Writing Technical Paper 26/08/2014 
Writing Technical Paper 
Dr. Krishna Chandramouli, 
Associate Professor, 
Division of Enterprise and Cloud Computing, 
School of Information Technology and Engineering, 
VIT University 
Ph. No: +91 99435 16621 
Email: krishna.c@vit.ac.in
Session Objectives 
Agenda 
Writing Technical Paper 26/08/2014
Agenda 
Conference 
Technical Writing 
Essentials of Communications 
English vs Academic English 
Documentation 
Tools for Technical Writing 
MS Word 
LaTEX 
Conclusion
Conference 
Writing Technical Paper 26/08/2014
Conference 
A conference is a meeting of people who "confer" about a topic. 
An academic conference or symposium is a conference for researchers 
(not necessarily academics) to present and discuss their work. 
Together with academic or scientific journals, conferences provide an 
important channel for exchange of information between researchers.
Conference 
Conferences are usually composed of various presentations. 
They tend to be short and concise, with a time span of about 10 to 30 
minutes; presentations are usually followed by a discussion. 
The work may be bundled in written form as academic papers and 
published as the conference proceedings.
Writing Technical Paper 26/08/2014 
Technical Writing
Technical Writing 
Overview of technical Writing 
Supporting Pillars 
Knowledge vs Skill 
Problem definition/identification 
Hypothesis formulation 
Implementation 
Result Analysis
Supporting Pillars 
Supported by strong 
mathematics
Knowledge vs Skill 
Two words that describe a person’s competence “knowledge and skill” 
Knowledge refers to learning concepts, principles and information regarding 
a particular subject(s) by a person through books, media, encyclopedias, 
academic institutions and other sources 
Skill refers to the ability of using that information and applying it in a context. 
In other words, knowledge refers to theory and skill refers to successfully 
applying that theory in practice and getting expected results.
Knowledge vs Skill 
Knowledge is intangible but skills can be made tangible by applying 
those skills to a context and getting the desired result 
Theoretical knowledge can be shared with other people. Some skills can 
never be transferred to other people.
Writing Technical Paper 26/08/2014 
Problem Definition/Identification 
Research by Definition 
The systematic investigation into and study of materials and sources in order 
to establish facts and reach new conclusions. 
Research and experimental development (R&D) comprise creative work 
undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of 
knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of 
this stock of knowledge to devise new applications* 
A research problem is an issue or a concern that an investigator 
presents and justifies in a research study
Writing Technical Paper 26/08/2014 
Problem Definition/Identification 
A problem that someone would like to research 
Anything that a person find unsatisfactory or unsettling, a difficulty of some sort, a 
state of affairs that needs to be changed 
A problem involves areas of concern to researchers, for condition they want to 
improve, difficulties they want to eliminate, questions for which they want to seek 
answers 
How to identify a Research Problem 
Search for a problem 
Read more about your problem 
Take notes or keep research journal 
Seek professional advice 
Keep the topic interesting
Look for inspiration from everyday problems 
Any potential problem is solvable 
Innovative solutions doesn’t mean complicated, make things simple 
Contribution – the key word in publications 
Domain selection of the project with long-term vision is advisable 
Potential Problems the world will address in future 
http://vimeo.com/14968828 
http://www.reuters.com/video/2012/11/07/virtual-reality-allows-users-to-face-up? 
videoId=221253667 
Many many more… 
26-08-2014 
Problem Definition/Identification
Nothing new under the sun 
Get hands on experience on tools/libraries for a particular domain 
Never stop with using API’s 
Find a fault in existing products/solutions 
Ask yourself, how can my life be better? 
What can I do to make it better? 
26-08-2014 
Problem Definition/Identification
Writing Technical Paper 26/08/2014 
Hypothesis Formulation 
For the chosen problem, hypothesize a solution. 
The hypothesize could range from an application of a mathematical 
concept to the usage of existing functions altered. 
Hypotheses are testable explanations of a problem, phenomenon, or 
observation. 
From your reading, which may include articles, books and/or cases, you 
should gain sufficient information about your topic that will enable you to 
narrow or limit it and express it as a research question.
