis often presents

� an evaluation of a set of systems ac-cording to a well-de�ned evaluationcriteria,

� giving as a result which one of the sys-tems best ful�lls the criteria, and

� the evaluation criteria is a set of re-quirements, often stated by those whoordered the evaluation.

While a work along these lines is com-monly accepted as C thesis, it has not thegenerality required for an M thesis.

A corresponding M thesis should

� put forward the evaluation criteria assuch,

� the criteria should be stated by theauthors,

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� the set of systems would be used astest cases for the evaluation model.

The main contribution would be

� the develoment of the evaluation cri-teria, not the evaluation as such, and

� the thesis should discuss the cgarac-teristics of the cases for which theevaluation model is applicable.

The di�erence between M10 thesis andM20 thesis is in their extent and contents.An M10 thesis should represent ten weeksof full-time work, while an M20 thesis im-plies the double work measured in weeks.Further characteristics of an M20 thesis

compared to M10 are that

� it should be more complete in thesense that there are fewer excuses be-cause of the time limits,

� it should be more in-depth,

� it tackle an, in some sense, `bigger'problem, and

� it should include a more comprehen-

sive data collection and analysis.

Another way of putting the di�erence be-tween anM20 andM10 thesis can be char-acterized in terms of a development of asystem of some kind, as follows: A systemsdevelopment starts from a requirementsspeci�cation, written by the authors, val-idation of the speci�cation, the develop-ment of the system, and the veri�cationthat the system ful�lls the requirements.The di�erence between M10 and M20 the-sis work could be that the di�erent steps

are more comprehensive in an M20 thesiscompared to M10 .An M thesis should be within the sub-

ject are of the track chosen by the student,while a C thesis may concern any subjectarea.If the student gets a commission from

industry, the commission does not neces-sarily qualify as an M thesis work. There-fore, a thesis project proposal must be ac-cepted by an advisor from the departmentbefore the student should put time and ef-fort in the work.It is not evident which one of the work

models has most advantages to a student.As a C thesis may concern some other sub-ject area than the track chosen by the stu-dent, the 10+10 credits model gives thepossibility to a certain breadth. Also, theexperience from a project work in the �rst10 credit thesis might help in the M the-sis work, which otherwise could be experi-enced as being a big step in the studentslife. At the other hand, every thesis workincludes certain steps which are di�cult,the �rst one being to determine what ex-actly the thesis should be about. To per-form two such stages might take too muchtime, leading to a delay in the studies. Theadvantage of an M20 thesis might be thatit would, by future employers, be consid-ered as more valuable than two ten credittheses together. However, these are onlyhypotheses, not con�rmed in any way, andshold not be taken as necessary truths.There might not be any generality at all;situations experienced as being di�cult byone student, might be experienced as easyby another. In any case, the responsibility

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of the choice is the student's.

3.2 The Size of the Group

A thesis work may be done individually orin a group of two students. A C thesis isrecommended to be performed as a groupwork. An M thesis work may be driventhru as a group work, but the individualcontributions must be explicitly stated inthe thesis. Another alternative is to writetwo thesis reports, one by each and refer-ring to each others reports.

3.3 The Topic

The responsibility to choose a topic is thestudent's, alone. When trying to �nd atopic, a student should consider his owninterests, the kind of work he prefers andis skilled in, his subject areas of interest.There will not be ready-made proposalsfor thesis projects, among which the stu-dent may choose, other than in exceptionalcases. A commission from industry maybe a good starting point. In every case,the student must initiate a discussion ofthe thesis topic with an advisor from thedepartment. For a C thesis, the person todiscuss with is Gunnar Bj�orkman, who isresponsible for the C thesis course. Topicsfor an M thesis should be discussed witha responsible person for respective track,chosen by the student. The students tak-ing a special Master's course should dis-cuss the topic with an advisor being in thetopic area, and if not obvious, with TerttuOrci, responsible for the Master's courses.

3.4 Forms of Work

There are three possible forms of work:

� working at the department, inte-grated with the sta� in a research lab-oratory

� working on a topic in the competencearea of a research laboratory, with anadvisor from the laboratory, but sepa-rated from the current research in thelaboratory

� working within an external organiza-tion

Whatever form of work is chosen, the re-quirements on the �nal product, the the-sis, will be the same. The responsibilityof accepting or rejecting the thesis is bythe advisor from the department, not byan external organization, unregarded theirrole in the work. It may be the case thatthe requirements put on the thesis by anexternal organization di�er from those putby the advisor at the department. In sucha case, the student may need to write tworeports, one for the organization, the otherlabelled as Master's thesis.

Every project starts from an idea fora topic, advances to a proposal, throughhard work and learning, in an interactionwith an advisor, is intended to end up ina Master's thesis. When the time comes,the advisor decides about the grade. Thereare three grades: accepted (G), excellent(VG), and rejected (U). If a student is un-happy with his grade, he has the right tocomplain and to get his grade reconsid-

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ered by a standing committee consistingof three sta� members.

3.5 Reporting Language

The thesis may be written in Swedish or inEnglish. In either case, the language mustbe

� grammatically correct,

� conform to the style in the subjectarea,

� easy to read, and

� contain a minimum of typing errors.

It is not the responsibility of the advisor toteach in Swedish, or English, only in thesubject, and in the scienti�c style of thesubject area.

4 Steps and Schedules

For several good reasons, a thesis work isdivided into �ve steps:

Step 1 Topic idea, thesis proposal, anda seminar

Step 2 Thesis, �rst halfStep 3 Thesis, second halfStep 4 Revision, defense, revisionStep 5 Opposition and attendance

4.1 Step 1

The �rst step is probably the hardest toaccomplish, in that it goes from a topicidea, thru a thesis proposal including asigni�cant amount of work and insight

as well as literature study, to a seminar,called proseminar, during which other stu-dents and possible a reviewer analyse andcritisize the proposal. A proseminar is asession, of normally three hours, duringwhich the work of three groups will be dis-cussed.A more detailed description of both

topic idea and thesis proposal, can befound in Section 5.

4.2 Step 2

Step 2 is the �rst half of the work and writ-ing. Although there might not be an ex-act cut making the �rst half, the step hasbeen included in the schedule to eliminatea student to proceed too far in a wrongtrack. The advisor accepts or rejects Step1, a reviewer is involved for comments, ifpossible, and the student and the advisoragrees on how to proceed.

4.3 Step 3

When the thesis is completed, the advisorreads and comments it, and after a revi-sion, if needed, the thesis is handed out tothe reviewer.

