Research Paperswhat makes a good paper

Computer Science Research Practicum

Fall 2012Andrew Rosenberg

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Research Papers• Who is the audience?• What is the purpose?• How to write a paper?• What belongs in a paper?

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Who is the audience for an oral presentation?

• Family and friends• A boss• Other administrators• A potential client• A potential funding agency• A professor/advisor• A colleague

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Who is the audience for a research proposal?

• Family and friends• A boss• Other administrators• A potential client• A potential funding agency• A professor/advisor• A colleague

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Who is the audience for a research paper?

• Family and friends• A boss• Other administrators• A potential client• A potential funding agency• A professor/advisor• A colleague

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Venues for Research Papers• Research Conferences• Technical Reports• Academic Journals

• Self-publication– arxiv.org– research blogs

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When should I write?

• Jason Eisner via Liang Huang

Idea Do research Write

Idea Do researchWrite

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What makes a good paper?

• An Important Innovation or Insight

• Clearly Described

• In Appropriate Context

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An Important Innovation or Insight

• This is impossible to teach.

• Research is Creative.

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The Craft and Art of Science• Research skills are a craft.

– Data analysis and descriptive statistics– Programming Skills– Math skills– Appropriate Feature Engineering– Use of Machine Learning– Appropriate Evaluation

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The Craft and Art of Science

• Then there’s the creativity…– “Everything is a Remix”

• Copy. Transform. Combine.• http://www.everythingisaremix.info/

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The Craft and Art of Science

• Develop “Good Taste”

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5 Factors shaping creativity in the kitchen

Ideas in Food (http://blog.ideasinfood.com/ideas_in_food/2010/11/5-factors-shaping-creativity-in-the-kitchen.html)

1. Inspiration2. Flexibility3. Motivation4. Adaptation5. Refinement (Editing)

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5 Factors shaping creativity in the kitchen

1. Inspiration– Observing and absorbing the world

around you– asking questions– maintaining a sense of wonder.

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5 Factors shaping creativity in the kitchen

2. Flexibility– The ability to change perspectives on a

dime. – Looking at ideas backwards, forwards

and upside-down. – Separation of ego and invention:

understanding that you will not necessarily invent the big idea but having the ability to identify it and extrapolate it will be more important that being the person who creates it

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5 Factors shaping creativity in the kitchen

3. Motivation– The desire to create must be stronger

than the fear of failure.– Throwing spaghetti on the wall knowing

that you can always clean up the mess later.

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5 Factors shaping creativity in the kitchen

4. Adaptation– The ability to learn from your mistakes,

successes and all of the bumps in the road on the way

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5 Factors shaping creativity in the kitchen

5. Editing– Knowing when to say when.– Utilizing critical examination to determine

when • a preparation is at its peak• a dish is done• a technique works perfectly• you need to do more

– Being able to trim the fat and sharpen the edge to reveal the hidden treasure’s best advantage

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What makes a good paper?

• An Important Innovation or Insight

• Clearly Described

• In Appropriate Context

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Clarity• The point: For a reader to understand

– what your technique is and – what your findings are.

• Reproducibility

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Clarity• Write simply and clearly.

• Use bullets, and lists.

• Use graphs and plots.– Caption every table and figure.– Label every axis.

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In Appropriate Context• Appropriate context can make your

innovation seem obvious.– Because of X and Y, Z.

– X and Y can be• common knowledge• appealing to intuition• community norms• justified by examples• proven in the paper.

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Structure of a standard research paper

• Abstract – 1 paragraph• Introduction – 1 page• Approach – as long as it takes• Evaluation – as much as is important• Related Work (if necessary) – enough

to be honest • Conclusion and Future Work – 1-2

paragraphs

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Abstract• Written Last.

– Summarizes the full content of the paper.

• Four sentences (Kent Beck via Liang Huang)– What is the problem?– Why is it interesting?– What does your solution achieve?– What follows from your solution?

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Introduction• What is the problem.

– Why is it interesting?– Why is it still unsolved?

• What is your contribution?

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Introduction• Contributions

– Be clear.– Bullets are ok.

• Your claims must be testable– This is science, after all.

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Approach and Evaluation• Be clear and direct about what you

did.

• Active Voice

• Simple Sentences

• Images, diagrams, graphs!

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Approach and Evaluation• The evaluation should

– Support the contributions.– Include a discussion of the results.

• Where does your system work where others don’t?why?

• Where does your system *not* work? why?

• What can we learn from this?

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Related Work• The Scientific Landscape

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Related Work• But how did you get here?

– What is the state-of-the-art?– What are the most similar approaches?

• How does the current work differ from them?– What was the inspiration of this work?

• Criteria for inclusion (Liang Huang) Can a reader understand this work without it?

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Conclusion and Future Work• Restate the contributions.

• Are there remaining open questions?

• How can this idea be applied elsewhere?

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What can I do to become a better writer?

• Write.

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What can I do to become a better writer?

• Read.

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What can I do to become a better writer?

• Read your own writing.

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What can I do to become a better writer?

• Let other people read your writing.

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What can I do to become a better writer?

• Listen to their responses.

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What can I do to become a better writer?

• Write some more.