Download pdf - CHOOSING RESEARCH TOPICS AND WRITING RESEARCH PAPERS

Prof. Muhammad Khurram Khan FIET (UK), FBCS (UK), FFTRA (Korea)

Editor-in-Chief, Telecommunication Systems (Springer) Center of Excellence in Information Assurance King Saud University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Email: [email protected] Web: http://faculty.ksu.edu.sa/khurram

14February,2017

CHOOSING RESEARCH TOPICS AND WRITING RESEARCH PAPERS

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Outline

q  Researchq  HowtoChooseaResearchTopicq  WhyDoWePublish?q  GoalsofaResearchPublica;onq  TypesofResearchPapersq  AnatomyofaResearchPaperq  Peer-ReviewProcessq  ChoosingRightPublica;onVenueq  ReputedVenuesforResearchPublica;ons

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Research: What ? q  Research

v  Diligent process of inquiry and investigation to seek or revise facts, principles, theories, applications, etc.

q  Purpose of Research

v  Create, review and synthesize knowledge v  Provide solutions to a problem v  Explore and analyze general issues v  Construct a new procedure or system v  Explain new phenomenon (facts) v  Generate revenue by R&D

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Choosing A Research Topic

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Identification of Research Problems

q  Research Problem v  A research problem is a

question, which needs an answer or a researcher wants to solve

v  I d e n t i f i c a t i o n a n d formulation of a research problem is the most daunting task in the research process

ResearchProblem

Skills

Knowledge

Crea@vity

Mo@va@onSupervisor

Resources

AFtude

“Chooseajobyoulove,andyouwillneverhavetoworkadayinyourlife”Confucius(551-479BC)

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Sources of Research Problems

SourcesofResearchProblem

Exis@ngTheories

Consulta@on

Experience

CurrentandFutureTrends

Exis@ngLiterature

SocialIssues

Brainstorming

IdeasfromWorkshops/Seminars

1.  Newproblemandnewsolu;on(breakthrough)ü  Case1comesrarely,perhapssomethingyoucouldonly

wish,oncealife-;meexperience•  Shannon’stheory

2.  Newproblemandoldsolu;on3.  Oldproblemandnewsolu;on

ü  Cases2and3aretheonesthatyoushouldtargetfor•  DataShreddinginCloudcompu;ng

4.  Oldproblemandoldsolu;on ü  Case4iswhereyoucanstart

•  Plenty of out there under the category of“Yetanotherpaperon…“

Research Cases

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The Research Process

Editors, reviewers, and the research community don’t consider these reasons when assessing your work

Why Do We Publish?

Get funding?

“Ifitisnotpublished,itdoesnotexist”(FritzSchaefer)

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Daily Life of a Researcher

Reading Thinking

Discussion

Simulations Writing

Presenting

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Goals of a Research Publication l  To conduct academic and professional training from the

paper writing l  To add contribution to the body of knowledge l  To make recognition in your field l  To compete with your colleagues l  To keep yourself in-touch with the research community l  To stress on quality rather than quantity in publications

–  Elimination of garbage papers or low quality papers (re-inventing the wheel)

–  Impact to the research field (citations, impact factor, commercialization, sustainability, etc.)

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Types of Research Papers

q  Survey/Review Papers (45-60 double spaced

pages)

q  Standard/Full-Length Papers (30-35 double

spaced pages)

q  Le t te rs /Rap id Commun ica t i ons /Sho r t

Communications (Up to 12 double spaced

pages)

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Survey Papers: Criteria for Publication

Defini;on:Apaperthatreviewsstate-of-the-artinaresearchareacoveringlastfewyearsofworkinthatareaCriteria:v  Shouldnotbeatext-bookdescrip;onv  Rela;onshipbetweenstudies(chronologicalprogression)v  Appropriateclusteringofinforma;onandpaperflowv  Authors’owncontribu;ontotheareav  Iden;fica;onoftrends,andfutureworkv  A detailed discussion on approaches thatworked,why they

worked,andthosethatfailedandwhytheyfailedv  Shouldservebothasa tutorial for thosenewto thefieldas

wellasareferenceguideforresearchers

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Standard Papers: Criteria for Publication Defini;on:Apaperthatcanbeoneofthefollowingtypes:

v  Atotallyoriginaltechniquefromthescratchv  Amodified&detailedvaria;onofanexis;ngtechniquev  Integra;onofknownmethodswithtailor-makingfora

par;cularapplica;onCriteria:v  Howoriginalisthenoveltyintroduced-ifextensions,thenmajor

orminor?v  Isthepapertechnicallycorrect?v  Isthepapertothepoint?v  Ancomprehensivecomparisonhasbeenperformed?v  Isdatasetappropriateandrepresentsreal-worldscenario,etc.v  Doesthepaperlinkwelltootherdevelopmentsinthelastfew

yearsinthesamearea?

