Basics of Paper Writing and Publishing in TEL (JTEL 2015 Workshop)

Lehrstuhl Informatik 5
(Information Systems)
Prof. Dr. M. Jarke
1 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Basics of Paper Writing and
Publishing in TEL
Michael Derntl, Ḿíłốṩ Ǩŕåṽçïḱ, Ralf Klamma
RWTH Aachen University
Advanced Community Information Systems (ACIS)
jtel-paperwriting@dbis.rwth-aachen.de
11th Joint European Summer School on
Technology Enhanced Learning (JTEL 2015)
July 6-10
Ischia, Italy

Prof. Dr. M. Jarke
2
Managing Expectations
 What we will tackle today
– Paper structure
– Organizing a piece of text
– Commence mini conference for the week
 What we will tackle on Friday
– Discuss the mini conference reviews
– Elaborate a publication strategy in TEL
– Identify landmarks in your thesis field
– Mistakes to avoid

Prof. Dr. M. Jarke
3
Scientific Texts –
Intentions vs Expectations
 Intentions (authors)
– Communicate with peers
– Protect intellectual property
– Gain reputation
– Get promoted
– Progress science
– Remember
– Understand
– Gain perspective
[BCWi95] [Stoc00] [Ocon05] [PEBK02]
 Expectations (readers)
– Standard form (sections,
paragraphs, sentences)
– Audience “coverage”
– Quality (relevance,
significance, soundness)
– Discussion (limitations,
embedding in existing
findings, implications, …)
– Correct language
All it takes is structure and practice!

Prof. Dr. M. Jarke
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Paper Structure
Hourglass Model [Swal93]
Introduction
Body
Conclusion
general
specific
specific
general
Section Theme

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5
Paper Structure
“King Model” [Dern14]
Title
Abstract
Introduction
Body
Conclusion
References

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6
Paper Structure:
Title
 Very important part – why?
 Rules of thumb:
– Fewest possible words that
adequately describe the paper
content
– Avoid waste words
– Nouns over verbs
Title
Abstract
Introduction
Body
Conclusion
References

Prof. Dr. M. Jarke
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Paper Structure:
Title
 Types of title
– Descriptive: Investigating the role of
academic conferences on shaping the
research agenda
– Declarative: Academic conferences
shape the short-term research agenda
– Interrogative: Do academic conferences
shape the research agenda?
– Compound, e.g. separated by ? or :
 Impact of title type:
– Interrogative: more downloads, fewer
cites
– Compound with colon: longer; fewer
downloads and cites
– Long titles: fewer downloads
Title
Abstract
Introduction
Body
Conclusion
References
[JaNi11]

Prof. Dr. M. Jarke
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Paper Structure:
Title
 Title checklist
– includes main topic
– unambiguous
– specific
– attractive
– short
– accurate
– adequate
– no abbreviations
– consider audience
Title
Abstract
Introduction
Body
Conclusion
References

Prof. Dr. M. Jarke
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Paper Structure:
Title
Title checklist
 includes main topic
 unambiguous
 specific
 attractive
 short
 accurate
 adequate
 no abbreviations
 consider audience
Examples titles:
1. Report of the results of an IMS Learning Design
expert workshop
2. Educational Technology and Culture: The Influence
of Ethnic and Professional Culture on Learners'
Technology Acceptance
3. A New Framework for Dynamic Adaptations and
Actions
4. CAMera for PLE
5. Go To Statement Considered Harmful
6. Users in the Driver's Seat: A New Approach to
Classifying Teaching Methods in a University
Repository
7. Considering formal assessment in learning analytics
within a PLE
8. HT06, tagging paper, taxonomy, Flickr, academic
article, to read

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10
Paper Structure:
Abstract
 Task:
– Read the four abstracts on the
handout
– Identify strong and weak points
– Identify criteria for good
abstracts
– Rank the four abstracts on the
provided ranking sheets
Title
Abstract
Introduction
Body
Conclusion
References

Prof. Dr. M. Jarke
11
Paper Structure:
Abstract
Types
– Informative: what content is in the paper
– Indicative / descriptive: how is the content presented
Checklist, ~1 sentence each
– Motivation
– Problem definition
– Solution
– Results
– Implications
No go
– Exact title phrase
– Copy & paste from text
– Figures or tables
– Sources (depends)
Title
Abstract
Introduction
Body
Conclusion
References

