How to Write a CS Paper - Purdue University

HowtoWriteaCSPaper

VoicuPopescu

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Overview

•  AlectureonhowtowriteCSresearchpapers•  Asystema<capproach—arecipe,aformula,analgorithm

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Mo<va<on

•  Wri<ngapaperisdifficult– Complextopic– Newresults

•  Paperwri<ngrarelytaughtexplicitlyingraduateschool– Learnedbyreadingpapers– Learnedthroughpainfultrialanderror

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Misconcep<onsaboutpaperwri<ng

•  “Wri%ngapapertakesacoupleofhours”–  No.Ittakesanexperiencedwriteraweekw/sleepand36hw/osleeptowriteapaper.

•  “Wri%ngapapertakesliterarytalent”–  No.Keeppoetryandmetaphorsoutofthepaper.

•  “Wri%ngapaperisamysterious,amorphousprocess”–  No.Thereisamethodforwri<ngpapers.

•  “Englishproofreadingservicescanfixapoorlywri?enpaper”–  No.Englishproofreadingfixeslanguageproblems,notexposi<onproblems.

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Whentostartwri<ng

•  Op<on1:onceyouhaveproofofconcept– Pro:plentyof<meavailableforwri<ng– Con:notallresultsavailable,wri<nghastoan<cipateresults,wri<ngcannotaccuratelyemphasizestrengthsdemonstratedinresults

– Recommendedforconferencesubmissions,andfornovicewriters

– Mightrequireasecondwri<ngpass(i.e.amajorrevision)tofinetunepapertofinalresults

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Whentostartwri<ng

•  Op<on2:onceallresultsareobtained– Pro:wri<ngreflectsresultswithhighfidelity,includinginabstractandinintroduc<on

– Con:li]le<meavailableforwri<ng,duetoimminent(conference)deadline

– Recommendedforconferencesubmissionsforexperiencedwriters,andforjournalsubmissions(noharddeadline)

– Warning:canleadtosubmissiondelays

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Forma_ng

•  Usetemplateprovidedbytargetedvenue– Word– LaTex

•  Formatfromthebeginning– Accuratees<mateofpaperlength– Avoidsforma_ngnightmaresclosetothedeadline

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Tellastory

•  Awellwri]enpapertellsastory•  Thestoryhasto–  flowfromthe“introduc<on”sec<onallthewaytothe“conclusionsandfuturework”sec<on

–  beeasytoread–  beexci<ng–  clearlystatecontribu<ons–  notoverstatecontribu<ons–  providesufficientdetailforreproducibility–  notfollowthework<melinepropor<onally

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Tellastory

•  Thestoryhasto–  reiterateimportantpoints(<tle,abstract,introduc<on,method,andconclusions)withoutbeingrepe<<ve

– beconsistent,nocontradic<ons– containnoambigui<es;no“would”,“could”,“should”,“might”;everythingdescribedoutsidethefutureworksec<onshouldhavebeenactuallyimplemented;nospecula<ons

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Figures

•  Wheneversomethingishardtodescribe,useafigure(i.e.diagram,image,graph)

•  Haveenoughfigures,withdetailedcap<ons–  Someonelookingonlyatfiguresshouldgetthemainideaofthepaper

•  Figuresshouldbeofveryhighquality– Useprofessionalsogware,e.g.Visio–  Bepreparedtoinvest<me(mul<plehours,revisions)–  Startwithcanvasoffinalsize–  8ptfontinthefinalpaperlayout(noscaling)

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Philosophy

•  Yourmethodisassumedtobebadun<lyouprovethatitisgood

•  Yourpaperisassumedtoberejectedun<lyouproveithastobeaccepted

•  Itisnotenoughtonotprovidegoodreasonsforthepapertoberejected

•  Youhavetoprovidegoodreasonsforthepapertobeaccepted

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Papercomponents•  Title•  Authorslist•  Abstract•  Keywords•  Introduc<on•  Priorwork•  Methodoverview•  Methoddetails1•  Methoddetails2•  …

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•  Resultsanddiscussion

•  Conclusionsandfuturework

•  Acknowledgments•  References•  Appendices•  Video

Title•  Important

–  Firstthingareadersees–  Togetherwithabstractandkeywordsusedtodecidereviewers

•  Desiredquali<es–  Informa<ve–  Accurate–  Nottoolong–  Catchy,easytoremember,impressive

