How to write papers - A note on Technical Writing

31st March 2011Technical writing -kpmdas 1

HOW TO WRITE PAPERS ?

A brief note on

TECHNICAL WRITING

Prof K P Mohandas

Creative or literary writing

Creative writing

Poems

Short stories

Novels

Travelogues

Essays

Blogs,

Tweets etc


Technical writing

Project proposals research grants

Status Reports of projects in progress/

completed

Seminar Reports

Technical papers for journals, conferences

Research papers on topic of research

Synopsis or abstracts of thesis

Thesis reports for award of a degree


Technical Papers - types

Choice of type of paper

Research paper for journals

Research paper for conferences

Survey paper or review paper

Summary of research

Update on recent research


Review papers or invited papers

Reviews the ‘state of the art’ and suggests future

directions of research.

Written by authors who have worked in the area

for ten or more years

Pertaining to a particular topic(area) of research

Reviews critically most of the work done earlier

Suggests future directions of research

Example : Papers in IEEE Proceedings or Special

Issues on topics


Research papers

Contents on original research by author(s)

Part or whole of the work may be done for

the award of a degree.

Publication of a research paper guarantees

minimum quality of the work (mostly journal

papers)

Journal Papers are reviewed thoroughly and

published sometimes only after several

revisions


Journal Papers

Journal papers have to be submitted according to the formal specified by the editors.

Instruction to authors available for reference in journals or on website.

Thorough review by five reviewers

Reviewers are chosen from expert researchers in the area.

Very often review may be anonymous

Only quality and originality of the work counts, nothing else


Category of journal papers

Many journals have categories based on :

importance of the contribution

number of printed pages

For example,

IEEE Transactions, few of them have:

Full paper (3-6 pages) completely

original work like that of a PhD

Short paper (1-2 pages)

Technical Notes/ Correspondence ( part of a column or one page giving a comment or

correction on earlier published


Difficulty in getting a journal papers published

Review and acceptance takes long time – even one year or more : 2 yrs for publication

One or more revision may be required

Number of pages restriction – extra pages not allowed very often

If allowed , may require page charges to be paid to meet part of cost of publication.

Only very high quality work published in standard journals like IEEE, ASME Transactions etc


Conference papers

Easier to be accepted

Less thorough review process

Quick publication to establish claims of originality

Papers accepted in International conferences approved by professional societies like IEEE considered high quality

Paper has to be prepared in photo-ready templates

Proceedings published in society website

Permits author(s) to attend and present the papers personally and

Make contacts with people working in same area


Technical Reports – proposal for grants

Research proposals are submitted to agencies for research grants

Proposals should be on topics of interest to the agency to which it is submitted

Clear statement of work to be done

Equipment with complete specifications and cost involved

Methodology to be clearly defined

Estimate of expenditure involved (both capital and recurring)

Time frame with plan of action in phases

Feasibility studies and usefulness to be established


Status Reports on ongoing projects

Brief summary of project with problem,

methodology, time frame and cost

Briefly give work done before the period

Highlight the work done during the review

period

Update of expenditure incurred and review of

estimate, if required due to cost escalation

Generation of additional revenue

realization


Technical Reports on completion of project

Details of work done

Outcome of the project

Patents

Publications

Usefulness to Industry

Details of expenditure incurred

Realization of short fall if excess

Refund of balance if less spent

Disposal / utilization of assets procured


Literature survey

Required for all technical work / report/ research

Library resources – books, back volume journals,

current journals

On line contents and resources

Search engines : google.com ,

scholar. google .com etc

Communications from peers

News papers articles

Conference Proceedings


General layout of a paper

Introduction

Problem statement

Body of the paper

Review of earlier work

Relevance of the present work

Results

Conclusions and suggestions for future work

References


Papers on original research

Highlight the relevance and usefulness

Review earlier work done

Critically analyze what is wrong or

inadequate with earlier work

Statement of the problem discussed

Describe the methodology

Results

Conclusions


Language and grammar

Why technical English is different from English in creative writing.

Mostly in third person, no use of “ I, you, We “

Simple words, short sentences

Describe uncommon technical words (if necessary at least in Appendix)

Describe all abbreviations

Describe all symbols

Check the spelling thoroughly using ‘spell check’ in Word processors


Authors, order of mention of names

Research publications :

Name of the student who worked on the topic first, guides later

It is unfair practice to put the name of guide first

The hope that paper will be accepted if the guide’s name appears first is only ‘wishful thinking’

Reviews of good journals are done after masking the name of authors.


Claims on work done – be modest

Do not exaggerate your claims

Tall claims can lead to trouble

Beware of others working in the same area

and same topic.

Duplication of efforts by different research

groups, sometimes independent

Publish early to establish claims


Tables, Figures and Graphs

Table of numbers do not convey much, except increasing the number of pages

Use figures and graphs instead of tables wherever possible.

Clear diagrams of proper size

Flow charts for algorithms

Proper legends for diagrams, colour, if allowed

Choose type of graphs : bar charts, Pie charts, X-Y graphs depending on the situation


Symbols and abbreviations

Describe all symbols properly

Avoid duplication of symbols

Arrange symbols in alphabetical order

Greek letters first

Lower case , upper case in that order

Expand all abbreviations when used first

List them in alphabetical order and give

expansion


References -numbering

Number the references in the order it appears in the text or

Alphabetical order of names of authors with year in brackets

IEEE standard is to refer to them as [1] , [ 4-6] in the text and

List them as :

[1] David K Cheng : Linear System Analysis ….

[2] ………


Details in references as per specifications

Books: Name of Author(s), Title of the Book, Publisher, Edition and year of publication, ISBN Number

Journal Papers: Authors, title of the paper, Name of the journal, Volume, Issue No and particular pages of the paper(pp).

Conference Papers: Author(s), Title, Name of the Conference or Proceedings, pages, place and date of the conferences


Plagiarism – Integrity :be careful

Plagiarism :

"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.

Recently on the ascent due to the availability

of material and ease in ‘copy –pasting’


Plagiarism – ‘cut and paste ‘ culture

The modern concept of plagiarism is an

immoral act

This idea emerged in Europe only in the 18th

century, particularly

In the previous centuries authors and artists

were encouraged to "copy the masters as

closely as possible" and avoid "unnecessary

invention.


Never do ‘cut and paste’

You will be caught if you do that

Search engines have been developed by which

copying can be detected.

No knowledge is original, but do try to:

Understand what others have written

Rewrite in your own words

Copying without understanding and ‘copy

pasting’ is punishable all


Teachers, a word of caution

Teachers are required to declare a work as Bona fide in a Certificate attached with thesis

Bona fide : Means in Good faith, or good intension (even if producing unfortunate results) or belief.

It is associated with the state of honesty, conviction to the truth . This concept is important in law, especially equitable matters.

In contemporary English, "bona fides" is sometimes used as a synonym for credentials or background, or documentation of a person's identity.


In general – what is required in technical writing

You should have something to write other than summary of what others have done

You should think about how to present it in the best possible way

Consider the prospective readers or those who are hearing you

Follow the specified format for journal papers

Avoid personal references and tall claims

Never exceed the allotted time for conference papers presentations


THANK YOU


Education

How to write papers - A note on Technical Writing