Writing Technical Paper 26/08/2014 
Hypothesis Formulation 
The research question flows from the topic that you are considering. The 
research question, when stated as one sentence, is your Research 
Hypothesis 
Be sure to read on the topic to familiarize yourself with it before making 
a final decision 
Be sure that each term in your hypothesis is clearly understood and 
defined
Writing Technical Paper 26/08/2014 
Implementation 
The previous steps mentioned involved the use of “knowledge” 
Implementation or hypothesis testing relates to the execution of ideas to 
solve the problem identified. 
This stage involves translation of knowledge into skill with the help of 
software development. 
The implementation stage evaluates the hypothesis and offers an insight 
into the effectiveness of the solution.
Writing Technical Paper 26/08/2014 
Implementation 
Project 
An individual or collaborative enterprise planned and designed to achieve an aim. 
A project in business and science is typically defined as a collaborative 
enterprise, frequently involving research or design, that is carefully planned to 
achieve a particular aim. 
Domain Expertise vs SDK Usage 
Speech Processing 
HD Video Processing 
Search Engine (Ranking/Indexing Algorithms) 
Database connectivity 
Networking 
Statistical Data Analysis
Implementation Characteristics 
Robustness 
Misguided – One solution fits all 
Evaluation of the implementation 
Benchmarking the prototype 
Global events in the area of Multimedia and Computer Vision 
TRECVid 
MediaEval 
ImageCLEF 
26-08-2014 
Implementation
Popular Open-source Software 
FFMPEG 
OpenRDF Sesame 
Apache Solr 
Apache Cassandra/MongoDB 
OpenCV 
ImageMagick 
R Statistical Tool 
26-08-2014 
Implementation
Writing Technical Paper 26/08/2014 
Result Analysis 
The outcome of implementation phase leads to the result analysis stage. 
To obtain quantitative results, use standard datasets relevant to the 
problem. 
Compare the results with the literature survey. 
Use graphs and standard metrics to present comparison 
Write critical analysis on the performance of the results (for both 
good/bad results)
Writing Technical Paper 26/08/2014 
Essentials for Communication
Academic Writing and Plagiarism 
Types of Writing 
Class tutorials (slides/materials) 
Course curriculum 
Reports 
Project related 
Research oriented
Academic Writing and Plagiarism 
Research Oriented 
Workshops 
Special Sessions 
Conference 
Journals 
Invited Paper 
Bottom-up approach to writing!!
Academic Writing and Plagiarism 
Elements of Research Publications 
Title 
Abstract 
Keywords 
Introduction 
Literature Review 
Proposed Framework (or contribution) 
Technical contribution (algorithms) 
Evaluation and analysis 
Conclusion and Framework
26-08-2014 
Academic Writing and Plagiarism
26-08-2014 
Academic Writing and Plagiarism
Academic Writing and Plagiarism 
Keywords to highlight contribution 
Judicious use of Adjectives 
Examples: innovative, novel, new, discover 
Evaluation: performance enhancement, outperform, etc
Academic Writing and Plagiarism 
Structure of Introduction 
The big idea, the problem statement, the fact 
Key reference to the problem from recent past 
Penultimate paragraph – “In this paper […]” 
Last paragraph – “The remainder of the paper is organised as […]”
Academic Writing and Plagiarism 
Citations and References 
Why 
What 
How
Academic Writing and Plagiarism 
Plagiarism 
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (4th Ed.) defines 
plagiarism as "a piece of writing that has been copied from someone else and is 
presented as being your own work" 
The American Heritage Dictionary (2nd College Ed.) defines plagiarize as "to 
take and use as one's own the writings or ideas of another" 
IEEE defines plagiarism as the reuse of someone else's prior ideas, processes, 
results, or words without explicitly acknowledging the original author and 
source 
It should also be noted that certain corrective actions might apply to the un-credited 
reuse of someone else's ideas
Academic Writing and Plagiarism 
Plagiarism 
Level One pertains to the un-credited verbatim copying of a full paper, or the 
verbatim copying of a major portion (> 50%), or verbatim copying within more than 
one paper by the same author 
Level Two pertains to the un-credited verbatim copying of large portion (between 20 
and 50%) or verbatim copying within more than one paper by the same author. 
