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Learn the essential steps for preparing a successful academic paper in the Information Security field, including deciding on the topic, organizing content, drafting, revising, and finalizing with abstract and title selection. Gain insights on creating clear objectives, organizing results, and presenting figures effectively.
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King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals College of Computer Science & Engineering SEC511 Principles of Information Assurance and Security Writing a Paper These slides are based on: The Elements of Style, Willian Strunk JR. Writing a Paper, John Prados, University of Tennessee. The Abridged Elements of Style, Gerald B. Moulds.
Steps in preparing a paper • Decide whether it’s worth the effort (include a search of the literature) • Organize the paper • Write the first draft • Prepare figures and tables • Revise the draft (several times); focus on meaning, style, and conciseness • Prepare the Abstract and pick a Title • Conduct a final detail check for consistency, grammar, and spelling • Get a second (third, fourth) opinion!
Decide whether it’s worth the effort • To be worth the effort, a paper should: • Deal with a subject that is important to the field: Information Security, Artificial Intelligence, etc. • Not duplicate work that has already been published • Papers describing a research study should be based on explicit, measurable objectives and data that clearly address these objectives (different journals and conferences require different levels and sophistication of data analysis) • Review papers should be based on careful analysis of the literature, not folklore or opinion • Before you begin, don’t be afraid to seek the advice of colleagues, including editors and program chairs.
Organize the paper • Introduction: why your subject is important to your readers • Background: what others have already learned about your subject (with references) • Objectives: what you hoped to learn in veryspecific terms • Procedure: what you did to achieve your objectives • Results: what you found out • Conclusions: what your results mean for your readers • Acknowledgements: thanks to those who helped and provided financial support for the work • References: listed in the format specified by the publication to which the paper will be submitted.
Write the first draft • Overcome “writers’ block;” it becomes less of an obstacle with practice, but for most of us it never goes away. • At least with a word processor, you don’t create as much waste paper! • Don’t worry too much about style and grammar; when the words start to flow, let them come! You can clean up the mess in the revision. • Try to write as much as possible in a single sitting; a train of thought may be difficult to recapture after too long a break. Writing is difficult because it forces us to clarify fuzzy ideas, fill in gaps, organize our thoughts, and express these precisely; it is a process of discovery!
Notes on Introduction • The Introduction serves to make the main point of the paper explicit. • A useful way to focus your introductory thoughts is to conceive of the paper as an explicit answer to a question. The Introduction serves to state the question.
Notes on Background • Unless you are writing a review paper, the Background section should be relatively brief and limited to discussing work that applies directly to your study. • Editors and reviewers are not impressed by a long list of irrelevant references! If your work extends a prior study, state clearly the new contributions of your paper.
Notes on Objectives • Objectives must be clear, explicit, and (for research papers) measurable, e.g., • “to determine the effect of interactive, on-line, study aids on student test scores in an introductory electric circuits course” • “to evaluate the value of standardized rubrics to improve inter-rater reliability in grading engineering laboratory reports” • “to describe the historical development of electrical engineering education in Canada over the past 100 years.”
Prepare figures and tables - content • Results, whether in figures or tables, should relate directly to the objectives of the study. • Include statistical parameters showing significance of numerical results. • Follow carefully any instructions for the applicable journal or conference proceedings. • Include only figures and tables that illustrate significant points in the text. • Make captions simple but descriptive. • Avoid color and shading in bar charts (unless journal is printed in color); • use dot and crosshatch patterns that reproduce clearly in black and white. • Computer screen shots often reproduce very poorly
Revise the draft • For most of us, this is the most critical step in writing a good paper; it needs to be repeated several times with a rest in between. • Here is where we need to pay careful attention to meaning (how our readers will interpret what we say), grammar and style, and conciseness.
The Paragraph • Make the paragraph the unit of composition. • Each paragraph should address a single topic. • Opening sentences (typically): • Suggest or provide the topic of the paragraph. and/or • Serve as a transition between this paragraph and the previous paragraph. • Enormous blocks of text can be intimidating and readers tend to skim, rather than read them carefully. • At the same time, writing several short paragraphs in a row can make your ideas appear underdeveloped.
“I threw the ball.” “The ball was thrown by me.” “The ball was thrown.” The active voice: More direct More precise However, not recommended for research papers Active Vs Passive Voice
Put statements in positive form • Negative form: “The author’s evidence is not strong.” • Positive form: “The author’s evidence is weak.”
Omit needless words • Rid your writing of clutter: “in a hasty manner” vs. “hastily” • “Who is…”, “Which was…” “My mother, who is a teacher…” vs. “My mother, a teacher,”
“The fact that…” • “Owing to the fact that” = since • “In spite of the fact that” = although • “Call attention to the fact that” = remind • “The fact that he had not = his failure succeeded” • “I was unaware of the fact that” = I didn’t know
Express coordinate ideas in similar form. • When relating two or more ideas, keep your form consistent. • Example 1: • Incorrect: “The French, the Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese.” • Correct: “The French, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese.” • Example 2: • Incorrect: “It was both a long lecture and very tedious.” • Correct: “It was a long, tedious lecture.” • Correct: “The lecture was both long and tedious.”
Keep related words together. • Poor word placement can result in ambiguity. • Awkward: “She noticed a large bloodstain in the rug that was right in the center.” • Much better: “She noticed a large bloodstain right in the center of the rug.”
Write in a way that comes naturally. • Use words that come to you readily. • Write using language obvious to you and your audience. • Write first, then edit for clarity. • Construct your sentences with nouns and verbs. • Next, add those adjectives and adverbs that add content and flavor.
Do not overwrite • Stay on target! Don’t let your subject get away from you. • Illustrating your ideas with examples and metaphors can be helpful, but use moderation. • Again, rewriting is key. Get ideas on paper, then edit.
Finally: Be clear • Writing is communication. • If you must be obscure, be obscure clearly !
Before revision: The fact that certain students failed to complete the on-line assignments resulted, in most instances, in lower scores for these individuals on the following hour test. (26 words) After revision: Students who failed to complete the on-line assignments usually scored lower on the following hour test. (16 words) Getting rid of needless words
Prepare and check carefully the list of references • Follow exactly the format specified for the journal or conference to which you are submitting the paper.
Prepare and check carefully the list of references • Double-check the spelling of authors’ names (dangerous error: misspelling the name of someone who might review the paper!). • Check again for consistency!
Prepare the abstract and select a title • After all revisions are completed, prepare an abstract that summarizes in about 100 words what you did, why you did it, what you found out, and what it means to your readers. • Select a title that clearly conveys your subject in as few words as possible. • Remember: many will decide whether or not to read your paper based on the title and abstract.
Get a second (third, fourth) opinion • If possible, persuade one or two (or three) colleagues to read your paper and suggest improvements. • (This may require buying drinks or other forms of bribery, but the resulting paper will almost always be better than the original version!)
The end Reading: The Elements of Style, Willian Strunk Jr. Research Matters, Liz Hamp Lyons and Keren Courter.
