HOW TO WRITEA GOOD PAPER

Jehan-François Pârisjparis@uh.edu

Introduction

You have interesting results You have learned to write correct English Now your adviser tells you it is time to write a

paper What should you do?

What I will tell you today

We will Tell you how to present your results Cover the basic parts of a scientific paper

Focus on what to say in each of them Review a few basic rules to follow

How to present your results

Your results should be interesting Improve upon the state of the art In a significant manner

It is your job to explain that to the reader

Things to do

Present you results in the most positive way Do not tell that the hit ratio of your cache

went from 98 percent to 99 percent Tell instead that the miss ratio of the cache

was cut in half Show how your approach differs from those of

previous authors.

Things to avoid

Never make overstated claims Never try to hide the weaknesses of your

method Never make unrealistic assumptions

If you absolutely need to make one, Acknowledge it Explain why it is necessary

Your future paper

Five parts1. Abstract2. Introduction3. Review of previous work4. Your own contribution5. ConclusionFollowed by a list of references

The abstract (I)

Not an introduction A very brief summary of the results of the

paper Describe the problem Sketch the approach Present you best results

The abstract (II)

No need to explain why the results are important Introduction is there for that!

Abstract must be self contained No unexplained acronyms No references! Use very sparingly mathematical symbols

The introduction (I)

Should present the topic and the scope of your paper

Key objectives are explaining what you will do (and not do) making it sound interesting

captatio benevolentiaecaptatio benevolentiae==

getting the goodwill of the readergetting the goodwill of the reader

The introduction (II)

Main difficulty Must describe the problem and your results

in very general terms Must simplify things without being

inaccurate Some authors end the introduction by a

roadmap of the paper Section II of this paper reviews …

The review of previous work

Mention previous work that is relevant to your paper The key word is “mention” You should not describe in any detail any

previous work unless it is necessary for the understanding of your own work

Do not sweat it!

Your own contribution

Explain in a few lines its scope: You will investigate an idea that you find

interesting You have a better idea that solves of the

problems other proposals did not solve

Checklist (I)

Do not forget to mention the limitations of your approach Markov models of disk arrays must assume

that disk repair times follow an exponential distribution Not true! Necessary for having a tractable model

Checklist (II)

Be sure you present your results the best you can Tables Graphs

Do not forget to label the axes and the curves and to indicate the units

Checklist (III)

Use an equation editor for your equations Avoid

ax^2 + bx + c

All variables used in the text must be italicized The number n of disks in the array

The conclusion

Should summarize the results of the paper Overlaps with abstract

Often written in perfect tense Research papers often include directions for future

work Many people read the conclusion first before

deciding if the whole paper is worth their time Make it informative

The list of references (I)

Normally appears as an unnumbered section Very important part of paper

indication of good scholarship Format obeys to strict conventions

another indication of good scholarship Take it very seriously

The list of references (II)

Always cite papers describing “pioneering work” First paper on broadcasting for video-on-

demand was by Viswanathan and Imielinski Must be cited even though much better

techniques have been devised In case of doubt, cite the papers that other

people cite

Writing the paper (I)

Avoid the passive voice BAD:

Three different block sizes were selected for our experiments

BETTER:We selected three different block sizes for our experiments

Writing the paper (II)

Use short sentences Uses figures whenever it helps

You can borrow figures as long as you acknowledge your source

Figure 9. A page table (from [9])

where [9] is a reference to a paper you cite

Tables and figures (I)

Tables have titles that are above the table

Tables and figures (II)

Figures have captions below them

Make your table titles and figure captions as self-explanatory as possible Many readers will look at the tables and

figures before reading the text

Other rules to follow (I)

Spell numbers at the beginning of a sentence

BAD:52 % of the observations …

BETTER:Fifty-two percent of the observations…

Other rules to follow (II)

AWFUL:3 different block sizes were selected …

BAD:Three different block sizes were selected …

BETTER:We selected three different block sizes …

Other rules to follow (III)

Spell out percent everywhere in your text

BAD:We observed a 20% increase

BETTER:We observed a 20 percent increase

Other rules to follow (IV)

It’s is not a possessive BAD:

It’s main disadvantage BETTER:

Its main disadvantage It’s is a contracted form of “ it is” Most good writers avoid these forms in

scientific papers and reports: you’re, can’t

A last word

Good writing is a craft You must exercise it to become better at it

Good writing takes time and effort Will become more enjoyable as you

progress