Level Three pertains to the un-credited verbatim copying of individual elements 
(Paragraph, Sentence, Illustration, etc.) resulting in a significant portion (up to 20%) 
within a paper 
Level Four pertains to un-credited improper paraphrasing of pages or paragraphs 
Level Five pertains to the credited verbatim copying of a major portion of a paper 
without clear delineation (e.g., quotes or indents)
Academic Writing and Plagiarism 
Plagiarism – ACM Code of Conduct 
Verbatim copying, near-verbatim copying, or purposely paraphrasing portions of 
another author's paper 
Copying elements of another author's paper, such as equations or illustrations 
that are not common knowledge, or copying or purposely paraphrasing 
sentences without citing the source 
Verbatim copying of portions of another author's paper with citing but not 
clearly differentiating what text has been copied (e.g., not applying quotation 
marks correctly) and/or not citing the source correctly
Academic Writing and Plagiarism 
Why It’s Not Okay To plagiarize 
The person who is plagiarizing is stealing intellectual property that rightfully 
belongs to someone else and passing it off as his or her own 
Yes, it is as bad as that!!!
Academic Writing and Plagiarism 
Demystify Plagiarism 
Refer to the author and give appropriate credit 
Distinguish technical contribution from the literature and proposed contribution 
Citations are good and is often a criteria for evaluation
Writing Technical Paper 26/08/2014 
Tools for Technical Writing
Writing Technical Paper 26/08/2014 
MS - Word 
A simple and effective tool if used effectively. 
Learn the use of different tabs 
Stick with the template offered. 
Take care in writing equations, use equation editor
Writing Technical Paper 26/08/2014 
LaTEX 
A professional environment for writing papers 
Used popularly among researchers 
Offers high-quality reproducability
Writing Technical Paper 26/08/2014 
Conclusion & Take Away Message
Writing Technical Paper 26/08/2014 
Conclusion 
Paper publication is integral to academic quality 
Exchange of information is welcomed by academic community 
Certifies your knowledge in the chosen field. 
Acts as a benchmark for your skill.
Writing Technical Paper 26/08/2014
References 
http://www.differencebetween.net/language/difference-between-knowledge- 
and-skill/ 
http://www.units.miamioh.edu/aisorg/syllabi/tayler4.pdf

Writing Technical Paper

  • 1.
    Writing Technical Paper26/08/2014 Writing Technical Paper Dr. Krishna Chandramouli, Associate Professor, Division of Enterprise and Cloud Computing, School of Information Technology and Engineering, VIT University Ph. No: +91 99435 16621 Email: krishna.c@vit.ac.in
  • 2.
    Session Objectives Agenda Writing Technical Paper 26/08/2014
  • 3.
    Agenda Conference TechnicalWriting Essentials of Communications English vs Academic English Documentation Tools for Technical Writing MS Word LaTEX Conclusion
  • 4.
  • 5.
    Conference A conferenceis a meeting of people who "confer" about a topic. An academic conference or symposium is a conference for researchers (not necessarily academics) to present and discuss their work. Together with academic or scientific journals, conferences provide an important channel for exchange of information between researchers.
  • 6.
    Conference Conferences areusually composed of various presentations. They tend to be short and concise, with a time span of about 10 to 30 minutes; presentations are usually followed by a discussion. The work may be bundled in written form as academic papers and published as the conference proceedings.
  • 7.
    Writing Technical Paper26/08/2014 Technical Writing
  • 8.
    Technical Writing Overviewof technical Writing Supporting Pillars Knowledge vs Skill Problem definition/identification Hypothesis formulation Implementation Result Analysis
  • 9.
    Supporting Pillars Supportedby strong mathematics
  • 10.
    Knowledge vs Skill Two words that describe a person’s competence “knowledge and skill” Knowledge refers to learning concepts, principles and information regarding a particular subject(s) by a person through books, media, encyclopedias, academic institutions and other sources Skill refers to the ability of using that information and applying it in a context. In other words, knowledge refers to theory and skill refers to successfully applying that theory in practice and getting expected results.
