How to write and present Technical Papers

Suman Madan Astt. Prof. (IT)

back

Objective
At the end of this talk, you should be in a position to appreciate what formal writing style is, and how formal paper presentations are made.
The hidden motive:

Learning to Love & Inculcate The Technical Writing Skills

back

Or at least learning to do it well!

Getting Started

Finding a Topic Developing an Effective Research Question

back

Writing a paper is
Write about what you know
Whenever possible, seek out a research topic that interests you and that you care about. Whenever possible, seek out a research topic that interests you and that you care about. Aim to build on knowledge that you already have. If the topic is assigned, try to develop an angle that will interest you, then run the idea by your instructor.

back

Why writing a paper ?

Dissemination of results is a general requirement by the research funder. Exchange of knowledge and expertise with colleague scientists, locally and internationally. Used as instrument for evaluation of personnel. Career making (impact factors of journals !). Personal satisfaction. Etc.
back

What is a technical paper?

A brief and to-the-point document which describes a body of technical work There are many types of technical papers

Original research papers Survey papers Journal papers Conference papers Letters
back

Technical Writing Process

Writing

Revising

Editing

Reviewing

Publishing
back

Getting ready to write a paper

What type of paper am I writing? What do I wish to state? Have I got all the background work with me? Have I organized the paper? What electronic format will I use?

LaTeX, MS Word,
back

What is Plagiarism?
It is fine to bring the words and ideas of other writers into your paper.
However, when you do so, you must acknowledge your debt to the writers of these sources. If not, you are guilty of plagiarism, a serious academic offense.
back

Organizing a paper
Title of the paper Authors, designations, and addresses Abstract (100 to 150 words) Keywords Sections describing the work

Introduction (Background) Previous Work (Literature Survey) Proposed Work (Algorithm, Design, Methodology) Analysis (Complexity Analysis, Quantitative Analysis, Statistical Analysis, ) Implementation and Results Conclusions
back

10

What constitute a good title?

fewest possible words that adequately describe the contents of the paper
Interesting, concise, precise, not misleading, informative, descriptive, and appropriate for classification
Common errors: too short too long poor syntax
back

11

IMRAD
Abstract brief summary) Introduction What question was asked? Methods How was it studied? Results What was found? And Discussion What do the findings mean?
(
back

12

Abstract
Summary of your work Entices the reader to read on

Must bring out the novelty of your work

Must be brief (100 to 150 words)

back

13

Introduction
Introduction to the problem

Why is it worth solving? What did others do? Why did they not succeed? Why do I believe I did better? Is there anything new in the paper? How good are your results? Is your survey different from other available surveys?
back

Contribution of the paper

Introduction to the paper itself

14

Literature Survey
Brief description of the existing body of work Citations to published work

In [2], Rosetti and Longfellow described the meaning of life. Wordsworth presented a different view point in [3]

Bring out the specific advantage of your work w.r.t. published work.

However, the Rosetti-Longfellow formula [2] fails for technologies below 0.2 micron. In this paper, we extend their formula to the deep submicron domain.

back

15

Sections and Subsections

Organize each section into subsections and (possibly) sub-subsections 1. Introduction 1.1 Problem Description 1.1.1 Inductance Extraction 1.1.2 Transmission Line Models 1.2 Organization of the paper
In Section 2, we summarize the previous work in this area. In Section 3, we present a new algorithm for
back

16

Main body of work

Organize your work into sections and subsections.
3. New Algorithm for Graph Partitioning 3.1 Genetic Algorithm 3.2 Data Structures 3.2 Crossover Operator 3.3 Convergence Criterion

back

17

Analyze your work

This is my work
This is competitor's work

This is the best any one could ever get

back

18

Types of Analysis
Quantitative Analysis

Present numerical results: size of the chip, clock rating, power dissipation, Present tables: Run-time of your algorithm for several benchmark examples Present graphs: Chip Area Vs Clock Frequency Present improvement figures: Our optimization algorithm resulted in a 20% reduction in chip area for the sp292 benchmark circuit
back

19

Comparative Analysis
Comparing two different approaches to the same problem

Tabulate results for two different heuristics

Comparing the performance for two different parameters

Tabulate results for two different technologies/ voltage values/

back

20

Graphic Items
They say one picture is equal to 65,536 pixels
Include at least one or two graphic items

Figures

Pictures, Photographs, Algorithms, Plots

Tables

back

21

Figures and Tables

Number all the figures and tables Graphs are also shown as figures Provide captions for all figures and tables

Figure 3. Floorplan of the SONAR Chip

In Figure 3, we show the floorplan of the SONAR Chip as obtained using the MASON software [4].

Refer to each figure and table.

back

22

The Conclusions Section

State what was achieved in the paper Were you able to come to some definite conclusions?

We presented two algorithms, A1 and A2, for the floorplanning problem. Our experimental results indicate that A1 outperforms A2 in terms of solution quality, but requires about 100% more time than A2 in most cases.

Be frank about the limitations of your work Point out directions for further work
back

23

References
[1] A.V. Aho, D. Hopcroft, and J.D. Ullman. Design and Analysis of Algorithms, AddisonWesley, 1974. [2] C. Rosetti and H.W. Longfellow. Life and its Meaning, Proceedings of the 14th International Conference of the Dead Poets, 1999, 334-339. [3] W. Wordsworth. Daffodils, In Collected Poems of William Wordsworth, Ed. R. Roselin, Artech House, 1976.
back

24

Parts of a manuscript
Title Abstract Introduction Methods Results Discussion Acknowledgements References
back

25

Write in what order?

Title Abstract Introduction Methods Results Discussion Acknowledgements References
back

26

Things to consider before writing

1. Time to write the paper?
- has a significant advancement been made? - is the hypothesis straightforward? - did the experiments test the hypothesis? - are the controls appropriate and sufficient? - can you describe the study in 1 or 2 minutes? - can the key message be written in 1 or 2 sentences?

Those who have the most to say usually say it with the fewest words
back

27

Things to consider before writing

1. Time to write the paper?
- has a significant advancement been made? - is the hypothesis straightforward? - did the experiments test the hypothesis? - are the controls appropriate and sufficient? - can you describe the study in 1 or 2 minutes? - can the key message be written in 1 or 2 sentences?

2. Tables and figures

- must be clear and concise - should be self-explanatory

3. Read references
- will help in choosing journal - better insight into possible reviewers
back

28

Things to consider before writing

4. Choose journal
- study instructions to authors - think about possible reviewers - quality of journal impact factor

5. Tentative title and summary 6. Choose authors

back

29

Writing Style
Use simple sentences, unless you are comfortable writing complex and compound sentences Avoid repetition Make use of the grammar and spelling checker, but exercise caution Will a figure or table be able to say the same thing more effectively?

back

30

Presenting your work

Who is my audience? What is the purpose of my presentation? What should I talk about? How much time do I have? How many slides should I make? How should I handle questions? Rehearsals
back

31

Confucius says
I hear, and I forget. I see, and I remember. I do, and I understand.

The more you writethe more research papers you writethe easier writing will be and the better writer you will become.
This is the truth! Good luck!
back

32

Are you ready to start writing?

back

33