This document provides guidance on choosing research topics and writing research papers. It discusses identifying research problems, choosing a topic, the types of research papers (survey, standard, letters), and the anatomy of a research paper. It also covers the peer review process, choosing publication venues, and reputable journals. The overall document serves as a guide for students and researchers on conducting research and publishing their work.

1. Prof. Muhammad Khurram Khan
FIET (UK), FBCS (UK), FFTRA (Korea)
Editor-in-Chief, Telecommunication Systems (Springer)
Center of Excellence in Information Assurance
King Saud University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Email: mkhurram@ksu.edu.sa
Web: http://faculty.ksu.edu.sa/khurram
14 February, 2017
CHOOSING RESEARCH TOPICS AND WRITING
RESEARCH PAPERS

2. 2
Outline
q Research
q How to Choose a Research Topic
q Why Do We Publish?
q Goals of a Research Publica;on
q Types of Research Papers
q Anatomy of a Research Paper
q Peer-Review Process
q Choosing Right Publica;on Venue
q Reputed Venues for Research Publica;ons

3. 3
Research: What ?
q Research
v Diligent process of inquiry and investigation to seek
or revise facts, principles, theories, applications, etc.
q Purpose of Research
v Create, review and synthesize knowledge
v Provide solutions to a problem
v Explore and analyze general issues
v Construct a new procedure or system
v Explain new phenomenon (facts)
v Generate revenue by R&D

4. 4
Choosing A Research Topic

5. 5
Identification of Research Problems
q Research Problem
v A research problem is a
question, which needs an
answer or a researcher
wants to solve
v I d e n t i f i c a t i o n a n d
formulation of a research
problem is the most
daunting task in the
research process
Research
Problem
Skills
Knowledge
Crea@vity
Mo@va@on Supervisor
Resources
AFtude
“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life”
Confucius (551-479 BC)

6. 6
Sources of Research Problems
Sources of
Research
Problem
Exis@ng
Theories
Consulta@on
Experience
Current and
Future Trends
Exis@ng
Literature
Social Issues
Brainstorming
Ideas from
Workshops/
Seminars

7. 1. New problem and new solu;on (breakthrough)
ü Case 1 comes rarely, perhaps something you could only
wish, once a life-;me experience
• Shannon’s theory
2. New problem and old solu;on
3. Old problem and new solu;on
ü Cases 2 and 3 are the ones that you should target for
• Data Shredding in Cloud compu;ng
4. Old problem and old solu;on
ü Case 4 is where you can start
• Plenty of out there under the category of
“Yet another paper on … “
Research Cases

8. 8
The Research Process

9. Editors, reviewers, and the research community don’t
consider these reasons when assessing your work
Why Do We Publish?
Get funding?
“If it is not published, it does not exist” (Fritz Schaefer)

10. 10
Daily Life of a Researcher
Reading
Thinking
Discussion
Simulations
Writing
Presenting

11. 11
Goals of a Research Publication
l To conduct academic and professional training from the
paper writing
l To add contribution to the body of knowledge
l To make recognition in your field
l To compete with your colleagues
l To keep yourself in-touch with the research community
l To stress on quality rather than quantity in publications
– Elimination of garbage papers or low quality papers
(re-inventing the wheel)
– Impact to the research field (citations, impact factor,
commercialization, sustainability, etc.)

12. 12
Types of Research Papers
q Survey/Review Papers (45-60 double spaced
pages)
q Standard/Full-Length Papers (30-35 double
spaced pages)
q Letters/Rapid Communications/Short
Communications (Up to 12 double spaced
pages)

13. 13
Survey Papers: Criteria for Publication
Defini;on:
A paper that reviews state-of-the-art in a research area covering
last few years of work in that area
Criteria:
v Should not be a text-book descrip;on
v Rela;onship between studies (chronological progression)
v Appropriate clustering of informa;on and paper flow
v Authors’ own contribu;on to the area
v Iden;fica;on of trends, and future work
v A detailed discussion on approaches that worked, why they
worked, and those that failed and why they failed
v Should serve both as a tutorial for those new to the field as
well as a reference guide for researchers

14. 14

15. 15

16. 16
Standard Papers: Criteria for Publication
Defini;on:
A paper that can be one of the following types:
v A totally original technique from the scratch
v A modified & detailed varia;on of an exis;ng technique
v Integra;on of known methods with tailor-making for a
par;cular applica;on
Criteria:
v How original is the novelty introduced- if extensions, then major
or minor?
v Is the paper technically correct?
v Is the paper to the point?
v An comprehensive comparison has been performed?
v Is data set appropriate and represents real-world scenario, etc.
v Does the paper link well to other developments in the last few
years in the same area?

17. 17

18. 18
Letters: Criteria for Publication
Defini;on:
A paper or correspondence that proves a very limited idea for
rapid peer-review and publica;on in a journal (within 3 to 4
months e.g. IET Electronics Le@ers)
Criteria:
v Should not be a detailed idea, but should be very concise and
brief
v Should be limited within few pages
v Should not submit work merely because you need the paper
to be published quickly (e.g. in order to graduate or before
applying for a new job or promo;on)
v Should not contain many references
“Electronics Le@ers is a forum for the rapid publicaEon of the latest or preliminary results or ideas relaEng to the electronic or
electrical engineering fields. The advance presented must be significant enough and of a high enough level of interest to the broad
engineering community to merit immediate disseminaEon, otherwise a different journal is more appropriate.”(IET Electronics Le@ers)