•  Forma_ng–  Capitalizeeverywordexceptforpreposi<ons–  “Reflected-SceneImpostorsforRealis<cReflec<onsatInterac<veRates”

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Titlearchitecture•  Mostfrequently– Nickname:New-ThingforWhat

•  “TheWarpEngine:AnArchitectureforthePost-PolygonalAge”

•  “GEARS:AGeneralandEfficientAlgorithmforRenderingShadows”

– New-ThingforWhat•  “Simplifica<onofNodePosi<onDataforInterac<veVisualiza<onofDynamicDatasets”

•  “Reflected-SceneImpostorsforRealis<cReflec<onsatInterac<veRates”

– Whatby(using)New-Thing•  “CADVisualiza<onbyOutsourcing”

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Titlearchitecture

•  New-Thing– Anewparadigm;radicallynewapproachtosolvingaproblemorsetofproblems

–  “ForwardRasteriza<on”–  “CameraModelDesign”

•  What– Abreakthrough:finallyasolu<ontoalongstandingproblem

–  “EfficientLarge-ScaleAcquisi<onofBuildingInteriors”

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Authorslist•  Typicallysortedoncontribu<on–  Rarelydonealphabe<cally(inourfield)

•  Firstauthorshould– Understandalltheworkreportedinpaper–  Beabletopresentthepaper–  Knowhoweveryaspectofthemethodworks

•  Collaboratorstoinclude– Anyonewhohascontributedasignificantidea–  Thisleavesoutthosewhosecontribu<onisexclusivelyintheimplementa<on,inmakingfigures,orincollec<ngdata(theygoinacknowledgmentsec<on)

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Abstract•  Thelongertypeofabstract–  Twoparagraphs–  Firstparagraph

•  Problem•  Problemimportance•  Whyproblemisdifficult•  Limita<onsofstateoftheart

–  Secondparagraph•  Briefdescrip<onofmethodcontributedbypaper•  Methodscope(i.e.inputforwhichitworks,assump<ons)•  Briefdescrip<onofmethodevalua<on•  Resultshighlights

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Abstract

•  Theshortertypeofabstract–  Justthesecondparagraphofthelongertype

•  Briefdescrip<onofmethodcontributedbypaper•  Methodscope(i.e.inputforwhichitworks,assump<ons)•  Briefdescrip<onofmethodevalua<on•  Resultshighlights

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Abstract

•  Lengthofabstractisusuallyregulated•  Abstractsareexpectedtobedense– Startfromsomethingtwiceaslongandcondense– Tip:youcouldwritetheintroduc<onfirstandthencondensethatintoanabstract

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Keywords

•  Usedtodeterminereviewers•  Usedforreaderstofindyourpaperinfuture•  Someconferences/organiza<ons(e.g.ACM)providelisttochoosefrom– Choosecarefully– Addyourownifatallpossible

•  Sortbasedongenerality– Usuallyascendingorder

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Introduc<on

•  Themostimportantpartofthepaper– Ogentheonlypartofthepaperareader/reviewerwillreadcloselyfrombeginningtoend

– Manyreviewersdecideonacceptancebytheendoftheintroduc<onandusetheothersec<onsasasourceofevidencefortheirdecision

– Bepreparedtospendalong<mewri<ngit(oneday)andrevisingtheintroduc<on(throughoutthewri<ngprocess)

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Introduc<onformula

•  Fiveplustwoparagraphs•  Togetherwith<tle,teaserfigure,authorlist,keywords,abstractshouldcoveratmostthefirsttwopagesofpaper.

•  Paragraph1– Problem– Problemimportance

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Introduc<onformula

•  Paragraph2– Whyisproblemhard?– Summaryofpriorworkapproachesandoftheirshortcomings•  OKtohavereferences•  Iprefernottohavereferences

–  Askreader/reviewertoextendtheirtrustun<lpriorworksec<onwhereallpriorworkclaimsarebackedupwithreferences

–  Thisallowsreader/reviewertofocusonstory

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Introduc<onformula

•  Paragraph3– Detailsonshortcomingsofpriorartthattakesimilarapproachastakenbypresentpaper

– Whataretheproblemsthatneedtobesolved,fortheapproachtosucceed?