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12
Paper Structure:
Abstract
Low detail
No references
General example
Overview
High detail
All references
Specific examples
Reproducibility
Abstract Full text
A good abstract [ElseXX]:
 Is specific and precise
 Can stand alone
 Uses little technical jargon
 Uses no or few abbreviations

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ABSTRACT RANKING

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The Kelluwen project implements middle and high-school
educational activities where the use of Web 2.0 tools is
incorporated to improve collaboration construction, sharing
and publishing of the learning outcomes. The Worklog tool,
a microblogging space within the Kelluwen platform has an
active role in the educational activities. Using probabilistic
topic models, correlation analysis and principal component
analysis (PCA), we analyzed micropost of 85 class groups
participating in the Kelluwen project and found interesting
relations of the types of messages posted and other factors
such as the teacher participation in the microblog, the rural
or urban nature of the schools and other aspects of the
educational experience.
Motivation Problem Solution Results Implications
informative
4th Place: Abstract B
J. Born, E. Scheihing, J. Guerra, L. Cárcamo (2014). Proc. EC-TEL 2014, pp. 15-28 © Springer Verlag

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3rd Place: Abstract D
R. Klemke, S. Ternier, M. Kalz, B. Schmitz, M. Specht (2014) Proc. EC-TEL 2014, pp. 207-220 © Springer Verlag
informative mixed
Serious gaming approaches so far focus mainly on skill
development, motivational aspects or providing immersive
learning situations. Little work has been reported to foster
awareness and decision competencies in complex decision
situations involving incomplete information and multiple
stakeholders. We address this issue exploring the technical
requirements and possibilities to design games for such situations
in three case studies: a hostage taking situation, a multi-
stakeholder logistics case, and a health-care related emergency
case. To implement the games, we use a multi-user enabled
mobile game development platform (ARLearn). We describe the
underlying real world situations and educational challenges and
analyse how these are reflected in the ARLearn games realized.
Based on these cases we propose a way to increase the
immersiveness of mobile learning games.
informative

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2nd Place: Abstract A
V. Bejdová, M. Homola, Z. Kubincová (2014) Proc. ICWL 2014, pp. 1-10 © Springer Verlag
In the course of several years, we employed blogging
assignments in an obligatory web design course. The assignment
was able to attract interest of few students only, while the majority
did not participate, or only very sparsely. It did not help much to
make the assignment part of the course evaluation. The course
received mixed reviews from the students. The students who were
not really interested in the subject, or considered it too much work,
complained. In last two years we tried to address this problem by
introduction of a tight blogging schedule, and peer-reviews. As we
report in this paper, this step radically improved the participation
rate, and also learning outcomes were higher, however the
student’s opinion of these activities was not amended.
informative informativeinformative informative

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A. Pardo, N. Mirrahi, S. Dawson, Y. & A. Zhao, D. Gašević (2015). Proc. LAK 2015, pp. 255-259 © ACM
The higher education sector has seen a shift in teaching approaches over the
past decade with an increase in the use of video for delivering lecture content as
part of a flipped classroom or blended learning model. Advances in video
technologies have provided opportunities for students to now annotate videos as
a strategy to support their achievement of the intended learning outcomes.
However, there are few studies exploring the relationship between video
annotations, student approaches to learning, and academic performance. This
study seeks to narrow this gap by investigating the impact of students' use of
video annotation software coupled with their approaches to learning and
academic performance in the context of a flipped learning environment.
Preliminary findings reveal a significant positive relationship between annotating
videos and exam results. However, negative effects of surface approaches to
learning, cognitive strategy use and test anxiety on midterm grades were also
noted. This indicates a need to better promote and scaffold higher order cognitive
strategies and deeper learning with the use of video annotation software.
informative informative informative
1st place: Abstract C
informative informative

Prof. Dr. M. Jarke
18
Paper Structure:
Introduction
 “Pick up” the reader (and
reviewer!)
– Some generally known statements
– Motivating example
– Tighten thematic focus
– Mention key literature
– General background info to
support understanding
– (Indicate the structure)
 Three phases [Swal93]
– (Where?) Establish territory
– (What?) Establish a niche
– (How?) Occupy niche
Title
Abstract
Introduction
Body
Conclusion
References