4.4 Step 4

Step 4 involves a reviewer, who reads andcomments the thesis, and the student andthe advisor decides about a revision. The�nal defence is at the master's seminar,which may lead to an additional revision,if requested by the advisor.A master's seminar involves the au-

thor(s), the advisor and the reviewer, a

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number of students to accomplish Step 5in their own thesis work in the role of op-ponent or attendee. Master's seminars arepublic, and may involve sta� and studentsfrom the department as well as peoplefrom business and industry. The proce-dure is as follows: the author(s) present(s)the thesis work in half an hour, and addi-tional hour and a half will be devoted to adiscussion about the thesis, engaging thereviewer, the opponents, and the audience.

4.5 Step 5

Step 5, including an opposition of anotherthesis, and attendance of two more sem-inars make together 1 credit, which im-plies that the work behind the opposi-tion as such should be almost one week offull time. It means that it is not enoughto read the thesis once or twice, on the y, but reading and ananlysing, lookingfor weak as well as strong points of thework. The guidelines below are a mini-mal requirement for a passed opposition.The opposition should be both written andpresented orally at the seminar. The mo-tivations for each argument must be given.The attendees should also be active, in thesense that they must be prepared to givetheir comments on the thesis, at least ondemand, and therefore the guidelines areapplicable to them as well.

4.6 Guidelines for an Opposition

The written opposition must be left to theadvisor before the seminar.

� The structure

{ How do you �nd the structureof the thesis? Does it go from ageneral background to a speci�c,de�ning the problem, thru thework to the results, or do thingsappear in wrong order?

� Contents

{ Chapter 1 should include a gen-eral background, which gives thereader a sense of how the thesisrelates to a larger area in com-puter science, it should includethe description of the problem,motivation why the work hasbeen done, what is intended tobe accomplished, and what hasbeen done by others. Do you�nd all these building stones inChapter 1?

{ Are there any explicit con-straints/limitations? If yes, dothey limits the intention as theyshould? If no, are there assump-tions or limitations in the workwhich should have been de�nedexplicitly?

{ Do you �nd a discussion orreasoning, which convinced youthat the goals have been ful-�lled, or show to what degreethey have been ful�lled?

{ Is it obvious that the authorshave read relevant literature?

� Research Methodology

{ What kind of research method-ology has been used?

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{ What sources of error mightthere be when applying such amethodology?

{ Have the sources of errors beenidenti�ed and discussed?

� Form and language

{ Is the layout of the thesis nice?

{ Is the use of font size in subtitleshomogeneous?

{ Are the language constructsclear and easy to understand?

{ Are the sentences suitable inlength?

{ Are the sentences grammaticallycorrect?

{ Is there a dictionary? If yes, is itneeded? If no, should there havebeen a one?

{ Do the references conform toa commonly accepted style incomputer science?

{ Do you �nd more than ten er-rors, typing errors or other er-rors?

{ Are there appendices? If yes, arethey needed, and does the textinclude at least one reference toeach of the appendices? If no,could some parts of the contentsbetter been put in an appendix?Which parts?

4.7 Steps in an M10 Thesis

The steps have the following contents andcredits:

Step 1 Topic idea,thesis proposal, anda seminar 2 credits

Step 2 Thesis, 1st half 2 creditsStep 3 Thesis, 2nd half 3 creditsStep 4 Revision,

defense,revision 2 credits

Step 5 Opposition andattendance 1 credit

4.8 Steps in an M20 Thesis

The steps have the same contents as inM10, but di�erent credits:

Step 1 Topic idea,thesis proposal anda seminar 5 credits

Step 2 Thesis, 1st half 4 creditsStep 3 Thesis, 2nd half 6 creditsStep 4 Revision,

defense,revision 4 credits

Step 5 Opposition andattendance 1 credit

4.9 Time Tables

In this section, the approximte time ta-bles for the di�erent master's thesis willbe given. The master's thesis in DSVprogram appears in two variants, early

and late, while the master's theses in thespecial courses have variants autumn andspring, all these labels indicating the startof the thesis work.

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4.9.1 Master's Theses in DSV Pro-

gram

� M10

Start begin November, Step 1 mid De-cember, Step 2 end January, Step 3end March, Steps 4-5 April-May.

� M10

Start end November, Step 1 end De-cember, Step 2 mid February, Step 3end March, Steps 4-5 April-May.

� M20

Start mid April, Thesis Proposal endMay, Step 1 begin September, Step 2end November, Step 3 mid April, Step4-5 April-May.

� M20

Start mid September, Step 1 midNovember, Step 2 end January, Step3 end March, Steps 4-5 April-May.

4.9.2 Master's Theses in Special

Courses

� M10

Start begin September, Step 1 endSeptember, Step 2 end October, Step3 end December, Steps 4-5 January-February.

� M10

Start mid January, Step 1 mid Febru-ary, Step 2 end March, Step 3 endApril, Steps 4-5 April-May.

� M20

Start begin September, Step 1 endOctober, Step 2 end January, Step 3mid April, Steps 4-5 April-May.

� M20

Start mid January, Step 1 mid March,Step 2 end May, Step 3 en October,Steps 4-5 November-December.

5 Doing Scienti�c Work

Scienti�c work starts with a topic idea, orby working hard to get an idea. An ideashould be further processed by sharpeningand limiting it to a workable research pro-posal. The research conducted accordingto the proposal, will �nally be documentedin a scienti�c paper, in this case the Mas-ter's thesis.

One way to view the thesis project is tosay that it represents a process of reducinguncertainty. The life cycle of a researchproject can be thought of as going fromthe general to the speci�c.

It is almost impossible to de�ne exactlywhat a Master's thesis in Computer andSystems Sciences should be. Neither canwe clearly characterise the di�erences be-tween an acceptable one and an unaccept-able one. No one can present the candi-date with a prescription for success whenhe embarks on his studies. It follows thatthe guidance presented here is not a guar-antee of anything and may not always beappropriate. However, by considering hisresearch in terms of the guidelines pre-sented here, the student and his advi-sor will go a long way toward developingthe sensitivity and awareness necessary tomake the research leading to a successfulthesis. It is an e�ort not to be undertakenlightly.