  • 11.
    Knowledge vs Skill Knowledge is intangible but skills can be made tangible by applying those skills to a context and getting the desired result Theoretical knowledge can be shared with other people. Some skills can never be transferred to other people.
  • 12.
    Writing Technical Paper26/08/2014 Problem Definition/Identification Research by Definition The systematic investigation into and study of materials and sources in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions. Research and experimental development (R&D) comprise creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of knowledge to devise new applications* A research problem is an issue or a concern that an investigator presents and justifies in a research study
  • 13.
    Writing Technical Paper26/08/2014 Problem Definition/Identification A problem that someone would like to research Anything that a person find unsatisfactory or unsettling, a difficulty of some sort, a state of affairs that needs to be changed A problem involves areas of concern to researchers, for condition they want to improve, difficulties they want to eliminate, questions for which they want to seek answers How to identify a Research Problem Search for a problem Read more about your problem Take notes or keep research journal Seek professional advice Keep the topic interesting
  • 14.
    Look for inspirationfrom everyday problems Any potential problem is solvable Innovative solutions doesn’t mean complicated, make things simple Contribution – the key word in publications Domain selection of the project with long-term vision is advisable Potential Problems the world will address in future http://vimeo.com/14968828 http://www.reuters.com/video/2012/11/07/virtual-reality-allows-users-to-face-up? videoId=221253667 Many many more… 26-08-2014 Problem Definition/Identification
  • 15.
    Nothing new underthe sun Get hands on experience on tools/libraries for a particular domain Never stop with using API’s Find a fault in existing products/solutions Ask yourself, how can my life be better? What can I do to make it better? 26-08-2014 Problem Definition/Identification
  • 16.
    Writing Technical Paper26/08/2014 Hypothesis Formulation For the chosen problem, hypothesize a solution. The hypothesize could range from an application of a mathematical concept to the usage of existing functions altered. Hypotheses are testable explanations of a problem, phenomenon, or observation. From your reading, which may include articles, books and/or cases, you should gain sufficient information about your topic that will enable you to narrow or limit it and express it as a research question.
  • 17.
    Writing Technical Paper26/08/2014 Hypothesis Formulation The research question flows from the topic that you are considering. The research question, when stated as one sentence, is your Research Hypothesis Be sure to read on the topic to familiarize yourself with it before making a final decision Be sure that each term in your hypothesis is clearly understood and defined
  • 18.
    Writing Technical Paper26/08/2014 Implementation The previous steps mentioned involved the use of “knowledge” Implementation or hypothesis testing relates to the execution of ideas to solve the problem identified. This stage involves translation of knowledge into skill with the help of software development. The implementation stage evaluates the hypothesis and offers an insight into the effectiveness of the solution.
  • 19.
    Writing Technical Paper26/08/2014 Implementation Project An individual or collaborative enterprise planned and designed to achieve an aim. A project in business and science is typically defined as a collaborative enterprise, frequently involving research or design, that is carefully planned to achieve a particular aim. Domain Expertise vs SDK Usage Speech Processing HD Video Processing Search Engine (Ranking/Indexing Algorithms) Database connectivity Networking Statistical Data Analysis
  • 20.
    Implementation Characteristics Robustness Misguided – One solution fits all Evaluation of the implementation Benchmarking the prototype Global events in the area of Multimedia and Computer Vision TRECVid MediaEval ImageCLEF 26-08-2014 Implementation
  • 21.
    Popular Open-source Software FFMPEG OpenRDF Sesame Apache Solr Apache Cassandra/MongoDB OpenCV ImageMagick R Statistical Tool 26-08-2014 Implementation
  • 22.
    Writing Technical Paper26/08/2014 Result Analysis The outcome of implementation phase leads to the result analysis stage. To obtain quantitative results, use standard datasets relevant to the problem. Compare the results with the literature survey. Use graphs and standard metrics to present comparison Write critical analysis on the performance of the results (for both good/bad results)
  • 23.
