Writing for Computer Science

Book Author: Justin Zobel

“This writing seemeth to me ……. Not much better than the noise or sound which

musicians make while they are in tuning their instruments.”

Francis Bacon

Motivation

• A scientific article is a description of new ideas and a demonstration of their correctness

• An article can remain relevant for remarkably long time, and if published in a major journal, may be read by thousands of other scientists

• Irrespective of the importance and validity of its argument, a report will not convince anybody if it is difficult to understand

• The more important the results the better supporting arguments and their presentation should be

Motivation

• Publication not only makes knowledge available, it establishes the authors as the creators of that knowledge

• Authorships has obvious rewards such as position, promotion, H-index, Nobel prizes, etc.

• Public mistakes not only make a scientist look foolish, they can hurt a career

• Writing is not the end of the research process----it is integral to it

• The styling of a paper, the polishing process, clarity, and simplicity truly follows the research

Designing an Article

• Science is a system for accumulating reliable knowledge• Its begins with observations, which are developed into

hypothesis, tested by proof or experimentation; yielding results that can be described in a paper; which is published after independent reviewing

• Each new contribution builds on a bed of existing concepts that are known and trusted

• New research may be wrong or misguided, but the process of refereeing eliminates most work of poor quality

Designing an Article

• Authors need to:– Describe the position of the new idea in the body

of scientific knowledge– Formally state the idea, often as a theory or

hypothesis– Explain what is new about the idea, or what

contribution the paper is making– Justify the theory, by methods such as proof or

experiment

Kinds of Publications

• Books• Theses & Dissertations• Research Articles (Journal Papers, Conference Proceedings)• Review Article (Survey Paper)• Case Study• Meta Analysis• Technical Report• White Paper• Concept Paper• Position Paper• Working Paper

Kinds of Publications:Books

• Books are usually texts that tend not to contain new results and do not to the same degree justify the correctness of the information they present

• The main purpose of a text is to collect information and present it in an accessible, readable form, and thus texts are generally better written than are papers

Kinds of Publications:Theses & Dissertations

• A thesis is usually a deep exploration of a single problem

• A long essay on a particular subject in which one has done original research, as one presented by a candidate for a diploma or degree

• A document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings

• In most universities of US, dissertation is the term required for the submission of the doctorate, and thesis for the master's degree requirement

Kinds of Publications:Research Articles-Journal Articles

• The primary purpose of a Research Article is to present original findings, though these articles will also include a bibliography of other literature reviewed. These articles can be identified by looking for the following elements: an introduction, description of the research design, discussion of the data and methods, and bibliography. They are also sometimes referred to as “empirical studies,” and they will usually make up the majority of the content in a journal. – A journal article is usually the end product of the research

process, a careful presentation of new ideas that has been revised, sometimes over several iterations, according to referees’ suggestions and criticisms.

Kinds of Publications:Research Articles-Conference Proceedings

• An article or extended abstract in a conference proceedings can likewise be an end-product, but conferences are used to report work in progress

• Conferences articles are usually refereed, but with more limited opportunities for iteration and revision, and may be constrained by strict length limits

Kinds of Publications/Studies• Review Article

A Review Article summarizes other authors’ works for the purpose of reviewing the state of the literature on a particular topic. Review articles contain helpful bibliographies and can be excellent sources for identifying Research Articles in an area of study, but they are not themselves the primary source or Research Articles.

• Case Study• A detailed report of clinically important cases of common and rare conditions.• In the social sciences and life sciences, a case study (or case report) is a descriptive,

explanatory analysis of a person, group or event.• An explanatory case study is used to explore causation in order to find underlying principles.

• Meta-Analysis• A meta-analysis is a mathematical synthesis of the results of two or more primary studies

that addressed the same hypothesis in the same way.• Meta-analysis refers to the analysis of analyses...the statistical analysis of a large collection

of analysis resulted from individual studies for the purpose of integrating the findings. (Glass, 1976, p. 3)

Kinds of Publications:Technical Report

• Prior to a paper appearing in a refereed venue it may be available as a technical report. These forms of publication have the advantage of making the work available quickly—virtually instantly if the paper or its abstract is available on the world wide web--- but, because of lack of refereeing, readers have less confidence in the work’s validity.

