How To Write Scientific Papers
Hadi Susanto
Disclaimer
1. I am not a successful writer yet.
2. Workshops
p will never make us a good
g writer.
Practice will …
Why do we need this workshop anyway?
In need of writing skills …. But why? Perhaps for a historical reason?
1
Once upon a time …. Soliton
1834 J Scott-Russell (1808-1882)
Once upon a time ….
1834 J Scott-Russell observed barge on aqueduct
. . . a boat drawn along a narrow channel . . . suddenly stopped . . . the mass
of water in the channel . . . accumulated around the prow [and] rolled forward
with great velocity, assuming the form of a large solitary elevation, a rounded,
smooth heap of water, which continued its course along the channel [at 8 or 9
miles an hour for 1.5 miles] preserving its original feature some thirty feet
long and a foot and a half high . . .
Recreating Russell’s soliton in 1995
2
"Report on Waves": (Report of the fourteenth meeting of the British Association for the Advancement
of Science, York, September 1844 (London 1845), pp 311-390, Plates XLVII-LVII)
3
Solitons and nonlinear waves
1895 Korteweg & de Vries derived KdV equation
localized wave solution
KdV solitons
4
Disclaimer
1. I am not a successful writer yet.
2. Workshops
p will never make us a good
g writer.
Practice will …
Why do we need this workshop anyway?
In need of writing skills ….
10
5
Lack of writing skills ….
1. Tidak jjelas ((dalam menyampaikan
y p ide)) alias buram
2. Tidak menjual (dalam promosi hasil for impact) alias hambar
3. Padahal ….
11
The story of a paper
Here is a problem
!
I ’ an iinteresting
It’s i problem
bl
It’s an unsolved problem
Here is my idea
My idea works (details, data)
Here’ss how my idea compares to other
Here
people’s approaches
6
Structure: IMRAD
!
Introduction:
I t d ti : whath th hass b
been done?
d ? Wh
Why
did you do it?
Methods: how did you do it?
Results: what did you find?
and
Discussions & Conclusions: so what?
Sebelum lebih jauh …
Why should I do research?
Internal drive
Research
R h iinterest
t t ((sense of
f
achievement/fulfillment, curiosity)
Strong ambition (self-expectation)
External drive
Degree and diploma
Parents, teachers, friends
Peer pressure (sense of honor and responsibility)
Small success
14
7
Established researchers would say
y…
those are bad reasons!!!
15
Papers communicate ideas
Your goal: to infect the mind of your reader
with your idea,
idea like a virus
The greatest ideas
Th id are (literally)
(li ll )
worthless if you keep them to
yourself
8
Paper writing is teaching
It is useful to think that you are teaching
your reader your idea
What you did
Why it’s important
How it works
Well-written
Well written papers contribute more than
just their described results
Readers understand the topic better
Writing papers: model 1
Idea Do research Write paper
9
Writing papers: (provocative) model 2
Idea Do research Write paper
Idea Write paper Do research
Forces us to be clear, focused
Crystallises what we don’t
don t understand
Opens the way to dialogue with others:
reality check, critique, and collaboration
!
Idea Write paper Do research
20
10
Stage of writing
!
Multi-pass writing style:
1st pass: Detailed outline
2nd pass: Rapid writing
3rd pass: Fine Fine-tuning
4th pass: cross cross-reading
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Research Problem Selection
Good research largely depends on the selected
problem
90% of a research job is done when you find a good
problem.
A good problem is difficult to find
Not too easy nor too difficult
How to select a problem?
Is it an old problem or a new problem?
Usually, new problems have more opportunities
Is it a significant problem?
Practically important yet technically challenging
22
11
Read! Read! Read!
Type of Research Problems?
New solution to old problems (classical
problems)
New problems
New areas
23
One ping
Your paper should have just one “ping”: one
clear sharp idea
clear,
Read your paper again: can you hear the
“ping”?
You may not know exactly what the ping is
when you start writing; but you must know
when you finish
If you have lots of ideas, write lots of
papers
12
Structure: IMRAD
Title (1000 readers)
Abstract (4 po
points,
nts, 100
00 readers)
Introduction, problem & idea (100 readers)
Methods (10 readers)
Results (3 readers)
and
Di
Discussions
i & Conclusions
C l i (3 readers)
d )
The abstract
Should be brief, not assume too much,
and highlight items of importance
Four sentences [Kent Beck]
State the problem
Say why it’s an interesting problem
Say what your solution achieves
Say what follows from your solution
I usually write the abstract last
13
Structure: IMRAD
Title (1000 readers)
Abstract (4 po
points,
nts, 100
00 readers)
Introduction, problem & idea (100 readers)
Methods (10 readers)
Results (3 readers)
and
Di
Discussions
i & Conclusions
C l i (3 readers)
d )
The introduction
1) Describe the problem
What is the broader context?
What is the particular problem?
- Why is it interesting?
