ECE 8811 Conference Papers (Personal Reflections)

1. ECE 8811Conference Papers(Personal Reflections) Monson H. Hayes Center for Signal and Image Processing Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, GA 30332-0250

2. Power Series Expansion • We are now done by noting that • The power series expansion yields

3. The Beginning … • You think you have a story to tell . But ... • Who wants to read it? • Where are they going to look for it? • How are you going to keep them interested? • The unfortunate truth • You will have a very small audience of readers. • Nevertheless … • You want to have an impact on those that do.

4. Why Write Conference Papers? • Fast dissemination of research / ideas. • Documenting progress of your research. • Sequence of conference papers often will lead to a journal paper. • Great experience (even if rejected). • In academia, your career depends upon them. • Networking. • There is a not-so-very-well-known benefit (a very well-kept secret), which is …

5. Sage Advice? • A mentor of mine once told me:“The best thing you can do when you begin your research is to start writing a paper.” • OK, so let’s write a paper. • Where do you begin?

6. Outline • Finding the appropriate conference • Theorem 1: “Not all conferences are created equal.” • Corollary: “Some conferences are extremely difficult to get paper accepted.” • Writing a conference paper • Fundamental principles: • You must convince the reviewers that you have something to say that is worth reading … not an easy task. • In spite of what you believe, only a handful of people will read your paper – make it have impact on those that do. • Submission of conference paper • Deadlines, formatting rules, paper formatting, graphics, • The review process • Defining area of paper defines reviewers

7. Finding a Conference • Factors in selecting a conference • Location, location, location • Cost • Size of conference • International conference • Conference • Workshop • Audience • Focused versus broad program

8. Conference Location • Conference location and the attendee’s agenda • Location often coupled to size of conference • Classification of Venues • Major U.S. city • Atlanta, New York, Los Angeles, Washington, Chicago… • Remote (non-touristy) location in U.S. • Bangor ME… • Tourist hot spot • Vale, Cape Cod, Asilomar, Honolulu, Las Vegas… • Major city outside of U.S. • Paris, London, Tokyo, Rome… • Tourist hot spot outside of U.S. • Cote d’Azure, Grinderwald, Aruba…

9. Conferences in Major Cities • Generally major international conferences • Large conferences, such as ICASSP, ISCAS, ICIP limited to large cities with large hotels. • Attendance > 1000 • Number of papers > 1000 • Number of sessions > 50 • Multiple tracks • Advantages • Easy to get to conference • Attendance “generally” for professional reasons. • Broad program, great for “networking.” • Disadvantages • Generally expensive (registration, hotel, food) • Size can be overwhelming.

10. Other Venues • Small non-touristy locations • Often very intimate conferences/workshops that are conducive to “serious” work and discussions. • Touristy locations • Many small to medium size conferences select touristy locations. Why? • A few of the conferences in 2005 include • Genoa, Honolulu, Aruba, Grinderwald, ….

11. The Conference Paper Process • Writing the paper / abstract / summary • The Review Process • Final Paper Preparation or … • Dealing with rejection

12. Conference Paper Preparation • Conferences have different submission requirements. • Be sure to be familiar with requirements / deadlines! • Unofficial comment on “deadlines” (I never said this!) • General trend is towards requiring the submission of full paper or “extended” summaries for review. • Typical of the more “prestigious” conferences. • Driven by the desire to have high-quality papers. How can one fairly review a single page summary? • Some conferences still require only one-page summary or an abstract of paper.

13. Examples • OSA Annual Meeting • 200 word abstract submitted. • 25 word abstract published. • The title and these 25 words better be very carefully chosen. • Membership in OSA used to give you the right to present at OSA Annual meeting. This changed 4 years ago to improve quality. • SPIE • Not reviewed • Profit-making adventure

14. Examples (2) • International Conference on Image Processing • Paper summary submitted (up to four pages) • Reviewed (approximately 50% acceptance) • Final paper four pages in length • International Conference on ASSP • Same as ICIP except full paper submitted. • International Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR) • Very prestigious • Full paper submitted • Critical and thorough review process • Acceptance rate around 30%

15. Step 1: Getting Your Paper Accepted • For conferences that require an abstract or paper summary, there is limited space to state your case. • Some simple rules: • Use space efficiently, and don’t be modest, • Don’t waste too much time with background and review, but be sure to place work in context of other work, • State, in positive terms, why your work is important, and the impact it will have, or “may” have, • Convince the reader/reviewer that they really must read your paper, and … • Author reputation (unfortunately) may influence decision.

16. A Successful Paper:Some Important Ingredients • Clarity in presentation • Are you trying to impress the reader? • Or trying to explain something to the reader? • Placing your work in proper context • Relevance/Applications/Impact • Grammar • “That” and “Which” • Efficient and effective use of graphics, tables, illustrations. • Structure, layout and presentation. • Familiarize yourself with the conference and what is expected in the papers! • Also remember: You are probably too close to your work!

17. Writing a Conference Paper • Fundamental Fact In spite of what you believe, only a handful of people will read your paper – make it have impact on those that do. • How do you have an Impact? • Not necessary to have the most earth-shaking results (these are rare), but rather … • One of the best conference papers I have ever read.

18. Typical Paper Elements • Title – Eye catcher • Abstract – The teaser • Introduction – Wow – important/cool/relevant • Background – Related work by others • The new stuff – High impact • Experiments, tests, analysis – Convincing/honest • Summary/Conclusions – Assume only thing read • References – Careful balance: complete sampling, not too many self-references

19. The Challenges • Fitting our “ideas” and “results” into four pages. • As beginners, we all think this is impossible. • “How can I say all this STUFF in only four pages?” • So, you try to cram everything you have to say into the four pages using micro-fonts and mini-margins. MISTAKE! • Who are you trying to impress? • How much are people going to remember? • What is your purpose in writing the paper? • A gazillion equations will impress no one.

20. What Not To Underestimate • Importance of title: the eye-catcher • Importance of abstract: the teaser

21. A Very Sensitive Matter • Authorship. • It is very easy for one to believe he/she has a claim on a result. • The lines around a person’s inspiration and innovation are very thin, and typically the result of many inputs from many sources. • My advice.

22. Step 2: The Review Process • “Reviewers are people too” (Bill Rhodes). • Reviewers are not atypical from your readership, and are generally very knowledgeable. • The conference paper review process often times is (unfortunately) pressing and less than perfect. • A reviewer may have to turn around 10-20 reviews within a matter of weeks. • You should write your paper with this understanding.

23. Negative Reviews and Rejection! • Authors take negative reviews personally. • “Why don’t they understand?” • “Are they stupid?” • Use negative reviews to your benefit. • Free advice on how to make your paper better. • Reviewers are usually correct.

24. Step 3: Final Paper Preparation • You are home free. • Make sure you conform to the format and length. • Make sure you get your paper submitted on time. • Use a spell checker • Do not stop here … this is only one check. • Be careful of the proverbial “the the” (not the rock group)

25. Coming up Next … • The presentation of your conference paper. • Writing journal papers • Much more complex and involved. • Huge variety of archival publications • Structure, technical content, writing style, and graphics. • The review and revision process • Citations, credit, and plagiarism.