19. 19

20. Anatomy of a Research Paper
q Title
v The best representation of a paper: contributions
and unique features (At most 15 words)
Ø Effective titles
ü Identify the main issue of a paper
ü Begin with the subject of a paper
ü Accurate, unambiguous, specific, and complete
ü Do not contain rarely-used abbreviations
ü Attract readers
20

21. 21

22. q Abstract
v An abstract summarizes the essential ideas of the
paper in about 150 to 250 words
v It should entice the reader
v It Indicates why your work is new & better
v Its content includes:
v Intent or objective of paper; Problem statement;
(1-2 sentences)
v Method of study (2-3 sentences)
v Results or findings (2-3 sentences)
v Conclusion (1-2 sentences)
22
Anatomy of a Research Paper

23. 23

24. q Introduc;on
v Mo;va;ons and problem descrip;ons
v Academic impact and importance
v Literature review:
ü Show state-of-the-art (classic papers)
ü Cite references easily available to general public
ü Avoid offensive remarks
ü Do not cite too many web references
v Summary of the major contribu;ons of the paper
v Organiza;on of the rest of the paper
24
Anatomy of a Research Paper

26. q Problem Description or Theory
v Definitions of all notations (e.g. variables, symbols)
v Mathematical equations
q Methodology
v Main idea to solve the problem
v Theorems and proofs
v Descriptions of the approach or algorithm
v Performance analysis (and/or Security Analysis)
v Unique features of the method
q Results of Experiment
v Description of the experiments
v Presentation of the results: tables, figures, etc.
26
Anatomy of a Research Paper

27. q Conclusions
v Summary of your findings (not a repeat of abstract)
v Concluding remarks
v Suggest future work (one line)
q Acknowledgment
v Acknowledge the supported fund/grant
v Thank individuals, if they helped you!
q References
v List references in appropriate format (Use Endnote
tool)
v Have recent references if possible
v Give complete information (vol, number, issue, year,
etc.)
v List appropriate numbers of references
27
Anatomy of a Research Paper

28. 28

29. 29
Anatomy of a Research Paper
Experimental Process Sec@on of Paper
What did I do in a nutshell? Abstract
What is the problem? Introduc;on
How did I solve the problem Materials and methods
What did I find out? Results
What does it mean? Discussion
Who helped me out? Acknowledgment
Whose work did I refer to? Literature cited
Extra informa;on Appendices (Op;onal)

30. v Have you told reader, at the outset, what they might gain
by reading your paper? i.e. your contribution
v Have you made the aim of your work clear?
v Have you explained the significance of your
contribution?
v Have you set your work in the appropriate context by
giving sufficient background to your work?
v Have you addressed the question of practicality and
usefulness?
v Have you identified future developments that may result
from your work?
v Have you structured your papers in a clear and logical
fashion?
30
Before Submitting Papers…

31. The Peer Review Process
Submit a
paper
Basic requirements met?
REJECT
Assign
reviewers
Collect reviewers’
recommendations
Make a
decision
Revise the
paper
[Reject]
[Revision required]
[Accept]
[Yes]
[No]
Review and give
recommendation
START
ACCEPT
Author Editor Reviewer
Michael Derntl
Basics of Research Paper Writing and Publishing
http://www.pri.univie.ac.at/~derntl/papers/meth-se.pdf

32. Choosing the Publication Venue
v Iden;fy the sector of readership/community for which a
paper is meant
v Iden;fy the interest of your audience
v Is your paper of local or interna;onal interest?
v Inves;gate all candidate journals to find out:
ü Aims and scope (Relatedness to your area)
ü Accepted types of ar;cles
ü Current hot topics
ü Go through the abstracts of recent publica;ons
ü ISI Impact factor/Ranking (Quar;le)
ü Publica;on ;mespan

34. 34
Reputed Venues for Research Publications
q IEEE (US)-Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers & IET -Institution of Engineering & Technology
(UK): The most prestigious and the biggest EE society
(http://ieeexplore.ieee.org)
q Springer-Verlag (Germany) (2900+ journals)
(http://springerlink.com)
q Elsevier Science (The Netherlands): (2500+ journals)
(http://www.sciencedirect.com)
q ACM (US) – The Association for Computing Machinery
q John Wiley & Sons (UK): (1500+ journals)
q World Scientific (Singapore): (120+ journals)
q IEICE (Japan) – The Institute of Electronics, Information
& Communication Engineers
q OUP (UK), SPIE (USA), CRC Press (USA)
q ….

35. What Leads to Acceptance???
q Attention to details
q Check and double check your work
q Consider the reviewers’ comments
q English must be as good as possible
q Presentation is important
q Take your time with revision
q Acknowledge those who have helped you
q New, original and previously unpublished
q Critically evaluate your own manuscript
q Ethical rules must be obeyed
Nigel John Cook
Editor-in-Chief, Ore Geology Reviews

36. 36
Acknowledgments
• Elsevier Science, “Things You Don’t Want to Know in Your Early Research Career”,
Movie Clip
• Anthony Newman, “How to Get Published”, Publisher Life Sciences, Maastricht
University, 20 October 2011
• C. Li, “My PerspecEve on Doing Research”, China, 2005
• B. LI, “Research and PublicaEons: A Personal PerspecEve”, HKUST , MSRA
• M. Derntl, “Basics of Research Paper WriEng and Publishing?”, Sept. 2009
• Some contents of this presenta;on are derived from different sources in the good
faith for students and researchers…

37. 37
Today’s Research Environment

38. 38
Thanks!!!