– Thisshouldleadtoinsightthatcreatedmethoddescribedincurrentpaper.Clearlyunderstandingtheproblem,indetail,leadstoinspira<on,togoodidea.

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Introduc<onformula

•  Paragraph4–  Introducemethodpresentedbypaper– Startwith“insight”,“inspira<on”,“keyobserva<on”

– Noimplementa<ondetails,justhighlevelideasandconceptsused

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Introduc<onformula

•  Paragraph5– Summaryofexampleswheremethodwastested– Summaryofresults–  Ifyouhaveanaccompanyingvideo,men<onitexplicitly—otherwisereviewersmightmissthevideo!

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Introduc<onformula

•  Paragraph6(op<onal)–  Listofcontribu<ons–  Atleasttwo,atmostthree,bulletsrecommended–  Simplifiesreviewer’sjobfindingthecontribu<ons(theyareaskedbythereviewformtolistcontribu<ons)

– Wellwri]enparagraphs4and5couldmakethisparagraphunnecessary

–  Reviewerscouldbeannoyedbythelistofcontribu<ons•  contribu<onsofawellwri]enstrongpaperareself-evident•  explicitlistofcontribu<onscanbeinterpretedasana]empttomanipulatereviewers

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Introduc<onformula

•  Paragraph7(op<onal)– Paperorganiza<on(listsec<on<tlesandwhateachsec<ondoes)

– Moreusefulwhentherearemul<ple“methoddetails”sec<on(i.e.longerpapers)

– Usuallyomi]edforshorterpapers

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Priorwork

•  Oneofthemostboringsec<onstoareader– Typicallyverypoorlywri]en

•  Priorworksec<onshouldbe– Wellorganized– Comprehensive– Relevanttopaperathand– Fair

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Priorwork

•  Convincereviewersthatareexpertintheareathatyoutooareanexpertinthearea

•  Helpreviewersoutsidetheareacatchuponthestateoftheart

•  Nothingworsethanapoorlywri]enpriorworksec<on– Noknowledgeofpriorwork– Nounderstandingofpriorwork– Nogooddelimita<onofthecontribu<onsofthecurrentpaper

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Annotatedbibliography•  Youwriteali]lebitofthepriorworksec<onevery<me

youreadapaper–  Collectanannotatedbibliography–  Foreverypaperyouread

•  Collectthecita<on•  Writeasummaryparagraph•  Writeastrengthsparagraph•  Writeaweaknesses/limita<onsparagraph

–  Theannotatedbibliographywillbeaninvaluablehelpwhenwri<ngpriorworksec<ons,yourthesis,etc.

•  Startfromrecentmajorconferencesandvenues•  Takeonestepback(i.e.lookattheirreferences)•  Takeseveralstepsbackforthemostrelevantwork

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Priorwork•  Organizepriorworksec<ononapproaches

–  Defineeachapproach–  Citeearly,recent,andbestknownpaperforeachapproach–  Foreachpapercitedwriteasentence

•  Onwhatitdoes•  Anotheroneonwhatitexcelsat•  Andanotheroneonitsshortcomings

•  Endapproachdiscussionwithsummaryofstrengthsandweaknesses–  Ifyourpapertakesdifferentapproach,contrastapproaches–  Ifyourpapertakessameapproach,contrastyourmethodwithothermethodsintheapproach

–  Devotemorespacetotheapproachtowhichyourmethodbelongs

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Priorwork

•  Donotreusepriorworkfromotherpapers–  Priorworksec<onshouldbedesignedanddetailedforthepresentpaper

•  Priorworksec<onshouldbeaboutonepage–  Youneverlosepointsfortoomanyreferences–  Youcanlosepointsifreferencesarenotenough–  However,thetotallengthofthepaperhastobecommensuratetocontribu<on

–  Priorworkcanbecondensed–  Donotuseareferenceasanoun

•  “[2]describesamethod”,“sameapproachasin[2]”areincorrect

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Overview

•  Givesahigh-levelviewofyouren<remethod•  Useadiagram–  Blocksforthevariousstagesofyourmethod– Arrowsindica<ngthedataflow–  Labelarrowswiththetypeofdata

•  Useapseudocodedescrip<onofthemainstepsofyouralgorithm

•  Eachstageorstepislaterdescribedinasec<on–  Refertothefuturesec<on

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Overview

•  Givesreviewersessen<alhelp– Reviewersvolunteertheir<me– Youareresponsibleformakingtheirjobaseasyaspossible

– Donotexpectreviewerstospendhoursandhourstryingtomakesenseofyourpoorlywri]enpaper

– Reviewerswillsimplysayinthereview:“ItriedbutIcouldnotunderstandthepaper,andIamanexpertinthearea;whatchancesdoesaregularreaderhave?”