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5.1 To Find a Research Topic

There is a list of research topics proposedby the sta�, and the students may choosean idea from that list. The student mayalso come up with a topic by himself,maybe starting from a vague feeling aboutthe area he is interested in, and he is of-fered help to �nd a research idea basedon that interest, or he can do the �ndingprocess by himself, if he has the time avail-able. There are several fruitful sources foridentifying potential ideas:

� Current events

� Suggestions for research from pasttheses

� Suggestions for research by authori-ties in the �eld

� Expressions of need for research bypractitioners in the �eld

� Generally accepted but unproved as-sertions

� Unproved or weakly proved assertionsby an authority in the �eld

� Di�erent approaches to testing of im-portant results

� Papers in scienti�c journals and con-ference proceedings

Often an idea may include several prob-lems to choose among. What problem youchoose to solve, is dependent on

� The state of your knowledge

� Your interest areas

� The availability of a advisor

� Your goals with this project

� Your technical knowledge

� The recognizability of the result

� The existence, uniqueness of the re-sult

The state of your own knowledge shouldguide you signi�cantly if you intend totake the grade within one term. For ex-ample, if you know nothing or very lit-tle about neural networks, you would ac-quire a certain amount of the knowledgein the area during the project, but mostprobably exceed the time schedule. How-ever, it might still be a good idea tochoose that topic, if you are very inter-ested in neural networks and want to in-crease your knowledge in the area, inde-pendent of the graded work. Your tech-nical knowledge is also a signi�cant fac-tor, meaning that choosing a topic in, forexample, formal logic, and intending toconstruct a theorem prover in higher-orderlogic to be implemented by a parallel ma-chine, might require excessive amount oftechnical knowledge to be acquired evenbefore you can understand the problemsassociated to the idea. It is also impor-tant that you don't bang your head againstthe wall, i.e. try to solve problems whichare commonly known to be unsolvable, orproblems which have already been solved

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1. However, the recognizability of the re-sult you cannot leave to the advisor. It ishelpful to think and try to �nd the answerto the question: How do I know that I amdone? It should be noted that the researchidea is just a �rst hint about the area anddirection of the research. Examples of re-search ideas:

� The Work Breakdown Structure: TheCurrent State-of-the-Art.

� Is Size All That Matters?: Problemsin Software Cost Model Evaluation.

5.2 Thesis Proposal

If a research idea is the start of the re-search, the thesis proposal is the half-waypoint to the �nal thesis. A thesis proposalshould represent a considerable e�ort, con-sisting of intensive, full-time work. Itshould lay the ground for the thesis re-search by providing convincing argumentsthat the problem is worth solving and canbe solved, within the time and other limitsof your Master's thesis project.

The form of a thesis proposal is a matterof individual taste for the candidate andhis advisor. It may be written down in onedocument, evolved by mutual agreement,or done in some other fashion.

A thesis proposal in computer and sys-tems sciences should address at least thefollowing points:

1This is not true in general, e.g. in be-havioural sciences, a result is usually not consid-ered valid until several di�erent independent re-searchers at di�erent places have arrived at thesame conclusion.

� A statement of the problem and whyit should be solved.

� Reference to and comments upon rel-evant work by others on the same orsimilar problems.

� The candidate's ideas and insights forsolving the problem and any prelimi-nary results he may have obtained.

� A statement or characterisation ofwhat kind of solution is being sought.

� A plan of action for the remainder ofthe research.

� A rough outline of the thesis itself.

If the candidate is unable to include anddefend these six points in the thesis pro-posal, then he is not ready to commit him-self to the hard work to turn it into an ac-ceptable thesis. Naturally, nobody is go-ing to hold him to the details presentedin the proposal. The nature of research inthis science is that it provides the biggestsurprises to those who are working mostintensively in a given area. Anyone can beeasily scooped or may feel it necessary torevise his plan or problem in mid-stream.He may �nd that his original ideas do notwork and he must modify his expected so-lution. This is perfectly acceptable. Nev-ertheless, a candidate who is unable to an-swer the six points is not ready to embarkon the work, let alone follow it, control it,adapt it and force it to some kind of con-clusion.In the following, these six points are de-

veloped more in detail.

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5.2.1 Problem Statement

The �rst obvious thing which a thesis pro-posal should contain is a statement of theproblem to be considered, in both speci�cand general terms. The speci�c statementmust deal with the speci�c issues in whichthe candidate is interested, e.g. the opti-misation of tables of LALR parsers. Thegeneral statement should relate the prob-lem to the larger context of the scienceand show why it is worth solving. Theproblem statement in the thesis proposalshould be directed to an audience of in-telligent scientists who have no speci�c in-terest in the problem, but who are inter-ested in knowing what the candidate is do-ing. To present the problem to the wideraudience, and to justify proceeding withthe work, it is necessary for the candidateto present the background to the problemand to survey related work by others.

5.2.2 Background

It may take any of several forms, for exam-ple, an annotated bibliography or a sum-mary, explanation, and analysis of existingresults. It may be necessary or desirablefor the candidate to include his own criti-cal comments.

This summary is not without traps. Ifmost of the references cited and most ofthe work mentioned are from the candi-date's own department, then there are se-rious grounds for questioning his breathof knowledge and background for pursu-ing his problem. The danger is that peo-ple who limit their horizons to their own

local environments produce very inbred re-search, narrow attitudes, and unaccept-able theses. They tend to reinvent ideasalready known elsewhere; they fail to ap-ply techniques which could simplify theirproblems considerably; they often attachtoo much importance to minor results anddo not recognise major ones worth report-ing; and they write incomprehensible the-ses and papers which make no e�ectivecontribution to knowledge.

5.2.3 The Candidate's Ideas and

Insight

It is hard enough to schedule `invention'when one has some good ideas for solvingthe problem. It is almost impossible whenone does not. Thus a student, who is work-ing to a tight and very emotionally con-straining time-table, needs to have someinsight, some ideas, some preliminary re-sults before he commits himself to discovermore. If he has none of signi�cance, thenthe problem can capture his attention foras long as it takes to solve it and write thethesis. He would have no assurance thathe is heading in the right direction, thathe is capable of �nding a solution.

A common situation occurs when astudent proposes what seems to be agood problem to investigate, involvingnew broad, general theories. But when heis pressed, he has only some ideas about asmall, special case or example. He mightnot even have explored these ideas fullybecause he regards that example as unin-teresting in the context of the overall prob-lem and those ideas as having no apparent

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generalisation. Some students will be ableto discover the necessary general ideas, de-velop them and defend them. But suchtheses are few and far between, their au-thors are typically awarded Nobel prizesand other very high distinctions. Ordinarymortals have no such luck and often getstuck, unable to �nd any other examples,applications or ideas which are substan-tially di�erent from the ones they alreadyknow.

At this point, it is time to go back andlook at the problem statement again. Asoften as not, that uninteresting examplemay be the foundation for an interestingor valuable thesis problem in its own right.If so, it is probably a better investment ofthe candidate's energy to solve it, �nishhis thesis, and then devote his life's workto the general problem in a more relaxedfashion.