2) State your contributions
What is new? (novelty)
Why is it useful? (features of your solution)
How do you know? (evaluation)
Decide who will be your reader
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Literature review
Write the list of contributions first
(Google scholar, trace forward, trace backward)
The list of contributions drives the
entire paper: the paper substantiates the
claims you have made
Reader thinks “gosh, if they can really
deliver this, that’d be exciting. I’d better
read on
on”
Follows style of claim then evidence
More on this later
Related work
Fallacy To make my work look good, I
have to make other people’s
work look bad
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Be humble
Giving credit to others does not
di i i h th
diminish the credit
dit you gett f
from
your paper
Be generous to the competition. “In his
inspiring paper [Foo98] Foogle shows.... We
develop his foundation in the following ways...
ways ”
Be fair to your own work, too - acknowledge
limitations and justify your contributions
Credit is not like money
Failing
g to give
g credit to others
can kill your paper
If you imply that an idea is yours, and the
referee knows it is not, then either
You don’t know that it’s an old idea (bad)
You do know, but are pretending it’s yours
(very bad)
16
Structure: IMRAD
Title (1000 readers)
Abstract (4 po
points,
nts, 100
00 readers)
Introduction, problem & idea (100 readers)
Methods (10 readers)
Results (3 readers)
and
Di
Discussions
i & Conclusions
C l i (3 readers)
d )
The details: evidence
Your introduction makes claims
The b
Th body
d off the
h paper provides
id evidence
id
to support each claim
Check each claim in the introduction,
identify the evidence, and forward-
reference it from the claim
Evidence can be: analysis and comparison,
theorems, measurements, case studies
17
Structure: IMRAD
Title (1000 readers)
Abstract (4 po
points,
nts, 100
00 readers)
Introduction, problem & idea (100 readers)
Methods (10 readers)
Results (3 readers)
and
Di
Discussions
i & Conclusions
C l i (3 readers)
d )
Conclusions and further work
Be brief.
Share a glimpse of your future plans
18
Cross-reading
1. Tidak jelas (dalam menyampaikan ide)
2 Tidak
2. Tid k menjual
j l (dalam
(d l promosii h
hasil
il for
f iimpact)
t)
Bagaimana mengetahui dua hal di atas teratasi?
1. Metode ‘split personality’
2. Metode laci
3. Meminta bantuan
37
Summary
Tujuan akhir:
1. Jelas dalam menyampaikan ide
2. Menjual kerjaan kita dengan baik
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Questions?
39
Getting help
Get your paper read by as many
friendly guinea pigs as possible
Experts are good
Non-experts are also very good
Each reader can only read your paper for the
first time once! So use them carefullyy
Explain carefully what you want (“I got lost
here” is much more important than “Jarva is
mis-spelt”.)
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Getting expert help
A good plan: when you think you are done,
send the draft to the competition saying
“could you help me ensure that I describe
your work fairly?”.
Often they will respond with helpful
critique (they are interested in the area)
They are likely to be your referees anyway,
so getting their comments or criticism up
front is Jolly Good.
The process of submission
21
Listening to your reviewers
Treat every review like gold dust
B ((truly)
Be l ) grateful
f lf
for criticism
i i i as
well as praise
This is really, really, really hard
But it’s
really, really, really, really, really, really,
really, really, really, really
important
Listening to your reviewers
Read every criticism as a positive
suggestion f
for something
h you could
ld explain
l
more clearly
DO NOT respond “you stupid person, I
meant X”. Fix the paper so that X is
apparent
pp even to the stupidest
p reader.
Thank them warmly. They have given up
their time for you.
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Details
Basic stuff
Length of sentences
Keep to the length restrictions
Do not narrow the margins
Do not use 6pt font
On occasion, supply supporting evidence (e.g.
experimental data, or a written-out proof) in an
appendix
di
Always use a spell checker
Well prepared figures
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Writing Procedure
Carefully determine the paper title
Proper use of names and notations
Tell them what you are going to do, tell them
what you are doing, tell them what you have
done.
Motivation! Motivation! Motivation!
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Motivation! Motivation! Motivation!
The introduction is by far the most important section in the
entire p
paper,
p especially
p y for conferences.
Readers are always very busy.
If a reviewer can reject your paper without reading it all, it
saves time!
The introduction is the first section they read, so make sure
your paper does not get killed in Section 1.
“5 years ago I used to write the introduction last. Now it is
always the first section I write.”
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Strong Statements Are Dangerous…
Be very careful when you make strong statements about
some research issue: there are people that think otherwise.
Be especially careful when taking position on some hotly
debated topics in the community, like:
Supervised learning vs. non supervised learning
Parametric vs. non parametric
Statistical vs. analytical
Partitioned vs global multiprocessor scheduling
Hard real-time wireless
Testing vs static analysis
Etc. etc. etc.
Instead of saying “X is black”, say “X is usually black, but in
some cases that are not considered in this paper it is
white”.
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… But If You Are Confident, Go For It!
However, high impact papers are those that successfully
challenge existing preconceptions.
So do not be shy when you state the main contribution of
your paper!
If it is somehow controversial, you might have some troubles
getting the paper accepted at first, but it is well worth in term of
impact.
If it is not, you should still stress your contribution so the reviewer
gets more interested in the paper.
Just be sure to prove your point well enough; the
keyword here is “successfully challenge.”
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25
Criticize Your Writing in the Reviewer’s View
A main factor of your success is to know how others
think and feel
Reviewers’ mindset: “You are assumed guilty until
proven innocent”
Remind instead of assume, but don’t humiliate their
intelligence
Proper use of citation
Clearly and articulately indicate your contributions
Criticize yourself first, and leave reviewers no room for
further criticism
Remember, our reviewers are hostile …
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You Cannot Make Everybody Happy
Different people are looking for different things.
Also they are often biased
biased.
You must accept that it is simply impossible to make
everybody perfectly happy; you are forced to make
trade-offs.
For the same reason, take all people’s reaction with a grain of
salt.
The key: two half glasses of water are better than one
full and one empty glass here.
Just one negative review is enough to kill a conference paper.
The lesson: bad results can turn out good, so don’t loss
your heart.
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Plagiarism
A severe problem
Intentionally and un-intentionally
Properly cite and paraphrase
Always runs Veriguide
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