How to write a BPM conference paper?
Transcript of How to write a BPM conference paper?
How to write a BPM Conference paper?
Jan Mendling and Hajo A. Reijers
The presenters
Dumas et al. 2013
Agenda
1. How to find a good topic? by Hajo
2. How to position the work? by Jan
3. How to evaluate the contribution? by Jan
4. How to present and write? by Hajo
How to find a good topic?
Hajo Reijers
Opportunities: • Setting of cooperative work
Limitations: • Size • Review process
IT Artefact?
Not an effective strategy
Sorting out paper ideas
“Round” story Fresh approach to
identified problem A fresh problem with a
not-so-bad solution
A structured literature review
The theory of everything A (purely) conceptual
story A marginal improvement
More promising Less promising
Weighing your chances..
Originality Technical quality
Contribution Clarity
Add up
A check-list for your topic
Does it match an interesting problem? Do you know the related work? Do you have a contribution? Can you show for it? Can you explain all this in 16 pages, LNCS-style?
How to position the work?
Jan Mendling
AIDA is everywhere
AIDA in Marketing
Wikipedia 2015
Four-Paragraph-Intro (FPI)
Paragraph 1
Create Attention for Topic: Explain context of study
Refer to taxonomy if available
Paragraph 2
Explain Desire to Know: Explain focus of study
Clarify research gap
Paragraph 3
Provoke Intention to Read: Explain contribution
Clarify relevance of results
Paragraph 4
Define Action: Guide reading
Describe steps of the argument
Example from BPM 2015 – P1
Bala et al. 2015
Example from BPM 2015 – P2
Bala et al. 2015
Example from BPM 2015 – P3
Bala et al. 2015
Example from BPM 2015 – P4
Bala et al. 2015
How to evaluate the contribution?
Jan Mendling
What is the Claim?
Gregor, Hevner 2013
Improvement: Compare with best Alternatives
Gregor, Hevner 2013
Exaptation: Show that it works
Gregor, Hevner 2013
Invention: Start a Business
Gregor, Hevner 2013
Discussion on State of the Field
Formalisms
Des
ign
Behaviour
mathematical formulae, algorithms, lemmata, logical proofs
Discussion on State of the Field
Formalisms
Des
ign
Behaviour
socio-technical phenomena grounded in social, psychological or cognitive theory. Hypotheses deducted and tested using forms of empirical inquiry.
How to evaluate
Gauch 2003
Findings on State of the Field
Behaviour
1. Experiment Standards from Empirical Software Engineering (ESE)
2. Survey Standards from Information Systems (IS)
3. Case Study Standards from IS and ESE
4. Standards on Systematic Literature Reviews from Software Engineering
Recker, Mendling 2015
Discussion on State of the Field
Formalisms
Des
ign
Behaviour
New ways of solving socio-technical problems, formulating means-ends relationship, application demonstrated in order to support that certain end is achieved in a better way.
Hypotheses and Measurement
Sanders 2009
How to present and write?
Hajo Reijers
How to write?
The primary goals of a scientific paper are: To maximize the number of readers To minimize the time to read it To maximize the fraction of satisfied readers To maximize the number of citations the paper will get
Therefore: Make life easy and pleasant for your reader Lagendijk: Survival Guide for Scientists. Amsterdam University Press, 2008.
37 Lagendijk 2008
The reviewer’s perspective
General Do‘s and Don‘ts
Paragraphs: A paragraph containing more than 10 sentences is too long, 2 sentences too short Spaghetti:
Do not continuously refer to earlier pages Structure:
Do not surprise reader with original structure Length of Sentences:
Try to keep sentences short. Replace dependent clause (which, that) with sentence.
39 Lagendijk 2008
General Do‘s and Don‘ts II
Abstract: Write the abstract last Introduction:
Use the intro to describe the field, your specific question and the outline Conclusion:
A conclusion is not a summary. Sum up what you have found, not what you have done. References:
Citing papers that are not English is futile
40 Lagendijk 2008
General Do‘s and Don‘ts III
Implications: Do not use „this means“, rather „this observation implies“ That and which:
If you can put a comma before that, it must be which Absolute statements:
Always relate to units Highlighting:
no exclamation mark, use italic Abbreviations:
Do not introduce new abbreviations
41 Lagendijk 2008
Stick strickly to the template
LNCS Templates and Instructions: http://www.springer.com/computer/lncs?SGWID=0-164-7-72376-0
Templates for Word Latex FrameMaker
Ignore at your peril: Convey that you do not really care Convey that you are a lousy planner Convey that the paper is sent out
everywhere
On writing
“Almost without exception, good writers read widely and frequently. By osmosis, they learn from the reading an incalcuble amount about vocabulary, spelling, punctuation, style, rhythm, tone, and other crucial writing matters.”
Final words
Keep on sending in your good work There is an element of randomness
Nonetheless, you can improve your chances: Select a good topic Position your work well Evaluate, evaluate, evaluate (substantiate your claims) Write clearly
References
Bala, S., Cabanillas, C., Mendling, J., Rogge-Solti, A., Polleres, A. (2015): Mining Project-Oriented Business Processes. BPM 2015: pp.425-440.
Dumas, M., La Rosa, M., Mendling, J., Reijers, H.A. (2013): Fundamentals of Business Process Management. Springer-Verlag.
Gauch, H.G. (2002): The Scientific Method in Practice. Cambridge University Press. Gregor, S., Hevner, A. (2013): Positioning and Presenting Design Science Research
for Maximum Impact, MIS Quarterly 37(2), pp.337-355. Lagendijk, A. (2008): Survival Guide for Scientists: Writing-Presentation-E-mail.
Amsterdam University Press. Recker, J., Mendling, J. (2015): The State-of-the-Art of Business Process
Management Research as Published in the BPM conference: Recommendations for Progressing the Field. Business & Information Systems Engineering, accepted for publication.
Sanders, P. (2009): Algorithm engineering–an attempt at a definition. Efficient Algorithms. Springer-Verlag. pp.321-340.
Wikipedia (2015): AIDA (Marketing). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIDA_%28marketing%29.
Yagoda, B. (2013): How to Not Write Bad: The Most Common Writing Problems and the Best Ways to Avoid Them. Riverhead Books.