How to write a research paper

Winter Semester 2009/2010

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Research article

A scientific or research article or paper is a technical (or essayistic?) document that describes a significant experimental, theoretical or observational extension of current knowledge, or advances in the practical application of known principles (O'Conner and Woodford, 1976).

reports on research findings that are not only sound (valid) and previously unpublished (original), but also add some new understanding, observation, proofs, i.e. potentially important information (Gordon, 1983).

Tomislav Hengl and Michael Gould, 2002. Rules of thumb for writing research articles.http://www.itc.nl/library/Papers/hengl_rules.pdf

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Tell a story

Every paper tells a story.

– What: what you want to find. The problem being solved

– Why: purpose and justification

– How: your approach

Write for reader, not for yourself

The ideas in the paper should be new, original

The ideas should be significant enough to justify a paper

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Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the “use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work. Within academia, plagiarism by students, professors, or researchers is considered academic dishonesty or academic fraud and offenders are subject to academic censure [...]“

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plagiarism

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Characteristics

Original ideas

Address reality

Provides lessons to be learned

Describes the context

Self contained

Focused

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Paper structure

Title

Abstract

Introduction

Related work

Main part

Conclusions

Acknowledgements

References

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Title

Indicates content and main discoveries

Attracts the reader’s attention

Should be simple (7-10 words)

Aims at specific audience

Should avoid complex grammar

Should be catchy

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Abstract

Reflects the main story of the research paper

Calls attention but without extra explanations

Short and concise sentences

No citations, tables, graphs, equations etc.

Explain what was done, what was found and what are the main conclusions

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Introduction

Introduces the topic and defines the terminology

Indicates the focus of the paper and research objectives

Do not present your results in the introduction

The first paragraph of the introduction is very important. To great extent determines whether a potential reader will stay away from the rest of the paper

Comprises justification and purpose

Motivation broadly, what is the problem area, why important

What is the problem you specifically consider

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Related Work

To help in understanding the field and the problem

Should be a separate section

Should be generous in citations

Your approach is not more interesting if you state that others have done it all wrong

Not necessary to cite every single paper

Compare your work with the state of the art

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Main part

The body of the text. Sections (chapters)

Describe in detail the findings and your contribution

Provide all explanations required by the reader to understand your work

Use tables, graphs and other types of illustrations

Use simple(st) examples to explain the methodology

Explains discrepancies and unexpected findings

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Conclusions

Answers research questions/objectives

States the importance of discovery and future implications

Results should not be recapitulated (no summary here), but sum up your findings

Strong statements should be made (avoid “it may be concluded…”)

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Acknowledgements

People, agencies and so forth that have provided some sort of help should be acknowledged

Forget nobody

Host institution doesn’t have to be mentioned, because it is already mentioned in the title section. No extra acknowledgement is required

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Reference list

list of related literature and information sources

Should be up to date

Cite the most accessible references

Cite primary sources rather than review papers

Self citation should not exceed 15% percent and should be done in a modest way

Avoid citing unpublished material

Not all references are equally good

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Rules

TAKE A READER'S VIEW: Write for your audience not for yourself.

TELL A STORY: Direct your research article but keep a clear focus in the paper and present only results that relate to it.

BE YOURSELF: Write like you speak and then revise and polish.

MAKE IT SIMPLE: Use simple(st) examples to explain complex methodology.

MAKE IT CONCRETE: Use concrete words and strong verbs, avoid noun clusters (more than three words), abstract and ambiguous words.

MAKE IT SHORT: Avoid redundancy, repetition and over-explanation of familiar techniques and terminology.

TAKE RESPONSIBILITY: Make a clear distinction between your work and that of others.

MAKE STRONG STATEMENTS: “We concluded...” instead of “It may be concluded...”

BE SELF-CRITICAL: Consider uncertainty of conclusions and their implications and acknowledge the work of others.

