1 © Alexis Kwasinski, 2012 Papers writing tips Paper structure: Abstract Introduction 1) What is the paper about? What problem/issue are you addressing? I.e. PROBLEM FORMULATION 2) What approaches have been studied in the past for the same problem (or similar problems)? What are the main advantages and disadvantages of those approaches? I.e. LITERATURE REVIEW 3) How are you planning to address the problem? What are your strategies? What is the paper structure and/or organization? I.e. PLAN Body (e.g. discussion) Conclusions

2 © Alexis Kwasinski, 2012 The first sentence of the abstract and/or the introduction should say what the paper is about and should catch the reader’s attention. Let’s look at the Masters (the real ones): Newton’s Principia (The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy) preface starts with: “Since the ancients (as we are told by Pappus), made great account of the science of mechanics in the investigation of the natural things; and the moderns, laying aside substantial forms and occult qualities, have endeavoured to subject the phenomena of nature to the laws of mathematics, I have in this treatise cultivated mathematics so far as it regards philosophy.” So Newton is saying that inspired by Pappus of Alexandria (previous work) he is planning to study mechanics (problem formulation) by presenting and using mathematic fundamental tools (how he is planning to address the problem). Let’s see other examples Papers writing tips: Introduction

3 © Alexis Kwasinski, 2012 Papers writing tips: Introduction

4 © Alexis Kwasinski, 2012 Papers writing tips: Introduction

5 © Alexis Kwasinski, 2012 Papers writing tips: Introduction

6 © Alexis Kwasinski, 2012 Papers writing tips: Introduction

7 © Alexis Kwasinski, 2012 Papers writing tips: Introduction

8 © Alexis Kwasinski, 2012 Even “regular” papers summarize its content in the first sentence. Papers writing tips: Introduction

9 © Alexis Kwasinski, 2012 First, a few comments about the title: Never include acronyms in the title. Don’t use “new” or “novel” in the title. The main body may contain one or more sections. Start by stating again the problem, then solve it, and finally verify your solution with simulations and/or experiments. Call figures, tables and references in order. For figures and tables first you need to call them in the text and then you should included them in the document. In a communication process the emitter (writer) is the one responsible to transmit the message with a suitable code that can be understood by the receiver (reader). E.g. never assume that an acronym is well known, except the ones included in IEEE acronym list (e.g. ac or dc) Papers writing tips: Main body

10 © Alexis Kwasinski, 2012 Avoid very long sentences. Combine long and short sentences. You may use passive voice but not all the time. Be gender neutral and try to avoid sentences in first (I, we) or second person (you). Be moderate. Use “may”, “better”, etc. Avoid clichés or excessive commercial approaches. When discussing your solution to a problem or your design be fair. Always mention both the good and bad things. Go to the point. Shorter is usually better. Papers writing tips: Main body

11 © Alexis Kwasinski, 2012 Avoid being redundant. Some problems have a very specific structure that you need to follow. For example in optimization problems you need to be very clear regarding the objective function and the constraints. Avoid prepositional sentences. E.g.: Wrong way: the voltage in the output Right way: the output voltage Start all paragraphs with a sentence that helps to understand what are you going to talk about in that paragraph. Lead the readers throughout the paper. Connecting sentences, such as “thus”, “however”, and others, are helpful. Avoid 1-sentence long paragraphs. Papers writing tips: Main body

12 © Alexis Kwasinski, 2012 You need to summarize all your paper. You need to tell what was the problem, how you analyzed it and what were the results. Again, say both the good and the bad things about your approach. If it is relevant, mention possible future work or new questions that are derived from the paper. Don’t forget to acknowledge contributions and support for the work. After submitting your paper be open to criticism. Great scientists and engineers had been proved wrong many times. Papers writing tips: Conclusions

13 © Alexis Kwasinski, 2012 The references must be relevant Use good quality references (e.g. avoid blogs or wikipedia unless you can verify the piece of information you are using from another independent and trustworthy source). When some author has similar published papers, cite only the most relevant of all. Add your own work in the references but with moderation and only when it is relevant. Follow the appropriate format. For electrical engineering use the IEEE format. Details can be found at Papers writing tips: References

14 © Alexis Kwasinski, 2012 Some good search engines are (besides UT’s library portal): (includes patents) Papers writing tips: References