research paper writing guide

How to Write/Review a Research Paper

BPT Group Winter Semester 2011/2012

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Contents

§  Recommended reading & acknowledgments §  Scientific paper goals §  Document preparation systems §  Paper structure §  Related research §  Paper style Do’s and Dont’s §  Reviewing

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Acknowledgements

Prof. Dr. Jan Mendling Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

www.mendling.com

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Recommended Reading (I)

Ad Lagendijk Survival Guide for Scientists Writing - Presentation – Email

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Recommended Reading (II)

William Zinsser On Writing Well

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Recommended Reading (III)

William I. Strunk, E. B. White The Elements of Style

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Contents


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Paper Goals

The primary goals of a scientific paper are: §  maximize the number of readers

§  minimize the time to read your paper

§  maximize the fraction of satisfied readers

§  maximize the number of citations the paper will get

Make life easy and pleasant for your reader

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Plagiarism

Plagiarism is „the wrongful appropriation, close imitation, or purloining and publication, of another author's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions, and the representation of them as one's own original work”. „within academia … plagiarism is considered academic dishonesty … punished by sanctions ranging from suspension to termination, along with the loss of credibility and integrity”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plagiarism, accessed 10.5.11

http://de.guttenplag.wikia.com/wiki/GuttenPlag_Wiki

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Plagiarism

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Contents


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Document Preparation Systems

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LaTeX References

Miktex distribution of Latex www.miktex.org

Latex editor WinEdt

www.winedt.com

Latex editor TeXnicCenter www.texniccenter.org

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Springer LNCS Template

LNCS templates and instructions for: §  Word §  LaTeX

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

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Springer LNCS Template

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Contents


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Paper 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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Paper Title Examples

§  Symbolic Execution of Acyclic Workflow Graphs §  Structuring Acyclic Process Models

§  A Fresh Look at Precision in Process Conformance

§  BPM in Practice: Who Is Doing What?

§  How Novices Model Business Processes

BPM 2010 Proceedings

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Abstract

§  Reflects the main story of the paper §  Explains the findings and main conclusions

§  No citations, tables, graphs, equations

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Paper Structure §  Introduction §  Background §  Elaboration of Contribution §  Related Research §  Conclusion §  References

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Paper Structure: Introduction Introduction

§  Problem motivation §  Contribution outline §  Paper structure §  Funnel principle

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Paper Structure: Background Background

Preliminaries (optional) Illustration (optional) Example (optional)

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Paper Structure: Conclusion Conclusion

Summary Limitations Future research

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Contents


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How to learn about related work?

Watch the grass grow Chase for trophy

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Chase for Trophy

You are about to write a paper You want to clarify the contribution

You want to assure that you don’t re-invent the wheel You want to appreciate the work of your colleagues

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Where do you want to publish?

Who publishes in this journal or conference series? What topics are published there?

Who is in the program committee or editorial board? What concepts is the audience familiar with?

Your audience is irritated when you do not relate to seminal work in the respective area.

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How to Search

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Watch the Grass Grow

§  You work on a set of research topics §  You want to keep up with recent developments

§  You want to learn what others work on §  You want to plan your future contributions

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Which outlet matters to me?

§  Which journals do relate to my work? §  Which conferences do relate to my work?

§  Which communities and special interest groups are related to my work?

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Subscribe to Mailing Lists

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Identify Conferences and Journals

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Quality Indicators (I)

How is the publication ranked according to: §  ISI Web of Knowledge

§  AIS Journal Ranking

§  CORE.edu.au

§  WKWI Ranking (http://www.wirtschaftsinformatik.de/pdf/wi2008_2_155-163_mitteilg-wkwi.pdf)

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Quality Indicators (II)

What is the reputation of the author? §  How many papers and books has s/he

published?

§  How often is s/he member of program committees?

How reputable is the paper itself?

§  How often is it cited?

§  How well is the contribution elaborated?

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Writing the Related Work Section

§  Organize the section according to topics

§  Discuss, don’t just list related work

§  Don’t exaggerate differences

§  Explain how your work complements the work of others

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Related Work Checklist

§  What is my contribution? §  How does my work relate to other contributions?

§  Have I checked the major outlets? §  What is my audience familiar with?

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Contents


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General Do‘s and Don‘ts (I)

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.

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General Do‘s and Don‘ts (II)

Abstract: Write the abstract last

Introduction: Use the intro to describe the field

Conclusion: A conclusion is not a summary. Sum up what you have found, not what you have done.

References: Citing papers that are not in English is futile

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General Do‘s and Don‘ts (III)

Absolute statements: Always relate to units

Highlighting: no exclamation mark, use italic

Abbreviations: Do not introduce new abbreviations

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General Do‘s and Don‘ts (IV)

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

§  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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Figures

§  Be aware of printing resolutions §  Papers are usually printed in black and white

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Terminology

§  Introduce a term before use §  Consistent use of terms

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Spelling

Consistency consistent spelling throughout the text

–  English spelling is different from American

–  use only one sort all over the text

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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Talk vs. Paper

What's in a paper?

Evidence

Detail

Proof

Definitions

Formalizations

Statistics

What's in a talk?

Illustration

Visualization

Translation

Animation

Exaggeration

Provocation

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Contents


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Review’s Goal

§  Evaluate the paper quality §  Help the author to improve

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Review’s Format

1 page… … of prose … … with a verdict

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Structure of a Review

§  Contribution summary (1 paragraph) §  Contribution discussion (1 paragraph) §  Paper structure §  The use of figures and tables §  The use of references §  English language §  Verdict (summarizing paragraph)

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Contribution Discussion

§  Flaws §  Feasibility of limitations and assumptions

Support your argumentation with

§  facts

§  reasoning

§  related work references

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Reviewing: Verdict

Conference Strong Accept Weak Accept

Borderline Weak Reject Strong Reject

Seminar 1.0 … … …

5.0

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Questions

? ? ? ? ? ?

research paper writing guide

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