Writingfor CS and CE

Research Paper

CSCE 481FALL 2015

Acknowledgment – Prof. John Keyser & Aakash Tyagi

CSCE 481 – Fall 20159/10/2015

Specific Writing• We will discuss some specifics for writing research papers.• This is commonly done in graduate school.– Material developed for graduate students– But, many principles carry forward to other writing

• Other topics:– Proposals– Technical documents– Executive summaries

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CSCE 481 – Fall 20159/10/2015

Sections of a Research Paper• Title• Abstract• Introduction• Previous Work– Possibly including background information

• Main Work (ideas/theory/exposition)– Possibly in several sections

• Implementation– If needed

• Results– Possibly combined into main work section

• Conclusion– With future work

• Acknowledgements• References• Appendices

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CSCE 481 – Fall 20159/10/2015

Title• Don’t underestimate title importance• Memorable titles can help people remember the paper• The title will be used for searching, later

• Remove unnecessary words• Watch for misleading words

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CSCE 481 – Fall 20159/10/2015

Introduction• Motivation and Summary• By the end of the introduction, someone should be able to tell

someone else what you did, and why.– But probably not give any details about how

• Keep the introduction short, relative to the rest of the paper.

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CSCE 481 – Fall 20159/10/2015

Motivation• Early on in the paper, you must make the case for why you are

doing this• This should not be too long– If you have to spend too long to say why someone should read the

paper, then there’s probably not a good reason– The motivation is not why you are writing the paper, it’s just there to

get people to read it

• Sometimes this is more important than other times – sometimes motivation is obvious

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CSCE 481 – Fall 20159/10/2015

Summarizing Main Results• You want to make it clear what the main results of your paper

are.– Don’t “hide” them or make them a “surprise” at the end– Remember, most people will not read your full paper – you still want

them to know the main results

• Should always be in the abstract• Should be in the introduction of the paper– Main Results, Contributions, Thesis Statement

• Can be in the conclusion

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CSCE 481 – Fall 20159/10/2015

A “Main Results” Section• Could be a subsection, a paragraph, a bulleted list, or a

sentence• Should be easy to find/locate• Should make clear what is the new, unique contribution of this

work– It is not a summary of everything you’ve done, or even a summary of

the paper– Just list the key point(s) that are new to your work.

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CSCE 481 – Fall 20159/10/2015

The Thesis Statment• A short statement that summarizes what the focus of the

paper is• Can help to focus your writing, presentation, and research• The goal of the paper is to show why the thesis statement is

important and true (or false…)

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CSCE 481 – Fall 20159/10/2015

Previous Work Section• Provide references to relevant material– What are the key papers that someone should read to understand

this?– What are the most relevant related papers/alternatives?

• Demonstrate that you are familiar with the main research in the area– Ensure you cite all the relevant work• Especially the papers of those who will read yours…

– Can’t cite everything; cite the most important things– Usually, citations to textbooks aren’t needed• Unless that textbook provides a unique derivation, a particular summary, etc.

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CSCE 481 – Fall 20159/10/2015

Previous Work Section• If necessary provide background summary of prior work– For example, if you are building on your own prior work– Make sure that prior work is separated from new work• You want to clearly delineate what is new vs. what is old.

• When giving citations to previous work, it is good to show how your work fits in with that prior work.

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CSCE 481 – Fall 20159/10/2015

The New Work• This is the main, core part of your paper• It should be the part that you are most confident in, and have

the most to say about• It is important that you are clear and accurate.

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CSCE 481 – Fall 20159/10/2015

Things to Look Out For• You are not just presenting a list of what you did.– Every piece of research has lots of “infrastructure” work that goes on

behind it – you don’t need to go into this, unless it is critical– You don’t need to discuss “dead end paths” that you pursued• One exception is if it is very likely someone else would follow that dead end

path

– You research is evaluated on results, not process.

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CSCE 481 – Fall 20159/10/2015

Things to Look Out For• You want to develop your material clearly– Usually, someone will read this section in order– Don’t pull ideas/material from nowhere– Make sure that information is presented in a logical order– Think of it as telling a (technical) story:• Keep the story moving• Don’t refer to things that the reader has no knowledge of• Make sure the reader understands what has happened!

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CSCE 481 – Fall 20159/10/2015

Things to Look Out For• Avoid tangential topics– Make the section about the main results, not the interesting “side”

items– Use appendices if necessary

• Make sure there is a clear overview– Avoid going directly into details if the person doesn’t have the overall

picture– Often, overview sections or figures are helpful

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CSCE 481 – Fall 20159/10/2015

Results• You want to demonstrate all of the core ideas that you

discussed in practice– If you discussed something, show the results

• Idea is to show that what you presented works, and give some sense of how well it works

• Pick good test cases, that cover a range of situations– Ones that allow comparison– Ones that allow evaluation of parts of your technique– Ones that simulate “real world” cases

• You need to provide comparisons to other work, whenever possible– This lets people evaluate your work

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CSCE 481 – Fall 20159/10/2015

Conclusion• Now that we have seen the work in the paper, what can we

conclude?– What has been the “contribution” of this work?– What insights does this work offer?– What does this now allow us to do?