Prof. Dr. M. Jarke
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Paper Structure:
Introduction – Example
Example 1: Computers & Education 59 (2): 182-195
Establish territory / common-sense statement:
Peer review is an instructional method aiming to help
students elaborate on domain-specific knowledge, while
simultaneously developing methodological review skills.
Establish niche / tighten thematic focus:
We use the term „assigned-pair protocol“ here to refer to
the class of peer review methods that involve static author-
reviewer dyads.
Occupy niche / arrive at core paper topic:
Our focus was to (a) … and (b) …
Outline paper structure

Prof. Dr. M. Jarke
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Paper Structure:
Introduction – Example
Example 2: Transactions
on Learning Technologies
5 (1): 38-51
Establish territory / common-sense statement:
The concept of Adaptive Hypermedia Systems (AHS)
has existed for years now [19], and it has amply
proved its utility particularly in education …Establish niche / tighten thematic focus:
In fact, authors have to define a domain model …
Indeed, authors have to specify an adaptation model…Indicate existing solutions, point to shortcomings:
Multiple solutions have been proposed …
These works fail to answer the third challenge …
Occupy niche, indicate leap forward
This paper addresses these three challenges …
We perceive an adaptation strategy as a combination of
elementary parts …
Outline paper structure
This paper is organized as follows…

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Paper Structure:
Body
 Reports actual research
done to answer research
question/problem
 Typically several
(sub)sections
 Structure, organization, and
content depend heavily on
the type of paper
Title
Abstract
Introduction
Body
Conclusion
References

Prof. Dr. M. Jarke
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Paper Structure:
Body
 Empirical paper
– Methodology, data, material, participants,
results, (discussion)
– Goal: reproducibility
 Case study paper
– Report application of existing methods, tools,
theories
– Goal: abstraction from case
 Survey paper
– Reviewing and synthesize existing work
– Typically little original contributions
– Goal: Completeness, soundness, …
 Theory paper
– Principles, concepts or models in the field
– Goals: Originality, soundness, Relevance
 Others: methodology papers, review papers,
…
Title
Abstract
Introduction
Body
Conclusion
References
[CHI98]

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Paper Structure:
Conclusion
 Discussion / Conclusion
– Counterpart to introduction
– Generalize results
– Sometimes separate (particularly
empirical papers)
– Recap of background and aims
– Summary and discussion /
implications of key findings
– Answer your research questions
– Compare results to published work
– Discussion of limitations,
shortcomings, significance
– Identification of follow-up research
Title
Abstract
Introduction
Body
Conclusion
References

Prof. Dr. M. Jarke
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Paper Structure:
References
 Key rules for reference list
– List all cited references
– Do not list non-cited references
– Cite all used references
– Do not cite references you have
not read
– Make sure the most relevant
references are in the list
– Adhere to publisher’s style
guide
Title
Abstract
Introduction
Body
Conclusion
References

Prof. Dr. M. Jarke
25
Paper Structure:
Additional bits
 Authors + affiliations
– Who is on the author list?
– In what order?
 Acknowledgments
– Funding source(s), Study participants, Helpers, …
 Keywords
– Free-text and/or from taxonomy
 Classification
– ACM classification
 Appendix
– Detailed tables, source codes, proofs, …
– Author bios
– …

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Task: Mini Conference
 Choose one of your recent submissions (where you wrote the
abstract!)
– If not available take your summer school submission, your current state of
the thesis, or any other piece of research you’re involved in
 Rework your submission into a one-paragraph abstract of max. 300
words (strict!)
 Carefully choose a title
 Submit by Wednesday via Easychair
http://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=jtelpw2015
– There will be an excursion Wednesday afternoon, so please plan for
submitting your abstract by Wednesday noon
 Review your assigned abstracts on Thursday
 Read the reviews on your abstract on Friday for the 2nd session of
our workshop (at 9:45 am)
Task description also available at http://is.gd/jtel2015pw

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Mini Conference – Results
Best Overall Scores
Range: -3 = strong reject … 3 = strong accept
1. Matthias Heintz. Online Tool Usage Supports Solution-
based Requirements Engineering for E-Learning
Applications [2.3]
2. István Koren. Scalable Design of a Wearable-Enhanced
Learning Case [2.3]
3. Steven White. The practical focus of MOOC media
discourse in HE magazines and institutions [2.3]

