This document provides guidance on how to write technical papers for journals. It discusses key aspects of research such as the difference between research and development. It also outlines important elements of a successful research paper such as having a knowledgeable guide, conducting thorough research, and publishing in a well-established journal. The document then covers various sections of a technical paper like the title, author byline, abstract, keywords, and body content. It provides best practices and common mistakes to avoid for writing each section effectively. Overall, the document serves as a comprehensive guide for researchers on structuring, formatting and strengthening their technical papers.

1. HOW TO WRITE TECHNICAL
PAPERS
(JOURNALS)
M.VENKATESH

2. WHAT IS
RESEARCH
 It is the process of finding out something we
don’t know already.
 Process of research is to use the existing
knowledge to acquire additional knowledge.
 Research is a process not an end of state.

3. Research
vs Development
Research: Accomplishment of New knowledge.
Development: Enhancement of the existing knowledge.

4. INDICATIONS OF A
SUCCESSFUL
RESEARCH
Guide
Research
Publication in Journal(Well Established)
1. Technical writing
2. Plagiarism
3. Journal selection
4. Review paper
5. Highlights
6. Reviewers

5. GUIDE
 Beacon of wisdom(Information).
 Inculcates moral values and ethical practices.
 Prepares a scholar for carrying out independent research in future.
Beware of Research baba’s

6. research
 Habit of searching for alternatives
 Structural thinking and systematic execution
 Change in personality

7. Publication
in
well
established
journal
 New results or breakthrough in research.
 Experts review/comments enhances the technical weightage of the
research.
 Respect among the other researchers in the field.
(avoid online paid journals)

8. Technical
writing
Creativity
Inherited or Acquired?
Sharp observation capacity is required

9. Plagiarism
 Verbal copying of extensive materials of others.
 Misappropriating the results/data.
 Minor change in the original writing.
 Same information more than one time.

10. Plagiarism
(actions proposed)
Debarring from publishing in the concerned
journal.
Intimation to the head of department and
institution for necessary action
Publicizing such incidents of plagiarism with
photo.

11. Journal
selection
Comparing the objective and scope of our research
with the journal’s objective.
Sample papers of journal.
Paper types.
1. Original work.
2. Critic review.
3. Technical note(scientific relevance must be
there)
4. Application /discussion

12. Review paper
The expected standard of the paper is very high.
Assimilation and digestion of the work and conversion
into a proper paper.
Rich research experiences is needed for the review
paper. Experiences will integrate the existing work and
interwoven in the form of a review paper.
Use of copyright information in a careful way.

13. Highlights
common mistakes
Each sentence in abstract as a highlight.
Routine method is given as a highlight.
Claim not supported but listed as a highlight.
Suggestions
Highlight should be short.
Four to five highlights of the research work

14. REVIEWERS
Common mistakes
 Suggesting persons without publications.
 Same organisation of the publishing author.
 Suggesting friends and classmates as reviewer.
 Suggesting project co-investigators of authors.
Suggestions
 Person having authority in the subject of research will be
suggested.

15. Structure of
technical paper
 Paper title.
 Author.
 Abstract.
 Keywords.
 Nomenclature.
 Text.
 Acknowledgement.
 Reference.
 Appendix.
 Tables.
 Figures.

16. title
Mistakes
Title indicating area alone.
Very general title.
Suggestions.
Short , specific and informative.

17. Author
(mistakes)
 Not including the official or institutional email id.
 Including or removing co-authors without their consent.
 Giving name differently in different places.
 Students as corresponding author, when senior researchers
remains as co-author in background.

18. Author
(suggestions)
Name the author in order of work.
Proper affiliation with address.
Full address.
Author for correspond should be clear.

19. abstract
Mistakes
 Title alone expanded to paragraph.
 Introduction given as abstract,
 Giving reference in abstract.
Suggestions
 It should be a self contained paragraph outlining the
context, aim, scope and major conclusion.
 It Is not a trailer.
 Applications also can be given.

20. keywords
Mistakes
Only words used in title.
Group of words.
Unconnected to the content.
Suggestions
To be provided for indexing purpose.

21. nomenclature
(mistakes)
 Not providing the nomenclature at all.
 Giving symbols in the order of occurrences.
 Not giving the meaning of symbols in the first
occurrences.
 No different definition in different places.

22. nomenclature
(suggestions)
 Symbols must be given in alphabetical order.
 List of nomenclature is not for the publisher, it for the person who is
reviewing the paper.
Sample order
English characters.
 Upper case.
 Lower case.
Greek alphabets.

23. INTRODUCTION
mistakes
 Reproduction of abstract to introduction.
 Only summary of the work done is given.
 General information from the text book.
 Writing data irrelevant of the work done.
Suggestions
 Context of the paper to be explained first.
 Categorise the work properly.
 Aim of the work to be reported.
 Outline of the work to be given at the end.

24. Text
(mistakes)
 No proper structure.
 No original contribution identified.
 No element of innovation ever identified.
 Concept not brought out explicitly.
 Concept explanation only through equations.
 Too poor English.
 Abbreviation and acronym for common words and not identified.
 Use symbols instead of words.
 Usage of don’t and can’t.

25. Text
(mistakes)
 Improper sentences (example: can’t be possible).
 Improper use of active and passive voices.
 Words wrongly capitalised.
 Lengthy mathematical text.
 Lengthy computer codes.
 Not getting approval of co-authors for the draft.

26. Text
(suggestions)
 Text should be divided under different headings.
 Sentence should be brief.
 Each section must be self contained, and section must be logically
connected.
 Do not use words like “clearly”, “easily”, “obviously”, and
“trivially”
 Usage of proper active and passive voice.
Active voice : Scientists and maths.
Passive voice: Engineers and Technologists.

27. Figures
 Different people learn in different ways, so you should complement
a textual or mathematical presentation with a graphical one.
 It is extremely helpful to give an example to clarify your ideas.
 A figure should stand on its own, containing all the information that
is necessary to understand it.

28. Theoretical approach
 Equations not numbered.
 Numbering done in different ways.
 No mathematical symbols used.

29. Experimental approach
Mistakes
 Experimental setup is not given.
 Description of the setup not given.
 Relevant data of the machinery is not given.
Suggestions
 Don’t use photograph and block diagram of the experimental setup.

30. Results and
discussions
 S.I units not followed.
 Improper use of S.I units.
 No comparison with other papers.

31. Conclusion
 Only summary of the work is given.
 Observations only given.
 Objectives only given.

32. EVERY ENDING
IS REALLY JUST
A NEW
BEGINNING