Tomislav Hengl and Michael Gould, 2002. Rules of thumb for writing research articles.

http://www.itc.nl/library/Papers/hengl_rules.pdf

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Paper Writing

• The working desk

• Footnotes

• Tables

• Figures

• English as a second language

– Grammar

– Text spelling

• Writing tips

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The working desk

Miktex distribution of Latex:http://miktex.org/

Latex editor WinEdt:http://www.winedt.com/

The Not So Short Introduction to LATEX2:

http://tobi.oetiker.ch/lshort/lshort.pdf

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Springer-Verlag's LNCS Template

http://www.springer.com/computer/lncs?SGWID=0-164-7-72376-0

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Organizing References

Some simple rules

Every figure, table, and reference gets a unique id number

Every citation in the text is included in the reference list and vice versa

Every figure and table needs to be referenced and described in the text

Latex generates lists and references automatically

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Footnotes

• don’t use for parenthetical comments. Important things must be put in the text

• Footnotes stop readers

• Footnotes should be used for things that the typical reader genuinely can skip

• Long lists of references, simple bits of algebra, or other type of documentation are a candidate for footnotes

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Tables

Tables should have a self-contained caption so that a skimming reader can understand the fact presented

Captions should not be too long

The content should be explained in the text

If some content is not worth explaining then don’t put in the table

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Figures

Good figures can make a paper come alive

Good figures communicate ideas, patterns in the data better than big tables of numbers

Bad chosen figures waste a lot of space

Captions are very important

Be aware of printing resolutions

Papers are usually printed in black and white

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English as a second language

Always strive to improve your English

Listen to English radio programs (i.e. BBC World Service)

Read high-quality intellectual magazines (i.e. New York Review of Books) or high quality literature

Watch English-spoken TV programs with subtitles

Practice English by speaking it

Finding help:

The Purdue Online Writing Lab - http://owl.english.purdue.edu/

Paul Brians’ complete website on Common Errors in English Usage

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Grammar

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, bold …

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Text spelling

Consistency: consistent spelling through out the text. English spelling is different from American i.e. defense versus defence

Hyphens: the use of hyphens should be consistent

Quotation marks: use only one sort all over the text

Full capital abbreviations: such as SOA = Software Oriented Architecture must be explained. Their meaning should be repeated in long texts

Conventional abbreviations: (i.e. Figure -> Fig.) check these with the journal style

Non-alphabetic characters: use and instead of &; at instead of @

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Writing tips

Use active tense

Avoid the usage of “we” in sole-authored paper

Take responsibility for what you write

Avoid technical jargon whenever possible

Writing should be concrete, not abstract

Don’t repeat things

Don’t use adjectives to describe your work: striking results

Clothe the naked “this”. “This shows that markets really are irrational…” / “This regression shows that …”

John H. Cochrane. Writing Tips for Ph. D. Students.

http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/john.cochrane/research/papers/phd_paper_writing.pdf

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Before submitting

Are proper tenses and voices used (active and passive)?

Are all equations mathematically correct and explained in the text?

Are all abbreviations explained?

Reconsider (avoid) using of words "very", "better", "may", "appears", "more", "convinced", "impression" in the text.

Are all abbreviations, measurement units, variables and techniques internationally recognized?

Are all figures/tables relevant and of good quality?

Are all figures, tables and equations listed and mentioned in the text?

Are all references relevant, up to date and accessible?

Tomislav Hengl and Michael Gould, 2002. Rules of thumb for writing research articles.

http://www.itc.nl/library/Papers/hengl_rules.pdf

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Additional reading

Ad Lagendijk, 2008. Survival Guide for Scientists: Writing - Presentation – Email. Amsterdam University Press.

ftp://fast.cs.utah.edu/pub/writing-papers.ps (20.11.2009)

http://www.itc.nl/library/Papers/hengl_rules.pdf (20.11.2009)

http://www-net.cs.umass.edu/kurose/talks/top_10_tips_for_writing_a_paper.ppt (20.11.2009)

http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~hgs/etc/writing-style.html (20.11.2009)