Prof. Dr. M. Jarke
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In a traditional e-learning development project setup, the initial user-based
requirements engineering process and the technical implementation process run
one after the other, but time pressure and specific project arrangements
increasingly lead to settings where those two processes are launched at about the
same time. This paper presents the requirements engineering work conducted in
the Go-Lab project, which aims to improve science education through inclusion of
online labs and faced the challenges caused by the described parallel instead of
sequential setup of the initial project phases. They were tackled by developing a
Participatory Design approach to gather solution-based requirements, which is
supported by PDot, an online tool to gather user requirements and feedback. In this
paper, we present preliminary Usability and User Experience evaluation results of
PDot, showing that the current prototype is already well perceived by the two main
target groups, students and teachers, but still has some improvement potential, for
example regarding the visual design of the tool. Our results show that the proposed
approach and the PDot tool could be applied by other research projects, developing
e-learning applications for teachers and students, to overcome the challenges
caused by the same or a similar project setup.
Mini Conference – Best Abstract
M. Heintz (2015). JTEL Paper Writing Workshop 2015 © 2015 Matthias Heintz

Prof. Dr. M. Jarke
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Mini Conference – Other Top Scores
 Best Structure
Steven White. The practical focus of MOOC media discourse in HE
magazines and institutions [4.67 / 5]
 Best Title
Carmen Wolf. Improvement of university students’ self-reflection with
a self-coaching app [4.33 / 5]
István Koren. Scalable Design of a Wearable-Enhanced Learning
Case [4.33 / 5]
 Best Readability
Steven White. The practical focus of MOOC media discourse in HE
magazines and institutions [4.67 / 5]
Matthias Heintz. Online Tool Usage Supports Solution-based
Requirements Engineering for E-Learning Applications [4.67 / 5]

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PUBLICATION STRATEGY
IN TEL

Prof. Dr. M. Jarke
31
Publication Outlets – Journals
 High reputation
 Completed studies
 Significant original contribution
 Lengthy publication process
 No interaction with key people
 Detailed reviews
 Typical types: long, short, survey

Prof. Dr. M. Jarke
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Publication Outlets – Conference
 Reputation depends on discipline
 Original contributions
 Often smaller delta or WIP acceptable
 Interaction with key people
 Review quality depends on conference
 Typical types: long, short, poster, demo

Prof. Dr. M. Jarke
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Publication Outlets – Workshop et al.
 Workshops
– Focused topic, emerging community
– Work in progress, ideas, positions etc. acceptable
– Interaction with key people
– Reputation not the key point
– Review quality depends
– Typical types: short, long, positions, demos
 Doctoral Consortia and others
 Edited books

Prof. Dr. M. Jarke
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Current Situation
 TEL is interdisciplinary
 Many different publication venues
 Venues have different subject focus
 Different venue types (journals, conferences,
workshops, exhibits, etc.)
 Different paper types (long, short, demo, poster, …)
 Different stages / significance of available results

Prof. Dr. M. Jarke
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Exercise
 Questions
– Which factors do/should determine your decision where to
publish a piece of (your) TEL research?
– During your PhD process, what is your publication
strategy?
 Task:
– Explore the above questions in a small group [10 mins]
– Pitch your results

Prof. Dr. M. Jarke
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Exercise
 Results
– Main focus of paper should decide which conference to
choose; choose disciplinary conf
– Check cfp for topics
– Think ahead in career, what are you doing after your
PhD?
– Scope of study is important
– Reach for the stars, land amongst the clouds. Go for the
best. Paper trajectories
– Publisher

Prof. Dr. M. Jarke
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Venue (Pre-)Selection
 Pre-selection
– Go to scientific indexes and look for similar work  where
was it published?
– Identify the key people in your field  where do they publish?
– Subscribe to CFP mailing lists and portals  what’s up?
– Follow research blogs, e.g.
http://beamtenherrschaft.blogspot.com 
 Selection depends on
– Formal criteria in your institution?
– Significance / originality of the contribution?
– Affordable risk of rejection?
– Need to engage with community?

