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10 key elements of a research paper - A writers perspective
The document outlines 10 key elements of a research paper from a writer's perspective, emphasizing the importance of understanding the audience and following specific templates provided by journals and conferences. It provides guidance on crafting titles, abstracts, introductions, related work, solutions, performance evaluations, summaries, acknowledgments, and references. Each section highlights best practices to enhance clarity, ensure relevance, and avoid common pitfalls that may lead to paper rejection.
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10 key elements of a research paper - A writers perspective
- 1. 10 Key Elementsof a Research Paper: A Writers Perspective Dilum Bandara, PhD University of Moratuwa
- 2. 1 – KnowYour Audience • Review Phase Reviewers • Aware of domain & problem • Few may be working on exactly the same problem • Want to determine whether work is worthy of publishing • Camera Ready Researchers • Novice • Expert • General interest on topic • Few working on exactly the same problem • Want to gain knowledge and/or want to solve a specific problem “Every paper tells a story. Know your stor - Jim Kurose
- 3. 2 – FollowTemplate • Conferences & Journals have their own templates • Downloadable from conference/journal website • Carefully read instructions • Strictly follow template • A real test of your word processing skills! • Not following template Paper Rejection
- 4. 3 – PaperTitle • Should reflect your work • Should indicate your contribution to knowledge • 2-part titles are ok • Short & simple • Rest of the paper should be able to live up to your title
- 5. 4 – Abstract& Key Words • Synopsis of paper not exceeding 150/200 words • Key material to sell your paper • Content • 1/3 – Introduction & motivation to problem • 1/3 – How the problem is addressed • 1/3 – Key results & conclusion • 3-4 key words that cover your topic • Pick key words from related papers
- 6. 5 – Introduction •Minimum introduction to topic • Most readers have an idea about topic & its significance • Good motivation on “why” your problem is important • Show gaps in what’s already around/known • Clearly describe the paper’s contribution • What & how you did it • Key results • Someone writing a literature survey should be able to just extract this para • Briefly introduce rest of the paper • Should use less than 20% of paper space
- 7. 6 – RelatedWork • Discuss all literature that’s related to your work • Focus on seminal work & more recent work • Critically evaluate them • Illustrate missing pieces • Don’t paraphrase Leads to high similarity score • Justify there is a place for your work too • No more than 1-2 sentences • No more than 10% of paper space
- 8. 7 – Solution •Explain your proposed solution • Better if a formal problem can be formulated & then explain solution in line with that • Tell how you came up with solution • Clearly state assumptions • Tell logic behind your solution • Logically arrange your ideas • Draw diagrams • Give algorithms • Compare your solution with related work • Give credit to related work • Give enough details s.t. one can replicate your solution
- 9. 8 – PerformanceEvaluation • Present experimental setup, emulator, simulator, etc. • Give enough details s.t. one can run your solution • Did you collect enough samples? • Are results within an accuracy of ±5% and 95% confidence level? • Present findings • Logically ordered • Simple to complex • Explain your graphs, tables, & findings • Draw diagrams & Tables • Simple & clear graphs • B&W & grayscale are better • No screenshots unless they are essential to explain
- 10. 9 – Summary •Know difference between Summary & Conclusion • Summarize/conclude your work • Don’t repeat abstract • Tell why your findings are useful • Recognize research limitations • List possible future work • Limitations could lead to future work • No more than 5% of paper space
- 11. 10 – Acknowledgement& References • Strictly follow given format • Indicate funding source • Give credit to essential people who contributed to idea or solution • Don’t self acknowledge • Use proper referring style • Use tools to generate/convert citations • Double check final output list of references
- 12. Do Repeat • Spell& Grammar check • Use special tools • Choose words carefully • Plagiarism Check • Proof read • Self review next day! • Friend/colleague who is willing to give “hard” feedback • Supervisor • For Camera Ready paper • Address all reviewer comments
- 13. Reviewer's Dilemma • DoesTitle make sense? Yes – Read carefully, Else – Find more faults • Does Abstract make sense? Yes – Read carefully, Else – Find more faults • Is according to Template? Yes – Read carefully, Else – Find more faults • Does Introduction make sense? Yes – Read carefully, Else – Find more faults • Is Contribution Clearly sated? Yes – Read carefully, Else – Find more faults • Key Related Work discussed? Yes – Read carefully, Else – Find more faults • Does Solution matter given Related Work? Yes – Read carefully, Else – Find more faults • Propose Solution is understandable? Yes – Read carefully, Else – Find more faults “Deadline was yesterday, I don’t have time, so let me find 2-3 faults that are good enough for me to write a review while rejecting paper”
- 14. RESOURCES • 10 Tipsto Write a Paper (Jim Kurose) • https://paperpicker.wordpress.com/2006/12/05/10-tips-to-write-a-paper-from-jim- kurose/ • How to Write an Abstract (Philip Koopman) • https://users.ece.cmu.edu/~koopman/essays/abstract.html