5.2.4 The Shape of the Solution

The most important part of the thesis pro-posal is a statement of what kind of so-lution to the problem is expected - i.e.a characterisation of the stopping condi-tion of the project. This, more than any-thing else, will help the student estimatethe value of his e�orts to separate thecha� from the wheat, to allocate his time.Without such a characterisation, the stu-dent has no good way of knowing when tostop. He cannot measure how far towardshis goal of a degree he has progressed. Hemight even discover a satisfactory solutionto his problem and not perceive that hehas. With a characterisation, he will know

where he stands in this research, and hewill be able to argue convincingly at theappropriate time that he has done whathe set out to do.

Occasionally, a research student will say'I know precisely what problem I want tosolve. I have no idea of what the solu-tion will be, but I will certainly recogniseit when I've got it. After all, this is re-search. So how can I possibly arrive ata characterisation of the solution before-hand?' That is, he thinks he is an excep-tion, but if he cannot characterise his ex-pected solution, how can he recognise it?Sometimes it is easy to characterise the so-lution, particularly in the light of prelimi-nary results. For example, a candidate de-veloping a new analytic model to describemessage tra�c among communicating ma-chines would expect to prove some theo-rems about the model, validate it empir-ically against some existing systems, con-struct some algorithms based on it for cal-culating the performance of similar sys-tems with di�erent parameters, and argueby example that they are useful in the de-sign and understanding of future systems.At other times, it is much harder to beso speci�c about a stopping condition. Itmay also be necessary to change it as theresearch progresses. However, a movingtarget is better than no target at all, pro-vided that it is not moving so fast that thecandidate cannot catch it.

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5.2.5 Plan of Action and Outline of

the Thesis

After the candidate knows what he wantsto do, has some background to allow himto do it, has done a little bit, and has someidea where it will take him, he had betterdraw up a plan of action. This subsectionof the thesis proposal is like a road mapand timetable of how he will travel dur-ing the remainder of his research. If it iscarefully and realistically prepared, it willnot expose to him any hazard of tryingto do more than he reasonably can beforehe runs out of steam. Obviously this plan,like everything else in the proposal, is sub-ject to change as new results are obtainedand new ideas gained. But some plan isbetter than no plan.

Finally, it is always useful when doingresearch to keep in mind how it is to bereported, what issues will be emphasised,and what will be de-emphasised. Thus,the thesis proposal should contain a roughoutline of the thesis itself, preferably interms of the expected solution to the prob-lem. This will have at least a small impacton the shape of the research, and it willprovide a set of good guidelines when thecandidate decides that it is time to `writeit all up'.

5.2.6 Some Useful Hints

No thesis topic is perfect. However, be-fore putting too much e�ort on an ideaand a proposal, certain characteristics ofproposals should be kept in mind as beingimportant.

� Need for research. The results do notneed to have an immediate applica-tion, but the topic should not be triv-ial or of little importance. The stu-dent should also feel the problem isimportant and worthwhile.

� Amenable to research methods. Thetopic needs to be feasible both as toavailability of data and availability oftools for analysis.

� Achievable in reasonable time. Itmight be di�cult to estimate theexact time your project will take.However, rather than leaving `rea-sonable time' completely unde�ned,some rough estimates are better thannothing. The student must translatethese estimates to the situation in hiscase. The background investigation,de�nition, writing, etc. normally takemore than half of the total time. Astudent may wish to select a topichaving a longer time requirement, buthe should do so with an awareness ofthe consequences for the date of com-pletion.

� Symmetry of potential outcomes. Aresearch project will typically havemore than one potential outcome. Forexample, a research experiment mayprove the hypothesis, it may disproveit, or it may be inconclusive. Theideal thesis topic from this stand-point is one in which, given a care-ful methodology, any of the poten-tial outcomes would be satisfactory interms of the acceptability of the the-

14

sis. The lack of symmetry applies tomost theses involving new algorithmsor solution procedures. If the algo-rithm is found, there is a good the-sis. If no algorithm is found, the con-tribution has not been made. Note,however, that if a solution methodhas been proposed but not proved byone or more authorities, then a the-sis might proceed to prove or disprovethe claim that this algorithm can beused. In that case, proving that thealgorithm is feasible or proving thatit is not feasible{since it was thoughtto be feasible{are both contributionsto knowledge.

� Matches student capabilities and in-

terest. A topic should match the ca-pabilities and interest of the student.A student who has strong capabili-ties in the behavioural science andlow mathematical capabilities shouldcertainly not choose a mathemati-cal thesis involving proofs and algo-rithms, even though it might be oth-erwise a good topic. Likewise, a stu-dent with strong mathematical abili-ties and very little interest or train-ing in behavioural science should notchoose a topic which depends for itssuccess upon high ability and trainingin behavioural science.

� Area for professional development. Athesis may either be a beginning ofresearch on a topic or it may be theend. Since a student puts a signif-icant amount of work into a thesis

topic, he becomes one of the knowl-edgeable persons in the subject. Ifthere is likely to be a continuing inter-est either academically (or elsewhere)in the topic, then he can continue tomaintain this and be a signi�cant au-thority. A student can therefore makethe thesis a stepping stone in his ca-reer by selecting a topic that providesdevelopment in areas he is likely towish to work in. The student shouldtry for a new idea rather than diggingdeeper in some overworked area.

5.3 The Thesis Work

The theses should be based on a signi�cantquestion, problem, or hypothesis. Thework should be original and should relateto explain, solve, or add proof to the ques-tion, problem, or hypothesis. The researchis additive, i.e. it adds to knowledge. Theresults are usually expected to presentedas generalisations.There are di�erent choices about the

type of a contribution. It may arise as anyof the following:

� New or improved evidence. The evi-dence may disprove or support a con-cept, theory, or model; disprove orsupport a hypothesis; add to under-standing of a process, etc. Majorquestions with regard to evidence are:

{ How was the data collected?

{ How was the data analysed?

The evidence may be collected byan experiment, simulation, question-

15

naire, interviews, measurements, etc.A major question with respect to suchevidence is the method by which itwas obtained.

� New or improved methodology. Thecontribution based on methodologycan be a new or improved solutionor analysis procedure{such as a newstatistical procedure{or a new or im-proved research methodology. Show-ing the bene�t of applying a knownprocedure in a new way may also be acontribution. The improvement froma new or changed solution procedureshould be signi�cant. For example,a thesis showing that a new solutionalgorithm for correlation coe�cientscan reduce errors in the result at thefourth decimal place is not worthyof acceptance. Quantitative solutionprocedures can be demonstrated byproofs and examples. Other solutionprocedures may need to be supple-mented by evidence of their e�cacy.

� New or improved analysis. Analysismay be based on existing evidence orinclude new data. Some examples oftypes of analysis are:

{ Historical analysis - develop-ment of ideas, historical forces,etc.

{ Analysis of implications of a cur-rent development in a �eld.

{ Comparative analysis - compar-ing theories, methodologies, sys-tems, etc.