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Methoddetailsk•  Thesesec<onsaretheeasiestonestowrite–  It’syourwork,it’swhatyoudid,youknowitalltoowell

–  Youlovewhatyoudid,andyoucan’twaittotellpeopleaboutit

•  Levelofdetail–  Sufficientforaskilledgraduatestudenttoreproduceyourwork

– Notoverlyverbose—conciseandtothepoint– Noinnova<onshouldbelegunexplained– Nosimpleimplementa<ondetailsshouldbeprovided

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Methoddetailsk

•  Usereferenceswhenyouuseanexis<ngtool– Makesureyouexplainwhatthealgorithm/tooldoes

– OKtosummarize(inonesentence)howthetooldoesittomakepaperselfcontained

•  Usefigures•  Usepresenttense

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Methoddetailsk

•  Remember,donotuse“can,could,should,would”– Nothingworsethangivingtherevieweranuneasyfeelingthatsomeoftheworkdescribedisonlyproposedandthatitwasnotactuallydone

•  Donotoveruse“very”,“highly”,theyendupweakeningwhatisclaimed– E.g.“veryaccurate”islessaccuratethan“accurate”

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Methoddetailsk

•  Double-blindreview– Youcannotdiscloseyouriden<ty– OKtoreferenceyourpriorwork– Usethirdperson

•  “theydidthisandthat”not“wedidthisandthat”– Donotinclude10referencestoyourwork

•  Itwillamounttoablatantdisclosureofyouriden<ty

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Resultsanddiscussion

•  Youtalkedthetalk,nowyouwalkthewalk•  Everythingyoupromisedhastobesubstan<atedbyresults– Highqualityshouldbesupportedbyhighquality–  Interac<veratesshouldbesupportedbyinterac<verates

– Overcomingshortcomingsofpriorartshouldbesupportedbyafavorablecomparisontopriorart

– Anydiscrepancysubstan<allyweakensthepaper

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Results

•  Firstparagraphs– Describeapplica<onsandsceneswhereyoutestedyourmethod

– Describemachinesonwhichyoucollected<minginforma<on

•  Subsec<on1:quality•  Subsec<on2:performance•  Subsec<on3:comparisontopriorart•  Subsec<on4:limita<ons

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Resultsanddiscussion:quality

•  Provideevidenceastohowwellyourmethodworks

•  Ifyourmethodresortstoapproxima<on,resorttotruth

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Resultsanddiscussion:performance

•  Measureperformanceaccurately–  Relevantdatasets

•  Measureperformancethoroughly–  Iden<fyparametersaffec<ngperformanceandmeasureperformanceforvariousvalues

– Discussnumbersobtained;discussbestandworstcases

– Whenappropriatederiveasympto<ccostofyourmethod

•  Showperformancewithgraphsandtables

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Resultsanddiscussion:performance

•  Givesomeinforma<ononimplementa<on– Highlevel,donotgiveboringdetails– Getintodetailsonlyifyoudidsomethingverycleverthatbroughtalotofperformancegain

•  Remember– Paperdoesnotcoverlinearlytheworkyouputin– Thingsthattookmonthstoimplementmightnotevenbemen<oned

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Resultsanddiscussion:comparisontopriorart

•  Trytofindimplementa<onsofmostprominentpriorartmethods–  Itsavesyouhavingtoimplementthem–  Itbringsmorecredibilitytothecomparison–  Askauthorsiftheyarewillingtosharetheircode

•  Showqualityandperformancedifferences–  Conductathoroughanalysis–  Donotavoidcaseswhereyourmethoddoesn’tdosowell–  Performanceanalysisforsamequality–  Qualityanalysisforsameperformance

•  Discussthecomparison–  Explainthedifferences–  Explainthetradeoffs—e.g.morespeed,lessquality

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Resultsanddiscussion:limita<ons