Kinds of Publications:Technical Report

Kinds of Publications:Technical Report

• Researchers may also publish work in early form as a technical report to establish novelty, without having to wait for the often long production schedules of academic journals.

• They may be considered as grey literature. If there is a review process, it is often limited to within the originating organization.

• There is no formal publishing procedures for such reports, except where established locally.

• Technical reports are considered "non-archival" publications, and so are free to be published elsewhere in peer-reviewed venues with or without modification.

White Paper• A white paper is an authoritative report or guide helping

readers to understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision.

• White papers are used in two main spheres: government and business-to-business marketing

• They may be considered as grey literature.• White papers in government• White Papers are used as a means of presenting government

policy preferences prior to the introduction of legislation; as such, the publication of a White Paper serves to test the climate of public opinion regarding a controversial policy issue and enables the government to gauge its probable impact.

White PaperWhite papers in business-to-business (B2B) marketing• Since the early 1990s, the term "white paper" has been

applied to documents used as marketing or sales tools in business.

• These white papers are long-form content designed to promote the products or services from a specific company

• A digital marketing tool• Many of these white papers argue that one particular

technology, product or method is superior for solving a specific business problem

• They may also present research findings, list a set of questions or tips about a certain business issue, or highlight a particular product or service from a vendor.

Kinds of Publications:Position Paper

• Position papers in academia enable discussion on emerging topics without the experimentation and original research normally present in an academic paper.

Kinds of Publications:Concept Paper

• A concept paper is what you submit before you submit your full proposal. You should try to summarize, in an interesting way, what you will layout more fully later, but keeping in summarized.

• A first submission, contains key elements of a project, including information about the applicant, the target population, the need, objectives, total budget, other contributors and what makes it remarkable.

• A concept paper is a document that enables funding executive committees assess how well a proposed research fits with a particular Fund's interests. This paper is normally three paged and enumerates all the scientific and non-scientific aspects justify the funding of a proposed project.

Kinds of Publications:Working Paper

• A preliminary scientific or technical paper• Working papers are preliminary materials circulated to

stimulate discussion and critical comment• Often, authors will release working papers to share ideas

about a topic or to elicit feedback before submitting to a peer reviewed conference or academic journal

• Working Papers are pre-publication versions of academic articles, book chapters, or reviews. Papers posted on this site are in progress, under submission, or in press and forthcoming elsewhere.

• They may be considered as grey literature

Phases of Papers

Manuscript • The original text of an author's work, handwritten

or usually typed, that is submitted to a publisher.Camera-ready• It is a common term used in the commercial

printing industry meaning that a document is, from a technical standpoint, ready to "go to press", or be printed.

Primary Source

• In the sciences, a primary source is the original publication of new data, research or theories by the individual(s) producing the data, conducting the research, or formulating the theory

• Typically, primary research articles are published in peer-reviewed journal articles with standardized sections, often including a Literature Review, description of Methods, tables of Data, and a summary of Results or formal Conclusion

• Examples are Conference proceedings, Journals, Lab notebooks, Patents, experimental studies, clinical trials, opinion surveys, Preprints, Technical reports, Theses and dissertations

• For example, a primary source would be a journal article where scientists describe their research on the genetics of tobacco plants

Secondary Source

• Secondary sources are those that summarize, critique or comment on events, data or research presented previously

• These tend to summarize the existing state of knowledge in a field at the time of publication. Secondary sources are good to find comparisons of different ideas and theories and to see how they may have changed over time

• Examples of secondary sources are Textbooks, Review Articles, Magazine Articles, News Reports, Websites (also considered primary)

• A secondary source would be an article commenting or analyzing the scientists' research on tobacco

Tertiary Source

• Tertiary sources consist of information which is a distillation and collection of primary and secondary sources

• These types of sources present condensed material, generally with references back to the primary and/or secondary literature

• They can be a good place to look up data or to get an overview of a subject, but they rarely contain original material

• Examples of tertiary sources are Compilations, Dictionaries, Databases, Encyclopedias, Handbooks, Manuals

Organization

• Many readers accept or reject conclusions based on a quick scan, not having time to read all the articles they see. A well-structured article accommodates this behavior by having important statements as near the beginning as possible

Organization: Title and Author

• The convention in computer science is to not give your position, title, or qualifications

• ASRB Preferences– Don’t use abbreviations in titles– Don’t use “A technique for …….”– Name your technique if possible