{ Analysis of content of an existingtheory or concept and analysis ofits implications.

{ Possible research approach ormethodology.

{ Potential outcomes of researchand importance of each.

� New theories

The contribution of a thesis may be basedon more than one of these. For example, athesis might develop some theory, obtainempirical data, and integrate the two.Much of the research on computers is

wholly or partly behavioural science re-

search, i.e. research on humans and theirrelations to computers. Behavioural sci-ence research is di�cult, since human be-haviour is so complex, and since theremay be many di�erent causes for a cer-tain human behaviour. Because of this,extra stringent requirements are put onbehavioural science research.Research in behavioural science may

start with a general investigation of theproblem. After this, one or more hypoth-esis are formed, and a method of testingthem is designed and used.In behavioural science, a result is usu-

ally not considered valid until several dif-ferent independent researchers at di�erentplaces have arrived at the same conclusion.Typical behavioural science methods

are:

� Experiments under controlled condi-tions

� Interviews and questionnaires on realusers in real user situations

16

� Ethnographic research, where the re-searcher joins and describes the usersituation

� Participatory research (also called ac-tion research) where the researcherforms a team with users and devel-opers to improve their working condi-tions.

Typical data gathering methods in be-havioural research:

� Interviews

� Questionnaires

� Autologging

� Self reports, diaries, tapes, observa-tions

5.3.1 Checklist

The following checklist is not intended tobe complete, but it suggests useful ques-tions a student should ask himself as hereview his proposal.

� Does the proposal have imagination?

� Is the problem stated clearly?

{ Are the hypotheses clear, unam-biguous, and testable?

{ If no hypothesis, is the objectiveclearly stated? Can it be accom-plished?

{ Is the problem too large inscope?

� Is the methodology feasible?

{ Can data be collected?

{ How will data be analysed?

{ Will the analysis allow the ac-cepting or rejecting of the hy-potheses?

{ Is the population to be sampledreceptive to investigation?

� What might the results of the analysislook like?

� What are the consequences to the the-sis of any of the following:

{ Experiment fails?

{ Data amount not obtainable?

{ Small amount of data?

{ Analysis inconclusive?

{ Hypotheses rejected?

{ Can major research activities belisted?

{ Can a time estimate be attachedto each major activity?

{ Is the thesis trying to do toomuch?

{ If yes, what can be dropped orreduced to make the project ofmanageable dimensions?

6 Scienti�c Writing

Science is a communal exercise and scien-ti�c papers are its monologues. A scien-ti�c paper is prose literature: like othernarrative forms, a scienti�c paper com-municates one person's ideas to another

17

through the written word. The constraintsthat dictate the form of a scienti�c paperall conspire to make it an e�ective linkagein the network of collaborative science.

First, the scienti�c paper must have aparticular format. The format is a stan-dard linkage form, an outline forcing eachscientist to face the same basic questionsand to attempt roughly comparable anal-yses for even the most varied situations.

Second, the language and the style mustmirror the highly stylised formulations ofmathematical logic. Much of the colourof our everyday language derives from ill-de�ned, emotionally charged images con-jured up by the nuances available in alarge vocabulary of sensual and particu-larly human words. In contrast, the goalin a scienti�c paper is to reduce the in-tangible and the implicit meanings of ourwords. Scienti�c words should be thewords of logic, because, when the oper-ations of mathematical logic are used tobuild a platform of interconnections, evenquite intricate chains of interconnections,we can routinely trace through all of thepaths and we can have con�dence thateach of the individual links is strong.

6.1 Writing the First Draft

Settle down at a time and place which willallow you to remain undisturbed for sev-eral hours. Collect all the material youhave prepared and begin to write or typethe �rst draft. Follow the outlines closelyat this stage, and write as quickly as youcan. If the paper is short, try to �nish thedraft at one sitting so that it reads like

a single unit rather than a series of un-connected passages. Write simply, with-out worrying about style or grammar. Do,however, think of the reader, and directyour thoughts and words not exclusivelyto fellow specialists, but to a wider audi-ence of `moderate specialists'.

Although the details of grammar canwait till later, try to use the appropriate

person, tense, and voice of verbs in writ-ing the �rst draft of the di�erent sections.Use I or we for describing what you did,you or the imperative for instructions, andthe third person for describing what hap-pened. The past tense is best for observa-tions, completed actions and speci�c con-

clusions; the present is correct for general-isations and statements of general validity.Prefer the active voice to the passive.

You have already selected your mainheadings in the thesis proposal. Insertsubsections and sub-subsections to an ap-propriate level.

6.2 The Structure of the Paper

A scienti�c paper starts by a headingAbstract, moves to the �rst paper sec-tion usually called Introduction and endsup with Conclusions or Discussion, fol-lowed by Acknowledgements, References,and possible Appendices. The other head-ings depend on what kind of paper it is.For example, a theoretical paper usuallycontains the headings Theoretical Analy-

sis and Applications, while a paper de-scribing a new method instead containsDescription of the Procedure, and othersMaterials and Methods. Let us call the

18

Abstract and Introduction Paper Begin,the Conclusions, Discussion, Acknowledg-ments, References, and Appendix Paper

End, and the remaining part Middle Pa-

per.

6.2.1 Paper Begin

Abstract Abstract should be fully read-able without reading the whole paper. Itmeans among other things that no refer-ences should be included in the abstract.Further, the abstract should tell the readerwhat the problem discussed in the paperis, how it is solved and what the resultsare.

Introduction Make the introductionbrief, remembering that you are not writ-ing a review article: two or three para-graphs are usually enough. Indicate theaim and scope of the paper. State yourpurpose in undertaking the work. Ex-plain how your investigation moves for-

ward from closely related, previous workon the same subject. Be concise but clear:aim to awaken interest rather than sti eit with fussy detail, and try to gain andkeep the attention of readers who are notspecialists in your �eld.

People who �nd writing di�cult, thatis most of us, sometimes �ll introduc-tions with platitudinous general state-ments. There is nothing wrong with doingthis if it clears your mind and helps you tostart writing. But there is no good reasonfor publishing these generalities and youshould remove them ruthlessly before youreach the �nal draft.

6.2.2 The Middle Paper

Unless the overall experimental design ortheoretical approach is already obviousfrom the introduction, describe it in abroad outline before you give details ofthe methods. State the premisses and as-sumptions made in the design, and justifyyour choice of any methods, e.g. statisti-cal methods, to which there are reasonablealternatives.

A scienti�c paper is written from thefoundations up, and the Middle Paper isits fundamental support. Also in the Mid-dle Paper, in a section Results, a scien-

ti�c paper may report observations, butall such observations take a meaning onlyin the context of a well-de�ned system.The Middle Paper, section Materials and

Methods sets the precise bounds for thatsystem. It is a good policy to write theMaterials and Methods section early, whileyou are still in the midst of your experi-ments. Then, the many small technicaldetails, i.e. your tricks on the trade, arestill fresh in your mind and you can recordthem accurately.