•  Reviewershavetolistthelimita<onsofyourmethod•  Astrongpaperisexpectedtoself-reportitslimita<ons•  Fundamentallimita<ons,whichyoumightinheritfromthegeneral“approach”taken,andsayso

•  Limita<onsspecifictoyourmethod,explainwhatyougainforthoselimita<ons,i.e.thetradeoff

•  Beunapologe<c—yourmethodworksforsometypesofinput,andit’sOKthatforsomeitdoesnot

•  Explainhowsomelimita<onsmightberemovedthroughfuturework

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Conclusionsandfuturework

•  Closingargumentsindefenseofyourpaper–  Closingstatement.Thelast<meyoutalktoreviewers–  Remindthemhowgoodyourpaperis

•  Stateonemore<meverysuccinctlywhatthemethoddoes–  Emphasizethestrengths–  Emphasizethedifferencetopriorart

•  Summarizethecomparisontopriorartonemore<me

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Conclusionsandfuturework

•  Sketchdirec<onsforfuturework– Shorttermfixesandextensionswerealreadymen<onedinthelimita<onssubsec<on

– Donotmakeitsoundlike“paperisincomplete,butacceptthepaperplease,andwepromisewewilldoallthesethings”

– Thinkbigandthinkfarintothefuture•  Bigimprovements•  Applica<onsofmethodtonewcontexts

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Acknowledgments

•  Withheldfordouble-blindreviews•  Acknowledgeallwhohelped,indecreasingorderofcontribu<on

•  Acknowledgeyourgroup•  Acknowledgeyoursponsors

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References

•  Formatwell•  Donotincludereferencesnotusedinpaper•  Includeallreferencesusedinpaper•  Sortaccordingtoinstruc<ons(appearance,alphabe<cally)

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Appendices

•  Putinanappendixtextthatisnotessen<altotheexposi<on– Proofs– Addi<onalresultstables– Commentsfromusers– Ques<onnaireusedinuserstudy

•  Donotputinanappendixanythingthatyouwanttomakesureareviewerreads

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Video•  Typicalbutnotuniquetographicspapers•  Alotofaddi<onalwork•  Itcantakeaslongaswri<ngthepaper•  Videoandpaperneedtobeconsistent–  Emphasis– Methoddescrip<on–  Resultillustra<on

•  Title,introduc<on,andresultsofpaperononehandandvideoontheotherhandarestronglyinterdependent

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Video

•  Length– Atmostfiveminutes– Someconferenceshavelimits,usually5min– Reviewerslosepa<ence– 5minareenoughtomakeyourpoint

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Shortvideo

•  Videocomponents– Bestresults

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Mediumvideo

•  Videocomponents– Split-screentwo-waycomparisonbetweenmethodandpriorart

– Or,split-screentwo-waycomparisonbetweenmethodandtruth

– Addi<onalexamplesofmethod

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Longvideo•  Videocomponents–  Limita<onsofpriorart–  Previewofbestresults–  Illustra<onofproposedmethod–  Split-screentwo-waycomparisonbetweenmethodandpriorart

–  Split-screentwo-waycomparisonbetweenmethodandtruth

–  OrSplit-screenthree-waycomparisonbetweenpriorart,method,andtruth

–  Addi<onalexamples–  Conclusion

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Video

•  It’snotanac<onmovie!–  Camerashouldmoveveryslowly,andevenslowerinthecaseofsplitscreens

–  Thesequencesshouldbeaslongaspossible–  Gobackandforthseveral<mestomakeimportantpoints–  Putaredboxaroundanimportantdetailyouwanttomakesuretheviewersees

•  Forreal-<memethodsincludeareal-<mesequence–  Sidebysidecomparisonsshouldbedonefroms<llsforperfectsynch

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Video

•  Audiovoiceoverisessen<al– Videoisdifficulttounderstandwithoutaudio– Useaudiotoguidetheviewer’sa]en<ontothemostimportantquali<esofyourmethod

– Audiohastobewellsynchronizedtovideo•  Men<oningaconceptshouldslightlyprecedethevisualillustra<onoftheconcept

– Audioscriptshouldbewellalignedwithpaperintroduc<on,results,andconclusions

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Thankyou

•  Goodluckwithpaperwri<ng•  Iftheselectureswerehelpful,acknowledgemeinyourpaper!

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How to Write a CS Paper - Purdue University

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