Prof. Dr. M. Jarke
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Publication Venue Decision
 Check distribution / subscription of the venue
 Check indexing of the venue
 Check citations to the venue
 Check list of relevant topics of the venue
 Consider closed access vs open access vs delayed open
access
 Formal requirements: length, deadline, funding, etc.
 Tools:
– AERCS Venue Comparison for DBLP: http://is.gd/seriescomp
– Publish or Perish: http://www.harzing.com/pop.htm
– Academic Search: http://academic.research.microsoft.com
– Google Scholar: http://scholar.google.com

Prof. Dr. M. Jarke
39
Some Prominent TEL Venues
See http://www.slideshare.net/mikederntl/the-european-technology-enhanced-learning-lanscape
Artificial
Intelligence
Web /
Hypermedia
HCI

Prof. Dr. M. Jarke
40
Some Prominent TEL Venues (2)
Conferences
 EC-TEL
 ICALT
 ICWL
 ITS, AIED
 ICCE
 CSCL
 LAK, EDM
 CATE
 T4E
 WMTE
 DIGITEL
 …
Journals
 Educ. Tech. & Soc. (ETS)
 IEEE Trans. Learn. Tech. (TLT)
 Comput. & Educ. (C&E)
 Int. J. TEL (IJTEL)
 Res. Pract. TEL (RPTEL)
 Int. J. Emerg. Tech. Learn. (IJET)
 Int. J. Dist. Educ. Tech. (IJDET)
 Int. J. Know. Learn. (IJKL)
 Brit./Austr. J. Educ. Tech. (B/AJET)
 Int. J. Artifi. Intel. in Edu. (AIEDU)
 J. Comp. Ass. Learn. (JCAL)
 Int. J. CSCL (IJCSCL)
…
There are also several institutional lists of “acceptable” journals, e.g. at Open University of
the Netherlands: http://celstec.org/content/advanced-learning-technologies-journal-list
Make sure you know the preferred journals of your department!

Prof. Dr. M. Jarke
41
The Landmarks in Your Thesis Field
 Hypothesis: If you can’t name the three most important
– Authors and their specific areas of interest,
– Journals, Conferences,
– Challenges,
– Papers that lay or have laid the path,
– Adjacent fields / communities
in your thesis field, then your PhD is in trouble.
 Task
– Group around similar PhD subjects (max 5 per group)
– Discuss and shortlist the above items [8 mins]
– Pitch your results

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42
Some Mistakes to Absolutely Avoid
Brainstorm!

Prof. Dr. M. Jarke
43
Some Mistakes to Absolutely Avoid
 Results
– Being untargeted
– Not citing important grounding work
– Plagiarize
– Bitching on facebook
– Falsify
– Faking results
– Reveal all limitations & future work; ignore limitations
– Send to the same place, ignoring previous reviews
– Piss off people

Prof. Dr. M. Jarke
44
References
[BCWi95] Booth, W.C., Colomb, G.G., Williams, J.M.: The Craft of Research. Univ. of Chicago
Press, Chicago (1995)
[CHI98] CHI'98 Conference Webpage: Types of papers.
http://www.acm.org/sigchi/chi98/call/papers.html#types (1998)
[Dern14] Derntl, M.: Basics of research paper writing and publishing. International Journal of
Technology Enhanced Learning, 6(2), 105-123, http://dx.doi.org/10.1504/IJTEL.2014.066856
(2014)
[ElseXX] How to write a world-class methodology paper.
http://www.paperpub.com.cn/admin/upload/file/200893103922625.pdf
[JaNi11] Jamali, H., Nikzad, M: Article title type and its relation with the number of downloads and
citation. Scientometrics (2011) 88:653–661
[Ocon05] O'Connor, M.: Writing Successfully in Science. Chapman & Hall, London (1995)
[PEBK02] Peat, J., Elliott, E., Baur, L., Keena, V.: Scientfic Writing - Easy when you know how.
BMJ Books, London (2002)
[Stoc00] Stock, W.G.: Was ist eine Publikation? Zum Problem der Einheitenbildung in der
Wissenschaftsforschung. In Fuchs-Kittowski, K., Laitko, H., Parthey, H., Umst•atter, W., eds.:
Wissenschaftsforschung Jahrbuch 1998. Verlag f•ur Wissenschaftsforschung, Berlin (2000) 239-
282
[Swal93] Swales, J.M.: Genre analysis: English in academic and research settings. Cambridge
Univ. Press, Cambridge (1993)

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