The Materials and Methods describejust that: the materials, substances, sup-plies, tools, and instruments; and themethods, techniques, procedures, recipes,formulas, transactions, and algorithms.They are the stu� and the ways of sci-ence, and for this section your goal shouldbe to write a description that is detailedand complete enough for any researcher tofollow your directionsand to repeat your

observations successfully.

Make the section The Results compre-

19

hensible and coherent on its own. Even ifyou are planning to write a detailed dis-cussion later, do not merely describe herea series of experiments without any indi-cation of their purpose, signi�cance andrelevance to your line of thought. Al-low yourself to make connections! Presentyour results in a logical order, using onlyobservations that are strictly pertinent toyour argument. Report any negative re-sults which could be important to otherworkers.

6.2.3 Paper End

In the section Discussion the subject istreated from di�erent sides. Write thissection only after you have though longand hard about your own and other peo-ples �ndings. Assess the validity of your

results, comment on their signi�cance, andrelate them to previous work. Do not sim-ply repeat, in a di�erent order, what youhave already said or shown as results. Donot hide negative results or discrepanciesbetween your own work and that of others;try instead to explain them, or else admityour inability to do so. Criticise the scien-ti�c basis of other people's work when youfeel it necessary to do so, but do not at-tack the authors personally. Be absolutelyaccurate when you describe or quote fromother people's work.

Pull the threads of your argument to-gether in a logical form in the discussion.Refer to the tables and �gures only as theybecome appropriate to the argument, andnot necessarily in chronological order.

A summary, if provided, is for people

who have already read the whole paper; itshould not be a re-worded abstract. Stateyour main �ndings and conclusions, andrefer only brie y to new hypotheses andfuture work. Unlike an abstract, a sum-mary may inlcude references to �gures andtables in the paper itself.

Acknowledgements Acknowledgebrie y any substantial help you receivedfrom grant-giving bodies or from individu-als who supplied money, materials, techni-cal assistance, or advice on the conduct ofthe work or preparation of the paper. Ac-knowledge the cooperation of people whoprovided any help not forming part of theirroutine obligations. Be sure that all thoseyou thank agree to having their help rec-ognized and that they approve the form inwhich you acknowledge it.

References A reference appearing inthe text should follow the format:[Gabrielsson 93] or [Gabrielsson 93a],where a indicates the �rst publicationby the author within the given year, or[Gabrielsson et al 93], if there are severalauthors.

There are a number of di�erent sources,each with their own requirements. Thefollowing sources and requirements from[Lamport 86] should cover the most com-mon cases.

� An article from a journal or magazine.Required �elds: author, title, journal,year. Optional �elds: volume, num-

ber, pages, month, note.

20

� A book with an explicit publisher.Required �elds: author or editor,title, publisher, year. Optional�elds: volume, series, address, edi-

tion, month, note.

� A part of a book, which may be achapter and/or a range of pages. Re-quired �elds: author or editor, title,

chapter and/or pages, publisher, year.Optional �elds: volume, series, ad-

dress, edition, month, note.

� A part of a book with its own ti-tle. Required �elds: author, title,

booktitle, publisyer, year. Optional�elds: editor, chapter, pages, address,month, note.

� An article appearing in a conferenceproceedings. Required �elds: au-

thor, title, booktitle, year. Optional�elds: editor, volume or number, se-

ries, pages, address, month, organiza-

tion, publisher, note.

� Technical documentation, e.g. a man-ual. Required �eld: title. Optional�elds: author, organisation, address,

edition, month, year, note.

� A Master's thesis. Required �eld:author, title, school, year. Optional�elds: type, address, month, note.

� The proceedings of a conference. Re-quired �elds: title, year. Optional�elds: editor, volue or number, se-

ries, address, month, organisation,

publisher, note.

� A report published by a school orother institution, usually numberedwithin a series. Required �elds: au-

thor, title, institution, year. Optional�elds: type, number, address, month,

note.

� A document having an author and ti-tle, but not formally published. Re-quired �elds: author, title, note. Op-tional �elds: month, year.

� A PhD thesis. Required �elds: au-

thor, title, school, year. Optional�elds: type, address, month, note.

� Use this type when nothing else �ts.Required �elds: none. Optional�elds: author, title, howpublished,

month, year, note.

Appendices If you decided to includean appendix or more, place them here orafter the references. Incorporate any refer-ences in it into the main list of references.

6.3 Revising

When you have written the �rst draft, putit away for a day or two. Then re-readit quickly and not too critically, correct-ing only the obvious mistakes as you gothrough it. Rewrite or retype any pagesthat have become illegible. Number thepages and date them to show which ver-sion is the most recent. File the super-seded pages in case you have accidentallyomitted something on them which youlater want to restore. Before you embarkon the next stage, revising the draft, put

21

the manuscript away and forget about itfor a week or two.

A good way to revise the �rst draft is intwo stages: structural and stylistic. It isa waste of time trying to improve stylisticdetails before you are sure that the sec-tions, paragraps and sentences are in theright order, that all the essential pointshave been included and any super uousones removed, and that the argument runslogically from hypothesis to conclusions.Start with the structure, therefore, and ex-amine everything you have so far preparedfor logical order, accuracy, consistency andtruth.

6.3.1 Examining the Sequence

If your outlines were satisfactory, all thestatements in your draft probably con-tribute something, and no points will havebeen forgotten. But in getting everythingquickly onto paper you may have strayedaway from the main line of your argument,introduced unnecessary material, or leftout essential evidence. In addition, youmay now realize that some points needto be discussed or explained earlier in thearticle than your outlines originally sug-gested. Check on these matters, especiallyon the need to move some passages to anearlier place in the text to give increasedclarity. Now examine the headings to seewhether they relate properly to one an-other and to the text they describe, and tosee whether any should be deleted. Makesure that each heading is appropriatelyranked and clearly identi�ed as �rst, sec-ond or third order.

As you read the manuscript, note alsothe length of the paragraphs and the dis-tribution of ideas among them. In prin-ciple, each paragraph should deal with asingle topic or message and so be a unitof thought. However, readers �nd solidblocks of print tiring and you should givethem a rest by keeping most paragraphsto no more than 125 words, or half a type-written page. If many paragraphs occupymore than a page, look for places to breakthem up. But if most of them are only afew lines long, you may be making the mis-take of letting each new sentence form aparagraph: group the sentences into para-graphs now. Thinking about paragraphsand their length like this gives you anotherway of examining the structure of the pa-per for logical ow.