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Letters: Criteria for Publication

Defini;on:A paper or correspondence that proves a very limited idea forrapid peer-review and publica;on in a journal (within 3 to 4monthse.g.IETElectronicsLe@ers)Criteria:v  Shouldnotbeadetailedidea,butshouldbeveryconciseand

briefv  Shouldbelimitedwithinfewpagesv  Shouldnotsubmitworkmerelybecauseyouneedthepaper

tobepublishedquickly(e.g.inordertograduateorbeforeapplyingforanewjoborpromo;on)

v  Shouldnotcontainmanyreferences

“Electronics Le@ers is a forum for the rapid publicaEon of the latest or preliminary results or ideas relaEng to the electronic orelectricalengineeringfields.TheadvancepresentedmustbesignificantenoughandofahighenoughlevelofinteresttothebroadengineeringcommunitytomeritimmediatedisseminaEon,otherwiseadifferentjournalismoreappropriate.”(IETElectronicsLe@ers)

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Anatomy of a Research Paper

q  Title v The best representation of a paper: contributions

and unique features (At most 15 words)

Ø  Effective titles ü  Identify the main issue of a paper ü  Begin with the subject of a paper ü  Accurate, unambiguous, specific, and complete ü  Do not contain rarely-used abbreviations ü  Attract readers

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q  Abstract v An abstract summarizes the essential ideas of the

paper in about 150 to 250 words v  It should entice the reader v  It Indicates why your work is new & better v  Its content includes:

v  Intent or objective of paper; Problem statement; (1-2 sentences)

v Method of study (2-3 sentences) v Results or findings (2-3 sentences) v Conclusion (1-2 sentences)

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q  Introduc;onv Mo;va;onsandproblemdescrip;onsv Academicimpactandimportancev  Literaturereview:

ü Showstate-of-the-art(classicpapers)ü Citereferenceseasilyavailabletogeneralpublicü Avoidoffensiveremarksü Donotcitetoomanywebreferences

v  Summaryofthemajorcontribu;onsofthepaperv Organiza;onoftherestofthepaper

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q  Problem Description or Theory v Definitions of all notations (e.g. variables, symbols) v Mathematical equations

q  Methodology v Main idea to solve the problem v Theorems and proofs v Descriptions of the approach or algorithm v Performance analysis (and/or Security Analysis) v Unique features of the method

q  Results of Experiment v Description of the experiments v Presentation of the results: tables, figures, etc.

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q  Conclusions v Summary of your findings (not a repeat of abstract) v Concluding remarks v Suggest future work (one line)

q  Acknowledgment v  Acknowledge the supported fund/grant v  Thank individuals, if they helped you!

q  References v List references in appropriate format (Use Endnote

tool) v Have recent references if possible v Give complete information (vol, number, issue, year,

etc.) v List appropriate numbers of references

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ExperimentalProcess Sec@onofPaperWhatdidIdoinanutshell? Abstract

Whatistheproblem? Introduc;on

HowdidIsolvetheproblem Materialsandmethods

WhatdidIfindout? Results

Whatdoesitmean? Discussion

Whohelpedmeout? Acknowledgment

WhoseworkdidIreferto? Literaturecited

Extrainforma;on Appendices(Op;onal)

v  Have you told reader, at the outset, what they might gain by reading your paper? i.e. your contribution

v  Have you made the aim of your work clear? v  Have you explained the signif icance of your

contribution? v  Have you set your work in the appropriate context by

giving sufficient background to your work? v  Have you addressed the question of practicality and

usefulness? v  Have you identified future developments that may result

from your work? v  Have you structured your papers in a clear and logical

fashion?

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Before Submitting Papers…

The Peer Review Process

Submit a paper

Basic requirements met?

REJECT

Assign reviewers

Collect reviewers’ recommendations

Make a decision

Revise the paper

[Reject]

[Revision required]

[Accept]

[Yes]

[No]Review and give recommendation

START

ACCEPT

Author Editor Reviewer

Michael Derntl Basics of Research Paper Writing and Publishing http://www.pri.univie.ac.at/~derntl/papers/meth-se.pdf

Choosing the Publication Venue

v  Iden;fy the sector of readership/community for which apaperismeant

v  Iden;fytheinterestofyouraudiencev  Isyourpaperoflocalorinterna;onalinterest?v  Inves;gateallcandidatejournalstofindout:

ü Aimsandscope(Relatednesstoyourarea)ü Acceptedtypesofar;clesü Currenthottopicsü Gothroughtheabstractsofrecentpublica;onsü ISIImpactfactor/Ranking(Quar;le)ü Publica;on;mespan

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Reputed Venues for Research Publications

q  IEEE (US)-Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers & IET -Institution of Engineering & Technology (UK): The most prestigious and the biggest EE society (http://ieeexplore.ieee.org)

q  Springer-Verlag (Germany) (2900+ journals) (http://springerlink.com)

q  Elsevier Science (The Netherlands): (2500+ journals) (http://www.sciencedirect.com)

q  ACM (US) – The Association for Computing Machinery q  John Wiley & Sons (UK): (1500+ journals) q  World Scientific (Singapore): (120+ journals) q  IEICE (Japan) – The Institute of Electronics, Information

& Communication Engineers q  OUP (UK), SPIE (USA), CRC Press (USA) q  ….

What Leads to Acceptance???

q Attention to details q Check and double check your work q Consider the reviewers’ comments q English must be as good as possible q Presentation is important q Take your time with revision q Acknowledge those who have helped you q New, original and previously unpublished q Critically evaluate your own manuscript q Ethical rules must be obeyed

Nigel John Cook Editor-in-Chief, Ore Geology Reviews

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Acknowledgments •  Elsevier Science, “Things You Don’t Want to Know in Your Early Research Career”,

MovieClip•  Anthony Newman, “How to Get Published”, Publisher Life Sciences, Maastricht

University,20October2011•  C.Li,“MyPerspecEveonDoingResearch”,China,2005•  B.LI,“ResearchandPublicaEons:APersonalPerspecEve”,HKUST,MSRA•  M.Derntl,“BasicsofResearchPaperWriEngandPublishing?”,Sept.2009•  Some contents of this presenta;on are derived from different sources in the good

faithforstudentsandresearchers…

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Today’s Research Environment

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Thanks!!!