• Conclusion should not be just a summary of what was in the paper – that is obvious.

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CSCE 481 – Fall 20159/10/2015

Future Work• Usually part of the conclusion• Not always included, but a good idea if possible• People want to know that the paper is not a “dead end”– What more could be done? If I like this area, what could I work on

next?– Is this likely to stimulate future work?

• Can be a “defense” against reviewers.

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CSCE 481 – Fall 20159/10/2015

Future Work• Avoid using “throwaway” future work– In computer science, you can always say you want to improve

performance, port to a new system, or integrate with something else.

– Better to have one or two solid areas for future work than 10 that aren’t developed.

• Don’t just state areas, give some indication of the challenges/opportunities– Why will that be worthwhile?– What are some obstacles that will be faced in that extension?

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General Comments on Research Paper Writing

CSCE 481 – Fall 20159/10/2015

Audience• Make sure you are writing to the appropriate audience• Usually, this is to other researchers in the field– Not to novices – they will know the basics of the field– Not necessarily to just the foremost experts in the area – they will

not be familiar with every bit of prior work– Not to experts in all areas – they may not be familiar with simpler

concepts from other fields

• Some papers (e.g. literature reviews) are for more general, less expert, audiences

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CSCE 481 – Fall 20159/10/2015

Audience• Give them the background they need to understand the paper– Particularly if you rely on another technique; don’t make them read

other papers before they can read yours– Not always possible – sometimes there is too much to do

• Notation might not be standardized– Explain the notation as needed– The concepts might already be known

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CSCE 481 – Fall 20159/10/2015

Overstating/Understating• Do not oversell your work– Do not promise more than you deliver– Do not try to make your work have more impact than it reasonably

does

• You probably have a higher opinion of your work than others do or ever will.

• Readers are annoyed if they spend their time reading your article, only to find it didn’t do what was promised.

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CSCE 481 – Fall 20159/10/2015

Overstating/Understating• Do not undersell your work– Don’t put in so many disclaimers that you discourage someone from

reading/following it– Point out problems, especially key ones, but:• Your goal is not to point out every conceivable flaw• If necessary, point out why problems might not be so bad

• You are writing the paper because you have something new to present, that others should find valuable.

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CSCE 481 – Fall 20159/10/2015

Overcoming Objections• Those reading the paper will often have questions/objections.• You want to answer/address these in the paper• This is key to getting the paper accepted through review, but

also for getting the paper accepted after publication

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CSCE 481 – Fall 20159/10/2015

Overcoming Objections• Think: “If I were a reviewer, what would I have questions

about?”– Find a way to address those directly– If they are technical concerns and you have not addressed them in

the work, show that you’ve thought about them

• What examples should be included?• What tests should be provided?

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CSCE 481 – Fall 20159/10/2015

Figures and Captions• People will usually look at figures before they read the text• You want the figures to stand on their own as much as possible• Be sure that your captions clearly describe what is in the

figure. Do not rely on the text to describe the figure.

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CSCE 481 – Fall 20159/10/2015

Comparisons to Prior Work• Always a tricky proposition– Your goal in the paper is to show how good your work is. You have

spent a great deal of time on your own approach.– You must be fair to prior work, but you probably can’t devote as

much effort to replicating it.

• If standardized comparisons can be made, use them• If you implement another method for comparison, be sure to

do your best with it– If not, be sure to clearly state what you did not do, and why.

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CSCE 481 – Fall 20159/10/2015

Comparisons to Prior Work• It is not OK to just present your material and assume it should

be accepted– That does not show any new contribution over the state of the art– Exception: if it is truly the first time someone has accomplished

something

• If you cannot provide comparisons, at least provide concise, clear arguments that evaluate your method vs. other methods.

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CSCE 481 – Fall 20159/10/2015

Feedback• If possible, get someone else to read your work– They should be willing to give direct, honest feedback– Take their evaluations to heart

• When reviewers reply with objections, don’t blame the reviewer– If the reviewer didn’t understand it, it’s probably your fault– Make sure that you address their concerns• Sometimes it is only a style/writing issue!• Sometimes they have found more fundamental flaws

– Even these can sometimes be addressed by writing differently.

– There are (very rare) exceptions where reviewers are way off• Always be polite and respectful in your responses, anyway

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