6.3.2 Checking for Consistency

Now check whether you have been accu-rate in other matters. Have you speltthe same word in the same (correct) waythroughout? Have you written numbers,symbols and abbreviations in the form ap-proved? Many English words have Britishand American spellings. Neither is morecorrect than the other, but you should beconsistent. A good dictionary will showboth forms of spelling and tell you whichis which.

6.3.3 Reducing the Number of Ab-

breviations and Footnotes

Many otherwise well-written scienti�c pa-pers are married by being overloaded with

22

abbreviations, e.g.\We added DTNB tothe TCA-precipitated RNA before deter-mining the BUB". Use abbreviations spar-ingly, as substitutes only for lengthy termsthat have to appear very often, say morethan ten times, in the paper. De�ne themeither at their �rst appearance, or all to-gether in a footnote at the beginning ofthe paper, or both. Try to replace fre-quently repeated abbreviations with pro-nouns or other substituting words, e.g.\it". Avoid using footnotes. They are jus-ti�ed only rarely, when you need to givesubsidiary information that would other-wise seriously interrupt your argument.

6.4 Revising the Style

This section is not intended to be a text-book of English grammar, only to givesome advice to avoid the main pitfalls.

6.4.1 Language

A scienti�c paper must be a readable nar-rative and, as a practical guide and as aninspiration for narrative writing, a specialform: it has special constraints and is builtwith its own peculiar language. The pri-mary purpose of a scienti�c paper is notto speak to the heart but to the brain!

In science, a smooth, owing style ishelpful, and balanced wording is an aid;but the essence of scienti�c style is crys-tal clarity. Each sentence must conveya de�nite idea, and it must have an un-equivocal interpretation: there can be nomystery, no vagueness, and no intima-tions of unwritten meanings. In science,

the medium is not the message. Themedium is a standardised format for pre-senting new data in a fashion that willmost directly and immediately �t intothe broader, fairly stereotyped schema ofother scienti�c data.

For clarity, write in short sentences andcut down all excess phrases. For exam-ple, \The fact that axons have been ob-served to grow randomly suggests" shouldbe written \The random growth of ax-ons suggests". Write \it showed", not \itserved to show". Use simple, direct words,words with little emotional weight andclear meanings. Science is already burst-ing with new terminology, and new wordsonly clutter an article and confuse thereader. For example, write \animals ex-posed to ethanol ", not \ethanol-exposedanimals".

Problems with Verbs Non-agreementof subject and verb. \The enzyme activityof the pollinaceous extracts from matureplants were higher than expected" shouldbe \was higher than expected".

Incorrect omission of \was" and \were"

(auxiliary verbs) in a series of passive

verbs. \The sample was weighed and sev-eral fractions taken for examination" iswrong because \fractions" as the subjectof the secondverb needs the plural auxil-iary verb \were" not the implied singularverb \was".

Dangling in�nitives are dangerous, be-cause the unstated, understood subject ofan in�nitive may not be the subject of thenext clause: \To apply this form of treat-

23

ment, the patient had to be admitted tohospital" is wrong because \patient" is notthe subject of \apply". Correct this faultby substituting the true subject: \To ap-ply this form of treatment, we had to ad-mit the patient to hospital".

Excessive use of the passive voice. Itis absurd, and mentally lazy, to use thepassive voice in every sentence. For \Themembrane is crossed by the protein" write\The protein crosses the membrane": itis shorter, clearer and more correct ex-cept in the rare instance when you wantto emphasize what kinds of things crossthe membrane. Write \Fig.1 shows", not\As shown by Fig.1". In the Introductionand Discussion sections write \we believe"rather than \it is thought" if you are re-ferring to your own thoughts. This typeof circumlocution has been called the pas-sive of modesty. If you think you must use\it is generally thought", try to identifyby whom it is generally thought; you willprobably decide to abandon the phrase.The right place for a verb in the passive isin a sentence like \The cows were milkedtwice a day" when there is no need to iden-tify the milkmaid, or in a sentence like\The cows should be milked twice a day"when there is no need to direct any par-ticular person to do that job. The passivevoice is appropriate in many sentences of ascienti�c paper, but you should change tothe active voice whenever possible, if onlyto keep the reader awake by varying therhythm!

Problems with Pronouns Over-use ofabstract nouns instead of verbs. Somescientist have a mania for using abstractnouns. This leads to a heavy and colour-less style which is often mistakenly re-garded as a model of objectivity and de-tachment. An example is the sentence\The addition of x and y to the mediumpermitted shaking of the solution withoutthe formation of ice crystels and the pre-cipitation of z." The words in this sentenceending in \-tion", e.g. addition, formationand precipitation, are abstract nouns de-rived from the verbs add, form and pre-cipitate. Note that abstract nouns are al-most always longer than their correspond-ing verbs; both their length and their ab-stract quality contribute to the ponderouse�ect for which you are probably strivingin imitation of your British and Americanmodels. Stop striving and write \Afteradding x and y to the medium we wereable to shake the solution without causingice crystals to form and without precipi-tating z."Excessive use of nouns as adjectives

(modi�ers). English is exible in allowingnouns to be used to modify other nouns:\protein iron" for instance, is a short wayof referring to the iron bound to or con-tained in proteins. The trouble beginswhen, perhaps in a laudable e�ort to bebrief, the writer puts together a string ofnouns, each of which modi�es one of theothers. Phrases like \adult sheep muscleprotein iron" impend understanding andmay even defy it. Breake up these clus-ters by inserting verbs and prepositions:\protein iron found in the muscle tissue of

24

adult sheep".

Problems of Verbosity and Pompos-

ity Some people will try to persuade youthat formal English, suitable for scienti�cpapers, must use Latin-derived words andan elevated tone if it is to be e�ective.Take no notice of this advice: it is wrong.The most e�ective writing, in a scienti�cjournal or anywhere else, is simple, clear,and precise. If you want to write e�ec-tive prose, search for the simplest, mostdireect way to express your thoughts. Bebrave and say \It is most often found inthe heart" not \The most frequent amongits localizations is the cardiac one".

Problems of Imprecision If you al-ways choose elaborate words instead ofsimple ones you will soon be trapped intousing words wrongly. English is so richand complex that self-discipline is neededfor success in writing it correctly. The ut-most accuracy in writing, as well as in ex-perimenting or observing, should be everyscientist's aim. Make sure that you knowthe exact meaning of every word in yourtext. Since this is hard, time-consumingwork, the fewer words there are the bet-ter for you. You need good dictionar-ies, of course, including both a dictionaryfrom your own language into English anda large English-language dictionary. It isoften worthwhile looking up an importantword in a dictionary from your own lan-guage into English, then checking the En-glish words in a large English dictionary,and �nally looking up the English word

you select in a dictionary which translatesback into your own language. The resultcan be astonishing.