    Writing Technical Paper26/08/2014 Essentials for Communication
  • 24.
    Academic Writing andPlagiarism Types of Writing Class tutorials (slides/materials) Course curriculum Reports Project related Research oriented
  • 25.
    Academic Writing andPlagiarism Research Oriented Workshops Special Sessions Conference Journals Invited Paper Bottom-up approach to writing!!
  • 26.
    Academic Writing andPlagiarism Elements of Research Publications Title Abstract Keywords Introduction Literature Review Proposed Framework (or contribution) Technical contribution (algorithms) Evaluation and analysis Conclusion and Framework
  • 27.
  • 28.
  • 29.
    Academic Writing andPlagiarism Keywords to highlight contribution Judicious use of Adjectives Examples: innovative, novel, new, discover Evaluation: performance enhancement, outperform, etc
  • 30.
    Academic Writing andPlagiarism Structure of Introduction The big idea, the problem statement, the fact Key reference to the problem from recent past Penultimate paragraph – “In this paper […]” Last paragraph – “The remainder of the paper is organised as […]”
  • 31.
    Academic Writing andPlagiarism Citations and References Why What How
  • 32.
    Academic Writing andPlagiarism Plagiarism The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (4th Ed.) defines plagiarism as "a piece of writing that has been copied from someone else and is presented as being your own work" The American Heritage Dictionary (2nd College Ed.) defines plagiarize as "to take and use as one's own the writings or ideas of another" IEEE defines plagiarism as the reuse of someone else's prior ideas, processes, results, or words without explicitly acknowledging the original author and source It should also be noted that certain corrective actions might apply to the un-credited reuse of someone else's ideas
  • 33.
    Academic Writing andPlagiarism Plagiarism Level One pertains to the un-credited verbatim copying of a full paper, or the verbatim copying of a major portion (> 50%), or verbatim copying within more than one paper by the same author Level Two pertains to the un-credited verbatim copying of large portion (between 20 and 50%) or verbatim copying within more than one paper by the same author. Level Three pertains to the un-credited verbatim copying of individual elements (Paragraph, Sentence, Illustration, etc.) resulting in a significant portion (up to 20%) within a paper Level Four pertains to un-credited improper paraphrasing of pages or paragraphs Level Five pertains to the credited verbatim copying of a major portion of a paper without clear delineation (e.g., quotes or indents)
  • 34.
    Academic Writing andPlagiarism Plagiarism – ACM Code of Conduct Verbatim copying, near-verbatim copying, or purposely paraphrasing portions of another author's paper Copying elements of another author's paper, such as equations or illustrations that are not common knowledge, or copying or purposely paraphrasing sentences without citing the source Verbatim copying of portions of another author's paper with citing but not clearly differentiating what text has been copied (e.g., not applying quotation marks correctly) and/or not citing the source correctly
  • 35.
    Academic Writing andPlagiarism Why It’s Not Okay To plagiarize The person who is plagiarizing is stealing intellectual property that rightfully belongs to someone else and passing it off as his or her own Yes, it is as bad as that!!!
  • 36.
    Academic Writing andPlagiarism Demystify Plagiarism Refer to the author and give appropriate credit Distinguish technical contribution from the literature and proposed contribution Citations are good and is often a criteria for evaluation
  • 37.
    Writing Technical Paper26/08/2014 Tools for Technical Writing
  • 38.
    Writing Technical Paper26/08/2014 MS - Word A simple and effective tool if used effectively. Learn the use of different tabs Stick with the template offered. Take care in writing equations, use equation editor
  • 39.
    Writing Technical Paper26/08/2014 LaTEX A professional environment for writing papers Used popularly among researchers Offers high-quality reproducability
  • 40.
    Writing Technical Paper26/08/2014 Conclusion & Take Away Message
  • 41.
    Writing Technical Paper26/08/2014 Conclusion Paper publication is integral to academic quality Exchange of information is welcomed by academic community Certifies your knowledge in the chosen field. Acts as a benchmark for your skill.
  • 42.
  • 43.