6.4.2 Problems of Punctuation

Problems of punctuation are many but -in a way - trivial. If you write short, sim-ple sentences you can avoid most pitfalls.Puncuate according to whatever rules ofEnglish usage you already know, alwaysaiming to make your meaning clear andunambiguous to the reader.

Period

� Use a period at the end of sentencesthat make a statement or express acommand. Begin at the top of the

page.

� Use a period after most abbreviationsPh.D.. Abbreviations of many in-ternational agencies no longer requireperiods. UNESCO

Comma

� Use a comma to separate independentclauses joined by a coordinating con-junction. The interview began with

the same questions, but the answersvaried.

� Use a comma between items in a se-ries. Her art broke the harmony of the

design, ignored any sense of rhythm,

and lacked all visible balance.

� Use a comma to separate parallelmodi�ers. He called it a long, lonely

journey.

25

� Use a comma to set o� nonrestric-tive elements. Fire, which is moresymbolic of passion than of anything

else, rarely appears in the novel. Notethat Fire which burns blue is dan-

gerous. includes restrictive elementswhich should not be separated bycomma.

� Use a comma after an introductoryphrase or a subordinate clause. If

King John had listened to his barons,

he would have been a more popular

king.

� Use commas to set o� interrupting el-ements. The French, however, used

the rondelet.

� Use a comma when necessary for clar-ity. Some years before, we had seen

Charlie Chaplin in London.

Semicolon

� Use a semicolon between independentclauses not connected by a coordinat-ing conjunction (and, but, or, nor,

for, so, yet). Rubens was greatly in- uenced by Titian; he copied him as-

siduously.

� Use a semicolon between independentclauses connected by a conjunctiveadverb however, nevertheless, then,

moreover, consequently) or a sentencemodi�er (in fact, for example, on theother hand, in the �rst place). His-

tory is concerned with events as they

occurred in a certain order; however,

accurate chronology is not the only

concern.

� Use a semicolon to separate itemsin a series already punctuated withcommas. The television interview fo-

cused on three guests: a professor

at the University of Michigan, well-

known for his stand against the neu-

tron bomb; a member of NOW, pas-

sionately devoted to passing the ERA;

and a clergyman from the Baptist

Church in Austin, Texas.

Colon

� Use a colon after a clause that for-mally introduces a passage. The ar-

chitecture consisted of a wide vari-ety of styles: antebellum homes with

white colonnades, Italian villas sur-

rounded by gardens, and nondescript

California ranch houses.

� Use a colon to indicate that what fol-lows is either an example, explana-tion, or elaboration of what has justbeen writtten. City-county consolida-tion is more than a term: it means

the process of merging a county gov-

ernment with all municipalities in thecounty.

� Use a colon between the hours andminutes in time. 3:15 p.m.

Dash

� Use a dash to surround parentheticalmaterial that interrupts the ow of

26

writing. The scholar's business is in

part constructive{to add to the gen-eral �eld of knowledge{ and in part

desctructive{to expose false claims

and errors.

� Use a dash for summarizing. Robert

Campin, Jan van Eyck, Roger van der

Weyden{all were from the school of

ancient Netherlands.

� Use a dash to indicate emphasis. AllWestern thought is a footnote to one

author{Plato.

Parentheses

� Use parentheses to enclose materialthat explains a remark. English

is not merely a communication tool(an overused de�nition), but also the

medium for �ne art.

� Use parentheses to enclose the num-bers of items in a series or list. It

is a Romantic work because (1) it ex-

tols nature, (2) it places feelings above

reason, (3) it celebrates democracy.

Quotation Mark

� Use quotation marks to enclose theexact words from someone else'swork. Milton was advocating freedom

of speech when he said, \Give me the

liberty to know, to think, to believe,

and to utter freely."

� Enclose in quatation marks any wordto which attention is being directed.The term \Newgate" was used to in-

dicate crime novels.

Question Mark

� Use a question mark after a directquestion. Is this really a problem?

� Don't use a question mark in an indi-rect question. One might well ask if

this is really a problem.

Exclamation Mark

� Use an exclamation mark to expressa command. The train is coming.

Hurry!

� Use an exclamation mark to expressstrong feelings such as surprise, disbe-lief, or anger. Leave England? Never!

Apostrophe

� Use 's to form the possessive of nounsnot ending in s. a dog's life

� Use 's or an apostrophe to form thepossessive of singular nouns ending ins. the actress's success

� Use only an apostrophe to form thepossessive of plural nouns ending ins. the Smiths' home

� Use an apostrophe to indicate omis-sions. o'clock, '20s

� Use an apostrophe to form the pluralof numerals, letters, and words usedas words. All his 8's looked like s's.

27

Hyphen

� Use a hyphen to form a compoundadjective preceding a noun. a well-

deserved honor

� Use hyphens to connect pre�xesto their capitalized words. post-

Victorian

� Use hyphens to link compound nouns.printer-painter

7 Editing

This paper is intended to be an exam-

ple paper in its format. Your manuscriptmust have the format A4, with type fontsize 10-12 pt. The thesis must be in two-

column format. The cover page for thethesis is, for uniformity reasons, suppliedby the department. On your title page,you should include the footnote 2. Youmay use whichever editor you wish.

8 Concluding Remarks

This paper is a revised, and extended ver-sion of the paper with same title and au-thor from March 1995. On this round,the time did not allow any proof read-ing, neither of the contents nor of the lan-guage. Therefore, the paper may containerrors and lack explanations, remainingto be detected when the paper is in use.The responsibility for the possible errorsis entirely mine, and therefore, comments

2This thesis corresponds to ten (twenty) full-time working weeks.

on facts and language should be directedto me. Suggestions for improvements arewelcome as well.

My hope is though that the paper willbe able to guide the students in theirchoices and thesis work. Any commentsand

Acknowledgements

All the requirements and choices asso-ciated to a Master's thesis work havebeen collegially de�ned by the sta� atthe department, during many and time-consuming discussions. I thank those whoparticipated.

References

[Lamport 86] L. Lamport. 1986 LATEX

Doc-

ument preparation Sys-

tem. Addison-WesleyPublishing Company

[Winkler et al 79] A.C.Winkler, J.R. Mc-Cuen. 1979 Writing the

research paper. A hand-book. Harcourt BraceJovanovich, Inc.

[Connor et al 76] M.O'Connor,F.P. Woodford. Writing

Scienti�c Papers in En-

glish. Elsevier, North-Holland.

[Collection 80] Course Material fromthe Course in Technical

28

English. Chalmers Uni-versity of Technology,1980.

29